North American Whitetail November 2021

If I choose any random month or year from my life and try to remember something exciting that happened during that time, I struggle. Sure, I can remember big events and important moments from various times in my life. But if I force myself to recall details from some arbitrary time, I usually draw a blank. For example, what was the greatest thing that happened to me in August 2009? No clue. How about March 2011? Yeah, I’ve got nothing. There’s one serious exception to this rule, however: the month of November. Ask me about any November in recent memory, and my mind lights up like a Christmas tree. What memories come rushing in? You guessed it: deer hunting ones. As if I’ve been hypnotized, my mind hits the play button on…

Tune in every Wednesday at 8:00 PM ET on Sportsman Channel and Thursday at 8:00 AM ET on Outdoor Channel to catch episodes of NAW TV presented by Wild Tree Nursery. This month, we’re excited to present the following programs: WEEK OF NOV. 1-7 “Time for Seconds”: Stan Potts continues his dream season in Illinois by bowhunting a bruiser 8-pointer during the rut. Dr. James Kroll reveals why breeding timing impacts fawn survival. Laden Force explains why modern bows provide greater efficiency for less draw weight in “On Target.” Haynes Shelton profiles the incredible Frank Pleskac buck from Hill County, Montana. WEEK OF NOV. 8-14 “From the Ground”: Laden Force enjoys a thrilling spot and stalk bowhunt for big whitetails and mule deer in South Dakota. We introduce a new “Build Your Own Deer…

Each year we receive hundreds of questions here at the Institute for White-tailed Deer Management & Research, covering a host of issues. However, in 2021 we were inundated with one question: What happened to the rut in 2020? Some folks thought the rut occurred much earlier, while others thought it was much later! Although rut timing has a direct impact on hunter success, there is a far greater question: Does the date of breeding play a role in whitetail survival; and if so, what are the environmental impacts on early/ late breeding? In order to answer these questions, let’s start with a short primer on the breeding biology of whitetails. There is a very good reason why whitetails breed in the fall. The gestation period for whitetails is about 198 days, and…

Throughout a big portion of whitetail country, drought has affected everything from habitat to wildland fire awareness. From National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration information based on the Palmer Drought Index, severe to extreme drought affected about 36 percent of the contiguous United States as of the end of June 2021. Drought expansion from spring through summer had been increasing every month. By midsummer, approximately only 4 percent of the country was classified as extremely wet. The bad news did not end there, as nearly half of the country by midsummer was classified in moderate to extreme drought. Iowa, a major whitetail hunting locale for residents and nonresidents alike, had 75 percent of the state affected by drought by July. Agriculture producers reported stressed soybeans with yellow leaves and curling corn. Iowa Department…

Recently, while on a hunt in Wyoming, I walked into a hardware store in a small town. Looking for a few odds and ends, I wandered through the aisles and eventually made it to the back of the store. There, I was surprised to find a sporting goods section filled with hunting gear, including archery equipment, ammunition and firearms. My mundane shopping venture became interesting when I spotted a wall full of used bolt-action rifles, all old ones with wood stocks. Like a magnet, the shiny blued barrels, beautiful walnut furniture and old-school riflescopes sucked me right in. On the bottom rack, right beside a stunning Weatherby Mark V Deluxe in .338 Win. Mag., was something I’d never seen before. A circa 1960s Browning FN High-Power Medallion in .30-06 Springfield. I’ve read…

Play the wind. How many times have you read or heard that statement as a whitetail hunter? Countless times I would presume. The question though is what does playing the wind mean to you? To the masses, it is my belief that it means blow your wind into the open areas where you reasonably believe that deer are not going to be. Seems like a solid plan, right? For me, however, playing the wind is a little more complicated. My epiphany happened several years back when we had a drought cover the Midwest, especially in my area in south central Illinois. So, by early to mid-September nearly all of the corn fields had been harvested. This was terrible for the farmers, but it provided great opportunities for me to scout deer…