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Stand Savvy: Tips for buying the best deer-hunting stands
My very first tree stand was an assorted collection of scrap wood from my dad’s shop nailed to a very forked tree overlooking a single scrape. […]
deer
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2012-13 Deer Forecast: The best season ever!
A hunter’s anticipation of the upcoming deer season is triggered by positive events. One could be a visit to the Mississippi Wildlife Extravaganza, where a record number of high-scoring deer will be on display. Another could be the setting out and checking of a trail camera, and seeing the pictures that bring first-hand proof of the promise the new season holds.
Last, but not least, are the words you are about to read from the brightest deer minds in Mississippi, who in a unified voice say this may be the very best deer season in Mississippi — ever!
The 2011-12 deer season was definitely one of contrasts. Record-breaking mild weather, near-record mast crop, fewer deer sightings reported and hunter numbers continuing to fall. […]
Deer Hunting
Buck movement quantified
In last month’s column we looked at some of the methods I typically use to convert my personal trail camera photo archives into meaningful and usable “deer statistics” or “intelligence.” […]
Deer Hunting
Taking up residence
It’s no longer a surprise to see deer in town.
“When I drove up Interstate 55 just north of Jackson where the highway merges with I-220, I saw four bucks standing beside the road,” James Bennett said. “This is right in Madison County. It was just a miracle that the deer I saw were not hit on the highway. […]
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Dominance dilemma
In today’s age of whitetail management the understanding and practice of mandatory antler restrictions is under way. This approach primarily allows yearling bucks protection so the animals can reach whitetail maturity with sizeable racks, as well as sound age structures and buck-to-doe ratios.
Hunters afield are also starting to pass on legally harvestable bucks — giving these deer the opportunity to reach full antler growth. […]
Columns
Developing “deer statistics”
Common definitions of the word “statistics” are: 1) the mathematics of the collection, organization and interpretation of numerical data, or 2) the science that deals with the analysis and interpretation of numerical data. […]
Columns
Managing the data — Part 3
The pursuit by a hunter of trail-camera photo information regarding whitetail buck activity can be a labor intensive project and, as a result, the end product is absolutely what you make it to be.
My personal trail-camera goals revolve primarily around monitoring and documenting buck presence and movement activity on my hunting property before, during and after each deer-hunting season. […]
Columns
Managing the data — Part 2
Over the past several years, I have, through trial and error, developed a system that allows me to efficiently deal with multiple trail cameras and memory cards as I use them to monitor deer movement on my farm in west central Mississippi. […]
Columns
Managing the data — Part 1
My farm in west-central Mississippi is my personal field laboratory for experimentation with trail camera techniques and practices, as I continue to study and learn about local buck patterns.
When used fully and properly, trail camera data can become one of the most effective tools in a hunter or property manager’s toolbox. This is true not only from an overall deer population survey standpoint, but also from the hunter’s standpoint as one learns how to convert piles of trail camera photos into predictions about deer movement. […]
Breaking News
Another possible Lauderdale County record buck taken
Last Wednesday (Jan. 18) was the final day of Mississippi’s Deer Management Zone 1 modern-rifle season, and Ricky Sullivan was in his shooting house as he had been countless times during the long season.
He had lived in that stand the previous week, missing only that Tuesday because of work, because bucks were running does seemingly everywhere across East Mississippi. […]
Deer of the Year
Family farm gives up 155-inch Clay County 8-point
West Point’s Robert Lott was practically born into a deer hunter’s paradise. The 2,500-acre timber farm in Clay County on which he lives has been in his family for four generations and is loaded with deer.
Soon after Lott, his dad and younger brother, headed for their deer stands on Dec. 15, one of the farm’s monarchs stepped into the crosshairs of his scope. That buck, a product of careful management, later scored in the mid 150s Boone & Crockett. […]
Deer of the Year
Prayer leads to 170-inch buck for Monroe County youth hunter
Caleb Smart has a simple routine he follows every time he heads to the woods for a deer hunt. […]