Bowhunting Archives - Page 36 of 65

24 07, 2019

Shoot Your Bow: Best Summer Practice

bluemillion2020-06-10T09:14:53-04:00July 24th, 2019|Big Deer TV, Bowhunting, Deer Hunting|Comments Off on Shoot Your Bow: Best Summer Practice

Standing in the backyard and burning arrow after arrow into foams target is a good way to get your shooting muscles toned and your release and follow-through down. But now is the time to raise your game and shoot from an elevated platform like you’ll do when deer season rolls around in 6 weeks or so. Why You Should Practice High When you shoot on the ground, you stand fence-post straight, plant your feet in a baseball hitter’s stance, stare across at your target, draw with ease and let an arrow fly. Pretty simple. In a tree stand, you have to stand up on a small platform; turn your body; and your footing is trickier. Leaning left, right, back or [...]

12 07, 2019

Should You Shoot Straight Down At A Deer?

bluemillion2020-06-10T09:15:18-04:00July 12th, 2019|Big Deer Stories, Big Deer TV, Bowhunting, Deer Hunting|Comments Off on Should You Shoot Straight Down At A Deer?

Mike: At one of my best bow stands, deer often walk in and stop right below my stand, 17 feet straight down and less than 10 feet from the tree. I have passed those shots but maybe I should be taking them, shooting down through the front shoulders of the deer and below the neck. What do you think? Hard to pass such close shots, but I’m not sure of the angle.—Doug from Michigan I was in a stand in one day last September, thinking about Doug’s question. A trail ran directly under the stand I was in and 5 feet from the toe of the tree. Five does walked under me that evening, and I envisioned trying to kill [...]

19 06, 2019

3 Reasons Whitetail Bucks Grow Giant Non-Typical Racks

admin2020-06-10T09:15:18-04:00June 19th, 2019|Big Deer Stories, Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Bowhunting, Deer Hunting|Comments Off on 3 Reasons Whitetail Bucks Grow Giant Non-Typical Racks

One day last fall in Perry County, Ohio, Ethan Featheroff arrowed a 20-point giant that scored 220 7/8”. Over in Logan County, West Virginia, Donny Baisden scouted, hunted and shot the awesome unicorn buck (pictured) that taped out at 182 5/8. The 10-year trend of hunters shooting monster non-typical whitetails continues, and many more giants will fall in 2019. There are 3 reasons bucks grow such huge, gaudy racks. Injury: Biologists have long known that trauma to a buck’s skull plate or velvet antlers or a major bodily injury (i.e., a broken leg) can cause a rack to grow crazily during the current antler cycle or even for several years thereafter. Injury probably accounts for the most freakish racks, like [...]

10 06, 2019

West Virginia’s 4 Archery-Only Deer Counties

admin2020-06-10T09:15:19-04:00June 10th, 2019|Big Deer Stories, BigDeer, Bowhunting, Deer Hunting|Comments Off on West Virginia’s 4 Archery-Only Deer Counties

Last fall Donny Baisden scouted and hunted and shot this awesome unicorn buck in Logan West Virginia. The giant scored 182 5/8. Bucks of this caliber have been coming out of not only Logan but also Wingo, McDowell and Wyoming counties for the last 40 years. It’s been one of bowhunting’s best-kept secrets! In the early 1970s whitetails were scarce, almost nonexistent, in southern West Virginia. “I spent a lot of time in the woods as a youngster, yet I can recall seeing only five deer,” said local hunter and writer John McCoy. “Three were on the property of a coal company that maintained a game preserve, and two moseyed out of the woods across from the school I attended. [...]

8 04, 2019

Ohio: 2018 Deer Harvest Down, But Big Buck Kill Up

admin2020-06-10T09:15:19-04:00April 8th, 2019|Big Deer Stories, Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Bowhunting, Deer Hunting|Comments Off on Ohio: 2018 Deer Harvest Down, But Big Buck Kill Up

Hunters checked 172,040 whitetails deer during Ohio’s 2018-2019 season, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR). That’s down from last year, when 186,247 deer were checked. Some of the decrease can be attributed to poor weather throughout the fall of 2018. While the overall harvest was down, the number of big bucks killed with a bow was impressive. In the photo: Gary Bendele shot this giant (170 net Booner) with his bow on November 8, 2018 in Fayette County. Ethan Featheroff’s monster non-typical, shot last October, grossed 220! Facts about deer hunting in Ohio: Regulations set by ODNR over the past four seasons have been designed to allow for moderate herd growth throughout most of the state; herd [...]