BigDeer Archives - Page 119 of 342

17 05, 2019

Here’s What Happens When A Buck Injures A Velvet Antler

admin2020-06-10T09:15:19-04:00May 17th, 2019|Big Deer Stories, Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Deer Hunting|Comments Off on Here’s What Happens When A Buck Injures A Velvet Antler

Spring through September the antler-growing cycle for whitetails is approximately 170 days. This gives a buck many opportunities to catch a velvet antler on a fence, smash it against a tree as he flees danger, etc. Antlers grow fast—up to an inch per day in the summer! They have a complex system of blood vessels that carry nutrients through the velvet and down into the core. When a growing antler is broken, it bleeds profusely, and blood can pool and fill the inside of the velvet. When the hardening of the bone process occurs in September the pooled blood can create a heavy, swollen, club-like antler. If the injury is to the pedicle (the base of an antler) then the [...]

15 05, 2019

4 Unusual Deer Mounts

admin2020-06-10T09:15:19-04:00May 15th, 2019|Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Deer Hunting|4 Comments

Lately some different and unusual mounts have been popping up on social media: This is the first backpack mount I saw, and to my surprise there were many variations of the pack mount on Google images. I suspect these are most popular out West; few hunters in the East pack out a caped buck, though I’m sure it happens when guys hunt deep on a big public area. Then there is the buck rub mount. I have seen versions of this over the years, but it seems to be making a comeback and is more popular than ever. Again, lots of variations on Google [...]

13 05, 2019

Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) 2019 Update

admin2020-06-10T09:15:19-04:00May 13th, 2019|Big Deer Stories, BigDeer, Deer Hunting, Deer Science|6 Comments

On this just released CWD tracking map focus on the light-gray blocks, which show the current confirmation of the disease in wild populations of deer. Cases in north Mississippi and west Tennessee are relatively new, as is the gray block in north-central Virginia (Culpeper County), 20 miles from where I hunt. There are CWD deniers in the hunting industry, but I am not one of them. The scientists and organizations I work with and believe in regard CWD as a real threat with the real potential to disrupt if not decimate deer populations and hunting in the future. Every year that I look at an updated CWD map, I see the expansion of the nasty disease, and we all must [...]

5 05, 2019

Decline In Hunter Numbers Traced To Baby Boomers

admin2020-06-10T09:15:19-04:00May 5th, 2019|BigDeer|3 Comments

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service studies show that nationwide, participation in hunting has dropped from 14 million hunters several years ago to 11.5 million today. In 2019, only 5% of Americans hunt, about half as many as 50 years ago. My home state of Virginia, for example, has lost one-third of its deer hunters in the last 25 years, from 300,000 in the 1990s down to 200,000 today. Experts with the Virginia Dept. Of Game and Inland Fisheries say the decline in licensed hunters is the #1 deer management issue in the Commonwealth. There are myriad reasons for the decline--family/work obligations; more people living in urban areas; lack of access to hunting land; too many people glued to iPhones, Netflix, [...]

1 05, 2019

How Much Are Shed Antlers Worth?

admin2020-06-10T09:15:19-04:00May 1st, 2019|Big Deer Stories, Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Deer Hunting, Mule Deer, Shed Hunting|1 Comment

How much cash can you get for your shed antlers? For starters, depends on condition and grade of the sheds: Grade A: Antler in perfect condition, brown and beautiful, with no fading…no broken tines or chew marks…this year’s drop, antler picked up within a few weeks or months. Grade B: Antler in good condition, still natural brown color, may be dull or faded on one side and slightly weathered, probably last year’s drop. May have slight broken tine or chip. Grade C: Antler faded and weathered to white and chalky, on the ground for 2 or 3 years. Here are February 2019 estimates from Antlerbuyers.com: Elk Grade A: $13.50 a pound* Elk Grade B: $11 a pound* Elk Grade C: $3 a [...]