FUNCTION IN

ITS FINEST FORM.

For 2021 we redesigned the geometry to add more

ULVHULQDFRPSDFWSURƓOHWRJLYHERZKXQWHUVWKH

XOWLPDWHDJLOLW\DQGVWHDOWKZLWKRXWFRPSURPLVLQJ

DFFXUDF\2XUQHZCenterguard Cable Containment

GHOLYHUVRSWLPDOFDPWLPLQJZKLOHWKHDOOQHZNano

740GDPSHUFRQWUROVSRVWVKRWQRLVHDQGYLEUDWLRQ

The V3KDVQHYHUPHWDVLWXDWLRQLWFDQōWKDQGOH

AVAILABLE IN 27 & 31" ATA

UP TO 342 FPS | 6" BRACE HEIGHT

 SHORTER. FASTER.
BETTER.

26.5
5
INCHES
ES

THE FASTEST COM

COMPACT
MPACT CROSSBOWS. EVER.
EVER
RANGEFINDING SCOPE

RANGE. AIM. KILL.

410
FPS
440FPS
EXACT AIMING. ANY DISTANCE.
THE MOST ADVANCED AIMING
SYSTEM ON THE MARKET.

NEW FOR 20
2021

Featuring the ACUslide silent cocking

king - safe de-cocking system and the industry’s best trigger,
our ultra-compact 2021 crossbows measure justus 26.5-inches long and include 1-inch of length-of-pull adjustment.
THE RESULT IS THE FASTEST, MOST COMFORTABLE COMPACT CROSSBOWS ON THE MARKET.

VIEW THE ACUSLIDE DEMO VIDEO

TENPOINTCROSSBOWS.COM/ACUSLIDE
LEADING OFF

Your buck is on the ground and it’s time to celebrate!

Preserve that memory with a quality taxidermy
mount. For tips on how to get the best work done,
see Page 18.
WINDIGO IMAGES
 FEBRUARY 2021
Volume 44 | Issue 8

12 | TWO DEER STORIES YOU MIGHT NOT BELIEVE!

We’ve saved our best “Deer Browse” stories for this end-of-the-cycle issue of
D&DH! First, read about the incredible story involving a buck, a Toyota Camry and a
guy driving his lawnmower; it’s 100% true! Then, learn all about a bizarre velvet
deer that had one hunter asking, “What in the world is that?”
Part 1 by Steve Sorensen | Part 2 by Stace Acup

18 | TAXIDERMY FROM THE WOODS TO THE WALL

Deer hunters gain an exclusive appreciation for animals in the wild. Taxidermists
return us there by preserving moments in time. by Roger A. Page

24 | WHEN BUCKS DISAPPEAR

When the hunting gets tough, it’s sometimes best to take a seat on the bench and
analyze the whitetail’s playbook. by Steve Bartylla

18
30 | HOLD YOUR FIRE: AN OPINION ON BUCK HUNTING
Age and the satisfaction of taking enough big-racked whitetails have contributed
to a dozen reasons why this one hunter will hold his fire when a buck steps into
shooting range. This approach is not for everyone, but he says it suits him just
fine. by John Hageman
80 | WHO WOULD EVER KNOW?
36 | RESEARCH: THE TINY GLAND THAT TELLS IT ALL The recent news of a major poaching bust in the Heartland has cast a dark
In the 1970s, researchers set out to study cyclic growth patterns in white-tailed cloud on the hunting community. The author provides unique insights on these
deer. Amazingly, they discovered a previously unknown organ that provides types of situations based on his 40-plus years in the outdoors industry, and
accurate identification information on a deer’s sex, age and nutritional status. he urges D&DH readers to join in the conversation. by Bob Robb
by John J. Ozoga
Page 4 photo: Windigo Images
39 | BLOOD TRAILING’S REPEATED TENDENCIES Cover photo: Matt Hansen Page 5 photo: Dan Schmidt
Knowing how and where wounded deer might flee after the shot can help blood-
trailers during the tracking and recovery process. Here are four behavioral
tendencies every deer hunter should keep in mind when following up on a bow- or
gun-hit whitetail. by Tim L. Lewis
DEPARTMENTS
6 | EDITOR’S STUMP 64 | DEER BEHAVIOR
8 | READERS RECOIL 67 | PURSUIT COMMUNITY
43 | WOMEN WHO HUNT 10 | D&DH COMMUNITY 68 | GUN SHOP
Deer hunting’s benefits extend far beyond the harvest, and that’s why the activity
is being embraced by more and more female hunters. Women come to hunting 12 | DEER BROWSE 70 | BOW SHOP
through various introductions, but almost all find the process to be life-changing. 36 | DEER RESEARCH 72 | BUCK SHOTS
Here are some of their stories. by Serena Juchnowski 57 | BUTCHER SHOP 74 | GEAR
62 | GROW ’EM BIG 77 | WHERE TO GO
46 | HUNTER FOR LIFE
Deer hunting is a time-honored tradition that can capture someone’s interest at
an early age and provide lifelong enjoyment. Here are 10 steps you can take to help How to Contact Us
your loved one develop a lifelong appreciation. by Charles J. Alsheimer Visit us online: Deer & Deer Hunting Magazine publishes
www.deeranddeerhunting.com 11 issues per year, which may include an
• Sign up for our free newsletter. occasional special, combined or expanded
49 | WOLF DISEASE CONCERNS • Participate in deer hunting forums. issue that may count as two issues toward
When left unchecked, these wild canines can spread a nasty disease than can • Participate in deer hunting surveys. your subscription.
severely affect human health. by Dr. Valerius Geist • Renew your magazine subscription. ADVERTISING: Call Brad Rucks at
• Share whitetail insights with other members (920) 284-8732 or send an email to him at
52 | PREDICTING THE NEXT WORLD RECORD BUCK of the prestigious Stump Sitters Whitetail brad.rucks@media360llc.com. For a media kit
Study Group. write to: Deer & Deer Hunting, P.O. Box 548,
Bucks with giant typical frame configurations are as admired as they are rare.
SUBSCRIPTION SERVICES: Visit us on the web at Waupaca, WI 54981.
The author interviews five top experts to get their thoughts on when and where
www.deeranddeerhunting.com, or call LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: Send letters to Daniel
the next world-record typical will come from. by Gerald Almy (386) 246-3414 E. Schmidt, D&DH, P.O. Box 548, Waupaca, WI
54981. Or send an email to
dan.schmidt@media360llc.com.

4 • FEBRUARY 2021 DEERANDDEERHUNTING.COM

DEERANDDEERHUNTING.COM FEBRUARY 2021 • 5
EDITOR’S STUMP
DANIEL E. SCHMIDT
ANYTHING
W
e often take life’s little
thing for granted
probably because we
make ourselves so busy that we
never slow down to look around.
Deer hunting is a perfect example.
No matter how many times I
head afield each fall, I fail to give
honest reports to my family and
friends upon my return.
“See anything?” my buddy
will ask.
“Not really,” I reply. “Some
squirrels.”
“See anything?” my dad will ask.
“One,” I reply. “But only for a
couple of seconds. Not sure if it was
a buck or a doe.”
Years of such bean-counting
reports must have been weighing on
my mind when I tossed my hunting
gear into the bed of my pickup and
headed for a favorite bow-hunting
spot. I was on a mission to do as I
often say — pay better attention to
the little things.
Not surprisingly, this was one of
my best days afield, and the action
started as soon as I hit the highway.
I saw:
• Rolls of smoke billowing
from a wood-stove chimney.
There was no way of confirming
this from the cab of my truck, but I
just knew that smoke had to carry
the sweet aroma of hard maple.
• Blaze-orange jackets pinned
to a clothesline, flapping in
the breeze.
6 • FEBRUARY 2021
“THE ORIGINAL STUMP SITTERS MAGAZINE”
Established In 1977
WWW.DEERANDDEERHUNTING.COM
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Daniel E. Schmidt
SENIOR EDITOR
Chris Berens
CREATIVE DIRECTOR
Rebecca Vogel
ONLINE CONTENT SPECIALIST
Sara Sommercorn
RUSSELL GRAVES/WINDIGO IMAGES
DEER RESEARCH FIELD EDITOR
John J. Ozoga
FIELD CONTRIBUTORS
Steve Bartylla, Bob Zaiglin,
Dr. Stephen Ditchkoff, Steve Sorensen
ADV ERTISING SALES
PUBLISHER
Brad Rucks
I wasn’t the only one thinking of brad.rucks@media360llc.com
the upcoming firearms season. SALES ASSOCIATES
• A pickup loaded with tree Casey Lenz
stands, an ATV, an old casey.lenz@media360llc.com
reclining chair and a big, ADVERTISING COORDINATOR
red Coleman cooler. Lisa Richter, lisa.richter@media360llc.com
As the truck passed me on the OFFICE MANAGER
Susie Melum, susie.melum@media360llc.com
highway, I thought back to the days
when my state’s firearms season TELEVISION & ONLINE VIDEO
was an unofficial family holiday. EXECUTIVE PRODUCER
David Gilane
• A gas station checkout
PRODUCER
counter stacked with energy
Ian Sanchez
drinks and beef jerky.
While paying for my fuel, I Deer & Deer Hunting (ISSN 01647318) is published 11 times per year:
noticed the guy standing next to me February, April, June, Summer, Equipment Annual, August, September,
was wearing a fur-lined hat with October, November and December by Media 360, LLC, P.O. Box 548,
Waupaca, WI 54981. Periodical postage paid at Iola, WI 54945, and at
ear flaps. He was talking to a man additional mailing offices. Canadian Agreement No. 40665675.
wearing camo suspenders and a POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Deer & Deer Hunting,
red-and-black plaid flannel shirt. P.O. Box 420235, Palm Coast, FL 32142.
Copyright 2020 by Media 360, LLC. | Printed in the U.S.A.
• A bumper sticker that
read, “Fear No Deer.” Deer & Deer Hunting and its logo are registered trademarks. Other
The truck was driven by a teen- names and logos referred to or displayed in editorial or advertising
ager who was wearing a blaze- content may be trademarked or copyright. D&DH assumes no
responsibility for unsolicited materials sent to it. Publisher and
orange knit hat with a running deer advertisers are not liable for typographical errors that may appear
patch on the front of it. in prices or descriptions in advertisements.
Those are only five things I saw, SUBSCRIPTIONS: 800.250.9159 (U.S. and Canada)
and I wasn’t even in the woods yet. P.O. Box 420235, Palm Coast, FL 32142
Outside the U.S., call 386.246.3414
Just imagine how many things we
could list after the end of a good day
in the woods. Every little thing adds
up to fill our memory banks. 1990 Godfrey Drive | Waupaca, WI 54981
Remember all of this the next Brad Rucks, PRESIDENT AND PUBLISHER
time someone asks, “Did you Daniel Schmidt, VICE PRESIDENT
see anything?”
FIND DEER & DEER HUNTING ON:
FACEBOOK FACEBOOK.COM/DEERHUNTINGMAG
YOUTUBE: WWW.YOUTUBE.COM/DDHONLINE
TWITTER TWITTER.COM/DEERHUNTINGMAG
INSTAGRAM: WWW.INSTAGRAM.COM/DEERANDDEERHUNTING
PINTEREST PINTEREST.COM/DEERHUNTINGMAG
DAN.SCHMIDT@MEDIA360LLC.COM
DEERANDDEERHUNTING.COM
THE SHOOTING STICK
THAT GOES FROM
8 INCHES TO OVER 60 INCHES
(and everything in-between)
Serious shooters know the value of shooting sticks, but for many
years hunters
unters have avoided using them due to their bulky nature
and clumsy
msy design. The new Solid Aim Shooting stick eliminates
these flaws,
aws, giving you a sturdy solid shooting platform in a quickly
deployable
ble and ultra-compact design. At only 8 inches, the Solid Aim
shootingg stick will easily fit into a pocket or pack, yet still allows you
to adjust
st from 8 inches to over 60 inches in an instant. Best of all
it workss with rifles, shotguns, pistols, and crossbows. Use it while
stalking,
g, in blinds, and even in tree stands.

EXTENDABLE
Pull the foot to extend length

ADJUSTABLE
Adjusts from 8 to over 60 inches

AIMABLE
Head pivots 180 degrees left/right for easy aiming

RETRACTABLE
Press the trigger to retract to 8 inches

PACKABLE
The only stick that fits in your pack

Available at Amazon solidaim.com

 HALEY
READERS RECOIL AMY

SEASON
OF
GREYSON
ANNA

HARVEST
Congratulations to the thousands
of Deer & Deer Hunting fans who CIERRA CHRISTY
have sent us their success photos
this past season! Here is just a
sample of all the happy moments
that were had out in the woods this
past fall — what a great way to get
our minds off the pandemic!
For more success photos, log on
to our Facebook page.
JOVIE (WITH DAD) AND THE BRUNSWICK FAMILY

8 • FEBRUARY 2021 DEERANDDEERHUNTING.COM

 1,100+ STORES NATIONWIDE

All the Power at a Fraction of the Price

With Bauer, you’ll get everything you want in tools at
an everyday low price. Whether you’re building a deck,
outfitting your shop or working in the yard,
OVER 175 TOOLS AND ACCESSORIES Bauer has the tool for you.

SUPER COUPON CORDED TOOLS CORDLESS TOOLS

FREE TOOL BAG
WITH ANY
PURCHASE OVER $50 $ 1299
VALUE

BATTERY
POWERS
40 TOOLS

ITEM 57487

Use Online & *14863128*

14863128
In-Store
Limit 1 coupon per customer per day. Valid online and in-store. Receive a free Tool Bag with any Bauer
purchase over $50 not including taxes and after applying any other applicable offers or discounts. Not
valid on prior purchases. Non-transferable. Original coupon must be presented. Valid through 2/5/21.

SHOP TOOLS OUTDOOR POWER TOOLS

LEARN MORE AT BAUERPOWERTOOLS.COM

 CONNECT WITH D&DH ON SOCIAL MEDIA AT:
FACEBOOK: WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/DEERHUNTINGMAG

n i t y
YOUTUBE: WWW.YOUTUBE.COM/DDHONLINE

Co m m u INSTAGRAM: WWW.INSTAGRAM.COM/DEERANDDEERHUNTING
TWITTER: @DEERHUNTINGMAG
PINTEREST: WWW.PINTEREST.COM/DEERHUNTINGMAG/

Find us on Facebook FACEBOOK/DEERHUNTINGMAG

QUITE THE PIEBALD FOR MICHAEL LECHNER IN

COLUMBIA COUNTY, GEORGIA! HAVE YOU EVER SEEN
A DEER LIKE THIS?
ENGAGEMENTS: 2,410 | COMMENTS: 564
Social Snapshot *MONTHLY AVERAGES FOR JAN./FEB. 2020

DEER & DEER HUNTING

FACEBOOK • PINTEREST • INSTAGRAM • TWITTER • YOUTUBE

FOLLOWERS: 1.01 MILLION

REACH: 7.6 MILLION
VIDEO VIEWS: 1.93 MILLION

Community Corner
Taylor shot this
How’s this for a FIRST buck? Amy e had been
Sh
17-pointer opening day in Indiana. ts, Amy!
ra
watching him for four years! Cong

Davis Napier: He’s going to enjoy eating it.

Nathan Claffey: One time in 16 years of hunting. It was nowhere near this splotched, I
felt really fortunate to even see one for the minute and a half I watched it. Haven’t seen
anything like it since.

Zurlen Austin: I hope he saves the pelt would make for an interesting conversation piece
and a nice way to honor the deer.

Troy Ripley: I’ve seen one that had no hair and black colored smooth to the touch like a
baby’s skin! My buddy shot it bow season a few years back had a bunch of tumors.

Doug Ashley: For those that would have let it pass, that’s your choice. But it was going to
be dead in a few years or less anyway, they don’t live forever. Could have been killed and
eaten by predators or killed by a car and eaten by scavengers. This hunter made the call
that he’d rather eat it, and probably not let that hide go to waste. Oh, and for all those
who think it’s too small, you have to be a good shot to hit these Southern deer.

Jason Bullock: Congratulations!! But I’ve always heard it was bad luck to kill white deer
or turkeys, so I may just be superstitious, but anyway it will look good on the wall.

Jim Peidl: If you have an opportunity to take a legal deer that meets YOUR standards, go
for it. No justification needed, and no one else’s opinion matters.

10 • FEBRUARY 2021 DEERANDDEERHUNTING.COM

| STEVE SORENSEN

REVENGE OF THE…

DEER?
E
veryone knows colliding with a deer on the road can be
dangerous, but what happens when a deer rear-ends you
— in a quiet residential neighborhood while you’re doing
yard work?
Ask Joe Jameson, of Fayette County, Georgia. In his
residential area, neighbors enjoy seeing and photographing
deer. This year, a family group of eight does — probably three
generations, including four playful fawns — have been frequent
visitors. Residents also commonly saw a spike buck and a nice
6-pointer.
Oct. 14 was beautiful day in the neighborhood until about
4:20 p.m. Street traffic was light, and Jameson was towing a
leaf sweeper behind his Husqvarna lawn tractor. That’s when
he heard a boom and went flying through the air.
“What in the great googly-moogly happened?” he thought as
he stood.
There was the spike buck, seriously injured, with four legs
broken and one of its antlers missing. A Toyota Camry had been
driving on the street, and as deer sometimes do, the spike appeared
out of nowhere. The car’s impact launched the deer into Jameson’s
yard, where it slammed into Jameson’s lawn sweeper and then hit
Jameson, with the back of the tractor seat absorbing part of the
blow. Jameson was banged up, and when the excitement wore off,
he was sore enough to start swallowing Tylenol.

Rick Maverick’s hat blindsided him to

the assault from a 6-point buck while he
was mowing grass.
PHOTO COURTESY OF RICK MAVERICK.

12 • FEBRUARY 2021 DEERANDDEERHUNTING.COM

 DEER BROWSE • PART 1

DEERANDDEERHUNTING.COM FEBRUARY 2021 • 13

 Deer
D
De eer
er arearree plentiful
plelent
ntif
tif
iful
ull in
u in the
th
he area,
area
ar ea, so
ea s hard since he broke two neck
it’sit’ss no
it no surprise
su urp
rprriise isee that
tha
hatt people
peeop
p o le seesee them
the
hem m vertebrae playing college football.
att any
a any ny time.
tiim
mee.. But Butt they
thheey typically
t p
ty piicaall
lly don’t
lly don’
do n’tt He almost fell off the mower but
ge
g get et hithit by
hi by cars,
carars, s andand
n they the
h y certainly
cert
ce r ai
rtainlnlyy recovered in time to see the prime
do
d
don’
don’t on’
n t often o te
of ten hit hiit property
p op
pr o er erty
ty owners
own
w er erss suspect in this cornfield crime at
ssweeping
sw weeeepi ping ng their
their
heirr lawns.
he law
awns ns.. the other end of the farmhouse
““The
“TTh hee driver
dririve ver and annd I were we both
bot
oth h lawn just before it dropped down an
stunned,”
stun
st un nne
ned,
ne
ned, d,” Jameson Ja
J ame
meso soon said. saaidd. “We “WWe embankment to another cultivated
cchecked
ch hecke
ecke
ec ked each e cch
ea h other
oth
t er out out to to make
make field. It was a nice 6-point buck.
sure
sure
su re we we were weere both
w botth OK, OK, and an then then The impact damaged the
started
star
st a tteed thinking
thhininki kiin
k ngg what
whah t to do do about
abou
ab outt steering arms on Maverick’s
the
tth he deer.”
deer
de er.”.” no footage.
foo
oota ge. His neighbor’s camera
tage mower. The right one was bent far
Jameson
Ja
J am
ame
meeso s n asked a keed his
as his stepson
stteppso on to points
poin
po intsts toward
tow
owara d Jameson’s lot, and enough to almost touch the left. But
get
geet his
g his deer
hi deeer rifle.
d rif
i llee.
e. it saw
saw the the car but not the impact, that wasn’t the worst.
“While
“WWhi h lee he he was was in the
wa the house,
hououse, my as leaves
lea
eavevess on
o the trees blocked the Stunned, Maverick thought,
neighbor
neig
ne ghb borr came came
ame over
am ovver
o ver
e to to seeseee what
wh
w at view
vi
view.
ew.. However,
Howe
Howeve v r, it recorded sounds “Am I OK?” His neck and shoulder
happened
ha
h appp pened
eneed
en d andand said, saiid d,, ‘I
‘I sit
sit all
all season n from
fr om the the incident,
incident, including the were sore. His left thigh was
llong
lo ong
n in in a tree ttrree
ee stand,
sta
tand
n , and
nd and you yo get get a “oof
“o
“oof”
of”” from
from Jameson
Jameson when the deer bleeding. As the buck had spring-
bu
b
buck ucck k right
rig ghhtt in in your
yo ourr yard?’
yar
ard?d?’ Then
Then hee hitt him.
hi h m.
hi m boarded to propel himself away
told
ttoold
ld me me he he didn’t did n t think
dn’ th
t in nk Georgia
G or
Ge o gia a Jame
Ja
Jameson
mesoson n looked
lo everywhere for from the mower, its rear hoof cut a
llaw
la aw allowed
alllo
allo
l we w d puttingputt
pu t in
tt i g thethe deer
deer out outt ofof the
the broken
brok
br oken
en antler
ant
n ler but never found deep gash that demanded a trip to
iits
it ts misery,
mise
mi sery r , so so I called
cal
alleled
le d the
the sheriff’s
shher
erififf’
f’ss it.
it However,
Howe
Ho wevever,
r he found a Toyota the local hospital.
of
o office.
ffi
ficece. The
ce. Th he dispatcher
disp
di spat
sp a ch
at c er told tol
old d me nott emblem
embl
em blemem — one one more trophy from “I’ve seen deer on their hind
tto o kill
kiilll the
thhe deer,
deeeerr, but but that
bu t at they’d
th the
hey’y’d send nd the
the crazy
craz
cr azyy incident
inccident on that beautiful
in legs battling other deer, and
ssomeone.”
so
some om meeo on n
ne.e.”
e. day
day in the the neighborhood.
nei
e ghborhood. although they don’t have claws
So
S o they hey waited
the waiitted
wa
wait d while
whi h lee the
the deer
deeeerr and teeth, I don’t want to be a part
ssu suffered.
uff
uf ffeerrede d. A SIMILAR STORY of that,” Maverick said. “Hoofs
““It
“I It took
ttoook k 20 20 to to 30 30 minutes
m nu
mi tes forr
ute Everyo
Everyone
Ever yone
ne hashas done a good deed can slice people to ribbons. Now,
the
the deer
th d er to
de to die,” die,
di e,”” Jameson
J me
Ja m so son n said. that
that went
wen
entt unappreciated,
un
unapappreciated, but Rick every Christmas when I hear the
“The
“T Th hee sheriff’s
sheri
heeririff ’s office
ff’s
ff off
f icce called
ice call
ca ed back
lled bacck Maverick
M ve
Ma v ri
rick
ck cancan tell you not only song Grandma Got Run Over by
to
to say sayy someone
som
omeo eone
eo n was
ne wasas coming,
coommining,g, but
but I people
peop
pe oplele sometimes
som
omet etim
imese resent someone’s a Reindeer, I’ll think, ‘It’s not
ttold
to old
ld themtheem not no ot to o bother,
botth heer, (that)
(thhata ) the
th
he eefforts
ef fort
fo rtss to make mak a e things better. always Grandma. This time it
d
de deereeerr died.”
diieedd..” Animals
Anim
An imalss don’t
don’
do n’tt always appreciate was Grandpa.’”
The
Th he car c r suffered
ca suff
su ffer
erred
e extensive
ext
xten
ensiive thee good d things
thi
h ngngss people do, either. The gash was above Maverick’s
damage dama
da mag gee butbut was was operational.
ope
pera r tiononal al. The
T e
Th Maverick
Ma ave
veri
rick
ck is
is a hunter who enjoys artificial knee. The previous
lawn laawn
wn sweeper
sw
weeep eper err isis probably
prob
pr
probobab bly repairable.
rep
epai aira
rablble.
e enhancing
enhah ncncin
ingg habitat
ha
habi b tat for deer, turkeys January, he had the knee replaced,
And And
An d Jameson
Jame
Ja
Jame m so on wouldwoul
wo u d heal.
ul heal
he al. and other
othe
ot h r wildlife
wild
wi ldli
l fe on his 100-plus and the surgeon said infection
Hee took
H too
ook k thethhe deer
deeer to to a processor
proc
pr ocesessosor acres in n western
wese tern Pennsylvania. would be his worst enemy.
wh
w who ho said saaidi that tha
h t in n addition
add
d ittion n to the the
h Besi
Be
Besides
side
dess keeping
keep
ke epining food plots for The people in the emergency
ffour
fo our
u brokenbroke
roke
ro k n legs, leegs,
gss, the
the deerd er
de e hadhad twotwo
w huhunting,
unting, he he plants
pl
plan
ants fields of corn, room thought they had seen
br
b broken
rok kenen rribs ibss and
ib and lots lots of of bruising
brui
br uisi
s ng soyb
soybeans,
beaans
n , clover
clov
cloveer and winter wheat. everything until Maverick showed
ar
a around
rou
ro
ou und d thethe
he spine.spiinee. It It probably
pro
roba
b bl blyy had
ha In m mid-August,
i -A
id -Aug
ugust, while mowing up. As a doctor cleaned debris from
injuries
inju
in nju
juri r eses to to internal
inte
in t rn
te nall organs,
orgrgan
ans,s, too,
too
oo,, but
buut grass between
betw
tweeeen n a farmhouse and a the wound, he asked, “How did
tthe
th he processor
proc
pr o eessso
oc sorr saidsaaid
id hehe could
c ulld salvage
co sa
salv
lvage cornfi
cornfield,
fiel
e d,
d Maverick
Mav avere ick was blindsided. this happen?” That question wasn’t
abo
ab about
bou
out 80 0 percent
perrce c nt nt ofof the
the meat.
meat
me at. H never
He nev
ever
er saw
saw the assault coming small talk. It’s common in hospital
Jameson
Jaammeesoeso
son n said
said
sa idd he
he saw s w four
sa four moremore b
be cause he was
because was wearing a hat that emergency rooms. One reason is
bright
b
br rigght h spots
spopots
pots t in in thethe incident.
incci
in cide
d ntnt.. ccovers
co vers
r his
his neck
nececkk and the sides of his that insurance companies hope to
“II lived,
liivveedd, and an nd I wa wasn’t
w s ’t seriously
sn ser
e iouslyy fa ace
c to protect
face prot
pr otec
ect against recurring avoid paying a claim if someone
hurt,”
hu
h urt,”
urtrt,”
rt ,” he he said.sa aiidd. “I don’t donon’t’t think
hink thee
thi skin
sk in cananceers
cancers.rs.. The
Th hat went flying as else with deep pockets can be held
sspike
sp ke would
ik woul
wo uld d see seee this
se this as as a brightb ight
br h Mave veri
Maverick rick
ck wwasas h it from the right and
hit financially responsible.
sp spot,
po ott, butbut I’m
bu I m glad
I’ gllad
ad he he waswa
w as taken
take
ta k n outo t
ou almo most
almost s knocked
kno
nockckeded off his heavy-duty Good luck getting that buck to pay.
and
an
a nd not n t the
no t e 6-point.
th 6--po
6 poini t.
in t I learned
lea
earnrnned about co ommer
commercialerci
cial
al Grasshopper
Grass
ras hopper mower. He has a nice rack but no pockets.
a good
go
g ood d deer
deeeer processor
prrococese so
es or in the the
h area. “What hit hit me?” Maverick
I tto
told
o
oldld the
ld thhee deer
deeeerr processor
p occes
pr e sos r I was was new thought.
th
hou
ought. t WasWas it a Mack truck? ²6WHYH6RUHQVHQ³WKH(YHU\GD\
²6WHYH6RUHQVHQ³WKH(YHU\GD\
in the
in thehe area,
arreea a,, andand d hehe gaveg ve me
ga me somes me
so m Had
H d he failed
Ha fai
aile
ledd toto see an obstacle +XQWHU´ LV DQ DYLG GHHU KXQWHU
KXQWHU
leads
lead
le ads on on hunting
hun ntiting
ng g leases
lea
ease ses I might
ses
se m gh
mi g t be b —maybe
—m a fallen
fal
allen tree or a rock? IURP3HQQV\OYDQLDDQGDIUHTXHQW
IURP3HQQV\OYDQLDDQGDIUHTXHQW
a
ab ableble
lee toto join.”
j in
jo in.” .”
.” Could
Coulld someone
Co some
so meon one have attacked VSHDNHUDWVSRUWVPHQ¶VGLQQHUV
After
A
Af fter
ter returning
te rreetu
turn
urrnnining g from from
fr o the
the
h him?
hi Cou
Could
ouldld local
loc
ocal Bigfoot rumors
processor,
proces
pr oces
oc essor,
sor,
so r, Jameson
Jamames
mes eson
son n checked
chheeck
c ed d hishis be
b true? It It felt like a Steelers
security
sseeccu urriityy system
syysste tem to o seesee if if he had had linebacker had had
a run out of the corn
any
any photos.
an ph
p ho ottooss. His Hiis camera
caame
mera ra over
oveer the t e
th to level
levele a quarterback.
qua art
rterback.
garage
garra
ga aggee never evveerr tripped,
never tri
ripp
ppeed d, so o he he hadh d
ha Maverick
Ma averick hadn’thad
a n’t been hit that
14 • FEBRUARY 2021 DEERANDDEERHUNTING.COM
 | STACE ACUP DEER BROWSE • PART 2

