BigDeer Archives - Page 31 of 341

30 05, 2023

How I Helped Crush an Absurd Deer Hunting Competition

Clay Hanback2023-05-30T09:28:28-04:00May 30th, 2023|Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Deer Hunting, Hunting News, whitetail deer|Comments Off on How I Helped Crush an Absurd Deer Hunting Competition

Back in the early 2000s, a group called the World Hunting Association (WHA) launched with a mission that promised “to take hunting to a new level by creating a competitive tour that showcases the sport’s finest hunters competing for hundreds of thousands of dollars in prize money.” For the first event, 5 celebrity hunters were to be turned loose in a 1,200-acre pen with bow or gun to see who could shoot the biggest buck with, I kid you not, “patent-pending, non-fatal tranquilizing technique that will allow for a thrilling tournament experience.” A PR guy from WHA emailed me and wrote: “It’s both a bow and gun hunt, but with a patented tranq technology. There are veterinarians on site to [...]

25 05, 2023

Illegal ATV Use on Public Lands

Clay Hanback2023-05-25T11:32:06-04:00May 25th, 2023|Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Deer Hunting, Hunting News|Comments Off on Illegal ATV Use on Public Lands

I recently read that the illegal use of ATVs has supplanted garbage dumping as the No. 1 law-enforcement problem on our national forest lands and other public areas. I knew it was going on, I just didn’t realize the magnitude of the problem. Apparently, fools are flying up and down roads on their bikes behind locked Forest Service gates, cutting illegal trails around the gates, racing though the timber, and doing doughnuts in meadows and fields. They are littering trash, shooting up signs and basically raising all kinds of hell. They are ruining it for law-abiding people like us who hike, hunt and use ATVs responsibly. The U.S. Forest Service welcomes responsible ATV use in designated areas. I’m pro-ATV and [...]

23 05, 2023

How Many Spots Do Fawns Have?

Clay Hanback2023-05-23T10:59:26-04:00May 23rd, 2023|Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Deer Science, whitetail deer|Comments Off on How Many Spots Do Fawns Have?

Every whitetail fawn born now through July will have on average 272 to 342 white spots on their reddish coats. Each spot ranges in size from 0.24 to 0.51 inches in diameter. Yes, some unknown biologist actually counted and measured the spots and documented them! According to Penn State biologists, spot patterns are unique to every fawn as to the exact number of spots, their size, and how they are dispersed on a baby deer’s reddish coat. The spots serve as critical camouflage for fawns during their first weeks and months of life. At birth, fawns are scentless. Their spotted coats blend with the filtered light in the woods or in a field, helping to hide the little deer from [...]

17 05, 2023

Best .30-06 Loads for Deer Hunting

Clay Hanback2023-05-17T14:09:47-04:00May 17th, 2023|Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Deer Guns & Loads, Deer Hunting, Hornady, whitetail deer|Comments Off on Best .30-06 Loads for Deer Hunting

The .30-06 Springfield, developed by the U.S. military in 1906, has become one of the top hunting cartridges of all-time. For decades it has ranked as one of the most popular deer hunting rounds in America based on ammo sales (along with the .30-30 and .270). Every store in America that sells ammunition, from the Cabela’s in Maine to a mom-and-pop hardware in the remote Heartland, will carry at least a few boxes of 150-grain loads, the most common .30-06 round for whitetails. No matter where you live and hunt, you’ll find ’06 deer rounds and bullets at the ready. While there are faster and sexier new rounds on the market, like the 6.5s, the proven ballistics of the .30-06 [...]

15 05, 2023

Will the Milo Hanson Buck be the World Record Forever?

Clay Hanback2023-05-15T09:05:56-04:00May 15th, 2023|Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Deer Hunting, whitetail deer|Comments Off on Will the Milo Hanson Buck be the World Record Forever?

It will take a whitetail superfreak to top the 213 5⁄8-inch typical buck that farmer Mio Hanson shot near his home in Biggar, Saskatchewan one snowy November day 30 years ago. Will it ever happen? My analysis of the top 200-inch typical racks in the Boone and Crockett records shows that to top the Hanson buck, a deer's rack will likely possess 11 to 14 points, with the G-2, G-3 and G-4 tines on each antler in excess of 10 inches. For reference, the 14-point Hanson Buck had 11-to 14-inch tines, and the iconic Number 3 Jordan Buck, killed way back in 1914 in Wisconsin, had 10- and 13-inch G-2s and G-3s. I predict the new top rack will have [...]