Hunting season is still open but with conditions unseasonably warm it’s tough to catch deer on their feet before dark, especially if you’re hunting a food source. Under these conditions hunters often debate if they should head to the Summit stands or just stay at home with family. We wonder, “Is it even worth going to the woods?” Deer have adapted to the warmer temperatures and so can we.

Grant with Blind 8, a buck harvested over a stand of clover this fall.

Warmer temperatures during December mean a few different things for whitetails. Normal bedding areas may change. We typically see many deer bedding on the south facing slopes during this time of year to soak up the warmth of the sun. However, with the warm temperatures the deer may be bedding on the north slopes to remain cool. This information helps us develop a game plan for hunting. Warmer temperatures mean deer will not need to feed as much. Similar to early season tactics, we will hunt food sources close to bedding.

As bedding areas will change, so will the food source deer are using. Deer will not need grains like soybeans and corn during warm spells. High energy food sources like soybeans or corn produce more heat when digested. Deer help to regulate their body temperature with the food they eat and where they bed. With warmer than normal temperatures, deer will opt to feed on forage like clover or wheat. Warmer temperatures provide great growing conditions for clover and wheat which means they’re green, highly attractive, and still palatable even during late season.

If you are experiencing warmer than average temperatures, try changing your tactics from your normal late season strategy. Take an early season approach, hunt close to bedding areas near a food source you know deer are using. This approach should allow you to remain successful throughout the season, despite the above average temperatures and unfavorable hunting conditions.

Growing Deer together,

Matt Dye

Winter is a great time of year for hunters, trappers and outdoor enthusiasts! Temperatures are cool, ticks aren’t active and there are so many outdoor activities to do! One of our favorite things to do during the winter months is set out our Duke traps and remove predators. In Missouri furbearer season is open from November 15 to January 31 and we take full advantage of it. Balancing the predator/prey relationship is an important part of wildlife management on every property.

The first raccoon of the year was caught recently in a Duke cage trap.

Fur prices are the lowest they have been in decades. When fur prices drop this low, fur trapper numbers also drop. This means there are fewer people removing predators throughout the whitetails range. Higher numbers of predators means lower numbers of prey species like deer, turkey, and quail. It’s time for wildlife managers and hunters to step up and fill the void left by lower numbers of fur trappers.

One of the easiest ways to remove predators is setting Duke cage traps or DP’s (Dog Proof). These traps are inexpensive but very effective. We set several of these traps throughout the property every trapping season and have tremendous results with removing predators like raccoons and opossums. Trapping is a great outdoors activity during the winter months. It’s not only enjoyable but very rewarding for both the trapper and the prey!

Daydreaming of whitetails,

Adam

Without a shadow of a doubt, the rut is an extremely stressful period for white tail deer, especially bucks. Bucks are on their feet traveling miles each day in search of receptive does. In addition to this, bucks commonly fight during this time of year. A large amount of energy is used during events like this. These types of activities begin to wear down the physical characteristics of bucks specifically. We commonly see from hunting observations and Reconyx trail camera photos drastic weight loss, leg injuries, blindness, and scars across their bodies.

As land managers we can be proactive and provide quality forage that will help bucks recover weight losses that occur during the rut. As soon as the post-rut ends there is a large push for a protein and carbohydrate rich diet to regain weight and energy that will help get them through the winter months. We plant Eagle Seeds Broadside in our plots to provide the quality forage during the fall and winter. In addition, these plots make great hunting locations!

Growing Deer together,

Matt

Across most of the whitetails range firearms seasons have begun. Here in Missouri we are right in the middle of gun season. We have been hunting hard and pulling cameras cards but have not seen a lot of chasing activity. With these observations from the Summit Stands and Reconyx cameras we tend to classify this time of the rut as the lockdown phase. This simply means buck movement has slowed down as they are tending does until they are bred. Does are receptive for a 24 – 48 hour period. Any given buck may be locked down for that amount of time before he goes in search of another doe. With most does being receptive it may not take long to find the next doe that may lock a buck down for another extended period of time.

This may seem as a dim outlook for hunters who are afield this week. However, this doesn’t last long. As we enter into the later part of November bucks tend to get back on their feet, moving heavily in search of the remaining receptive does. Sometimes this post-rut activity can be very intense as bucks are desperate to find does. As the rut progresses there are less and less receptive does, making it potentially difficult to find them. To help the search for receptive does, scraping activity increases drastically during this period!

