Hunting and Fishing News & Blog Articles

Whether you like growing apples for deer and other wild game animals, or you just want to grow the best-tasting fruit for eating, baking, or making sauce or cider, here is my completely biased Top 5 list for this week’s Dan Schmidt Deer blog post. I must preface this conversation that apple trees are like […]

Don’t get me wrong: I wish I could have saved this blog post for April Fool’s, but it’s too good.  It’s real a doozy. Best of all: It’s rooted in a real-life breaking news story that you would not expect to be reading in 2022. First, the news: Virginia lawmakers announce — thank goodness — […]

We all love venison, but these famed explorers took it to gut-busting extremes – by our modern standards. How extreme, you ask? How does 6,500 calories a day sound? Not much is known about the specific deer hunting exploits of famed explorers Lewis & Clark’s team, but what we do know is they loved venison […]

Steve Bartylla lists some smart tips to prevent trespassers on your property.

It’s that time of year again when cabin fever gives way to that ever-burning desire to be out in the woods. This time of year, however, is when we all aspire to find shed antlers and, hopefully, a matching set to the next buck of our dreams.  Shed hunting for deer antlers is a relatively […]

Not kidding. We were aware of some pretty bizarre rules and regulations in such Western states, but this one takes the cake. If you want to take your family out for a late-winter or early spring walk through the woods looking for shed antlers — heck, if you merely want to go BY YOURSELF — […]

Afraid life tossed me a curve on Friday. So, Let’s talk using weeds to help germination rates, today.   When it applies to top seeded plantings (plantings from seeds merely tossed right on top of the soil), grasses and weeds can be used to create a blanket over the seeds. The result in around half […]

What a fascinating look back at modern deer hunting’s early days in the photograph shared recently by our friends at Hunter Nation.  We don’t know the origin of this image or deer camp, but it’s a safe bet that it’s from Wisconsin, Michigan or possibly Minnesota. Our best guess is the happy gang filled this […]

It has taken more than 20 years, but some states are learning that the so-called war on chronic wasting disease is not going to be won via knee-jerk reactions. And at least one state is changing its tune on how they deal with reports of sick deer. For years, states have been wasting precious resources […]

So, today let’s talk timing and location for our mineral licks. This will be pretty straight forward.   The timing is now on through the end of Sept. Right now is when the deer are both trying to recover from the rut (remember, Mr. Big commonly drops 25-30% body weight during the rut. If a […]

No, this isn’t a story about a deer that was somehow lacking courage or vitality. It is literally about a white-tailed deer that was, well, lacking its guts. Actually all of it guts. It’s crazy, but it’s true, and it’s one of the first articles I wrote for Deer & Deer Hunting when I joined […]

The new year brings renewed optimism and energy as people refocus on their goals and dreams for the future. Anti-trapping and anti-hunting groups are no different, and they have started out 2022 with a jump.

America was really coming of age by the time the calendar flipped to November in 1958. As a test, Bank of America mailed 60,000 California residents a small plastic credit card with a $500 limit. The experiment was successful. An Evening with Fred Astaire, the first TV show recorded on color videotape, was broadcast on […]

The calendar might say snow and bone-chilling temperatures, but our cozy thoughts are on land management projects for spring. Mine are, anyway, and my second outdoor love (next to deer, of course) is trees. Lots and lots of trees! The biggest question I’ve been seeing lately is one that’s common this time of year: “I […]

Today’s tip is merely a different way of looking at things. We’ve been trained to look for and truly study deer and their sign, as well as topography and habitat types. That’s all sincerely invaluable.   Ever think about studying other animals, as well? Want to know how deer will use the topography? Go into […]

Can you catch Covid-19 from an interaction with a white-tailed deer? Are deer spreading Covid across North America? The short answer to both questions is “probably not,” or at least no one has a clue right now. One thing we do know with some certainty, however, is that news reporters are not telling the whole […]

Most folks who love a good steak (beef, venison or otherwise) agree that the best way to eat it is seared over open coals and slightly pink in the middle. There’s a good portion of folks who like it “more alive” than that — stating that “bloody” is the best. However, herein lies the question: […]

An East Texas man is facing felony charges for allegedly killing a 5-point buck and lying about it on social media back in October. The 35-year-old man is free on bond but has been ordered to appear back in court to face felony charges of taking wildlife resources without consent and with five misdemeanor violations, including […]

Old friend of mine made an outstanding suggestion, last Friday. Where do Northern and Midwestern deer head when the winter weather gets nasty? For him, he had the Three Cs drilled into his head: corn, cattails and conifers. I mention this because he lives in an area with comparatively more agriculture than deer cover. Truth […]

New Years is traditionally the time of resolutions, gameplans for quality-of-life upgrades, and in our wonderful hunting life, such upgrades are easy to identify and declare.