Whitetail Hunting | Whitetail Hunting

Whitetail Deer Hunting: South Texas Habitat Hanging On

The southern portion of Texas can be classified as a place that does not receive a whole lot of rain, but it is also known for outstanding whitetail deer hunting. Much of South Texas is positioned within a semi-arid desert area that expects only 22 to 24 inches of rainfall each year and whitetail living in the area are well adapted. When the rains do fall, they are unpredictable at best. There are portions of South Texas that have only received 1 inch of rain in the last 180 days!

Deer habitat conditions are bad, but could get much worse if summer rains do not fall and offer some relief for hungry, thirsty deer. Living, working and managing whitetail deer through a dry spell is always a concern. Planning ahead to lessen the impacts of drought conditions is important to any ranching or whitetail hunting operation. This is especially important when forecasts indicate a hot, dry summer may be in store for South Texas and the wildlife found there. Here are a few guidelines that may lessen the impact of a below-average rainfall year on your ranch. Continue reading Whitetail Deer Hunting: South Texas Habitat Hanging On

Whitetail Deer for Sale: Deer Breeders in Texas

Texas boasts a native white-tailed deer herd somewhere around four million animals, yet for many trophy hunters that is not nearly enough. With extended deer hunting seasons across the state and an abundance of white-tailed deer, it’s hard to imagine that the smuggling deer into Texas would be an issue. One would think. However, this growing and cash-loaded illegal trade is challenging federal and state wildlife officers across the country. There are whitetail deer for sale throughout the country, but the threat of chronic wasting disease, a devastating disease to whitetail, has forced Texas to close the border to all movement of deer into or out of the state.

Hunting in the U.S. is a $20 billion industry, with about 80 percent of all expenditures related to whitetail hunting. Deer breeders, by trying to provide bucks with superior antlers, are trying to cash in on that huge pot of gold, offering whitetail deer for sale and hunting. Deer hunting was once about putting food on the table, but a once cultural tradition has undergone major changes in the past 20 years. It seems it’s all about big antlered bucks, and the “Benjamins.” A study by Texas A&M University a few years ago reported that white-tailed deer breeding is the fastest-growing industry in rural America. Continue reading Whitetail Deer for Sale: Deer Breeders in Texas

The Whitetail Deer Rut is Hard on Bucks

Spring is over and early summer is almost upon us, so many hunters are not thinking about deer hunting right now. Not a soul is thinking about the whitetail deer rut that happened six or seven months ago. Whitetail bucks are putting on new antler growth, but many of the bucks that you passed on this past season may never make it to the next one. Testosterone poisoning, a term than many hunters have never even heard of, could be of importance to them now.

Most ranches involved in active deer management programs, are busy with habitat management techniques, filling protein feeders and waiting to burn brush piles, assuming it ever rains. It’s been an awfully dry year thus far and deer habitat is paying the price right now, with habitat conditions as tough as ever. Bucks of average body condition that did not succumb to hunters or post-rut death after the season may now be finding very little to each. Continue reading The Whitetail Deer Rut is Hard on Bucks

Early Antler Shedding by Bucks in Texas

White-tailed deer hunters know that bucks in Texas usually experience antler growth during the spring and summer and then shed their antlers during mid to late winter each year. This typically ends up being sometime in January, February, or possibly even March. Although the bulk of 2010 was an outstanding year for the habitat that produced an abundance of forbs and browse, some ranches discovered that their bucks had gone through early antler shedding. And by early I mean these bucks lost their antlers in late summer. What? Yes, antler shedding during August and September.

Yes, you read that correctly. Landowners and biologists on several properties in South Texas first noticed otherwise healthy bucks shedding antlers during late summer and early autumn, often when the antlers were still in velvet. Because some of these bucks were photographed regularly at feed sites, they could be readily tracked as autumn progressed. Several of these bucks began growing antlers again, resulting in small antlers whose velvet was then shed. Continue reading Early Antler Shedding by Bucks in Texas

How to Make a Mock Scrape

Question: I have enjoyed whitetail hunting for years, but have never learned how to make a mock scrape. Can you give me some instructions on areas to look for and some mock scrape tips so that I can use them to attract bucks to my hunting area? Any info on mock scrapes will be greatly appreciated!

Answer: Mock scrapes can be an excellent way to bring in the big boys to your deer hunting area. The act of making a mock scrape is relatively simple, so don’t get too bogged down in the details, but the whole idea behind creating a fake scrape is to make any buck in the area think there is another buck there, too.

You can do this by actively working a found scrape or by making a mock scrape. When creating your scrape, first make sure you are scent free and then be sure that there is a licking branch located about 40 inches above the ground — this is a must!. Start out by working the ground with the heel of your boot to reveal some fresh dirt. Create a circular shape of fresh dirt that is about 20 to 24 inches in diameter. Continue reading How to Make a Mock Scrape

Whitetail Hunting the Solunar Table

Deer hunters have been trying to identify the best times to head out whitetail hunting since there have been deer to hunt. With research and wildlife studies it would seem that technology could be used to give us the ultimate hunting tool. Although there have been some applications developed for computers and mobile devices, they are all based of the Solunar Theory developed by John Knight back in the 1930’s.

Knight was an outdoorsmen and sportswriter who perfected his fish and game activity theory over a period of many years, making observations while whitetail hunting and out fishing. This solunar table pioneer found that all fish and game — including deer, turkey, bass, and trout — are more active during different times of the day and night. Continue reading Whitetail Hunting the Solunar Table

What is Good Deer Habitat?

Better Habitat Management for Better Deer!

White-tailed deer are very adaptable animals, but good deer habitat usually includes a mixture of trees, shrubs, vines, forbs, grasses. High quality deer habitat will also contain important foods such as fungi and even sedges. Of course, specific plants within each of these categories benefit deer more than others. If you really looked at a deer’s mouth, you will notice that it’s quite small and relatively pointed. This is because deer are highly selective with regards to their diet.

Palatable plants should be well interspersed throughout an area, so that the whole area functions as deer habitat. Over much of the whitetail’s habitat, adequate woody plants should be present to provide food, shelter and concealment. The enroachment of woody plants into areas that were once dominated by grasses is an important reason for the expansion of the whitetail deer. In addition to browse plants, some sort of water source should be available about every mile for deer watering. Put all these habitat requirements together—food, cover, water, and space—and you’ve got whitetail habitat.

When it comes to deer habitat, plant diversity is an important because deer require a variety of plants to provide their various needs. Many plants are utilized during only one season (when they are growing/available) or a portion of a season. Keep in mind that each plant that is eaten provides only a portion of a deer’s nutritional requirements. However, many plant species are not consumed by deer. These plants are also important, serving as cover and concealment for traveling and loafing animals. Continue reading What is Good Deer Habitat?

Whitetail Hunting Is Not Just Food Plots

There is nothing in the world that I love more than whitetail hunting. There is something about it that I really enjoy, and it’s not all about hunting season. In fact, I get just as much fun getting ready for deer season. I don’t own a huge tract of land, although I am lucky enough to have 134 acres on which I’ve been able to implement my very own whitetail deer management program. I’ve learned a lot of valuable lessons over the years about deer behavior, what deer eat, and what they need.

In the end, for those landowners and hunters that are serious about managing deer populations, we should want to create the best whitetail habitat. For this is where quality hunting opportunities are literally born. The real secret that I’ve determined when looking at properties where individuals want to improve the deer herd is finding and enhancing the most limited habitat element. It’s easy to concentrate on one single facet of habitat and provide a whole lot of one thing, but they need it all! Continue reading Whitetail Hunting Is Not Just Food Plots