To take advantage of this shift in behavior, we will soon be focusing our efforts on hunting scrapes and travel corridors again, a similar strategy to our pre-rut tactics. The deer behavior and movement is similar, so we will hunt similarly. Our Reconyx cameras are still on scrapes, so as soon as they begin to light up we will be close by! In addition to hunting these scrapes we will be keeping an eye on our Eagle Seed Broadside plots. Temperatures are forecasted to drop so does will be in search of quality food increasing the chances of drawing a mature buck into the plots!

Chasing whitetails together,

Matt

While hunting in Kansas was saw the nice looking buck.

Adam and I are rolling back to The Proving Grounds from our trip to Kansas. We hunted hard for six days with lots of deer activity seen throughout the week. If you have been out in the woods, you may be experiencing much of the same. Unfortunately, we are returning without a mature buck in the truck despite hunting on some great ground in early to mid-November.

Most of the deer activity we saw was does slipping through the timber in an attempt to hide from pesky bucks or young bucks cruising with their noses on the ground. This action was quite intense and kept us on our toes. However, this action was also draining! At this time of the year bucks are starting to become locked down with does. Does are receptive for a 24 to 48 hour period. During this time bucks will stay close to the receptive doe and not leave her until she is bred, making this a potentially tough time to hunt since bucks aren’t up and moving as much as the chase phase.

In an instant, the mature buck can bred his doe that has kept him locked down and move on in search of another. When this occurs it can make putting in lots of time in a Summit Stand pay off in a big way. However, when the weather is unseasonably warm like this past week in Kansas and bucks are locked down with does, the hunting suddenly becomes much tougher. Does do not move as much because of the weather and the mature buck movement will decrease as well.

Despite the lockdown phase of the rut and warmer temperatures, the morning and late afternoon action, when temperatures were the lowest, kept us entertained. If you are finding yourself putting in lots of time in the stand recently, hang in there! Action from a hit list buck can come your way in an instant. Remember that does are seeking refuge from bucks, so key in to the areas with thick cover. Does will be bedding in the escape cover and in a matter of time, so will the bucks!

Chasing whitetails together,

Matt

At this time of year we frequently are asked questions related to how to handle a deer after harvest. Answering these questions can cause a bit of controversy because the way we process our deer after harvest is different from the way many hunters have traditionally been taught. Each region of the country has different methods on how they age and store their venison. What we do works for us, is simple, inexpensive, and provides good quality meat.

The basic answer to the “how long” and at “what temperature” questions is to remind hunters to use common sense. If you’re hunting in the southern portion of the United States on a warm day (70 degrees or higher) you don’t want to leave the deer in the heat and sunlight for very long. Hunters harvesting deer in colder climates will have a longer window before having to worry about getting the deer field dressed and in the cooler. In colder regions hunters have to worry that their deer might freeze in the field, which means the meat will not spoil but freezing may toughen it up.

We don’t field dress our deer. There are three reasons for this: we are close to our “skinning shed” so there is minimal time added for transport after harvest; cleanliness – this eliminates any concerns over the exposed meat getting dirt or debris on it in the field; and the need to collect “data” on the deer. After retrieving the deer we bring it back to the shop for weighing. We have a wench that pulls the deer up on a hanging scale. The weight of the deer is part of the data collection that is used to analyze the health of our local deer herd. (After all, Dr. Woods is a wildlife biologist. Gathering data is as critical to him as actually harvesting the deer!) To learn more about the data that Dr. Woods likes to have collected, click HERE.

After weighing the deer it is eviscerated using the technique shown in this video. There is a plastic tub (gut bucket) placed below the deer so that the innards can be cutaway and dropped cleanly into the tub. During this process it is important to pay attention to sanitation – keep your knife clean, try not to bust the rumen or intestines, etc.The next step is to skin the deer to get to the meat. Here’s a video where you can see the guys in the process of skinning one out.

If you’ve harvested a trophy buck and want to cape it out we have a good instructional segment that begins at the five minute mark in this video.

Removing the meat is the next step. We cut out each individual muscle which is very easy and makes for better tasting meat. Watch this video to see the step by step process.

After removal, we store the meat on ice in clean coolers for up to four days. The length of time to keep it on ice is arbitrary. We do not attempt to age the deer meat. It’s just not practical given that we do not have a walk-in cooler or second refrigerator. Nor do we think the meat is improved by aging. The Clemson University Extension explains it well: “Do not age any game carcass if it was shot during warm weather and not chilled rapidly, if the animal was severely stressed prior to the kill, if gunshot areas are extensive, or if the animal was under 1 year of age. Aging is not recommended for carcasses with little or no fat covering because they may dry out during aging, and are more susceptible to deterioration through microbial growth. If the meat will be ground into sausage, aging is unnecessary.”

