Deer Hunting
Feeding quality whitetails critical to quality deer management
In Dugas’ opinion, food for quality whitetails has to be distributed throughout the entire property 12 months out of the year.[…]
Deer Hunting
Deer Hunting
The QDM-DMAP Connection
The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries recognizes QDM as a valuable component to its Deer Management Assistance Program (DMAP). The following statement appears on the LDWF website regarding QDM practices regarding DMAP:[…]
Contents
Using Common Scents — The ins and outs of deer scents
As the story goes, Jake Spangler’s grandfather owned a meat market back during the depression years of the last century. Each Saturday the butcher would take an old man he knew a piece of meat just to help him out.[…]
Deer Hunting
Not all scents created equally
It’s important to match a particular scent, be it an attractant or cover, to the area. In the Midwest and New England states, apple-scented lures may work well, but not so much in the marsh and woods of Louisiana.[…]
Contents
Thistlethwaite Theorem — This WMA is the focus of a successful QDM experiment
Gerald Ducote of Melville had reason to be optimistic on Dec. 26.[…]
Deer Hunting
Best time for using mock scrape lures
“Scents are kind of like fishing tackle,” Wildlife Research Center’s Ron Bice said. “You’ve got your Rapalas, Daredevils and different lures in your tackle box, and sometimes some work better than others. Just because you make 10 casts and you don’t catch anything doesn’t mean you throw out a proven lure.[…]
Deer Hunting
Thistlethwaite WMA – the 10-year quality deer management experiment
Thistlethwaite WMA’s 11,000 acres of palmetto-laced hardwoods, located six miles north of Washington on state Highway 10 will be entering year eight of a 10-year experiment designed to deliver quality whitetail bucks such as Ducote’s.[…]
Contents
Tadpole’s Tensas — Tactics for Tensas NWR deer hunting
It was Jan. 7 of this year and Alton “Tadpole” McLeod was hunting an area of Tensas National Wildlife Refuge he had not previously hunted. He found a deer trail and a suitable tree for his climbing stand overlooking the trail and got set up.
Around 4 p.m. buzzards (of all things) began to congregate at a roost tree nearby.
“They were making a lot of noise, landing, flapping wings and breaking branches,” McLeod said. “There must have been 30 or 40 of them.”
Tadpole was discouraged and did not expect any deer movement due to all the noise. He considered moving, but since it was so late in the day he decided to sit it out till dark.
Around 5 p.m. he heard something moving in the palmettos, coming from the direction of the buzzard roost. He suspected either a deer or bear.[…]
Deer Hunting
Know what you’re shooting at
Tensas Nation Wildlife Refuge is home to a number of Louisiana black bears, and hunters should be aware that they are still protected from hunting.[…]
Deer Hunting
Bucks by the numbers
Refuge Manager Kelly Purkey said the chances of killing a buck on Tensas NWR is pretty good. Last season the refuge produced three bucks scoring over 200 non-typical points.[…]
Deer Hunting
About Tensas River NWR
Tensas River National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1980 with the aim of saving and preserving “one of the largest privately owned tracts of bottomland hardwoods remaining in the Mississippi Delta.”[…]
Deer Hunting
Alleged deer hunting violations land father and son in Avoyelles Parish Jail
Agents with the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Enforcement Division arrested a father and son for alleged deer hunting violations in Avoyelles Parish.[…]
Deer Hunting
Hits and misses as the rut approaches
I have been very busy working, and hunting when I’m not working. Deer and hog season down at the Atchafalaya Delta WMA has been good so far.[…]
Deer of the Year
Three-year quest worth the wait for 170-class buck
For 44-year-old Chris Gray, three hunting seasons is not too long to wait on a particular Union Parish trophy buck. Gray has videoed the buck and has numerous trail camera photos of him over the past three seasons.[…]
Columns
Tricks of the trade
Whenever I bring up the topic of mature bucks, I am referring to that segment of the buck population that is aged 5 ½ years old or older. True “mature bucks” can be as rare as proverbial “hens teeth” in most populations in the whitetail’s range.[…]
Deer of the Year
Scent bomb brings 170-inch Webster Parish buck right to stunned hunter
Sgt. Joshua Gandy, Gonzales, a full-time active-duty soldier with the Louisiana National Guard, is obviously knowledgeable about bombs used in warfare.[…]