WI deer hunting

The Ten Minute Buck Leads Us to Next Day

January 6, 2018 by Charlie 10 Comments

Hunt date October 24, 2017

The buck stood just a mere 15 yards with one back leg lifted as if a dog on point. The setting sun’s glare was blinding as I settled into the stand, so I turned my back to it while waiting for its further descent to the horizon. The view on the other side of this short ladder-stand can be just as productive. Figures, just like turkeys, deer like to appear on your backside.

The first assumption is the buck has busted me in this seven-foot stand. However, buck’s eyes are focusing on something at ground level and not at my position. Apparently, this buck has come to find out what made the walking noise. Whenever approaching a deer stand, it is best to walk in like a deer, the noises made must be natural sounding within the cadence of the deer’s world. In this case, instead of thinking a hunter had moved in this beautiful buck came to investigate a potential doe.

The temptation is to count points while waiting for a good shot; longtime experience has taught me not to do this, stop the one, two, three… immediately and focus on the task at hand. This evening’s thermal current is gently cascading downhill from the buck to me; there is plenty of time.

When deer are in close moments must be slowly deliberate so that they don’t catch the deer’s attention by sight or sound, including neurological background noise. Like the hands of a clock, my lower torso shifts to align the bow when its time comes to rise. The front angle of the deer is too sharp for a shot; he needs to move down about eight feet for an arrow to hit the pocket behind the left shoulder and exit before the last rib on the opposite side.

Time seems to have stopped, I’m not sure if 54 years of deer hunting have numbed my excitement or if more concerning, shooting a buck no longer causes the fever. Sadly, I feel no excitement, only intense concentration to not screw this up because no matter the experience level, things can go wrong in a hurry.

The multipoint buck sniffs the thermals one more time before moving on the downhill trail, almost broadside he comes to a stop with his front shoulder extended forward. Perfect, the arrow is released. My buck bounds angle straight away uphill, stops, his antlers are above the brush then disappear while the sapling he was standing by vibrates as if life is leaving the deer or he is making a rub. It is time to wait at least a half hour; I give it 40 minutes even though my arrow is blood-soaked. Slowly descend to the ground, all senses alert. Upon inspection, the blood on the arrow has bubbled up and down the shaft, indicate substantial lung penetration. There’s chest color hair on the ground and a good blood trail to follow. However, this deer should not have gone up any hill, which always makes me suspicious that things are not as they first appear.

It takes me at least 15 minutes to move 50 yards towards a dead buck, the sound of a deer bounding downhill freezes me, and more deer sound like they are walking away side-hilling. More time passes, the sun is low, and light is fading fast as I reach the sapling. At the base of this little tree, an empty blood-soaked deer bed. Wait some more even though a substantial blood trail beckons me to follow.

Apparently a mortal hit. Air bubbles in the blood pool indicate lungs are pierced. At this point, I did not think the deer would go far.

The thick hillside brush makes moving sound like anything other than a human crashing their way ahead impossible. At any moment a carcass should be illuminated in my beam of light, depressingly, I find another bed, blood, and a good crimson trail leading off onto neighboring land. Time to seek permission.

The neighboring landowner was, perhaps, one of the most accommodating, he promptly granted permission to search. Shane with Calling all Turkeys was to arrive tonight so that we could video some fall turkey dogging. I called to let him know I’d likely be busy hauling a buck in, at that time, my expectation was for a smooth recovery. This year Shane was training his 9-month-old Blue Tick hound, Callie, for deer recovery, a leashed tracking dog is legal in Wisconsin. I agreed and waited until Shane arrived with Callie before resuming the buck’s trail.

We were back at the point of shot five hours later. Callie quickly picked up the trail as she started dragging Shane behind her. Large puddles of blood confirmed she was on the correct deer. With all Callie’s baying and commotion of us busting brush to keep, we flushed several other deer on the way. In spite of the distractions of the deer, Callie stayed on the track. However, that gut feeling of something is not going right begin to seep into me. During my half-century-plus of deer hunting, I have been on hundreds of recovery trails, for many of those years I was on the tracker’s call list to help other hunters; something was not going right here. A deer who has lost this much blood and continued to do so, should not be leaving yet another bed.

After a couple of more hours, the blood on the ground started turning a grainy black color typical of deteriorating lungs and not a lot of it. According to Callie’s nose, the deer crossed an open grassy field that took us to another woodlot. We decided to wait until sunrise before going further. We all needed rest and a break from the inky black night. My sleep was not restful as the mind kept replaying all the events of the shot and track over and over looking for some details it might have missed.

As the sun rose it all its splendor, we were back sorting through the evidence to figure out where this buck went. At a planted food plot the deer was expected to cut across to the other side, wounded animals are known to take the path of least resistance. The buck did not do this.

Blood sign continues to be easy to follow.

Instead, he circled and bedded in the opposite side’s brush line. He bedded stretched out; the moist ground leaves

Charlie is pointing out the bucks outline where he laid stretched out.

held an imprint of his body. And he had moved out yet again! Tracks and small spots of blood led us downhill towards a paved county road and past several trail cameras. Shane suggested I contact the landowner for permission to pull the cards so that we could perhaps see the condition of the deer was. Yeah, I, of course, was having doubts about my shot placement too; to my pleasant surprise, the landowner allowed us to pull the camera cards.