WINTER VELVET
NATURE CAN SOMETIMES PRODUCE STRANGE BUT BEAUTIFUL SPECIMENS,
ESPECIALLY WHEN PHYSIOLOGICAL ABNORMALITIES CREATE ODD ANTLERS.
DYH\RXVHHQD³FDFWXV´EXFN"3UREDEO\ EUHHGLQJVXSSUHVVLRQRUQRQH[LVWHQWVKHGGLQJ

H QRW
7KDW GRHVQ¶W PHDQ D VSLQ\ GHVHUW
SODQWVKDSHGOLNHDGHHU5DWKHULW¶VWKH
UDUH SKHQRPHQRQ WKDW RFFXUV LQ GHHU ZLWK
VRPH WHVWRVWHURQH GHILFLHQF\ 2IWHQ WKHVH
DQGWKHFRQGLWLRQFDQUHVXOWLQEL]DUUHDQWOHU
FRQILJXUDWLRQV 6XFK GHHU JHW WKH PRQLNHU
FDFWXV EXFNV EHFDXVH WKHLU UDFNV DUH RIWHQ
JQDUO\ PDVVHV RI IX]]\ JURZWK ZLWK PDQ\
EXPSV DQG SURWUXVLRQV VRUW RI UHVHPEOLQJ D
GHHU H[KLELW ELRORJLFDO DEHUUDWLRQV VXFK DV VDJXDURFDFWXV

DEERANDDEERHUNTING.COM FEBRUARY 2021 • 15

 WIND, WIND AND MORE WIND the deer. I willed him to move so I could see what
My introduction to deer anomalies occurred he was and also relieve the cramps starting to set
during mid-November 1996, on the opening day of into my muscles. The deer finally took a step, and I
Missouri’s firearms season. Then, I prided myself in got a glimpse of a thick antler beam. My heart rate
staying on stand all day, from dark to dark. At 29, I spiked, and my breathing quickened. The wind was
did that often, knowing g it increased my y chances of making g the buck nervous,, and he was reluctant to
being there when a big g buck
buc
u k walked
wa
alk
lked
ed by.
by.
y move.
mo Something
The weather that seemed
se odd about
year was less than the
th little bit of antler
desirable. It wasn’t I had seen. It was
raining, but heavy y the
th wrong color, but
winds battered the e I finally dismissed
landscape in the
e it,
it thinking that
pre-dawn darkness.. perhaps
pe the deer had
It was not enough to o just
ju rubbed a type of
curb my excitement,, tree
tr that stained his
though, as I climbed too rack
r a unique shade
my stand high in a pine e of
o brown.
tree overlooking a largee Ten minutes
cedar and briar thicket.
t
t. passed
p with that
As the morning ngg buck
b testing and
passed, the enthusiasm m retesting
r the wind.
I’d started with beganann I would have
to wither. The wind nd sworn
s it was an
kept hammering away, ay,
y, hour. Finally, the
at times gusting to to buck came. He
more than 25 mph. ph was on a trail that ran
Heavy, relentless wind can can underneath me on the
wear down your resolve. v .
ve left,
l but as big bucks
The longer I sat, the more eI often
o do, he didn’t
realized the wind was thereere
er e take
t the obvious
to stay. So I cinched down wn route.
r He bailed to my
my safety strap a little tle right,
r pushing through
tighter, backed that up withith
h the
t thick vegetation
a firm grip on a nearby limb
m
mb and
a carving his own
and stubbornly refused to to trail.
tr There was a slight
give in and leave. The deer er crease
c in the brush
apparently were smarter er he’d
h have to cross on
than I was, because by the he my
m right, but I’m right-
time I ate a quick lunch at at handed,
ha and the tree I
noon, I had only seen one ne was
w in limited me from
small buck. turning
tu enough to shoot
that
th way. As the buck
THE STANDOFF neared
ne the opening, I
About 3 p.m., as the e got
go my first solid look
wind-lashed tree rocked d at him, and my heart
me back and forth into o almost
alm stopped. He was
a state of hypnosis, I enormous
en — Boone &
heard a branch snap p Crockett
Cro caliber, with
that brought me back k world-class
wo mass. But
to reality. However,, wait:
wa Was that velvet?
there was so much noise Instantly, I knew I
from the wind that I was looking at a once-
questioned if I had heard in-a-lifetime
in-a buck. I
anything. It was thick also knew that if I didn’t
around my stand, and stop staring and start
other trees obscured my view,
v ew
vi e but
but I shooting,
sho he would be
finally confirmed a deer was standing less than 20 gone in seconds. With the window of opportunity
yards away. That was close, but with the thickness closing, I flipped my lever-action rifle to my other
of the branches between us, it might as well have hand, cocking the hammer and taking the safety off
been 100 yards. in one fluid motion. I would have to shoot him left-
I twisted around and stared over my shoulder at handed. As the buck emerged into the tiny opening,
16 • FEBRUARY 2021 DEERANDDEERHUNTING.COM
I was just bringing the events
evven nts such
suc
u h as as testicular
tes
esttiicu
cula lar
scope to my eye. He As the buck neared the opening, I got trauma,
trrau
auma
umam , a genetic
geneti
ge ne
n eti
tic
paused briefly at less anomaly,
anom
an om maly,
aly,y accidental
accciidden
en ntatal
ta
than 30 yards, and when I
my first solid look at him, and my heart castration
ccaast
strarati
ra tion
ti on
o n or or testicles
test
te sticclle es
found his chest in my cross-
hairs, I pulled the trigger.
almost stopped. He was enormous — that
t att are
th are
or undeveloped.
un nd
re undescended
dev velop
elo
el
und
op
ndesscce
ped d.
end
nded ed

At the crack of the Boone & Crockett caliber, with world- Cryptorchidism
Cryp
Cr y to
yp orcchi hid diismm is
is
rifle, I saw his hide ripple the
the specific
specif
sp eccif
e ific
icc condition
con
ond diitition
tion
on
from the shockwave that class mass. But wait: Was that velvet? when
when one one e or or both bo
b o
othtthh
went through his body, testicles
test
te sttiiccle
les do o not
notot descend.
des
escend
escecend
ce d.
like I was seeing it in slow motion. The buck vaulted Translated
Tr from
from
room Greek,
Gree
Gr eek,
ee k, it
k, it means
mean
me an
ans
ns “hard-to-find
“h
“har
har
ard-d-to
-to
o--ffin
ind
ind
an old rusted barbwire fence that ran through the testes.”
t stes.” That’s
te That’s what what my my buckbuck was wass — a hypogonadal
hypog
yppog
ogon nad ada all
thicket, branches breaking as he bulldozed through. cryptorchid
cryptorchi
cr hiid buck.
bu uck
c . Biologists
Biol
Bi olog
ol ogis
og ists
is ts knowknonow more mo
m ore
re about
abo
bout ut
Shot through the heart, he only made it 25 yards these
th bucks
buucks nowadays.
noowa
wada days
da ys.. One
ys One insightful
in
nssiighghtf t ulul study
sttu
udy
dy was wasas
and disappeared as he sank to the ground. conducted
conduc
co u tet d on n an an overabundance
over
ov erab
er ab
bun
unda daancncece of of cryptorchid
cry
rypt
ptorrchid
cch
hid d
Sitka
Si a black-tailed
bllac
a k-k tail
ta
a led bucks
bucucksks on
on Kodiak
K di
Ko diak ak Island.
ak Isl
slan ndd..
WHAT IN THE WORLD IS IT? That
That study
stu
tuudy found
fou
o nd that tha
hatt not
not all alll cryptorchid
cryp
cr
cryp pto orcchihid bucks
buucck ks
I barely forced myself to sit and wait for the had
h d malformed
ha ma alf
lforme
med antlers.
med antl
an tler
tl ers.
er s In
s. In fact,
faactt, somesoome
m had hadad normal
nor
orma mal
adrenaline-fueled shakes to ebb before climbing hardened
h rden
ha ened d antlers.
ant
ntle lers
lers
rs.. As expected,
exp pececteted,
te d, the
d, the
he levels
lev vel
els off
els
down. I eased toward the buck, parting the brush to testosterone
testos
te oste
te
erone
rone in
ro in cryptorchid
cryp
cr y to
yp torcrcchi
hidd bucks
bu
buck
uck ks were
we
w eree about
abboouutt 10 10
walk up to him, and stood there in awe. The answer times
ti lower
lo than
th
han thattha
hatt of normal
norrma mal bucks.bucks.
bu ck kss.. However,
How owev veerr,
to my earlier question was yes: He was in full velvet, interestingly,
inte
in t resttin
i gl
gly,
y thethe
h study
stu
tudydy found
fou
o nd d nono direct
dire
dire
di ectt relationship
re
ellaattio
onshi
nshi
ns hip
in the middle of November, when he should have between
betw
be wee
e n thet e level
th leve
le el of testosterone
tes
esto
tooststereron
er one e in n cryptorchid
crry
ypttororch hid id
been rutting. I didn’t know what to make of it but bucks
b cks and
bu and the the severity
seve
se veeri ty of
rity of their th eir hypogonadic
hei hyyppoog go
onna addiic
knew the deer was special in many ways. Sporting symptoms.
s mp
sy pto m . Further,
oms Fu
Furt rthe
rt her,
he r, theh study
the stu
tud dy found
dy fou
ound d thathat despite
tha desp
de spit ite
a typical 10-point frame with six extra nontypical having
h viing
ha g a cryptorchid
cry
yptptororch
or chid
ch id condition,
con
ondi
diti
di tiion n, someso me bucks
ome u kss still
buc sti
tillll
points, 8-inch bases and 44 inches of mass, he had
h d normal
ha no
normrmal
rm al levels
lev e s of
vel o testosterone
tes
esto
to
oststereron
er on ne along
alon
alon
al o g withwith
wi h the the
he
grossed more than 183 Boone & Crockett inches. corresponding
c rrres
co espo
pond
po nd
n din
ing g appearance
appe
ap pear
pe a ance
ar annce andand behavior
behav
ehav
eh avioriio
or of
of a typical
ty
yp picica all
I had never seen anything like the deer, and rutting
rutt
t in
ng buck.
buck
bu ck..
ck
during the next few days, when the excitement and
phone calls slowed down, I tried to learn as much as CONCLUSION
possible about the extraordinary buck’s condition. Cryptorchid
Cryp
Cr ypto
yp torc
to rchi
rc hid
hi d bucks
buck
bu cks are
ck are just
ju
ust one
one
n of of many
many
ma y interesting
inter
nteres
nt eres
er esti
esti
tin
ng g
That was before the Internet had taken off, so o oddities
oddi
od diti
di ties
ti es in
in the
the wildlife
wild
wi ldli
ld lif
ife
fe world.
wor
o ld.
ld
d. A perplexing
perp
pe ple
exiingng enigma,
en
niig
gmma a,,
digging up information was tedious and time- the
the condition
co
condndit
nd ittio
ionn can
can produce
prod
pr oduc
od uce
uc e specimens
spec
sp eccim
imen
imen ns across
accrro
a ss the
oss the
he
consuming. Early, it appeared that wildlife biologistss spectrum,
spec
sp ectr
trum
tr umm, from
from normal
nor
ormam l functioning
ma fu
unccti tion
onin
on inng bucks
ing bucck
bu ks to
to sterile
stte
erriile
le
agreed that such bucks never shed their velvet and cactus
cact
ca us bucks,
ctus bucucksk , as well
ks elll as
wel as varying
var
a yiying
ngg degrees
degre
egrees
eg reeess between.
betwe
ettwe
w e en n.
continue to add new growth each year. However, my Research
Rese
Re seararch
ar chh supports
sup
uppoport
po rtss the
rt the belief
beli
be lief
li eff that
h t although
tha a th
al hou ugghh my
my buck
bu
b ucckk
buck had grown a mostly typical rack, and it seemed d was
waas clearly
clea
cl earl
ea rly
rl y not
not a breeding
bree
br diing deer,
e ding dee
eer,r, he
he appeared
appppeear
a ed
e to to have
haave
ve
difficult to believe that was the result of years off enough
en
nou
oughgh testosterone
tes
estotost
to ster
st e on
er ne to o shed
she
h d his hiis rack
ra
ack
ck and
and d grow
grro
ow
ow a
growth overlaid atop itself. I believed there had to be new
ne
ew oneone eacheach year,
yea
e r, although
alt
l ho
lt houguggh with
w th
wi th delayed
deellay
ayed
yed
ed timing.
tim
min ng g..
another answer. At the time, I only found one other The
Thhe research
r se
re ear ch also
arch als
lsoo suggests
sugg
su ggges
eststs that
hatt a specific
tha sp
peeccif
cif ic level
ific lev
evelel ofof
buck like mine and tracked down the hunter who’d testosterone
testtosste
tero
rone
ro ne inin such
such bucks
buc
uckskss cannot
can
a no n t bebe used
usesed toto predict
prre
edi
dicctt
killed it. His buck had the same characteristics as precisely
prec
ecis
issel
elyy what
whata outward
out
utwa
ward d effects
rd efffe t the
eccts h condition
the coonndi
diti on will
tion wiilll
mine; hardening antlers under velvet, undescended have.
ha ve.. In our
ave our animal
ani
nimmal world
mal wo orld off extraordinary
worl exttraaor
ordi
dn
di na ry variety,
ary var
ariie
ety
ty,
testicles, a small empty scrotum sac, a slender neck, why
whhy would
woul
wo uld
ul d we want
wanantt it any
any other
oth
ther way?
way y?
doe-like features and no displays of rutting behavior.
In a more recent example, I found another hunter
who reported he had trail-cam pictures of his buck LITERATURE
LIT
TERATURE CCITED:
ITED:
from the previous year as a hard-antlered buck with 1. BBubenik,
uben
ub enik
en ikk, G.
G.A.,
G.A.
A.,, Ja
A. JJacobson,
cobs
co b on, J.P.
J.P.,
P , Sc
Schams,
Scha
hams
ha mss, D.
D.,, Ba
Bartos,
artr ooss, LL..
no velvet. That suggested that these bucks could (2001).
(200001) 1). Cryptorchism,
1) Cryp
Cr yppto
torrc
rchi
rchi
h sm, Hypogonadism
Hypogona nadi
adiism
s andandd Antler
Antntle
tler
ler MaMalformations
M l or
lf om maatitions
onns
actually shed their antlers, albeit later than normal. inn Black-tailed
Blaackck-t
-tai
-t a leed Deer
ai Deer (Odocoileus
(Od
O ocoileeuss hemionus
hemmio nuss si
ionu
nu ssitkensis)
tken
tk ensis)
siss)) ooff Kodi
si KKodiak
Kooddiiakk
In fact, many different circumstances can result in Is
sla
land
ndd. Re
Island. Retr
trie
tr ieve
ie
Retrievedvedd from
ve frrom rresearchgate.net/publication/225789697_
eseaarcchggatte.
e.ne
net/
ne t/pu
t/ publ
pu blic
iccat
atio
ioon/
n/222225789
57789
8969
8969 697_
7_
a cactus buck, and they can have a wide range off Cryp
Cr yptotorc
to rchi
rc hism
hi sm_h
sm _hyp
_hhyp
ypog
ogon
og onad
ona issm_
ad m_an a d_
an d_an
antl
an tler
tl er_m
Cryptorchism_hypogonadism_and_antler_malformations_in_black- mal
a fo
form
rrm
mattio ions
n _iinn__bl
_bl
blac
bla
ack-
k-
testosterone levels. taililed
ed_d_dee
_d eer_
ee r__Od
O occoile
oile
oi leus
u _hhem
us mioionnus__si
s tk
tken
ensi
tailed_deer_Odocoileus_hemionus_sitkensis_of_Kodiak_Island sis_
si s__ooff_KKooddiiaakk__Is
_IIsslaand
nd

HYPOGONADISM AND CRYPTORCHIDISM

With the wealth of information available online e
and additional research I conducted since killing g
the buck, I have a much clearer picture of this buck’ss
biological condition. The term hypogonadism referss
to the condition in which less-than-normal amounts ts
of testosterone are produced. This can be caused byby
DEERANDDEERHUNTING.COM FEBRUARY 2021 • 17
| ROGER A. PAGE

FROM THE

Wo ods
TO THE Wall

HUNTERS GAIN AN EXCLUSIVE APPRECIATION FOR

ANIMALS IN THE WILD. TAXIDERMISTS RETURN
US THERE BY PRESERVING MOMENTS IN TIME.
s much as the storyteller within me aches

A to gin up at least measurable drama, the

episode I want to relate evolved much
too rapidly. On my periphery in the gray
morning, there suddenly emerged a splendid
buck, and within three seconds, the hillside
echoed with a shattering blast. I sometimes wish
I would have turned my eyes away after the shot
rather than following the buck’s frantic flight as
it hurtled tumultuously down the steep grade,
flipped once and finally came to rest 20 yards
below me. The fallen buck exhaled a final faltering
sigh to mercifully restore the morning’s silence.

