Deer Hunting: The Best Deer Hunting Site Ever

The White-tailed deer, also known as the Virginia deer, or simply as the whitetail, is a medium-sized deer found throughout most of the continental United States, southern Canada, Mexico, Central America and northern portions of South America as far south as Peru.

The species is most common east of the American cordillera, and is absent from much of the western United States, including Nevada, Utah, and California (though its close relatives, the mule deer and black-tailed deer, can be found there). It does, however, survive in aspen parklands and deciduous river bottomlands within the Central and Northern Great Plains, and in mixed deciduous riparian corridors, river valley bottomlands, and lower foothills of the Northern Rocky Mountain Regions from Wyoming to Southeastern British Columbia. The conversion of land adjacent to the Northern Rocky Mountains into agriculture use and partial clear-cutting of coniferous trees (resulting in widespread deciduous vegetation) has been favorable to the white-tailed deer.

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There are four common methods of hunting deer: stalking, which consists of following signs and trails of deer; stand hunting, waiting where deer are likely to travel (including tree stands); still hunting, alternately walking silently and waiting concealed in the pursuit of game; and line drives, which consists of flushing deer toward a line of hunters. Scouting and stalking involves following deer sign. Common signs to pursue include rubs, scrapes, and tracks. Scrapes are places where bucks scratch the ground and urinate below low hanging branches on the edge of fields. Bucks do this to mark territory and attract female deer. Deer tracks may tell you the size, age, and species of a deer. Rubs are marks on the trunks and low branches of trees which indicate where bucks have rubbed the velvet off their antlers; this leaves a tell-tale mark because it takes the bark off the tree where the deer rubbed. Another purpose for this action is that it marks territory with a visual signpost.

There are also numerous factors that play a role in deer movement, but the one thing that may usually be counted on is the movement of deer 30 minutes before sunrise and 30 minutes after sunset when the deer are going to or leaving their feeding ground. The main factors in deer movement are precipitation, wind, hunting pressure, rut, and lunar movement. Deer will stay in their bedding area during times of heavy precipitation, and when the storm stops, the deer usually start moving. Trees and brush are usually dripping with the precipitation from the storm, and wind blowing in the woods may become very noisy. Both of these situations make the deer nervous and cause them to start moving. At the end of a storm the deer will move to an area they feel is safe for them; they will also start moving if the storm passed through their feeding period. Most deer feeding occurs in fielded areas of agriculture such as corn and soybeans; because they don't like to be caught in the open during a storm, the deer tend to move to a more covered or concealed area of the feeding ground or leave the ground enitirely until the storm ends. Depending on previous activity as well as the above mentioned factors, the rut, usually a month long period in which bucks mate with does, can last much longer or slightly shorter than one month. The rut causes deer to be more active and do things that they would not normally do. The last factor in deer movement is the position of the moon. When the moon is directly overhead, or below foot, deer seem to be more active in general.

Deer generally have lithe, compact bodies and long, powerful legs suited for rugged woodland terrain. Deer are also excellent swimmers. Deer are ruminants, or cud-chewers, and have a four-chambered stomach. The teeth of deer are adapted to feeding on vegetation, and like other ruminants, they lack upper incisors, instead having a tough pad at the front of their upper jaw.

With the exception of the Chinese water deer, all male deer have antlers that are shed and regrown each year from a structure called a pedicle. Sometimes a female will have a small stub. The only female deer with antlers are Reindeer (Caribou). Antlers grow as highly vascular spongy tissue covered in a skin called velvet. Before the beginning of a species' mating season, the antlers calcify under the velvet and become hard. The velvet is then torn away leaving hard bone antlers. After the mating season, the pedicle and the antler base are separated by a layer of tissue, and the antler falls off.

The one way that many hunters are able to track main paths that the deer travel on is because of their "rubs". A rub is used to deposit scent from glands near the eye and forehead and physically mark territory.

During the mating season, bucks use their antlers to fight one another for the opportunity to attract mates in a given herd. The two bucks circle each other, bend back their legs, lower their heads, and charge.

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Many different weapons are permitted in various states of the USA during certain times of deer season. These include bows, crossbows, rifles, shotguns, pistols, and muzzleloaders.