As we ate lunch, we perused all of the camera pictures and were shocked; there was no photo, not a single one of the buck! How could this be? The sign and Callie’s nose confirmed the buck had used the trails heading downhill.

After lunch and some rest, we replaced the camera cards. Unless this deer possesses powers from the gods not yet discovered by us mere mortals, there must be an earthly explanation. While Callie continued dragging Shane around in attempts to pick up the trail and that included attempting to take him for a walk along the busy county road, I started back trailing in an effort to find the

Shane covered in burdock including some particles in his eyes. He trusts me to remove them from his eye.

“earthly” reason for no pictures.

This old buck knew where the trail cameras were! Figured out he should let his picture get taken. He had left the trail to walk behind every one of the cameras! Never before had I encountered this kind of behavior from any deer. How could he possibly have figured out how hunters use and why hunters use cameras? Of course, my mind has worked on this quirky happening. The only thing that seems logical is the electronics in the camera make some noise that spooked a cautious buck; he did not like the sound or the flash causing him to move around the camera.

By this point in the day, I’m feeling queasy, hate not doing my part well and losing a deer and, the thought of giving up bowhunting gnaws in my head. The trail is cold and the final option, grid searching appears to be it. There’s a long grass swamp at the hill’s base along the road; he must be in there. As we searched I lost track of the deer remains that we found, one a small buck died within a week, others large, literally mossy covered natural European mounts and some more recent. What we could not locate was our buck.

In what was to be the final loop along an old logging trail that would allow Callie to scent on the downwind side of the swamp. As we moved around the swamp getting close to the county road, I was ready to give up on the recovery of this buck. Or at least until the vultures and crows showed me where he was in a few days. The case could not be made that he’d be OK and alive. In situations like this, I always consider my tag filled because clearly, I killed the animal.

Callie suddenly jerked Shane off the path into a thick bushy patch that lay between the trail and county road. Shane yelled. I got something in my eye and need help. Earlier Callie had dragged him through dense patches of cockleburr, and I had to get him to hold still while pulling some fragments out of his eye. Oh no, not again. But my partner needs my help so into the brush I go.

Shane had his camera pointed at me, his eye was ok and on the ground lays a large dead twelve point buck with a perfectly placed arrow wound. It’s about 3p, nearly 24 hours since the shot. Shane has a video of me he continues to laugh at–as my face from depression to ecstatic “Holy shit is that my buck?! I mean holy moly…” The back story there is Shane had made the reasonable request that I refrain from profanities during recordings.

We would not have recovered this deer without the aid of Callie the deer tracking hound. She had tried to take us along the buck’s trail along the shoulder of the road. We did not think a wounded deer would walk on the shoulder of a busy county road during daylight. Moral of this story, trust the dog. In this case, even if she is an inexperienced 9-month-old.

Shane has every reason to be proud of Callie and training he as given her over the summer months.

Excitement might not have hit me way back at the shot, had the buck been recovered from his first bed, I’d have been thrilled. But after all

I will be forever grateful for Callie’s excellent nose work. Notice where the arrow hit. This is a shot opportunity I would take every time it is presented.

that trailing and becoming ready to give up then finding him; well, I was in touch with a lot of that old-time deer excitement. The buck’s meat is perfectly fine and delicious, weighed over 200 pounds field dressed.

Callie absorbing the hard found deer scent.

What went wrong? Why such a long trail?

This is an obvious question that all hunters think hard about, and the answer did not hit me until I was reading a piece by a chef regarding knife sharpening and proper knife selection for the task. The chef stated a knife cuts best by slicing, not pushing. It is the length of the back and forth pulls, causing the food to be sliced cleanly and not pressure pushing the blade down to get it through. Of course, I knew that! This year I had been convinced to use a different broadhead which has a wide stout blade. This head smashed its way into and out of the deer’s chest but did not do a good job cutting its way. Kind of like a hatchet would have performed.

An arrow kills by hemorrhage, which requires cutting like a knife, not a hatchet type whack. Broadheads that are wide, and short, even though they are sharp, are not as deadly as the longer knife like heads. A big wide broadhead causes entry damage, making for copious amounts of blood. However, internal cutting–hemorrhage may be minimal. Both lungs on this buck were penetrated, plus the edge of the liver. With my old Zwickey or Grizzly heads, he would have been dead within 60 yards with a hit like this.

Both lungs were hit, and the liver, which has a large wound. Notice the bruising and tearing. No evidence of the broadhead slicing.

Starting from the left; QAD Exodus this is the broadhead I used this year, notice the short blades, they are not long enough to slice. The Grizzly has the most extended cutting surface and slices it passes through a deer’s chest. The Zwickey operates similarly to the Grizzly head with slightly shorter cutting length. The last broadhead on the right cutting length is short due to notches at the rear so it too will tear rather than slice. Tearing does less tissue damage, thus allowing game animals to live longer after a lethal hit.

In my experience, the Grizzly and Zwickey broadheads when adequately placed have killed deer without fail to cause the deer to drop dead within 60-70 yards. After my experience with the QAD Exodus this season, no one will talk me into using a broadhead that does not have enough cutting length to slice rather than tear its way through a chest cavity. Other broadhead designs may look “wicked,” but no company has done a study that refutes the finding of Dr. Ashby’s study of arrow lethality on African game. I should have known better.

Does Wild Venison Tastes Best when Procured in September or Early October?

