Category: Other Blog Posts By Dr. Grant Woods

The timing of antler shedding is determined by changes in hormones, primarily a reduction in testosterone, normally triggered by increasing day length. However, injury or other factors that impact testosterone levels can affect the timing of antler shedding for individual bucks. The amount of daylight begins increasing December 22nd each year. This triggers the potential for…Read MORE HERE

Almost every whitetail hunter knows weather conditions can impact deer activity. Some of the hunts when I’ve seen the most deer active have been just before or just after a major change in the weather.

However, it seems few hunters consider how weather conditions impact the ability of deer to detect hunters. Most of us consider wind direction. We attempt to place our stands downwind of where we expect to see deer. However, there is another factor in addition to wind direction and speed that can be a big factor in whether we see deer from our stands…Read MORE HERE

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

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

Have you ever been excited to find an active scrape and plan to hunt it during the rut only to watch it fill with leaves during early November? Bucks and does tend to abandon most scrapes during the chase phase of the rut. It seems bucks don’t wish to spend energy checking and/or maintaining scrapes during the rut, when checking the wind often yields much better results of finding a receptive doe.  Read more at Winchester.com

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.

Aging bucks on the hoof – an example during December I still get very excited when I see any deer coming through the woods. That excitement level ratchets up when I see an antlered buck approaching! It’s become very popular among hunters to pass younger bucks and wait for a mature buck. Read more at Winchester.com