Blog - Big Deer

23 03, 2023

North Carolina Hunter Shoots 695-Pound Black Bear

Clay Hanback2023-03-19T09:47:58-04:00March 23rd, 2023|Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Hunting News|0 Comments

I knew there were monster bears in North Carolina, but holy-moly. A local Haywood County hunt master Jeff Teague explains a good day in the western Carolina mountains last October. "When we turned (the dogs) loose, we didn't realize exactly how big it was," Teague said. "I run down the trail and I saw the bear, and I could tell it was a big bear, but honestly, you couldn't tell that it was 700 pounds. So, I got on the radio and yelled at Lucas (Teague) and Caleb (Henry), 'Hey, the bear's coming to you.' It went up the mountain to them, and then Luke and Caleb were able to cut it off, and Caleb was able to get the [...]

20 03, 2023

Thoughts on High-Fence Deer Hunting from a Low-Fence Hunter

Clay Hanback2023-03-18T14:16:15-04:00March 20th, 2023|Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Deer Hunting, whitetail deer|0 Comments

Got this email from long-time reader Mitch and it got me to thinking about the always controversial high-fence hunting debate: Mike: Last year for the first time I hunted a high fence ranch in Texas. I did not pay even half of the $10,000 or $20,000 that I keep reading about. I did not see any 170-class bucks. I did not see a 150 buck. The deer I saw were very alert and skittish. I had the time of my life. Not just seeing a lot of deer, but as most hunters can relate too, I just had a good time doing all the things associated with a hunt. I killed a buck I was happy with, but it would [...]

16 03, 2023

BIG BREAKING NEWS: Kansas Bans Trail Cameras on Public Land

Clay Hanback2023-03-16T09:57:08-04:00March 16th, 2023|Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Deer Hunting, Hunting News, whitetail deer|0 Comments

A year ago to the day I penned an article for Realtree.com titled: Is a Trail Camera Ban Coming to a State Near You? I wrote: Earlier in 2022 Utah joined Arizona and Nevada in banning the use of all trail cameras for hunting. Montana prohibits the use of cellular cams during hunting season. I then asked: Could similar restrictions move eastward to states where millions of us chase whitetails, and where millions of us use trail cams extensively for scouting and hunting? It did not surprise me that those western states banned cameras. Most of the western elk and deer hunters I know, especially the die-hard “trad” bowhunters, are fervently anti-technology and very vocal about it. If the game [...]

14 03, 2023

Here’s What Deer Hunting Will Look Like in 2030

Clay Hanback2023-03-14T08:41:17-04:00March 14th, 2023|Big Deer TV, BigDeer, CWD, Deer Hunting, Deer Science, whitetail deer|3 Comments

When I moved on from squirrels to birds to hunting deer with my dad in the 1970s, there were about 200,000 whitetails in Virginia. Today, we’ve got almost 5 times that many. In the 1980s and 90s, we went from “if it’s brown it’s down” to the “horn porn” era. Whitetail management was in its infancy, and many people mistakenly took working to improve the health of a deer herd for engineering the growth of gigantic antlers. All you saw in hunting magazines and on videos, which were exploding in popularity then, were images of pen-raised bucks with enormous, protein-loaded 190- to 250-inch-plus racks. If the average hunter dared drag a forkie or 6-point back to camp, he was ridiculed [...]

8 03, 2023

Pennsylvania’s Saturday Deer Opener 4 Years Later: Liked By Most, Hated By Some

Clay Hanback2023-03-08T09:49:35-05:00March 8th, 2023|Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Deer Hunting, Hunting News, whitetail deer|1 Comment

Last year I reported on a survey showing that most hunters in Pennsylvania like the new if controversial Saturday start to the firearms deer season. For many years, the Penn. gun season started the Monday after Thanksgiving, but that was changed to the Saturday opener in 2021. The study found that some 60% of hunters preferred the Saturday opening day. Top reasons cited included more opportunity to hunt since most people are off work that day, and kids are out of school so it's easier for them to go with a parent on Saturday. Lancaster Online has conducted 3 polls since the season was changed, and all three times the majority of respondents favored the Saturday opener by a wide [...]