18 • FEBRUARY 2021 DEERANDDEERHUNTING.COM

 WINDIGO IMAGES

DEERANDDEERHUNTING.COM FEBRUARY 2021 • 19


From The Woods To
Sequence shows ap
plyi
mannequin, attachin ng glue to mannequin, pulling hide onto
g the antlers, and sh
owing ear inserts.
Stunned in the aftermath, I
needed a few minutes to process
everything that had happened but
soon knew to deem it a moment
meant to last forever.
Enter Tim Millard of Fins ’N
Feathers Taxidermy. Tim and his
wife, Toni, had previously performed
some work for me, and we have since
enjoyed a burgeoning friendship I
expect will last the ages. That night,
I drove to Fins ’N Feathers, and Tim
got busy caping my prize. When he
finished, we moved inside his shop
to do the paperwork, when amid
our good-natured banter, I had a
brainstorm to which I shall remain
forever indebted.
“Hey, Tim, I’ve never seen a deer
mount done wall-to-wall,” I said. “I
mean, I know a little about what
you do, but what are the chances
20 • FEBRUARY 2021
The Wall
s alig ni ng
Sequence show
k to am pl
injecting caul
into plac e, ve
mandible
you’d let me come up and chronicle
the entire process?”
“Why not?” he replied.
Late the next summer, I received
the call. We were ready to roll. I had
little doubt I would learn a lot about
the art of taxidermy. It has always
fascinated me, but I had no idea
what’s in play when a taxidermist
assumes the task of replicating
a piece of time and returning a
hunter to it. An artist can paint it,
and a writer can depict it, but a
taxidermist can breathe everlasting
life back into it. Talk about an
enviable artform.
Typically, a hunter drops off
an animal off and pays half down,
and the next time the hunter shows
up, the mount is completed. A
quick handshake typically follows
a congenial compliment. “Wow,
nequin,
ch est crest properly to man cking
ify th roat and neck, pulling an
d tu
ri fy ing snout alignment.
nice work, man. Looks great.” A
Facebook post later, the mount is
consigned to pose on a wall to be
admired, and the recipient hasn’t
much of a clue about all that went
into it. There’s nothing wrong with
that, of course, but I can tell you
from witnessing the entirety of
what goes into a mount that I will
forever observe taxidermy with an
added degree of reverence.
I already knew a bit about what
to expect. Years ago, I chronicled
the progression of a full-sized
bear mount. The taxidermist, Alan
Strouse, of Pennsylvania, remains a
good friend. The bear was a male,
and the only reason for a gender-
reveal is to emphasize something
that perhaps impressed me more
than it should have. Routine
joking persists about how Alan
spent 15 minutes hunched over
in tight scrutiny to make sure the
DEERANDDEERHUNTING.COM
genitals, as we’ll refer to them, were
anatomically perfect — I guess.
(I’ve never checked — and won’t.)
But our jocular back-and-forth
got so out of hand that Alan joked
about supplying a flashlight with
the mount in case future critics
invited to my office might feel
compelled to verify that the story
was not embellished. The point is
taxidermists are darned serious
about detail.
MAKING IT HAPPEN … AGAIN
When I arrived for the first day
of the current project, Tim had the
mannequin posed on a stand and
ready. With the hide lying aside,
Tim worked at mixing a resin-
based adhesive in which the antlers
would eventually be affixed to the
mannequin. The hide, or cape,
had been fleshed, wet-tanned and
frozen. Now it was thawed and
waiting. We got busy. Tim set the
eyes and antlers while I moved
about with my new hotshot GoPro
video unit mounted to a tall selfie-
stick so I could stay out of the way
and still capture the process.
Tim’s shop is consistent with
other taxidermy shops I’ve visited:
modest and cluttered with work
Sequence shows ey
e de
stitching of the cape tail, specific attention to tear ducts, fi
, ca
constant grooming al refully tucking the lower lip into plac
ways adhering to th
e various hair patter e
DEERANDDEERHUNTING.COM
in varying stages. Only recently
did he and Toni build an adjacent
showroom to relocate finished
projects separate from the work area.
Tim slid the mounting stand to
a position using strategic lighting,
and my buck was ready to undergo
its resurrection.
Photos are imperative to
highlight many of the details,
oddities and intricacies a spectator
might otherwise have difficulty
envisioning, but the initial task of
pulling the hide over the mannequin
and gluing it in place seemed more
like a wrestling match. I felt guilty
for not offering to help. Torqueing
the hide this way and that, Tim
explained the crucial alignments
of the chest crest beneath the
throat and the seam on top along
the neck. He continued to grapple
with the placement until he seemed
satisfied. With the hide in place, the
precision work could commence.
Taxidermists use clay to form
a realistic puffiness around the
eyes — one roll above the eye, one
below — and I thought that should
do it. But when Tim moved in with
a third roll of clay to place ahead
of the orbital sockets for enhanced
authenticity, he said,
sai
aid,
d, “You
“Yo
You probably
pr
p ob
bablyly
sh work—colo
Sequence shows fini ith bright flashlight, airbrushing finer .
ny w
brushing and scruti
(note nose modules
have been define
nal
e, th
ns.
wouldn’t have to do this,” and then
with a casual pause added, “but I
like to anyway.” It’s a phrase nearly
verbatim to mine when I was a
professional landscaper. On its own,
this phrase, “You probably wouldn’t
have to do this … ” reveals little, but
after eight or 10 times applied to
different facets of detail, it begins
to sink in why professionals are
superior at their craft. All those little
things you probably wouldn’t have to
do cumulate into overall excellence.
Meticulously, Tim progressed,
and our ceaseless chatter turned
at times philosophical, as I
expected. I have enjoyed graduated
conversation with every taxidermist
with whom I’ve worked, all
possessing commonness when it
comes to wildlife. Interestingly,
it’s rare for taxidermists to share
the same emphasis hunters do to
appraise our mounts, and there’s
never excessive aggrandization
uttered by taxidermists, despite
handling giant animals for a living.
Antler size appears secondary to a
good half-hour spent fine-tuning
eyelids or incessant fussing with
s
red cl ay pa cked ar ound eye, meticulou
details
ly, final touchups
d) , an d last
FEBRUARY 2021 • 21
wispy hairs inside the ears. And
should you dare underplay the
significance of nostrils, I have news
for you.
Our conversation never lagged.
We are cancer survivors, so there
was plenty about that. But we never
brought up the word trophy. Tim
stays focused on one goal. Whether
the customer is a seasoned
big-leaguer traveling worldwide on
guided hunts, who can hardly fit the
resulting rack through the door and
will undoubtedly hold Tim to high
standards, or a local who bursts
burs
bu rssts in
in
swelling with pride over a
yearling 6-pointer, Tim
said, generically, “My
job is to make it happen
for them.” I chuckled
when he said it and jotted
a mental note to tighten
the comment down byy
inserting the word again..
Taxidermists are fullyy
accomplished at making itt
happen again for us.
By then, Tim wass
vigorously brushing and d I can, however, close by
kneading, using his thumb mb
and forefinger to bend and nd
then sharpen the edges es
es
of the ear inserts to get get
them just so. He adjusted ed
the buck’s snout, carefully ullly
lining up the dark tones off
the nose to split evenly between
the eyes. Next, he tucked the lips
into place. When Tim stepped
behind the mount to stitch the cape
closed, thereby burying any hint of
a mannequin, I couldn’t hide a wide
smile at how it was turning out.
DAY 2: FINISH WORK
The mount needed 10 days to two
weeks for drying and for the skin
around the eyes, nose and mouth
to shrink. After that, the finish work
would be a walk in the park. Most of
the heavy lifting was completed.
I entered the shop for Day 2
just in time to pull up a seat and
sip coffee while a fellow customer
gabbed about how his young son
had connected with a nice buck
during the Columbus Day Youth
Hunt. The dad’s eyes blossomed
with pride as he relived it for what
I bet was the umpteenth time, and
I felt good for him. Tim, like all
taxidermists, would happily work
to keep that moment, that hunter
22 • FEBRUARY 2021
and, maybe most of all, that dad
forever young.
Resuming work on my buck,
Tim hovered for the longest time
over one eye and then rotated his
stand around to hover over the
other. Delicately, he etched dark
clay about the lids and tear ducts,
packing and brushing, and then
packing and brushing some more
until he seemed satisfied. Next,
he peered closely at each eye with
a bright flashlight and swiped
here and there with a cotton swab
t Tim M illard, and autthhor Roger Page.
Taxidermis
for final touches. Throughout the
process, he paused from time to
time to groom the deer, swirling
his brushes harmoniously with
the buck’s intricate hair patterns
keeping them in smooth order.
Again that morning, as during
the previous session, he steadily
narrated each step for my video:
how the nose modules needed to
be personified, and how a product
called liquid tears will preserve a
moistened look to the eyes. As I tried
to mentally retrace everything he
had done, I marveled at how much
effort is expended on each feature
of a deer’s face. Even the eyelashes,
which I had never noticed before on
deer, stayed monitored throughout.
When the airbrush came out, I
knew the end was in sight. Deftly
but patiently, Tim added layers of
paint to the nose and then traced
his brush to define the lips before
narrowing his attention more
tightly to paint around the eyes and
tear ducts.
By then, I had shut down my
GoPro. I had all the footage I
needed. I didn’t look at the buck
but instead took the final minute to
absorb the concentration in Tim’s
eyes; to study the honed intensity
of a professional committed to a
craft that until then I could only
have perceived as something
that occurred between dropping
an animal off and picking it up.
I watched until Tim exhaled a
contented
con
co n sigh and backed
away.
aww He picked up a grooming
brush for a few last strokes but
bru
br
instead
ins
in s set the brush aside
and
an n reached out with a bare
hand to affectionately pet the
h
ha
deer’s soft neck.
de
“It’s a beautiful deer,
Rog,” he said, breaking our
R
rrare silence.
GO SEE FOR YOURSELF
I realize a brief article
rrisks leaving things unsaid.
urging hunters to ask their
taxidermist for permission
to view the process start to
finish. Able to speak now
with a degree of authority,
I promise you will emerge
tto forever
f cherish those animals on
your wall even more.
To commemorate our time
together, Tim requested a photo
of us shaking hands with my
handsome buck posed stoically
between us. It’s a photo to treasure,
and Tim, too, has said as much. I
know it meant more than a little to
him that I afforded time to gain a full
awareness of the reasons we should
herald taxidermists as elite artists.
And as you might have already
guessed, I raced home and hung
the mount in its place on my office
wall. That done, I ceremoniously
retreated to my chair across the
room — a chair that instantly
morphed into a grungy old camo
seat tucked behind a ground
blind in the chilly mist of a cold
November morning, where in my
periphery I caught a glimpse of a
splendid buck — again.
DEERANDDEERHUNTING.COM
 Stauer Collector’s Series
FREE $99 Binoculars
With Knife Purchase
Not shown
(see details) actual size.

BONUS! Call today and you’ll also

receive this heavy duty sheath!

Blade Stunner
Beautifully made, magnificent to look at, this knife is a work of art at only $99
What customers are saying about
I t’s not often you happen upon a blade smith who has gem
cutting skills. In fact, you stand a better chance finding a
needle in a haystack. But finding needles in haystacks is what
Stauer knives...
we do best, so when we saw this master craftsman’s handiwork, ÌÌÌÌÌ
we made certain to procure some of these Southwestern “Very hefty, well-built knife and sheath.
masterpieces to complete our collection. Extremely good-looking and utilitarian.”
The stainless steel blade, bolster and pommel are exquisitely — R., Lacey, Washington
etched and would have looked great with a less ambitious
handle. But the results of overachieving are stunning here. The the impeccable craftsmanship of the Sedona Knife. If you don’t
turquoise-blue colored handle is ablaze with assorted stones like feel like we cut you a fair deal, send it back within 30 days for a
jasper, marble, sunstone, and coral that have been hand cut and complete refund of the item price.
inlaid in a Southwestern motif that conjures images of intricately Limited Reserves. You could pay nearly $1,900 for a steel,
beaded belts and moccasins. fixed blade knife with a gemstone handle, but why would you
Whether you collect blades, EXCLUSIVE when you can enjoy the superb craftsmanship of the Sedona
interesting stones, or are a lover of
the great American Southwest, the
Sedona Knife is more than cut out
FREE Stauer® 8x21
Knife for only $99. Don’t let this beauty slip through your
fingers. Call today!

to do the job. Compact Sedona Knife

But we don’t stop there. While Binoculars
supplies last, we’ll include a pair -a $99 value- Offer Code Price Only $99 + S&P Save $80
of $99, 8x21 power compact
binoculars and a genuine leather
with purchase of
the Sedona Knife 1-800-333-2045
sheath FREE when you purchase Your Insider Offer Code: SEK143-01
the Sedona Knife. You must use the insider offer code to get our special price.
Your satisfaction is 100%
guaranteed. Feel the knife in your
hands, wear it on your hip, inspect
Stauer ®

14101 Southcross Drive W., Ste 155, Dept. SEK143-01

Burnsville, Minnesota 55337 www.stauer.com

“...Native American knives have since taken on a more *Discount is only for customers who use
the offer code versus the listed original
artistic meaning in the modern era...these decorative Stauer.com price. Rating of A+
style knives have become a must-have for
California residents please call 1-800-333-2045 regarding
any Southwestern home.” –– PRWeb, 2017 Proposition 65 regulations before purchasing this product.
• 5" etched stainless steel blade; 9 1/2" overall length
• Turquoise-colored handle with accent stones including coral, marble, sandstone, tiger’s eye, jasper and sunstone
• Leather pouch included

Stauer… Afford the Extraordinary.®

| STEVE BARTYLLA

WHEN DEER
BILL MARCHEL

24 • FEBRUARY 2021 DEERANDDEERHUNTING.COM


WHEN THE HUNTING GETS TOUGH, IT’S SOMETIMES
BEST TO TAKE A SEAT ON THE BENCH AND
ANALYZE THE WHITETAIL’S PLAYBOOK.
DEERANDDEERHUNTING.COM
ZDVVWRNHG,FDPHZLWKLQD
I ZKLVNHU RI KDYLQJ D GHFHQW
EXFNHQWHUERZUDQJHDQG
KDG VHHQ VHYHUDO RWKHU
GHHU GXULQJ P\ DIWHUQRRQ
VLW , FRXOGQ¶W KDYH EHHQ PRUH
FRQILGHQWIRUWKHQH[WGD\¶VKXQW
RQWKHLVRODWHGDOIDOIDILHOG
1RW VHHLQJ WKH EXFN WKDW
QH[W DIWHUQRRQ GLG QRWKLQJ
WR GDPSHQ P\ HQWKXVLDVP
EHFDXVH , GLG VHH WKH VDPH
GRH DQG IDZQ IURP WKH
SUHYLRXVGD\,MXVWILJXUHGLW
ZDV D PDWWHU RI WLPH EHIRUH
WKHEXFNUHDSSHDUHG
/RQJ VWRU\ VKRUW , GLG
VHHWKHEXFNWZRPRUHWLPHV
GXULQJWKHQH[WWKUHHZHHNV
+RZHYHU KH WKHQ YDQLVKHG
LQWR WKLQ DLU 6WXEERUQO\ ,
NHSWKXQWLQJWKHDOIDOIDILHOG
FHUWDLQ KH¶G FRPH EDFN DQG
,¶G JHW P\ FKDQFH ,W QHYHU
KDSSHQHG (YHQWXDOO\ ,
HYHQPDQDJHGWRUXQWKHGRH
DQG IDZQ RII OHDYLQJ PRVW
VLWVFRPSOHWHO\GHHUOHVV
FEBRUARY 2021 • 25
BILL MARCHEL
One might wonder why I’d
begin an article for D&DH with
the painfully true story of a green,
15-year-old kid’s failed attempts at
killing a buck. The reason is simple.
I was able to learn a very important
lesson that season so many years ago.
When deer sightings begin to
plummet, the biggest mistake a
hunter can usually make is to sit
around and hope for that to change.
More often than not, it won’t.
Ultimately, it doesn’t really
matter whether it’s the case of
bucks simply changing their
patterns or, in the case described
above, sloppy hunting causing it.
Either way, it’s time to reinvent
the wheel ... and find out where
they went.
SEEING IS BELIEVING
No method is better suited
26 • FEBRUARY 2021
or more effective for finding a
vanished buck than on-stand
observations. I believe so strongly
in this that my “Seeing is Believing”
article in the August 2009 issue of
D&DH was dedicated exclusively
to this topic. Because of that, I
won’t waste words covering that
same thing here.
However, I do believe it’s
important to reiterate that when
you’re not seeing the deer you think
you should be seeing, stop hunting.
It might pain you to “sit
on the bench” a few mornings
and afternoons, but it’s much
wiser to invest a few days into
hop-scotching across your hunting
ground and observing deer.
There’s simply no more effective
way to get back in the game, and
on deer, than to go find them.
Observations will make your next
hunts more about quality hours,
rather than quantity.
It should also be noted that
observation strategies don’t only
apply to those who hunt wide-
open farmlands. These tactics are
equally effective for those who
hunt big-woods whitetails.
Assuming the forest’s
understory is at least relatively
open, a hunter can often set
stands that allow visuals of a fairly
large area. This is particularly
true for ridge points that provide
a view of the ridge and valleys on
both sides.
When using this technique, a
climbing stand comes in handy.
Preparing as if it was a normal
hunt, grab a weapon, a good
pair of optics, slip a climber on
your back and head for a good
observation point. When teamed
DEERANDDEERHUNTING.COM

with taking a low-impact route
in and out, there’s really nothing
more to it than that.
You can bring your weapon
“just in case,” but consider the
outing as strictly an in-season
scouting effort. If you accidentally
stumble into a shooter buck, well,
that’s a bonus.
The other method of “seeing” a
shooter is to get his picture with
a trail camera. Set up cameras to
cover water holes, mineral licks,
scrapes and food sources, or angle
them down at trails. This can help
you quickly see what types of deer
are using the area.
I don’t hesitate to put a scouting
camera anywhere I’d be willing to hunt.
However, I believe most hunters aren’t
anywhere near as cautious as they
need to be when setting up or checking
cameras. Few take the same precautions
DEERANDDEERHUNTING.COM
they would when hunting their favorite
stand, and that’s exactly what it takes to
be successful and not spook deer.
Carefully plan routes to avoid
deer activity, and time your trips
for when deer activity is low.
Use a scent-control program,
and don’t “over-hunt” an area
with a scouting camera. Take a
low-impact approach, and you
will reap the benefits.
FINDING HIDDEN FOOD SOURCES
Over-hunting is the most
commonly blamed culprit for
diminishing deer sightings. I’m
surely not going to pretend that isn’t
a serious issue. However, I believe
it often receives too much blame
and the true reason goes unnoticed.
We hunters can be a smidge
arrogant in believing we know
what deer will be feeding on,
blaming all else but an undetected
food source for why sightings
have plummeted. Nowhere is this
more pronounced than in farm
country. Here, many hunters
believe the fields are the end-all
of food sources. Certainly, they
can be very powerful draws.
However, Mother Nature hasn’t
survived all these years without
being capable of providing for
her own.
The problem with many
natural food sources is they don’t
stick out like a sore thumb. Sure,
the two-year-old regrowth from
a clear-cut is obvious, as are the
heavily pawed areas under oaks.
On the flip side, a pocket of heavily
browsed dogwood can simply
blend into the background. One
glance at the overgrown meadow
shows a surplus of dead grasses
and weeds, but look closer and
you will find a bevy of succulent
cool-season grasses and forbs just
beneath the surface. When you
really think about it, most natural
food sources don’t stand out.
This is further complicated by
the fact that nature’s list of natural
food sources is seemingly endless.
As a whitetail biologist once told
me, it would be much easier to
compile a list of foods deer won’t
eat than what they do.
Each plant’s changing desirability
state as it matures adds to the
challenge. Nowhere is this more
apparent than in maple leaves.
They’re a powerful candy crop
for whitetails during the one or
two weeks when they are falling
from the trees, but the leaves are
essentially ignored after that.
Even worse, regional differences
make it impossible to cover natural
food sources with one umbrella.
Tender green aspen and poplar
leaves are a tremendous draw
in the North, but not as much in
the South. On the other hand,
honeysuckle can be a deer magnet
in southern locales.
All of these naturally produced
deer foods, and many more, can
cause radical shifts in deer activity.
As a result, stands that were once
teaming with deer suddenly go
dry for no apparent reason.
Keeping up with hidden food
sources requires knowing what’s
FEBRUARY 2021 • 27
out there. Hunters must train their
eyes to see what goes unnoticed
by most. Look for those nipped
twigs and greenery. Next, study
the appearance of the nipping and
attempt to gauge how fresh it is.
Finally, note the plant type and
start looking for more signs of
feeding in the area.
Deer scat is another clue. If deer
are spending much time feeding in
an area, there’s often scat piles left
behind. When a concentration of scat
is found, put on your detective’s hat
and look for clues as to what’s drawing
their feeding activity. As a bonus, the
freshness of the scat will help reveal if
the feeding site is still active.
Watching deer is another
helpful aid. As deer pass your
stand, note what they’re pausing
28 • FEBRUARY 2021
to feed on. If deer are browsing
on the vegetation lining the
edge of a field, make a note of it.
Then, on your way to the stand
the next time, make a detour and
investigate what food was drawing
them off the crops. Simply train
yourself to notice these seemingly
small details.
Finally, create a map of
food sources on a property and
keep logs of feeding times and
activities. In the logs, include
the date and growth stage of the
plants. Together, the pair provides
the hunter a resource for both
tracking and predicting where
feeding activity is taking place. As
a general rule of thumb, follow the
food and you’ll find the deer.
GO FOR A WALK
When deer vanish, another
productive tactic is to spend
prime hunting hours stalking.
When done slowly, pausing to
scan the area after every couple
steps — and with the wind in
your face — it would amaze
most hunters how many relaxed
deer will be observed. In turn,
these observations can point the
hunter to exactly where the deer
have relocated.
As concerned as most hunters
are about spooking deer, I’ve
found that even when this tactic
does bump a deer, it’s not the end
of the world. I firmly believe that
one relatively harmless encounter
with a human does not cause even
a mature buck to abandon the
DEERANDDEERHUNTING.COM
 When deer vanish, another productive
tactic is to spend prime hunting hours
stalking. When done slowly, pausing
to scan the area after every couple steps — and
with the wind in your face — it would amaze most
hunters how many relaxed deer will be observed.
In turn, these observations can point the hunter
to exactly where the deer have relocated.”

CONCLUSION deer that tries pulling a vanishing

Finding consistent success act on you this fall.
on mature bucks is an ongoing
process even for the best hunters in — Steve Bartylla is a full-
North America. And, as is the case time outdoor writer, seminar
for nearly any venture, flexibility speaker and big-buck fanatic
is the building block to success. If from central Wisconsin.
you adopt a flexible approach, and
combine the techniques outlined
in this article, you will be much
BILL MARCHEL

better equipped to deal with a

area and become nocturnal. In

fact, I have seen many occasions
when they return within an hour
or two after being spooked.
Therefore, I’m not afraid to
occasionally use a stalk-and-
hunker tactic when chasing
elusive bucks. When faced with
hunting new land or dwindling
deer sightings, I will slowly stalk
the woods, looking for deer and
deer sign. Upon coming across a
promising location, I’ll hunker
downwind in some natural cover
and see what happens. This
technique allows me to maximize
my efforts by combining both
hunting and scouting into the
same trip. As an added bonus, it is
a real rush to get nose to nose with
deer every now and then.
DEERANDDEERHUNTING.COM FEBRUARY 2021 • 29
| JOHN HAGEMAN

30 • FEBRUARY 2021 DEERANDDEERHUNTING.COM

 THE PRUDENCE OF SHOOTING MORE

AGE AND THE SATISFACTION OF TAKING

ENOUGH BIG-RACKED DEER HAVE
CONTRIBUTED TO A DOZEN REASONS WHY
THE AUTHOR WILL HOLD FIRE ON BUCKS.

enjoy the taste of venison, so I’ve never considered

I myself a buck hunter. Putting a year’s worth of steaks,

chops and burger into my freezer overrides my desire
for antlers. However, the past few years, I’ve passed
on chances to shoot other deer on the opening day
of firearms season in case “my buck” showed up.
Almost 20 years ago, after shooting several large
bucks, I joined the ranks of deer hunters who
voluntarily pass small and young bucks so the deer can
grow older and potentially achieve greater antler growth.
Four days into the 2015 firearms season, a Licking
County, Ohio, buck trotted within 5 yards of my
ground blind. The deer sported a heavy, wide
rack, but a missing right G-4 tine and somewhat
stubby antlers inspired me to pass as it walked
out of sight. I hoped additional age would
let it develop taller antlers to match its
substantial 10-point frame. After viewing
my trail camera images the next week,
a couple of Ohio Division of Wildlife
biologists estimated the buck to be
a 3-year-old that would already
gross at least 160 inches.

