What I seen today

I went out mid morning for about 3.5 hours into an area that has a good deer population for MN. There were 3 or four places I saw where deer had scratched the bark off trees and lots of hoof prints around. This spot is flat and hardwoods most of it. No pine trees that I saw today. I always hear, “look where the bucks bed!” Well, I’ll be damned if a boy or girl deer both don’t want the same thing when they go to sleep or take a nap, protection from the elements and safety from predators. Anyways after looking at aerials I didn’t see any south facing hills or certain areas of cover that looked better than anything else, so I just decided to burn boot leather and cover ground. I saw lots of deer trails, a good amount of deer beds, but no antlers. I also saw in the snow an imprint from a large birds wing feathers. I’m guessing this is where an owl or eagle swooped down to eat a mouse. Just a guess. I can feel the burn in my legs, in a good sort of way.

Marty, I took my first shot at it yesterday.. I saw 13 deer total. All does and fawns. I checked 3 areas and no antlers. In one specific area I cover I have learned that the does and fawns bed in sperate areas from the bucks. The bucks like to hang out in small groups. You can tell when your around the bucks by the droppings and urine holes. This is the easiest way. Bucks will leave clumps of poo where the does and young deer leave the pebbles. The pee marks that does leave usually burn a hole in the snow where a buck will spray around a little. Tracks are not the easiest way to identify but you know that big tracks mean old deer. If I noticed anything its that bucks tend to drag their feet a little. If you see big tracks where the deer is dragging its hoofs through the snow then my money is on it being a buck!

Just a few observations that I have. If anyone else has tips to identifying bucks in the winter please toss them at us!