Deer Hunting Archives - Page 115 of 124

Kenny Watkins shows off his first place non-typical male killed on Dec. 2 in Monroe County. The big buck netted 183 5/8.

Big Buck Bounty winners announced

May 21, 2010 Mississippi Sportsman

The Mississippi Sportsman’s Big Buck Bounty winners have been announced, and the awards ceremony was a real testament to the quality deer found in the Magnolia state. […]

The buck fawn grows into a button buck and is recognized by its shorter neck and square head. It has small little nubs on top of its head, which are covered with hair. In most states, it is considered an antlerless harvest unless a polished antler is present.

The Life of a Fawn

April 28, 2010 Tommy Kirkland

Spring gives way to warm days as the summer season nears. Pesky insects start to dominate the woodlots and open fields. For the young whitetails that survived the pursuit of predators, now their lives of growing into mature deer begin to unfold. […]

Does on poor-quality land will look emaciated during the summer because they invest so much of their bodily resources in their fawns.

Thriving in the Furnace

April 28, 2010 Rob Heflin

According to research, if at least one percent of an area is planted in year-round forages, the plots can have a positive effect on nutrition and quality of white-tailed deer. […]

The survival rate of a deer fawn depends not only on nutrition but the mother’s maternal guidance. Her vocal commands play a major role in teaching the fawn when and where to bed.

Deer Dynamics: Carnivore Predation

March 31, 2010 Tommy Kirkland

With stealth, a lone coyote moves through the woodlot, its nose to the ground. Periodically, the canine stops and visually scans the timber. […]

Deer observation data taken by hunters can contribute much to making management plans.

Bergmann’s Bucks

March 31, 2010 John J. Woods

The maddest Robin Callender ever got at a deer-hunting trade show was when a hunter from Michigan approached his booth, which displayed bucks harvested at his commercial operation in Claiborne County, and proceeded to tell him there was no way Mississippi had whitetail bucks that big. […]

On Dec. 2, Kenny Watkins was able to put aside his nerves and take down this 14-point buck with a .45-70.

Deer of the Year

March 1, 2010 Andy Crawford

This past season was really one for the record books, with monster deer seemingly falling every week. The cold fronts that rolled through the state on a regular basis kicked deer movement into high gear, and hunters flocked to the woods to kill the big bucks as they moved about. […]

Although bucks are highly aggressive during the rut, they periodically engage in conflict throughout the offseason. Once two mature males of equal status clash, they may battle for dominance through the act of “flailing.” Here they stand upright and, while balancing themselves, swat with their sharp front hooves like boxing contenders.

Deer Dynamics: Casting and Hierarchy

March 1, 2010 Tommy Kirkland

The rut has come and gone. Bucks that survived hunting season are dropping their battered racks. Though the whitetails are no longer at war for dominance, the competitiveness still exists — even in the off season. […]

Bucks that survive the rigors of the rut can be cut up from antler tines during fights. There can be serious gashes to the chest and sides as well as the neck.

Deer Dynamics: Post-Rut

January 29, 2010 Tommy Kirkland

Exhaustion sets in, forcing the battle-scarred buck to seek refuge. An eye is wounded, and missing fur and cuts prevail all around its face and neck. Finally, the worn buck returns to an old bedding site. Here it beds down, and within minutes, the whitetail knocks out. […]

If a bill working its way through the state Legislature becomes law, gun hunters will gain 22 extra days in which to chase deer.

Proposed deer-hunting changes awaiting House action

January 27, 2010 From News Reports

A proposed legislative bill that would increase gun hunting for deer by 22 days has the endorsement of the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks.

House Bill 1282 passed out of the House wildlife committee on Thursday (Jan. 21), and is awaiting full consideration of the House, which has until Feb. 11 to act on bill or will die on the calendar. […]

New York's Rocky LaGrone has hunted in Claiborne County's Six Forks for a decade, and the annual pilgrimage finally paid off Jan. 14 with this trophy.

In his own words: Rocky LaGrone’s 165-inch Claiborne County buck

January 26, 2010 Submitted Story

The damp of the January morning (on Jan. 14) drove straight to the bone and clung like steel traps, much colder than the dry snow and sub-freezing temperatures I’d left behind near Saratoga Springs, N.Y., the day before.

But then, that’s the way it’s always been down South – a cold that courses your body; one that numbs the toes and finger tips, tortures any exposed surfaces and makes the sway of an errant limb feel like the lash of an angry whip. I know the pain of Southern cold ever so well: I grew up in Shreveport, La., just about 200 miles east of where I was creeping Indian style through the undergrowth of Claiborne County. […]

Louisiana's Wayne McAndrew killed this deer Jan. 13, after leasing a 450-acre Amite County tract just before the hunting season began.

155-inch buck with double main beam killed in Amite County

January 22, 2010 Andy Crawford

Wayne McAndrew stumbled across a piece of Amite County property available for lease in August 2009, and jumped at the chance to start his own club.

While the tract of land only encompassed 450 acre, McAndrew soon knew he had made the right decision.

“The first or second week of bow season, my buddy (Brad Balado) actually got a picture way on the other side of the lease of this buck,” the Louisiana hunter said. “Our jaws dropped when we saw the picture.” […]

Waveland's Eddie Peterson knocked this 169 5/8-inch buck down Dec. 16 after an unknown hunter directed him to "get back in the back" of Mahannah WMA.

Mahannah produces trophy buck

January 21, 2010 Andy Crawford

Eddie Peterson had made the drive from Waveland to Mahanna Wildlife Management Area for a draw hunt, but hadn’t had much luck until they ran across another hunter who had killed a pretty nice deer.

“He didn’t tell us, ‘Go here,’ but he told us a general area to go to,” Peterson said.

So during the mid-day lull on Dec. 16, the hunter and his buddies eased in to find stand sites. […]