Big Deer Blog

29 10, 2014

Taxidermy Record: Giant Velvet Buck on Wall In 1 Month!

2020-06-10T09:19:54-04:00October 29th, 2014|BigDeer|3 Comments

On September 29 I posted this blog on the velvet monster that Kentucky hunter Jeff Fogle shot with his bow earlier last month. The other day Jeff sent me an email with these pics: Just got my buck back from the taxidermist! Green scored 184 2/8". Most amazing taxidermy work I've ever seen. I wish it was possible to capture all the detail in the pics. I wrote Jeff back and asked how in the world he got his buck back so quickly. He said: My taxidermist is quick! Mine was the first deer of the year for him. He only takes 20 a year. He would've had it done in 2 weeks if he hadn’t had to soak the velvet [...]

27 10, 2014

Rut Tactic: Best Buck Sign

2020-06-10T09:19:54-04:00October 27th, 2014|BigDeer, Deer Hunting, Deer Management|1 Comment

The big-buck hunting is just about to get good, really good. To confirm that a shooter buck you've been seeing is still in your woods, or to learn that a "new" buck has rolled in and is searching for does, look for 3 things: Tracks: Ordinary-looking tracks 2 to 2 ½” long tell you little (could be a buck or an adult doe). But a deep, splayed print 2½ to 3 1/2” long screams buck, although the size of his rack is anybody’s guess. Lots of big, fresh tracks in the mud in a small area indicate good buck activity in that area—move in and hunt that spot. Rubs: The buck that blazed the first big rubs you found back in mid-September might still be around—or he might be 2 miles away. [...]

24 10, 2014

iPhone/Scope Buck Photo

2020-06-10T09:19:54-04:00October 24th, 2014|Big Deer Stories, BigDeer|2 Comments

Today’s great blog comes from Maryland hunter and longtime Big Deer blogger Danny Myers: Mike: Maryland had its 3-day early muzzleloader season last weekend. I had taken my nephew on Thursday and Friday with no luck. We were a bit discouraged with the lack of deer sightings, so we decided not to go Saturday morning. I texted his dad around 4:00 Saturday afternoon to see if he wanted to give it one more try and he said no.  I told him that if he didn’t go a buck would probably come out. Sure enough within 15 minutes of sitting down this young 8-point came out. It took me awhile to get the scope and iPhone lined up, but I was able to get [...]

22 10, 2014

Buck Deer 1, Wife and Car 0

2020-06-10T09:19:54-04:00October 22nd, 2014|BigDeer|Comments Off on Buck Deer 1, Wife and Car 0

  From longtime BIG DEER blogger Cory S.: Hey Mike! Wanted to pass along a pic of what happened a few hours ago. My wife and I were driving with my daughter when a doe suddenly crossed in front of us. Apparently she was "hot" because a couple of seconds later a massive 10 pointer exploded out of the woods and took the car out! The buck bounced off, got up, looked at us like we were crazy and then got back the chase for the doe! Incredible animals I tell ya! We are all ok. Olivia was a mess and crying though, she thought she had hit and killed the deer. My daughter and I told her the buck was [...]

22 10, 2014

New Science: Whitetail Buck Home Ranges

2020-06-10T09:19:54-04:00October 22nd, 2014|BigDeer, Deer Science|2 Comments

For his graduate research project at Auburn, deer researcher Clint McCoy tracked the movements of 37 GPS-collared bucks on a 6,400-acre hunting site with excellent habitat in South Carolina. Read the full story at QDMA.com; here are a few highlights with my observations: Clint found average fall home range size for a buck was 350 acres. A buck’s age did not seem to play a role in how far he moved. “Our two smallest home ranges were yearling bucks at 60 and 90 acres. Our two largest home ranges of 754 and 640 acres were also yearling bucks.” This seems to contradict some earlier studies which found that older bucks have the smallest home ranges of all bucks. But this [...]

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