Deer Hunting Archives - Page 5 of 9

How to Cape a Deer – How To Cape A Deer For Mounting

Deer hunting is one of the most popular categories of outdoor sports, but there are a few technicalities involved which you will learn as you go along. You will be confronted with the issue how to cape a deer from your first successful deer hunt.

You may be in the company of an experienced hunter who will show you what to do. However, you may not have this advantage. We bring you this step-by-step guide that shows you how to cape a deer even if you have never done it before. It is simpler than you imagined.

It is important to retain the head, neck, and shoulders, extracting them from the rest of the carcass and preserving them properly until you reach a taxidermist. Protecting these parts is very critical to the entire caping process which is the reason for this useful guide.

What you will need:

A sharp set of knives, preferably 2 to 3 of different sizes
Surgical gloves
Waterproof apron
Hacksaw Frame
Spare Hacksaw Blades

Small Screwdriver
Waste cloth for wiping
A bucket of water
Mug

How to Cape your Deer

We often make mistakes with the most obvious things, so it’s always a good idea to follow a set procedure, especially while doing something which you cannot redo. You can ruin a perfectly good cape without adequate knowledge. If you just follow these simple steps, you will be able to get the perfect trophy made:

Where to Start

Make the first cut around the midsection of the carcass, preferably around the center of the stomach.

Now cut the skin from the center of the back to the base of the head. You will have to make a short incision if it is for an early season mule or whitetail due to the relatively shorter fur.

Antlers

If your deer has velvet covered antlers, you need to part the hair between the velvet and the head skin and make a cut there. Making this incision will prevent the velvet from peeling off.

This step is only necessary on velvet-covered antlers. Part the hair between the skin of the head and the velvet and cut directly between them, separating the velvet and the hide.

FURTHER READING

➜ Best Rubber Hunting Boots

➜ Important Guidelines On How To Successfully Field Dressing A Deer

➜ Best AR 15 Bipod Reviews – The Best Bipod for AR15

Torso

How High Can a Deer Jump? Who Cares With the Right Fence

Whitetail deer are surprisingly agile animals, as most of us know. Since they’re not exactly tame, it can be hard to know their exact athletic abilities but it’s something to consider if you’re living in deer country.

Many of us grow vegetables and we know the pain when the whitetail population starts getting high. Fences are definitely an option, but the real question for most of us is how high can a deer jump?

How High Can a Deer Jump: Theory vs. Practice

In sheer theory, deer can jump seriously high. Depending on who you ask, you’ll see numbers ranging from six to twelve feet with some sources even claiming fifteen feet is attainable for particularly athletic deer.

It’s definitely not hard to find footage of them being able to clear fences six or eight feet in height, and footage exists of some even higher as well.

In practice, however, deer rarely jump over things which are more than eight feet in height. This is for a pretty simple reason: the consequences of falling when clipping an obstacle that high are pretty severe and usually it’s easier to go around or under objects such as deer fences.

A deer who’s not terrified likely isn’t going to be jumping over anything six feet or higher. Think of it this way: you could probably jump off of a second story building and remain mostly unharmed if you’re in good shape and were in control during the leap… but it’s still risky and it’s still going to hurt when you hit the ground.

The deer is going to feel the same way, they don’t want to risk getting hurt just to get a snack. They’ll take the easiest route and if things seem too hard for a bite to eat they’re not going to bother.

On the other hand, a deer who’s running from a predatory animal or hunter is going to virtually soar across any non-specialized fencing without a second thought.

How High Can a Deer Jump: Building Deer Fences

Since deer can be pest animals in some areas, a lot of people worry about how high to build their fence. They leave out one crucial detail in their worrying, however, which is the fact that it’s not really about how high it is so much as what kind of fence you’re working with.

If you’re looking to keep deer off of your property, then you’ll need to make sure that you build a fence the right way. If they’re not a serious issue a six to eight foot high fence can normally keep them off but in places with heavy populations that’s just not going to be enough.

Some people will just build a higher fence, but that’s not always the right way to go about things.

Building a fence that is ten feet or more high gets expensive in a hurry, and not everyone can afford to do so. Even then there are cases where an especially spooked animal might take the leap and end up where it shouldn’t be. Height isn’t the key to making sure they stay out, instead you can manipulate their perception.

What you do is take advantage of the lack of depth perception that deer possess As prey animals, they have their eyes on the sides of their head which makes it harder for them to focus exactly where they’re going.

This naturally means there are a few ways to discourage them.

You have two options at the end of the day, and both of them come with their own pros and cons.

The Double Fence

By setting up a double fence you can greatly discourage deer from taking advantage of your vegetable garden. It’s also a lot simpler to construct than an angled fence.

All you’ll need to do is build a second perimeter fence around the first one. You could, for instance, make a four foot high wall or fence a few feet from the outside of the primary fencing which will likely be six or eight feet high.

You can get away with constructing one pretty easily if you opt to use scrap wood for the second fence. Remember that you’re just increasing the perceived height of the fence it’s not an actual physical barrier for the deer.

Only the most desperate of deer will even attempt to make the jump if you’ve set things up properly, but it comes with the disadvantage of consuming a lot more materials than you’d have to use with a single fence.

