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Whitetails are ubiquitous. They’re the most widely distributed hooved animal we have in the Americas – maybe in the world. And they’re the definition of a hunter-driven conservation success story. These days, whitetail populations thrive from Maine to Washington, Manitoba to Peru. They’re as at home in a dense national forest as they are raiding a suburban flower bed in New Jersey.
True, a guided deer hunt for a trophy buck on select ground can cost a small fortune. But Joe Hunter can also take a vacation day from work, grab his rifle and head to the Wildlife Management Area down the road with reasonable hopes of returning home with a deer in his truck.
At least as appealing as the availability are the whitetail’s qualities as a game animal. Many a traveled hunter has tested his skills against critters on other continents only to realize that the whitetails he left back home are significantly more challenging to hunt. A mature whitetail buck or doe is unquestionably one of the wariest, most intelligent big game animals out there.
A buck’s antlers can grow to impressive size. They’re tangible evidence of a buck’s maturity, and the degree of difficulty it takes to kill him. If cave drawings are any evidence, we humans have been admiring antlers for some time. It’s in our nature to be fascinated by them.
Perhaps best of all, lean whitetail venison is renowned for its mild flavor and outstanding health benefits. A venison dinner can take the form of a succulent roast prepared by a trained chef, or a heaping pile of deer-burger spaghetti whipped up by a busy country mom on a school night. Both meals end with a full belly. Human beings have been eating deer meat for some time, and that’s not apt to change in the foreseeable future.
Yes, the American hunter’s love for deer hunting – whitetail deer hunting in particular – has fueled an economic engine that’s kept companies like Realtree going over the years. And that’s largely why we’ve compiled this “How to Deer Hunt” guide. You may be a grown woman, embarking on your first ever hunting season, with no clue how to begin. Or you might’ve started hunting back when “just seeing a deer track was something to talk about.”
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