Hunt2Prove
On the Hunt for a Better Version of Ourselves, the Forests We Steward, & the Wildlife we Love!
Question: How long can that deer live? Answer…
If you’re a deer hunter you’ve probably heard that question before. In fact, chances are you’ve asked that question yourself at one time or another. Or, at least one like it:
“Will he make it?”
“How old do you think he’ll get?”
“Will he be around next year?”
For the sake of this writing, we’ll stick to answering just one – how long can that deer live?
For the first few years of my life as a hunter I didn’t particularly concern myself with how old a deer may or may not be or how old one could get for that matter – I was more concerned with getting a few under my belt if you know what I mean. If my first truck could talk, each of its 4 cylinders would be bursting at the seams with hunting stories to tell, mostly about me and young bucks – spikes, 3 points, a 6 point here and there. Thankfully, that red Ranger stayed by the gate. Had it followed me to the stand that catalytic converter would have more to rattle out, stories of all the misses I had way back when. In the late 90s, early 2000s when a deer with any sort of antlers walked out, there was a real good chance it might be going down or buck fever was about to get the best of me. Today, like that old Ford that’s probably made its way to the scrap yard and been repurposed into something new, my mindset on deer hunting is completely different. Somewhere along the way, I began to take things a little slower, to observe more than kill – my thirst for blood taking a backseat to my thirst for knowledge.
Back to the question at hand – How long can that deer live? Biologically speaking, whitetails can live upwards of 20 years or more. Realistically, though, here in the Eastern Season as classified by the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, whitetail bucks are lucky to make it past 2.5 years old. At this point in my life I choose to practice Quality Deer Management because of its roots in conservation. No, I’m not some great white hunter who’s above shooting a 1.5 year-old buck. Rather, my enjoyment comes more from knowing that I am doing everything I can to improve the quality of life for the animals that I set out to hunt. And, in return, those animals provide for me and my family in the form of high quality protein and memories afield. Hunting is a personal journey for each and every one of us – One of my personal goals being to shoot a buck that I know is at least 5.5 years old. To do that, I have to let them walk by without squeezing the trigger. This is where a lot of folks who might actually want to shoot older deer themselves, get caught up. After all, letting a nice 3.5 year-old 10-point walk by, means taking the chance that your neighbor might give him a ride in the back of their truck. To overcome this “fear” you have to remember two very important things, one of which we’ve already touched on.
1) Hunting is personal to each and every one of us – just because someone might take home a nice buck that you just happened to let go, it doesn’t mean that they shot it just to keep you from shooting it.
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2) No Deer is your deer until God puts your name on it!
I know what you’re thinking. And, you’re right – a lot of hunters do shoot younger bucks just to keep you or someone else from shooting them. Sadly, the only way to fix ignorance is if it wants to be fixed. As such, you have to focus on yourself and what you can do to have a positive impact across the lands you hunt and even those you don’t. Just as important is being open-minded, accepting, patient, and kind in the way you pass on your own beliefs.
Since 2013 I’ve been fortunate to hunt some great land in Moore County, NC, a privilege that I am beyond thankful for – one that has brought me face to face with some unique whitetails. The first, “Crazy Horn”, is a cryptorchid buck that doesn’t shed his velvet, a particular ailment that has made him a clearly identifiable marker within the herd.
Although my first pictures of “Crazy Horn” are from Fall 2015, I remember coming face to face with him on numerous occasions during the 2013 season. This November, by my estimations, he’ll be a minimum of 7.5 years-old. Luckily for us, just across the two-lane road, not 500 yards from where Crazy Horn spends the majority of his time, his female counterpart serves as another marker that has afforded us the unique opportunity to study just how long a whitetail can live in a heavily hunted area. Having first observed her in October 2014, “The Piebald” as we’ve so “cleverly” come to call her, will be a minimum of 6.5 years-old this Fall.
So what does all of this mean? It means, that if you ever have a personal goal similar to mine, where you aspire to shoot a 5.5 year-old buck or older – it can be realized! Even in the heavily hunted locations like most of the places I’m privileged to hunt, deer can reach 5.5+ years. YOU just have to let them. Crazy Horn and Piebald aren’t the only anomalies or exceptions to the rule in my neck of the woods. Last year, our neighboring huntress Karley Davidson struck whitetail pay-dirt when she harvested a buck we called the “Wide 9”. Based on trail camera photos and personal sightings through the years, he was a minimum of 5.5 years-old. Thankfully, most of our neighboring hunters have decided to practice their own variations of QDM as well. As such, the age structure of bucks harvested, locally speaking, is certainly higher than the 2.5 year-old average supported by the 2014 data put forth by the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission.
