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Deer Science

Which Deer Aging Technique is More Accurate, Jawbone or Cementum?

Sep 20, 2023 Kip Adams

There are two methods hunters can use to estimate the age of harvested deer, and both rely on deer teeth. There is a lot of misunderstanding, misapplication, and misinformation shared about these valuable deer management…

Hunting

4 Ways to Avoid Bonehead Mistakes of the First Deer Hunt

Sep 20, 2023 Lindsay Thomas Jr.

The long wait was over. Opening morning of archery season and with it a new deer-hunting season had finally arrived. I rose early, showered, dressed, geared up and headed to the woods. In the glow…

Deer Science

My Birthday Buck Had Upper Canine Teeth. Yes, Deer Fangs!

Sep 13, 2023 Cheyne Matzenbacher

Fangs on a whitetail? Yes, both whitetails and mule deer can sometimes grow small, upper canine teeth. I was aware of this rare phenomenon in deer, but I got some hands-on experience in fall 2022…

Hunting

Dos and Don’ts of Deer Carcass Disposal in CWD Country

Sep 13, 2023 Cole Gander

Which taxidermist should I use? What recipe should I try when cooking up these backstraps tonight? How should I dispose of the carcass? These are just a few of the practical questions that go racing…

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Venison

Can Baiting and Feeding Really Spread Deer Diseases Faster?

Aug 9, 2023 Kip Adams

Baiting and supplemental feeding are contentious topics in hunting camps, wildlife agency headquarters and legislative halls across North America. They come with cultural, ethical and ecological considerations. These are all worthy of discussion, but I’ll…

The Many Coat Colors of White-tailed Deer: Albino, Piebald, Melanistic and More

Aug 2, 2023 Cheyne Matzenbacher

Deer come in a wide variety of colors. Though most are brown or gray, you also see shades or red, coats of silver, and there are several rare color phases that include white and even…

Start New Adult Hunters On Deer, Not Squirrels. Here are Three Reasons Why.

Jul 26, 2023 Hank Forester

“Would you like to try some squirrel?” I’d ask Swanny Evans as we manned our Field to Fork booth. We were waiting to share venison samples with passersby at the Athens, Georgia Farmer’s Market, where…

3 Simple Food Plot Options for Fall Deer Attraction

Jul 19, 2023 Ben Westfall

Believe it or not, fall food plot planting season is right around the corner in much of the country, so now is the perfect time to consider what’s next on the menu. Here are three…

“There’s a Skunk Eating Joshua’s Deer!”

Jul 19, 2023 Karli Gill

Hunting stories are an important part of every hunting tradition. As hunters, we learn from others’ past experiences. Laughing and sharing our best or most embarrassing moments with fellow hunters is a memorable part of…

GPS Tracking Collars Are Amazing, but Do They Change Deer Behavior?

Jul 12, 2023 Lindsay Thomas Jr.

In the past 23 years, GPS tracking collars have revealed a ton of new information about deer behavior and biology. But a few hunters, skeptical of science or doubtful of the conclusions of specific studies,…

No Patterns of Prion Disease Among Hunters in CWD Zones, New Data Shows

Jul 10, 2023 Lindsay Thomas Jr.

Can eating the venison of a deer with chronic wasting disease cause a person to acquire a related, fatal prion disease? There’s no evidence it has ever happened, but prion diseases also have notoriously long…

How to Break Down the Big Woods and Find Deer

Jul 5, 2023 Torin Miller

“Big Woods” means different things to different hunters. In the densely populated eastern United States, a “big woods” tract could be a couple hundred acres. In rural Appalachia and the northeastern U.S., big woods could…

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