For the whitetail hunters out there, how much do you actually know about the deer you’re chasing?  Here are some whitey facts from Big Game Logic for ya:

• A deer can detect the odors and scents several hundred yards away.  A deer licks it’s nose to help keep it moist.  The moist nose allows scent partials to stick to it helping the deer to smell better.
• Antlers are the fastest growing tissue on earth.  A whitetail bucks antlers can grow up to 1/2 inch per day.
• The size mass and number of points on a bucks rack or antlers is determined by nutrition, age and genetics of the buck.
• The estimated nation wide population of the whitetail deer is believed to be 29 million strong up from around 500,000 in the early 1900’s when unregulated commercial hunting threatened to eliminate deer all together.
• Deer can live up to 11 years in the wild.  If they don’t fall victim to a predator or hunter at this age their teeth start to wear out and they can no longer eat.
• Once a deer establishes a territory it will not leave it unless it is bumped out by humans or predators
• Deer are powerful swimmers and will often swim to cross bodies of water.  A deer can swim at up to 13 miles per hour
• Glands on the deer’s legs and feet leave a scent on the trail to help communicate with other deer
• The largest whitetail deer in the world live in Saskatchewan, Canada.
• The term buck comes from the American Frontier when the skin of a Male Deer was worth one dollar or buck
• Each year wolves kill over 40,000 whitetail deer nation wide.  Other predators account for an additional 60,000 deer killed each year

And there ya have it.  Check back soon to find some facts on other Montana big game animals!

(Feature photo via indianawhitetails.wordpress.com)