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How to Improve Oak Growth for More Mast
Without a doubt, oaks are the most coveted species of tree in the whitetail woods. Furthermore, they produce some of the most powerful food sources available to deer. But getting oaks to the age where they can produce an amount of mast that can truly benefit your deer can be extremely difficult, not...
Logan Jensen
Nov 7, 2023
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The Fail-Safe Fall Plot
As autumn arrives and preparations continue for this year's hunting season, many land managers will look to plant fall food plots. These fall plots will not only help the overall herd of deer by providing a supplemental food source throughout the winter but are also used to help congregate deer...
Logan Jensen
Oct 20, 2023
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Whitetail Habitat Boot Camp with Jeff Sturgis Part II
Whitetail guru Jeff Sturgis helps First Fite’s Gregg Farrell form a habitat improvement plan for his buddy's southwestern Wisconsin family farm. This video is all about making a detailed plan to implement an effective whitetail land management strategy. To watch Part I, where the guys take a good...
MeatEater Staff
Oct 5, 2023
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How to Age a Whitetail Buck on the Hoof
Can you tell how old a buck is by observing him from afar or studying a photo? Many say they can, but others call BS.
From my experience, aging a deer “on the hoof” is an inexact science. With the right knowledge an estimate is possible, but estimates always come with caveats. They’re subjective, up...
Mark Kenyon
May 29, 2020
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What is Killing America’s Fawns?
Many hunters picture coyotes scouring woodlots from May to June, snatching newborn fawns between sun-dappled trilliums, and heading home with a hindquarter clamped between their jaws.
Why wouldn’t we envision such scenes? Trail cameras across the U.S. often snap grip-and-grins of coyotes, bobcats...
Patrick Durkin
May 27, 2020
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How the Whitetail Nearly Went Extinct
“When I was your age, it was the talk of the town just to see a deer track!”
Sound familiar? Many hunters in the 21st Century have heard similar statements from a father, grandpa, or friendly old-timer reminiscing about the days when whitetail deer were a novelty. Supposedly, the story goes, there...
Mark Kenyon
May 15, 2020
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Do Antler Point Restrictions Work?
Hunters who push for antler-based regulations often dream of record-book bucks or bulls shredding the bark off thigh-thick pines and aspens across their region.
However, great expectations of antler restrictions often shrivel to disappointment. After all, Western states mostly credit record-book elk...
Patrick Durkin
Oct 30, 2019
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Ask MeatEater: Is It OK to Shoot Fawns?
You’ve got questions. We’ve got answers (and if we don’t, we’ll make them up). Every day, fellow MeatEaters send us more than 100 emails regarding hunting, fishing, cooking, conservation, and more. So, we decided to publish a series dedicated to our favorite FAQs. This is Ask MeatEater.
Decisions...
Mark Kenyon
Sep 25, 2020
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10 Natural Food Sources Every Deer Hunter Should Know
A deer’s world revolves around its stomach. So should the savvy deer hunter’s plans.
Unfortunately, most conversations about what deer eat begin and end with commercial crops and food plots. I say this with authority, because I was a guilty party to this for quite some time. Since kicking off the...
Mark Kenyon
Apr 23, 2021
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Beggar’s Lice: A Deer Hunter’s Friend and Foe
While scouting a new property in college I noticed every single deer on trail cam was covered in vegetation. The wiry, green plants clung to the thin, orange coats of whitetails and camouflaged them better than any hunting gear could. I had no idea what the foliage was or where it came from.
My...
Spencer Neuharth
Aug 28, 2020
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3 Easy Ways to Improve Any Whitetail Property
A few years ago, I interviewed the host of a prominent whitetail TV show about his proven hunting strategies. He started off by saying that he plants around 100 acres of food plots each year. From that point, his hunting decisions are based around having dozens of destination food sources to choose...
Tony J. Peterson
May 19, 2020
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How Do Deer Respond to Floods?
Early last summer, heavy rain caused swollen creeks and rivers to flood prime whitetail country across Iowa, Nebraska, Ohio and Missouri. This spring, it happened again as unseasonal snowfall and biblical rains swallowed up farmland in South Dakota, North Dakota and Illinois. For some hunters, this...
Spencer Neuharth
Jun 21, 2019
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5 Trees Every Whitetail Hunter Should Know
“Don’t miss the forest for the trees.” It’s a common saying used in conversation when someone is so focused on the details of an issue that they miss the big picture.
A similar affliction is present in many a whitetail hunter, but in our case the issue is becoming so obsessed with seeing deer or...
Mark Kenyon
Feb 26, 2021
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How Crop Rotations Impact Deer Movement
Agriculture dominates the landscape of America’s heartland. The same can be said of its influence on the deer and deer hunters that live there.
The presence of crops that deer eat dramatically impacts where deer live and travel, as do any changes to those crops. Due to an agricultural practice known...
Mark Kenyon
Oct 9, 2020
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