Having the right mix of minerals and nutritious food is critical to a successful winter feeding program. Because of this, my shed looks like a feed store this time of year.
You’ve seen the articles. The general theme is, feeding deer in the winter is not recommended. Before I dissect this general notion, I think it’s important to point out why most of what you read simply recommends not feeding deer during the winter months. Think about it. It’s a lot easier to simply say “do not feed the deer,” than it is to explain to everyone who wants to feed deer why it’s likely to end up a bad decision, no matter how good the intentions are.
It’s true that deer naturally adjust to the limited amount of food available during the winter months. They travel less and use much less energy, and they eat less. They rely on their fat reserves from heavy feeding in the fall, as well as the small amount of food they can find over the winter, to get them through. If they are suddenly introduced to a large amount of food after letting their bodies adjust to lean times, the outcome can be catastrophic.
Here is the typical example of what deer managers are trying to guard against. Bob decides he wants to start feeding deer around his place during the winter because he remembers how thin and sorry they looked last year. Starting in January, he forms a big pile of corn where he hunts. He does a good job of keeping it replenished for the first week or so, but is too busy to keep up with it. Suddenly in late February he decides he has the time to reestablish the pile, and does so. When he comes back a week later to replenish the pile, he is shocked to find several dead deer in the area, most of which are fawns. What could have gone wrong?
There are several problems with this scenario. First, feeding straight corn does very little in the way of providing nutrition to a deer. It’s a lot more like candy than it is a healthy meal. It’s essentially an empty promise to a deer’s stomach. Secondly, when Bob quit feeding the deer in mid January, things may have turned out okay as the deer would have transitioned into their winter slowdown. When he returned in February after having not fed the deer the previous few weeks, he might as well have showed up with his gun. The deer, now very hungry, returned to the pile and gorged themselves, with several falling victim to an extremely acidic condition in their stomachs, which were mostly empty. Young deer in particular are susceptible to this. To avoid the above scenario, most wildlife agencies suggest not feeding deer at all, and some have even banned it altogether.
If you make the decision to provide supplemental food to deer over the winter months, you must understand that it’s a commitment that you can’t back out of. You must provide the right kind of food at the right intervals. Otherwise, you’re doing more harm than good. For this reason, I recommend using only time-released electric feeders that can be programed to only put out small amounts of feed at various times throughout the day. For example, my feeders are set to disperse food at midnight, 6:30 a.m., and 5:00 p.m. When they are triggered, they run for 12 seconds, and disperse a relatively small amount of food. I make sure they are filled weekly, and with the right mix of food.
My mix currently consists of about 30% shelled corn, 60% Imperial Whitetail Results deer food (formulated just for deer with a high nutrient value), and 10% or less of Bighorn Deer Mineral. Each feeder released about a five-gallon bucket’s worth of food over a week’s time, so you can see that I am in no danger of harming the deer. The small amount of food that they do get is nutritious, and it can indeed keep them a bit stronger throughout the winter months resulting in a healthier deer entering spring. Ultimately, this can lead to healthier fawns and bigger antlers.
I urge you to not attempt to feed deer if you don’t have the right equipment, or you can’t be fully committed to the program. The worst thing you can do is provide a “trough” or similar-type feeding device full of corn. This is the worst thing you can do, and it’s irresponsible. I am always willing to talk with anyone who would like to learn more about winter feeding, and can help devise a feeding plan that can work for you, and most-importantly, the deer.
I think it's finally starting to sink in just how big this buck is.
I was at the Little Mahoning Creek Watershed Association meeting last night when I felt my phone vibrate. I took a quick look at the display and it said “Zellman’s Taxidermy.” Well, unless Ron was calling to ask how my day was I knew this was the call I’ve been anticipating! As luck would have it, I had to drive right by his place on my way home so I arranged to pick the buck up.
He looked magnificent on the wall in the taxidermy studio. When you walk in and see that it’s your deer that stands out as the top dog, it’s a pretty precious moment. We chatted for a bit and looked at some of the other deer that were being mounted before I loaded up my mount and headed home. Thank God I have an understanding wife because I had poor Angela helping me rearrange my mounts for about a half-hour or so when I know she really just wanted to go to bed. What a good sport!
There is no question who the current "king of the wall" is.
