So You Want To Hunt Deer

Dan Branagan was raised in Michigan, hunting whitetail from a young age and further honed his deer hunting skills further while living in Iowa. Dan was very experienced hunting whitetails with the muzzleloader, bow, shotgun, and rifle very familiar with all hunting methods. However, when he moved over 25 years ago to Idaho, he found that he was severely humbled when it came to mule deer hunting. While both whitetail and mule deer are obviously deer, their habits, the hunting strategies, and successful hunting techniques are so different that he pretty much had to start over. Dan wrote this book to provide you the reader, the knowledge and understanding gained through many painful lessons while hunting the West. It is exactly the book which he needed to read 25 years ago and it is exactly the book that you need to read now if you have ever wanted to tag a big mature mule deer buck in the Rocky Mountains. Living in Idaho, Dan has gained an intricate knowledge of mule deer from studying them year round and while learning their strengths and weaknesses, he have developed novel successful hunting methods and techniques. Originally from the Midwest, he knows what many of you, who don't live in the West are thinking, based on your experiences hunting whitetail deer and the types of Western hunting stories that you are most undoubtedly reading. Dan know what mistakes that you are likely to make and what changes in your hunting plans are needed in order to be successful in your Western hunt. This book is designed to give you knowledge based understanding so you can train and retrain your most important asset which is your brain. Hunting the West takes specialized gear, time, and planning and is expensive whether you live in the West or are coming from elsewhere. This book will be the cheapest and best investment that you will make on planning and pulling off your Western mule deer hunting dreams!

Denning shares his knowledge of mule deer hunting and techniques that have been refined by trial and error, observation, and faithful persistence.

So You Want to Hunt Deer is a book designed with the beginning hunter in mind. The book covers all aspects as if you've never hunted before including what items you may need to buy, where to find rules and regulations, and how to use a map and compass. The book is beneficial to hunters of all ages, and can even teach those with current hunting skills a better way to scout, track, hunt, field dress, butcher, and cook a deer. There is even a section on taxidermist selection.

"I recognized that Michael Hunter knows what he is talking about the minute I opened this book. Hunter is the kind of guy--and the kind of work--that you get when you combine passion, creativity, inventiveness, and elbow grease. This book makes me hungry, and Michael Hunter makes me proud to be a hunter and angler." --Steven Rinella, outdoorsman, host of the TV series and podcast MeatEater, and author The MeatEater Fish and Game Cookbook Well-known hunter and respected wild-game chef, Michael Hunter, grew up in the great outdoors. Inspired by the endless bounty of the land, hunting, fishing, foraging, and cooking is a way of life for Hunter. Celebrating the resources of the wild, The Hunter Chef Cookbook features a collection of over 100 recipes and butchery guides, and stunning food and landscape photography. The book includes recipes for cooking big game, from moose and bison, to white tail deer and wild boar. Common small game features include wild turkey, duck, wild goose, ruffed grouse, as well as rabbit and squirrel. Fresh-water and salt-water fish recipes feature pickerel, wild salmon, rainbow trout, prawns, scallops, and more. A seasoned forager, Hunter offers an array of savoury and sweet recipes, incorporating wild ingredients, everything from mushrooms and leeks to sumac and berries.

How do you know if the land you hunt has a trophy deer on it? Wildlife manager Bob Zaiglin, of Uvalde, Texas and Jim Crumley, the father of modern-day hunting camouflage, tell you how to find out. GPS can make finding and taking that trophy buck easier. This hunting guide will teach you how to hunt big bucks where no one else can find them, how to call deer, and how to become versatile as a deer hunter, so that if one deer tactic doesn't work, another one will.Dr. Keith Causey, retired professor of Wildlife Science at Auburn University, says, "Deer of both sexes and all ages leave a wide variety and a large amount of information for other deer in their geological locations at scrapes. Although most people believe that dominant bucks in an area utilize these signposting regions, other deer use these signposts too for information." In the chapter, "How to find Bucks at Scrape," Causey describes the best way to hunt a scrape. Brad Harrison of Neosho, Missouri, is a nationally-known videographer, professional deer hunter and master at calling deer. Another master is Will Primos of Primos Game Calls. These two experts will tell the best deer calls and when to use them in this book.One question that's mystified deer hunters for many years, is how to know when bucks move. And for over 20 years, Bo Pitman, lodge manager of White Oak Plantation, has been studying deer movement patterns. He explains what types of conditions are best for predicting deer movement. How do you hunt deer in the snow? Norm LeBrun, of Quebec, Canada, a guide at Anticosti Island, hunts deer in the snow almost all year long and provides timely insights on how and where to take big bucks under these conditions. Eddie Salter lives in Alabama and Mark Drury in Missouri, and these two master deer hunters give you hunting tips for when the weather is hot and for hunting in swamps. Dr. Robert Sheppard tells you about some tricks that bucks play on whitetail deer hunters. There are also two chapters on how to hunt bucks at the end of deer season and a chapter on how to train bucks to come to you, so you don't have to go find them.For 50 years, I've been studying and hunting with some of the best whitetail hunters from around the country and in Canada, and this book is the combined knowledge of these time-tested, deer-hunting professionals. If you want to learn how to be a hunter, you need to have this book.

