Big Deer Blog

From our friend and fellow Virginia hunter Alex Brown: Hey Mike: Love your show and BIG DEER blog! I’ve attached a picture of my daughter with her first buck. Mattie just started hunting last year and was successful on her very first hunt when she connected on a big doe on youth day. This year she set her sights on killing her first buck. Mattie finally got her chance on January 2. She killed the buck in Charlotte County, VA with a 20-gauge slug. The second picture is my 10-year-old son, Will, with his bear that he killed this year on youth day also in Charlotte County. Needless to say, I am very proud of both of them!---Thanks, Alex Great [...]

Fantastic guest blog from our friend Wren, who hunts the brush country of South Texas: Mike, had to share with you. My wife, Susan, shot her first animal ever one morning last week. The buck gross-scored 120 3/8 and we aged him at 7.5 based on right jaw tooth wear. Back in October, Susan shot a rifle for the first time when we began practicing at the range. She started out with a Ruger .22 LR at 50 yards, and then we moved up to a Remington Mohawk in .222. She shot the black bull’s-eye out at 100 yards with it. We eased her up to my .25-06, practiced some more and went hunting in December. We spotted the buck one day last [...]

My most cherished firearm is a Browning Belgium Auto-5 that my grandpa, Pop, left to me when he passed 40 years ago. This story from Gary really hit home with me: Hey Mike: I really enjoy your TV show and the way you tell the story. I am going to share with you an incredible true story that just unfolded within the last year. Last year I reconnected with an old friend on Facebook; the last time I had seen her was roughly 1975. Her parents and mine used to be friends many years ago. In fact our dads used to deer hunt together, roughly 45 years ago. My dad, brother and I deer hunted for many years together, until my [...]

Just why do whitetail bucks spend so much time and energy growing antlers each spring and summer only to shed them months later during the winter? “Scientists have pondered it for years and we still don’t know,” says noted Iowa whitetail biologist Dr. Mick Hellickson, who points to a couple of solid theories. Some scientists believe bucks shed annually so they’ll have the potential to replace damaged antlers. If a buck had to live his entire life with snapped tines or a broken beam he couldn’t fight his rivals or posture for does. A second theory suggests that bucks shed and grow new racks 10 to even 30 inches larger the following year to keep pace with their increasing weight and girth as they [...]

Saw on Facebook where a hunter named Trevor found these big sheds one day last week in Iowa. And John wrote to me and said: “(Antlers) already dropping in southern Wisconsin! Old massive broken off warrior!" It’s getting to be shed-hunting time! Have bucks started dropping antlers in your area? Have you started looking yet? Here are some great shed-hunting pointers when you do start hunting for bone. Send me pictures of any big sheds you find this spring, good luck.