It struck me how much bigger my Illinois buck is compared to my two Pope and Young bucks from PA. They’re all the same age, but they’re not anywhere near the same class. Angela and I discussed this for a while and we decided that you can’t really compare hunting at home to hunting in Illinois in terms of the quality of the deer. Taking down a mature buck in Pennsylvania is just as impressive as taking one down in Illinois in terms of the challenge, but it’s unfair to compare the physical characteristics of the animals.
A special thanks to Ron Zellman of Zellman’s Taxidermy for once again doing a great job, and in just two months. Ron has done five deer mounts and one bear mount for me, as well as four other deer mounts for my dad and brother over the last several years, and there is a reason we keep going back. I hope I’m making a trip to see him again next year!
I was surprised to see just how many whitetail management products were offered at my local Agway store.
The Indiana Agway sponsored a seminar today about whitetail nutrition. The speaker was Ron Wenning of Bighorn Wildlife Products and owner of Knittle and Frey Ag Center in Williamsport, PA. Mr. Wenning was representing Whitetail Institute products, as well as his own Bighorn Minerals, which he developed to promote antler growth.
Although much of the presentation was geared toward selling the products, there was some good information provided. Although I didn’t learn a lot of new information, it was good to get reminded of a few things about food plots and supplemental feeding. Mr. Wenning has been in the business for more than 40 years, and he represented the products well. As an added bonus, those in attendance got a 10 percent discount on all of the whitetail nutrition products. I bought two bags of Whitetail Institute’s deer food, as well as a 25 pound bag of the presenter’s mineral mix. I’ll just add the minerals to my regular mix of food and shelled corn before loading it into my feeders.
They held a small drawing for a few products to conclude the seminar, and I was the lucky winner of a bood entitled Pennsylvania Deer and Their Horns. The original edition was published in 1915, and a second edition was published in 2o02 so that some key information in the book could be updated. The new sections in the book were written by Mr. Wenning, Brian Hill of the Quality Deer Management Association, and Karl Miller, a noted wildlife biologist from Georgia. I know Brian Hill from my Deer Steward certification courses through the QDMA, and I have certainly read plenty of Karl Miller’s work over the years. I’ll be interested to see just how much has changed in whitetail thinking over the last 100 years. I’ll put the book on top of the stack of books I need to read over the next couple of months.
Highs and lows. Although you could characterize about any season in that way, I think it perfectly describes the 2009 campaign. There were ups and downs in terms of the hunting. Pennsylvania…down. Illinois…up. How about the weather? Early to mid season…rain, wind, and even snow. Beginning of the rut…perfect. Late rut during the Illinois trip…rain again. Late season…heavy snow. And finally, the temperature. We had a cold snap in mid October, but then things warmed back up a bit during the rut. And the late season? How about one day in the 40s, with most of the others topping out in the teens and twenties! It’s safe to say I used all of my clothing this season to deal with the conditions at hand.
Early Season – Pre-Rut
The season started out pretty much as expected. I did see three shooter bucks on the first Saturday, which was unusual, but none of them were in the class I was looking for. I got nice video footage of them while they fed under my stand, and had the satisfaction of knowing that I could have filled my tag with a pretty nice buck had I wanted to. On October 21, I took a nice doe to put some meat in the freezer, and from that point forward I made the decision to concentrate on a buck, while holding on to my other antlerless tag until the winter season. Although I knew there were several good bucks roaming around, none of them were moving during daylight hours. I knew the rut would provide the best opportunity.
Rut
Out of nowhere, it happened. Although I was starting to see mature buck activity pick up during shooting light in late October based on my trail camera photos, I still wasn’t seeing them on their feet. I went into Halloween night with high expectations, but was disappointed when I didn’t see a single deer. A rainy and windy cold front blew through earlier in the day and the radical winds were not in my favor. Still, it turned out to be quite a memorable night after all as one of the guys hunting our property met up with the “Moose” buck. When he described the deer to me, I knew immediately which buck it was. Although we didn’t find him that evening, we picked up the trail first thing the next morning and found the deer not far from where we gave up the previous night.
Mark Duffield's "Moose" buck had 16 scoreable points, weighed apx. 220 lbs., and had a green score of 141 3/8. He was four-and-a-half years old.
Although I knew about this buck and was hoping to get an opportunity at him, I was excited that one of our guys was able to get him, and I enjoyed being able to get my hands on him. It was an exciting moment for everyone involved, especially Mark who got a trophy of a lifetime.
