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26 04, 2019

What Is The Lifespan of Whitetail Deer?

admin2020-06-10T09:15:19-04:00April 26th, 2019|Big Deer Stories, BigDeer, Deer Hunting, Deer Science|3 Comments

Two of the most amazing facts from the 2018 deer season: A young hunter in Vermont shot a wild doe that, according to a tooth-wear analysis, was 20 years old! And another hunter in Vermont killed a 12-year-old buck! Which begs the question: How long do deer live? In captivity, whitetail does have been documented to live 18 to 25 years, and bucks 14 years. In the wild, where hunters consider a 5-year-old buck to be an old one, deer have the capability to live longer than you think. A doe in Louisiana was aged at 21 1/2 years. Recent data from Pennsylvania confirms 3 wild does to be at least 13.5 years old. Interestingly, other does from Vermont in [...]

23 04, 2019

Virginia: CWD Confirmed In Buck Shot In Culpeper County

admin2020-06-10T09:15:19-04:00April 23rd, 2019|Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Deer Hunting, Deer Science|5 Comments

The Department of Game and Inland Fisheries (DGIF) in my home state of Virginia has confirmed Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) in a buck legally harvested in Culpeper County during the November 2018 rut. CWD has been documented in northwest Virginia (Frederick and Shenandoah counties) for some 9 years, and we hunters in the Northern Piedmont have been holding our collective breath that it would not spread. But it has. The latest infected buck was killed in Culpeper County, 40 miles south of the original CWD zone. Officials discovered this CWD from a sample submitted by a local taxidermist in January 2019. At the time this deer was harvested, the hunter did not notice any outward signs of disease, and the [...]

22 04, 2019

Earth Day 2019: Let’s Celebrate America’s Hunters

admin2020-06-10T09:15:19-04:00April 22nd, 2019|Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Deer Hunting, Hunting News|Comments Off on Earth Day 2019: Let’s Celebrate America’s Hunters

On this Earth Day, I refer you to a passage written by two of America’s top deer biologists, Drs. Larry Marchinton and Karl Miller: In the United States roughly 3 million white-tailed deer are harvested each year… This translates to about 150 million pounds of meat. Add to this the amount of elk, turkey, squirrel, rabbit and other game as well as wild fruits, nuts, and vegetables that is consumed. To produce this amount of beef, chicken, or vegetable crops in addition to that which is already produced would be ecologically devastating. Acres and acres of wild places would have to be destroyed to accommodate this increased agricultural production. More wildlife habitat would have to be plowed under. More pesticides [...]

18 04, 2019

Alabama: Would You Pay To Bait Deer?

admin2020-06-10T09:15:19-04:00April 18th, 2019|Big Deer Stories, BigDeer, Deer Hunting, Hunting News|7 Comments

Alabama has a penchant for strange and confusing game laws, like the current deer-baiting regulation, which allows you to use bait as long as the feed is placed at least 100 yards away from your stand and not in your direct line of sight. Who knows exactly what that means? How could a game warden enforce it? Well, that law might change, possibly to be replaced by another unusual statute. The Alabama Times Daily reports that the state’s House of Representatives has voted to allow people to flat-out use bait—for a fee! House Bill 197 allows for baiting of deer and feral pigs on private and leased lands for a $14 annual “bait privilege license fee” and a $1 issuance [...]

16 04, 2019

Deer Tip: How To Read A Buck’s Body Language

admin2020-06-10T09:15:19-04:00April 16th, 2019|Big Deer Stories, Big Deer TV, Deer Guns & Loads, Deer Hunting|Comments Off on Deer Tip: How To Read A Buck’s Body Language

One November morning in Kansas, the rut was rocking when Greg Brownlee saw a doe walk out of a tree line and proceed to cross a CRP field. She stopped and looked back. "Oh boy, this is it," he thought. Greg’s heart dropped as he glassed a young buck with one antler come out the trees toward the doe. Then he caught more movement—an enormous rack overtook the little buck and made for the doe! The hunter started to get excited, but quickly took 5 deep breaths to calm down. "If I think about it too much, I could screw this thing up," he thought. The giant started toward the doe, but when he got about 150 yards out from [...]

Big Deer Blog

What Is The Lifespan of Whitetail Deer?

Virginia: CWD Confirmed In Buck Shot In Culpeper County

Earth Day 2019: Let’s Celebrate America’s Hunters

Alabama: Would You Pay To Bait Deer?

Deer Tip: How To Read A Buck’s Body Language