Clay Hanback, Author at Big Deer

3 05, 2023

Are Coyotes Killing “Doomed Surplus” of Deer Fawns?

Clay Hanback2023-05-03T08:17:15-04:00May 3rd, 2023|Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Deer Hunting, Deer Science, whitetail deer|Comments Off on Are Coyotes Killing “Doomed Surplus” of Deer Fawns?

In the springs of 2016 and 2017, Justin Dion and his fellow researchers at the University of Delaware captured and collared 109 newborn fawns in Sussex County in the southern portion of the state. The study area had about 50 deer per square mile, but a noticeable lack of predators. No confirmed sightings of bobcats and no bears. Only 9 coyotes had ever been reported harvested statewide in Delaware at the time of the project. Each of the 109 collared fawns was monitored daily. When a fawn died, the researchers investigated the scene, collected data and sent the carcass to a veterinarian for necropsy. After crunching the numbers, Dion and crew reported that only 49 of the 109 fawns they [...]

1 05, 2023

Plant Cover Crops for All-Year Food Plots

Clay Hanback2023-04-30T09:36:39-04:00May 1st, 2023|Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Deer Hunting, Deer Management, whitetail deer|Comments Off on Plant Cover Crops for All-Year Food Plots

Kip Adams, who works for the National Deer Association and who is a whitetail habitat expert, is a big believer in keeping food plots “covered” throughout the year. The best way to keep a plot covered is to have some plants growing in it for as many months as possible. As different varieties of plants grow in a plot, they hold the soil and help to continuously build organic matter. That is why cover cropping has become so big in commercial agriculture. Farmers used to harvest corn or soybeans, and then leave the soil open until the next planting season. Now they seed winter wheat, winter rye or brassicas onto those harvested row crop fields.” A good example in food plots for deer would [...]

28 04, 2023

Do Floods Harm Deer?

Clay Hanback2023-04-28T14:51:14-04:00April 28th, 2023|Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Deer Hunting, Deer Science|Comments Off on Do Floods Harm Deer?

Huge rain and flash flooding here in Virginia this weekend, and it’s moving up the East Coast. Later this spring there will be some flooding in the Midwest and South, as happens every year. How will all this water affect the deer? Biologists say that rising floodwaters of river and creeks won’t kill many if any adult deer, though it will displace animals for days and perhaps weeks. But the deer will eventually filter back into their habitats once the waters recede. While pregnant does will simply move out of rising water now and for the next few weeks, the primary concern for deer herds in and around flood zones occurs later on in May and June, when the does [...]

27 04, 2023

The Antler Obsession is Long Gone–Good Riddance

Clay Hanback2023-04-24T08:44:01-04:00April 27th, 2023|Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Deer Hunting, whitetail deer|Comments Off on The Antler Obsession is Long Gone–Good Riddance

In the late 1990s, the burgeoning whitetail-management movement got highjacked by a loud and obnoxious group of people (I hesitate to call them real hunters) thoroughly obsessed with giant antlers. The noble effort of planting food plots and making other land improvements was not enough. You had to grow and then kill 170-inch plus whitetails, or nothing at all. If you grew or, the horror, shot too small of a buck, you were shamed relentlessly. The big outdoor magazines of the day hopped on board. I know because I worked for two of them. One day an editor told me, “If you don’t put a 180- to 200-incher on the cover, this rag won’t sell jack on the newsstand.” We [...]

24 04, 2023

Louisiana’s “Blue Deer”

Clay Hanback2023-04-24T08:12:23-04:00April 24th, 2023|Big Deer TV, BigDeer, CZ-USA, Deer Hunting, Deer Science, trijicon, whitetail deer|Comments Off on Louisiana’s “Blue Deer”

Before Louisiana was colonized by the French in 1803, the area's whitetail population was about 400,000. As the 19th century wore on, market hunting and the damaging effects of large-scale timber cutting reduced the herds. Hunting laws and bag limits were too liberal or not enforced, and deer numbers fell dramatically. During the early 1900s, Louisiana’s deer population had dropped to about 20,000 animals. But during the tough times, some does and bucks survived in the deep swamps and thickets. As deforested habitats grew into second-growth timber, the whitetail population began to recover. The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries began managing the herds in the late 1940s. Officials set seasons and bag limits. By the early 1950s, managers had [...]

About Clay Hanback

Are Coyotes Killing “Doomed Surplus” of Deer Fawns?

Plant Cover Crops for All-Year Food Plots

Do Floods Harm Deer?

The Antler Obsession is Long Gone–Good Riddance

Louisiana’s “Blue Deer”