Every buck’s path in life is unique, and so is every buck’s antler growth progression. Ups and downs come with external factors like drought (or, conversely, abundant rain), poor mast crops (or heavy ones), severe…
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Causes of Early Antler Casting
Dec 17, 2012Kip Adams
Every year starting in December, NDA begins to receive sporadic reports of bucks dropping their antlers earlier than normal. These reports seem to be more common in some years, or more concentrated in specific regions,…
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When Do Bucks Visit Scrapes?
Nov 1, 2012Matt Ross
Have you ever set up on a fresh scrape, only to sit for hours and not see a thing? Well, wildlife researchers have shown that most scraping activity (nearly 85 percent) occurs at night. So,…
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Hunt Does to Find Bucks in November
Oct 30, 2012Matt Pudenz
When November arrives, everyone is on the lookout for that big buck. However, it’s easy to overlook the main factor controlling buck movements in November – does. As the rut kicks in, bucks will be…
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Which Bucks Can I Shoot?
Jul 23, 2012Lindsay Thomas Jr.
Imagine an old friend joins you for a weekend hunt on your QDM lands. The night before the hunt commences, your friend asks an important question: “Which bucks can I shoot?” For you, this is…
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Sanctuaries: Attract, Protect, Hold, Hunt
Jun 22, 2012Lindsay Thomas Jr.
As the Quality Deer Management philosophy becomes further anchored as the dominant mindset among whitetail hunters, achieving greater numbers of mature bucks is not the hurdle it once was. Instead, there’s another hurdle: Killing them….
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A Leg Up: Judging Buck Age From Body Proportions
May 7, 2012Lindsay Thomas Jr.
Is there a wall or door somewhere in your childhood home bearing pencil marks that track your height through the years? If we could just as easily track the body proportions of whitetail bucks as…
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The Antler Growth Bell Curve
Apr 23, 2012Lindsay Thomas Jr.
There’s a simple rule underlying antler development in whitetail bucks that all hunters should understand. Awareness of this rule provides a bridge over many of the false expectations, myths, mistakes and frustrations that lie waiting…
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To Kill Mature Bucks, Go Somewhere Else
Mar 16, 2012Lindsay Thomas Jr.
I had an interesting phone conversation with deer researcher Dr. Mark Conner while I was working on an article for Quality Whitetails. Mark, who works in Maryland, has led a number of recent groundbreaking studies…
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5 Tips for Photographing Mature Bucks
Mar 9, 2012Lindsay Thomas Jr.
A number of trail-camera images in QDMA’s book, Deer Cameras: The Science of Scouting, belong to Todd Reabe of Brillion, Wisconsin. Todd is a QDMA member who, over many years, has shared numerous trail-camera photos…
