Your child will have fun learning about Daniel Boone hunting with this quick deer unit study. Look at more ideas on my page Daniel Boone – North American Explorer and for my unit studies on best homeschool unit studies.
If you are trailblazing through the woods exploring about Daniel Boone, you may want to head into learning about Daniel Boone hunting.
Back when people were moving westward and setting out on new trails the wild game was plentiful in the woods.
Daniel Boone would have no doubt encountered deer, squirrel, bear, fox, raccoon, rabbit, beaver, and wild turkey.
I have gathered up plenty of resources for you to focus on a deer unit study.
Boone was a very gifted hunter and deer were a plentiful and common target for the woodsman.
Ideas for a Deer Unit Study
You will find books, games, and hands-on ideas.
I will walk you through a fun art project focusing on the deer’s antlers.
If your family are hunters your child is no doubt already immersed in the world of the hunt.
But if they are just starting out there are a lot of great resources to introduce them to deer, their habitats, their place in the food chain, and more.
10 Fun Facts About Deer
Next, look at these fun facts about deer.
- Deer can reach short distance bursts of speed up to 30mph and jump over 10 feet.
- One in 30,000 deer are albino, the absence of pigment, which gives them white fur and pink eyes.
- There are more than 40 different species of deer in the world.
- A moose is actually a member of the New World deer subfamily.
- Male deer shed their antlers once a year. Males grow antlers from March – September. The antlers are shed in late winter.
- On rare occasions, a female will grow antlers.
- A common deer in North America is the white-tailed deer.
- A male white-tailed deer is called a buck, a female is called a doe and the young are called fawns.
- White-tailed deer are herbivores. They eat twigs, buds, and leaves of a wide variety of plants.
- Deer antlers are the fastest growing bone known and can grow as much as a ½ inch a day.
Then, look at some of these fun resources to learn about deer.
Deer Unit Study Resources
Add these books for a fun deer unit study or to learn about animals encountered along the trails of the Westward Expansion.
I found this interesting looking hunting series of chapter books; The Lost Deer Camp (Hometown Hunters) would fit perfectly with a deer unit study.
While Nature Anatomy does not have a ton on deer specifically it does have a small section on antlered animals including deer, and it gives a simple illustration of the Lyme Bacteria cycle that often plagues deer and gives another take on deer. There are also other common animals of the forest as well as information on the habitat.
Animal Track game is a educational game that will teach kids how to match animals with their tracks and where to find them!
Most animals do not want to come in close contact with humans, but if you learn to notice and recognize their tracks, you will be able identify which animals visit your neighborhood or like to walk along the same trails as you do. Animal tracks can become a window into an otherwise hidden world-the presence and habits of wild animals.
Become a nature detective with this illustrative, engaging and fun Take-Along-Guide. You may not know where to look, or what to look for, but animal signs are everywhere and this guide will help you learn how to read them.
You’re perched in a tree stand when a huge whitetail walks below you. You raise your gun to aim. Do you have what it takes to bag this trophy buck? Now is your chance to learn what you need to know about deer hunting history, gear, techniques, safety, and more.
The board game classic with a Hunting twist
Choose traditional play or one hour version
Opoly-style play
Player pieces consist of crossbow, shotgun shell, backpack, boot, shed, binoculars
For John Borne’s family, hunting has nothing to do with sport or manliness. It’s a matter of survival. Every fall John and his grandfather go off into the woods to shoot deer and put meat on the
table over the long Minnesota winter. But this year, John’s grandfather is dying, and John must hunt alone. John tracks a doe for two days, but as he closes in on his prey, he realizes he cannot shoot
her. For John, the hunt is no longer about killing, but about life.
About White-Tailed Deer
Deer are ruminant mammals which means it has a four‐chambered stomach.
In addition, deer are browsers which means they eat leaves and buds which are not easily digestible.
Their name white tailed deer comes from the fact that when they are in danger their white tail stands upright like a flag.
Too, antlers are grown by only male deer called bucks. However, both male and female reindeer have antlers.
