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13 07, 2015

Summer Trail-Camera Tips

admin2020-06-10T09:19:36-04:00July 13th, 2015|Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Deer Management|668 Comments

A lot of hunters have had their cameras out for weeks or months, but right now is when I like to start my annual big-buck recon in earnest. In mid-July the bucks’ velvet antlers are well up and growing full bore; if you see or get an image of a big one, you’ll immediately know it. The bucks haven’t been hunted, or even disturbed by a man in their woods, for 7 months, so they are laid back and “camera ready.” It’s just like hunting. The first time you sit in a tree stand—or the first time you set a cam—is the best time to shoot a big deer, or get an image of a giant like the one pictured here. Saturday [...]

10 07, 2015

Rainfall 2015: Good Deer Health & Big Antlers

admin2020-06-10T09:19:36-04:00July 10th, 2015|Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Deer Science|724 Comments

All this rain we’ve been getting here in Virginia—and across the East and Midwest—is great for deer, and at this stage of the pre-season, barring any big breakouts of disease, I’m predicting a banner hunting year in most all of whitetail range. It is mid-July and the woods and fields are greener and lusher than I have seen them in years. The corn is emerald and tall. The habitat’s natural food and cover are in peak condition, and have been since spring. For months deer have consumed nutritious forbs and new-growth browse, which are high protein. The woods are a jungle of green, with good cover everywhere. With does healthy and producing good milk from eating right, they have dropped a good [...]

9 07, 2015

Vanilla Scent for Deer Hunting

admin2020-06-10T09:19:36-04:00July 9th, 2015|Big Deer TV, BigDeer|74 Comments

Another scent that you might try in place of deer urine is vanilla, which some hunters swear by. Here’s a homemade recipe that a hunter named John sent me. "Mike: I’ve been using vanilla as a cover and curiosity scent for years here in Iowa, and I swear by it! Take a 32-ounce spray bottle, fill it with three-quarters imitation vanilla (I use Baker's Imitation Vanilla), add three tablespoons pancake syrup, add a little water and top off with more vanilla. Shake vigorously and you're good to go. Apply it to your boots and clothes, and spray on trees and brush around your tree stand. Don’t wash your pants and coat until the season is over. Re-apply the vanilla concoction [...]

8 07, 2015

Best Synthetic Deer Scents

admin2020-06-10T09:19:36-04:00July 8th, 2015|BigDeer|4 Comments

In Virginia, Vermont and localized areas where natural deer urine has been banned due to fears of spreading chronic wasting disease (CWD), there are synthetic scents you can use to make drag lines, doctor scrapes and otherwise try to lure in a buck. These manmade liquids, which contain no urine, are formulated to smell like deer pee and gland secretions, and hence attract both does and bucks. Use synthetic scents the same way you've used hot-doe urine in the past. Manmade scents do not breakdown over time or when exposed to air like real deer urines do, so you can use the same bottle of synthetic from one year to the next. Wildlife Research Center offers Buck-Fire, which is made to smell and work like [...]

6 07, 2015

Virginia Bans Deer Urine For 2015 Hunt Season

admin2020-06-10T09:19:36-04:00July 6th, 2015|BigDeer, Deer Science, Hunting News|22 Comments

We’ve talked a lot about EHD (commonly known as blue tongue)but now another ugly deer disease, chronic wasting (CWD), is taking center stage. CWD is a contagious and progressive neurological disease that causes degeneration of the brain of infected animals, resulting in emaciation, abnormal behavior and ultimately death. CWD has been around for decades in the West. It was found east of the Mississippi in Wisconsin in 2002, and since then has been documented in 8 eastern states, including Virginia. Since 2009, there have been 7 documented cases of CWD in Virginia, all confined to private land in Frederick County along the West Virginia border. The Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries (VDGIF) has spent more than 1 million dollars [...]

Big Deer Blog

Summer Trail-Camera Tips

Rainfall 2015: Good Deer Health & Big Antlers

Vanilla Scent for Deer Hunting

Best Synthetic Deer Scents

Virginia Bans Deer Urine For 2015 Hunt Season