July 28, 2016 by Charlie 17 Comments

Ever wonder if wild deer meat, venison, has a different taste and or meat quality during the year? Which is better table fare; a buck, doe or fawn? Many a deer hunting camp have hotly debated the second question, but it seems no one talks about or even thinks about the first question. Perhaps, this is because due to work and family commitments most deer hunters have a limited window of time to hunt and as a result hunt during their state’s firearm season. Most gun seasons are open later in the fall, so without a thought of hunting any other time they go out to fill freezer when they can.

Deer killed in November and December are good to eat and for many outdoor folks, some very excellent eats indeed.

Whitetail deer numbers have grown significantly since the late 1960’s, and early 70’s when some states had to close deer season due to the small numbers or in some areas where there were no deer. Nowadays, deer are found all over the country with very liberal deer hunting seasons.

Here in Wisconsin farm country, deer season starts with archery mid-September continuing with a variety of seasons into January. The long season structures give deer hunters the chance to shoot, eat and compare table venison each month of the fall.

I have killed deer throughout all of the seasons, in many years I have taken deer during each month of the open hunting periods and found early season (mid-September to mid-October) venison is the best eating. Here’s why:

No matter which sex the deer, they have less fat or tallow on and in their flesh. Tallow is not pleasant to eat, without the fat build up the venison’s flavor is not tainted nor gamey.
Deer food sources are abundant and varied, so the animal does not need to travel very far to eat. Nor do they need to eat a lot during the summer months, so their meat is more tender due to much less effort required to live comfortably.
Neither bucks or does pay much attention to each other, for the most they stay in their chosen territories eating and sleeping to build up strength for the upcoming rut in early November.
The reproduction hormones are not flowing yet. The production of these hormones seems to change both the texture and flavor, not saying it’s bad, just different.
Starting late October the deer begin to move about much more. Bucks are on the move setting up breeding territories while the does attempt to avoid them. All the extra exercise firms up the muscles which have a direct effect on the texture of the table venison.

Several times when I have had dinner guests we dined on venison from each month, and there has not been a single guest who did not prefer the early season deer over the later season. All the venison is delicious no matter when it’s taken so continue hunting and enjoying yours. Just, if you get the chance at a September deer, take it and see what you think.

Wisconsin Electronic Deer Registration

September 2, 2014 by Charlie 3 Comments

During Wisconsin’s 2014 deer seasons some hunters have been selected to test the new electronic deer registration system. These hunters can voluntarily use the pilot program to register their deer via internet or phone call in. They also have the option to continue in person registration.

Selected hunters may receive a survey about the electronic registration experience. The DNR will use the survey results along with the data from the 2014 registrations to fine tune the system so that it will be ready for all hunters starting in 2015.

Charlie elk is proud to have been selected for this test and looks forward to registering all his 2014 deer using the electronic registration. In person deer registration has always been extremely inconvenient; time/gas consuming and in some warm weather late night recovery situations just plain hard work. There are no direct roads to the registration stations where charlie hunts.

How did charlie get selected?

Not sure. charlie does kill more deer than the average hunter each fall. However charlie has no inside knowledge whether or not that was a factor. charlie never wins any drawing. Even if his name were to be placed in a hat 99 times with only 1 other entrant, that other would be drawn first. This was proven years ago at a MNDNR Advanced Hunter Rendezvous when 100 instructors names were drawn to determine the order of selecting from 100 paintings donated as instructor rewards. Guess what. charlie was picked number 100. They are all nice paintings and charlie’s hangs in a place of prominence just so charlie is always reminded he must work for everything he gets.

Perhaps a new day is starting with charlie’s luck and that world record big bugger better look out.

May your season provide a mindful of great hunting memories and check back for updates on e-registration.

2014 Wisconsin Deer Assessment

July 1, 2014 by Charlie Leave a Comment

What will the fall of 2014 deer harvest be like after a record-breaking harsh winter? This is the question on the minds of most of Wisconsin’s 600,000 deer hunters.

of the car-killed deer assessments conducted by Department of Natural Resources wildlife officials. This finding is in line with field observations from DNR wildlife biologists throughout the state and reports from the public.

This spring, 522 deer were sampled statewide during a period when fat reserves were at their lowest point of the year. Local wildlife biologists inspected and gathered data from deer that were killed in vehicular collisions to evaluate pregnancy rate and fat stores at various points within the deer carcass, including the rump, around the heart and kidneys and in the bone marrow.

Dan Storm, a DNR research ecologist-

“Last January, we heard a lot of concerns about the potential winter impacts on the deer herd. From our radio-collared deer studies, we’ve learned a lot about how winter impacts our northern deer, but we didn’t have similar projects in the southern half of the state. Our research and wildlife staff quickly put a plan in place to look at car-killed deer. This was a very inexpensive and informative way for us to monitor winter impacts on deer throughout the state.”

Fat stores are a key indicator of nutritional condition as deer rely on these reserves, accumulated during summer and fall, to survive winter. Fatter does are able to provide better care to their newborns, which increases survival and is important to herd growth rates – fawn survival is closely linked to doe nutritional condition.

According to the WDNR findings:

In the southern portion of the state, 40 percent of adult deer sampled had rump fat, while rump fat was present in only 14 percent of adult deer sampled in the north. A greater proportion of deer in the north had little or no organ fat, as opposed to deer in the south. Similarly, bone marrow condition was better in the south than the north, and adults were more likely to have fatty marrow than juveniles in both the north and south.

