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Better Late than Never
By Bob Humphrey
While we sometimes see late-born fawns, it’s not the norm. QUESTION: I live in southeastern Connecticut, and this past season through the month of October I watched a doe and her fawn. The fawn was very small and still had its spots. The last week of October the doe was killed by a car in front of my property. I saw the fawn wandering around ... READ MORE
It All Depends
By Bob Humphrey
There is no set way to prepare a food plot since conditions are different everywhere. QUESTION: How soon after spraying to kill weeds and grasses can you plant a food plot? Should the plots be disced, or planted using a no-till drill? — Harold ANSWER: Conventional wisdom suggests you wait about two weeks between spraying and planting. As for ... READ MORE
Talk About Perfect
By Bob Humphrey
First-time food plotter’s ideal setup could be even better with this. QUESTION: Hi from Elizabethtown, Ky. This summer, I cleared a 4,000-square-foot spot in the middle of my woods for a food plot. The pH was above 7 and did not need lime, and I fertilized according to the soil sample. I ran irrigation to the plot. I planted an annual mix of ... READ MORE
Timing Is Everything
By Bob Humphrey
We talk about breeding as an absolute window, but it’s not that exact. QUESTION: I’ve been running trail cameras year-round for a while now and never saw a picture of a fawn born in April until this year. Most years, it’s June before I see any. This doe must have been bred early, or she’s got a fast reproductive system. Just... READ MORE
Missing Bucks
By Bob Humphrey
With so many factors out of your control, QDM doesn’t always work. QUESTION: For several years now on the property I hunt, we have been practicing QDM by passing up yearling bucks. My goal is to shoot a mature buck, but I have yet to even see one. We run several trail cameras and I have not even gotten any pictures of a mature buck. My neighb... READ MORE
SOS
By Bob Humphrey
It’s time to cull the myth and not the spikes. QUESTION: I’ve been trying to establish a new hunt club in middle Georgia, only 400 acres with six members. This is our third year upcoming and we’ve noted several bucks under the age of 2 1/2 to 3 that have one long spike and a button on the other side. We’ve had a lot of discu... READ MORE
Generally Speaking
By Bob Humphrey
These simple steps are the cornerstone to improving any deer herd. QUESTION: We have a hunting club in North Texas and I was just wondering what to do to improve the quality of our deer. We have deer, turkey, quail and hogs. I would like to focus on the deer and quail quality. – Mike M. ANSWER: Yours is a very general question so I’ll o... READ MORE
Dog Gone
By Bob Humphrey
Even with predator control, you might not see more fawns. QUESTION: I am in a deer management cooperative with several other landowners. Part of the reason for forming it was that we were seeing a lot of predators, mostly coyotes, and there seemed to be a lot of does with only one fawn, or no fawns at all. Three years ago, we started an aggressive ... READ MORE
Play Time
By Bob Humphrey
Just because deer don’t usually do something doesn’t mean they won’t ever do it. QUESTION: I consider myself to have pretty good knowledge of deer and their habits. I deer hunted for years before my disability. Now I watch our deer cam. We just had a doe give birth to twins. The doe had the babies out one night about 2 to 3 a.m., ... READ MORE
Pee Brain
By Bob Humphrey
We still don’t know exactly how much information whitetails get from urine scents. QUESTION: There are so many brands and types of doe in heat scent. Does one work better than others? Do deer smell different from region to region? For example, will an off-the-shelf doe in estrus scent work the same in Wyoming as it would in Illinois? Do you h... READ MORE