Mule Deer Fanatic

May 2010 bring you hunting tags and hunting success

Hope you all have a MERRY CHRISTMAS and a joyful holiday season

From Us at MDF

We would be happy to hear from you about your mule deer hunts for 2009
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To submit a story and/or photos click on the “CONTACT ” tab at the top of the page. We will reply to your email and you can then send us your story with photo attachments.

If you have any problems, let us know

Happy Hunting and may the Force be with you, and

Remember to shoot STRAIGHT

Admin

Mule Deer Archery Season is just around the corner for most western states. Here are a few helpful reminders for you archery nuts:

1. Practice with the arrows and broadheads you plan to hunt with at various yardages. Shoot at an old mattress and arrows won’t be too hard to pull out.
2. When you pack to leave, always make sure you have the essentials. You can probably do without the rest if you must: license/tag, weapon, ammo, binos, knife.
3. Get your scent setup ready early. This may include washing clothing in baking soda, packing clothing in bags with sage, catnip or your favorite plant, or purchasing some scent products.
4. If you have a range finder, spend some time in varied terrain and vegetation estimating yardages and then checking yourself with the range finder.
5. If you use a peep and pin sights, practice shooting in low light situations. If necessary learn how to shoot accurately by looking to the left side of the peep and adjusting the pin accordingly.
6. Get an extra string and outfit it with everything it needs such as silencers, peep, etc.
7. Plan on taking a backup bow, if you have one that you can shoot well.
8. Set up your treestand, if you use one, and maybe a trail cam. Get familiar with what is coming to your stand and likely shooting yardages around the stand.
9. Spin test your arrows with broadheads and make adjustments if necessary to true the spin.
10. If the stragegy you planned doesn’t produce results, don’t wait, switch.

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Get your supplies HERE

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Best wishes for 2009

We hope you had good hunts and great success in 2008. Now that it is 2009, dig up some dough, find some time, apply for mule deer hunts, and get out there and bag a trophy. As always, we look forward to hearing your stories and seeing your pictures.

Best wishes and May the Force be with You

the Staff

• Maximize predators
• Minimize game animals
• Reduce hunting
• Agency revenue loss
• Agencies raise prices
• Hunters quit
• Agency revenue loss
• Raise prices/ High price auction tags
• Less game available to the average hunter
• Hunters quit
• etc …………………….

See the article: The Kings Deer

The following “facts” are published by the BLM
(note: the last statement applied in 1960)
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Over 55,000 mule deer roam BLM public lands in the Rock Springs District.

Mule deer inhabit every major vegetation type in western North America and every climate zone except arctic and tropics. Mule deer in high elevation ranges may migrate up to 50 miles between summer and winter range. Snow depth and forage availability is considered to be the dominant factor in population control by many.

Mule deer occupy a wide range of habitats. Food, cover, arid water requirements change with the seasons. Mule deer often must compete with livestock grazing practices and other human-caused disturbances. Proper land management can benefit deer.

Mule deer gain weight during spring, summer, and fall. Deer must be in excellent condition in the fall of each year to survive the harsh winter weather.

Deer eat a wide variety of foods. The major foods eaten by mule deer include sagebrush, serviceberry, snowberry, rabbitbrush, aspen, bitterbrush, juniper, willow, mountain mahogany, grasses, and forbs. In winter, more shrubs are eaten than dead forbs and grasses. Shrubs are alive and provide more protein and carbohydrates. Mule deer in North America have adapted to these long periods of nutritional stress caused by winter. Protection from human disturbance helps mule deer survive winter stress periods.

Males gain and lose weight more rapidly than females.

Both sexes essentially starve a little each day during severe winters because they can’t eat enough forage to maintain their body weight.

Good quality habitat may keep them from starving to death except in the very worst of winters.

Antler growth in males begins in the spring. As fall and the rut approaches, the males’ necks and shoulders swell, they become hyperactive and aggressive and begin to eat less food.

