Kids Outdoor Outpost – October 2021

A Coat Of Many Seasons

Archery deer season began last month, and I always enjoy watching deer on their leisurely early season saunters through the woods.

It amazes me at the camouflage effect the hair provides for them with each season. I find it interesting that they are called “whitetails” since most of the time that you see them, they seem to just melt into the scenery. Of course, unless they are spooked or shot at. Then they throw that white flag up in no time at all. 

I still have the tanned hide of my first bow-kill from many years ago. I remember being proud of the perfectly placed triangle of the broadhead that sheared through the fur and hide and caused the demise of the young buck.

During early bow season you may have noticed that many deer were still in their summer coats with a reddish-brown hue. These are much different than their winter coats. The summer fur has very thin and short hairs that are only about an inch long. 

Leonard Rue wrote in his book “The Deer of North America,” that there are about 5,000 or more hairs on each inch of a deer’s summer coat. Wow, do the math and that comes out to literally millions of hairs on an adult deer. 

Deer don’t have sweat glands like humans, and these thin hairs allow air for movement to keep them cool throughout the four or five months of warmer weather that they go through. Sometimes during the hot Georgia weather of the early season hunts, I think I might enjoy having something similar. Just kidding.

These reds and browns were in stark contrast to the mottled and unkempt looking coats that I saw them in during turkey season. Those coats were kind of patchy and ragged.

As archery season progressed, I noticed the reds were beginning to fade into darker brown and gray coats that will carry them though the winter season. These coats have a different type of hair, and the darker color absorbs more heat from the sun. There aren’t as many hairs in number as the summer coats, but the hairs are longer and are actually hollow, which allows for kind of an insulation factor. 

Did you know that these winter hairs are actually water repellent? Yep, they secrete an oily substance called sebum that keeps the hair from getting stiff, and it sheds water. Quite an effective system for keeping warm when it gets cold outside! 

As spring approaches, the cycle begins again. Think about that when you rub your hand over your harvest this season. You may even want to tan that hide.