Oak Creek Whitetail Ranch is an expert in their field and believes that every hunter, novice or expert, should be able to speak and understand the language of their craft. This article details useful deer hunting terminology that every hunter needs to know.

Axe: Popular slang term used by bowhunters to describe their bow.

Bag limit: The number of animals you can harvest legally in a day/season.

Baldy: A phrase used for a doe or antlerless deer.

Bedding Area: An area where deer spend the majority of their daytime hours in a bedded position.

Buck Rub: Scrapes on a tree created by a buck rubbing his antlers against the base. It is often done to rub off velvet on new antlers or during the rut season. It also is done to mark their territory.

Drive: When two or more hunters walk through the woods to push wildlife in the direction of another hunter.

Fawn: A first-year deer.

Field Dressing/Gutting: After shooting a deer, you need to remove the entrails quickly so the meat doesn’t spoil.

Flag: The white underside of a deer’s tale, which flags back and forth when retreating in alarm.

Flat Tops: A frequently used term for a female deer.

Killin Stand: A nearly perfect tree stand.

Pumpkin Patch: A large group of gun hunters clustered together before going for a deer drive, all decked out in blaze orange.

Rut: The breeding season for deer. Buck tends to be more active and far less cautious during two weeks in the fall.

Scent Drag: A piece of rope with a cloth at the end that is sprayed with a deer scent and drug through the woods behind a hunter to make it smell like a deer covered the same path.

Slob-knocker: A ridiculously big buck.

Spread: The total space between the tip of the right antler and the tip of the left antler on a buck.

Still-hunting: Walking very slowly through the woods to ambush an animal before they see or hear you.

String Music: The process of harvesting a whitetail with archery tackle. Some call it sweet, sweet music.

Velvet: A velvet covering over growing bone and cartilage that develops into antlers. Most bucks normally lose/scrape off their velvet by late summer.

Wall Hanger: A large buck that is deemed worthy of mounting and putting on a wall.

White Flag: When white-tailed deer retreat, they raise their white tails to show a predator they were spotted.

It’s important to note that the hunting terms listed above just scratch the surface of deer hunting. There are many hunting terms in use for other game. The more you know about the terminology, history of hunting, and conservation efforts, the better hunter you will become. For more information about whitetail deer visit our website at https://oakcreekwhitetailranch.com/.