BigDeer Archives - Page 115 of 342

5 08, 2019

Deer Antlers August: How Much More Will They Grow?

bluemillion2020-06-10T09:14:53-04:00August 5th, 2019|Big Deer Stories, BigDeer, Deer Hunting|Comments Off on Deer Antlers August: How Much More Will They Grow?

In early August velvet antlers begin to morph from soft and pliable to hardened bone. “A buck’s antlers will change from looking swollen or bulbous at the tips of the tines to a more normal diameter,” Missouri biologist Grant Woods told me. “Once this change in appearance occurs the buck won’t add much beam or tine growth.” By mid-August most of the antler growth for the year is done. Sometime between September 1 and 15 bucks will shed velvet. The cue for antler hardening and velvet shedding is the change in photo-period caused by decreasing daylight and increasing darkness, which results in a significant increase in the bucks’ testosterone. Velvet shedding typically takes only a couple of hours, though it [...]

30 07, 2019

Pre-Season Whitetail: How To Scout and Find Bucks

bluemillion2020-06-10T09:14:53-04:00July 30th, 2019|Big Deer Stories, Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Bowhunting, Deer Hunting, Deer Management|Comments Off on Pre-Season Whitetail: How To Scout and Find Bucks

Years ago, an Ohio bowhunter by the name of Chad Moore wrote and told me about the dream buck he had just shot. The tale of the tape was impressive: the 6½-year-old 9-pointer with the drop tine and beams like Red Bull cans at the bases scored 186 non-typical. The story of his hunt was pretty simple and straightforward. Chad didn’t use a big or flashy technique to kill the giant. He just did a lot of good things right: the scouting, the trail-cams, the tree-stand placement, the scent control… He kept at it day after day, until the monster popped up in his bow sight one afternoon. Then, heart thumping and knees shaking, he held it together and made [...]

22 07, 2019

2019 Summer Scouting: Giant Drop-Tine On Trail Cam!

bluemillion2020-06-10T09:14:53-04:00July 22nd, 2019|Big Deer Stories, BigDeer, Deer Hunting, Deer Management|Comments Off on 2019 Summer Scouting: Giant Drop-Tine On Trail Cam!

“Some men are obsessed with good guns, fine wine and beautiful women. I am consumed with shooting a drop-tine buck.” I wrote that on January 1, 2008, the day I launched this Big Deer Blog. To this day I am still enamored with antler tines that grow down rather than up. Imagine the excitement yesterday, July 21, when I opened the Spartan Camera app on my iPhone and this giant popped up! First time we’d seen him this summer. Exciting. While we get images every summer of solid bucks on the farms I hunt in Virginia, this one is exceptional. Even more exciting is that this buck’s rack will grow a bit more over the next 3 weeks. By mid-August [...]

16 07, 2019

Big Deer: James Pope’s 204 0/8” Kansas Buck

bluemillion2020-06-10T09:14:53-04:00July 16th, 2019|Big Deer Stories, Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Deer Hunting|Comments Off on Big Deer: James Pope’s 204 0/8” Kansas Buck

Hey Mike: This is James Pope from Lumberton, Texas. On November 10, 2018 I killed the deer of a lifetime on a small farm in southeast Kansas. I’m reaching out to you because I believe you have hunted with the same outfitter, Keaton Kelso. He spoke highly of you and how much he enjoyed having you in camp. I’ve had my deer officially scored and it was been accepted into the Lifetime Awards of B&C with a net non-typical score of 204 0/8!–Thanks, James James, thanks for the sharing the pictures of your Kansas giant, and for the nice words. That is one incredible archery buck my friend. Seeing James’ 2018 monster pop up in my email last evening was [...]

15 07, 2019

8 Best Spots for Trail Cameras

bluemillion2020-06-10T09:15:18-04:00July 15th, 2019|Big Deer Stories, Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Deer Hunting, Deer Management|Comments Off on 8 Best Spots for Trail Cameras

One August day Iowa hunter Jay Gregory glassed a giant buck in one of his soybean fields. He snuck into a thick marsh a half-mile from where he spotted the deer and set up some trail cameras. Over the next 7 weeks he got 5 photos of the buck–not a lot, but enough. The image time-stamped 9:00 a.m. on October 24 was gold–it showed the hard-antlered monster at the waterhole in broad daylight. Jay moved in with a tree stand and arrowed the beast a few days later—it gross-scored 198. After spotting a big buck in an ag field or food plot, sneak in and set a couple of cameras on well-used trails near the closest river, creek or marsh. [...]