5 04, 2019

Why You Should Always Tape The Muzzle of Your Hunting Rifle

2020-06-10T09:15:20-04:00April 5th, 2019|Big Deer Stories, Big Deer TV, Deer Guns & Loads, Deer Hunting|3 Comments

This is me with a great buck I shot out in Wyoming years ago. Minutes earlier I didn’t have that nice smile on my face. I was dazed, confused and damn lucky I hadn’t blown myself up. It started when I shot a foot over the buck at a tad under 200 yards with solid shooting sticks. Even when I miss a deer, it’s not by that much. The deer bolted at the bang and ran straight toward me! I bolted another 130-grainer, fired, missed again. The buck kept churning closer and closer, and I dropped him at 60 steps. Like I said, damn lucky. As I sat muttering and wondering what had gone wrong, I happened to look down [...]

1 04, 2019

2018 Pennsylvania Deer Harvest Highest In 14 Years…State “has never managed whitetails better.”

2020-06-10T09:15:20-04:00April 1st, 2019|Big Deer Stories, Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Bowhunting, Deer Hunting, Deer Management, Deer Science|1 Comment

From the York Dispatch: "The (Pennsylvania Game Commission) reported that a total of 374,690 deer were harvested during the state’s 2018-19 hunting seasons, which closed in January. "That total tops the previous year’s harvest of 367,159 by about 10 percent." The 2018 antlerless harvest of 226,940 was up about 10 percent over last year. Data show that most does—64%--killed by hunters were 2.5 years old, and the remainder were 1.5 years old. The 2018-19 buck kill of 147,750 was down 10% from the previous season. The commission says that steady, heavy rain during opening weekend of gun season was the biggest reason for the decline—it kept a lot of hunters out of the woods, and the bucks didn’t move well in [...]

22 03, 2019

Can You Salvage Roadkill Deer In Your State?

2020-06-10T09:15:25-04:00March 22nd, 2019|Big Deer Stories, Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Deer Hunting, Hunting News|3 Comments

From Popular Science: Jessica Mundall came across a dead buck while driving. The animal had just been hit and killed by a semi-truck, and was still “super fresh.” She and her husband, both hunters, processed the deer on the side of the road…. “After that, we were hooked,” says Mundall, 26, who works for the state’s fish and game department in Boise, Idaho. “We ended up getting our freezer filled off of roadkill.” Idaho is one of 20-some states that allow the free salvage of roadkill animals (you simply need to report your take to the state and answer a few questions within 24 hours). Other states that allow it include Washington, Pennsylvania, Oregon, West Virginia, Montana, Tennessee and Alaska. [...]

20 03, 2019

Deer & Deer Hunting Magazine Files For Bankruptcy

2020-06-10T09:15:25-04:00March 20th, 2019|Big Deer Stories, Big Deer TV, Deer Hunting, Hunting News|10 Comments

I am, or was, a print writer at heart, having majored in English in college many years ago, and then having written thousands of articles for magazines along with 6 books over the past 30 years. This is a sad day for me, as yet another hunting magazine goes down. F+W Media, publisher of Deer & Deer Hunting and 50-some other magazines, is liquidating. The New York-based publishing house, which has been in business for 100 years, filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy papers on March 10. According to the filing, the company has seen magazine subscriptions drop from 33.4 million in 2015 to 21.5 million in 2018. Advertising revenues decreased from $20.7 million in 2015 to $13.7 million. The company’s CEO summed [...]

18 03, 2019

How Will “Bomb Cyclone” and Snowmelt Flooding Affect Deer?

2020-06-10T09:15:25-04:00March 18th, 2019|Big Deer Stories, Big Deer TV, Deer Hunting, Deer Science|Comments Off on How Will “Bomb Cyclone” and Snowmelt Flooding Affect Deer?

The recent bomb cyclone combined with spring snowmelt has swelled some Midwest rivers to record levels and forced the evacuation of hundreds of homes. The governors of Nebraska, Iowa and Wisconsin have declared emergencies. Some of the water-logged areas are bracing for more rain this week.   How will all this flooding affect whitetail deer in the region? Biologists say that rising floodwaters of river and creeks won’t kill many if any adult deer, though it will displace the animals for days and weeks. But the deer will eventually filter back into their habitats once the waters recede. Good news is that pregnant does will move out of rising water now and for the next few weeks. The primary concern for deer herds [...]

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