Buck Hunting

Buck hunting is a sport that every avid hunter looks forward to during the fall of the year. Bucks are male deer and there are two primary species of deer in North America, the whitetail and the mule deer, also known as a ‘muley’. The mule deer gets its name from their large mule-like ears. All adult male deer are called bucks, the adult females are called does. Trophy buck hunting is prized for the large rack of antlers that the older male deer carry on their heads. The young of all species of deer are called fawns.

The cousin to the mule deer is the whitetail. Both are equally sought after during buck hunting season. The mule deer is generally found more often west of the Missouri river. Both of these species have noticeable differences in their markings. The mule deer has a black tipped tail and their antlers are forked. The antlers of the whitetail have multiple branches and of course their tails are white.

The bucks shed their antlers yearly after mating season from mid-January to mid-April. The antlers begin to grow again in the spring of the year. All deer move about with a bounding leap especially when disturbed or in a hurry.

There is also a black-tailed deer that is popular hunting found in the far western states of Oregon, Washington, British Columbia, the Alaskan panhandle and parts of California.

Hunting buck in a habitat where these animals can run wild and free on thousands of uninhabited acreage such as extremely large ranches and National Forests. They are wary of all civilization and rightly so. When they are forced to cross highways foraging for food, they are often slaughtered by automobiles, which in turn can kill not only the deer but the occupants of moving vehicles as well. They seem to be most active around dawn and dusk.

For buck hunting, the mule deer is the most prized since it is the largest of the Odocoileus genus, averaging about 40 to 42 inches high and measuring about 80 inches from nose to tail. Bucks weigh in at about 150 to 300 pounds. The doe is much smaller around 125 to 175 pounds. Occasionally while buck hunting, you can run across a trophy buck with a huge rack of antlers on his proud head. Trophy deer are generally the oldest in the herd and can weigh up to 300 pounds.

During mating season, called the “rutting’ season, the buck demonstrates great strength and prowess using his rack of antlers to clash in battle with other bucks, competing for the females attention. Mating generally takes place during the fall of the year. Gestation takes about 190 to 200 days. The fawns are born in the milder weather of spring. A newborn fawn stays close to its mother until the fall of the following year when they are large enough to be weaned and forage for food on their own.

Hunting buck in areas where there is a great amount of vegetation that the deer prefer to eat produces a herd large enough to make your hunting trip successful. Deer eat various plants including berries, leaves of Douglas fir, cedar, yews, aspen, willow, dogwood, juniper and sage, acorns, apples and other types of herbaceous plants available in their particular habitat. Land development has forced some to forage on farms, eating their crops. They love vegetable gardens as well. Since they have great jumping ability, it takes an extremely high fence to keep them out.

Hunting outfitters can be found on the Internet offering every type of hunt imaginable in almost every state in America. Make certain you plan your hunting trip well in advance, getting permission from landowners and abiding by the local laws in every state.

Wherever you choose to go on your hunting trip, plan to have a super good time, one that you can enjoy in your memory for years to come!