Blog | Big Deer

14 02, 2020

Why And How To Scout Deer In February

Clay Hanback2020-02-14T07:46:37-05:00February 14th, 2020|Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Deer Hunting, Shed Hunting, whitetail deer|1 Comment

Hunting from one stand on and off for a month last fall, I saw 12 different bucks. Most were small, two were borderline shooters that I passed and one 9-pointer was 150-class. Hot after a doe one day, the giant rolled off the ridge across from me and crashed down into a slough, out of muzzleloader range and moving too fast for a shot. All I could do was sit and gawk his tall tines, brassy like butter knives in the sun. The season came and went, and I never saw him again. I didn’t shoot any buck from the stand, and that is all right. Getting skunked sometimes is part of the game. Just the other day I went [...]

11 02, 2020

How Many Bucks Do Hunters Harvest In North America?

Clay Hanback2020-02-11T11:57:39-05:00February 11th, 2020|Big Deer TV, Deer Hunting, Deer Management, Hunting News, whitetail deer|0 Comments

The Quality Deer Management Association (QDMA) has released its 12th annual Whitetail Report, a comprehensive update on the status of white-tailed deer including harvest trends through the 2018-19 season, the most recent hunting season with complete deer harvest data available from most whitetail states and Canadian provinces. In 2018-19, the total national buck harvest was 2,908,155. For comparison, the modern record buck harvest of 3.1 million was set in 1999. The big news is that across the U.S. and Canada in 2018-19, the percentage of yearling bucks (1½ years old) in the total antlered buck harvest fell to 30%, the lowest ever recorded. “The fact that less than 1 in 3 antlered bucks shot today is 1½ years old is amazing,” [...]

7 02, 2020

Recipe: Venison Jerky

Clay Hanback2020-02-07T10:19:39-05:00February 7th, 2020|Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Deer Hunting, Recipes, whitetail deer|0 Comments

This would be a great project for this weekend! Cracked Pepper & Garlic Jerky from the deer meat you got last season. INGREDIENTS 1 hindquarter venison roast (makes about 5 pounds of jerky) 1 Cracked Pepper ‘N Garlic Blend Jerky Kit from Hi Mountain Seasonings PREP Slice the venison, with the grain of the meat, into thin slices between 1/4 to 1/8th of an inch. Using the instructions supplied with the, measure and mix the cure and spice in the supplied shaker bottle. Lay the venison slices on a flat tray and season both sides with all the seasoning and cure in the shaker bottle. If there is any seasoning on the tray, slide the venison slices around until all [...]

5 02, 2020

Should You Feed Deer In The Winter?

Clay Hanback2020-02-05T13:14:09-05:00February 5th, 2020|BigDeer, CWD, Deer Hunting, Deer Science, whitetail deer|0 Comments

Yes, natural food is scarce and whitetail deer are hungry and scavenging every bite they can find right now in late winter. NO, you should not feed them. No corn, no apples, no hay, nothing. “Congregation of deer is a way in which Chronic Wasting Disease is spread through nose to nose contact,” explains Ryan Brown, director of Virginia Game and Inland Fisheries. “We encourage the public not to feed deer, because the deer don’t need it in Virginia to survive, and number two, attracting deer to a particular feeding location simply ups the odds that the disease will be spread within the herd.” CWD can be spread by disease prions that live in the soil for years. “The prions [...]

4 02, 2020

Oklahoma: Bryant Buck Scores 190 6/8 Typical!

Clay Hanback2020-02-04T08:03:07-05:00February 4th, 2020|Big Deer Stories, Big Deer TV, BigDeer, whitetail deer|0 Comments

From North American Whitetail: “I didn’t get a picture of that deer until the beginning of November, but when I saw him, I knew he was a good one even if I didn’t really know how good,” (Troy Bryant) said. “I got my second set of pictures on Nov. 18. Once again, I knew he was a good deer from those photos, but I still didn’t know he was a 200-inch kind of deer.” On opening day of Oklahoma’s 2019 deer gun season, Troy saw and shot the beast. The Harper County buck had 11 points, 25-inch-plus beams and scored 197 7/8 inches gross 190 6/8 net, ranking it as one of the top-five all-time typicals in Oklahoma. Read the [...]