BigDeer Archives - Big Deer

2 12, 2025

Is the .243 Enough Gun for Deer?

Clay Hanback2025-12-02T09:09:27-05:00December 2nd, 2025|Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Deer Guns & Loads, Deer Hunting, whitetail deer|0 Comments

This is an old picture of my first deer rifle, a Sako action in .243 fitted into a walnut stock handmade and checkered by my dad, a wood artist by trade. Topped with an old Weaver scope. I shot a lot of VA spikes and 4-pointers and a few does with it, though we didn’t kill many does back in the day when I was young and carried that rifle a lot. I handloaded and used 100-grain bullets, various brands. I remember that all the deer I shot in the lungs with the 100-grainers ran a pretty good ways through the woods, but they all died. I don’t recall ever losing one. Why don’t I use the .243 today? I [...]

24 11, 2025

How to Shoot a Buck November 24-30

Clay Hanback2025-11-24T09:59:48-05:00November 24th, 2025|Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Deer Hunting|0 Comments

Big hunting week, with Thanksgiving and all. Enjoy it with family and friends, and use this advice to tag a buck. --MH Deer behavior: Post-rut begins everywhere in central and northern states, but there is still breeding going on. If you get lucky and see one of the last receptive gals, you’re apt to see one or more bucks following her. The does that have been bred are beginning to transition back to food plots, fields, and other food sources. Bucks are tired, spooky and largely nocturnal, but still ready to breed one more time. Key sign: Primary doe trails, buck tracks, reactivated scrapes. Moon/weather: The colder and frostier this week, the more likely you are to see bucks on [...]

13 11, 2025

How to Beat “Lockdown”

Clay Hanback2025-11-13T12:32:48-05:00November 13th, 2025|Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Deer Hunting, trijicon, whitetail deer|0 Comments

Last week was a kick-ass week to hunt, and many good bucks were tagged across the nation. Now, on November 13, I'm getting reports from all over the East and Midwest about the woods and fields going quiet as the "lockdown" or breeding phase of the rut is happening. Well, here's a simple, positive and effective strategy for the next few days.--MH "Lockdown” is the mini-phase when older bucks hook up with the older does to breed, and they all seem to go underground for three or four days. To punch your tag, I believe your best chances the next few days are in the morning. Head for your best stand or blind deep in the timber and hunt there [...]

9 11, 2025

.35 Remington: Thick-Woods Buck-Thumping Cartridge

Clay Hanback2025-11-09T11:55:53-05:00November 9th, 2025|Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Deer Guns & Loads, trijicon, whitetail deer|0 Comments

I bet most of you hunters under the age of 40 have never have heard of the .35 Remington, much less ever owned a rifle chambered for it. The cartridge gained popularity in the 1950s and ‘60s, when Marlin and Winchester chambered lever-actions for the .35 Rem. People who hunted thick woods, from northern Michigan to Maine to anywhere in the country where most shots are 100 yards and in, loved the hard-hitting cartridge that dropped deer on the spot. The niche round continued to be popular into the 1980s and ‘90s. I began hunting with the .35 Rem. in 2018, when Marlin, owned by the now-defunct Remington Arms Company at the time, chambered a new Model 336 lever for [...]

7 11, 2025

How Not to Get a Game Warden’s Ticket!

Clay Hanback2025-10-26T10:35:29-04:00November 7th, 2025|Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Deer Hunting, Hunting News, whitetail deer|0 Comments

As well-intentioned a hunter as you are, it is easier than you think to get lackadaisical, slip up and inadvertently break a hunting law. Here are 5 common violations and how to avoid a game warden’s ticket. Know the Regulations Season dates and bag limits change, the use of bait may be restricted, ever-evolving CWD rules are implemented… Whether you’ve hunted your state for 2 years or 20, it is your responsibility to read the regs from cover to cover and keep up to date with any and all rule changes before each season. If hunters would just do it, 95% of inadvertent violations could be avoided. If you go out of state to hunt, you really need to ready [...]