When it comes to deer hunting, you just never know what you will see when you enter the woods. Over my hunting career I’ve seen some amazing things in nature. Some of these events I would have considered unbelievable had I not seen them with my own two eyes. But one of the benefits hunters get from sitting motionless, scentless, and undetected is that animals do what they normally do, except that we get to witness some of these normal–yet amazing—things that few people ever will.
Bowhunters often get to observe white-tailed deer up close and personal. Or at least that is the goal. However, I’ve been busted by a deer’s eyes and nose so many times that you would think it’s entirely impossible to sneak up on one. Of course, that’s what makes bowhunting so darn challenging. Yet, numerous times I’ve literally walked up to within 10 yards of deer and went undetected. As you know, it depends on the situation—and a little bit of luck. Hunting, like anything else, is all about timing. No hunter understands that more than Ben Bartlett. That’s because his right place at the right time allowed him to arrow one of two big fighting white-tailed bucks. (more…)
Each fall, deer hunters think of cool, brisk mornings and dream of big whitetail bucks running through the woods. Although every hunter wants to bag a monster buck, I don’t have to tell you that they are not exactly behind every tree. Especially when it comes to huge non-typical East Texas bucks. But like I always say, hunting is hunting and you just never know what will step out. Well, what stepped out for Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s Kaufman County Game Warden Eric Minter was a big 27 point non-typical white-tailed buck. Not bad. Particulary since this is his first buck with a bow!
That’s because this past Monday (10/19/09) the Kaufman County warden found himself as the lucky hunter staring down the buck of a lifetime from his treestand hung 20 feet high in a creek bottom filled with acorn dropping white oaks. When all was said and done, it was Minter putting his own tag on a whopper 27 point non-typical buck. While there is no firm green score number on the multi-tined monster whitetail yet, photos from the buck would lead one to believe that this deer will score well above the 200-inch mark as non-typical. Well over. (more…)
If Texas’ archery season had opened a few weeks ago when habitat conditions were fair to poor at best, opening weekend might have been likened to shooting fish in a barrel. Well, it probably would not have been that easy, but just a couple of weeks ago range conditions were horrible over much of the state due to severe to extreme drought conditions. A lack of rainfall had resident white-tailed deer hustling to make a living. That is no longer the case. What bowhunters found this past weekend was that they themselves were the fish in the barrel.
Bowhunters that took the field on Saturday and Sunday in search of whitetail found themselves pretty soggy. Sure, the weather opening morning was decent, but rain and clouds literally sat over most of Texas for the rest of the weekend. As a matter of fact, those rain-makers are still out there and weather forecasters are calling for more precipitation for the remainder of the week. So from a bowhunter’s perspective, the archery opener was less than ideal and I suspect deer harvests numbers were way down. Texas’ white-tailed deer, on the other hand, are knee-deep in acorns and succulent fall forbs. (more…)
White-tailed deer have specific nutritional requirements that can be met through habitat management and by maintaining deer numbers at the carrying capacity for the area. Under these described conditions, deer can get all of the required components of their diet, including energy, protein, fat, vitamins, and minerals, that allow them to function properly. Many deer managers will even provide supplemental forage in the form of protein pellets or food plots that allow for optimal deer performance and health.
But what happens when a deer’s diet does not meet their dietary requirements? The answer is simple: Deer suffer. This suffering comes in the form of lower body weights, poor body function, lowered immune systems, and sub-optimal antler growth. As far as deer are concerned, the latter is the least of their worries. Malnurished bucks will “steal” necessary vitamins and minerals from antler growth to supply critical processes. Does will do the same sort of thing, but malnourished does will abort their fetuses during pregnancy or abandon their fawns during nursing. In short, deer that have poor diets will do things you may not expect. Such is the case in these photos of a white-tailed doe eating a road-killed fawn. (more…)
Deer management involves manipulating the habitat and animals found on a property to improve body condition, increase fawning rates, and enhance antler quality of a white-tailed deer herd. Overall, deer management has been fueled by the desire for healthier bucks with larger antlers. And although herd management works well, it does not work over night–it takes years of work and selective deer harvest. A spin-off of deer management has been the selective pen-breeding of deer which has resulted in the commercial white-tailed deer breeding industry. Love it or hate it, this has allowed line-breeding and the rapid concentration of genes supporting abnormally-large antler growth.
