Deer Hunting Archives - Page 108 of 184

19 02, 2019

Top 10 Deer Bowhunting States

admin2020-06-10T09:15:25-04:00February 19th, 2019|Big Deer Stories, Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Bowhunting, Deer Hunting|2 Comments

The QDMA’s 2019 Whitetail Report points out that bowhunting for whitetails has never been more popular. In 2002 only 15 percent of the total whitetail harvest in America was taken with archery tackle; that percentage rose to 23 percent in 2017. Check out these numbers from 2019 report: The 5 states with the most bowhunters are: 1) Pennsylvania (339,600 bowhunters); 2) Michigan (311,000); 3) Wisconsin (246,211); 4) New York (231,000); 5 Missouri (222,717). The 6 states with the most bowhunters per square mile are: Pennsylvania (7.6 bowhunters PSM; 2) New Jersey (5.9); 3 Michigan (5.5); 4) New York (4.9): 5) Ohio (4.5); 6) Wisconsin (4.5). The top 5 states with the highest percentage of annual deer harvest with archery tackle: [...]

13 02, 2019

Best & Worst Cities for Hunters

admin2020-06-10T09:15:25-04:00February 13th, 2019|Big Deer Stories, BigDeer, Deer Hunting|3 Comments

I am fed up with the “wimp-ification” of America and the left’s cultural war on “toxic masculinity,” so let’s turn the tables. Nashville, Tennessee is the “manliest city in America,” according to a survey done by snack-food brand Combos several years ago. Cities were given points for masculine traits such as professional sports teams, hardware stores per capita, popularity of hunting, and propensity to throw monster-truck rallies…points were subtracted for emasculating features like high minivan sales, an abundance of home-furnishing stores, and subscription rates to beauty magazines. Other hunter-friendly cities were Kansas City, Charlotte, Oklahoma City and Toledo. Least manly cities were predictable: Miami, Chicago, New York and a bunch out on the Left Coast, like San Francisco. If you’re [...]

11 02, 2019

Deer Hunting Tip: Benefits Of Winter Scouting

admin2020-06-10T09:15:25-04:00February 11th, 2019|Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Deer Hunting|1 Comment

If you’ve got a free day this weekend or next, and if there is no snow on the ground in your area, go back out to the stands you hunted last fall, walk out from them in an ever-widening circular pattern and look for old sign. You will learn a lot about how deer used the terrain, structure, cover and wind when traveling from bed to feed 3 or 4 months ago. You will find spots where bucks rubbed and scraped the most. You will learn if you need to move your stand 50 to 100 yards…or maybe you’re in a good spot and should stay put…or maybe you should pull out of the area all together. All this will [...]

8 02, 2019

Do You Need A Salvage Permit For Deer Skull/Antlers?

admin2020-06-10T09:15:25-04:00February 8th, 2019|Big Deer Stories, BigDeer, Deer Hunting, Hunting News, Mule Deer|3 Comments

Every winter and spring shed hunters find and pick up big “deadheads,” and many of them can’t wait to post images of their finds on Facebook or Instagram. Let me remind you that if you find any size skull with antlers attached in the woods you might—actually you probably-- need to obtain a salvage permit (or at least verbal permission) from the state to possess and transport that skull/antlers. You do not need a permit to pick up and possess shed antlers (no skull). In most states a deadhead—the skull and rack from a buck that died of disease, was hit by a car, or was lost by a bowhunter in the fall—is treated like a roadkill buck, and subject [...]

6 02, 2019

Are Crossbow Hunters Killing Too Many Bucks?

admin2020-06-10T09:15:25-04:00February 6th, 2019|Big Deer Stories, Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Bowhunting, Deer Hunting, Hunting News|9 Comments

Back in 2014, I blogged that Wisconsin was the latest major whitetail state to permit the use of the crossbow during the regular archery season. Since then, the crossbow season in the state has run concurrently with the archery season, typically mid-September through December. One of the original complaints from traditionalists and vertical bowhunters at the time was that crossbow hunters would kill too many bucks. There is no denying that it is easier (and takes less practice) to kill a deer with a crossbow than with a compound or recurve. Well, 5 years later, with crossbow technology having increased tenfold, turns out those fears might have been warranted. WKOW in Madison reports that at a recent Wisconsin Natural Resources [...]