I sit down to write this installment of Happy Trails after spending yesterday morning in the deer woods of southwest Mississippi, attending to tasks associated with supplemental feeder sites and salt/mineral stations.[…]
In recent installments of Happy Trails we have kicked around various aspects of both the science and art of aging whitetails on and off “the hoof.” Most deer hunters want to become as proficient as possible at estimating deer age BEFORE pulling the trigger, but it is equally important to either confirm or revise your eyeball estimate after the kill.[…]
We began a general discussion of this topic in the recent February, 2017 installment of Happy Trails. Let’s now go a little further and expand the discussion. Ground proving bucks means harvesting bucks that you believe meet your minimum goals, collecting their lower jaw bones for “tooth replacement/wear” age estimates, then comparing the earlier “live on-the-hoof” eyeball age estimate with the jawbone indicated age for confirmation or clarification.[…]
The deer hunter flips up the collar of his fleece jacket to better protect his neck from the chilly, late-afternoon breeze, remaining alert, hoping that an unsuspecting doe will meander by before dark. Success would be two-pronged, as he needs venison for his freezer, and his camp needs a few more does harvested to reach the year’s quota.[…]
As you read this installment of Happy Trails, the 2016–2017 deer season is either late in the fourth quarter or time has already expired.[…]
As we go into 2017, most of us have had the good fortune of sitting quietly alone multiple times this season in the Deep South winter woods.[…]
Well, it is now December here in the Deep South, and as far as patterning mature bucks this is the time when the rubber meets the road.[…]
In last month’s installment of Happy Trails, we began focusing on buck indicators as they would relate to positioning a web of trail cameras to most effectively identify and monitor bucks on a given hunting property.[…]
When it comes to early season scouting for bucks with trail cameras, monitoring rubs and rub lines can be a very effective technique.[…]
If you are reading this, you obviously survived the long, hot summer — even though the heat and humidity will still linger into September.[…]
If your goal is to bag a trophy buck, you will first need to know if a worthy buck is actually using your property.[…]
Here in the Deep South, if the calendar says July would anyone in their right mind argue against the conditions outside being referred to as anything other than the hot and humid “summer doldrums?”[…]
Timber and wildlife are renewable resources — one a potential source of income and the other a great source of annual enjoyment.[…]
We now live in a digital high-tech world defined by acronyms of every stripe, but many of you might not be familiar with this particular one.[…]
Well, if you’re one of those folks who crosses the state line to hunt deer in Mississippi, I have some very good — if not totally surprising — news.[…]
Toward the end of last month’s installment of Happy Trails I began to opine and brag a little about the evolution of deer hunting in Mississippi during my 45-year tenure as a deer hunter, and about how much positive progress has been made over the past 10 or 15 years.[…]