KCNET NEWSLETTER FUN PAGE 11/28/04
TRIVIA: Home: Magazine: New Articles: 10 Facts You Didn’t Know About Deer 10 Facts You Didn’t Know About Deer Whitetail research seems to be getting more specific by the year but we found some gems of deer trivia you might not have yet heard.
By John E. Phillips "Many people do not realize that deer will kill and eat fish." of all the critters in the uplands, none captures the imagination like the whitetail deer. And despite the reams and reams of literature available on whitetails, there’s still much to be learned. We searched Remington Country in attempt to discover information on deer that may have slipped past some of the experts. Just when you thought you knew it all…
Coyotes and Deer Coyotes very quickly can pick up the scent of a deer, especially a wounded or an injured deer. However, coyotes rarely attack and kill fawns because the tracks of a young fawn don't deposit the scent from its interdigital glands until it has matured enough to run with speed and skill.
Why Deer Can See You Deer can spot movement so well because they have the ability to focus on both nearby and distant objects at the same time. This characteristic enables a deer to concentrate on what it’s eating yet keep its eye out for predators at the same time. Too, because the deer's eyes sit high and wide on the animal's head, the animal can see almost completely around itself.
How Bucks Fight When bucks fight, they most often lock antlers, push and shove. However, in almost all other situations, the buck uses his sharp, slashing hoofs as his number one defense. He'll often use his hoofs to strike and cut other deer, kill snakes or to ward off predators.
Aging A Buck Although you can't determine a deer's age by its antlers, you can follow some general rules to decide an approximate age. 1. Small and narrow racks generally indicate a young deer. 2. Wider and taller racks usually imply an older deer. 3. The number of points a deer has on his rack may not represent the length of time the deer has lived. Often, a 1 1/2 year old buck raised on good soil will have 8 points and possibly a 6 to 10 inch inside spread of the main beam. A mature 2 1/2 to 4 year old buck often will have 8 points and measure 16 to 18 inches between the main beams. A 5 1/2 to 6 1/2 year old buck may have an 18 to 20 inch inside spread of the main beam and have 8 points or better. However, after 6 1/2 years, the size of the antlers generally decreases. Scientists base these generalizations on high nutrition levels and good genetics within the herd. From recent studies done at Auburn University in Auburn, Alabama, scientists have learned that the availability of highly nutritious food plays a larger role in antler development than any other factor.
How Deer Eat Deer browse. When feeding, a mature deer breaks off twigs and branches and chops its food with its 24?grinding teeth. A deer chews its food only briefly before passing the food to its rumen, a storage compartment. Once the deer fills up its rumen, it will move to heavy cover for protection where it will complete the process of chewing and digesting its food. It will regurgitate the partially digested material from the rumen in the form of cud. After chewing these for half a minute, the deer will swallow the food again. Once the animal swallows the food a second time, the food passes through 65 feet of intestine where it is digested. Within a day and a half after the deer chews the food, the waste from the food will have passed from the deer's body.
Fish Eating Deer? Many people do not realize that deer will kill and eat fish. The deer uses its hooves to disable fish such as trout. Then it takes the fish in its mouth, chews it and swallows it. Whitetails can eat fish up to 14 inches long.
Who Uses Rubs? When hunters see a deer rub in the woods, they often assume this rub was made by and used by a buck. Although bucks make the rubs, rubs can function as signposts or communication devices between the sexes. Does sometimes sniff, lick or even mark a buck's rub with their foreheads glands.
Who Makes Scrapes? Although most hunters believe only dominant bucks make scrapes, recent scientific discoveries indicate that does also make scrapes on occasion. This scrape making behavior by the does is not limited to the breeding season. The more scientists study the scraping behavior of deer, the more they realize how little they understand the deer's social behavior.
Dinner Bell Deer In their book Solving the Mysteries of Deer Movement, Texas researchers Dr. James Kroll and Ben Koerth suggest that whitetails have internal clocks that cause them to get up and eat every four to six hours. The biologists say that the animals feed mostly at night, but flurries of feeding activity occur throughout the day. Work this into your game plan.