DEERANDDEERHUNTING.COM FEBRUARY 2021 • 31


Here’s the author’s 13-point, 182
-5/8-inch nontypical taken in Lic
JOHN HAGEMAN
For the next two years, the buck
appeared on a game camera aimed
at a trail in front of my ground blind
the week before firearms season,
keeping my hopes alive that I
would eventually tag it in the lightly
hunted private woods. I never saw
the deer again, but I remain content
with my decision to pass on him
during that first encounter.
Coincidentally, for the past
two seasons, I also had a 190-inch
buck on my trail camera during
fall at my Ottawa County, Ohio,
property, 110 miles away from
the Licking County site.
The season before this past
year, I spent almost every
afternoon of the four-day
January muzzleloader season in
32 • FEBRUARY 2021
king Co., Ohio (1996).
my ground blind there waiting for
the buck to show up during legal
shooting hours. After downloading
my SD card the next week, trail
camera images showed him in
my shooting lane an hour before
sunset during the one afternoon I
left early for another commitment.
The Licking County
landowner tagged “my” buck in
mid-November this past year. Yet
I still elected to hunt that farm
first that year because the much
higher deer densities provide me
with ample opportunities to shoot
a doe, and it leads Ohio’s all-time
Buckeye Big Buck trophy list.
However, while I hunted there
this past season, I wondered if
my Ottawa County buck would
survive until I returned. I silently
hoped no shooter bucks would
show up, making me choose
between it and a chance at the
big deer in my woods (Ohio is a
one-buck-per-year state).
At the time, I didn’t know the
Ottawa County 12-pointer had
been shot that week a quarter-
mile from my woods while I was
downstate. A neighbor shared the
news after my return. Both bucks
I had in mind that season were no
longer in play.
Although it would have been
satisfying to harvest that trophy
on my property, I realized it
makes more sense for me not
to kill more bucks than to add
another mount to my den wall.
In that spirit, I’ve composed
a dozen reasons not to kill more
bucks. Maybe one — or more — of
my motivations to shoot only does
might ring true with other hunters.
My Den Walls are Balanced
with Mounts
I had my best nontypical (182-
5/8 inches net) and typical (140
gross, 137 net) deer mounted,
and they hang on opposite walls.
Additional deer heads would
disrupt the balance of the room
and displace my mounted birds,
fish and tanned furbearer pelts.
Taxidermy is Expensive
One of my closest friends,
who died this past year, was
a taxidermist who mounted
pheasants, several trophy
walleyes, a stringer of jumbo
perch, a small flock of waterfowl
and the deer heads that adorn my
den walls for the cost of materials.
However, the retail fee good
taxidermists currently charge for
a deer (head) is more than $500.
Fewer Years to Enjoy Them
At 61, there are many more
years in the rear-view mirror
than ahead of me. Realistically, it
makes no sense to keep collecting
anything, including guns,
decoys, calls, traps, fishing poles,
cookbooks, clothing or more
stuffed specimens.
DEERANDDEERHUNTING.COM
THE HUNT
NEVER ENDS
™

CONFIDENCE
IN ALL CONDITIONS

LEARN ABOUT THE

T/C Venture II next generation trigger
® ™

and enhanced Weather Shield ®ÄUPZO at

TCARMS.COM

I Rarely Look at My Mounts
My den gets less use than
the rest of my house, so I rarely
admire my mounted fish and
game. Why should I hoard a
limited, prized resource by adding
another underappreciated rack to
an already crowded wall to boost
my hunting ego?
I Have Nothing to Prove
The past four decades, I have
worn out a lot of boots in the
pursuit of fur, fin and feathers
and have no need to kill anything
to prove my outdoor skills. I
have shot one or more deer
every season for decades. My
records indicate that’s about 60,
including several above-average
and smaller bucks, several dozen
does and a few snap-decision
“oops” button bucks.
The Glory Only Lasts
a Few Days
Within a few days of shooting
a big buck, the back-slapping
and high fives end. Unless the
deer is a top-scoring specimen,
few hunters remember long what
others shot in past seasons.
Killing a Buck is More
Important to Other Hunters
Many hunters dedicate their
season to kill a particular buck
that appeared on their trail camera.
By killing only does, I won’t dash
the hopes of anyone who evaluates
the success of their deer season
with a measuring tape.
I Would Rather Help
Retain Younger Hunters
Hunter numbers are declining
throughout most of the country. If
passing on bucks gives better odds
to younger hunters who would
revel in killing a buck of any size,
I’m willing to forgo my buck tag to
stoke their enthusiasm for hunting.
Getting Permission to
Hunt Does is Easier
Where deer populations are
sufficient, getting permission to
hunt does is easier if you pledge
not to shoot bucks. Farmers
that have given me permission
to hunt have been happy to see
doe numbers reduced, with a few
inviting me to “shoot them all.”
The Licking County woods
I’ve hunted for almost 30 years
has a half-dozen bow-hunters
who hunt the weeks ahead of my
annual post-Thanksgiving arrival
during firearms week. Some have
their buck tags filled by then and
tolerate me taking away some
surplus does.

Antlers are Inedible

Sheds have become popular
dog chew bones, and many shed
hunters become disheartened
after finding damaged antlers
that have been gnawed on by
rodents. Still, a saying often used
by hunters wanting to rationalize
shooting a doe says, “You can’t
eat the horns anyway.”
I have several sets of small
antlers from deer I killed earlier
in my hunting career in Missouri,
Iowa and Ohio that collect dust
in an old wooden box in my den.
Those bucks were not wasted, but
I came to appreciate later that
they were shot prematurely.

-inch net typica l, taken on the run in Wood County, Ohio, with a
The author’s 8-point, 137
muzzleloader (2000).
JOHN HAGEMAN

34 • FEBRUARY 2021 DEERANDDEERHUNTING.COM

 REID/DDH

Many casual venison consumers Nowadays, I try to get good

Does are Better Eating would be hard-pressed to discern any photographs of bucks as they pass
In general, I agree with the
difference between a well-handled, through during hunting season
long-accepted belief that young
properly processed buck and doe of to accompany articles, see how
does usually taste better than old
similar ages. I don’t find the flavor of many I can learn to recognize and
bucks. When I process deer, the
any seasonally grain-fed deer to be reveal them to bow-hunters who
familiar raw meat of plump does
objectionable, regardless of gender. share the woods with me.
has a sweeter smell than that of
lean, rutting bucks teeming with
hormones, and those does don’t I Enjoy Watching and CONCLUSION
Killing any buck or doe is a
have enlarged, muscular necks. Photographing Bucks personal decision. But perhaps
Still, a poorly treated doe will be
worse table fare than a well-handled While Hunting other hunters who are satisfied
Although some does might with the number of bucks they
buck. Performing thorough field-
have some mannerisms or have tagged during their careers
dressing procedures, maintaining
conspicuous markings that set might also be ready to give the
impeccable meat cleanliness,
them apart, most look the same rest a pass, as I’m pledging to do.
executing prompt cooling, allowing
superficially. However, check me for a pulse
sufficient hanging time (aging) and
On the other hand, each buck, if I fail to get excited when trophy
carefully trimming away visible fat
like fine works of art, is unique by bucks walk into gun or bow range.
affects the tenderness and flavor of
a deer more than its gender. the distinctive sculpture adorning
Older deer benefit from its head. They also perform some
longer aging than young-of-the- additional behaviors, such as
year specimens. A button buck I rubbing, scraping, sparring, fighting,
inadvertently shot during an October licking and depositing scent, which
muzzleloader season went through provide engaging theatre.
our meat grinder like pudding.

DEERANDDEERHUNTING.COM FEBRUARY 2021 • 35

| JOHN J. OZOGA
RANDY HOEPNER/WINDIGO IMAGES

36 • FEBRUARY 2021 DEERANDDEERHUNTING.COM

 DEER RESEARCH

THE TINY GLAND THAT

TELLS
IT ALL
IN THE LATE 1970S, RESEARCHERS SET OUT TO STUDY CYCLIC
GROWTH PATTERNS IN WHITE-TAILED DEER. AMAZINGLY, THEY
DISCOVERED A PREVIOUSLY UNKNOWN ORGAN THAT PROVIDES
SURPRISINGLY ACCURATE IDENTIFICATION INFORMATION
ON A DEER’S SEX, AGE AND NUTRITIONAL STATUS.
he ability to assess correctly the general well-being of

T white-tailed deer is a prime requirement for proper

herd management.
Appraisal of relative physical condition based on fat
deposits provides useful information on energy reserves, but
such indices are of limited diagnostic value in other seasons.
Furthermore, blood assays on live deer can help evaluate recent
nutritional history.
Howwever, those appraisals do not help ID health quite like
that of the whitetail’s tiny thymus gland.
In young, growing mammals, the thymus gland is quite large
but shrinks in size at maturity. It apparently plays a key role
in the immune system and contributes to proper growth and
general well-being.
In white-tailed deer, the thymus gland consists of two distinct
lobes. The thoracic lobe is located within the chest cavity, near
where the major blood vessels exit the heart. The cervical lobe
lies outside the chest cavity, along the underside of the trachea,
just ahead of the rib cage. The cervical lobe represents about
two-thirds of the total thymus mass and remains intact even in
eviscerated carcasses.
DEERANDDEERHUNTING.COM FEBRUARY 2021 • 37

Researchers determined the size of the thymus gland in young whitetails indicates the animal’s health status
from a nutritional standpoint.
STEVE STORTZ/WINDIGO IMAGES
ACCIDENTAL DISCOVERY
I don’t mind saying that I
discovered the thymus gland in
white-tailed deer while working
with Louis J. Verme for the
Michigan Department of Natural
Resources. The year was 1978,
and this discovery was quite by
accident while doing very intensive
necropsy of young whitetails
that had been maintained on
experimental diets. It was obvious,
size of the gland varied relative to
diet quality, being smaller in food-
restricted individuals than it was
in well-fed animals.
For example, even in fetal
development, we found smaller
thymus glands in fetuses after
severe winters, and fetal thymus
size in May was correlated with
body weight and with the winter
severity index. Thymus weight
increased 10-fold between March
and May following the mild winter
of 1973, but only four-fold in 1974
when spring was delayed.
THYMUS VARIABLES
Differences in thymus size
among newborn fawns also varied,
depending upon the cause of death.
Thymus glands of 14 young fawns
dying from disease or malnutrition
within a month of birth were
38 • FEBRUARY 2021
extremely small, averaging 1.5
grams (range 0.5 to 3.0 grams).
In contrast, seven normal fawns of
similar age that died from accidents
had much larger glands, averaging
9.7 grams (range 4.3 to 23.7 grams).
Thymus size provided an
excellent indicator of the fawn’s
nutritional status throughout the
first year of life. Data from free-
ranging deer revealed that this
gland reached its maximum size
during early autumn, was smallest
in midwinter, then increased
sharply during spring.
Fawns maintained on a high-
quality autumn diet typically had
thymus glands two to three times
larger than those on restricted
rations. Furthermore, growth of
the thymus in spring was greatly
delayed by prolonged winter
weather and poor nutrition.
Therefore, our research
conducted in the 1970s indicated
that thymus gland size in young
animals (and even fetuses) serves
as an excellent barometer of the
whitetail’s nutritional status and
general well-being — a technique
largely ignored by field biologists as
well as research biologists.
PRIOR RESEARCH
Although our work in 1978 was
ground-breaking, there were 16
previous studies that helped us
hone in nutritional indicators in
whitetails. Some of those studies
dated back all the way to the 1950s,
including an article on mule deer
cyclic variations in Experimental
Biology and Medicine Journal
from 1956, and a 1945 piece on deer
malnutrition that appeared in the
Journal of Wildlife Management.
The first work that Verme and I
did on the subject was published in
JWM in 1968. That research paper
was focused on winter feeding
patterns of whitetails.
CONCLUSION
Although thymic involution
proceeds rapidly in whitetail fawns
in autumn, it would seem feasible
to evaluate range carrying capacity
by analyzing thymic size in animals
killed during hunting season, which
in northern regions is primarily in
October and November.
Since the cervical lobe of the
thymus consistently represents
about two-thirds of the total
glandular mass, and remains intact
(on an exposed site) in eviscerated
carcasses, these data could be
collected readily. Such information
can reflect annual variations
in autumn nutrition, as well as
existing regional differences.
Unless the thymus is completely
atrophied, it can be easily located
and excised during routine necropsy
of deer to determine probable cause
of death, realtive physical condition,
and/or reproductive state.
— John J. Ozoga’s career as
a research scientist spanned for
more than 30 years. He has served
as Deer & Deer Hunting’s research
editor since retiring in 1994.
LITERATURE CITED
Ozoga, J.J. and L.J. Verme. 1978. “The Thymus
Gland as a Nutritional Status Indicator in Deer.”
Journal of Wildlife Management. 42(4):791-798.
Verme, L.J. and J.J. Ozoga. 1980. “Effects of
Diet on Growth and Lipogenesis in Deer Fawns.”
Journal of Wildlife Management. 44(2):315-324.
DEERANDDEERHUNTING.COM
| TIM L. LEWIS
KNOWING HOW WOUNDED DEER
MIGHT FLEE CAN HELP TRACKERS
DURING THE RECOVERY PROCESS.
oward Hill wrote that every

H animal is an individual, and

although, with knowledge
and experience, a hunter
can say what an animal might
do, he can’t say what it will do.
That’s true about the route
a stricken deer flees. Each is
unique. A few trends, however,
emerge again and again, and
being aware of them helps a
hunter tracking wounded deer
watch for specific possibilities.
That knowledge does not take
replace blood trailing. However,
it can steer you where to direct
efforts at finding blood or sign
and offers ideas if a trail fizzles or
cannot be located. Use caution,
though. Too much conviction
that you know what will occur
next can interfere with correctly
piecing out the true trail.

R EP E A T E D
Tendencies
WINDIGO IMAGES

DEERANDDEERHUNTING.COM FEBRUARY 2021 • 39

 ou
ers sh ow th is w
Blood splatt
at a rapid pace.
to the picture’s left
Again blood splatt
left and slightly up show a fleeing deer went toward th
TENDENCY 1: THE BULLDOZER
Sometimes, deer flee like high-
speed bulldozers, blasting through
thick cover, seemingly oblivious
to less encumbered routes nearby.
In those cases, you can be almost
certain the injury is mortal. The
wound is so dire the deer ignores
brush, vines, branches, saplings
and other obstacles — sometimes
even tree trunks —in its haste
to flee. Whitetails have crashed
through walls of palmettos 7 feet
high and 5 yards thick on trails
I have followed. Trees 2 feet in
diameter must be visible even to
a rapidly running deer, but I’ve
seen trails where deer radically
gouged mature trees. Often, the
deer had been struck in the heart,
so the trail might not be short,
as heart-struck deer often reach
great speeds and urgency of flight.
The forced passage through thick
cover makes tracking simple,
with broken, bent and displaced
vegetation clearly demarcating
40 • FEBRUARY 2021
ledd
nded deer travveelle
These blood drops gi
directly away from evidence this deer was heading
movement is at a ve photographer. However, the
ers
from the orientatio
n of the photograph
.
the way even when blood is absent.
Squirming through, over, under
and around tight growth and other
impediments might be arduous,
but the likelihood of a quick kill
heartens a tracker. When expelled
blood is minimal, the trail actually
becomes more difficult in open
areas with fewer obstacles.
Although whitetails that
bulldoze heedlessly through
encumbrances have almost
always suffered a severely lethal
hit, the converse is not true. Many
mortally struck deer run away
with a more normal flight pattern.
Deer without mortal injuries
can be startled or frightened into
plunging through entangling or
impenetrable cover, but they
quickly revert to taking more
passable channels. Also, even
big-racked bucks can navigate
without travail through cover we
might consider thick. Uninjured
or lightly injured deer will
typically choose the easiest
ve
the
ry slow pace.
e
pathway through thick cover,
although they might not change
course much to accomplish it.
The correlation of the bulldozer
escape behavior with mortal wounds
is so high that a hunter should not
abandon the search even if the deer
proves difficult to locate.
TENDENCY 2: THE CURVE
Deer often take a curving path
as an escape route. If viewed from
above the trail, this can appear as
a one-eighth circle, quarter circle,
half circle, full circle or anything
between. The most common paths
seem to be a one-fifth to just less
than a half circle. The path might
not conform to part of a perfect
circle. Sometimes, it’s more of
an oval shape, but wounded
deer run a course curving in one
direction regularly enough that
it behooves trackers to be aware
of it, especially when it becomes
necessary to try various routes or
extrapolate the trail.
DEERANDDEERHUNTING.COM

a de er that do ub led back on her trai
This blood is from
op en
The terrain was
ha d trai lin g
visible, but
ve aled sp la tter
leaves re
en co ating op po si
and ev
the tree in
The buck that gouged
yards beyond.
Some question whether the
side of impact influences the
direction of the curve. Experience
has revealed that many deer hit
with an arrow or bullet from the
right side curve to the right, but
equally as many curve left. The
opposite is also true with deer hit
from the left curving right and
left. From data collected from
40 years, I find no correlation
between the wound and the
direction of the curve. Two ideas
might have a bearing on that.
First, one of the forequarters
might be more disabled than the
other, regardless of the side of the
hit. The other is that the lack of
oxygen reaching the brain might
not be symmetrical, because
separate arteries feed each half of
the brain. That could affect vision
or signals to muscles.
When terrain allowed me a
view of this curving or circular
course after I shot a deer,
somewhat of an illusion occurred.
DEERANDDEERHUNTING.COM
l.
d the fa llen deer was easily
an
be en ne cessary, the blood on
the
s go ing in opposite direct
ions
te sides of fallen leav
es.
Mortally struck deer
so
This tree trunk was metimes ignore obstructions.
chipped when a buck
headlong into it. ran
his flight fell twenty
From my stand, the curve looked sometimes not even 5, and it varies
much larger than the trail proved from circular to oblong. When a
to be when I was on the ground. trail seems to end abruptly, it is
Therefore, on curving trails that worthwhile to consider a loop to
become faint or difficult, I tend either side. Again, it’s not prudent
to search first in the direction of to be dogmatic with wounded
a tighter turn. game, but discounting gut-shot
As always, no hard and fast animals, when you encounter a
rules govern escape behavior. Deer relatively small loop, the deer has
that curve as they rush away after a fallen nearby.
shot sometimes change directions, Many times, the ground is open
veering the opposite way, enough you don’t notice loops
straightening out or sometimes because the trail leads toward
taking convoluted routes. But the fallen deer, and the tracker,
often, a fleeing deer that begins to looking ahead, spots it. Trouble
curve in one direction continues to arises when the vegetation is
bear that way. dense enough so you can’t see
anything beyond a few yards and
TENDENCY 3: THE LOOP even more so when the blood trail
Another recurring tendency is is scant.
an animal that loops just before it Blood leaving the body of a
collapses, complicating the trail moving deer carries momentum
at the point it’s almost solved. with it. Think of each drop as
This can occur with curved trails a tiny water balloon. Imagine
or any trail. This loop, run during flinging a water balloon from a
the final second of life, is fairly moving vehicle. A big wet splat
short, seldom exceeding 30 yards, will occur where the balloon
FEBRUARY 2021 • 41
strikes, and then fingers of water will extend beyond
the point of impact, giving evidence of the direction
the vehicle was moving and even an idea of its speed.
Careful attention to the direction of blood splatters
helps clue a tracker to a change in course.
Loops add difficulty to the trail by the change
in direction and by overlapping sign, whether
from blood or prints. They are common, so anyone
tracking a wounded deer should keep them in mind.
TENDENCY 4: THE DOUBLE-BACK
Doubling back on the trail is not unusual.
Sometimes, it’s the result of the terrain’s influence.
I once witnessed a wounded animal on a narrow
trail along a pond edge reverse direction after
encountering a high bluff wall. It also can happen
when the initial flight has ended and the deer
decides to move again. Deer that are regularly run
by dogs might even learn this behavior. Most often,
however, doubling back is simply a variation of
the loop — in essence a loop so oblong the animal
retraces its own course.
In open pastures and fields, you’ll rarely notice
this tendency unless you observe the death race,
because the trail leads directly to the deer. Even
in thick cover, a tracker will encounter a deer that
succumbed directly on the trail before the trail
reversed. Tricky cases occur in tight vegetation when
a deer has leapt or flopped to one side or the other or
completes more of the loop after the reversal.
FOR SALE
580+/- AC
EXECUTIVE WHITETAIL
COMPOUND
RICHLAND COUNTY, WI
Midwest
Lifestyle
Properties
JOE NAWROT (608) 381-1627 | BRANDON WIKMAN (608) 403-6003
Learn more at UChunt.com
42 • FEBRUARY 2021
That tendency can result in a trail that appears to
vanish. In fact, the better the blood trail, the less likely
a tracker is to notice the reversal. My first exposure
to this phenomenon occurred in the early 1980s on
an incredible blood trail. My arrow drove through a
buck’s chest, and the deer left a wonderful trail in the
broad-leafed greenness of the lush swamp-bottom.
I followed the trail blissfully and confidently to its
abrupt end. My happy state turned to consternation
and then disbelief. The copious blood coating the
route ended, and I found no blood or deer as far as my
extrapolations extended. At last, working the heavy
part of the trail again let me finally notice blood on
a huge log that paralleled the trail. This blood had
splatted in the opposite direction. When I noted
that, I realized the leaves were bloodied from both
sides. The buck had fallen just over the log, about 6
yards back from the apparent end of the trail. Again,
diligent observation of the direction of splattering
blood and of the side of leaves where blood has
marked can provide clues to the change. By staying
aware of this tendency, a tracker can save time and
anxiety by immediately examining the last few yards
of a trail for blood splats pointing opposite directions
whenever a trail seems to suddenly end. It’s possible
the deer was not traveling fast when it doubled back
so the pointing fingers of the blood droplets might
not be exaggerated.
MYTHIC TENDENCIES
While listing behaviors I’ve observed repeatedly,
it might be worthwhile to point out two I have not.
Granted, Florida is flat, and therefore, many of my
trails there have not involved inclines. However, I
have spent much time hunting Colorado and Kansas,
and some in New Zealand. Hunting literature often
asserts that wounded deer always flee downhill. My
experience indicates that some do, but not enough to
be called a majority. Also, some believe deer will head
back to where they came from because they know it’s
safe. Some deer do this, but again, the proportion is
not substantial. Sometimes, the terrain will steer a
deer that way — say a dike, ditch, field edge or fence-
line. Even so, the wounded deer will likely veer at
some point.
Finding deer after the shot is an important part
of the hunt. You must approach each trail of a
stricken deer as unique. Nonetheless, knowledge of
possible tendencies helps a tracker direct his efforts.
Sometimes, that knowledge can be a leading factor in
recovering the deer.
—Dr. Tim L. Lewis, a longtime traditional bowhunter,
holds a bachelor’s in zoology and is the author of Bows,
Swamps, Whitetails. His newest release, Tales of
Trails, offers insights into finding game after the shot.
DEERANDDEERHUNTING.COM
| SERENA JUCHNOWSKI

Learning to hunt give
s women self-confi
can inspire them to de
do things they neve nce and
theyy were capable of r imag
. Pictured: Mia Anst gined
hoorrssee,, Cowboy. ine on her
MIA ANSTINE
“No, it’s real,” I replied.
In 2019, females comprised 21.7%
of the about 18 million hunters in the
United States. That marked a 16.2%
increase since 2005, according to
the 2020 industry intelligence report
from the National Shooting Sports
Foundation and National Sporting
Goods Association. Although statistics
are rarely perfect, participation and
demographic studies are generally
accurate when viewed through longer
periods, such as a three- to five-
year average. And you cannot deny
there are fewer total hunters now
than in 2005 — almost 3 million
fewer according to the NSSF/NSGA
The author’s father continues to
report. Yet, the percentage of woman
mentor her as she works toward
becoming the deer hunter she wants
hunters has continued to grow.
to be. Shown here having her first INTRODUCTIONS
treestand lesson. Men typically introduce most
MAX CROTSER
women to hunting. I started hunting
at 16, mentored by my dad and
encouraged by guys on my junior rifle
team. Kristine Houtman, author of the
award-winning “Why Women Hunt,”
acknowledges that.
“I think [for] every single one of
the women in this book, the mentors
were men in their lives, and that’s not
to say that some of the women in the
book aren’t mentors to others, but
the pathway for this group of women
arted was always with men leading the way
Kristine Houtman st and encouraging them and supporting
was
hunting just as she them,” she wrote.
other
becoming a grandm Programs such as Camp
e is
for the first time. Sh first Compass Academy, run by John
r
pictured here with he Annoni, help grow the number of
was
harvest, which she female hunters and redefine the
family
able to serve to her traditional hunter label.
on Easter 2014. “He introduces these inner-city
N
KRISTINE HOUTMA
students to the outdoors, firearms,
firearm safety training and hunter
safety, and he takes them hunting,
and he has for 20 some years,”
Houtman wrote.

