Columns
Keys to bow stand selection
Archery season is opening in many areas and fast approaching in others. Hopefully, most bowhunters know the tree stands they will hunt from.[…]
Deer Hunting
Deer Hunting
Dumb video: Man wrestles 11-point buck
There are many who have hunted for decades and never laid eyes on a true trophy buck. These poor guys sit in stands for months on end just hoping a massive deer will step out.[…]
Deer Hunting
VID: Watch deer walk right up to this hunter
Deer hunting is all about stealth. You have to sneak slowly to your stand. When you see a deer, the very act of breathing too heavily will get you busted — and leave you with nothing but a memory.[…]
Columns
Supplemental feeding in better focus
In last month’s installment we discussed minerals and supplemental feeding of deer in Mississippi. This is still a controversial subject depending on who you talk to. Proponents call it supplemental feeding, opponents call it deer baiting.[…]
Deer Hunting
Atchafalaya Delta WMA bow kills down sharply for 2016-17
It wasn’t a surprise, but the numbers confirmed what most hunters suspected: This past deer season was one of the worst in history at the Atchafalaya Delta Wildlife Management Area. […]
Columns
The age factor: Older bucks aren’t necessarily bigger bucks
Harvest data produced by the LDWF DMAP program shows that hunters are killing more adult bucks than yearling (1 ½ year) bucks. Data from the Quality Deer Management Association also shows this is true in most of the southeast.[…]
Contents
Is your Buck Management Program working?
Managing the buck harvest has become the norm for most deer programs these days.[…]
Deer Hunting
LDWF accepting deer lottery hunt applications for physically challenged, disabled veterans
The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries is currently accepting deer lottery hunt applications for physically challenged hunters on Sabine and Floy McElroy Wildlife Management Areas for the 2017-18 hunting season.[…]
Columns
Helping your deer herd
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.[…]
Deer Hunting
Two cited for allegedly spotlighting deer in St. Landry Parish
Agents with the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries cited two St. Landry Parish men for allegedly poaching a deer early Wednesday morning near Melville, according to a news release.[…]
Columns
Genetics of Louisiana whitetails
Genetics is the least of our worries concerning the management of deer in the Bayou State.[…]
Columns
More jawbone talk
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.[…]
Columns
Genetics, age, herd or habitat
I made the statement last month in this column that now is the time to start preparing for the 2017 deer season if you want to have success. It begins with examination of the 2016 harvest data and surveying the 2017 habitat conditions.[…]
Deer Hunting
Former LDWF enforcement agent pleads guilty in Delta NWR poaching case
A former enforcement agent with 15 years experience for the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries pleaded guilty earlier this month to violating game laws on Delta National Wildlife Refuge near Venice, according to media reports.[…]
Columns
Ground proving buck age
Ground proving bucks means harvesting bucks that you believe meet your minimum goals by collecting their lower jaw bones.[…]
Deer Hunting
QDMA’s ‘Wildlife Field Day’ set for Saturday in Clinton
The South Louisiana Branch of the Quality Deer Management Association is holding a free seminar this Saturday, April 29, in Clinton on a wide variety of hunting topics, including how to butcher meat to comply with newly-implemented carcass importation restrictions.[…]