Grunts Too Long? According to Maryland biologist CJ Winand, the average length of a buck’s grunt is .7 seconds? Many of us sit on stand and call any old way we please, sometimes gurgling out three- or four-second grunts. Will those extended calls spook bucks? Probably not but science has proven that fast, snappy grunts are more realistic. Maybe they’ll call in more bucks. Courtesy of Harris Publications
"Politics is not a bad profession. If you succeed there are many rewards, if you disgrace yourself you can always write a book." --Ronald Reagan
"When I was a boy I was told that anybody could become President. I'm beginning to believe it." --Clarence S. Darrow
As an entertainer I travel a lot. I once saw a pin on a Delta Airlines employee and I asked him what 'Delta' stands for. He said, 'Don't Expect Luggage To Arrive.'" --Adam Christing
"I love those signs along the highway that say, 'Litter Removal Next 2 Miles.' That's when I start chucking my trash out the window." --Scott Wood
"I have a detached retina. Actually, it's not detached. It's emotionally unavailable." --Nick Arnette
CHUCKLES AND BELLY LAUGHS Deer hunters at the bar One night during the local deer hunting season a police officer was staking out a particularly rowdy country bar for possible DUI violations. At closing time, he saw a deer hunter tumble out of the bar, trip on the curb, then try his keys in five different cars before he found his. He sat in the front seat fumbling around with his keys for several minutes. All the other deer hunters left the bar and drove off. Finally he started his engine and began to pull away. The police officer was waiting for him. He stopped the driver, read him his rights and administered the Breathalyzer test. The results showed a reading of 0.00. The puzzle officer demanded to know how that could be. The deer hunter replied, "Tonight I'm the designated decoy."
3 deer hunters Two rednecks named Bubba and Larry and a city boy named Henry went hunting. It was Henry's first time hunting but Bubba and Larry grew up hunting. They went to the clubhouse with the manager of the club. The manager said, "Tomorrow morning, you can leave whenever you want, but you must be back by 7:00 PM tomorrow." The three hunters confirmed. Bubba asked, "What are some of the methods around here?" The manager replied, "Well, since the rut is pretty much over, my suggestion would be, find and follow the tracks and once you see one, take 'em down. If you kill one, just drag it back to the club." Once again they confirmed. The next morning, Bubba and Larry got up at 4:00 AM with no problem. Larry tried to wake Henry up but he had some trouble getting up. Finally they were all awake and ready to go hunting. They picked up their rifles and headed out. Later in the day, the manager heard 2 gunshots. As 7:00 PM started to roll around, Bubba and Larry got back, dragging their bucks. The manager saw them dragging their deer across the field. As they got closer, the manager said, "Well, how did you manage to get those? They both replied, "I just followed his tracks and there he was." Going on 7:30 PM, Henry was not yet back. So, they got their flashlights and search for him. They finally found him. He was bruised, bloody and had scars all over him. They asked, "What happened?" He yelled, "Well, I followed the tracks and the stupid train hit me!"
2 deer hunters Two hunters went deer hunting every winter without success. Finally, they came up with a foolproof plan. They got a very authentic female deer costume and learned the mating call of a female deer. The plan was to hide in the costume, lure the buck, then come out of the costume and shoot the buck. They set themselves up on the edge of a clearing, donned their costume and began to give the deer love call. Before long, their call was answered as a huge buck came crashing out of the forest and into the clearing. When the buck was close enough, the guy in front said, "Okay, let's get out and get him." After a moment that seemed like an eternity, the guy in the back shouted, "The zipper is stuck! What are we going to do!?" The guy in the front says, "Well, I'm going to start nibbling grass, but you'd better brace yourself."
4 deer hunters Four friends went deer hunting and paired off in twos for the day. That night, one of the hunters returned alone, staggering under the weight of an ten-point buck. "Where's Billy Bob?" "Billy Bob had a stroke of some kind. He's a couple of miles back up the trail." "You left Billy Bob laying out there and carried the deer back?" "A tough call," nodded the hunter "but I figured no one, in their right mind, is going to steal Billy Bob."
