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The art of reading sign
Reading sign is as old as hunting. Sign is simply the evidence that game animals and birds leave on the landscape that shows they’ve been around.[…]
Grunts & Gobbles
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The late season is here: It’s time to make a memory
January marks the end of the 2018-1919 deer season, and in Areas 1 and 6 the rut is at its peak. It is the time for real wall-hangers to be chasing does, and the best time for a hunter to connect with one. […]
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Shoot – Don’t shoot: Decision time is now for deer hunters
Deer season is in full swing, and it’s time to decide whether to drop the hammer.[…]
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Don’t ‘kick’ the bucket
A good 5-gallon bucket has multiple uses as hunting season cranks up this fall. […]
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A new deer season is here — what will it bring?
Except for the issue with chronic wasting disease in Northeast Louisiana, the 2017 season was so-so. Hopefully 2018 will be a little more exciting. But what exactly will does this new season have in store for hunters in the Bayou State?[…]
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How to age white-tailed deer: Part V
The older age classes, 7 ½ on up, represent the end of the trail for a deer population. The average lifespan for a white-tailed deer is around 5 years; in captivity deer may live up to 14 years. Much depends on the degree of hunting that takes place on the landscape.[…]
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How to age white-tailed deer: Part IV
Learn how to age the bucks that most hunters mount, the 4- to 6-year-old deer that are exhibiting their best antler growth.[…]
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How to age white-tailed deer: Part III
Last month I wrote about the 1 ½-year-old age class, or yearling deer. The key that separates the yearling age class from the 2-year-old age class is the third premolar. Yearling deer have three temporary premolars that begin to break up and are shed when the deer is 17 to 18 months old.[…]
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How to age white-tailed deer: Part II
The key to aging yearling deer — deer that are 1 year old— is the third premolar. The third premolar is a temporary tooth that has three cusps (or crests.) Both fawns and yearling deer have this temporary three-cusped premolar.[…]
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How to age white-tailed deer: Part I
Deer can be placed into specific categories, such as fawns, yearlings, young adults (2- to 3-year-olds), mature adults (4- to 6-year-olds) and old adults (7-year plus). Here’s how to age fawns.[…]
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It’s (finally) time to talk turkey
The delay of the 2018 turkey season until April 7 has no doubt been an agonizing wait for members of the Tenth Legion, but now this elite group of hunters are in action.[…]
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No turkey hunting in March
Yes, that’s right — for the first time in the lifetime of this author there is no turkey hunting in Louisiana in March. Of course, I grew up hunting in North Louisiana in the 60s and there were no turkeys to hunt in those days. LDWF was trying to restock birds in that area but for various reasons, the restocking effort was not working.[…]
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The season may be over — but memories remain
For the most part, the 2017 deer season is over, although some DMAP cooperators in the Tier 1 classification can still hunt a couple of weeks in February. For Area 1 and 6 hunters, this could still give you time to connect with a deer, and perhaps even that elusive trophy.[…]
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Anomalies and apparitions
B&C bucks are an anomaly, and often are apparitions.[…]
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Big Bayou State bucks going down
No doubt the excitement in the deer hunting fraternity soared when news broke on the big non-typical arrowed by Frank Sullivan in October. The buck will easily make the Pope and Young record book, and depending on how the typical frame scores, might surpass the state record for archery-killed non-typicals.[…]
Bass Fishing
Slow dove hunts prompt fishing trip
Fishing has been around a long time. Heck, several of the disciples were fishermen prior to becoming Fishers of Men. […]