Happy Friday! The good times got kicked off a little early for me last night, as I had some buddies over to watch some of the new Realtree and Drury DVDs, have a cold beverage and set up a couple new bows. We got some awesome new Trophy Ridge accessories on the rigs and had a good time testing them out. Needless to say, I can’t wait to get these bad boys out in the field. On top of shootin, I’ll also be doing some prep work on a few food plots in the coming days! Should be a busy but fun weekend and I hope the same can be said for yours too. In your free time, be sure to check out the whitetail blog posts below from across the web. We’ve got some helpful food plot tips, a great recipe, and much more!

Expert Deer Tips: The Difference Between a Basic and Advanced Food Plot – Big Buck Zone: Some in depth ideas about taking your food plots to the next level from Craig Dougherty.

Removing Your Bow Quiver Will Make You A Better Shot – Meitin’s Bow Blog: A case is made against shooting with your bow quiver on…I’m on board with this one! I always take mine off.

Public Land Hunting in the Big Woods – Daniel Schmidt’s Whitetail Wisdom: Some great tips on how to effectively hunt the big woods.

Will Dominant Bucks Dominate the Breeding? – QDMA.com: Kip Adams discusses the common idea that mature or dominant bucks will breed the most does. Is that the case though?

Foodie Friday: Parmesan Venison – Deer & Deer Hunting: A tasty looking recipe for some of last years venison!

Today at 12:00 CST Deer & Deer Hunting will premiere their first episode of “Deer Talk Now”, a one hour interactive online talk show hosted by Dan Schmidt and Brad Rucks of D&DH Magazine.

According to D&DH’s website,  ”Deer Talk Now will feature special guests, questions from viewers and discussions about new hunting gear, habitat, hunting tactics, deer biology, hunter ethics, issues and more”. All that being said, to kick things off today, Deer Talk Now will feature one heck of a special guest – Ted Nugent!

As we all know, a conversation with Ted Nugent always has the potential to get “interesting” – so I’ll definitely be tuning in to hear what The Nuge has to say. Also keep in mind, that this is interactive and all viewers have the opportunity to submit questions for the hosts and Ted! I’ve been told that viewers that submit questions will be put into a drawing for a number of different prizes as well, including this week – an autographed photo of Nugent.

To watch Deer Talk Now, follow the link below at 12:00 CST. Enjoy!

Watch Deer Talk Now

As you may have read already, my turkey season ended with less arrows in my quiver than I started with – but still no dead turkey to show for it. Not how I wanted to season to go, but that’s hunting – right? But now that the thunder chickens are out of the way my attention is squarely turned to food plots, other habitat management and prepping properties for the fall. I imagine that many of you are in a similar boat, so head on out to your properties this weekend, enjoy the weather and start preparing now for a great fall hunting season.

In the interim though, we’ve got some great reads for you today on the Friday Morning Mashup. Read on and have a great weekend!

Quality Deer Management On 6 Acres? – QDMA.com: Quality Whitetails Editor Lindsay Thomas Jr. responds to a readers question on whether or not it is possible to practice quality deer management on a tract as small as 6 acres. Lindsay’s response is well worth a read.

Hunt Your Way To Health – Venison vs. Beef – Sole Adventure: Mark from Sole Adventure shares some great thoughts and information on how venison stacks up to beef in the health department!

Top 5 Ways To Hunt Pressured Deer – Dan Schmidt’s Whitetail Wisdom: Dan Schmidt of Deer & Deer Hunting shares his top 5 tactics for hunting pressured deer. A great read for anyone who hunts in states like Michigan, Pennsylvania or the like!

Climbing Stand or Hang On – Brow Tines & Backstraps: My friend Will Brantley of Realtree shares his experience with a climbing treestand and weighs the possible benefits of a climber versus a hang on stand.

A Leg Up: Judging Buck Age From Body Proportions – QDMA.com: Another great piece from the QDMA in which two pictures of different aged bucks in nearly the same stance and location are analyzed. Interesting lessons to be learned on how things how legs and torso length can help you better age bucks on the hoof.

The digital revolution has slowly been taking the hunting world by storm – and today that wave of change has taken a big step forward with Realtree’s first release of a digital download in their Monster Bucks series of hunting videos!

Monster Bucks XX Volume 3 is now available instantly as a digital download to be viewed on your desktop, laptop or mobile device of choice. No DVD, VHS or rabbit ears required! As a tech geek myself, I’m pretty excited about this and I’ve actually already downloaded my own copy . I’ll be kicking back on an airplane soon with my iPad to watch some giant whitetails  and I’m really looking forward to it.

Included in this volume are kills by Lee & Tiffany Lakosky, Heartland Bowhunter, a 210″ buck knocked down by Rusty Jackson and many more. That all being said, for $4.99 and with a full hour of hunts – I’d say this is a pretty good deal and a great step into the digital world for the hunting industry. Way to go Realtree!