I would get my opportunity a week later on November 7th when Mike and I were filming a hunt on a windy evening in a relatively new spot for me. As the sun set, a mature buck headed right for our location just how I had planned, and I thought I was going to fill my tag. Unfortunately, the buck had two broken points on his right side so I decided to pass on him. Talk about ups and downs, and all in a mere 30 seconds!
Unfortunately that moment turned out to be my best opportunity during the regular season. I saw a lot of really nice bucks over the next several days, but none of them met my personal antler restrictions. One of the days I saw 11 different bucks, which was just about as good as a filled tag in my opinion. After a tough regular season at home, it was time to shift my focus to Illinois, and the opportunity to hunt some of the biggest bucks on the planet.
Illinois
I’ve always felt that going on a hunt out of state was a nice way to cap off the season, and there is no reason to put any pressure on yourself to be successful. I look at it as a hunting vacation, and try to enjoy the fun of hunting away from home while putting little emphasis on actually harvesting a deer. When you book a hunt, you can’t forget that it’s still hunting, and there are certainly no guarantees. This was the mindset I took with me to Hancock County, Illinois this year, and I think it helped me take down the biggest buck of my hunting career.
The weather was horrible, and you truly had to make the best of a difficult situation. There was a small window of dry weather to start the morning of November 16, and if there was ever a time to get lucky, this was it. You can watch the above video for the details of the hunt, but I’ll describe the final thoughts as I remember them just as I was about to take the shot.
I knew the buck was a giant. I saw a lot of points, and his swagger screamed mature buck. To be up close and personal with a buck of that caliber was surreal. I don’t remember breathing. I distinctly remember whispering “He’s coming in!” When he stoped to work the licking branch below me, I resisted the urge to draw prematurely. I knew that he needed to get directly in front of me where he would have the least chance of catching my movement. Everything was in slow motion, but at the same time it was faster than I could comprehend. I whispered under my breath, “Step out of there,” and almost on command, he took the final few steps I needed. I drew the bow and simultaneously made the decision to take him right through the shoulders. He was just a few yards away, and I knew my Easton Axix arrows at 10.3 grains per inch tipped with the old reliable Muzzy 100 grain three-blade broadhead could handle a shot like that, and I had complete confidence in my setup.
It was power versus power, and when I released the arrow I immediately heard it slamming through the deer’s chest cavity. He sounded like a freight train as his 270-pound body raged through the woods. It’s a five-second moment that I’ll never forget. Tthen there was silence. I couldn’t see the buck, but I sensed he was there. This was confirmed just seconds later when I heard the crash, and then silence once again. This time I could see his stomach below the brush in the distance, and I knew he was down.
I never got nervous until I approached the buck and saw just how good he was. I took a minute to gather my thoughts and gain a full understanding of what I had just accomplished before I touched his rack and massive body. Although it was harsh to think about, I reminded myself that I may never again in my life be able to stand over a buck like this that fell to my arrow. I tried to savor every second of the moment, while not taking even a second of it for granted.
From that point forward I think it rained 90% of the time, which made the hunting difficult for the rest of the guys at camp. On our last day the weather broke a bit and I was able to get back out and take a nice adult doe to cap off my trip. Brian saw the biggest buck of his life during the evening hunt, and I know that made his trip, despite the rain. It was a pretty exciting way to end the hunt.
Firearms Season
I got out with the bow a couple of times during the firearms season, but never go an opportunity at a shooter buck. The highlight for me was Angela taking her third deer in three years. She took a nice doe during the evening of the first Saturday, and she did it after passing up a respectable buck. Her reasoning? “It’s too small,” she said. She later told me that she would have felt worse about shooting a younger buck than not getting a buck at all. “I put my crosshairs on his shoulder and I could have shot him,” she said, and I could tell that was good enough for her. I couldn’t have been prouder.
Another perfect shot by Angela downed this mature doe, and put some meat in our freezer.
Late Season
Weather was again the story during the late season. On one occasion I went out when it was just seven degrees. Because I was getting pictures of a few great bucks that made it through the earlier seasons, I was driven not to give up. I saw several bucks, including the biggest one hanging out on the property on New Year’s Eve. Unfortunately I was walking out of the woods when a group of six or seven bucks came through chasing a doe. The big guy was included in the group, and we locked eyes at just 20 yards apart.
