Deer & Deer Hunting is written and edited for serious, year-round hunting enthusiasts, focusing on hunting techniques, deer biology and behavior, deer management, habitat requirements, the natural history of deer and hunting ethics
The buck of your dreams is in your sights. His symmetrical 12-point rack is tall and wide. Later that night back at camp, when trying to quantify just how big that buck was, you stutter, “He was a Booner!” Here’s a fun fact for you: If the man who invented that scoring system was given proper credit, you’d be saying something quite different. “He was a Fitzer!” But, like most things in our modern world, the creator didn’t get the end-game credit. Yes, the term “Booner” has become synonymous with those once-in-a-lifetime deer every hunter dreams about. For some folks, the hard-and-fast qualifiers would be a typical-racked buck that nets 170 inches, or a nontypical that nets 195. But if you’ve ever put a tape measure to a set of…
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Several years ago, the advent of the “zombie deer” term created a widespread whirlwind of discussion around whitetail illnesses. Of course, these weren’t zombies, but they were carriers of chronic wasting disease (CWD). Each year, this incurable, always-deadly illness likely gets more press than any other threat to whitetails. But one threat on the outskirts of America is getting very little attention. Protozoan Tritrichomonas foetus is an infectious disease known to impact livestock, especially cattle. However, it was recently discovered in Louisiana whitetails. Researchers are only beginning to understand the threat it poses. Hope Hebert, a graduate student with the University of Louisiana-Monroe, and Dr. Kim Marie Tolson, with the University of Louisiana Monroe, were slated to speak at the 2022 Southeast Deer Study Group Meeting. The presentation centered on…
Whitetails are resilient animals, but they are susceptible to disease just as any other biological animal. While most of the diseases on this list aren’t widespread, or always lethal, they certainly impact deer. Here are just some of the deer diseases to know about. BOVINE TUBERCULOSIS (BTB): A bacterial infection of the respiratory system, BTB is a serious, but not widespread, threat to wild deer. Thus far, it’s limited to a few states, including Indiana and a few others. BRAIN ABSCESSES: Another bacterial invader, brain abscesses result from head injuries that become infected. This is most common in bucks. Fighting sometimes leads to injured skull caps, which can then abscess. CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE (CWD): A major concern throughout much of the whitetail’s range, CWD is arguably the largest disease threat…
Some diseases aren’t spread directly from deer to deer, including BRAIN ABSCESSES, HEMORRHAGIC DISEASE, NASAL BOTS, TICK DISEASES, etc. However, others are, including CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE (CWD). We can reduce the spread by minimizing the movement of whitetails. There are numerous ways to do this, including: • NOT TAKING DEER ACROSS COUNTY LINES OR OUTSIDE CWD ZONES (IT’S AGAINST THE LAW) • NOT TAKING DEER ACROSS STATE LINES (IT’S AGAINST THE LAW) • BONING OUT DEER MEAT ON THE PROPERTY OF HARVEST • SKULL CAPPING THE ANTLERS AND CLEANING IT WELL BEFORE TRANSPORT • LEAVING HIGH-RISK PARTS ON THE PROPERTY OF HARVEST • TESTING DEER FOR DISEASES • REPORTING DISEASED DEER TO AUTHORITIES • AND MORE…
A photo of conjoined fawns posted on some social media sites last fall is real, and spectacular, offering a glimpse into a deformity that wildlife researchers say is rare. s A Minnesota man hunting mushrooms in May 2016 found the deceased fawn with two heads. It looked almost normal: four legs, one tail, spots for camouflage amid its tawny coat. But two spinal columns, starting at about mid-thoracic region, and two perfectly formed heads, gave the man a jolt. He contacted the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, which took the conjoined fawns and froze them so a necropsy could be performed. Gino D’Angelo is the Assistant Professor of Deer Ecology and Management at the Warnell School of Forestry & Natural Resources in the University of Georgia. He worked for the…