Follow the link  to download your own copy of Monster Bucks XX Volume 3!

This morning I wanted to make a quick public service announcement. If you’re looking to get serious about filming your hunts – do yourself a favor and attend the 2012 Heartland Bowhunter Film School.

I attended the Film School last year, and felt like I learned a ton, I certainly had fun, and nearly a year later – I can now look back at my film from last season and see those lessons learned in action. Rather than recant all of my thoughts on last year’s school, I’d recommend you check out my review – The Heartland Bowhunter Film School Experience. But in short – it was a great experience.

The school this year is July 14 & 15 in Lee’s Summit, Missouri and it sounds like there are still a few openings left. So if you’re interested, get registered asap. For a full description of topics to be covered and other details, visit the Film School page on Heartland Bowhunter’s website.

Can you believe it’s already May? Seems like just yesterday I hung up the bow after my last hunt of the 2011 season – and now I’m already getting ready to plant food plots and hang stands for 2012! Only 150 days til I can draw first blood in Michigan and boy does that get me excited. But in the interim, I’ve got to first take care of some turkey hunting business this weekend. My season opened last week Monday, and I’ve had a lot of great encounters in the couple days that I’ve been able to hunt. I’ve had some very close calls, and hopefully I can finally close the deal over the course of these last three days!

But regardless of that, I’ll still have plenty to do in the coming weeks – as my preparation for the upcoming season continues to ramp up. The blog posts this week in the Mashup definitely fall in line with that idea as well – it’s time to really get to work. Food plots, scouting, stand prep, new property acquisition – there’s lots to be done. So read up on some of this great whitetail reading, and then get to it!

Food Plot Planting Calendars – Growing Deer TV: The alway helpful Dr. Grant Woods shares with us his thoughts on a basic food plot planting calendar, including what needs to get done and when!

The Basics of Planting Food Plots: It’s All In The Dirt – Big Buck Zone: Another great food plot article from a wildlife habitat expert, this time it’s Craig Dougherty of North Country Whitetails. If you’re looking to get started with food plots, there are some great tips here for ya.

The Best I’ve Seen: Top Hunters & Gun Shots – Dan Schmidt’s Whitetail Wisdom: Dan Schmidt of Deer & Deer Hunting fills us in on who he believes is the best TV hunter, best gun shot, and more!

Hang-and-Hunt: A Mobile Treestand Tactic for Whitetails – Whitetails 365: Dave Hurteau of Field & Stream details in video a strategy that I’ve come to really enjoy – the hang and hunt. Or as I call it, run and gun strategy.

Hang-and-Hunt: What You Need to Hang a Stand Fast – Whitetail 365: Part Two of the Hang & Hunt video series from Dave Hurteau takes a look at the equipment you need to successfully pull off this tactic.

Hang-and-Hunt: Hang a Treestand in 7 Minutes – Whitetail 365: Finally in Part 3, Hurteau shows that you can use sticks and a hang on stand to get up in a tree and ready to hunt in 7 minutes!

Last week I highlighted a set of data from the Quality Deer Management Association’s 2012 Whitetail Report, which detailed the states with the highest rates of yearling bucks being killed. Given that these states had the highest % of yearlings killed, we deemed them the worst states for the harvest of mature bucks. On the other hand, the QDMA’s data also showed the states with the highest percentages of mature bucks being killed – and the top five could then be considered the 5 best states for the harvest of mature bucks. I’ve shared this list below – and some of you might be a bit surprised by a few of the states included on this list. But let me share one disclaimer, not all states provided data for this study, those missing include the likes of Iowa and Illinois. That being said, below are the 5 states harvesting the greatest percentage of mature bucks in 2010 (the most recent data available).

States With Highest % of Mature  Bucks (3.5 yrs+) Harvested

1. Arkansas – 68%

2. Louisiana – 65%

3. Texas – 59%

4. Kansas – 56%

5. Oklahoma – 51%

Anyone surprised? For those that hunt in these states – do these numbers ring true to you?

To read more from the QDMA’s 2012 Whitetail Report, click here.

Happy Friday ya’ll! I don’t know about you, but I am very ready for the weekend to be here. My week started off with an unsuccesful turkey hunt on the opening day of the season here in Michigan – but I’m hoping to redeem myself this weekend! And I hope that many of you will be hitting the woods as well, whether it be to chase turkeys, plant food plots or just enjoying the wild. If you’re stuck inside though, our Friday Morning Mashup features some great deer hunting related reading to keep you occupied. Read on for articles regarding food plot tips, archery practice and management on small pieces of ground.

Have a great weekend!

Tips for Food Plots From A Farmer – Whitetail 365: This article is just what the title says! Some good tips from a farmer on food plots – I don’t think you can find a better source of advice on this topic.