Regardless of where in the state deer in the study were collected, the evaluations revealed that nearly all adult does were pregnant.

“Pregnancy rates among adult does were greater than 90 percent across the state, even in the northern forest, We wouldn’t expect the severe winter to impact this year’s pregnancy rates, because the deer became pregnant before winter began.”

While adult pregnancy rates did not differ between regions of the state, pregnancy rates of juvenile deer approaching their first birthday and the average number of fawns being carried were found to be quite different from north to south and between major habitat types throughout the state.

Dan Storm-

“The rate of adults carrying twins exceeded 60 percent in both the central and southern farmland zones, while the rate of single fawns for these zones was approximately 9 percent. In contrast, fewer does in the northern forest zone were pregnant with twins and many were carrying a single fawn.”

Juvenile does (under one year old) exhibited much lower pregnancy rates than adult does. Less than 10 percent of juveniles in the northern forest and nearly 20 percent in the central farmland zone were pregnant. Differences in litter size between the farmland and forest zones likely reflected differences in habitat productivity and the late spring experienced in 2013 in the Northern Forest Zone. A late spring limits the food supply available to deer, which in turn limits the amount of resources deer can use to create offspring.

After Melt Winter Kill Finds

April 7, 2014 by Charlie Leave a Comment

A lot of questions are being asked about the extent of Wisconsin’s winter deer and turkey kill. Of course it will vary by area.

All the reports coming in here concerning turkeys are indicating the population is strong and vibrant with strong gobbling reports coming from all across the state of Wisconsin. So it is looking like as predicted Wisconsin’s 2014 spring wild turkey season is going be a good one. Additionally the early reports are of strong gobbling all across northern Wisconsin including units 4, 6, & 7 where WDNR needlessly cut the spring permits. Apparently northern turkeys are either well adapted for survival during adverse conditions or they use their wings and sharp eyesight to find better areas of food and cover to move to. Then return as temperatures become mild and the snow melts.

Unfortunately deer become stranded in deep snow leaving them dependent on local food and shelter conditions. This clearly has led to some die-off in areas exactly how extensive we don’t know yet. Apparently all the monitoring takes place on computer screens these days rather then in the field. In West Central Wisconsin I documented 31 winter killed deer in about a 1,000 acre area, additionally buddies reported more dead deer further north. I reported my findings to the local WDNR manager, he did not inquire any further than expressing surprise at the high number. Even with that overwinter kill deer sightings are very high this spring. A lot of deer survived here in spite of the harsh winter.

WDNR does not have teams that go out and observe deer or turkeys across the state to assess the health of populations. Many think they do but old fashion hands on wildlife management is rarely practiced any more. This is true with the vast majority of game departments across the country. For better or worse they rely on internet postings on social sites and blogs.

Not much happens if a hunter shoots an obliviously sick animal and takes it to a WDNR headquarters or sends pictures. There is no tracking or analysis performed. Hunters are left to their own to really figure out what has happened in their areas or what is happening.

Now is the time to get out to inspect your hunting area if you think there has been an overwinter kill. It’s easy to see the remains now. Here are some pictures of what you may find.

Turkey feathers are well preserved during winter in Wisconsin.

Turkey feathers last a long time.

These feathers were left overwinter from a fall kill.

The feathers above are well preserved so if you scout your area evidence of winter kill will still there.

These turkey bones are from an owl kill about a year old.

Carcass bones remain in the natural kill area longer than most people think. Look for these and feathers as you scout your area.

This is a picture of deer I found in late January. Still easily identifiable after the spring thaw.

Deer carcasses are easy to find especially if you hike with your dog. It is natural for them to become curious and point the way to you. This grizzly stuff to find but important in order to try and understand how a hunting area was affected by the severe winter. If deer were stranded in a deer yard for the winter you will find several carcasses in the general vicinity.

If you do not find evidence of dead turkeys or deer as pictured above perhaps you can consider your hunting area in good shape. Be thankful. Study what deer and turkeys ate over the winter and work to increase the supply of those food items for the next severe winter. This is how carrying capacity of the land can be increased.

Is Quality Deer Management Theory Destroying Wisconsin’s Deer Herd?

February 25, 2014 by Charlie 1 Comment

Test results provide current snapshot of CWD in south-central Wisconsin

For 12 years WDNR has had ongoing CWD surveillance efforts, Department of Natural Resources officials maintain a current picture of trends and

To stop CWD should we focus on removing the older bucks?

prevalence of chronic wasting disease within the area previously known as the Wisconsin CWD zone map in the southern part of the state.

The Prevalence of CWD has increased in all categories- Based on 2013 test results for the western monitoring area, encompassing western Dane and Eastern Iowa counties where sampling has been occurring annually since the disease was discovered, current prevalence is:

25 percent of adult male white-tailed deer
10 percent of adult female deer
about 7 percent of yearling males
about 6 percent of yearling females

All the CWD research has shown, very clearly that adult bucks are more likely to be infected. WDNR’s 12 years of CWD surveillance proves this yet again. CWD infects 1 out of 4 adult bucks and if yearling bucks are included 1 in every three bucks are infected compared to 1 out of 6 female deer are infected. The research demonstrates: If the goal is to reduce the incident of CWD adult bucks should be removed from the deer herd. So instead of “earn a buck” there should have been “earn a doe”. Is it time to target bucks for removal or is it too late?