Next, we bring the meat into the kitchen for further processing: removing the fat and connective tissue (the long streaks of white/silvery tissue running in and around the various muscle meat groups). The connective tissue is one of the primary culprits that make wild game tough or have an unpleasant “gamey” taste.

Once the connective tissue is removed, it’s easy to further process the meat into steaks or put it into the grinder. The final step is vacuum packaging the venison. Many years ago we wrapped the venison in butcher/freezer paper but found that it would often get freezer burn after 8 months. With vacuum packaging we rarely have any issues with freezer burn.

The Clemson University Cooperative Extension has produced a well thought out guide for hunters at this link. It is one of the best we’ve seen on the subject. I strongly encourage you to click through, read, and print it out for future reference.

No matter where you are or how you choose to process your deer meat, please make sure to follow basic sanitation and food safety practices. Remember, after the shot – it becomes meat for the table!

Growing (and eating) Deer,

Tracy Woods

There have always been discussions among hunters to what influences the timing of the rut. There are many theories out there, but none provide the factual information based off of physiological processes that occur in deer like photoperiod. Photoperiod is simply the change in the amount of darkness throughout a given day. Summer days are longer than winter days, based on the amount of light there is each day at these times of year. Deer take notice of these photoperiod differences throughout the year and as a result they trigger behavioral and bodily changes.

A mature buck we call Herman is active during daylight working a scrape during late October.

As light fades from late summer into fall, deer sense this through nerves in their eyes. These signals travel into the brain and determine the amount of melatonin that is produced. When melatonin is produced it then creates a spike in testosterone in bucks and estrogen in does. It is widely known that both testosterone and estrogen are hormones that influence reproductive behavior.

As you know from hunting through October and the time leading into the peak of the rut, bucks and does will exhibit rutting behavior. This can be observed through scraping activity. During early October when the days are longer, with less darkness, the scraping activity is less. However, during late October before actual breeding begins, scraping activity is extremely high. This is not simply ironic, as darkness increases during the month rutting behavior increases as well.

Another important note on photoperiod is that the rate and timing of the photoperiod changes do not differ from year to year in a given location. This is why deer behavior on your Proving Grounds occurs routinely each year. You may not experience the same level or intensity of action each year, but remember weather determines daily deer movement. Warm spells during November do not mean does will not get bred, it may simply mean you may not experience the same rutting activity, but rest assured, the rut still occurs at this time.

How does this help you as a hunter? Now you know what influences the timing of the rut. Most importantly you know that the influencing factor, photoperiod, does not change from year to year. As you prepare for the rut and schedule time off or time afield, I suggest you do so at the peak of pre-rut activity. The odds are in your favor the most at this time because bucks are chasing and have not yet been locked down by receptive does, offering more opportunity for you to cross paths with one of your hit list bucks. I hope you take the time to study and further read on photoperiod as it also determines many other important events for whitetails each year.

Growing Deer together,

Matt Dye

The anticipation is almost too much to bear. I’ve waited so long for this time of year and it’s almost here! Finally! The rut is something every deer hunter gets excited about and for good reason. Bucks move more during the next month than the rest of the year.  It’s an exceptional time of year to be in the woods. Knowing they will be moving more, hunters should capitalize on this movement.

Grant with a great buck he took while hunting a travel corridor during late October!

Recently I read a blog out of Penn State about a research team that placed a radio collar on an adult buck in the spring of 2013. They monitored him through the course of two hunting seasons on a state forest that’s open to public hunting. They studied this buck’s movements throughout the year paying close attention during October and November. Out of all the interesting information they found, one point grabbed my attention. During a 24 day period in October and the first few days of November this buck traveled 23 total miles. For the next 24 days (November 4th through the 27th) he traveled 85 miles! WOW! This is a great example of the amount of traveling adult bucks will do during the rut.

As hunters we can use this knowledge to our advantage when we consider how bucks will be traveling during the month of November. Bottlenecks, pinch points, and travel corridors are all great places to hunt. Over the next couple weeks the rut will start to pick up and it’s a great time to hunt these areas!

To read more about the findings out of Penn State check out this link.

Don’t miss out on one of the best times of the year to hunt!

Daydreaming of whitetails,

Adam