Deer

It's a disease that every hunter knows the signs and symptoms of. Fortunately, it is not fatal. And thankfully, the symptoms do not last long.

It's hard to imagine any whitetail behavior which has generated more attention from the outdoor press than the whitetail rut. Volumes have been written about the whitetail rut and how to hunt it. It is also hard to come up with a hunting concept which has caused more confusion. Confusion?

Scouting is one of the most effective tools in a hunter's arsenal; without proper scouting, a productive hunting season can be quite hard to come by.

It is no secret that white-tailed deer love acorns, particularly white oak acorns. White oak acorns contain less tannin than red or black oaks and are, therefore, much sweeter.  

IOWA 12/2/2000
GROSS SCORE 206 1/8, 198 5/8 NT, 174 3/8 T

Some hunters think that calling whitetailed deer is basically limited to grunting and antler rattling during the rut, but this couldn't be further from the truth.

I'd covered a lot of real estate hunting whitetails over the years, and no question, I was now studying the biggest buck I'd ever seen. He was a giant, with a wide, extremely heavy 10-point rack. His neck and body were solid, like an athlete's in prime shape.

Hunters, while it's a mistake to become obsessed with what a deer's antlers would score, there are many valid reasons to be interested in this measurement of the rack an animal carries. For one thing, a buck's score is a valuable way to describe how large the buck is.

It is without a doubt that snipers are the most effective weapons of war on the battle field and for good reason. Their unpredictable concealment and the element of surprise is what builds their lethal success. If not completely unaware, their targets are left guessing when and where the next strike may come from.

I've taken many big deer over the years, but Gnarles Barkley was the biggest—at 300+ lbs. on the hoof, he was a true monster. This meek, elusive behemoth had been on my mind for three years, ever since the day I saw what looked like an elk horn laying in the snow.