Small Parcels, Big Whitetail Rewards – Whitetail Habitat Solutions: A thorough, a very interesting analysis of a small 22 acre parcel and how it was turned into a high quality hunting property.

Perfect Practice: Elevating Your Archery Hunting Skill Set – HuntingNet.com: Some helpful tips on how to better practice with your bow to improve your hunting success this fall!

A Behind The Scenes Look At The Sportsmen’s Heritage Act – Open Country: Our friend Tony Hansen walks us through some of the details of the recent Sportsmen’s Heritage Act – and how it came to be.

Seven Secrets of Successful Hunters – Sole Adventure: The title says it all – the author details 7 somewhat intangible traits or tactics that successful hunters have or use. Definitely a good read!

Over the past several years, The Quality Deer Management Association has been collecting and analyzing a variety of whitetail harvest data from across the country. In the most recent QDMA Whitetail Report, I had to read through a very interesting and ultimately depressing analysis of the age structure of buck harvests in 2010 (the most recent data available). What I found was rather damning for my home state of Michigan. We have the absolute highest percentage of 1.5 year old bucks killed in the country. 64%. Yes you read that right, 64% of all the bucks harvested in 2010 across the Great Lakes State were long legged, spindly antlered, clueless yearling bucks. But – my thoughts on this latest prestige to grace my homeland will be saved for another day. For now – let’s get to my state’s partners in crime. Below, feast your eyes upon the other 4 states with the highest percentage of yearling bucks harvested – AKA the worst states for harvest of mature bucks. If you live in one of these states, I encourage you to consider the benefits of passing on yearlings and targeting older bucks instead. The QDMA website has tons of great information on this very topic! And if you live in any other state than these, I’d recommend you count your blessings!

States With Highest % of Yearling Bucks Harvested

1. Michigan – 64%

2. New Jersey – 59%

3. New York – 55%

4. Maryland – 53%

5. Virginia – 49%

Antler point restrictions, a hotly debated topic to be sure, have again popped up on the radar. And this time in my home state of Michigan. A 3 point per side restriction has been in place for one Northwest Michigan county for the past 5 years or so and now a proposal is out to expand this restriction to 12 additional counties. I’ve included more details regarding the proposal below.

I personally am all for this – but an explanation of why is probably worth a full article in itself. For now – read below for details regarding the upcoming proposal – and join the NW MI Antler Restriction Proposal facebook group  or check out the BetterMIBucks website to stay up to date on the latest with this initiative!

Let us know what you think about this proposal in the comments section as well!

“The Northwest Michigan Quality Deer Management Association (NW MI QDMA) has proposed an expansion of the current Leelanau County (DMU 045) antler restriction regulations to the NRC/DNR. These regulations place a 3-point per side restriction, and 4-point per side restriction, under the current combination tag. The proposed expansion of these regulations would include Antrim, Benzie, Charlevoix, Emmet, Grand Traverse, Kalkaska, Lake, Manistee, Mason, Missaukee, Osceola and Wexford counties.

The numbers don’t lie.
In general: Older deer are bigger deer in both body size and antler development. Creating a deer herd that is well balanced in age class as well as Buck to Doe ratios can be a benefit to hunters and the entire herd. The Leelanau County antler restriction program is proof of this. In just a few short years, the program has yielded incredible results.

Consider the facts:

Leelanau County Buck Harvest Average, 2006-2010 (data provided through DNR check stations)

1.5 years of age: 32%
2.5 years: 29%
3.5 years: 27%
4.5 years: 12%

Compare these numbers to those of the proposed 12 counties averaged.

61% of the bucks harvested in those 12 counties were 1.5 years of age.
2006-2010 (data provided through DNR check stations)

It’s more than just bigger bucks.
When we sportsmen and women harvest mature deer, we’re helping the entire herd. We’re giving smaller bucks a chance to grow. We’re helping to achieve a more balanced Buck to Doe ratio. We’re also helping to maintain deer populations at levels that are more sustainable based on habitat. These are the main goals for the expansion of antler restrictions to the additional 12 NW Michigan counties.

What now?
The NRC has approved our proposal to move through the process for implementation. The first part of this process is to hold public meetings to inform the general public of this proposal. After these meetings, a random survey of hunters within the proposed area will be completed by the DNR to determine whether the proposal passes or fails.

This is where you come in!
If you receive one of the surveys, please fill it out, and answer YES.

The survey must achieve a 66% approval in order for the restriction to go into effect for the 2013 hunting season. After a five year trial period, a follow up survey will be completed to determine if the restriction stays in effect.

Your support is critical. This is our one chance to greatly improve hunting in northwest lower Michigan….and possibly the entire state of Michigan.

Better Bucks?
Better Hunting?
Better Vote Yes.”