Deer Hunting in the USA
Hunting is a popular pastime among many Americans. Hunting is partly related to our heritage of wilderness survival and obtaining food. Americans hunt all kinds of large animals (deer, elk, moose, bighorn sheep, and bears) as well as smaller animals (geese, ducks, pheasants, quail, rabbits, and squirrels). Probably the best known kind of hunting is deer hunting. In this post, I’ll present the main concepts of deer hunting so you can more comfortably talk with American acquaintances who are hunters. In a second part, I’ll discuss the reasons Americans (both men and women) go hunting. This information relates specifically to Michigan, but most facts presented here apply across the nation.
Buck: a male deer. The male is distinguished from the females by the set of antlers atop its head for seven months. Otherwise, males and females are similar looking.
Antler: a growth on top of the head formed of bone, starting at eleven months of age. They are used by the males for gaining dominance and attracting mates. Antlers are unique to mammals and are the only type of appendage to grow, fall off, and start growing again yearly. The size of the antlers depends on the nutrition in the diet. (Antlers are different from horns in that horns are permanent structures.)
Rack: the entire antler structure of a buck. While it is fairly expensive for a hunter to have an entire deer (or even the head of a deer) preserved and mounted, hunters frequently put the rack of their deer on a wall at home or work as a trophy of the hunt.
Points: the count of the number of tips on a deer’s antlers. For example, the ten-point buck had a huge rack. Most racks are symmetrical: two points to a side on a four-pointer, six points on a side to a twelve-pointer. However, occasionally growth may be uneven or one side of a rack may be damaged and have one fewer point on it.
Spike or spikehorn: a young buck with two antler points (two single shafts pointing straight up) on its head.
Doe: a female deer. Is somewhat smaller than a buck and has no antlers. Hunting permits to shoot does are fewer in number and harder to obtain. The deer population can be maintained by a smaller number of males who impregnate many females every fall.
Fawn: a baby deer, distinguished from adults by a white spotted coat. They are born around the end of May in latitudes like Michigan’s.
Yearling: a one-year-old deer.
Buck rub: A male deer lowers his head to scrape his antlers against a tree for two reasons: 1) to help polish and clean away velvet growth on them and 2) to get ready for competition of the breeding season. The chosen tree is usually less than 4 inches in diameter, so the antlers can fit around the tree, and the tree has some “give” or flexibility in pushing.
Camouflage: coloration that helps the body blend in with the surrounding environments. For a fawn, it’s the spots; for a hunter, it’s special clothing.
Bedding areas: These are trampled areas where deer rest. The spots are picked for their concealment and views of approaching deer. Deer usually have a few beds within their home range.
Deer yard: small areas where deer congregate during the winter because they provide shelter or warmth.
Blind: a structure which hides a hunter in order to observe (and shoot) animals without being seen. On the ground, it can consist of a few logs and branches pulled together or be a small, portable building. Up in the air, it may be a free-standing structure on poles or a platform attached to a tree (a “tree blind” ).
Bait: food which hunters leave in the wild to attract deer to a certain area. May include corn, carrots, or sugar beets. In some states, the practice of baiting deer is restricted or illegal.
Opening day (or Opener): the first day of hunting season. Often the most successful day of the year.
Shining deer: This involves the locating of deer in the night time with headlights of a truck or jeep. Deer are naturally mesmerized by bright lights at night and do not know to run away, making them easy to see. Hunting deer in this manner is illegal, as is any discharge of a firearm after sundown.
Firearm season: the hunting season when hunters can only use guns. In Michigan, this is between November 15 and November 30.
Firearms: Most firearm hunters use rifles, but some use shotguns or handguns. A special kind of hunting is done with old-fashioned rifles called muzzle loaders. The long part of a rifle is called the “barrel.” A telescope (called a “scope” ) on top of the gun is used to see the deer from a longer distance. A “safety” is a mechanism which prevents the gun from being accidentally discharged until the hunter releases it and then pulls the “trigger” (shooting mechanism) with the index finger.
Bow (or archery) season: the hunting season when hunters can only use bows and arrows. Most hunters today use a “compound bow” which employs a system of wires and pulleys to maximize the force and accuracy of the shot. In a few states, hunters may use a crossbow, which shoots an arrow from a trigger-fired mechanism. In Michigan, the bow and firearm seasons do not overlap, so bow hunters and firearm hunters are not in the woods at the same time.
Good shot: If the hunter is accurate (or lucky), the first shot will “drop the deer in its tracks” and the animal will die instantly. If the shot is poor, the deer may be only injured and will run off into the woods. The hunter must then track it down, hoping to find it and properly kill it. If the animal is not found, it may slowly bleed to death or die of injury and infection.
Gutting: After the deer has been shot, the hunter must cut open the deer and remove all the internal organs (informally called the “guts” ). This procedure of gutting the deer makes it lighter to drag or carry out of the woods to the hunter’s vehicle or cabin.
Buck pole: At hunting camp, a long wooden beam or tree trunk is tied across two trees about 8 feet off the ground. As hunters return with their deer, the carcasses are hung from the buck pole, head down, allowing any remaining blood to drip out of the gutted body and the hunters to store their kills in the outside cold until the animal is ready to be slaughtered. It also allows proudest hunters to show off the size of the prize deer they shot.
Venison: the meat of a deer. Depending on the diet of the deer, the meat may be mild (those deer feeding off of farmers’ crops) and taste somewhat like beef, or it may taste wild and “gamey” (those deer feeding off of wild, natural food). Many local butcher shops work extra hours in the fall, charging hunters to clean, slice up, and package their deer meat. A typical buck may yield 70-80 pounds of meat. Many families freeze the venison steaks and hamburger and count on this as a major meat source every year.
DNR: Department of Natural Resources, the governmental unit which regulates natural areas and hunting.
Conservation officer: a DNR official who has the responsibility to patrol the woods and enforce hunting laws.
Poaching: the hunting of wild game without a license. Many rural people may shoot animals without a license in order to feed their families.
Check station: a highway station where drivers are required to check in and show the license used to shoot the deer they’re transporting. Citizens in possession of a killed deer but no license are subject to fines of hundreds or even thousands of dollars.
Making conversation with a co-worker or neighbor who is a hunter:
- Are you going hunting this weekend?
- Where do you usually hunt?
- Are you going with friends?
- How did you do on opening day?
- Did you get your buck?
- How was the weather?
- Did you have to wait a long time to see any deer?