A rational person could conclude quality deer management theory is destroying Wisconsin’s deer herd. Why? The emphasis of quality deer management is on preserving bucks and letting them grow older to 3-6-year-olds before killing them. These 3-6 years old bucks have a much greater chance of carrying CWD, and these are the deer that migrate into new territories spreading their CWD infection as they go.

Tami Ryan, DNR Wildlife Health section chief-

“Sampling deer from these areas where there has been long-term monitoring of disease patterns is important to understanding the dynamics of this disease,” . “Prevalence has been increasing as expected, and we continue to find that prevalence is higher in males than females and higher in adults than yearlings.”

In 2013, DNR staff tested deer from within and outside of the CWD-MZ in south central and southeastern Wisconsin. The sampling strategies were aimed at detecting changes in the location and trends in the prevalence of the disease. Monitoring plans focused surveillance on adult deer, which are most likely to have the disease.

Beginning in 2014, with the approval of the Deer Trustee Report rule package, DNR will have a new funding source available beginning this fall to provide hunter service testing statewide. The funding comes from having the authority to apply $5 from each additional antlerless deer permit sale in CWD-affected counties towards CWD testing and monitoring.

Tami Ryan, DNR Wildlife Health section chief-

“Prior to this change, DNR received no money from additional permits sales. We are pleased to now have a consistent funding stream for CWD testing and monitoring,”

Also emerging from the rule is the Deer Management Assistance Program and the formation of county deer committees, both of which give DNR flexibility to work locally to develop cooperative approaches to disease surveillance and management.

Tami Ryan, DNR Wildlife Health section chief-

“It’s important to be able to work cooperatively with hunters and landowners, as their participation is essential to CWD surveillance. It’s also very important that we connect with the local communities so they can stay informed on deer disease and DNR’s approach to monitoring. They are also the conduit for public sentiment, sharing information with us in addition to taking information back to their community.”

In spite of the evidence, we are still going to target antlerless deer when the science proves; if the goal is to stop CWD, the population of male deer needs to be reduced. Perhaps this won’t help the deer in the CWD zones, but it sure would stop those wandering bucks from leaving the area and infecting the rest of Wisconsin’s deer.

Warning: Winter Feeding Can Kill Wisconsin Deer

January 30, 2014 by Charlie 2 Comments

How can this be true?

Due to severe winter weather conditions deer in Wisconsin are or becoming very stressed, may be to the point of starving. If I put out some corn, I mean, they eat corn I’ve found it in their stomachs while field dressing them. Plus we all see deer in cornfields eating away. So what’s with this warning?

A version of this question is being asked all across Wisconsin especially in the northern part of the state. We all love and treasure our deer and only want to do what is best for them. Feeding during extreme conditions sure seems like it will help them out when they need it the most. If the deer had the same digestive processes they did last fall we could help them with supplemental feeding.

However, what many folks don’t know and what some hunters may have forgotten is a deer ‘s digestive enzymes change with the seasons. If you think about this it makes sense. In order to survive most all the metabolic rates of all wildlife change. In the case of whitetail deer they become less active in order conserve energy. In addition their digestive enzymes change so they can digest woody browse. This is the stuff they would not have considered eating last fall when so many other more desirable choices were available.

Acidosis- grain overload and Enteroxemia- overeating disease. Deer find grain or hay in a plentiful pile they eat. But because they can’t digest it due to the change in their enzymes they eat some more in an effort to satisfy the hunger and suddenly die with full stomachs.

Michigan DNR website does a good job explaining:

Corn toxicity is a general term related to two diseases which can affect white-tailed deer throughout Michigan and elk in the northeastern portion of the state. Both diseases occur acutely and result in the rapid death of animals in good physical condition.

A change from a natural diet of high fiber woody browse to low fiber high carbohydrate foods initiates the disease. The severity of the illness depends on the type of grain (ground or whole), previous exposure of the animal to the grain, the amount of grain consumed, the animal’s nutritional state and physical condition, and the microflora present. Ingestion of toxic amounts of corn are followed within 2 to 6 hours by a change in the microbial population in the rumen. The number of gram-positive bacteria (Streptococcus sp.) increase markedly (replacing the normally abundant gram-negative bacteria), thereby producing large quantities of lactic acid. This results in the rumen pH falling to or below 5, destroying protozoa, cellulolytic organisms, and lactate utilizing organisms, and reducing rumen mobility. Chemical rumenitis and absorption result in lactic acidosis. The lactic acid and lactate build-up cause excessive quantities of fluid to move into the rumen, causing dehydration.

In deer and elk there is no effective treatment for either of these diseases because of the short duration of the illness and that normally animals are found dead, not sick.

Click on the link above these take away quotes it’s worth reading the information is its entirety. You’ll also find some images of diseased animal intestines.

How to Help the Winter Deer

First understand there is very little that can be done once a severe winter sets in. Usually by the time humans notice how bad it is the wildlife is already damaged.
The best feed on a small scale local level is to go cut down some trees to provide the deer some woody browse. The buds are swelling with moisture and nutrients out of the deer’s reach, a chainsaw brings these into easy deer reach. (if you don’t own the land make sure the landowner grants permission for cutting)
The best trees to cut down are the more undesirable like box elder, aspen, birch, elm, ironwood, dogwoods, silver maple, etc..
Do not supplemental feed grains or hay.