Elderly farmer and young wife The marriage between the elderly farmer and his young wife was not working out too well, so the farmer consulted his doctor for advice. "The next time you're down in the field plowing and feel a yearning for your wife." said the doctor, "don't wait until lunch time or the end of the day, but quit what you're doing and go to the house." "I tried that," said the farmer, "but by the time I get to the house, I am so tuckered out, it's no use." The doctor thought for a minute, "Take your rifle with you when you leave the house in the morning and if you feel the urge, shoot the rifle and she will come down there where you are." A few weeks later the two men met on the street. "How did it work out?" asked the doctor. "Fine, the first three days," said the farmer, "then deer hunting season opened and I haven't seen her since."
Deer hunting in bear country A first time deer hunter booked a hunt with an experienced outfitter. He would be hunting a productive area, but it was filled with grizzly bears. When he got to camp, he insisted that his guide be 60 years old or older. The outfitter thought this was very odd, seeing that the hunter himself was in his early thirties. The novice hunter downed a nice buck, but skinning and butchering the deer attracted some big grizzlies in the area. The hunter returned to base camp with his clothes shredded, telling the story of being attacked by a bear. The outfitter wanted to know where his guide was. The hunter said he was still laying in the woods. The outfitter asked him how his clothes got torn, and the hunter said that while they were working on the deer carcass, a grizzly bear had ambushed them and he was attacked. He said, "I hit the bear with my gun and took off running. As I was running away the guide yelled at me to play dead, that you can't outrun a bear. I yelled back, I don't have to outrun the bear, I just have to outrun you."
THE GROANERS: They shot 6 deer Two hunters got a pilot to fly them into the far north for deer hunting. They were quite successful in their venture and bagged six big bucks. The pilot came back, as arranged, to pick them up. They started loading their gear into the plane, including the six deer. But the pilot objected and he said, "The plane can only take four of your deer, you will have to leave two behind." They argued with him; the year before they had shot six and the pilot had allowed them to put all aboard. The plane was the same model and capacity. Reluctantly, the pilot finally permitted them to put all six aboard. But when the attempted to take off and leave the valley, the little plane could not make it and they crashed into the wilderness. Climbing out of the wreckage, one hunter said to the other, "Do you know where we are?" "I think so," replied the other hunter. I think this is about the same place where we crashed last year!"
Dave and Fred get lost One day Dave and Fred were Deer Hunting, and they got lost. Dave tells Fred "wait, don't panic I learned what to do in case this happens. Your supposed to shoot up into the air three times and someone will here you and come with help," "Okay" said Fred. So he shoots three times into the air. They both wait an hour and no one shows up. So they shoot three times again and still no one shows up. Bewildered they try this again and again for the next couple of hours. Fred starts to look a little worried, then he shouts "It better work this time, were down to our last three arrows!"
Man and wife go deer hunting After years of listening to her plead, a hunter finally decided to let his wife come hunting with him. He led her into the woods and left her in a blind with instructions on what to do when a deer came within range. He had no sooner arrived at his own blind when he heard a shot coming from his wife's direction. The first shot was quickly followed by several more shots. He immediately ran back to see what had happened, only to find a man standing in front of his wife with his hands up shouting, "OK lady, it's your deer! Just let me take the saddle off!"
Deer hunters low on provisions A group of deer hunters are in camp when they realize that they are running low on provisions. The group appointed Joe to get supplies. Joe went into the store and bought 10 bottles of whiskey, 12 cases of beer and 2 packages of hotdogs. When he returned to the camp the group looked in his truck and they asked, "Joe, what in the world are we gonna do with all them damn hotdogs?"
A mountain lion felt so good After eating an entire bull elk, a mountain lion felt so good he started roaring. He roared and he roared, until a deer hunter came along and shot him. The moral of the story - When your full of bull, keep your mouth shut!
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