Deer Guns & Loads Archives - Page 19 of 27

26 03, 2018

Why Are Fewer People Hunting in 2018?

admin2020-06-10T09:15:54-04:00March 26th, 2018|Big Deer Stories, Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Bowhunting, Deer Guns & Loads, Deer Hunting, Deer Management|2 Comments

A survey by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reveals that only 5% of Americans age 16 and up hunt. That's half of what it was 50 years ago. The number of licensed hunters, most of them deer hunters, dropped from 14.2 million in 1991 to 11.5 million in 2016. Most disturbing, the decline is expected to accelerate over the next decades. Why fewer of us? I have my suspicions and government agencies and wildlife organizations have their theories, but I wanted information from real-life hard-core hunters, so I did a little Twitter/social survey. It’s far from scientific, but pretty darn representative I believe. Loss of Access By far the number one reason fewer people are hunting, especially east of [...]

16 03, 2018

4 Most Popular Hunting Cartridges

admin2020-06-10T09:15:54-04:00March 16th, 2018|Big Deer Stories, BigDeer, Deer Guns & Loads, Deer Hunting|5 Comments

Boone and Crockett did a survey one time. They compiled a list of cartridges that hunters used to kill North American big game and big bucks that ultimately made their record book. Not surprisingly, here are the top 4 rounds: --.300 magnum (used by 18 percent of the hunters in the survey): This includes the .300 Win. Mag and .300 Rem. Ultra Mag. A lot of the animals killed in this survey were big and tough, like bears and elk. But quite a few record-size mule deer and whitetails were felled with the flat-shooting .300 too. Never a bad choice, IF you can handle some recoil. --.270 (12 percent): The .270 is still one of the kings and always will [...]

13 03, 2018

Iowa Lady’s 251 7/8” Muzzleloader Monster Buck

admin2020-06-10T09:15:54-04:00March 13th, 2018|Big Deer Stories, Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Deer Guns & Loads, Deer Hunting|Comments Off on Iowa Lady’s 251 7/8” Muzzleloader Monster Buck

Today’s guest blog from Dave Nennig, who provides a follow-up on the giant velvet buck his wife Lyla shot with a muzzleloader in Iowa in December 2016. Dave believes "The Freak" remained in velvet that year because he was wounded by a neighboring bowhunter the previous season. After 14 months of having “The Freak” at the freeze dryer and taxidermist, and looking for someone to officially score him, the deer was finally measured last weekend at the Iowa Deer Classic. The Freak had 28 scorable points and a gross score of 268 6/8, with a net of 251 7/8 non-typical. Just an amazing animal! From what we have been told, it is probably the largest buck taken in the State of Iowa [...]

29 01, 2018

Deer Season is Over: Learn From Your Mistakes

admin2020-06-10T09:16:08-04:00January 29th, 2018|Big Deer Stories, Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Bowhunting, Deer Guns & Loads, Deer Hunting|2 Comments

I have started thinking back about what went right and what went wrong last season. The best memories are of the few days when I shot a buck, but I will learn the most by replaying and analyzing all those tough and lean days and weeks when I didn’t get a deer. How did I mess up? What could I have done differently? Map and Scout More A buddy called last September and said, “Hey man, I got permission to hunt a new farm, you in?” “Let’s go!” I roared and off we went for a week in the early season. We hunted like mad, had fun, saw some deer but came home empty-handed. We should have slowed down and [...]

14 11, 2017

2017-18 Update: Flying With Guns

admin2020-06-10T09:16:09-04:00November 14th, 2017|Big Deer Stories, Big Deer TV, Deer Guns & Loads, Deer Hunting|Comments Off on 2017-18 Update: Flying With Guns

If you’ll be flying anywhere with hunting guns on a commercial airliner, follow the steps in my ultimate travel guide with guns and ammo. Then remember two additional things, based on my recent interactions with United and Delta ticket agents and the TSA. Double down on your locks: In the old days if your hard case had 4 holes for locks, so long as you used 2 locks on the ends you were good. Not now. Every lock hole on your case must be fitted with a solid lock. I use 4 Master locks on my four-hole Pelican case. Don’t neglect this, it’s a big deal! I know a guy who didn’t have a lock for every hole on his [...]