I was face-to-face with this buck on New Year's Eve, and just knowing that he made it through has me already looking forward to next season.
The next evening provided my only chance to take a good buck in the late season. We had the wide eight-point with long brow tines just 20 yards away, but he busted us in the tree at the last second. I tried to draw, but it was to no avail. Trying to get a big buck in the late season is tough enough, and when you add trying to film it, it’s nearly impossible. Although I was a little disappointed, it was really no big deal. I’m learning that watching them get away and knowing they’ll be even bigger next season is almost as fun as shooting one!
Looking Ahead
Every season provides it’s share of memories, and 2009 will go down as one of my all-time favorites. Despite the tough weather and the fact that I didn’t fill my PA buck tag, I was able to take two does as well as the biggest buck of my life, and I also had the opportunity to touch the biggest buck ever taken on our property. Although my body is thankful for the end of the season, it won’t be long before I’m back at it doing some post-season scouting and a little antler hunting. As scary as it sounds, the 2010 season starts now!
My basement floor is now cluttered with stands, steps, ladders, and just about everything else you can think of related to tree stands.
Today is the day that results in mixed emotions for me each year. With all of the deer seasons over, today was the day Mike and I picked to remove our stands from the woods, putting a cap on a long hunting season. On one hand it was nice getting everything back to the house and knowing I don’t have to worry about it anymore. On the other hand, having to see heavy trails, big rubs, and even a few scrapes was hard to take since next season won’t be here for another eight-and-a-half months.
Once all of my gear dries out, I’ll go over everything meticulously to make sure it is still structurally sound, and free from damage. All of my tree steps will get a touch of oil, and my stands will be wiped down and hung until it’s time to get them back out later this summer. In addition, all of my clothes are piled up on my hunting room floor waiting to be washed one last time before being put away for the year. Finally, all of my accessories, binoculars, grunt tubes, bow hangers, etc., will be cleaned and stored away. My bow will be going to the doctor for a completed tear-down, cleaning, and fresh string. I’ll probably be back on the 3D range by February, so I’d like to break in a new string as soon as possible. Broadheads and hunting arrows will be put away, and I’ll be breaking out my target arrows and field points.
I put out four trail cameras hoping to grab a few more photos of bucks that made it through this year. I’ll also use them to determine when most of the bucks lose their headgear so I can plan my shed antler hunts. March will be here before you know it.
Although I already miss not being in the woods with my bow in hand, my body is enjoying the recovery time. I’m sure in a few weeks I’ll be ready to do some post-season scouting in preparation for next year, but for now, I’ll just be catching up on some things around the house while I wait to get the call from my taxidermist saying my giant Illinois buck is ready to be picked up. Now that’s something to look forward to!
Thanks for your patience as I haven’t posted anything new to the site over the last few days. Frankly, I needed to unwind and take some time off after what was a long and tiring season. I will be posting my 2009 Year in Review article very soon, so be sure to check back.
I have to admit, by the end of this hunt I was convinced that I was throwing in the towel, and giving up. The near zero wind-chill was pounding me all evening, and it wasn’t until almost dark that I saw a deer. I ended up seeing a decent 20 month-old eight-point with a busted up rack, the trophy spike, and seven antlerless deer. Nothing was near bow range, so my tags remained unfilled.
I’m still not 100% certain I’ll go out tomorrow. I feel like I shouldn’t give up on the last day that I can hunt until next October, but my level of enthusiasm is as low as it has been all season. We’ll see what my body decides when the alarm goes off. I guess as long as there is a chance, no matter how small, I shouldn’t give up.
This decent buck was on the move near my stand location on Sunday morning. I think we'll have some beauties walking around next season.
Things have changed a bit on me since last week. The deer are only moving just before dark, and I’m not seeing nearly as many. I’m guessing they’re working a new food source, but I don’t have the time or the desire to find where it is and set up an ambush point. Still, my spot is still a pretty good one, and I had a decent night tonight by seeing three bucks and seven antlerless.
