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Hunting Guides

Practical hunting guides by species, method and season for the US and Canada, with links to the official regulations that apply.

34 pages

Guide · Hunting Guides

Deer Tracks: How to Identify Whitetail and Mule Deer Tracks

Deer tracks are usually recognized by two pointed hoof impressions, a center split and an often heart shaped outline. Whitetail and mule deer tracks overlap, so use size, gait, trail pattern and substrate rather than relying on one print.

Guide · Hunting Guides

Deer Droppings: How to Identify Deer Scat in the Field

Deer scat is usually a pile of dark oval, cylindrical or bullet shaped pellets, but it can clump when deer are eating moist, succulent foods. Use pellet size, shape, freshness, contents and nearby sign to separate deer droppings from rabbit, elk, moose, bear, canid and raccoon scat.

Guide · Hunting Guides

How Long Do Deer Live? Lifespan and How Deer Are Aged

White-tailed deer and mule deer can live much longer than most hunters ever see in the wild. Captive deer may reach their late teens or 20s, but hunting pressure, vehicles, disease, winter stress, predation, and fawn mortality keep many wild populations much younger.

Guide · Hunting Guides

Bighorn Sheep: Subspecies, Horns and Habitat

Bighorn sheep are North American wild sheep known for permanent horns, steep escape terrain and a conservation history shaped by disease, translocations and habitat management. This guide explains the Rocky Mountain, Sierra Nevada and desert forms, plus how bighorns differ from Dall sheep, Stone sheep and mountain goats.

Guide · Hunting Guides

The Mallard: Identification, Migration and Habits

The mallard, Anas platyrhynchos, is a medium to large dabbling duck found in all North American waterfowl flyways. This guide covers field identification, habitat, diet, nesting, migration, similar species and USFWS population status information.

Guide · Hunting Guides

When Do Deer Shed Their Antlers? The Antler Cycle

White-tailed bucks usually cast antlers in late winter, but timing shifts with day length, hormones, health, age, nutrition, injury and local conditions. This guide explains the yearly cycle from velvet growth to hard antlers and shed hunting ethics.

Guide · Hunting Guides

Elk: Subspecies, Antlers, Rut and Range

Elk, also called wapiti, are large North American deer known for herds, bugling bulls, annual antlers, and seasonal movements. This guide explains the main living North American subspecies, rut behavior, diet, migration, decline, and restoration without covering season dates or tag rules.

Guide · Hunting Guides

Feral Hogs in North America: Origins, Biology and Range

Feral hogs in North America are nonnative Sus scrofa that come from escaped domestic pigs, introduced Eurasian wild boar, and hybrids. They reproduce quickly, eat many foods, damage farms and habitat, and can carry diseases that matter to hunters, landowners, pets, livestock, and wildlife.

Guide · Hunting Guides

Black-Tailed Deer: Columbian and Sitka Blacktails

Black-tailed deer are the coastal blacktail group within Odocoileus hemionus, with Columbian black-tailed deer from northern California to British Columbia and Sitka black-tailed deer in Southeast Alaska and the north British Columbia coast. This guide covers identification, range, habitat, diet, rut timing, and behavior for hunters and wildlife watchers.

Guide · Hunting Guides

The Canvasback Duck

The canvasback is a large North American duck with a distinct sloping profile. This guide covers identification, range, habitat, diet, population context and its historical role in waterfowl hunting.

Guide · Hunting Guides

Bear Scat Identification: What Bear Poop Looks Like

Bear scat is highly variable, but it is often large, contains visible food remains, and changes with season and diet. In the field, it is safest to identify uncertain piles as bear scat unless tracks, range, photos, or other sign confirm black bear or grizzly bear.

Guide · Hunting Guides

Pronghorn Guide: Identification, Range and Behavior

Pronghorn, often called pronghorn antelope, are not true antelope. They are a uniquely North American prairie species known for shed horn sheaths, a white rump signal, exceptional speed and sharp eyesight.

Comparison · Hunting Guides

Coyote vs Fox: How to Tell Them Apart

Coyotes are generally larger, leggier and more dog-like than foxes, while red and gray foxes are smaller with proportionally longer, bushier tails. Tail tip color, body build, tracks, scat and voice can help you separate them in the field.

Guide · Hunting Guides

What Do Foxes Eat? Diet of Red and Gray Foxes

Red and gray foxes are opportunistic omnivores. Their diets shift with season and place, from small mammals and birds to insects, fruit, plant foods and carrion.

Guide · Hunting Guides

Hunting Dog Breeds: Retrievers, Pointers, Flushers and Hounds

Hunting dog breeds make the most sense when grouped by field job, not by a best breed ranking. This guide explains the major hunting dog types, the game they are traditionally associated with, and high level temperament and training considerations.

Guide · Hunting Guides

When Do Deer Have Babies? Fawns Explained

Many white-tailed deer fawns are born in late spring to early summer, but the timing changes by region. A quiet, uninjured fawn found alone is not automatically abandoned because the doe returns periodically to nurse it.