BY THE NUMBERS
Some women hunt to provide meat
for their families, others for the thrill
of the chase. Some hunt to spend time
with family or friends, and others do
it for solitude and a deeper connection
A white-tailed deer with nature. Statistics from Southwick
hunt Associates Inc. revealed that white-
is what allowed Lind
a tailed deer were the most popular
Powell to share a hu
ntin
experience with her g game women pursued in 2019,
ow
mom. Here Linda is pi n followed by turkeys and upland game
ctured birds. An overwhelming 81.7% of
with a Mississippi w
hitetail female hunters surveyed pursued
in 2012.
LINDA POWELL whitetails, with turkeys and upland
44 • FEBRUARY 2021 DEERANDDEERHUNTING.COM
game coming in at 46.4% and 45.4%,
respectively. (These percentages do
not add up to 100% because some
women pursue more than one type
of game.)
Similarly, 80.3% of women
surveyed reported hunting with a rifle,
followed closely by 66.8% for shotgun.
Crossbows (40.7%) edged traditional
bows (38.6%) and muzzleloaders
(34.9%). Handguns proved the least
popular among the women surveyed,
at 8.10%. Although rifles and shotguns
have long been popular, the NSSF/
NSGA report revealed that during the
past 15 years, female participation
in hunting with archery gear has
increased 101.8%. In contrast, female
firearms participation, excluding
muzzleloaders, grew only 0.5% during
that time.
The legalization of crossbows
during archery seasons in many
states has likely contributed to that
growth. Likewise, better equipment
options designed for women hunters
have emerged during the past 10
years. Limited acreage in urban and
suburban hunting grounds might
also have contributed to the rise in
the popularity of archery. A query
of the 11,600 members of the Lady
Bowhunters Facebook group revealed
that many hunt with rifles, as well
as bows to extend the season. One
woman revealed she believes hunting
with a bow and arrow makes her
a better hunter. Another began a
journey into competition archery that
made bows a part of her everyday life.
In most cases, boyfriends, husbands
or fathers introduced those women
to hunting, although in a few cases,
moms were also involved.
Although many of the stories
had happy endings, social media
forums also see their share of women
appealing to the greater community
for help. In a breakup or divorce, the
relationship might not be the only
casualty, as some women lose their
greatest mentor.
When asked what she observed
in the female hunting community,
lifelong hunter, guide and writer Mia
Anstine wrote: “Something that I see
with a lot of women is that they do
rely on men to take them hunting, and
they’re not confident.”
Anstine elaborated, noting that
men are valuable hunting partners
and mentors, but ultimately, each
hunter needs to have confidence
DEERANDDEERHUNTING.COM
in their abilities. Special women’s
hunts, events or groups can offer
opportunities for women to gain
self-confidence through education
and experience. Social media
platforms, posts and groups should be
approached with caution.
“Years ago, hunters were out here
just for the experience,” Anstine said.
“The hunt was more of an adventure,
and whether they got an animal
or not wasn’t the main goal. … I’ve
seen a transition where now it’s not
necessarily even having an elk to take
home and put in the freezer, but they
want a picture for social media. And to
me, it’s a real detriment to hunting and
the quality of the hunt, because there’s
so much more to being in the outdoors
than getting a photo for social media.”
That doesn’t mean women should
stop sharing hunting successes, but
rather understand that success
doesn’t come only from a harvest.
Anything learned and experienced
can be counted as a success.
Currently, websites and magazines
feature more stories about the
journey of a hunt and the experience,
rather than the aftermath.
Why focus on female hunters?
The focus should be on introducing
as many people to the outdoors as
possible, as is the mission of the NSSF’s
+One movement. But, introducing
women can have an incredible impact
far into the future. When parents are
involved in an activity, their children
tend to adopt it. Families in which one
or both parents hunt have a unique
opportunity to teach their children
about the outdoors and life through
experiences many children do not
have, especially in today’s world. I
know of several children who have
expressed an interest in hunting or
the shooting sports, but whose mom,
dad or both won’t allow them to try.
In other cases, the child encourages
the parents.
AN INCREDIBLE JOURNEY
Linda Powell, Director of Media
Relations at O.F. Mossberg & Sons,
started hunting in her mid-30s when
she left the medical field in search of a
new life. After a few odd jobs, she took
an administrative assistant position
in the public relations department at
Remington. The job challenged her so
much that she returned home many
nights in tears, knowing nothing about
guns or hunting. Several of the men
she worked with introduced her to
shooting and then to hunting. Linda’s
first experience, bear hunting with
a muzzleloader, began an incredible
journey and started a chain reaction.
“I knew my life had changed,” she
said. “I remember looking down at
that bear and thinking, ‘Oh my gosh,
I’m a hunter now, and my life’s going
to be different,’ but I didn’t know how
much so.”
During the next 15 years, Linda’s
changing roles at Remington allowed
her incredible opportunities to learn
more about hunting from some of the
most experienced men in the outdoor
industry. Although fortunate that the
outdoors became such a huge part
of her career, Powell found herself
wanting more, including going to
Africa by herself and learning about
who she was meant to be while raising
a son as a single mom.
“It gave me kind of a sense of
confidence that I carry into other areas
of my life,” she said. “I’ve put myself in
situations hunting that I could never
even imagine myself doing.”
Though her son never became an
avid hunter, he found a passion for
preparing and cooking wild game,
and has the knowledge and skills to
introduce his children to the outdoors.
“If you get mom involved, typically
you’re going to get the whole family
involved,” Powell said.
What Powell did not expect,
however, was for her mother to want
to join her hunting, not for the harvest,
but just for the experience. A whitetail
hunt in South Carolina provided that
opportunity, and also allowed Powell
the chance to introduce another young
woman, who assumed Powell’s initial
professional role, to hunting.
“Learning to hunt and learning to
shoot is life-changing, and sometimes
you don’t realize in what ways it will
impact you,” she said.
— Serena Juchnowski is an avid
deer hunter, competition shooter,
and has earned the Distinguished
Rifleman’s Badge in high-power
service rifle shooting. She is currently
a member of the U.S. Young Eagles
Palma team. She hails from Ohio.
FEBRUARY 2021 • 45
| CHARLES J. ALSHEIMER
CHARLES ALSHEIMER

46 • FEBRUARY 2021 DEERANDDEERHUNTING.COM


HUNTER
FOR
life
10 STEPS TO INSTILLING A LOVE
FOR WHITETAILS AND HUNTING.
ave you ever thought about what it takes
H to make a deer hunter — a really good
deer hunter?
Several years ago, a mother and her
teen-age son attended one of my deer hunting
seminars. After the show, this woman approached
me and asked for some ideas on how she could
help her son become a better hunter. I only had
a few seconds to collect my thoughts and give her
my best shot at answering the question. I don’t
know if my advice helped, but the encounter gave
me reason to pause.
In the years since, I’ve given a lot of thought to
the question because it keeps coming up. I don’t
pretend to have all the answers on this subject,
but I know what has worked for me and my son.
What follows is the “recipe” I now share with
the many aspiring hunters and well-meaning
parents I meet during my annual speaking tours.
DEERANDDEERHUNTING.COM
1. START ’EM EARLY
It is never too early to teach a child about nature. Growing
up on a farm allowed me to explore everything from plants
to animals, and my dad went out of his way to introduce me
to nature as soon as I could walk. By the time I was 5, Dad
took me on some of his deer hunts. Looking back, I’d have
to say that, more than anything else, helped me fall in love
with nature and hunting.
When my son, Aaron, came along, I used the same
strategy. When he was 6 months old, we bought a backpack
carrier so I could transport him to the woods with me. By
the time he was 5, I made it a point to take him with me as
much as possible, whether it was to the top of the Rockies to
photograph bighorn sheep, to photo blinds to photograph
white-tailed deer or to a deer stand to hunt. Although some
of these outings were awkward, I knew they were necessary
if I wanted my son to love the outdoors and hunting.
2. FAN THE FIRE
Starting a child young is critical, but just as important is
keeping him interested. Consequently, making a child a part
of your hunting experience is crucial to his development as
a hunter. I believe it is important to involve them in nearly
every aspect of your hunting experience. One of the things I
did with Aaron was keep him involved by helping me carry
camera gear or tree stand accessories to my stand locations.
In addition to taking my son to the deer woods, I also
made it a point to take him to hunting shows whenever I
could. It didn’t take me long to see that he really enjoyed
checking out hunting gear and seeing the passion other
hunters had for their sport. The show atmosphere helped
fan his interest for hunting as he grew older. The key is
to keep things positive and educational so their interest
remains high.
3. TEACH THE BASICS EARLY
Teaching a child the basics of bow/firearms safety and
the nuances of hunting are critical pieces to the hunting
puzzle. For them to grow as hunters, they need to know all
they can about the equipment they will use and the animals
they pursue. I’ll never forget the way my dad taught me
firearm safety, and that happened before I was 10 years old.
What I learned from him and others along the way helped
me instill the same in my son.
Before Aaron was 8, he was shooting a fiberglass Bear
youth bow in our basement. Not long thereafter, I had
him shooting a .22-caliber rifle on our range. Regardless
of which weapon is used, it is important that beginners
be shown the proper shooting technique. This is a critical
element to ensure that bad shooting habits are not formed.
Because of my passion for deer hunting, I went out of
my way to teach my son such things as the importance of
scrapes, rubs, wind currents, a deer’s feeding habitats and
the art of stand locations. The fact that I was a whitetail
photographer gave Aaron a head start in his understanding
of deer behavior. Of all the deer hunting basics, I believe
understanding deer behavior is at the top of the list. For
this reason, it is important to teach a young hunter all you
can about whitetails. Next to in-the-field experience, the
best way to accomplish this is with DVDs and books. Two
of the best DVDs on whitetail behavior are award-winning
productions by nature videographer Gary Griffen — Season
of the Whitetail Buck and A Year in Whitetail Country.
FEBRUARY 2021 • 47
Either will greatly shorten a young
hunter’s behavior learning curve.
Also, be sure to check out the new
“Whitetail Behavior” DVD coming
soon from Deer & Deer Hunting.
This hour-long video, which will
be part of the “Vital Information”
series, will include never-before-
seen video clips of whitetail behavior
and vocalizations.
4. REPETITION
One of the keys to becoming a good
deer hunter is repeating a task. This is
especially the case when it comes to
accurately shooting a bow or firearm.
The more a person can shoot, the
better marksman he will be. Constant
practice builds confidence and
prepares the hunter for the moment
of truth.
Repetition should also be applied
to all aspects of how you hunt —
from how you scout, rattle and use
a grunt tube. In short, repetition
makes a hunter proficient in all
facets of the hunt.
5. DON’T MAKE IT A STRESS TEST
One of the quickest ways to kill
a young hunter’s desire to hunt is
to turn hunting into a stress test.
Because deer seasons often involve
hunting in all kinds of bad weather,
it is important to slowly ease a young
hunter into the sport.
When I was introducing our son
to hunting, I didn’t take him hunting
for hours at a time. Rather, I carved
out an hour here and there when the
weather was right. This kept him from
getting discouraged and kept our
outings positive.
Hunting can sometimes be a long
quiet wait, so one thing I did with
Aaron was allow him to listen to his
Walkman if he wanted to, while we sat
on stand. If I spotted a deer, I’d poke
him and he would remove his headset
so he could experience the action.
Keeping him from getting bored was
the key.
6. MAKE IT FUN
This point goes hand-in-glove with
No. 5. Make all aspects of the hunt —
from scouting to target practice, to the
actual hunt — as enjoyable as possible.
I went out of my way to make Aaron’s
and my hunting experience uplifting.
When we scouted, I tried to turn it
into a teachable moment. If we were
target practicing, I’d make sure that I
48 • FEBRUARY 2021
didn’t always shoot the best. He loved
it when he could boast that he had
outshot his dad.
Another thing I often did before he
could carry his own bow or gun was
return to the house and get him before
I tracked a wounded deer on our farm.
Doing so allowed him to experience
the joy of the hunt, from tracking to
field dressing, to dragging the deer
from the woods. This aspect of the
hunt also helped us bond as a father
and son.
7. ENCOURAGE THEM
It is very easy for a young hunter
to get discouraged. Good hunters
are not born, they are made, and no
hunter I know was an instant success.
Consequently, it is the adult’s job
to keep the discouraging aspects of
hunting to a minimum. When things
wouldn’t go as my young son had
hoped, I would take the time to share
with him situations when I had made
a similar mistake in the field.
I also made it a point to
congratulate Aaron when he made
the shot or did the right thing in the
woods. Kids need encouragement.
8. EQUIP THEM RIGHT
When I was first getting into
hunting I didn’t have the option
of owning equipment that fit me.
Consequently I had to shoot a gun
designed for a man and pull a recurve
bow (there were no compound bows
back then) that was way too heavy
for me. Believe me, it was a real
struggle dealing with the equipment
of that era.
Today’s young hunters have many
more options than I had growing up
in the 1950s and 1960s. To ensure a
young hunter can learn and grow into
the sport, parents should equip their
sons and daughters with guns and
bows that fit them. Fortunately, many
of today’s guns are made with youth
size stocks that can be swapped out
later for adult versions.
When it comes to firearm calibers,
it is better to outfit a youngster with
a mild shooting deer gun like a .243
Win. or 20-gauge. I grew up in farm
country that allowed only shotguns
for deer hunting. Back then, the
majority of slug guns were 12-gauges,
which generate about 30 foot-pounds
of recoil — about equivalent to a
.300 Win. Mag. Such guns give kids
bruised cheeks and shoulders and
leads to the development of a severe
flinching problem.
To further remedy this problem,
ammunition companies have
developed reduced-load ammunition
to lessen the recoil of calibers like
the .270 and .30-06. So, rather than
purchasing full-loaded ammo, it’s
better to let young hunters shoot
reduced loads.
Also, to ensure that the hunting
experience is rewarding it is essential
that a young hunter be outfitted in
the proper clothing because if they
are always getting cold and wet, they
will quickly find a better way to spend
their time.
9. OPPORTUNITIES
If you want to keep a young hunter
in the game, it is important they see
deer. Nothing will cause a beginning
hunter to exit the sport faster than
sitting on stand for hours at a time
without seeing anything.
To ensure our son saw deer, I made
sure he had the best stand on our farm
when opening day rolled around. This
move gave him frequent sightings and
kept his spirits and interest high.
10. STEWARDSHIP
Over the long haul, this step is
as important as the other nine I’ve
listed. One of the real beauties of deer
hunting is that, when done right, it
makes you want to give back more
than you receive from nature. Ever
since our son was a little guy, he’s
not only tagged along with me in the
woods but also been involved in our
farm’s deer management program.
For us, whitetail management is
a year-round endeavor, so we have
worked throughout the year cutting
browse and planting food plots for
the wildlife that calls our farm home.
It has been an incredibly rewarding
experience, one that has kept my
son’s love for hunting strong.
CONCLUSION
— This is a flashback
article that Charles Alsheimer
(1947-2017) wrote when he
was D&DH’s contributing
editor of deer behavior.
DEERANDDEERHUNTING.COM
 HOW COMMON IS IT?
Although annual infection rates of cystic
echinococcosis is believed to be very low in
the United States, exact figures are not known
because the disease is often misdiagnosed.
According to cystic echinococcosis expert
Dr. Enrico Brunetti, Assistant Professor,
Department of Internal Medicine, at the
University of Pavia School of Medicine,
the problem is that, until recently, the
only basis for diagnosis was surgery, and
reporting systems are sporadic at best.
In the United States, transmission
of E granulosus in the dog-sheep cycle
is known to occur most frequently in
California, Arizona, New Mexico and Utah.
However, an increasing number of wolves
in states like Idaho and Montana have
some biologists and medical professionals
concerned that outbreaks will increase.
Infected persons may go months or even
years before cysts become large enough to
indicate an infection. Common chief symptoms
are upper abdominal discomfort and pain,
poor appetite, and a self-diagnosed mass
in the abdomen. Removal of cysts is done
through meticulous, delicate surgery.
— Daniel E. Schmidt
His mantra: Before you touch food
in serving others or to eat yourself,
always wash your hands. His wife and
two daughters took that very much to
heart, and I was instructed, in turn,
by my mother and grandmother.
His instructions were and still are
spot-on, excellent advice.
PERSONAL HISTORY
As a graduate student at the
University of British Columbia
in the 1960s, I took classes from
a highly regarded professor
of parasitology. He dealt with
hydatid disease from two major
sources: the dog tapeworm E.
granulosus, and the fox tapeworm
E. multiloccularis. He dealt with it
in a no-nonsense fashion, treating
the disease as serious, especially
infections with E. multiloccularis.
My professor’s advice went well
beyond that of my grandfather’s. He
addressed especially those of us who
would be biologists in the field and
would handle wolves, coyotes and
foxes. These tiny tapeworms inhabit
(by the thousands) the gut of canids,
and shed massive amounts of eggs
into the feces of canids. The trouble
50 • FEBRUARY 2021
is that when these feces dry, the tiny
eggs readily become airborne. They
stay suspended and can travel some
distance beyond the feces before
they settle on vegetation.
Consequently, we were
instructed, if you are studying
food habits of canids, do not poke
around in dry feces to see what’s in
it, because you will liberate puffs of
the tiny dry eggs. They will stick to
your clothing and skin, and they will
get into your mouth cavity if you
lick your lips or inhale through the
mouth. They will also be swallowed
by you along with your sputum.
Once swallowed, the tiny eggs
can proceed into your body and
infect you with hydatid disease. The
disease will cause cysts that will
continually grow larger over time.
WHEN INFECTION SETS IN
The cysts might form anywhere,
but preferentially in beds of
capillaries, such as the liver, the
lungs or the brain. However, cysts
forming in bone marrow can also
be nasty. These cysts are, of course,
growing bags of liquid containing
tiny heads of thousands of
tapeworms. The inner walls of the
cyst are formed from parasite tissue,
and buds off these tiny tapeworm
heads as it grows and grows. These
masses of tiny baby tapeworms
have been labeled hydatid sand. In
humans, they will not go anywhere.
They will die on the operating table
or with their host.
The effect of the cyst varies from
innocuous to lethal, depending
where it grows. If it grows in the
brain, it’s lethal. If it grows in the
liver or lung, depending how many
cysts there are, and how long they
have grown, it may or may not
be noticed until it interferes with
metabolism and breathing and
generates various symptoms. If
you have a number of cysts within
you, or your immune system cannot
handle them well and the cysts
grow to the size of a grapefruit or
more, you will be in trouble.
You’d be in even worse shape
if you caught an infection of
Echinococcus multiloccularis,
because this infection has cysts
that bud off other cysts and which,
like a cancer, spread throughout
the body, and interfere with
physiological and mechanical
functions. If diagnosed in time,
large cysts can be removed surgically
in a very delicate operation. Great
caution must be taken that the cyst
does not burst, spilling the infective
fluid, pieces of the cystic wall and, of
course, the tiny tapeworm heads. A
burst cyst can cause allergic shock,
and it will instantly re-infect the area
so more cysts will grow where the
spillage occurred.
On many occasions, however, the
person infected will know nothing
of the parasite within and will
carry on normally, compensating
unconsciously for the effects. And
this can go on for a long time ... if
not a lifetime. As mentioned earlier,
it depends where the cyst happens
to grow, as well as how fast it grows.
In that regard, hydatid disease is a
fairly “silent” disease that is very
difficult to diagnose.
THE DISEASE IN DEER
Humans are the accidental host
of the dog tapeworm, and a dead end
host at that. Normally, eggs shed
with feces are gently blown onto the
surrounding vegetation. They are
very light and readily float in the air,
and can thus disperse some distance
from the dry fecal pile.
The eggs then cling to grasses
and the leaves of herbs and shrubs,
where they are eaten by deer, elk
and livestock. Once they enter an
elk or deer, they form cysts, which
eventually disable the animal —
weakening it so it becomes prime
prey for wolves or coyotes. The wolf
or coyote then eats the cysts along
with the tissues. The cystic walls are
digested by the wolf’s or coyote’s
digestive juices, and the tiny baby
tapeworms are liberated in mass
where they attach themselves to the
intestines. From there, they grow
into tiny adult tapeworms that then
produce millions upon millions of
eggs that enter the animal’s feces.
The eggs are then expelled to the
outside where the cycle begins anew.
Vegetation around the scats of
infected wolves, coyotes, foxes or
dogs thus becomes covered by the
eggs of the dog tapeworm and all
grazers are at risk ... as is anyone
who pokes around in infective feces.
Because these eggs can land on
berries and mushrooms, they form
DEERANDDEERHUNTING.COM
a danger to berry and mushroom
pickers, a real concern where such
activities are popular. However,
cooking mushrooms and berries
will kill the tapeworm eggs.
BE SMART & SAFE
What we need to know is how
to deal with this disease sensibly.
There is no danger in eating the
meat of any deer, elk, moose or
caribou infected with Echinococcus
cysts. However, deer hunters make
sure the offal is disposed of in a
manner that domestic dogs do not
feed on it.
Herein lies a real danger. In
areas with hydatid disease, dogs
roaming the countryside alone or
with their masters on walks, during
hunting or as working herding dogs,
might come across a dead deer or
elk, or gut piles left by hunters, feed
on it and become infected with the
tapeworms. Dogs might also roll on
infected feces, getting the infective
tapeworm eggs directly into their
fur. An infected dog will shed
these dangerous tapeworm eggs
massively in its feces, infecting the
kennel and the yard. In these cases,
a person could inadvertently track
the disease into his house on the
soles of his boots.
Moreover, dogs will groom
themselves, lick their anus
and then their fur and spread
hydatid eggs throughout their
fur. Therefore, when you pet a
dog, you can get hydatid eggs on
your hands. Unless you wash your
hands immediately, you might
transfer these eggs to the food you
handle, be it in serving others or
eating by yourself.
It is self evident that in
areas where deer or elk carry
Echinococcus cysts — and most
wolves, coyotes or foxes are
infected with these tapeworms —
handling dead canids or their raw
furs also poses a danger to the
trapper or hunter. The infective
eggs might be present throughout
the pelt of the wolf, coyote or fox.
Consequently, its best to use rubber
gloves handling dead canids and
scrupulously wash hands and
exposed skin after handling such.
Note that coyotes and foxes may
also carry the more dangerous fox
tapeworm E. multiloccularis.
DEERANDDEERHUNTING.COM
TREATMENT IS CRUCIAL
For dog owners living in areas
where deer and elk carry hydatid
disease, there is of course a
problem. Outdoor dogs need to be
dewormed regularly, and dog feces
quickly removed and disposed of to
insure parasite eggs are destroyed.
Children, toddlers especially, are
at at greater risk, so it is essential
to treat all of your dogs — whether
they are pets or working dogs.
Also, the family doctor needs to be
cognizant of symptoms indicating
hydatid disease.
Some drug treatments have been
shown to contain the disease —
provided it is detected in time, and
provided the cyst is not in the brain.
What measures can be taken to
control hydatid disease? Severely
controlling free-living canids
and their prey will, undoubtedly,
lower the incident of the disease
in predators and prey. It’s a
problematic option.
Echinococcus multiloccularis,
the most dangerous of canid
tapeworms, has, as a common
host, rodents, and these are
notoriously difficult to control.
Moreover, it is likely that not
only foxes will carry it, but also
coyotes and probably some wolves.
Severe wolf and coyote control
may reduce the prevalence of
Echinococcus granulosus, but
that will have little effect, if any,
on E. multiloccularis. Regular
prescribed burning of big-game
winter ranges that are heavily
visited by wolves and coyotes
may kill off enough Echinococcus
eggs on the vegetation to have an
impact on the parasite. It might
also help to saturate areas of high
wolf, coyote or fox abundance with
medicated bait to purge their guts
of tapeworms.
Unfortunately, because wolves
roam great distances, they will
continually re-infect Echinococcus-
free regions. This implies, of course,
that controlling these parasites
cannot be local matter but needs
to be coordinated and applied
over large areas ... beyond the
boundaries of any state or province.
Once started, control measures,
clearly, must be ongoing.
In the meantime, take these steps
to reduce your chances of infection:
1. De-worm your dogs
and remove their feces
from your yard.
2. Keep your hiking boots
outside the house or wash
them after each hike.
3. Do not pick mushrooms
and berries close to dog,
wolf, coyote or fox feces.
4. Use rubber gloves and
lots of plastic bags when
handling dead coyotes,
foxes or wolves.
5. Religiously wash your
hands, especially before
reaching for that sandwich.
CONCLUSION
The deeper tragedy of hydatid
disease is that it is one more factor
that turns our wildlife from a
treasure to a curse. The introduction
of diseases along with wolves was
treated in a rather cavalier manner.
The matter of wild canine
diseases and parasites does not
terminate with hydatid disease,
because it also concerns neospora,
rabies, tuberculosis, brucellosis and
other diseases. Moreover, it hits
the ranching and rural population
disproportionately. They not
only have to face painful losses of
livestock and pets, lose hunting
opportunities as wildlife declines,
but also take more precautions
pertaining to diseases than their
urban counterparts.
Wildlife can only thrive if it
retains the sympathy of rural folks.
The so-called ecological benefits of
predators (where real) are small
compared to disease problems and
the loss of political support for
wildlife as hunting declines and our
excellent North American model of
wildlife conservation is jeopardized.
Therefore, in my opinion, some
reevaluation is required.
— Valerius Geist, PhD, is a
professional biologist and professor
emeritus of environmental science
at The University of Calgary in
Alberta. He is widely considered
to be one of the world’s foremost
authorities on large-mammal
biology and management.
FEBRUARY 2021 • 51
| GERALD ALMY

NEXT
SEVEN WHITE-TAILED
DEER EXPERTS WEIGH
IN ON WHERE THE NEXT
WORLD RECORD TYPICAL
BUCK WILL COME FROM.