Long Term Help

If you plant food plots that contain primarily grasses and leafy plants. Develop a plan that allows for deer desirable woody browse.
Visit your food plots now to witness the available food first hand. So many are shocked to find heavy snow has totally covered all their work and provides no wildlife food at all.
Carrying capacity is defined as the number of any given wildlife that can survive during the worst of conditions.
Always plan food plots and other habitat projects for the worst of conditions.

Wisconsin Winter 2014 Killing Northern Deer and Turkeys

January 28, 2014 by Charlie Leave a Comment

Severe winter of 2014 taking a toll on Wisconsin’s wildlife

Update: March 31,2014 – After covering a lot of Wisconsin turkey territory this spring including the Northern Wisconsin units my fears of a massive wild turkey winter kill were not realized. There are few birds that died but no huge flocks died or at least I could not find any evidence of any. A landowner in northern Polk county told me of a massive winter kill on his farm and invited me to come see. Vic the turkey dog and I covered this farm finding only 4 dead turkeys, some of the neighbors invited us to check their farms also. Still only the 4 dead turkeys were found. Individual birds die each winter for a variety of reasons. Had there been more dead turkeys Vic would have found and pointed them to us. These fellows like me, rightly became concerned about not seeing turkeys in their usual locations all winter and we assumed the worst. However, as we searched around these farms gobbles answered the yelps from my trumpet call all day long. In fact there is a solid turkey population there. I’m finding and hearing that is the case in many areas. So I wrote a 2014 turkey hunt forecast here, check it out. Also a post wondering if Turkeys Migrate?

Bad news regarding deer, as the snow melts we’ve been finding a lot of winter kill deer. Deer of course do not have wings so they can’t fly away to find food. They unfortunately are stuck when the snow gets deep.

Good News Update March 7, 2014 Turkey Turkeys Everywhere

Winter 2014 has been brutally cold. Not just for a few days of cold or record cold but a long sustained subzero cold. Coupled with deep snow in the northern sections of Wisconsin makes for tough times on our wildlife resources. Wisconsin’s wildlife managers are monitoring the winter severity index at many northern stations it is already pasted severe. There will likely be no antlerless permits issued in these areas for the 2014 deer season. Spring 2014 turkey population will likely be considerably lower than usual.

WDNR press release-

According to Wallenfang, the 2012-13 winter started out fairly mild, but late, significant snows and cold temperatures occurred well into May resulting in direct losses of deer and lower than average fawn production. These factors and others combined to keep deer numbers lower than desired during the hunting season in many areas across the north.

“For the 2013 hunting season, antlerless permit numbers were set as low as we’ve seen them since the 1990s,” Wallenfang said. “With deer numbers already low in some areas, this winter is going to slow the recovery of the northern herd.”

Mike Zeckmeister, district wildlife supervisor in Spooner, says that the first question people usually ask is whether they should start feeding deer.

“It’s always well-intended, but feeding can do more harm than good if done improperly,” Zeckmeister said. “It’s understandable that people want to try to help deer through a bad winter. So if you choose to feed, please talk to the local DNR wildlife biologist first for advice.”

Zeckmeister especially emphasized that straight corn and hay are not recommended as they can be harmful. Instead, a commercialized pellet or mixes containing small quantities of corn, plus alfalfa, oats, and soybeans, as well as various vitamins and minerals is preferable from a deer health concern. It should be spread out to reduce fighting, away from roads or snowmobile trails to avoid collisions, and near sheltered areas out of the wind.

Wallenfang also offered a reminder that deer feeding is strictly regulated, and is prohibited in any county affected by CWD. In all other counties, feeding is currently limited to a maximum of 2 gallons per site, must be placed within 50 yards of a dwelling or business building open to the public, and may not be placed within 100 yards of a roadway with a posted speed limit of 45 mph or more.

Zeckmeister urged potential feeders to contact the local wildlife manager to discuss various types of food and techniques that will not harm deer, and for a full explanation of additional regulations.

DNR biologists annually monitor the effects of winter weather on the deer herd using a Winter Severity Index, which uses a combination of cold temperatures and deep snows to gauge winter stress levels. In addition, they are also spending time in the woods monitoring both deer and winter habitat, as well as talking to loggers, foresters, trappers, and others who spend time in the winter woods.

The WSI measurements are recorded annually from December 1 through April 30 at 43 stations spread primarily across the northern third of the state as well as several east-central counties.

“Each day that the temperatures fall below zero degrees Fahrenheit and/or the snow depth is more than 18 inches, the conditions are noted for each station,” Wallenfang explained. “For example, a day with 20 inches of snow and a temperature of five-below-zero would receive two points for the day.”

Winter conditions are considered mild if the station accumulates less than 50 points, moderate if between 51 and 80 points, severe if between 81 and100, and very severe if over 100.

“The index is not a perfect measurement of winter severity, but it gives us a pretty good gauge of what to expect,” says Wallenfang.

Wallenfang says that several stations in the far northwestern counties have already surpassed the severe category. Farther south and east, many stations will likely hit the severe classifications later this winter.

As a result, Wallenfang anticipates either zero or extremely limited numbers of antlerless deer permits in many northern counties for the 2014 hunting season.

“Even if winter suddenly turned mild, we would still anticipate some buck only areas in 2014,” Wallenfang added. “Deer numbers have declined in general across much of the north, and in some areas significantly in recent years. Low or zero quotas are an obvious step to help herds recover.”

