Odocoileus virginianus, also known as the whited-tail deer, lives in your backyard. Do you know the signs of its presence? Let me list some ways.
- Tracks (hoof prints)
- Droppings (they look like black beans)
- Trails (pathways in the woods)
- Broken mushrooms and chewed on greenbrier (browsing)
- Matted down grasses (bedding areas)
- Scrapes (where bucks scape the ground with its hooves to hook up with a doe during “rut”; also known as mating season)
- Rubs (where bucks rub bark off of saplings with its antlers to remove antler velvet – the living hair-like skin on growing antlers during antler growth - or to mark its territory)
- Antler sheds on the ground (bucks drop antlers every year in winter)
- You see’em!
Now go find one!
Thank you Boogerhill of the East Side Gang for furnishing the cache container!
According to my trail cam (just kidding), GMT! got the first trophy buck, so congratulations to you as the FTF!