Learn how to scout and prepare sites while leaving minimal evidence of human presence, and how to read deer sign to find the most productive places to hunt. Comprehensive coverage of scent control, including the use of odor-eliminating clothing.

Deer Hunting for Beginners - The Ultimate Guide to Getting Started Hunting Deer: Tactics and Strategies for Tracking and Bagging Deer in North America Looking to become an expert deer hunter? What I aim for in this book is to help you from sounding like an idiot when you go hunting for your first time and to keep you from shooting yourself in the foot or your neighbor in his backside. Hopefully after reading this you'll also be able to best pick the people you want to hunt with and the ones you want to avoid being around while they have a gun.Maybe you're wondering altogether if hunting deer is right for you and if that's the case in the next chapter I want to talk a little about the sport and some other aspects of it. Learn how to hunt like a pro and shoot like a sniper!Also, you'll discover..How to Track Deer EffectivelyPacking Tips to Save You Time and EnergyHow to Be a Better ShooterAnd much more!Table of Contents Introduction to Deer Hunting - Are you infected with the incurable madness? Hmmm... Deer Meat It's tasty and it's healthy but there's something else you should know. Hunters Safety If you're not safe you could shoot your eye out or Uncle Bob's rear end could be hurting. Regulations and Sportsmanship Don't get arrested and don't be "that guy." Preparing Your Body for Hunting If you can't see your toes we need to talk. Learning Your Weapon This is my rifle! There are many like it, but this one is mine... Essential Equipment and Tools Forget any of these and you could be in for a world of hurt. Ideal Hunting Times We know the early bird gets the worm, but do they get the deer also? Preparing for the Hunt Let's get down to business... My First Hunting Trip Lessons for the newbie, or the oldie who needs a fresh up (but we won't tell). Hunting Strategies - Be like a sniper "One shot one kill." Tracking the Deer How to do it right and avoid walking in circles. Taking the Shot Breathe deep and see the shot. Packing It Back A highly detailed guide to help you get your prize home in one piece. Serving Suggestions and Conclusion Bambi taste great on a silver platter, but that's not all you can do with the little guy.

Using Topographic Maps to Find Deer Topographic maps and aerial photos can lead you right to the biggest bucks you've ever seen. You just have to know how to use them. Brad Herndon takes the mystery out of finding deer with maps. Through years of dedicated hunting and careful study of maps and photos, Herndon has perfected the use of maps to find the routes deer travel. And once you know where the deer will be headed you can establish the perfect ambush site. Maps are often the forgotten link in scouting prime deer habitat. Yet because they show you all the hills, gullies, rivers and ridges, you can learn the lay of the land without walking mile after unproductive mile. Maps won't eliminate the need to get in the woods, but they will tell the best places to start your search for the buck of your dreams. Herndon also shows hunters how to use the latest Internet and computer technology to personalize any map. Mark your stand locations, the locations of deer sign, even note the best possible wind direction to make your hunt a success. If you hunt deer, let Mapping Trophy Bucks lead you right to where the big boys hide. The rest is up to you.

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author and host of Netflix’s MeatEater comes “a unique and valuable alternate view of where our food comes from” (Anthony Bourdain). “Revelatory . . . With every chapter, you get a history lesson, a hunting lesson, a nature lesson, and a cooking lesson. . . . Meat Eater offers an overabundance to savor.”—The New York Times Book Review Meat Eater chronicles Steven Rinella’s lifelong relationship with nature and hunting through the lens of ten hunts, beginning when he was an aspiring mountain man at age ten and ending as a thirty-seven-year-old Brooklyn father who hunts in the remotest corners of North America. He tells of having a struggling career as a fur trapper just as fur prices were falling; of a dalliance with catch-and-release steelhead fishing; of canoeing in the Missouri Breaks in search of mule deer just as the Missouri River was freezing up one November; and of hunting the elusive Dall sheep in the glaciated mountains of Alaska. A thrilling storyteller, Rinella grapples with themes such as the role of the hunter in shaping America, the vanishing frontier, the ethics of killing, and the disappearance of the hunter himself as consumers lose their connection with the way their food finds its way to their tables. The result is a loving portrait of a way of life that is part of who we are—as humans and as Americans.