The wind was blowing so hard I had to pick my hat up off the ground, twice. The warm, early-season sun beat down on me as I picked my way along a tree line to a big oak I’d eyeballed a week or so ...

The oldest wild whitetail ever documented lived to be 24 years old. That’s impressive—but also the exception, not the norm. In North America, wild deer usually have short, hard lives as they navigate ...