Antlers are made of bone and is covered by a substance called velvet which is full of blood vessels to supply nutrients to the bone.
In addition, no doubt when Daniel Boone was hunting, he was familiar with the diet and habitat of the white tailed deer.
For example, they like open woods, old fields and anywhere along water sources. Deer use the wooded areas for cover and food.
And deer feed on nuts, berries, woody shoots and stems, acorns, honeysuckle, and poison ivy.
If food is planted like corn, soybeans and decorative shrubs they’ll eat that food too.
Next, deer normally make three different sounds which are maternal, reproductive and alarm.
Moreover, I have some fun deer notebooking pages to add to this unit study.
Deer Notebooking Pages
Further, your child can do his own research about deer and add his own notes or use some facts off my post here.
Grab the notebooking pages below.
Also, add in some fun hands-on activities.
Hands-on Deer Activities
- This Easy Hands-on Science: Animal Camouflage Activity Hunt is a great introduction to understanding animal camouflage for younger children.
- Grab this White Tailed Deer Print Out for younger kids to see the different parts of a deer as well as a footprint.
- Make a hand craft deer for the littles.
- If you have the opportunity to use some you have or borrow some antlers from a hunt or shed, let your child explore them by touching and seeing what they feel like, count the tips, and make other observations.
- Turn a few fun deer toys into a wonderful activity by adding a little sand, moss, rocks, and sticks to a tray or bin to turn it into a deer themed sensory activity. Use a small piece of paper to give the woodland clearing a pond.
- Discuss the differences between antlers and horns and if you have some let your kids explore how they are the same and different. Additionally, measure them and learn about math measurements.
- Get outdoors with a field guide to locate wildlife and learn about when is the best time to view deer.
- Learn how colonists and early Native American used parts of the deer in everyday life.
- Further learn and match animal tracks.
Daniel Boone Hunting and Life Resources
Next, look at these other the life of Daniel Boone hunting and about his life resources.
- Free Fun Daniel Boone Quotes for Beginning Cursive Copywork
- Daniel Boone Facts For Kids About Colonial Life and Fun Kids’ Games (DIY Button Whirligig)
- 10 Facts about Daniel Boone and Fun Hands-on Apothecary Salve
- Make a Fun and Easy Salt Dough Daniel Boone Wilderness Road Map
- What Did Daniel Boone Wear And Easy Fringe Shirt Activity for Kid
- 30 Fun Resources for Learning About Daniel Boone
- Daniel Boone Explorer Black Bear Unit Study and Fun Edible Bear Poop
- Daniel Boone Activities Cooking Easy and Delicious Johnny Cakes on the Trail
- Daniel Boone – North American Explorer
- Amazing Daniel Boone Explorer Lapbook and Fun Hands-on Unit Study
- Daniel Boone American Frontiersman History Lesson.
- Daniel Boone Exploration DIY Easy Compass Activity and Survival Ideas.
Finally, I am going to walk you through creating your own multimedia deer art project.
We are going to focus on the antlers.
It makes a good springboard to talk about deer antlers, why they have them, and why they fall off.
This will be the easiest way anyone has brought home a 10 point buck.
Deer Art Project
You will need:
- 11×14 canvas
- Sticks and twigs of various sizes
- Hot glue gun/glue sticks
- Acrylic paint
- pencil
Before you begin, sketch out the top of your deer head onto paper until you are happy with your design.
Retrace the design onto the canvas with a pencil.
Don’t worry about getting it perfect.
We are making our deer just peek over the edge and focusing on those antlers.
Water down blue paint and paint all around the drawing. But do not paint to the edges of your drawing.
Crumple up a rag or paper towel and pat the blue all over to lighten the paint.
Allow the blue paint to dry to the touch, it shouldn’t take long since you removed all the excess paint.
Begin painting to fill in the outline of the deer with brown paint and add details with black and light brown for highlights.
Let the paint dry completely and lay out the sticks until you are satisfied with your antlers.
Lastly, hot glue each piece down
How to Get the Free Deer Notebooking Pages
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