So, finally, How long can that deer live? Answer – As long as YOU let it.
To see where the story of “Crazy Horn” & the “Piebald” Go? Follow Along on our YouTube Channel!
Waterholes for Wildlife – Part One
Food – cover, food – cover, food – cover. Those are the two main terms discussed when it comes to improving the drawing power and holding capacity of your lands for White-tailed Deer. Water has a tendency to bring up the rear. I must admit, I too undervalued the importance of water as it relates to deer and other wild things for far too long. That was until I scooped out a few buckets of dirt in and old logging cut-out making a catch-basin for runoff water. What happened next would inspire me to install waterholes at varying intervals on every single property I am fortunate to hunt.
The benefits of waterholes are many, ranging from the obvious as it relates to life and living, and the not-so-obvious advantages like gauging populations and further adding to our satisfaction as land managers with the trail camera pictures and videos that originate in and around them. I would even argue that strategically placed waterholes for wildlife actually increase the realty value of a specific property by adding to its unique diversity and improving forest aesthetics.
Life & Living
If I were a deer I’d be easy to pattern – you could find me living just about as close I could possibly live to the most plentiful waterhole in town. I drink a ton of water – just ask my wife. She’s probably at her wits end with having to fix every single glass I inhale while I’m recovering from hip surgery. Deer are a bit different. Unlike me, they get a lot of their water from the various plants they consume. As such, during wetter periods of the year, waterholes might not get the daily visitors they once did during the drier months. But, think of them as an insurance policy that will keep deer and other wildlife on your place when all other wells have run dry. Even if you have perennial streams that also serve as a permanent source of water for all things wild, a waterhole about the size of a backyard swimming pool will rarely dry up here in Central, NC if installed in a place where a good bit of runoff water can accumulate. Unlike the stream that can have hundreds of little water pockets along its run during dry weather when its ebb is more than its flow, a strategically placed waterhole provides a centralized location for deer to congregate, making them easier for us to pattern.
Most of the activity we see in and around these man-made sources of H2O is late spring through early fall, the same time-period where the use of mineral stations by deer are at their peak. This correlation should come as no surprise – there’s a lot going on in the white-tailed deer world during this time. Does are fawning and bucks are growing that head gear that everyone loves to see. Because of this, they need minerals and water some-kinda-bad, which is why we choose to position our mineral stations, mineral sites, or salt licks (whatever you wanna call them) very close or directly adjacent a water source. Most mineral supplements on the market have a higher concentration of NaCl or Salt than any other specific nutrient whitetails need. Because I like to keep things simple, what happens when you eat something fairly salty? If you’re like me, you get pretty thirsty. I’d be willing to bet that deer experience the same sensation, which might help to explain why mineral stations nearer to water are frequented more? – Whether an accurate assessment or not, it’s certainly part of my own justification for placing minerals closer to water!
The Census Man
That’s me. Well, here lately, it’s Chance. I used to be the man responsible for running upwards of 50 trail cameras at any given time. That responsibility has shifted as of late, but the reasonings behind our use of trail cameras year-round remains the same – They help us to gauge populations of White-tailed Deer, Wild Turkey, & other Wildlife. And, every once in a while, you capture something really cool, something that others might not have the opportunity to see, something that might help folks understand why we do what we do or maybe generate a little business here and there.
A camera placed in some random location on a given parcel of land won’t help with gauging wildlife populations very much. You’ll need multiple cameras in most cases and a reason that’ll bring deer, turkey, and other wild things in front of them frequently enough over a set period of time to do an accurate survey. In most cases, land managers use corn or some other supplemental feed for this purpose – we’re no different! However, it’s not the only means to an and. Waterholes can also provide noteworthy data on a given population, especially when a camera is set to take videos instead of pictures – It’s much easier to see any health issues an animal may be facing, like a broken or deformed leg for instance.
Creating a waterhole on your property is surefire way to help hold animals year-round. One of the most rewarding aspects of managing wild lands is knowing that you are having a positive impact on the lives of the wild things that roam those lands – Waterholes can help with that! Find more videos of wildlife using waterholes here: #waterholesforwildife! – You can even subscribe to our channel, it won’t hurt our feelings! If you do one thing on your property this year, create a waterhole or ten or let us create them for you! You won’t be disappointed! Good Luck & Good Hunting!
Photos from the Wilder side of Life!
