Big Deer TV Archives - Page 119 of 195

24 06, 2019

5 Tips For Summer Camping

bluemillion2020-06-10T09:15:18-04:00June 24th, 2019|Big Deer Stories, Big Deer TV, BigDeer|Comments Off on 5 Tips For Summer Camping

The 4th of July is right around the corner, and many families will head to the woods. Some things to keep in mind: Get the Kids Involved Keep your kids busy and off their phones and gaming devices. Start out with a little required work—setting up the tent, collecting firewood, etc. Then move on to a whole lot of fun. Go hiking with your son or daughter, show him or her deer tracks, fish for trout or bream, etc. If you’re in a safe, remote area, show him or her how to plink with a pellet gun or 22 (make sure shooting is legal if you’re on public ground). The more active your kids are the more fun they’ll have, [...]

21 06, 2019

Summer Land Management: 3 Tips For Better Deer Hunting

admin2020-06-10T09:15:18-04:00June 21st, 2019|Big Deer Stories, Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Deer Hunting, Deer Management|Comments Off on Summer Land Management: 3 Tips For Better Deer Hunting

While you’re out working your land with a tractor this summer, try this. Bush-hog a strip of grass or mow a lane through a thicket right up to one or two of your favorite tree stand locations. Keep those lanes trimmed one more time this summer. Deer will find them and use them. One day later this fall, an 8-pointer might walk smack down the strip to your bow stand. The trimmed lanes are also great places to plant mini-plots of clover. Scour an old grown-up farm field for hidden fruit trees, like apple or persimmon. Open up the trees by clearing away brush; prune a few limbs and pour some fertilizer over the roots. A tree should make some [...]

19 06, 2019

3 Reasons Whitetail Bucks Grow Giant Non-Typical Racks

admin2020-06-10T09:15:18-04:00June 19th, 2019|Big Deer Stories, Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Bowhunting, Deer Hunting|Comments Off on 3 Reasons Whitetail Bucks Grow Giant Non-Typical Racks

One day last fall in Perry County, Ohio, Ethan Featheroff arrowed a 20-point giant that scored 220 7/8”. Over in Logan County, West Virginia, Donny Baisden scouted, hunted and shot the awesome unicorn buck (pictured) that taped out at 182 5/8. The 10-year trend of hunters shooting monster non-typical whitetails continues, and many more giants will fall in 2019. There are 3 reasons bucks grow such huge, gaudy racks. Injury: Biologists have long known that trauma to a buck’s skull plate or velvet antlers or a major bodily injury (i.e., a broken leg) can cause a rack to grow crazily during the current antler cycle or even for several years thereafter. Injury probably accounts for the most freakish racks, like [...]

12 06, 2019

11 Cool Facts: How Whitetail Bucks Grow Antlers

admin2020-06-10T09:15:19-04:00June 12th, 2019|Big Deer Stories, Big Deer TV, Deer Hunting, Deer Science|Comments Off on 11 Cool Facts: How Whitetail Bucks Grow Antlers

1) Back around April, as the days got longer and the light increased, new antlers began to grow from buds that formed on pedicels on bucks’ heads. Within a month, main beams and brow tines began to sprout and split off. 2) Now, throughout early summer, the fledgling racks grow fast and furious. Antler tissue is the fastest-growing tissue in the animal world. Beams and tines may grow a quarter-inch or more per day, the process driven by a buck’s hormones and the photoperiod of the days. 3) According to biologists, a buck’s rack will show most of its points by mid-June, though tine length is typically less than half developed at this time. Most of the beam length will [...]

5 06, 2019

How To Build Summer Mineral Licks For Deer

admin2020-06-10T09:15:19-04:00June 5th, 2019|Big Deer Stories, Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Deer Hunting, Deer Science|1 Comment

Mineral sites or “licks” provide hubs for your trail cameras and allow you to gain critical intel on bucks for months. You take pictures and watch them grow all summer, which is fun, and you start to pattern and narrow their movements as bow season approaches later toward fall. On one of the farms I hunt in Virginia, my friend Jack and I have 8 licks scattered across 800 acres of woods. About 1 strategically placed mineral site for every 100 acres is about right. We normally begin lining these sites with minerals sometime in May, and the deer visit them immediately. The bucks on this farm know where the licks are and have been hitting them regularly for years. [...]