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About Clay Hanback

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So far Clay Hanback has created 245 blog entries.
2 12, 2021

Late Deer Tactic: Hunt A Buck’s Bedding Area

2021-11-24T11:06:23-05:00December 2nd, 2021|Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Deer Hunting, whitetail deer|0 Comments

A few years ago my friend Don hunted “Old Double Drop” near a field of cut corn. It was bitter that December, the kind of cold that hurts, with afternoon highs in the teens and single digits. Don knew the whitetails had to feed a lot and early every day, so he kept sitting on the edge of the plot, figuring it was just a matter of time until the big deer showed up in last shooting light. He never did. Double Drop was smart. So is Don. He knew of several narrow, south-facing CRP ditches in the general direction the buck was coming from. Early one afternoon he sneaked back into one of those ravines 200 yards off the [...]

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28 11, 2021

Deer Hunting With The .30-30 Lever

2021-11-24T10:48:36-05:00November 28th, 2021|Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Deer Guns & Loads, Deer Hunting|1 Comment

Introduced by Winchester Repeating Arms in 1895 as the main chambering for their Model 1894 rifle, the .30-30 was the first sporting cartridge loaded with smokeless powder. The original .30-30 Winchester load featured a 160-grain bullet driven at almost 2,000 feet per second, a huge step up in performance as compared to the black powder cartridges of the day. It didn’t take long for hunters across America to fall in love with this revolutionary rifle/cartridge combo, which shot flat and hit and dropped game hard. The .30-30 quickly became the go-to for deer and bear at short to moderate range. In the 20th Century, Marlin Firearms began chambering lever-action rifles in .30-30, and in 1948 the gunmaker introduced the venerable [...]

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26 11, 2021

How To “Drive” Deer The Right Way

2021-11-20T14:26:00-05:00November 26th, 2021|Big Deer TV, BigDeer, whitetail deer|0 Comments

Advice courtesy of Montana’s Eloit Strommen, who is the best I have ever seen at pushing/nudging whitetails: “First off, we never walk from one end of a cover to the next like most guys do, spooking deer and watching them run all over the place,” Eliot says. “We don’t drive the deer. Two or three of us just walk the timber and try to nudge deer from one small cover to the next cover or the next.” Put two or three shooters—bow or gun--in a strip or block of timber a half-mile or even farther from where the pushers will start. Make sure the shooters watch a trail or funnel in the cover. If the pushers nudge deer that way, [...]

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23 11, 2021

Will You Wear A Mask When Gutting A Deer?

2021-11-20T14:14:33-05:00November 23rd, 2021|Big Deer TV, Deer Hunting, whitetail deer|2 Comments

USA Today reports that due to findings of SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19 in humans)  in wild deer, Wisconsin health officials have added 3 new recommendations for hunters this fall, including wearing a mask when field-dressing deer. "Hunters are always encouraged to use good hygiene practices when processing animals to reduce their risk of exposure to many possible disease agents," the agency says. "Incorporating a few additional measures can also help to reduce their risk of possible exposure to the SARS-CoV-2 virus." In addition to wearing a mask while gutting (I might pull up a camo neck gaiter, but I refuse to wear a surgical-type mask for the job) health officials say to limit cutting into and handling a deer's lungs, throat, and [...]

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20 11, 2021

Illinois Bowhunter Shoots Huge Buck At 3 Yards!

2021-11-20T13:41:15-05:00November 20th, 2021|Big Deer Stories, Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Bowhunting, Deer Hunting, whitetail deer|1 Comment

Zach and Ellie Atkins are our favorite hunting couple. Zach reported in with this great news: Well Mike, yesterday afternoon I got it done. 27 days it took and I finally got it done. Best early birthday present ever! This buck was my #1 hit lister. We named him “Scar” because he doesn’t have a right eye, the whole eye is missing. I got in the stand around 12:00 and this bad boy was out in the field dogging a doe about 100 yards away. He started working my way so I got everything ready to go. Then all of a sudden he started to turn the doe away from me. I thought, “Oh hell no!" Grabbed my bow, climbed [...]

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