WORLD
RECORD
Once they hit 200
inches, most bucks
add nontypical points.
That's why a typical
netting more than 214
inches is something
that we all can only
dream about it.
52 • FEBRUARY 2021 DEERANDDEERHUNTING.COM
 hat will the next world record typical whitetail look like? Will it have the awesome
width of Milo Hanson’s magnificent, big-framed buck with its 27⁄-inch inside

W spread? Or the tremendous mass of the Jordan buck, with its soaring 30-inch
main beams — a record that stood for nearly eight decades before being overtaken
by Hanson’s Saskatchewan buck?
Those are questions that cannot be easily answered. And when will the current world
champion fall — this season, or another 25 or 80 years from now? It’s anyone’s guess.
It’s almost certain the next super buck will be at least 4½ years old, but more likely 4½
to 7½ years of age, because that’s when most bucks develop their ultimate headgear. After
that, the rack might decline or the buck might die of natural causes.
Five might be the best bet of all, because when a buck grows older than that, extra kickers
or drop tines are more likely to develop. That will deduct from the net score, a factor that has
doomed a number of whitetails that might have outscored the Hanson buck’s clean typical
frame without extra “junk.” On the other hand, mass and tine length might improve beyond
5½ years of age, so 6½ or 7½ are definite possibilities.
It will almost certainly come from an area with a history of superior genetics. The habitat
will feature lots of cover such as thickets, swamps, grown-up clear-cuts, briars, vines, native
warm season grasses and dense stands of saplings, for both bedding and escape cover. The
record buck will also likely live in an area with a herd density at or below carrying capacity,
with ample living space and food.
DEERANDDEERHUNTING.COM FEBRUARY 2021 • 53
 Chances are good this 214-inch
net score buck will make its home in
a region with high-quality agricultural
production. At times of the year when
natural deer foods are in short supply
or low in protein, farm crops will
balance that out by offering 20 to 35
percent protein levels. Those rich
topsoil, fertile areas also contain the
high amounts of calcium, phosphorous
and micronutrients bucks need for
their racks to reach full potential,
which they’ll receive through the crops
that extract them from the soil.
Chances are also good the record
typical will come from a low-pressure
hunting area. With trail cameras on
every other tree and hunters’ skills
higher than ever, few deer are likely
to reach world record stature before
they are killed as 180-, 190- or
200-inch bucks in heavily hunted
areas. Who could pass up such deer?
Perhaps it will wander out of a
non-hunting area where it lives most
of its life in a protected location.
That was what allowed Virginian
Jim Smith’s 2574/8 nontypical to
grow its massive rack in Shenandoah
National Park, 60 miles west of
Washington, D.C., when it slipped
up and wandered out of the park
as a 6½-year-old following a doe.
Smith squeezed his muzzleloader
trigger, hammering the huge deer,
and this buck once again raises the
crucial issue of typical vs. nontypical.
As mentioned, asymmetry and
especially extra kickers, drop tines
and assorted random points are
more likely to appear as a deer ages
past 4½ or 5½ years old.
Genetics will play a huge role in where the next
super buck comes from — as will the nutritional
quality of the food that's available during the key
antler growing period.
54 • FEBRUARY 2021
Some areas are also known for
producing an above-average number
of nontypical configurations. Those
might be less likely to yield the
monster that will dethrone the
Hanson buck. But a single buck
scoring a clean 214 inches could, in
truth, be taken anywhere genetics
have proved capable of producing
exceptional deer.
Said Brian Murphy, CEO of
the Quality Deer Management
Association, “When you talk
about a world record, let’s face
it, that’s a freak. It can happen
almost anywhere.”
Indeed. Who would have
predicted Tennessee for the world’s
new highest scoring nontypical?
Admitting that it’s all conjecture,
it’s still fun to guess where the next
record typical deer will be killed. I
don’t claim to be savvy enough to
pick the region, province or state
where it will occur. But I’ve queried
several highly regarded authorities
in the world of the whitetail for
their opinions.
Here are their thoughts:
JUSTIN SPRING, DIRECTOR OF RECORDS,
BOONE AND CROCKETT CLUB
“I’ve looked at it from different
angles, but can’t come up with
any numbers-based approach
that points to anything other than
Saskatchewan again. Lower hunter
pressure and obviously possessing
the ingredients necessary to grow
that caliber of deer is a fairly unique
set of circumstances. You have the
upper Midwest that definitely has
the potential, but with the efficiency
of hunters today, the chance that
a buck could get the required age
seems far less likely than somewhere
such as Saskatchewan.
“There are other areas of the
country that allow deer to age, but
it has to be in conjunction with the
necessary nutrition to produce that
many inches of antler above and
beyond the requirements for survival.
For the most part, this means some
form of crop production and a fairly
high level of human activity required
to have those levels of necessary
nutrients available to game.”
BRIAN MURPHY, CEO, QDMA
“Kentucky has a good chance
because it consistently ranks among
the top states in producing Boone
and Crockett record book bucks on
a per-acre basis. In 2000, the state
record was set with a 204⁄-inch
net typical. But I certainly wouldn’t
overlook more traditional places
that have a history of producing top
record book bucks, and any other
areas where deer herds are new and
have a chance to get old on very good
quality habitat.
“One of the best spots in the
country now for nontypicals and
some typicals up to the 190s is
southern Oklahoma and northern
Texas where they border the Red
River. There’s a place there called
Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge
that has produced many of the top
nontypicals in Texas. With only
limited hunting allowed, there’s
little pressure. It’s not uncommon
DEERANDDEERHUNTING.COM
DEER LOVERS
P A R A D I S E
2050 OLD SADLER ROAD
SADLER, TX 76264
LOOKING FOR A PRIVATE
GETAWAY OR AN INVESTMENT
OPPORTUNITY THIS IS IT.

SATTERWHITE LOG LODGE

LOCATED ON BORDER OF
HAGERMAN WILDLIFE REFUGE.
DEER LOVERS PARADISE. Looking for a private getaway
or an investment opportunity this is it. Logs are 6 in
thick-double tongue and groove. All natural woods were
LQFRUSRUDWHGLQƓQLVKLQJRXWLQVLGH(DJOHPDQ6SUXFH
&HLOLQJLV3RQGHURVD3LQHZDOOVDUH&RORUDGR$VSLQDQG
ŴRRULQJLV$FDFLD(QJLQHHUHG+DUGZRRGŴRRULQJ3HOOHW
VWRYH+LJKFHLOLQJV.LWFKHQLV*UDQLWHDQGQDWXUDOZRRG
Master has incredible Master bath. Man cave opens to
outside to watch deer feed. Big pond with dock just East of
lodge. The surrounding area has produced multiple Boone
& Crocket/Pope & Young Whitetail Deer. Land showcases
UROOLQJKLOOVFUHHNVYDOOH\VDQGPHDGRZV0D\EH\RXU
private home or a PRIVATE family destination.

• 40.011 Acres • Residential

• 4 Beds • MLS# 14465472
• 2 Full Baths • Active
• 2,364 sq. ft. • Built in 2015
CONTACT:
Shirley Noles | REALTOR
6KHUPDQ2IƓFH
Primary: 903-271-9787
Schedule a Showing or Find Out More
HTTPS://2050OLDSADLER.EBBY.COM
to photograph bucks in the 170-inch
range from the road, with some
occasionally approaching 200
inches. One hunter who has land
adjoining the refuge passed up a
typical in the 190s because he knew
there was a bigger deer out there. He
showed me its sheds.”
LARRY MARCHINTON, PROFESSOR
EMERITUS, UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA
“It’s a good bet it will come out
of the upper Midwestern United
States or Canada. Nutritional
potential is great in the ‘breadbasket’
areas because of excellent soil and
associated agriculture. The deer in
those areas also seem to have an edge
in antler genetics. I guess if I had to
put money on one state or province,
it would be Saskatchewan. The best
prospect in the States is Illinois.
But with the change to Quality Deer
Management philosophy, many
other locations are emerging as future
big-buck ‘superstars,’ including
Kentucky, Tennessee and other areas
near the Mississippi River.”
TOM MILLER, VICE-PRESIDENT,
NORTH AMERICAN SHED HUNTERS
“Southeastern Iowa is our
pick. The lack of hunting pressure
combined with the shotgun-only
areas make it a haven for mature
bucks. There is also an increased area
of controlled hunting lands. With
recent winters being mostly mild, we
feel the next record could be shot very
soon. There has been an abundance
of world-class sheds coming in from
that region, and it’s definitely an area
that has yet to reach its full potential.
“Another region that continues
to produce high level entries
in the NASHC Record Book is
western Wisconsin. This area does
not take a backseat to anywhere.
The combination of extensive
agriculture, large land parcels
and the mineral-rich soils of the
Mississippi River make antler
growth there second to none.”
TODD AMENRUD,
DIRECTOR OF PR, MOSSY OAK
“With education in whitetail
management becoming more
widespread, it could come from
just about anywhere whitetails
roam. Wisconsin would be on the
list, along with Missouri (northeast
of Kirksville) and the three prairie
56 • FEBRUARY 2021
One thing's for certain: To attain world-class status, a buck must be allowed to attain the age
where it grows its largest set of head gear — typically 4½ to 7½ years of age.
provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan
and Manitoba. But some Southern
states are coming on strong. It
wouldn’t surprise me if it came from
Mississippi, Georgia or Alabama.
“If you were holding me down to
a narrower focus, I would say one
of the Canadian provinces, probably
Saskatchewan. They have the soil,
past performance and space. I
believe you need great soil to achieve
maximum nutrient transfer — from
the soil to the plant to the antlers.
They also have proven genetics. Look
at how many of the top 20 (four or
five) are from Saskatchewan. And
they have space. Pennsylvania, as an
example, has more licensed whitetail
hunters than Saskatchewan has total
population! The deer there have
the room and reduced pressure so
they can attain the age necessary to
produce trophy headgear.”
DR. LEONARD RUE III,
AUTHOR AND PHOTOGRAPHER
“Saskatchewan, or perhaps
Alberta. The weather is continuing
to warm up, and the deer are
pushing farther north all the time.
I have found mule deer up in the
Yukon with whitetails right behind.
This prediction is in part due to
Bergmann’s Rule (the axiom that
says members of the same species
tend to be larger and heavier when
they live in colder climates), in part
because of the new food available
in that area with little competition
for it, and in part because of low
hunting pressure.”
STEVE SCOTT, VICE-PRESIDENT,
WHITETAIL INSTITUTE
Anytime the potential of a world
record class deer is discussed, the
Midwest has to be at the top of the list.
If I were forced to pick only one state,
I’d have to go with Iowa, because that
state has so much going for it, as the
record book entries show.
The great news is that with more
and more people managing their
land and their deer herd by creating
better habitat, planting food plots
and letting bucks mature, it could
be any one of a few dozen states or
Canadian provinces. I would imagine
few people expected the world record
nontypical to come from Tennessee,
but it happened.”
CONCLUSION
So those are the experts’ picks,
with Saskatchewan a clear favorite to
repeat. But as Brian Murphy says, “It
can happen almost anywhere.” And
that’s enough to keep the imagination
running wild every time we hunters
head into the deer woods.
— Gerald Almy is an award-
winning outdoor writer from
Virginia who enjoys improving the
habitat for whitetails on his farm
as much as he enjoys hunting them.
DEERANDDEERHUNTING.COM

IN VENISON
SOME BASIC KNOWLEDGE
CAN HELP KEEP YOUR DEER
MEAT FRESH AND TASTY.
7
KH PRVW OLNHO\ ZD\V PHDW FDQ EHFRPH XQILW
RU OHVV WKDQ LGHDO WR HDW LQYROYH H[FHVVLYH
EDFWHULDOJURZWKRUE\WXUQLQJUDQFLG
7KRVHIRUPVRIVSRLODJHUHVXOWLQXQSOHDVDQWRGRUV
DQG IODYRUV DQG XQGHVLUDEOH FRORU FKDQJHV EXW
RWKHUZLVHGLIIHU9HQLVRQKDVDQH[FHOOHQWQXWULWLRQDO
SURILOH DQG KLJK PRLVWXUH FRQWHQW ERWK RI ZKLFK
SURYLGH D JUHDW HQYLURQPHQW IRU EDFWHULD JURZWK
&RQVHTXHQWO\ FRQWUROOLQJ EDFWHULDO JURZWK LV WKH
ILUVWWKLQJWRFRQVLGHUIRUFRQWUROOLQJPHDWVSRLODJH
7KDW¶VWKHIRFXVRIWKHWKUHH&¶VNHHSLWFOHDQNHHS
LW FROG DQG FRRN LW DSSURSULDWHO\ +RZHYHU ZKHQ
EDFWHULD DUH XQGHU FRQWURO WKH SRWHQWLDO IRU UDQFLG
DEERANDDEERHUNTING.COM
BUTCHER SHOP
DR. JOE SEBRANEK
MITCH KEZAR/WINDIGO IMAGES
IODYRUVEHJLQVDQGJLYHQWLPHZLOOUHVXOWLQVSRLODJH
DQGSURGXFWORVV
,QVLPSOHWHUPVUDQFLGLW\LVWKHUHDFWLRQRIR[\JHQ
ZLWK XQVDWXUDWHG PHDW OLSLGV 7KDW UHDFWLRQ EUHDNV
ODUJHIDWW\DFLGPROHFXOHVLQWRPXFKVPDOOHUPROHFXOHV
LQFOXGLQJ VHYHUDO WKDW DUH YRODWLOH ZKLFK ZLOO FUHDWH
UDQFLG RGRUV DQG IODYRUV %HFDXVH DQLPDO IDW YDULHV
JUHDWO\ DPRQJ VSHFLHV WKH SURGXFWV RI UDQFLGLW\ ZLWK
DVVRFLDWHG RGRUV DQG IODYRUV ZLOO DOVR GLIIHU 9HQLVRQ
EHHI SRUN SRXOWU\ DQG ILVK DUH GLVWLQFWO\ GLIIHUHQW
+RZHYHU WKH FKHPLFDO UHDFWLRQV DUH WKH VDPH DQG
FRQVHTXHQWO\ WKH VDPH SUHYHQWDWLYH PHDVXUHV IRU
FRQWUROOLQJUDQFLGLW\ZRUNIRUDOONLQGVRIDQLPDOIDWV
FEBRUARY 2021 • 57

MITCH KEZAR/WINDIGO IMAGES
HOW RANCIDITY DEVELOPS
The sequences of chemical
reactions that result in rancid fat
have been thoroughly studied and
are well understood. Lipid chemists
describe the sequence as occurring
in two major phases. The first phase
is initiation, in which some energy
input and a catalyst are needed to
start the reaction by converting
an unsaturated fatty acid to a
58 • FEBRUARY 2021
free radical. Unsaturated fatty
acids have double bonds between
adjacent carbon atoms, and those
double bonds are the point at which
the fatty acids are most susceptible
to the conditions that result in
free radicals. Warm temperatures
and exposure to light can provide
the energy, and the catalyst can
be provided by hard water, salt or
metal contaminants, such as iron.
Fortunately, that’s the slowest step
in the process, so good temperature
control, reducing light exposure
and avoiding contact with catalysts
will help slow the overall process.
The second phase of rancidity
development, termed propagation,
occurs when oxygen becomes
involved by reacting with the free
radical produced by initiation. This
results in a highly reactive, unstable
hydroperoxyl radical that will
attack other fatty acids to generate
more free radicals, and which then
breaks down into the compounds
that generate unpleasant odors
and flavors. This is an important
step because it becomes a self-
generating cycle, with more free
radicals and hydroperoxyl radicals
produced each time it occurs. Thus,
the changes accelerate, and the end
products are produced faster as
time passes. It has been estimated
that after combining with oxygen,
each free radical formed in the
initiation step will generate about
500 more free radicals before the
cycle is interrupted. Practically,
that means that when the rancidity
process has started, it will accelerate
at an exponentially increasing rate
as time passes. That’s also where
the most important intervention
treatments can be applied to
minimize the rate and extent of
those reactions.
PRACTICAL INTERVENTIONS
Clearly, lipids that are more
saturated (fewer double bonds)
are much less likely to develop
rancidity. These lipids are also
harder, with higher melting points.
For example, venison and beef
are more saturated than pork or
poultry and less susceptible to
the initiation step, and they will
develop rancidity more slowly.
The hardness difference has other
implications. Many people do not
like the waxy, mouth-coating feel
of venison fat, which comes from
the high proportion of saturated
fatty acids. Not only are there
species differences for saturated
and unsaturated fatty acid ratios,
but the fat from various locations
on an animal’s body also differs.
Internal fat around the kidneys,
sometimes called leaf fat, is the
most saturated, and subcutaneous
DEERANDDEERHUNTING.COM
 e Blade holder supports the
razor for the strength of
a traditional knife

e Gutting blade
opens game
like a zipper

KING OF THE e Change blades

safely with
the push of

MOUNTAIN
a button

In the rugged backcountry of Colorado we hope for the best and

plan for the worst–but with the RazorPro™ the worst doesn't stand
HJOHUJLœLWH[LU[LKRazorSafe System™ changes blades faster
than the mountain weather, and is always ready for what's next. If
it'll get the job done here, it'll get it done anywhere. Make the Cut™ Nonslip f
rubberized
TPR handle
fat — such as backfat — will be
more unsaturated. Kidney fat from
venison is probably best used for
suet because of its hardness. Many
sausage processors substitute pork
fat for venison fat because of the
waxy and granular mouthfeel that
can occur with venison fat. Venison
fat can also vary as a result of diet
and animal age, and using pork
fat reduces the effects of those
variables in sausage products.
Regardless of the fat source
used, minimizing the initiation step
of rancidity with good temperature
control, reducing light exposure and
avoiding catalysts is still important.
However, the most effective means
of controlling rancidity is by
altering the propagation step, in
which oxygen becomes involved. It
should be obvious that eliminating
oxygen will have a huge effect, and
ANOTHER
MAJOR
MEANS OF
SUPPRESSING
THE PROPAGATION OF
RADICALS IS THE USE OF
ANTIOXIDANTS. THESE
COMPOUNDS REACT
DIRECTLY WITH THE
RADICALS AND PREVENT THE
RECYCLING THAT OCCURS
WHEN RADICALS ATTACK
OTHER FATTY ACIDS. THAT
DRASTICALLY SLOWS
THE DEVELOPMENT OF
THE RANCID ODORS AND
FLAVORS. ANTIOXIDANTS
CAN BE PROVIDED BY
SPICE EXTRACTS, SUCH
AS ROSEMARY, AND BY
COMPOUNDS SUCH AS
BHA AND BHT, WHICH YOU
OFTEN SEE ON COMMERCIAL
PRODUCT INGREDIENT LISTS.
60 • FEBRUARY 2021
IT SHOULD BE OBVIOUS THAT ELIMINATING
OXYGEN WILL HAVE A HUGE EFFECT, AND THAT’S
WHERE VACUUM PACKAGING PLAYS A MAJOR
ROLE. EVEN WITHOUT VACUUM, A TIGHTLY
WRAPPED PACKAGE THAT EXCLUDES AS MUCH AIR AS POSSIBLE
— ESPECIALLY FOR MEAT TO BE FROZEN — CAN BE HELPFUL.
that’s where vacuum packaging than with frozen whole muscles or
plays a major role. Even without muscle chunks.
vacuum, a tightly wrapped package Sausage products with salt added
that excludes as much air as are also more likely to develop
possible — especially for meat to be rancidity in frozen or unfrozen form
frozen — can be helpful. Another because salt serves as a catalyst for
major means of suppressing the initiation. Using antioxidants is
propagation of radicals is the use particularly important for products
of antioxidants. These compounds such as breakfast sausage and
react directly with the radicals and bratwurst, which are not cured
prevent the recycling that occurs (no nitrite has been added).
when radicals attack other fatty However, cured products such as
acids. That drastically slows the frankfurter-type sausages have a
development of the rancid odors strong antioxidant in the form of
and flavors. Antioxidants can be nitrite as the curing agent.
provided by spice extracts, such
as rosemary, and by compounds HOW CAN I TELL IF MY MEAT IS RANCID?
such as BHA and BHT, which you If you’ve had meat in the freezer
often see on commercial product for several months and begin
ingredient lists. Cured meats to wonder about rancidity, the
include a powerful antioxidant in best approach is to use your eyes
nitrite and are very stable relative and nose. A rancid product will
to rancidity. probably show some brown or gray
Rancidity will most likely become discoloration and have an odor that
obvious in frozen meat, because is flat or cardboardy, even while
bacterial growth is limited. Frozen frozen. If it’s still questionable,
meat held at 0 degrees will last for put a small amount of meat in a
many months in the freezer but will frying pan or microwave with a
eventually develop some rancid little water, apply heat and let your
flavor. It might not be a particularly nose do the work. If the meat is
unpleasant flavor but one that even slightly off-odor, it’s not a
seems flat, “cardboardy” or simply good idea to try adding spices and
less than fresh, and not as good as making sausage. Remember that
it had been, depending on how far when started, rancidity progresses
rancidity has progressed. The flavor at an increasing rate. If the meat
change is usually accompanied by is only slightly rancid, that means
some color changes because there’s it’s already past the initiation stage,
a close relationship between meat and any products made with it will
color and rancidity development. turn rancid much quicker. Any
Brown or gray edges or surfaces off-color or off-odor meat is best
are indications of oxidized meat discarded rather than trying to
pigments, and the iron in oxidized make something with it.
meat pigments is a good catalyst
for the initiation step of rancidity. — Dr. Joe Sebranek is a
Another consideration is that distinguished professor of animal
grinding meat before freezing will science at Iowa State University.
shorten the frozen storage life.
That’s because the incorporation
and mixing of oxygen that occurs
during grinding sets the stage for
faster development of rancid flavor
DEERANDDEERHUNTING.COM
 GET
YOURS BEFORE
THEY’RE GONE!
2021 DEER HUN TER S’

ALMANAC
THE 2021 DEER HUNTERS’ ALMANAC IS PACKED
WITH THOUSANDS OF FACTS AND TIPS!
• COMPACT SIZE IS PERFECT FOR LONG
DAYS IN THE BLIND OR TREE STAND
• PERFECT STOCKING STUFFER
• DETAILED INSIGHTS ON WHITETAIL
BEHAVIOR, BIOLOGY AND PHYSIOLOGY
AMERICA’S FAVORITE WHITETAIL DIGEST! • LAND MANAGEMENT TIPS AND TACTICS
SINCE 1992 • BOWHUNTING STRATEGIES
AVAILABLE ONLINE OR • GUN-HUNTING TUNE-UPS ADVICE
• COMPREHENSIVE DEER HARVEST DATA
MAIL-IN ORDER BELOW FROM STATES AND PROVINCES
SHOP.DEERANDDEERHUNTING.COM/ • BLOOD-TRAILING TIPS,
2021-DEER-AND-DEER-HUNTING-ALMANAC AGING INFORMATION AND MUCH MORE!