“We’ll be monitoring the situation across not just the north, but the entire state through spring green-up because we did lose deer in the south last year, as well. We are asking the public to assist with monitoring and would appreciate their help in reporting any winter deer mortality they see to their local wildlife biologist,” Wallenfang says.

For more information see- Wisconsin Baiting and Feeding Regulations

Our wild turkeys are also suffering especially along their northern habitat areas. Deep snow prevents them from foraging to ground foods. During these times turkeys must roost throughout the cold days to conserve body heat. When the temps moderate they will feed on buds and insects inside the tree bark. This type of feeding seems to be much more energy intensive than when they can scratch around on the ground. I’ve been the northern forest north of Highway 8 and in all the areas I walked the snow was waist deep. At that time it was fluffy which should bode for ruffed grouse and snowshoe hares. Most other wildlife is in real trouble.

Turkeys eat weed seeds that are above the snow line. In this case burdock.

In the central and southern areas I’ve visited the deer seem to be OK, not great, but just OK. Ag fields became ice covered prior to last heavy snows and here too there have been long extended periods of subzero cold. Turkeys cannot scratch through the ice layers so they’ve been feeding on seeds found above the snow lines.

I expect reduced turkey populations statewide for Wisconsin’s 2014 spring turkey hunt. Turkeys can survive without feeding for about 14 days before they become so weak they can’t eat. The weather is pushing their limits. Especially the birds of year.

Your Secret Hunting Location and Metadata

June 21, 2013 by Charlie Leave a Comment

Metadata may lead another hunter to your most favored haunts.

So you thought you’d done a good job keeping your prime hunting spots top secret even from most of your closest buddies. Heck, season after season you’ve bagged a trophy so what’s there to worry about now? Except then on occasion, you see another truck parked around “your” area, then another and another. What’s going on? A random hunter invasion or something else?

Well if you took pictures near the kill site, texted or made a phone call. Oops, you’ve marked the location of your honey hole with metadata.

Metadata is information that includes GPS coordinates, information about communications you send and receive, the type of device used, email subject lines, search terms and the websites you visit. It exposes your reading and viewing habits. If you carry your cell phone to a gun range- Don’t worry about any of the firearm databases; you have just disclosed to anyone in the world who understands metadata that you are probably a gun owner. As a matter of fact, if someone cares to track you, metadata can construct a map of your daily movements.

Analyzing metadata requires specialized computer skills right?

Not really, all you need is a computer program with the right algorithms; Google has apps for that which are available for free. Digital pictures contain the GPS coordinates of where and when they were taken, so do text messages and emails. You won’t find GPS coordinates listed as such because they are contained in the code, so you need to run a program to sort them out. With this program you can check out all the vanity pictures posted online, sent by email or texted.

Very soon there will be a new easy to use deer scouting app advertised by some large hunting company that will search the trophy deer picture for its GPS coordinates. Someone somewhere is working on that app marketing right now. In the meantime with an understanding of metadata analyzing and the right Google app, anyone can find the GPS coordinates of a picture taken with smartphones and the new digital cameras including trail cameras.

Metadata is one of the reasons why charlie does not carry a smartphone hunting, and his camera is old with no GPS capabilities.

Ways to avoid having your hunting location metadata-ed

Do not take a smartphone hunting
Take your vanity pictures in locations where you do not care about disclosure
Do not use your phone as a GPS rather use a GPS that broadcasts no identifying information
Do not text or send emails from your hunting spots

Of course, the best-looking pictures are those taken in the field shortly after the game is killed.

How to “scrub” your photo for online use:

Open the photo in one program and open another new file, use a crop box tool to select the open photo displayed on your screen. Paste it into the other empty file then rename it and save. The only metadata it should have now is the file creation date, file type, and size.

2013 Wisconsin Crossbow Bill – Upated May 30, 2013, June 6, 2013

May 28, 2013 by Charlie 25 Comments

Update – March 9, 2014 Wisconsin DNR Cancels Disabled Hunter Permits

Update September 18, 2013 Wisconsin Senate Passes Crossbow Bill

Update August 12, 2013 Wisconsin Senate schedules public hearing

Update June 6, 2013 Crossbow bill passes Assembly

Updated May 30, 2013

Wisconsin Assembly Bill 194, and Senate Bill 185 if passed in both houses and signed by the Governor would make it legal for anyone who has taken hunter education or bowhunter education to deer hunt with a crossbow or xbow as they are sometimes called.

Not all crossbows have cables and pulleys. A recurve crossbow is more challenging to hunt with than a modern compound bow.

Education is probably a good idea since many believe the myth that a crossbow is an all powerful weapon capable of shooting vast distances with very little marksmanship practice. (this is the argument made by those who oppose crossbows)

The bill would:

Eliminate the requirement a hunter be over 65 or disabled in order to use a crossbow.
Require a separate crossbow license but only allow one buck to be taken with a hunter’s choice of archery equipment. This license would allow the taking of all species as is currently the case with the archer’s license. For $2.25 more the license could also allow a bowhunter to use a longbow, recurve, modern compound or crossbow; making it a “bowhunter’s choice” license.
Hunters who choose the crossbow would be allowed to hunt during Wisconsin’s regular bow season from mid September thru the first week of January.

Sponsors of AB 194 are Representatives Czaja, Danou, A. Ott, August, Ballweg, Bewley, Born, Brooks, Endsley, Hesselbein, Jacque, Jagler, Kleefisch, Kuglitsch, T. Larson, Milroy, Murphy, Mursau, Murtha, Petryk, Smith, Spiros, Strachota, Swearingen, Tittl, Tranel, Vruwink and Wright. It was also cosponsored by Senators Farrow, L. Taylor, Lassa, Petrowski, Schultz, Tiffany and Lehman.

