Hunting Information

A paperback book I acquired as a student in wildlife mgt has been passed around to several of my hunting friends:American Wildlife & Plants A Guide To Wildlife Food Habits by Martin,Zin & Nelson.I pointed out Ceanothus aka bluebrush ,snowbrush, mountain-lilac, California-lilac as a favorite deer & elk food to friends hunting in the AZ rim country. One of my friends came back with an experience ,he was archery hunting in ceanothus and stepped on dry brush all of a sudden dear heads popped up .When I asked locals in Siskiyou County,CA where they were seeing Blacktails they said in the bluebrush which is their name for Ceanothus.When I've walked into patches I noticed the ground was covered with pellet groups(deer droppings). Barnes & Noble has a used 1961 edition source for $10 and another for $55 (I may have paid about$20+ for it in 1961),they have several of the used 1951 editions for $4+. I also have USDA US Forest Service Rocky Mtn Forest & Range Experiment Station :Principal Forage Plants of Southwestern Ranges I acquired while doing Rumen analysis from Mule Deer. When you kill an elk or mule deer save the rumen drying the contents then analyze it to find out what it was feeding on and where the plants are located. Here's another book Hunting Monster Mule Deer in Arizona's Kaibab Region by Duwane Adams & Durwood Hollis.

Edited by 24mod12

saddlesore wrote: I can see myself packing gut contents out 5-8 miles just to find out what the elk were eating

Some hunters saved them so the students  would have the opportunity to check what Mule Deer were eating: the mule deer rumen I analyzed indicated it had fed on barrel cactus & seeds,mesquite pods and seeds,stones,unidentified seeds,sorghum halepense and misc seeds,hulls & grasses.The AZ Gray Fox had an empty stomach & the Peccary had stones,saguaro parts & seeds,prickly pear & misc plant material.I have this info in my field book from 1961,1962 & 1963 plus print outs on coues,mule,elk food preferences. 

Edited by 24mod12