Category: Online Articles

Were there days last fall when conditions seemed good and you didn’t see a deer? That doesn’t happen to me as much anymore. Years ago I started focusing on not only having my blinds in good locations, but also making sure I could approach the blinds without alerting deer I planned to hunt. The following…Read MORE HERE

Deer season is closed in most states and its prime time to coyote hunt! Coyote hunting is fun and can be a great deer and turkey management tool if predators are putting too much pressure on prey species where you hunt. Coyotes often have large home ranges. They can and often will respond to calls…Read MORE HERE

Deer scrapes consist of an area on the ground where deer paw away all debris and expose the soil under an overhanging limb. Deer commonly urinate and defecate on the exposed dirt in the scrape. These are very visual signs that are easily seen. The overhanging limb is also a significant part of “scrape communication”…Read MORE HERE

Do you hunt scrapes during the late season? You might after watching this video! This scrape is located on a narrow ridge top that connects a feeding and bedding area. Several deer use this ridge top as a travel corridor during the late season. Female fawns often reach puberty and become receptive if they reach… Read MORE HERE

More and more archers are passing young bucks with the hope of tagging a more mature animal. In fact, the percentage of yearling bucks in the annual U.S. buck harvest has been decreasing for nearly a quarter century — from 62 percent in 1989 to 37 percent in 2012, according to the Quality Deer Management Association.

Amazingly, the QDMA reports there were five states in 2012 where at least 45 percent of all bucks killed were 3 years old or older — Texas (67 percent), Oklahoma (66 percent), Arkansas (65 percent), Louisiana (59 percent on DMAP properties) and Kansas (45 percent)…Read MORE HERE

Watch the doe in this video sniffing the vegetation, etc. Most dead and/or moist vegetation readily holds lots of scent molecules. Deer, especially mature deer, seem to be constantly checking for predators (two or four legged) by using their nose. I live and primarily hunt in the Ozark Mountains of southwest Missouri. The relative humidity…Read MORE HERE

Last week I shared a video of a 2.5-year-old whitetail buck and the characteristics I used to estimate his age. This week I’ll share another example. How old do you estimate the buck to be in the following video? Read more at Winchester.com.

The deer had become the bane of my existence. That may be overemphasizing things a bit, but it’s accurate to say that its hanging belly, dark chocolate antlers and Roman nose consumed my waking thoughts. It started in the summer, when trail cameras I’d strategically placed captured the whitetail and its burgeoning rack. By September, the buck was a bona fide Boone and Crockett trophy, and I was determined to bag it… Read MORE HERE

Last week I shared how to determine the best conditions to plant forage soybeans. Now let’s consider what to do once they are out of the ground! Forage soybeans require very minimal maintenance. I plant Eagle Seed forage soybeans that are Roundup Ready. If weeds are a problem, I simply treat one time just before the beans are about to create a full canopy (leaves from one plant touching leaves from another – blocking sun from reaching the soil). This will create an almost 100% weed free crop! Click Here To Read More at Winchester.com. 

Last week I shared some tips on how to plant forage soybeans. To get the maximum growth from forage soybeans, they need to be planted using the correct methods and when the conditions are best. This week I’ll review exactly what the optimum conditions are for planting forage soybeans.

Soybeans are a warm season crop. That is to say that cold weather will damage or kill the beans. This is true on both ends of the growing season – during the planting season and toward the end of the growing season.   Click Here To Read More at Winchester.com.