In October 2008 I first blogged about a giant whitetail that was living in the city limits of East Sioux Falls. Somebody posted a Youtube video of him (I don’t see it online now) and it caused mild hysteria amongst hunters and non-hunters alike. At the time people figured the buck was the walking state record non-typical for South Dakota. He was a 12x14 and people figured he might score 250! The buck would come and go between the city limits and bordering private lands, where people tried to hunt him. Rumors flew like they always do with a Big Deer—“somebody poached him…no, he’s still out there…he got hit by a car…” For 7 years I’ve tracked this amazing deer with [...]

All-new episode tonight on Sportsman Channel 10 ET/9C. Here are some clips from the script you’ll see and hear: “I’m on a high desert adventure in the Oregon Outback with Big Deer producer Justin and his buddy Nick.  “At first glance the high desert appears to be a harsh moonscape. But upon further inspection, you see pockets of water and prime habitat that support the numerous wildlife adapted to thrive here… “Oregon’s high desert is a landscape born of fire. Beginning some 3 million years ago, a string of young volcanoes in eastern Oregon began erupting and covering large terrains with lava flows of basalt. This igneous rock…formed from the rapid cooling of lava exposed at or near the surface…rises [...]

It would not be summer if I didn’t post a humongous rattler. This one has been floating around social media the last few weeks and is allegedly an “11-footer from Texas.” I don’t think rattlesnakes grow that large, but no matter. This is an especially troubling image, so vivid in my mind, since I’ll be hunting in south-central Texas next week. With all the rain they have had down there, the brush will be thick, and who knows what lurks beneath… I have my snake boots ready, but it’s my heart I’m worried about if I ever see one of those things.