Deer Hunting Archives

5 11, 2025

8 Muzzleloader Hunting Tips

Clay Hanback2025-10-26T10:16:40-04:00November 5th, 2025|Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Deer Guns & Loads, Deer Hunting, sportsman channel, whitetail deer|0 Comments

I’m hunting the early muzzleloader season in Virginia right now, which reminds me of these tips: Drop two 50-grain pellets of Triple Seven (or even three if you use a Remington Ultimate Muzzleloader like I do). Most modern muzzleloaders will shoot just fine with 100 grains. Insert your saboted bullet of choice at the muzzle, and start it down the bore with a short starter. With your ramrod, seat the bullet firmly all way down and on top of the powder, but don’t tamp it or beat it hard. You just want a good, firm seat. Once fully loaded, leave the ramrod in the barrel and mark it with a Sharpie. Check the “fully loaded” reference mark each time you [...]

2 11, 2025

Are Deer Hunters Shooting Enough Does?

Clay Hanback2025-10-26T09:58:10-04:00November 2nd, 2025|Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Deer Hunting, Deer Rut, whitetail deer|0 Comments

State biologists and experts with the National Deer Association have raised concerns about the too-low doe harvest in most corners of America. “From 2000 to 2015, doe harvest far exceeded buck harvest, sometimes by as much as 31%, but we haven’t seen a season like that in 10 years,” says Kip Adams, wildlife biologist and NDA’s Chief Conservation Officer. “Deer populations are strong and growing in most areas, so it’s critical we continue working to boost the doe harvest nationally.” The NDA points to some states where hunters are not shooting enough does: Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, New York, Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota. Even in Texas, where people shoot more does every year than in any state, the harvest is [...]

28 10, 2025

3 Stands for Hunting Thick Cover in the Deer Rut

Clay Hanback2025-10-26T09:45:08-04:00October 28th, 2025|Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Bowhunting, Deer Hunting, Deer Rut, sportsman channel, whitetail deer|0 Comments

Three days or so before the peak of the rut, many does pile into stands of thick cedars or pines. They’re tired of being chased over hill and dale by horny bucks, so they try to hide out in the thickets. Of course, the boys pitch in there and keep harassing them. Check an aerial photograph for a small clearing in the greens, like a third-row thinning in planted pines. Sneak in there (great quiet walking) and set up in a ground blind on the downwind side of the opening. A doe might pop out to browse with a buck on her heels, or more likely she’ll flash across, still trying to dump a rowdy 8-pointer. An old buck is [...]

13 10, 2025

15 Blood-Trailing Tips For Deer Hunters

Clay Hanback2025-10-13T12:55:49-04:00October 13th, 2025|Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Bowhunting, Deer Hunting, whitetail deer|0 Comments

Once you fire an arrow and draw blood, it is your ethical duty to work until you find that buck or doe. Do whatever it takes, for however long it takes: five minutes or five hours or longer. Follow this advice and there's a good chance the red trail will end, happily, at your animal. See Deer Run After the thwack of the arrow, watch the deer run as far as you can see him. In thick woods, look for flashes of white as he darts through the trees. In open country, follow him with your binoculars. At the spot where you lose the buck, pick a marker—big tree, rock, fence post, etc. Climb down from your stand, walk to [...]

7 10, 2025

Deer Science: How Bucks See

Clay Hanback2025-10-07T11:43:58-04:00October 7th, 2025|Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Deer Hunting, Deer Science, whitetail deer|0 Comments

The 10-pointer stepped out of the brush, took a quick look around, lowered his head and strolled toward the corner of the bean field. I smiled and put tension on the bowstring. The wind was perfect for where I was sitting, and in less than a minute the buck’s route would take him down a shallow funnel and to a place less than 25 yards below my tree stand. He kept coming, nose to the ground, but 40 yards out he stopped, flinched, peeked up and wheeled back into the cover. What the…? Had I moved a muscle? I didn’t think so. All I knew was that the buck was gone, and I was I left to wonder went wrong, [...]