Mule deer have their young in riparian areas and aspen stands when they are available.

Under good conditions, most mule deer does have twins. Fawns average 7-8 pounds at birth.

Mule deer nearly disappeared from the plains by the late 1930s, probably due to the combination of excessive hunting, several periods of severe drought, complicated by over-grazing by domestic livestock and several extremely severe winters. Mule deer populations have rebounded in most of their range.

Source: Bureau of Land Management Rock Springs District

It has been said that “In England, only the kings men hunt the kings deer”

What do you think of this scheme? Are we heading this direction in the good ol’ US ?

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Devon project to promote wild venison

Posted: 23 Mar 2008 04:40 PM CDT

Deer Management in the UK (United Kingdom) may not be all that different than the way we do it. Ever body has their own way of doing things but the end result can be more closer than you think.

A pioneering project has been launched to promote wild venison and other deer-related products and activities in the region.

The South West Forest Deer Management Programme aims to get wild venison into the local food chain, and also to encourage tourism by offering deer-related activities such as photography and tracking.

The first stage of the project focuses on forecast target areas around Holsworthy, Rackenford and North of Barnstaple. The project aims to encourage retailers, restaurants and hotels to serve venison as a high-quality, locally-sourced meat.

But the project is not just about the consumption of venison, as Mick Bracken, Rural Development Forestry Adviser from South West Forest (SWF) is keen to point out. He says: “We will focus on raising awareness of the need for deer population control for environmental and economic reasons as well as for the health of the herds.”

Mick also says that the project has long term benefits: “There will be an accreditation and tagging system to assure customers of the high levels of food hygiene for the scheme, and the project will be monitored by Deer Management Groups set up by SWF in each of the targeted areas with managed plans for deer culling in order to supply the scheme.

“In this way we hope to create a model which, over a longer timescale, will be rolled out to the whole of the South West Forest area and eventually other parts of the region.”

Over half of the £100,000 project cost has been met by Devon Renaissance, the rural regeneration programme for the county. Simon Mallett from Devon Renaissance says that the project will be a welcome boost to the region’s rural economy. “The project will supplement rural incomes within the region, as well as providing accredited training opportunities for those seeking a career within the deer trade.

“The increased tourism opportunities and the potential to distribute venison to outlets within and outside the region will also have a positive impact on the economy.”

South West Forest is a partnership hosted by Devon County Council, which manages forest and woodland in the Culm joint character area bordered by Exmoor, Dartmoor and Bodmin Moor. It seeks to support and boost farm businesses and rural incomes, by helping to establish new areas, and manage existing areas of forest encouraging integrated, sustainable rural development.

From: FarmingUK

Since all of us enjoy stories and photos from great mule deer hunts – and since the 2008 season is upon us or is winding down, we would love to hear your stories and see your photos. Submit them by clicking on the Contact tab at the top of the page.  

Thanks and Happy Hunting

Here in Northern Arizona, we have a rainy season referred to by locals as the Monsoon Season. This year and last, it began about the first week of July and lasted until the end of July. Just coincidentally, this is the time when most of the fawns are born. In other areas, fawn mule deer may be expected to be born about the first week of June. I have seen several does this week, that look like they are about ready to pop, but still haven’t shed that excess weight.

When I moved to Arizona, I expected that fawns would be born much earlier – even April. This assumption was based on the, apparently, false logic that the further south you go, the earlier spring arrives. The earlier the spring, the earlier the fawning season. Now the question that might be on your mind is – wouldn’t the breeding season have to be later?

In order for fawning to occur in late July, breeding must occur in late December – early January. Because winter doesn’t get serious until that time period, mule deer don’t have much cause to congregate. Breeding doesn’t occur until bucks and does get together. During the summer and even into late fall, mule deer in this part of the world are spread as thin as the hair on top of my head.

That’s my twist on when fawns are born and why. Pay attention and see what you observe.