Big Deer Stories Archives - Page 37 of 113

11 04, 2018

How to Judge and Measure A Whitetail Buck Rack

admin2020-06-10T09:15:54-04:00April 11th, 2018|Big Deer Stories, BigDeer, Deer Hunting|3 Comments

Print this page, tape it on the wall of your hunting room or camp and refer to it from time to time as you get ready to hit the woods. Tips from Boone and Crockett. Main Beam Length Main beams account for 30 percent of a rack’s score. The average Boone and Crockett-class buck has beams that average 25.63 inches. For field-judging purposes, it's about 8 inches from a buck's eye to the end of its nose, so look for main beams at least 3 times that long. Mass The second most important factor is mass. Circumference measurements taken between the burr and first point (G-1), and between other points along the main beam together provide nearly 18 percent of [...]

9 04, 2018

Vermont’s Biggest Buck In 26 Years

admin2020-06-10T09:15:54-04:00April 9th, 2018|Big Deer Stories, Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Deer Hunting|1 Comment

The Vermont Big Game Trophy Club reports that Chris Harding’s 2017 Bennington County giant is the highest-scoring buck recorded in the state since 1991. The buck scored 176 7/8 NT, with an inside spread of 23 2/8”. Way to go Chris, I believe this is the first Vermont buck ever posted on BIG DEER.

4 04, 2018

What Are The Odds of Shooting A Record-Book Whitetail Buck?

admin2020-06-10T09:15:54-04:00April 4th, 2018|Big Deer Stories, Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Deer Hunting|4 Comments

How likely are you to shoot a buck that qualifies for the Boone and Crockett record book in your lifetime? It varies depending on where you live and hunt of course, but according to B&C your overall odds are approximately 1 in 20,000. Some 10 million deer hunters enter about 500 whitetails a year into the B&C records. Keep hunting and keep the faith. While your odds of shooting a book buck aren’t great, they are a lot better than your chances of winning Mega Millions!

2 04, 2018

Deer Management How-To: Build A Mineral Site

admin2020-06-10T09:15:54-04:00April 2nd, 2018|Big Deer Stories, Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Deer Hunting, Deer Management, Gear Reviews|Comments Off on Deer Management How-To: Build A Mineral Site

Now is time to build new mineral sites (or start recharging old ones) on your hunting land. “Licks” are easy and relatively inexpensive to build and maintain, and they serve 2 purposes: 1) provide trace minerals and vitamins for all deer, from bucks growing new antlers to does getting ready to drop fawns; and 2) they are top spots for you set trail cameras and monitor growing antlers all summer as you prepare your 2018 game plan. Scientists note that whitetails use mineral sites most heavily from late summer until the first frost next fall. From personal experience and observation here in Virginia, bucks start hitting minerals whenever we set them out in early spring through the first 2 weeks [...]

29 03, 2018

Weird: When Legs Grow Out A Deer’s Body!

admin2020-06-10T09:15:54-04:00March 29th, 2018|Big Deer Stories, Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Deer Hunting, Deer Science|Comments Off on Weird: When Legs Grow Out A Deer’s Body!

A guy emailed this picture of a deer with legs growing and flopping out its back. Don’t know when or where it was shot. I’ve seen it before, so it was a few years ago. Photoshop? Looks legit to me. From the scant research I could find on this type of genetic abnormality, scientists say on the very rare occasion when legs grow out of a deer's body, they were likely those of a twin that didn’t form all the way. According to this QDMA post this is most likely a case of a “parasitic twin.” Twin fawns probably began to develop inside a doe, but the twin embryos did not completely separate and one of them stopped developing normally. [...]