YES!
BECAUSE QUANTITIES ARE VERY LIMITED,
WE ARE ONLY ACCEPTING MAIL-IN ORDERS
SEND ME MY PAID WITH CHECK OR MONEY ORDER. CREDIT
CARDS ACCEPTED ONLINE ONLY. NO CREDIT
2 02 1 DEER HUN T ER S’ CARD PAYMENTS CAN BE MADE ON MAIL-IN
ORDERS AT THIS TIME.
MAKE CHECKS PAYABLE TO: MEDIA 360, LLC
FOR PROMPT SERVICE, SEND THIS COUPON
AND PAYMENT TO:
MEDIA 360, LLC
ATTN: 2021 ALMANAC,
P.O. BOX 548, WAUPACA, WI 54981

ALMANAC
(PRICE INCLUDES SHIPPING)
$14 EACH
5 OR MORE ALMANACS
CONTACT FOR PRICING AND AVAILABILITY
SUSIE.MELUM@MEDIA360LLC.COM
PAYMENT:
Check or Money Order
QUANTITY: __ TOTAL ENCLOSED: ______
NAME: ___________________________________________
ADDRESS: _________________________________________
________________________________________________
________________________________________________

GROW ’EM BIG
STEVE BARTYLLA
TOP TIPS
FOR CENSUS CAMS
I
f you want to get the most (and
best) intel on the deer roaming
your hunting property, you
need to come up with a trail-
camera plan that works for you.
I’ve “been there, done that” on
the trail-cam thing over the past
25+ years, and here’s just a few
things I’ve learned along the way.
I hope this information helps you
obtain the results you desire this
off-season.
The first step in not having
scouting cameras harm your
hunting efforts is to ID their
potential weaknesses and
determine their capabilities.
This can be done by running
some simple tests:
In a quiet room, place the
camera face up, turn it on and
walk away. The next morning, enter
the room in a way that keeps you away
from the detection zone, lean your ear
down to its side and slowly move your
ear over it, just a couple inches away.
62 • FEBRUARY 2021
The key to a successful trail-camera setup
is not how pretty the pictures are but rather
how much intel you can gather from them.
If you can hear it come out of sleep
mode or take a picture, you can bet
deer will too, on calm days.
Now, turn off the lights.
Repeat that same test. Note if
you can see or hear the flash.
To test the camera’s range
set it up in the yard and walk
past at five-yard intervals, out
to 50 yards. Review the chip to
determine the range of detection.
Repeat the process in
the dark to determine its
functional flash range.
To test trigger speed, allow
the unit to enter sleep mode
before walking at a brisk
pace perpendicular past it,
approximately five yards out.
If your image is caught entering
or centered in the frame, you can
generally set it up across deer trails.
If your image is leaving or absent
from the frame, the unit must
be set up angling down trails, to
successfully capture the most deer.
To help define the camera’s
detection zone, first be sure it
is set to multishot bursts. Then
slowly walk perpendicular to the
unit at 10 yards. Noting the location
of your first and last images will
give a good idea of how wide of a
detection range the unit provides.
Noise or flash-generating
cameras should never be set
on multishot bursts, unless
they are covering something
relatively small that deer
really want. One can typically get
away with it on bait piles, mineral
licks and even waterholes, but be
sure to check if bait and minerals
are legal in your area before use.
In these cases, the deer really want
what is offered there. Remember, we
can train deer to fear or accept darn
near anything, and some deer won’t
mind the noise or flash. When placed
on something they really want, where
they simply can’t avoid the camera,
does and young bucks tend to train
even the most nervous bucks that the
flash and camera pop is harmless.
As mentioned, some deer
won’t care. In fact, most deer
won’t. That said, Mr. Big is our
priority and he’s the one I most
often want to make certain
doesn’t even alter his travels
by 20 yards to avoid the unit. If
he is the one that’s avoiding them,
why have them out to begin with?
CONCLUSION
There’s a trick to minimizing
the potential disturbance of
noisy or visible flash cameras
set up over scrapes, trails, food
sources or any other area you
don’t want Mr. Big to avoid.
Set them to single-shot mode,
raise them eight to 12 feet off
the ground and angle them
down to the coverage area.
For whatever reason, even
skittish deer appear to accept a single
flash or click from above. It’s when
that’s repeated or near eye level that
they tend to mind the most.
— For dozens of “Grow ’em Big”
videos and TV episodes, please
visit the Deer & Deer Hunting
channel at www.youtube.com/
DDHOnline.
DEERANDDEERHUNTING.COM
ACT NOW…L IM IT ED TIME OFFER!
• Our annual Whitetail Calendar is the perfect gift for the
deer hunter on your list (or for yourself!).

• The new 2021 Whitetail

Calendar®features the
incredible photography and
rut predictions of Charles
Alsheimer. Use it to plan
your vacation days and
to pinpoint when deer
will enter the seeking,
chasing and tending
phases (both North &
South) in 2021.

• This collector’s
edition calendar
is only available
on national
newsstands and
through this limited-time sale
direct from Media 360 LLC.

BECAUSE QUANTITIES ARE VERY LIMITED,
WE ARE ONLY ACCEPTING ORDERS PAID
WITH CHECK OR MONEY ORDER.
MAKE CHECKS OUT TO: MEDIA 360, LLC.
FOR PROMPT SERVICE, SEND THIS
COUPON AND PAYMENT TO:
MEDIA 360, LLC
ATN: 2021 WHITETAIL CALENDAR,
P.O. BOX 548, WAUPACA, WI 54981

PAYMENT: Check or Money Order

QUANTITY: __________ TOTAL ENCLOSED: ____________

NAME: ______________________________________________________
(ALL FREE SHIPPING)
ADDRESS: ____________________________________________________
1 TO 4 CALENDARS . . . . . .$9.95 EACH
___________________________________________________________
5-9 CALENDARS . . . . . . . .$8.50 EACH
___________________________________________________________
10+ CALENDARS . . . . . . . . $7.50 EACH
EMAIL: ______________________________________________________
DEER BEHAVIOR
CHARLES J. ALSHEIMER

I QDGGLWLRQ
WREHLQJZRUQ
RXWDQGKXQJU\WKHSRVW
UXWZKLWHWDLOKDVDQRWKHUWKLQJWKDW
NHHSVKLPIURPPRYLQJDERXWWKHFRQVWDQW
SUHVHQFHRIPDQ7KHKXQWLQJSUHVVXUHLQFXUUHG
GXULQJ6HSWHPEHU2FWREHUDQG1RYHPEHUFDXVHVPDQ\
EXFNVWREHFRPHQRFWXUQDO:KHQIRUPXODWLQJDKXQWLQJ
VWUDWHJ\IRUQRFWXUQDOSRVWUXWEXFNVLW¶VLPSRUWDQWWR
XQGHUVWDQGWKDWDOOZKLWHWDLOHGEXFNVDUHQRWWKHVDPH
7KH\IDOOLQWRWZRFDWHJRULHV\HDUOLQJVDQGDGXOWV7KLVLV
HVSHFLDOO\HYLGHQWLQDUHDVZKHUHKXQWLQJSUHVVXUHLVKHDY\
64 • FEBRUARY 2021 DEERANDDEERHUNTING.COM
 Post-Rut

CHARLES J. ALSHEIMER

DEERANDDEERHUNTING.COM FEBRUARY 2021 • 65


Yearling bucks are much easier
to hunt, and it takes a lot of pressure
for them to become truly nocturnal.
The sex urge in November’s prime
breeding season overwhelms most
yearling bucks, keeping them
constantly on the move. This
makes yearlings huntable even in
the post-rut. However, if a buck is
lucky enough to survive his yearling
season, he becomes a totally
different animal the second season
when he is 2-1/2 years old. These
deer, as well as older bucks, really
go underground in the post-rut.
Contrary to popular belief
among hunters, bucks do not move
out of the country when hunting
pressure increases. Telemetry
studies conducted throughout North
America indicate that whitetails
do not abandon their core range
during hunting season. Bucks simply
hunker down, find the thickest cover
possible, and limit their movements
to nighttime or the fringes of daylight.
Couple this with a buck’s weakened,
rut-ravaged body and it’s easy to see
why hunting the post-rut is the most
challenging time to bag a buck.
66 • FEBRUARY 2021
A bedding area’s relation to food
and water can’t be emphasized
enough, for it reveals how a buck
moves to and from the bedding
area. During the post-rut, try to
find bedding areas that are close to
the whitetail’s feeding areas. Bucks
are weary and don’t want to travel
too far for food if they can help it.
As a result, you’ll often find them
bedding in thick cover within 200 to
300 yards of standing field crops or
mast sources. If standing corn exists
both bucks and does will probably
be bedding right in the field.
When a trail is found leading
to or from a bedding area, look at
the tracks closely. If most or all are
heading toward the feeding area,
the trail is probably being used late
in the day. If the tracks indicate
movement into the bedding
area, the trail is being used in the
morning. Knowing a whitetail’s
escape routes will help you plan
hunting strategies and determine
ambush locations.
Plan your ambush of a post-rut
buck by being as inconspicuous as
possible. This means do not spend
CHARLES J. ALSHEIMER
a lot of time in the area. Hang
your stand near the bedding area’s
known escape routes or where sign
and cover is thickest. And, hang
stands as close to a known bedding
area without spooking deer.
Lastly, make sure your entrance
and exit can be done quietly. This
last point is critical.
It’s important to note that a
whitetail’s feeding times in the post-
rut can change drastically from what
they were prior to November’s rut.
In the North, where winter usually
begins in early December, there will
be more activity mid to end of day
in the post-rut, especially if hunting
pressure has not been intense.
The hours of 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
and 3 p.m. to nightfall typically
offer the greatest deer activity
during the post-rut.
— Charles Alsheimer was one
of America’s foremost experts on
deer behavior. He contributed
to D&DH from 1977 to 2017.
DEERANDDEERHUNTING.COM
 GO TO PURSUITCHANNEL.COM for more information on all of the
great shows and schedules, and how to get Pursuit Channel from
your TV service provider or streaming online source.
FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA! • DISH NETWORK CHANNEL 393
FACEBOOK.COM/THEPURSUITCHANNEL • DIRECT TV CHANNEL 604 • VERIZON CHANNEL 818
INSTAGRAM.COM/PURSUITCHANNEL • CENTURYLINK 1677 • AT&T U-VERSE 1644

Community
@PURSUITCHANNEL/TWEETS • ROKU SEARCH PURSUIT CHANNEL
• WATCH ONLINE ON VIDILLION
WWW.VIDILLION.TV/PURSUITCHANNEL/
FACEBOOK
ASHTON JONES: A
Remington model 700 WHAT TO WATCH USOC ADVENTURES TV
.30-06 all synthetic with
a Nikon scope nailed the
buck at 100 yards and
ran maybe 10 yards. My
dad about knocked me
out of the stand he was
more excited than I was,
been addicted to deer
hunting ever since!
SEAN CASE: My dad’s old western field 12-gauge bolt action. One in the pipe,
two in the clip. Missed the doe with the first got her with the second. Then the Since 2012, US Outdoorsman Central has partnered with the Pursuit Channel to bring sportsmen and
6-point came out, missed him with third. He ran a little ways then watched me women across the country the opportunity to win a filmed outdoor adventure of a lifetime! USOC
try to poke slugs back into it. Adventures TV on Pursuit Channel turns the spotlight on you, and your love of the great outdoors.
KEVIN MAHONEY: With my old International Arms .30-06 with a 3-power scope. You can win one of a dozen hunts or fishing trips per year to some of our country’s ultimate
80 yards from the stand at 6:28 p.m. It was a deformed spike that was born with destinations! Many of these trips include food, lodging and guides, and the Pursuit Channel covers
a bad back leg. No trophy to many, but still have the antlers because he was a airfare or mileage.
trophy to me.
WALT KILLINGSWORTH: Remington .243 that was won by my dad at a local turkey WATCH ON MONDAYS AT 7:30 A.M. AND 9:00 P.M.
shoot. My dad did not hunt so he passed it down to me. EST, AND SATURDAYS AT 8:00 P.M. EST.
DREW LOADWICK: 3 point in the heart of the Adirondack mountains at a life
long hunting club six miles in the woods with my grandfather’s .32 Winchester
special. Four generations shot theIr first buck with this rifle and I was the last to PURSUIT CHANNEL, USOC ADVENTURES TV AND
end the tradition!!! UPPER CHESAPEAKE OUTFITTERS SEA DUCK HUNT
MAGGIE LAWSON: My grandaddy’s double-barrel, rabbit-eared shotgun when
I was 8. Had he not had his arms steadying me I’d have spun around like a top!
Most thrilling moment of my life. Got the bug bad that day! 52 years ago and still
a thrill to be out there hunting!

Pursuit Channel, USOC Adventures TV

DEERTOPIA WITH and Upper Chesapeake Outfitters are
STEVE BARTYLLA teaming up for another outstanding
Whether you lease, own or just hunting adventure to be filmed for TV!
have access to a small piece of
private land, you can improve it The Chesapeake Bay area of Maryland
to make it more deer-friendly. is the wintering grounds for many
This new show for 2021 is all different species of waterfowl. The
about helping you achieve those upper bay or the flats are known
goals — and more! DEERTOPIA to hold hundreds and thousands of
is a spin-off of the wildly popular YouTube program “Grow ’em Big with Steve Bartylla.” A canvasbacks, blue bills, puddle ducks
veteran land manager with 25-plus years of experience, Steve provides real-world advice and geese. The farther south you travel on USOC Road Trip Adventure! This traditional
and techniques that will shorten your learning curve toward producing bigger and healthier the bay the target species transform from style of gunning provides you with the
deer, while also offering proven hunting tactics. Each episode is aimed at making your piece puddle ducks and divers, into sea ducks chance to harvest, divers, puddle ducks,
of deer hunting ground the very best that it can be! There are 13 original episodes that will be such as scoters and oldsquaw. and geese in the same outing!
broadcast 78 times on the Pursuit Channel, D&DH Facebook page and DeerandDeerHunting.
com. Stay tuned for show dates and times. Experience the thrills and in-your- VISIT WWW.MYUSOC.COM FOR
face action of Body Booting with Upper MORE INFORMATION.
NOW STREAMING PAST EPISODES ON Chesapeake Outfitter on this awesome
WWW.PURSUITUPTV.COM!

DEERANDDEERHUNTING.COM FEBRUARY 2021 • 67

GUN SHOP
NEW AMMO CAN TURN AN
OLDER RIFLE INTO A MODERN
DEER HUNTING MARVEL.
I
f you think back on all of the
years modern man has been
hunting white-tailed deer,
you might gloss over the fact that
one rifle has been responsible for
bringing home the lion’s share of
that vension: the lever-action. And
while it’s true the .30-30 has been the
most popular lever-action caliber for
deer hunters, there has been an influx
in other popular versions, including
the 357 Magnum (pictured above).
And, while the 357 Magnum has
been an option for more than 80
years, that particular configuration
was never really optimized for deer
hunting because loads were invariably
handgun cartridges. That changes
with the introduction of Federal’s new
HammerDown loads.
There are five things that set
HammerDown apart from other
ammunition. Here’s what deer
hunters need to know:
1. HammerDown was designed
in collaboration with Henry
Repeating Arms, a leading lever-
gun manufacturer. HRA is known
for top-performing lever-action rifles
with excellent, made-in-America
craftsmanship. Outstanding examples
of rifles popular with hunters include
their Big Boy All-Weather and Big Boy
Steel models.
Federal worked with HRA when
developing HammerDown. Their
insight into the classic firearm
platform helped ensure the utmost
reliability and accuracy from each and
every load. This ammunition is made
in America.
For the initial launch of the
HammerDown product line, Federal
selected the most popular lever-
action rifle calibers. This includes
327 Federal Magnum, 357 Magnum,
44 Rem. Magnum, 45 Colt, 30-30
Win., and 45-70 Government. The
35 Rem. cartridge will come soon
after the initial product launch. Other
cartridges could be added in the future
to grow the product line.
68 • FEBRUARY 2021
LEVER REVIVAL
2. HammerDown is specifically
engineered for any and all lever
guns. It is designed to function
flawlessly and easily in side-gate
loading and tubular magazines. To
do this, Federal chamfered the case of
all HammerDown cartridges. These
improved cases feature specialized
geometry on the front face of the case’s
rim. This difference improves cycling
in all lever-action feeding systems.
3. All options in the new product
line feature molecularly bonded
bullets. This process of bonding
copper plating to a lead core is
similar to how Federal’s FUSION
and Speer’s Gold Dot bullets are
manufactured. This time-tested
bonding technique delivers best-in-
class expansion and weight retention
on impact. Since many of the products
in the HammerDown lineup are
traditionally handgun cartridges,
Federal loaded those cartridges with
heavy-for-caliber bullets and set them
to increased velocities to deliver better
depth of penetration when shot out of
longer rifle barrels.
4. All other components are of
the highest grades of quality in
the industry. The precision-built
cases feature nickel-plated brass
that defeats corrosion and aids in
sleek, smooth extraction in even the
most extreme conditions. The clean-
burning, consistent powders are
specially formulated to meet the most
stringent specifications. Gold Medal
primers are manufactured to exacting
tolerances to deliver precise and
reliable ignition.
5. HammerDown is a Federal
Premium branded product. This
means all components and loading
steps are subjected to more frequent
inspections, such as dimensional
tolerances and charge weights, than
standard ammunition when loaded
at the factory. This is to provide the
highest assurance that it will deliver
the best, most consistent performance
for every shot.
Finally, all HammerDown is
packaged in traditional long, flat
rifle ammunition boxes in 20-count
quantities. Since cartridges such as
327 Federal Magnum, 357 Magnum,
and 44 Rem. Magnum — traditionally
known to be handgun cartridges—are
now optimized for a use out of a rifle,
Federal put them in rifle packaging.
All these modifications define
HammerDown as purpose-built
ammunition targeted to hunters who
use lever-action rifles.
HammerDown can be purchased
direct from Federal at: https://
www.federalpremium.com/
rifle/hammerdown.
DEERANDDEERHUNTING.COM
PURSUIT CHANNEL DELIVERS THE OUTDOORS STRAIGHT
TO YOUR TV AND DEVICES WITH THE CLICK OF A BUTTON.
DOWNLOAD OUR APP TODAY AND NEVER MISS AN EPISODE.

• DISH CHANNEL 393 •

• DIRECT TV CHANNEL 604 •
• VERIZON CHANNEL 818 •
• CENTURY LINK 1677 •
• ATT U-VERSE 1644 •
• ROKU SEARCH PURSUIT CHANNEL •
• WWW.VIDILLION.TV/PURSUITCHANNEL •

WWW.PURSUITUPTV.COM

FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA!

FACEBOOK.COM/THEPURSUITCHANNEL
INSTAGRAM.COM/PURSUITCHANNEL
@PURSUITCHANNEL/TWEETS
 AVOID A
BOW SHOP
BOB ROBB

LEARN HOW TO MOUNT

YOUR BOW’S SIGHT AND
PEEP IN TANDEM
COMMON PEEP
I
have spent a considerable
amount of time experimenting
with peep sights through the
SIGHT PITFALL
years. I’ve tried all sorts of peep
sight designs and aperture sizes.
In the old days, we all used
the original Fine Line peeps with
rubber tubing that made sure the
peep turned perfectly every time.
This style of peep is still available
and many bowhunters like them,
because they are reliable and
work well. The downside is that
the tubing can rot and break, and
the peep is useless without that
rubber tube. If you use this type,
make sure you always carry a
spare piece of tubing in your day
pack. These peeps are also noisy
at the shot.
Today’s no-stretch bowstrings
make it possible to use peeps without
the tubing, because they will come
back perfectly aligned shot after
shot. This is the style most serious
bowhunters employ today.
I have tried the small, 1/8-inch
aperture peeps like many
tournament shooters use, but I have
found they are way too small for
hunting for two reasons. First, they
do not let in enough light at dawn
and dusk. Second, you cannot see
anything but the target, giving you
no sense of what is happening on
the periphery.
I next tried both 3/16- and
¼-inch aperture peeps. I like both
sizes, but I have now settled with the
¼-inch size for all my bowhunting.
These peeps allow a lot of light in, proper shooting position to see shots will begin to hit high or low.
and they are large enough that I can through your peep! That’s never a good thing.
center the outside round housing of After I install my peep in the
my bow sight, which helps me get a proper location on the bowstring, — Bob Robb is a professional
very consistent anchor point. I tie it into place with serving outdoor writer and accomplished
I make sure I mount my bow material or dental floss so it cannot whitetail bowhunter from
sight so that the housing is centered move. I also mark the top and Washington State.
in the peep when my head is in bottom of the peep location on the
the correct position at full draw. string with an indelible marker
This is something that cannot be so that, with a quick glance, I can
overemphasized. You should not tell if it has slipped up or down
have to move your head out of the the string. If you peep moves, your
70 • FEBRUARY 2021 DEERANDDEERHUNTING.COM
 86,000+
SUBSCRIBERS

7.5 MILLION
VIEWERS IN 2019

545,000
HOURS WATCHED IN 2019

WATCH. LISTEN. LEARN.

