Deer Behavior

The 180-Class Pending B&C World Record 8-Point Buck!

Dave_Maccar — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 15:46:12 -0500

On December 1, 2011, on the opening day of the second shotgun season in Illinois, Jason Sanders tagged what will likely be the largest 8-point whitetail in the Boone & Crockett record books. Sanders, a 38-year-old farmer and veteran deer hunter, was hunting on his home farm when he set his sights on this world-class buck of a lifetime.

The Best Field & Stream Reader Photos From January 2012

Dave_Maccar — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 12:06:52 -0500

Each month, Field & Stream editors review the hundreds of photos submitted by readers to our Trophy Room. If your photo is chosen to be printed in the Game Faces section of the magazine, you’ll win a Rapala Fish ‘N Fillet knife!

Submit your photos here!

Here are the monthly Best Reader Photo Galleries from last year:

Giant Illinois Buck Is Potential World-Record 8-Pointer

Sarah Smith — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 14:11:41 -0500

by Scott Bestul

The term “world-record whitetail” gets tossed around so much these days that it’s easy to ignore. But the buck pictured at left may well be the real deal.

Bizarre Buck: Maryland Hunter Tags 23-Pointer With Brain Abscess, Hollow Antler

Online Editors — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 10:54:46 -0500

Mark Hahr could not believe his eyes when he walked up to the big whitetail he’d put to the ground just minutes into his first Maryland gun hunt. Expecting to get his hands on the tall, gnarly rack he’d spotted just after daybreak in his scope, Hahr instead saw a curious sight: A raw, bloody spot where the left antler should be. Thinking he’d shot the antler off, he quickly scanned the buck.

read more

The Best Shotguns of 2012

Dave_Maccar — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 14:56:43 -0500

The Tale of a 21-Point, 200-Class, Double-Drop Iowa Monster Buck

Online Editors — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 14:11:41 -0500

Jesse Jans first encountered this dandy Iowa drop-tine from only 10 feet away, then spent a year pinpointing the big buck’s movements. Once he did, the North Liberty accountant told a hunting buddy over lunch one day that he’d have the 21-pointer on the ground that afternoon. Then—like Babe Ruth calling his homer in the 1932 World Series—Jans delivered. Here’s how...

The Best New Rifles of 2012

Dave_Maccar — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 12:41:18 -0500

There were more exhibitors and more atendees at this year's SHOT Show than ever before. That means more guns than one could ever see, but we did our best to find the best. Here are David E. Petzal and John Snow's picks for the best rifles from the show floor.

Wyoming Game and Fish Department Lobbies for Deer Baiting Bill

Online Editors — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 10:48:48 -0500

by Scott Bestul

As a rule, deer biologists tend to hate baiting. But in a likely unprecedented move by a state game agency, the Wyoming Game & Fish Department is asking the state legislature to help them legalize baiting in the state. According to this AP story, biologists are struggling so mightily to control whitetail populations that they’re looking to add another strategy to their toolbox.

It’s important to note that in this case, officials intend to limit the use of bait to urban areas or other deer-control hotspots. Their hope is to be able to lure deer to spots where the animals would be more vulnerable to harvest, and to areas where shooting is safer. No plans seem to be in the works to legalize baiting on a broad basis at this time.

read more

SHOT Show 2012 From The Floor: Day 3

Online Editors — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 01:48:52 -0500

Why Whitetail Food Plots Work Better Than Bait

Online Editors — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 11:55:47 -0500

by Scott Bestul

It’s time to plow under the clover-plot-equals-corn-pile argument. Of the many fresh debates germinated by modern whitetail management, none has proved faster growing or hardier than food plots vs. bait, in which one side insists that planting plots to attract and kill deer is no different from luring them to a mound of carrots or sugar beets. This may sound perfectly sensible…until you soil-test the dirt from which the logic grows.

Food plots are very different from baiting—and better for the health of the deer herd as well as for hunting. And while it’s true that a small plot of lush clover in the middle of otherwise barren woods may be no different from a pile of corn in terms of fair-chase principles, food-plot planting and management provides a long list of tangible and intangible benefits. Here are the main ones.

read more