Pros

Super simple construction, just build a second fence
Will keep deer from jumping and doesn’t look out of place

Cons

Time consuming
Uses a lot more materials

Angled Fence

By angling a fence at 45° you can create an almost perfect defence against deer. This is a lot more time consuming to produce and takes a little bit more skill than just making a ramshackle outer fence to go around the one you already have but it will confuse deer and they won’t dare to jump over it.

If you angle things outwards it has the added advantage of keeping other pests from invading as well, including animals like raccoon and tree squirrel.

This works by confusing the deer’s perception and you need to keep it at 45°, any greater or smaller of an angle and they may be able to perceive the proper height and you’ve lost the advantage.

This addition is also nice since it won’t cut off the view of your land since it doesn’t need to be particularly high. Many people find that just four feet or so will do it.

Pros

Increased visibility
Not many materials needed
Keeps out climbing pests like raccoon

Cons

Takes more skill to build
Not suitable for all areas

Conclusion

Whether you’re just curious or want to keep deer off your delicious vegetable garden, knowing how high can deer jump is important. The truth is, they can jump high enough to handle pretty much any fencing but with some clever fencing manipulation you’ll be in good hands at the end of the day.

All That You Need To know, What Do Whitetail Deer Eat?

I get asked this question quite a bit! When I first started hunting, it was a natural question I asked myself as well. If you are looking to set up a deer stand and need something to draw the deer in, then you need to know what sort of feed to buy.

On the other hand, knowing what Whitetail Deer eat in the wild will help you find deer while stalking out in the woods or the mountains.

Let’s take a closer look at what Do Whitetail Deer Eat?

The Link Between Deer and Cows

If you didn’t know this already, whitetail deer and cows have something in common. They are both Ruminates which means they both have multi-chamber stomachs.

Just as cows access and chew their cud from several stomachs, deer also store food in different stomachs and regurgitate it later to munch on a second or third time.

Having multiple stomachs mean that deer typically feed in the morning and evenings and then find a place to lie down to rest and chew their cud to digest all that they’ve eaten.

Deer may look like dainty creatures, but in reality, they eat like pigs. Whitetail deer, in particular, can eat up to 9 pounds of food a day – that’s about twice as much food as a grown man eats per day!

What’s on the Menu?

We enjoy variety on our plates – Whitetail Deer are no different when they feast! Deer are herbivores, so they eat a broad range of Woody Plants, Forbs, Nut Crops, Fruits, and Crops. I’ll briefly cover examples of each of these groups below.

A: Woody Plants

Woody plants include any tree, shrub or vine. Deer typically enjoy leaves, twigs and buds of woody plants during all seasons.

B: Forbs

Forbs are “weedy” plants other than grass like wildflowers. This type of food is very nutritious for whitetail deer and is critical to their health.

C: Nut Crops

Deer also enjoy snacking on nuts when they get the opportunity with acorns being their favorite. Depending on the year, nut trees produce differently, so this isn’t a guaranteed source of food for deer.

D: Fruits

Favorites during the summer and fall, deer enjoy whatever fruit they can find due to the high energy content in fruit.

E: Crops

Last but not least, deer enjoy browsing through our gardens and eating whatever they can find. Garden snacking deer are visitors farmers know all too well.

Seasonal Dishes

Deer, like humans, are seasonal eaters. When Thanksgiving time comes around in the fall, we break out the pumpkin pie, right? The same goes for whitetail deer.

Depending on the season deer will eat what is available and tend to eat dishes that become seasonal favorites. The folks at Foremost Hunting put together an excellent, exhaustive list you may want to check out to see what’s available for deer to eat each season.

Where to Find Deer when Stalking

As I said earlier, since deer are Ruminates and graze during the morning and the evening, it helps to find deer by looking for where they might be feeding or bedding down to chew their cud.

Since you know what they like to eat for each season – it shouldn’t be too difficult for you to track down where the deer cafeteria is for that month. Additionally, it’s good to know what sort of trees deer enjoy using for cover and where they like to bed down.

I recommend taking a simple walk through your deer lease where you hunt to note what sort of vegetation and trees you find in different locations. Once you have a type of food map/bedding map in your head, it should be a lot easier for you next time you go hunting.

Setting Up a Deer Lick

Last but not least, you may decide you would like to set up a deer feeder or deer lick to draw deer near your stand. You could buy a salt lick brick , or you could try your hand at mixing your own if you feel adventurous.

The Ike from Ik’s Outdoors has put together this detailed tutorial on how to mix your own Deer mineral. I’m thinking about trying this myself!

Knowledge is Power – Food For Thought

Now that you know what sort of food whitetail deer enjoy eating, I hope you will use this knowledge to become a better hunter! Remembers these few points, and you should be able to find or draw in white tail deer next time you’re out on a hunt.

Remember that deer eat different food sources depending on the season.
Make a foliage map of your property to see where deer may be eating or bedding down.
Use Deer Licks to condition deer to eat near your stand.

If there’s anything else I forgot to mention here, please feel free to comment and share what you discovered works for you. The more we know, the bigger and better game we’ll hunt!

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