JOIN OUR YOUTUBE DEER CAMP. IT’S FREE!
WWW.YOUTUBE.COM/DDHONLINE
24/7 ACCESS TO DEER HUNTING VIDEOS | 1,200+ VIDEOS | DEER BEHAVIOR • BIOLOGY • RESEARCH • HUNTING TACTICS • NEW GEAR + MORE!
WATCH NOW, OR LATER. DEER & DEER HUNTING'S YOUTUBE CHANNEL IS YOUR ONE-STOP SOURCE FOR ALL THINGS WHITETAILS.
BUCK SHOTS
DAVID GILANE & SARA KAYE

I
own a small, 3-acre property
in Tigerton, Wisconsin. At one
time, it was well-known that
Tigerton produced massive bucks
thanks to an abundance of farmland
and a huge parcel of public land
where the hunters worked together
to let ‘em grow. Eventually the land
was sold off piece-by-piece and the
big bucks disappeared with it. But
not all of them, and that’s what this
story is about.
In the spring of 2020, with the
pandemic in full force, there wasn’t
much exciting going on, or at least
that’s what I thought, until I checked
my Browning trail camera in late May.
That was the first day I noticed the
deer I later named “Jagger.” Jagger
was the biggest buck I had ever seen
THE
on my property. He was a main-frame
8-pointer with two kickers, for a total
of 10 points. ON 3
Jagger was a true king of the
forest, with his enormous, skyscraper
G2s and G3s sitting atop his head
and main beams that wrapped so far
ACRES DAN SCHMIDT

around the front they nearly touched,
just like a crown.
After checking my cameras every
few weeks, I plotted his typical travel
pattern in my BaseMap app. Right
behind my property is a cornfield
where I would catch Jagger eating and
bedding. After leaving the cornfield,
he would travel through the red pine
plantation located on my property.
Between the cornfield and the pines
I placed two treestands, one on each
side of Jagger’s trail for differing
winds. I knew if I hunted the right
wind, either of those stands would be
my best bet.
Sept. 12 is my birthday, which
happened to fall on the 2020 bow
season opener, and the only gift I
wanted was Jagger. That day it rained
morning to night. I still decided to
sit out during the evening because I
never enjoy missing opening day. It
ended up being a little bittersweet as
Jagger stayed hunkered down and
lived another day.
Three days later, on Sept. 15, the
wind was perfect for the stand I had
placed 20 yards from the edge of the
cornfield. There was about 20 minutes
of daylight left when a doe and her
72 • FEBRUARY 2021
SOMETIMES TO KILL A BIG BUCK, YOU ONLY NEED A LITTLE LAND.
fawn stepped out. I drew my bow, but
I noticed them both looking back into
the cornfield at something. “Perhaps
another deer is in the corn,” I thought.
I put down my bow and hoped that
something great was soon to come.
The doe and fawn made their
way to my pines and wandered out
of sight. With the rapidly fading light
and no other deer seemingly behind
them, I decided it was time to start
packing up. I hunched over to place
my rangefinder in my backpack when
out of the corner of my eye I saw a
buck’s rack dip just under the tops of
the corn stalks, only 20 yards to my
right. Sixty-seconds later a towering
buck stepped out of the corn right onto
Jagger’s trail. Between being in the
last few minutes of shooting light and
my accelerated heart rate, I couldn’t
tell if it was Jagger, but I didn’t care;
I’ll never pass up a good buck. He
stopped right at the edge of the field
and glanced to his right, providing me
a perfect quartering-away shot at 20
yards. I let my arrow fly and the sound
of the slap was more satisfying than
the inevitable nap after Thanksgiving
turkey. The deer ran about 60 yards,
and I heard him take his last breath
as he crashed behind the pond on
the property.
When I walked up to him, I
couldn’t believe it — it was Jagger. My
emotions took control of me. There
he lay after months of meticulous
observation, personal restraint and a
whole lot of hopes and prayers. The
kicker of it all was that the day after
I harvested Jagger, the local farmer
harvested the corn he was living in.
This was very likely the only chance I
would ever get, and the stars could not
have aligned more perfectly.
Jagger’s main beams measured a
whopping 24 inches. He scored 153
6/8 inches. Jagger is the deer of a
lifetime. He is a daily reminder that
hunting requires a lot of patience,
hard work, and in my case, not a lot
of land.
—David Gilane is the executive
producer for Deer & Deer Hunting.
DEERANDDEERHUNTING.COM
WE’RE ON THE AIR!
WITH OUR THREE ACCLAIMED SHOWS

THANKS TO OUR TV NETWORKS

 NEW GEAR 1

TENPOINT VAPOR RS470 XERO™

1 TenPoint Crossbow Technologies and Garmin have teamed up to release
RS470 XERO. Delivering speeds up to 470 fps and the ACUslide cocking
XERO is equipped with the new Garmin Xero® X1i Rangefinding Scope
to provide exact aiming at any distance. The auto-ranging digital scope with 3.5X magnification automatically
measures the distance to a target. A single button press lets you range up to 500 yards away. Precise illuminated
aim points automatically adjust for both distance and brightness conditions to allow you to see your target,
3
unobstructed by reticle patterns. Simply range the target with the built-in touchpad on the grip and use the
single aiming solution provided by the Xero® X1i. The Laser Locate™ waypoint projection feature works with
compatible Garmin devices to show you exactly where the target was, so you can better track game or find
bolts. In addition, the scope allows you to create custom bolt profiles with unique aim points for each setup,
while its Target Lock and Steady Shot features assist with ranging and aiming performance to help improve
accuracy. The crossbow’s ACUslide™ features the company’s Auto-Brake Gear System, which allows for silent
cocking and safe and controlled de-cocking of the crossbow. The Vapor also features a patented reverse-draw
bow assembly that draws the string through the riser for more speed with less draw weight. The crossbow’s
Vector-Quad™ cable technology utilizes four cables instead of the traditional two, which eliminates cam lean
and generates straight nock travel for downrange accuracy. Weight: 8 pounds. Length: 31 inches.
MSRP: $4,049.99 INFO: WWW.TENPOINTCROSSBOWS.COM 2
CUDDEBACK CUDDELINK POWERHOUSE IR CELL CAMERA
2 Cell Mode 1 PowerHouse Cell features everything demanding deer hunters need — LTE service, 1/4-second
trigger speed, long battery life and 20MP images. Cell service starts at $10 per month. Cell Mode 2 is where
PowerHouse Cell really shines. PowerHouse Cell utilizes CuddeLink technology to allow up to 24 cameras to share
one $10 per month cell plan. So instead of paying for multiple cell plans that can add up to $50, $75 or more
than $100 per month, PowerHouse Cell allows you to have up to 24 CuddeLink cameras on one $10 per month
plan (750 images per month). Unlimited image plan is only $30 per month. Thanks to CuddeLink PowerHouse IR
Cell almost everyone can now afford cellular trail cameras. Note that PowerHouse Cell camera operation requires
an active Cuddeback Cell Data Plan. Each cell camera needs their own data plan to operate. Megapixels: 20.
Trigger Speed: 1/4 second. LEDs: 56 850nm. Flash Type: Low Glow IR. Flash Range:100 feet. Battery Type: 4xD. Cellular Service: AT&T or Verizon
4G LTE. MSRP: $200.00 plus image plan. INFO: WWW.CUDDEBACK.COM

CHAINSAW BRIAN’S™ PREMIUM DOE ESTRUS

3 Wildlife Research Center® has released Chainsaw Brian’s™ Premium Doe Estrus. This revved-up estrus is part of its premium new line of Micro
Brew™ Craft Scents, a tribute to its founders and family story. Each one has a unique blend of high-quality ingredients to help enhance and bring your
ur hunt to
a whole new level. This carefully crafted high-octane doe estrus scent is made with their most premium doe urine with estrus secretions, and then supercharged
with Territorial Musk™ and another secret ingredient to make it even hotter. MSRP: $29.99 for 4 fl. oz. bottle and a Magnum Key Wick. INFO: WILDLIFE.COM
LIFE.COM 4

4 MATHEWS ARCHERY V3
With a longer riser to axle-to-axle ratio, a completely redesigned limb and limb cup, all-new patent-pending Centerguard™ Cable Containment system ystem and
the new Nano 740™ Damper, the V3 is Mathews’ latest flagship hunting bow. Offered in 27-inch axle-to-axle length or 31-inch ATA, the V3 gives hunters a
compact rig without compromising accuracy. Both share a 6-inch brace height and deliver speeds up to 342 fps. The new Centerguard system places ces the
roller guard in the true center of the bow, resulting in optimal cam timing to maximize tunability while also adding vane clearance. Its new riser
cuts weight while maximizing length and rigidity in critical areas. The all-new deflected limbs and past-parallel geometry, paired with a redesignedd
limb cup, cut weight while increasing performance and efficiency. The V3 deploys the new Nano 740 3D Damping®, which is calibrated and tuned
to the specific harmonics of these models. SwitchWeight™ Technology allows shooters to change peak draw length and draw weight in
5-pound increments via the cam’s module. Available in 60-, 65-, 70- and 75-pound peak weights. Mods are available in 80%
or 85% let-off. Other features include the Silent Connect System (SCS™) bow rope and sling attachments and two new
finishes; First Lite® Specter and Under Armour® All-Season Forest. MSRP: $1,199 INFO: WWW.MATHEWSINC.COM

BETTER THE HUNT INSULATED CROSSBOW MITT

5 Better The Hunt’s new Crossbow Mitt is designed with wind-blocking technology, water-resistant material and
carries 200 grams of 3M Thinsulate™ Insulation. From the inventor of the Bow Mitt, the Crossbow Mitt has been
extensively tested in the field during harsh conditions to ensure it works right, down to the last detail. The
mitts are available neutral matte colors: Tactical Black and Earth Brown to match and compliment any existing
crossbow camo scheme. An adhesive strip is included with each mitt, to heat up prior to installation on your
crossbow’s stock. If you are an extreme hunter who doesn’t let harsh weather stop you, meet your new
hunting partner — The Insulated Crossbow Mitt. MSRP: $79.99 INFO: BETTERTHEHUNT.COM
5

74 • FEBRUARY 2021 DEERANDDEERHUNTING.COM

 NEW GEAR 6

6 THOMPSON/CENTER
COMPASS II
The COMPASS® II is a feature-rich 7
rifle that is packed with value, including the Generation II 3- to 4-pound pull trigger system. It is also designed with a threaded
muzzle for use with compatible compensators, muzzle brakes and suppressors. Simple, rugged 3-lug bolt design lends itself to
years of reliable service and top-notch accuracy and relibility with T/C’s match grade barrels that feature 5R rifling to deliver
guaranteed Minute of Angle accuracy; 1-inch, three-shot groups at 100 yards with premium ammunition. Each rifle also features
a three-position safety for visible and tactile feedback as to position of the safety. Provides locked, load/unload and fire positions.
The 60 degree bolt lift provided by the three-lug bolt design gives the shooter maximum clearance between the bolt handle and a
mounted scope — for fast cycling. A detachable, compact rotary magazine fits flush with the stock for easy carrying and no snags.
The low-maintenance polymer magazine provides smooth feeding in a rust-proof, durable package. Five-round capacity in standard
calibers and four rounds in magnum calibers. Available in 10 popular calibers, with or without Crimson Trace Scope.
MSRP: $405 to $595 INFO: TCARMS.COM

MUDDY OUTDOORS MANIFEST WIRELESS CAMERA

7 Muddy Manifest wireless cameras can now be updated with new firmware for significant enhancement to their image quality. The
Muddy Manifest offers everything serious hunters demand in a wireless camera system. A QR code allows easy and quick activation
ra functions, firmware updates
and setup of the wireless system and data plan selection. Once set up and in the field, all camera
and cellular plan management functions can be performed remotely through the new Stealth Cam am COMMAND App available from
8
Google Play or iOS App Store. With a wide range of available data plans through Verizon and AT&T&T
cellular networks, the camera offers hunters numerous choices to fit any budget. Plans start
as low as $5 per month, and consumers can select between monthly or annual plans. Key
camera features include: No contracts, one free year of cloud storage, 16 MP image capture,
0.8-second trigger speed, 80-ft. flash detection range and burst mode. MSRP: $179.99
INFO: GOMUDDY.COM 9

TRIJICON HURON® HUNTING RIFLESCOPE

8 This Trijicon® variable riflescope was made specifically for the North American white-tailed deer hunter. The Huron® comes
with the premium anti-scratch glass, proven precision, and rugged construction you need for bragging rights every season, along
with a price that lets you invest heavily in your other hunting gear. A few of its features include extra-wide field of view for maximum
situational awareness; fully multi-coated, broadband, anti-reflective glass for excellent light transmission, true detail
and color with zero distortion; an easy-focus eyepiece diopter that accommodates each shooter’s individual
prescription; crisp, precise and repeatable windage/elevation adjusters that require no tools. Plus, there are
three uncluttered, easy-to-use, proven reticles to choose from — Standard Duplex, German #4 Crosshair and BDC
Hunter Holds. Available in 1-4x24, 2.5-10x40, 3-12x40, 3-9x40 magnification models. MSRP: $650.00 to
$699.00 INFO: WWW.TRIJICON.COM

9 OUTDOOR EDGE RAZORPRO

This double-blade knife features a patented replacement razor-blade knife on one side, plus gutting blade on the
other to open game like a zipper. This is the sharpest, strongest, replacement razor knife available withh blades that change
lade for
safely and easily at the push of a button. The black-oxide coated blade holder supports the razor blade for the strength of a
he skin
standard knife and sharpness of a surgeon’s scalpel. Its signature gutting blade cuts underneath the
without cutting hair or piercing internal organs that can spoil fresh game meat. Both blades open andnd
close independently with one hand and lock securely. The RazorPro comes complete with six 3.5-inch nch
Japanese 420J2 stainless replacement blades and a nylon sheath with pockets to hold both the knife nife
and spare blades. Replacement packs of six blades are sold separately. Rubberized TPR handles aree
available in black with a black nylon sheath and blaze orange with Mossy Oak® camo sheath.
MSRP: $83.95 INFO: WWW.OUTDOOREDGE.COM

WILDLIFE RESEARCH CENTER

10 X-TRA CONCENTRATED MASKING SCENTS
This line of breakthrough masking scents are X-tra concentrated, with twice the smell in new
convenient, easy-to-use, pump spray bottles. The new X-tra Concentrated Masking Scent is
available in Pine, Earth, Acorn, Cedar and Apple. These potent formulas not only work overtime 10
to help mask human scent, but the appealing smells may even attract big-game animals, as
well. Each powerful masking scent smells like the real thing and reduces an animal’s fear to help
get a closer shot. MSRP: $8.99 for each 4 fl. oz. pump spray bottle. INFO: WILDLIFE.COM

76 • FEBRUARY 2021 DEERANDDEERHUNTING.COM

 WHERE TO GO
Anticosti Island
TROPHY RIDGE OUTFITTERS - Quality Hunts & Lodging
- Professional Guides Established
in 1982

NE Wyoming • 300,000 acres

- Limit of 2 Deer per Hunter
- 297 Sq. Miles of Exclusive Territory

Private • Managed for Trophies For Info rma ti on: Take advantage of the exchange rate.

Pourvoirie lac Genevieve d’Anticosti

1-800-463-1777
Whitetail • Mule Deer • Elk E-mail: info@anticostiplg.com • www.anticostiplg.com
Antelope • Buffalo • Merriam Turkeys
Archery hunts = 95% Success Rate
Gun hunts = 100% Success Rate GREAT SOUTHERN
Ralph and Lenora Dampman - 17985 US HWY 14, Carlile, WY 82721
Phone (307) 756-9776 or Cell (307) 756-2194
www.trophyridgeoutƤtters.com
OUTDOORS
License #BG-353 HOG WILD BLOWOUT
FREE 2-DAY HOG HUNT
Remaining Spots Are Very Limited. Unlimited Hogs.
April – September $600 per person
(YOU ONLY PAY FOR MEALS,
LODGING AND GUIDE FEE)
Located in Alabama’s Famous Black Belt Region
334.738.5066
www.greatsouthernoutdoors.com

OUT ON A LIMB OUTFITTERS

email: support@greatsouthernoutdoors.com

SEE BUCKS LIKE THIS IN IOWA AND MISSOURI

Offering hunts in Southwest Iowa, and Northwest Missouri • Whitetail and Turkey Hunts
Farm House Lodging and home cooked meals included
CONTACT LANCE: 334-482-4250
HUNTOUTONALIMB.COM | FACEBOOK HUNT OUT ON A LIMB

HUNT
HICKORY CREEK
30,000 acres in SE Kansas
Managed for 140 or better
Specializing in : Deer & Turkey Hunts
Also offering: PREDATOR & RABBIT HUNTS

CONTACT JEFF BRONDIGE

586-337-3169
WWW.HUNTHICKORYCREEK.COM

HUNT
WESTERN KENTUCKY
• 20K highly managed acres in
World Famous Christian County KY
• Offering Premium Archery,
0X]]OHORDGHUDQG5L½H+XQWV
• Small Camp sizes
• Soaring Success rates
CONTACT: MARK @864.938.8699
WWW.PREMIEROUTFITTERS.COM

DEERANDDEERHUNTING.COM FEBRUARY 2021 • 77

 WHERE TO GO
State Record Deer

HUNT LARGE WYOMING CattlE Ranch

Ranch has limited commercial We have Whitetail, Mule deer,
hunting the last two years Antelope and seasonal Elk
Guided or Semi-Guided Hunts Lodging and Meals available

RAFTERSTAR RANCH Call For

Our Archery
Special

Call for details | 307-737-2680 | CHECK OUT OUR FACEBOOK PAGE

Epstein did not kill himself

HUNTER’S CLOSET
You Tried The Rest

Community
Now Try The Best

ADVERTISE WITH US,

- Reusable Field Dressing Gloves
- Deer, Elk, Moose, Bear, Hogs, Croc’s etc.
- Fur Trapping, Decoy & Ice Fishing Gloves
PLEASE CONTACT:
- Regular and Insulated Lining
- Sizes S-XL, 12”-26” Long
CASEY LENZ (ASK ABOUT CONNECT WITH D&DH
- Washer Dryer Safe, Waterproof
- Cut Resistant with Non-Slip Grip
WHERE TO GO/HUNTER’S CLOSET ON SOCIAL MEDIA AT:
- 100% Nitrile Synthetic Rubber
ADVERTISING OPPORTUNITIES)
Order Now! CASEY.LENZ@MEDIA360LLC.COM FACEBOOK:
708-478-6600 - www.ufgloves.com
WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/
DEERHUNTINGMAG/

YOUTUBE:
WWW.YOUTUBE.COM/DDHONLINE

INSTAGRAM:
WWW.INSTAGRAM.COM/
DEERANDDEERHUNTING

TWITTER:
@DEERHUNTINGMAG

PINTEREST:
WWW.PINTEREST.COM/
DEERHUNTINGMAG/

78 • FEBRUARY 2021 DEERANDDEERHUNTING.COM

 (CONTINUED FROM PAGE 80)
Both dad and mom were excellent
athletes, and I inherited some of
those genes. As I went through
school I grew to love sports. I loved
the competition, and the fact that I
could practice throwing a football
through tires or shooting baskets
or pitching a tennis ball up against
the garage door by myself had great
appeal. But one of the things I have
always loved about sport is that there
are black & white rules. You are either
in or out of bounds, the ball is either
fair or foul. You learn to play hard but
play fair, do your very best and follow
the rules, win or lose. And you do
want always do your best and to win,
every time. But when you lose you
get up, shake your opponent’s hand,
and promise yourself you’ll do better
next time.
There are officials watching
closely to make sure that you do
play by the rules. Unlike hunting,
which is, by and large, an individual
thing. You’re out there in the woods,
perhaps on stand, perhaps slipping
along looking for a buck. There’s
nobody to tell you what to do, where
to go, or what to shoot, except your
own moral compass. Sure, there are
game laws to follow and property
boundaries to respect, but when
push comes to shove, if and when
temptations arise it is up to each
of us to do the right thing. Or not.
And who among us has never been
tempted to cross the line?
C.S. Lewis, the prolific Irish
writer and scholar best known for his
“Chronicles of Narnia” fantasy series
and pro-Christian texts, once famously
said, “Integrity is doing the right thing
even when no one is watching.” Like
sports, hunting is one of the best ways
I know to build and develop character,
especially in young folks.
Have you ever been here? It’s rifle
season and you’re on a stand located
75 yards from the boundary fence.
Maybe it’s the neighbor’s ground
on which you don’t have permission
to hunt, maybe it’s a piece of
government land that’s an off-limits
sanctuary. The sun has just peeked
over the horizon, and there he is, the
most magnificent buck you’ve ever
seen. So what if he’s standing 20
yards on the other side of the wire?
DEERANDDEERHUNTING.COM
It would be a simple task to drag him
back onto your side and be gone.
Who would ever know? Or on the
drive back to the house after a day’s
hunt, suddenly a dandy buck appears
in the headlights, on the shoulder of
the road. All you have to do is grab
that still-cocked crossbow, step out
the door, and he’s yours. Who would
ever know? Or your trail cameras
have shown that there’s a really good
buck running the river bottom where
you have a bow stand set on brushy
pinch point but with a view through
scattered cottonwoods that stretches
for a couple hundred yards. You are
hunting the place by yourself, so
even though it’s bow season, why not
bring that little .308 carbine just in
case he is chasing out of bow range.
Who would ever know?
You younger generation guys
probably think LeBron James, or
maybe Michael Jordan, was the
best player in NBA history, and the
best coach ever was Phil Jackson,
or maybe Gregg Popovich. Au
contraire. For men of my generation,
it was Bill Russell and Red Auerbach,
whose Boston Celtics won eight
consecutive NBA titles from 1959-
66, and nine titles overall in 11 years.
I was a schoolboy back then and the
Celtics would beat my Los Angeles
Lakers pretty much every year in
the NBA finals. Man, I hated those
guys! Coach Auerbach was famous
for insufferably lighting up a fat
“Victory Cigar” courtside when a big
game was in the bag -- but he also
said something back then that I have
never forgotten: “The only correct
actions are those that demand no
explanation and no apology.”
As I get older, the more I realize
that what we do today is not so
much important in how it impacts
us personally, but instead how it
impacts others. With the increasing
breakdown of the traditional family
structure in America today, it’s the
younger generation that worries me.
Who do they have to mentor them?
Are you the kind of hunter who
would knowingly violate game laws
in front of your own children? What
kind of lesson would that for them?
If they see their own parent break
the rules when hunting, doesn’t
that tell them that it is OK to break
other rules and laws whenever it
suits them? And what if your kids
were home when the game warden
knocked on the door asking about a
potential game law violation? Would
you not be ashamed?
Paraphrasing C.S. Lewis, J.C.
Watts, the one-time Oklahoma star
quarterback and former member of
the U.S. House of Representatives
who later became both a Baptist
minister and very successful
businessman, once said, “Character is
doing the right thing when nobody’s
looking. There are too many people
who think that the only thing that’s
right is to get by, and the only thing
that’s wrong is to get caught.”
I think about this every time I read
about someone caught poaching.
Modern-day poachers don’t kill
animals because they’re starving to
death, they do it to either massage
their egos, or, even worse, for profit.
Maybe they are the local guy with
the reputation of being the best
hunter in their area, and unless they
consistently bring home the biggest
buck in the county, they’ll lose that
little bit of local panache. Maybe
they’re simply not good people.
And then there are the so-called
celebrity hunters, the “influencer”
guys and gals you see on cable TV
shows and YouTube and Instagram
and other social platforms that make
their living in the hunting business.
Having been part of that industry
for more than 40 years, and having
been a pro staffer for some major
manufacturers and both a guest on,
and host of, cable hunting TV shows,
I understand the pressure to produce
better-than-average critters on a
consistent basis. The opportunities
to bend the rules and cheat are there,
and fortunately, the vast majority
of the celebrity hunters are honest
and ethical. But every now and then,
one of them gets caught crossing the
line. When that happens, it gives all
hunters a bad name.
They thought no one would ever
know. And they were wrong.
Who would ever know? The
answer, of course, is, you’d know.
Could you live with yourself? Email
us at dan.schmidt@media360LLC.
com and share your thoughts.
FEBRUARY 2021 • 79
| BOB ROBB
SUBSCRIBE NOW TO THE BEST

• GAIN INSIGHT INTO THE BEHAVIOR AND BIOLOGY OF WHITE-TAILED DEER

• HOW-TO TACTICS TO HELP IMPROVE THE OUTCOME OF YOUR DEER HUNT
• INSIGHT INTO NEW GEAR AND HOW TOP HUNTERS ARE USING IT
• 7 OUT OF 10 READERS DO NOT READ ANY OTHER DEER HUNTING MAGAZINE!
• CHOOSE THE FORMAT THAT SUITS YOU: PRINT, DIGITAL OR BOTH (ALL-ACCESS)

DEERANDDEERHUNTING.COM/DEER-HUNTING-MAGAZINES
 Affordable & Innovative
Whether you want one cell trail camera, or a
dozen or more, Cuddeback leads the way...
Saves you hundreds vs other brands
Patented CuddeLink technology allows you to
connect up to 24 cameras, yet requires only
one cell plan. Delivering the lowest cost-per-
camera cellular service.
CuddeLink works where other brands don’t
CuddeLink Cell is the only camera in the
network that requires cellular connectivity.
Allowing users to put remote cameras in LTE
dead zones and still get the advantage of cell.
Plus the performance and durability
Cuddeback is known for. For affordable
cell service, the choice is obvious.

 
 
 
 
Cudd
ddeL
deLiink Cell emails
1 CuddeLink
  Up to 23 CuddeLi
CuddeLink
Linkk cameras send
images to 1 CuddeLink Cell
images from all your
CuddeLink cameras

Learn more at Cuddeback.com

CuddeLink Cell plans start at $10 per month for 750 images.
Additional images are only $5 per 1000. Other plans available.