Submitted by Tasha VerStrat

This weekend, for the 2008 youth hunt, Tranaya Palma of Jenison, Michigan -- accompanied with guardian James VerStrat -- shot her first deer with a .223 near Vestaberg, Michigan. She shot the deer on Saturday night at last light. The deer is a legal 10-point and is an approximately 150-class buck. Tranaya is 14 years old and attends Jenison Middle School. Now, along with being an excellent student and athlete she is also a proud Michigan youth hunter who is going to beg to go out again in November.  Tranaya's great success is in thanks to guardian James VerStrat, land owner Jon Vice and good friend Tim VanPollen. We are very proud of Tranaya, as now she holds the largest mount in the house.

Dan Schmidt Sr., that is. Dan's dad also lives in an "earn-a-buck" area of
Wisconsin, and he shot this doe with his crossbow on Saturday afternoon. Dan
Sr. took up crossbow hunting after having cancer surgery about eight years
ago. He has been hunting whitetails in Wisconsin each gun season since the
early 1950s.

Photos of what appears to be a tame buck living in the wild and hanging around a family and their dog -- even eating from their hand -- are circling around the Internet. We don't have any details on the deer or who took the photos, but it seems safe to assume either the deer is a pet of the family's, or escaped from a petting zoo or game farm.

D&DH Publisher Brad Rucks shot some very interesting footage of a yearling buck that still has its spots. Writes Rucks:

"Look at the coloration on this guy.  He’s got a white tinted butt and spots.  I saw him from the stand Sunday as well. He isn’t snow white but a dirty white and stands out among the other deer."

Click the file below to view the short video clip.

CDY_0120.AVI (892.43 KB)

Tim Laster of West Virginia must be getting the deer hunting "itch" -- as he dug out and sent us photos of a great buck he took last year. Writes Laster:

"I know I’m sending this late in the season but I shot this 145 pound (dressed out) 9-pointer in Preston County WV on the last day of the bow season (11/24/07) with my Parker bow using hammerhead expandable broadheads.  My guide was Floyd Massey of Massey Outfitters, Preston County WV."

Great deer, Tim!

ACORN PRODUCTION: HIT OR MISS THIS YEAR

Acorns are a critical winter food source for more than 90 forest wildlife species
 
Ohio's fall crop of acorns is variable this year, but will provide a vital food source for more than 90 forest wildlife species. Overall, white oak acorn production is similar to last year but varies by region, while red oak acorn production declined by 57 percent over 2007 figures, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) Division of Wildlife.
 
"Good white oak acorn production was observed on some wildlife areas in northern and southern Ohio, but white oak acorns were much less abundant across central Ohio." said Mike Reynolds, forest wildlife biologist with the division.  "Red oak acorn production declined statewide this year."
 
The Division of Wildlife is currently participating in a multi-state, on-going research project to estimate regional acorn production throughout the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states. Wildlife biologists hope to use the acorn production information gathered in the study to forecast wildlife harvest and reproductive success rates on both a local and regional basis.
 
Acorn production is cyclical, with some trees producing acorns nearly every year, while others rarely ever produce. This year, Division of Wildlife employees scanned the canopies of selected oak trees on 38 wildlife areas in the state to determine the percentage of trees that produced acorns and the relative size of the acorn crop.  Results varied regionally, but an average of 42 percent of white oak trees and 30 percent of red oak trees bore fruit this year.  Wildlife prefer white oak acorns, because red oak acorns contain a high amount of tannin and are bitter in taste.
 
Mast crop abundance can affect hunting plans as well. Hunters can expect to find deer, wild turkeys and squirrels concentrated near areas with heavy crops of white and chestnut oak acorns this fall.  In areas with poor acorn production, wildlife are more likely to be feeding around agricultural areas and forest edges.