Here enters the deer known as Sudden Impact. Not only is he a big buck, he is an absolutely, insanely, monstrous whitetail buck! After glancing at his antlers, you are probably thinking that this buck has reached maturity and has grown its biggest rack ever. Wrong. The video above features Sudden Impact at only 2 years of age in 2008! Yes, at 2 1/2 years old his shed antlers scored an eye-raising 406 5/8 Boone and Crockett inches. This buck is already the largest pen-raised whitetail ever and he looks to blow through that mark later this year. There is no doubt that he is impressive, but would you really want to shoot him?
Every deer hunter loves a monster buck story, so here is a new one about a big buck found dead in Illinois. Like the world’s record non-typicalwhite-tailed deer that was found dead in Missouri, two quail hunters found this big non-typical buck dead, but on a property near Petersburg, Illinois. The hunters had permission to hunt quail following deer season, but the most notable thing they brought home was the head and antlers of this massive buck which unofficially scored 246 Boone and Crockett inches.
The white-tailed buck was apparently caught on candid camera by a hunter’s game cam, but he apparently eluded hunters for yet another Illinois deer season. I do not know how old this big deer was, but preliminary reports state that no wounds were found on the deer, although coyotes had eaten on the carcass.
As hunters, we hate to see dead deer that are not hunter-killed. This includes deer hit by cars, deer hung in fences by their hind legs, and locked bucks. To non-hunters, it probably does not make sense – because each fall hunters harvest hundreds of thousands of white-tailed deer. The big difference is that most hunters have a good understanding of how wildlife management, specifically deer management, really works and why it is necessary.
Hunters and non-hunters that see the photos of these two dead bucks will consider it a bad thing. However, deer hunters realize that not only has some excellent table fare been lost, but the satisfaction of two successful harvests has vanished, as well. But nature can be cruel – and a bit ironic. Was each of these bucks fighting for the right to pass on their genes, or simply to prevent the other from passing on his? If it was the former, they both lose. If it’s the latter, they both, unfortunately, win.
These two whitetail bucks were found dead on a ranch near Tilden, Texas. They apparently drowned in a stock tank after getting locked together in a fight that really was a brawl for it all. From the photos, the bucks do not appear to be severely locked, but it only takes about 10 seconds to drown. The larger buck scored 166 Boone and Crockett inches and the 12 point buck went 154. Two good bucks, some happy hunters, hamburger, and sausage lost.
Remember the piebald buck that was reportedly harvested in East Texas. Well, the uniquely-colored buck was harvested near Palestine, but it was actually shot this year as opposed to last year, as my original research found. Photos of the deer have hit the deer hunting web and the stories of where this deer was harvested are as numerous as the buck’s spots! In order to clear things up about this news-making buck, here is rest of the story:
“My husband (James Curtis) is the one who killed the piebald buck in East Texas that has created quite a bit of interest on the Internet. I just wanted to give you the facts so that you can update your website. You can actually see the buck on the Texas Big Game Awards website, as well as on their TropyWatch.
The deer was actually killed November 2, 2008, on a privately owned ranch outside of Palestine, Texas. The piebald deer scored 138 5/8 gross with a total body weight of 195 pounds. My husband is getting the deer full body mounted. Anyways, I just wanted to give you this information since there are lots of emails going around saying the deer was harvested in Michigan, Arkansas, West Virginia, and Georgia just to name a few. One email even says that the deer was sold to Cabelas for $13,000! It is crazy.”
