BigDeer Archives - Page 194 of 342

24 08, 2016

Whitetail How-To: Prepare and Maintain Tree Stands for Safe Hunting

admin2020-06-10T09:16:46-04:00August 24th, 2016|BigDeer|Comments Off on Whitetail How-To: Prepare and Maintain Tree Stands for Safe Hunting

This pre-season blog of tree-stand tips comes from our good friend Matt “Flatlander” Cheever, an expert hunter and land manager from Lexington, IL. A must-read! Hi Mike: When managing several properties the duty of treestand technician falls upon my shoulders. Dealing with 85 stands that I maintain and prune every year--hang-on and ladder stands and combinations of both on some places--I’ve learned a few tricks to help you work more safely and efficiently, and to keep things moving at a rapid pace. I thought I’d pass these along to the BIG DEER followers who are busy getting ready for hunting season. The average Midwestern whitetail hunter has 12 tree stands; that’s right, a dozen, contrary to what many spouses have [...]

23 08, 2016

Bowhunting Whitetail: 5 Great Stand Spots

admin2020-06-10T09:16:46-04:00August 23rd, 2016|Big Deer Stories, BigDeer, Bowhunting, Deer Hunting, Deer Management|Comments Off on Bowhunting Whitetail: 5 Great Stand Spots

Here are 5 great spots to set your tree stand or blind based on my 30 years of observing the movements of mature bucks in varied habitats across America. These are places where you might slip in and have a good chance of seeing and quite possibly getting a shot at a big deer, even if you’ve not had a lot of time to scout this summer. Search for these terrains and structures on an aerial map; if you’ve hunted a ground for several years, think back to where a few of these spots are located. Ditch It One morning in Montana, I froze as an 8-pointer trotted toward me through the woods. He was moving fast, trying to get [...]

18 08, 2016

Deer Season 2016: What Kind of Year Do You Predict in Your State?

admin2020-06-10T09:16:46-04:00August 18th, 2016|Big Deer Stories, BigDeer, Deer Hunting, Deer Management|2 Comments

My friend sent me this fascinating photo from his farm in Canada. He’s been watching the buck on the right all summer, and the 6x6 on the left just showed up. “Good sign,” he texted, “cause the really big ones up here generally don’t show up until late October.” BTW, since I received this picture smack in the middle of the Rio Olympics, I caption it: Whitetail Olympics, Synchronized Feeding, the Canada bucks take the gold! I am heartened to see the nice bucks up North, where the 2015 winter was relatively mild. After some lean times, I think this could be the best rack season in years in western Canada. How about where you live and hunt? What kind [...]

17 08, 2016

Deer Racks: What Causes a Weak-Side Antler?

admin2020-06-10T09:16:46-04:00August 17th, 2016|Big Deer Stories, BigDeer, Deer Hunting, Deer Management, Deer Science|1 Comment

Our friend Danny from Maryland sent this picture and asked this question: Is there any chance this deer’s antlers will eventually even out? Or will he most likely always have an uneven rack based off his genes? He doesn’t appear to have suffered any injury to cause this. The vast majority of whitetail bucks grow even or largely symmetrical and typical antlers. Although the buck in this picture may not appear hurt now, there is a strong likelihood that he sustained some injury earlier this year. “I think the buck in the picture was injured,” says QDMA biologist Kip Adams. “His left antler looks normal, just minus a brow tine. His right antler has a good-sized brow and then 3 stubby [...]

16 08, 2016

Can a Whitetail Buck Learn You Are Hunting Him?

admin2020-06-10T09:16:46-04:00August 16th, 2016|Big Deer Stories, Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Deer Hunting, Deer Management|1 Comment

Mike, love your blog and TV show. Question, I’ve heard that a big buck can learn you are hunting him, and then move around to avoid your tree stands. Do you think that’s true? Joe, Arkansas Joe, I do not believe a buck can reason that you are in the woods trying to hunt him down, trying to kill him. But a buck, especially one 4 1/2 years or older, is a survivalist that most certainly feels your presence and disturbance, perceives you as a possible threat and tries to avoid you at all costs. Science backs that up. Tracking and charting 37 GPS-collared adult bucks over three years on a 6,000-acre hunting property in South Carolina with 100 elevated [...]