You have to watch every move you make this time of year. One thing I’ve learned is if you don’t have to move, don’t! Any unnecessary movement will certainly be noticed, which I was reminded of tonight. I knew one of the deer out in front of me about 100 yards away was a buck, so I pulled up my binoculars to get a better look. He was a decent eight-point, but certainly not a shooter. Still, I was trying to give him a good look to see if I could recognize him, and that meant bringing my binoculars up and down to clear the steam from the eye pieces. When it’s in the low 20s, it doesn’t take much to steam up the cold glass with your warm face. Unfortunately, a group of doe were coming in from my right and were headed right into my shooting range. With all of my movement, they saw me before I saw them and they high-tailed it out of there.
I thought long and hard about just throwing in the towell after tonight’s hunt, but somehow I think I’ll make it back out a time or two before the final gun sounds. The weather doesn’t look good for the last couple of days, but what else is new. This has been the toughest weather I’ve had to deal with during the late season, which certainly doesn’t help me keep motivated.
The weather has been horrible, particularly if you’re trying to hunt with a bow. Since I was last out on New Year’s Day, the temperature hasn’t gotten close to the freezing mark. Add to that the steady wind averaging 10-15 m.p.h., and you’ll understand why this was the first day out for me in four days. It’s amazing how 22 degrees can actually feel comfortable.
There was a steady snow falling, which I welcomed for the aesthetic value, but as I would later find out, I could have done without it. With about six inches of snow on the ground including a couple of inches of soft powder, I was able to sneak to my stand almost silently. The goal for the hunt was to fill my last doe tag to put a little more meat in the freezer, or, take a mature buck if the opportunity presented itself. After about an hour, I noticed the entire front of my pants and coat were covered with snow. Instead of brushing it off, I thought it wouldn’t hurt to have some natural snow camo. I’m sure I was as close to being invisible as one can be in the late season. About 4:00 p.m., I saw a deer working its way in my direction. I was in luck! A nice adult doe was about to make her way into my prime shooting lane, and she had no clue I was there. Just as she was entering the opening, I drew my bow but was horrified when my jacket made the sound of a crinkling bag of potato chips. It seems the snow froze to the front of my coat, and the result was disaster. Of course the doe busted me and ran out of sight. What a bummer. And to add insult to injury, I only saw one additional deer on the night, and it was way out of range.
I hope to get out a couple of more evenings before the season ends on Saturday. No matter what happens, I’ve enjoyed the late season, even though the weather was far from cooperative this year.
This buck was inches from falling to my arrow tonight, but close doesn't count.
Mike and I talked late this morning and made plans for an evening hunt. We knew the weather was going to be tough, so the plan was to get out for the last couple of hours and possibly fill my last doe tag on film. Because we were worried about being spotted by the extremely edgy deer, we decided to use a small decoy to help take their attention away from us. In hindsight, I wish we wouldn’t have made that decision.
It was an extremely slow night until there was about fifteen minutes of shooting light left. We had only seen one deer to that point, and with the wind and snow pounding us in the face, we were tired and beaten. Just then I caught movement on the hillside to our right. I felt confident that whatever the deer was would make it toward our stand location, and I was right. As he came into view, I recognized the buck as one I got a photo of a couple of weeks ago. He’s a really wide eight-point with nice brow tines. He must have moved into the area during the firearms season because I never saw him or got photos of him before. Although he’s not the type of buck I’m normally after, a buck like that with a bow on New Year’s Day would be a trophy for sure.
Back to the decoy. Well, as the buck was approaching my shooting lane, he stopped to examine the decoy in front of us. Although he didn’t spook, he stopped, which I don’t think he would have done otherwise. As he was starting to enter the opening, he looked up in the tree right at us. Mike feels believes the deer saw the small red light on his camera, but regardless, he knew something was wrong, and I wasn’t drawn yet. My options were to watch him bolt without trying to draw, or try to draw and hope he doesn’t run off immediately. Unfortunately, he turned and ran at my first movement, and he was out of sight in seconds. Mike and I were both disappointed, but we feel pretty strongly that it’s the chase that makes it worth it, and not a filled tag. We made a mistake trying to use a decoy in the late season, but we’ll learn from it, and this hard lesson will pay off another day. I was going to call it a season after tonight given the lousy weather in the forecast, but how can I give up now? I won’t go out tomorrow (18 degree high with up to 30 mile-per-hour winds), but I hope to get out on a couple of evenings next week. Maybe there’s a bit of last-minute magic left in me.
By the way…if anyone has been trying to text me, my phone is down and I won’t have a replacement until Tuesday. Don’t ask!