Archery season usually opens weeks or months before a state or locality's gun season and usually is permitted for several weeks or months afterwards. Modern compound bows and recurve bows are used, as well as some primitive recurve and longbows by historical enthusiasts when permitted. Crossbows are often reserved for disabled hunters who are unable to draw a bow. Most bows and crossbows offer an effective accurate range of 30-40 yards. Compound bows are the most popular archery method.

Rifles, shotguns, and pistols are all commonly used for hunting deer. Most regions place limits on the minimum caliber or gauge to be used; rimfire rifles and centerfires under .22 caliber are often prohibited due to ethical concerns, although they have been used to hunt deer and larger game in some cases. Some areas of the United States prohibit rifle hunting altogether; most firearms hunters in these areas use 10, 12, or 20 gauge shotguns with buckshot or slug loads. Handguns are also prohibited in many deer hunting situations, but hunters in some areas have success with .357 magnum, .41 Magnum, and .44 Magnum revolvers and larger calibers such as the .500 S&W Magnum and .454 Casull. Specialty hunting handguns like the Thompson Center Arms Contender and Encore are capable of firing many big game cartridges like the .30-06 Springfield and .45-70. Large caliber semiautomatics (such as the Desert Eagle, LAR Grizzly, and many 10mm Auto pistols) also deliver enough power to take deer.

Muzzleloader hunting is also a common practice. Modern muzzleloading rifles equipped with synthetic stocks, telescopic and fiber optic sights, in-line ignition systems, advanced conical or sabot bullet designs, and black powder substitutes such as Pyrodex are much more effective than the muskets of generations past. However, many traditionalists still use wood stocked, iron sighted rifles with round lead balls and traditional black powder charges.

Camouflage has been used for ages and while it is very important, it is not essential, especially during gun season when it is required that hunters wear blaze orange clothing when on public land. There are many different types of deer stands, ladder stands, climbers and stationary blinds. Ladder stands are ladders with a platform on top of them chained to a tree. Climber stands are platforms with a seat that may be carried on your back and then placed usually about 4-8 feet off the ground on a tree. Stationary blinds, built from wood and other materials are meant to be a durable and long-lasting blind either on a stand or on the ground, depending on the terrain. No hunter may take down a deer easily or legally without using certain weapons when they are permitted. Waterproof boots are not essential but they come in very handy, especially since deer do not always fall down where you shoot them and may run for a few hundred yards into unfamiliar woods. Knives are essential for skinning and field dressing deer. Tags and permits are required to hunt deer legally; they may be purchased from local sporting good stores.

Cold weather deer hunting requires the hunter to prepare properly and make sure he or she has the right clothing and equipment for prolonged exposure to the elements. Humans must maintain a stable body temperature while cold weather hunting. When away from external sources of heat, our only heat source is that which we produce internally. This inner warmth primarily comes from burning food, or the oxidation of carbohydrates. Carbohydrates are available to us in the form of raisins, chocolate, candy, sugar, and fruits.

The best way to dress for cold weather hunting is to wear clothing that preserves your body heat while allowing body moisture to evaporate freely. This is accomplished through layering, or wearing alternate layers of clothing to provide insulation and ventilation.

The highest concentration of large deer species in temperate North America lies in the Canadian Rocky Mountain and Columbia Mountain Regions between Alberta and British Columbia where all five North American deer species (White-tailed Deer, Mule deer, Caribou, Elk, and Moose) can be found. This is a region that boasts mountain slopes with diverse types of coniferous and mixed forested areas along with lush alpine meadows. The foothills and river valleys between the mountain ranges provide a mosaic of cropland and deciduous parklands. The aspen parklands north of Calgary also have many lakes and marshes. Elk and Mule Deer are probably the most common animals throughout the region. The caribou live at higher altitudes in the subalpine meadows and alpine tundra areas. The White-tailed Deer have recently expanded their range within the foothills and river valleys of the Canadian Rockies due to conversion of land to cropland and the clearing of coniferous forests allowing more deciduous vegetation to grow. They often share this riparian habitat with moose, but left the adjacent Great Plains and drier grassland habitats to Elk, American bison, and pronghorn antelope.

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Much of the information used here has been researched from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.