Clay Hanback, Author at Big Deer

14 03, 2022

Want to Enter a Buck in the Record Book? Be Careful Using A Cellular Trail Camera

Clay Hanback2022-03-14T11:12:19-04:00March 14th, 2022|Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Deer Hunting, Hunting News, whitetail deer|1 Comment

You are probably unaware of this because the Boone & Crockett Club quietly released this December 2021 update to its position statement on technology: “The use of any technology that delivers real-time location data (including photos) to target or guide a hunter to any species or animal in a manner that elicits an immediate (real-time) response by the hunter is not permitted.” In other words, if you use a cellular trail camera for scouting whitetails, like millions of us do these days, and happen to get lucky and kill a giant buck on the same day you got a picture of it, do not think about entering it into the B&C records. Your great buck would not be eligible. Further, [...]

9 03, 2022

4 Ways To Improve Your Deer Hunting Land With A Chainsaw

Clay Hanback2022-03-09T08:28:18-05:00March 9th, 2022|Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Deer Hunting, Deer Management, whitetail deer|Comments Off on 4 Ways To Improve Your Deer Hunting Land With A Chainsaw

March is a great time to fire up your Stihl saw and improve the hunting on your property next fall. Create Browse A honey hole that had produced a bunch of bucks over the years went cold on my Virginia land. Deer quit using the area, and it didn’t take me long to figure out why. The woods had simply grown too old. There was a heavy, dark canopy and little vegetation on the ground. A couple of buddies and I fired up chainsaws and dropped most of the scrub pole timber in a half-acre strip. Today briars and berry bushes grow everywhere in there. It’s once again a staging area for deer and one of my favorite bowhunting spots. [...]

7 03, 2022

14 Facts About Shed Deer Antlers

Clay Hanback2022-03-07T09:43:55-05:00March 7th, 2022|Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Deer Hunting, Shed Hunting, whitetail deer|Comments Off on 14 Facts About Shed Deer Antlers

#1 Typical Whitetail Antler in Shed Record Book: 6-point 104 6/8 left side picked up in Illinois 1992. #1 Non-Typical Whitetail Antler in Shed Record Book: 24-point 156 5/8 right side found in Saskatchewan 2007. Individual bucks often shed their antlers the same week every year. Older bucks in good physical condition generally retain their antlers longer than those who are nutritionally stressed. Older bucks that skip meals during the breeding season and rut hard the previous fall may be in poor post-rut condition, and are choice candidates for early antler casting. Increasing daylight and a buck’s falling testosterone cause antlers to shed. Once a buck drops one antler, the other one usually falls off within hours or a day. [...]

4 03, 2022

Anti-Hunting Organizations Want To Ban Import Of Wildlife Parts into U.S.

Clay Hanback2022-03-03T09:18:39-05:00March 4th, 2022|Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Deer Hunting, Hunting News|Comments Off on Anti-Hunting Organizations Want To Ban Import Of Wildlife Parts into U.S.

Two groups you have never heard of, the Center for Biological Diversity and the Natural Resources Defense Council, petitioned the Secretary of the Interior and the Fish and Wildlife Service to ban the import of all wild animals into the United States, and additionally to ban interstate transport within the U.S. of all wildlife parts. “This is a ridiculous petition bordering on hysteria by radical animal-rights organizations…whose only goal is to advance an extreme agenda by stoking fears around COVID-19,” said Bruce Tague of the Sportsmen’s Alliance. The antis claim that stopping the import and movement of wildlife and parts would reduce the threat of a virus like SARs-CoV-2 jumping from animal to animal and causing another pandemic. The petition [...]

1 03, 2022

Plant Sawtooth Oaks For Deer, Especially If You Bowhunt

Clay Hanback2022-02-27T11:00:48-05:00March 1st, 2022|Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Deer Management, whitetail deer|Comments Off on Plant Sawtooth Oaks For Deer, Especially If You Bowhunt

This year you might want to plant some mast trees, especially if long-term habitat management for whitetails and turkeys is on your agenda. In the early 1990s, Trebark camo creator Jim Crumley purchased and planted 50 sawtooth oak seedlings on a 300-acre property he owns and hunts on the banks of Virginia’s James River. He clustered 30 of the fast-growing seedlings in one open area, and scattered the rest around. “They’ve done great. Some trees produced acorns in the eighth fall,” he says. “By the 12th year the trees were 8 to 10 feet tall, and all but four of them were bearing.” The best part about sawtooth oaks, which came from eastern Asia, is that unlike our native white [...]

About Clay Hanback

Want to Enter a Buck in the Record Book? Be Careful Using A Cellular Trail Camera

4 Ways To Improve Your Deer Hunting Land With A Chainsaw

14 Facts About Shed Deer Antlers

Anti-Hunting Organizations Want To Ban Import Of Wildlife Parts into U.S.

Plant Sawtooth Oaks For Deer, Especially If You Bowhunt