Bowhunting Archives - Page 6 of 65

24 06, 2024

June and July: How Much Do Whitetail Deer Antlers Grow?

Clay Hanback2024-06-21T13:12:32-04:00June 24th, 2024|Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Bowhunting, Deer Hunting, Deer Science, whitetail deer|Comments Off on June and July: How Much Do Whitetail Deer Antlers Grow?

I looked off my back porch the other morning and saw a single deer feeding on weed sprouts on our recently mowed lake berm. He was 300 yards away, and although I could not count tines with the naked eye, I could not miss the tall, thick, velvety beams. One glimpse through my binocular and it was clear this was going to be an above-average to exceptional deer for this part of the Virginia Piedmont. My excitement grew as I realized the rack had a good 6 more weeks to grow. How much bigger will those antlers get? June and July: Zoom Months for Antlers Velvet antler is the fastest-growing tissue in the mammal world. In mid-summer, each beam and [...]

18 06, 2024

5 Best Bowhunting Stands

Clay Hanback2024-06-18T11:38:56-04:00June 18th, 2024|Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Bowhunting, Deer Hunting, whitetail deer|Comments Off on 5 Best Bowhunting Stands

ONE: Elevated Ridge Stand An elevated ridge that situated 100 yards or so from a field of corn, soybeans or alfalfa is one of my favorite spots for the pre-rut. Like most early-season setups, it is killer for the afternoons. But if access is good and the wind allows it, you might be able to sneak in and hunt the stand one morning too. If you have a flat of oak trees on your property that runs up a ridge from an ag field, jackpot. Does will come from back in the cover and move through in the afternoon on their way to the field. Some bucks will come and stage on the ridge in late afternoon before moving out [...]

14 05, 2024

Longbows and Recurves for Deer Hunting

Clay Hanback2024-04-25T08:56:49-04:00May 14th, 2024|Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Bowhunting, Deer Hunting, Gear Reviews, whitetail deer|Comments Off on Longbows and Recurves for Deer Hunting

There is a contingent of modern bowhunters out there who have shot their share of deer with compound bows, and now they are looking for a different challenge. “It’s not just different, it’s the ultimate challenge,” says Jonas Strong, who has hunted deer with longbows and recurves all his life out in the river bottoms of eastern Montana. “You use your skills to get within ‘wolf range’ of your quarry, mere yards where a doe or buck instinctively senses danger. Then you have to draw your bow and shoot without the animal seeing you. There’s nothing like the rush of it.” Gearing up for Traditional Archery Strong suggests a traditional, or “trad,” bow of 60, 62 or 64 inches. “The longer [...]

15 04, 2024

Big Deer Archives: 4-Year Ouest for a Nebraska Archery Giant

Clay Hanback2024-04-15T09:26:01-04:00April 15th, 2024|Big Deer Stories, Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Bowhunting, Deer Hunting, whitetail deer|Comments Off on Big Deer Archives: 4-Year Ouest for a Nebraska Archery Giant

Writing script for a new Nebraska television show about my hunt out on the North Platte River last fall. You don’t hear that much about Nebraska, but it’s a sleeper state for big whitetails. Got me to thinking of a great story a passionate bowhunter named Nick sent me 8 years ago: Mike: My journey for a Nebraska public-land buck started back in 2012 when I was notified, I was getting stationed at Offutt Air Force Base, which is located about 15 miles south of Omaha. I am a 15-year active-duty Air Force Security Forces (military police) member. I arrived to Offutt in the beginning of July. Right away I began to research the local public hunting spots. I stumbled [...]

1 04, 2024

Pennsylvania Deer Harvest Up 2 % in 2023-24

Clay Hanback2024-04-01T10:32:31-04:00April 1st, 2024|Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Bowhunting, Hunting News, sportsman channel, whitetail deer|Comments Off on Pennsylvania Deer Harvest Up 2 % in 2023-24

The Pennsylvania Game Commission reports that hunters harvested an estimated 430,010 whitetails last season. The statewide buck harvest was estimated at 171,600, while the antlerless harvest was about 258,410. The 20023-24 harvest is 2% greater than that of 2022-23, and 4% higher than the total harvest seen as a three-year average. As for last season’s buck kill, it was by 5% over 2022-23, and up 6% over the three-year average. Overall, 27% of deer hunters shot a buck. That was a slight increase over 2022-23’s 26% success rate, and up significantly from the 15% success rate seen as recently as 2007-08. The majority of bucks harvested are older than in decades past, too. Before antler point restrictions, most of the [...]