25 09, 2023

Why You Should Shoot a Doe Early in Bow Season

2023-09-25T09:21:42-04:00September 25th, 2023|Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Bowhunting, Deer Hunting, Deer Science, whitetail deer|Comments Off on Why You Should Shoot a Doe Early in Bow Season

In this open letter to hunters as the 2023 season kicks off, Chad Stewart, deer management specialist with the Michigan DNR, writes: …”the typical Michigan hunting philosophy to date is to hold off on taking antlerless deer until later in the season.” While there are exceptions to this way of thinking, that is the predominant philosophy of whitetail hunters in most states: Spend the early archery season and the rut trying to get your buck, then maybe shoot a doe or 2 for the freezer after Thanksgiving until the season ends. But in regions where there are too many antlerless deer, where the buck/doe ratio is out of balance, such as in the Lower Peninsula of Michigan right now, that [...]

18 09, 2023

Big Deer’s 2023 Moon-Rut Hunting Guide

2023-09-18T08:55:01-04:00September 18th, 2023|Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Bowhunting, Deer Hunting, Deer Rut, Deer Science, whitetail deer|6 Comments

Over the past 40 years I’ve spent more than 1,000 days in deer stands across North America during the magic month of November, during every imaginable moon phase, during all the waxing and waning days. Though many scientists don’t put much stock in the moon and its effects on whitetails and the rut, my journal notes and personal observations say differently. I am convinced the various lunar phases can and do impact the movements of rutting deer, though admittedly those effects can sometimes be difficult to see and predict because of warm-weather patterns and moderate to heavy hunting pressure from region to region, Here are my 2023 moon-rut predictions. Factor them into your gameplan as you schedule your rut-hunting vacation [...]

30 08, 2023

Why Some Bucks Grow Non-Typical Antlers

2023-08-17T11:26:31-04:00August 30th, 2023|Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Deer Hunting, Deer Science, whitetail deer|Comments Off on Why Some Bucks Grow Non-Typical Antlers

In Perry County, Ohio, Ethan Featheroff arrowed a 20-point giant that scored 220 7/8”. In Logan County, West Virginia, Donny Baisden scouted, hunted and shot the awesome unicorn buck that taped out at 182 5/8. The 20-year trend of hunters shooting monster non-typical whitetails continues, and many more giants will fall in 2023. Here are 3 reasons bucks grow such huge, gaudy racks. Injury: Biologists have long known that trauma to a buck’s skull plate or velvet antlers or a major bodily injury (i.e., a broken leg) can cause a rack to grow crazily during the current antler cycle or even for several years thereafter. Injury probably accounts for the most freakish racks, like a “cactus buck.” If deer tries to jump a wire [...]

27 08, 2023

Texas Unicorn Velvet Buck

2023-08-17T11:16:50-04:00August 27th, 2023|Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Deer Hunting, Deer Science, whitetail deer|Comments Off on Texas Unicorn Velvet Buck

My friend Wren from down in Texas sent me this photo and said, “Looks like we have another unicorn buck on the ranch!” Look close in the middle of the deer’s forehead and you’ll see it. You might ask, “Is possible a tine can grow out the middle of a buck’s forehead like that? How rare is it?” Yes, tines can grow in weird places. Mickey Hellickson, one of the top whitetail scientists in the world with a lot of experience in Texas, says: It is caused by trauma to the frontal bone. This entire region of the skull is capable of growing antler, and if an area of the frontal bone is injured (such as a tine puncture from another [...]

21 06, 2023

Why a Deer Eats a Snake

2023-06-21T14:50:29-04:00June 21st, 2023|Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Deer Hunting, Deer Science, whitetail deer|2 Comments

By now you’ve probably seen the video of a whitetail doe eating and inhaling lengthwise a 2-foot-long snake. The video, taken by Trey Reinhart with his phone while driving along a road in Texas, has gone viral on Twitter with more than 18 million views. Wait, aren’t deer herbivore? Plant-eaters? Yes, and while it’s rare, a deer will sometimes eat animals or animal matter that it runs across. Most documented cases of carnivorous meals have been deer eating the eggs from a bird’s ground nest. Deer have also been know to eat tiny songbird chicks. A few years back, a photo of a deer standing in a creek with a fish in its mouth went viral. I read where some [...]

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