Whitetail Deer Hunting

239,000 deer were tagged during Missouri's 2011-2012 firearm season reports the Conservation Department. This number is up around 7,000 more than last year's season. However when looking at the 10 year average this number is around 13,000 short.

Kyle Schultz and his father Mike were spending a dismal morning on family land near Arcadia, Wisconsin. Kyle a 12 year old, was starting to get a little bored with not seeing any deer. Kyle just completed his hunter's education 8 months ago, but was ready to move on to something else that day. Mike suggested taking a lunch break and Kyle eagerly accepted.

Mike had an inkling that in a brushy area by the family hunting shack there would be a good place for a massive deer to be. Though he nor family had never seen anything to promote this idea, he still had the feeling, so on the way back they drove by to check it out.

A 19 year old man sneaked into a deer breeding farm at night last week near Houston, Minnesota. He shot a large 14 point buck with his bow and arrow, cut the fence, and took the buck, leaving a trail of blood. The owner of the deer farm knew right away the next morning that someone had stolen something very valuable from him.

The owner does not want to be identified, but is very angry. He and his brother own and have worked on raising the trophy sized bucks for the past 15 years, and to have someone sneak in at night and take that from him is criminal.

Mike Feldmann owns the Lodge at McGregor Lake in Montana. His business was not operating at full capacity this hunting season. He keeps a poster board at his lodge, where in seasons past hunters would proudly display photos of their harvests. This year Feldmann has posted photos of a pack of wolves eating a heifer carcass at a nearby campground during archery season. Feldmann's lodging business has felt the impact of less big game animals which has meant less hunters as well.