Crossbows kill with arrows making them no different than any other archery equipment.

Before anyone gets too excited about using a crossbow in 2013 be aware that as of this writing ~~there is no Senate version of AB194 and this point is crucial.~~ On a variety of issues in the past if there is no bill in both houses and only one passes a bill without a companion bill in the other house; in the end nothing happens and the process must start all over again in the next legislative session. So if you want this passed into law and effective for the fall of 2013 make sure you contact your state senator ~~to get a senate version introduced.~~

Update 5/30/13 Senate Bill 185 fiscal estimate from WDNR

SB185 opens any archery season to crossbows- Section 1. 29.014 (1m) (b) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB185,2,62 29.014 (1m) (b) If the department establishes an open season for hunting deer, elk, small game, wild turkey, or bear with a bow and arrow but not with a firearm, the department shall also open that season for hunting with a crossbow.

Introduced by Senators Farrow, L. Taylor, Lassa, Petrowski, Schultz, Tiffany, Lehman, Olsen and Hansen, cosponsored by
Representatives Czaja, Danou, A. Ott, August, Ballweg, Bewley, Born, Brooks, Endsley, Hesselbein, Jacque, Jagler, Kleefisch, Kuglitsch, T. Larson, Milroy, Murphy, Mursau, Murtha, Petryk, Smith, Spiros, Strachota, Swearingen, Tittl, Tranel, Vruwink, Wright and Tauchen.

What Ate My Deer?

September 20, 2012 by Charlie 1 Comment

While in a ground setup along the edge of a cornfield overlooking a bean field, waiting for the deer to show up Monday evening; something growled at me. I don’t mean like a little doggie groan; I mean a seriously deep growl, coming from corn rows behind me, judging by the sound just a few rows back.

I held my position while keeping a cautious eye out for the growler; probably needless to say no deer showed up that evening.

The Tuesday morning I went back to look for some sign in the corn field to try and figure out what the heck it was; found nothing.

On Wednesday morning I shot this doe. The shot did not feel right, so I decided to wait a couple of hours just in case. No hurry I thought the temp was coolish so the meat would be okay. However, a lot of the meat was not there. The shot was good so I could have recovered this deer earlier and sure wish I would have.

What could have eaten this deer in a little less than 3 hours during the day?

What could possibly have eaten a half a deer in 3 hours? None of the bones had teeth marks, as you can see the top side of deer’s hide is gone, lots of meat was removed cleanly from the skeleton. The top half of the hide along the backbone looked as if it has been cut off and I could not locate it anywhere in the area.

A lone coyote could not eat this much meat. A group of them would have fought and left the vegetation ripped up, plus they would have made a lot of noise, I was about 200 yards away and heard nothing. A bear or wolf would have left teeth marks on the bones; right?

A neighboring farmer claims his son has trail cam pics of a cougar. I have not seen them but have no reason not to believe it.

I am wondering if the growl and this deer have any connection.

Whitetail deer trustee final report released

July 10, 2012 by Charlie Leave a Comment

We have been waiting for the Wisconsin Deer Trustee’s final report and here it is. Click the links to read the report in its entirety. I will be posting thoughts on certain details of interest, check back and leave your comments.

FINAL REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS
BY, WISCONSIN WHITE-TAILED DEER TRUSTEE AND REVIEW COMMITTEE
JUNE, 2012
Drs. James C. Kroll (Trustee), David C. Guynn, Jr. (Committee Member), and Gary L Alt (Committee Member)

Presented to, Wisconsin Department of Administration, Madison, Wisconsin

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Final Recommendations

Video

Along with the release of the final report, Governor Walker released the following statement:

Today’s report marks the conclusion of an independent study aimed at evaluating our current deer herd management practices. Moving forward we need to act on the report to enhance Wisconsin’s rich hunting tradition.

While DNR staff has worked hard, we need to do more to ensure hunters and conservationists have confidence in the department’s ability to manage the deer herd. Dr. Kroll and his team have gone through an exhaustive process to receive and evaluate comments from the public. The input incorporated into this report from hunters and conservationists will help us restore trust in the DNR’s ability to enhance Wisconsin’s hunting heritage as we move forward with implementation.

I look forward to working with Secretary Stepp and her team to follow through on Dr. Kroll’s report.

Last year Governor Scott Walker signed Executive Order #44, which created a Whitetail Deer Trustee position to independently and objectively review and evaluate Wisconsin’s deer herd management practices.

Statement on the deer report from DNR Secretary Cathy Stepp:

Today we received the Wisconsin deer herd report from Deer Trustee, Dr. James Kroll and his team Dr. David Guynn and Dr. Gary Alt.

A comprehensive report such as this will take several weeks to review, but the Department of Natural Resources is ready, willing and eager to roll up our sleeves and get started. We look forward to working with the public, the Natural Resources Board, Governor Walker, Dr. Kroll, Wildlife Management Professionals, Legislators and the Conservation Congress to find ways to make deer hunting even better in Wisconsin.

I want to thank Dr. Kroll and his team for their efforts. All along we’ve had the same goal, to make sure Wisconsin leads the nation in deer management and that our rich deer hunting tradition remains strong.”