Deer Science Archives - Page 2 of 43

20 05, 2024

When Should You Harvest Does on Managed Land?

Clay Hanback2024-05-20T10:36:04-04:00May 20th, 2024|Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Deer Hunting, Deer Management, Deer Science, whitetail deer|1 Comment

Most hunters shoot does for meat toward the end of the season, but should you be harvesting one or two skinheads (legal limit) earlier in the fall? Famous whitetail biologist Dr. Grant Woods says to consider this: “If does are removed during the first part of the season, usually before the rut, then there are fewer does for the bucks to expend energy on chasing, breeding, etc. In addition, the does harvested during the early season obviously won’t consume critical resources that the rest of the herd animals need to consume later during the winter months, when deer are often short of quality forage.” Grant says, and I agree, that hunters that wait till the end of season to shoot [...]

14 12, 2023

Texas Panhandle Non-Typical Buck

Clay Hanback2023-12-11T09:14:52-05:00December 14th, 2023|Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Deer Hunting, Deer Science, whitetail deer|Comments Off on Texas Panhandle Non-Typical Buck

I shot this super-cool buck in North Texas, Wheeler County, a few days ago. Two biologists confirmed what I thought: that the non-typical left side of the rack was almost certainly caused by an injury to the buck’s body during the 2023 spring/summer antler-growing season. Most likely the buck injured one of his right legs. In what scientists call the “contralateral effect,” an injury to one side of the body often causes an antler deformity on the opposite side of the rack. Penn State biologists say the reasons for this are unknown. Exactly how the opposite-side antler will be altered from its original size or shape is anyone’s guess. In any event, I am extremely happy with this mature, funky [...]

20 11, 2023

5 Deer Facts That Will Help You Tag a Buck

Clay Hanback2023-11-07T10:05:14-05:00November 20th, 2023|Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Deer Science, whitetail deer|Comments Off on 5 Deer Facts That Will Help You Tag a Buck

When deer scientists talk, I listen. Men and women who make a career of studying the whitetail don’t do it for fame or money. Having grinded for years to obtain a master’s degree in wildlife ecology, and in many cases a PhD to boot, they are passionate about learning all they can about America’s most popular game animal, and then implementing best practices for managing herds across the nation. When the biologists are also hunters, as most mentioned here are, I double down on their data because I’m confident it will help me, and you, shoot more big deer. Rubs: Zero to 100s In a Michigan study, whitetails were totally removed from an enclosure; no deer inhabited the place for [...]

14 11, 2023

Deer Science: Whitetail Buck’s Pineal Gland

Clay Hanback2023-11-07T09:34:14-05:00November 14th, 2023|Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Deer Hunting, Deer Science, whitetail deer|Comments Off on Deer Science: Whitetail Buck’s Pineal Gland

My friends over at North American Whitetail magazine just published this article on the Science of the Whitetail Rut by deer researcher Clint McCoy. Among many other interesting rut things, Clint talks about a topic we’ve never addressed here at Big Deer: the pineal gland, which lies close to the optic nerve in a buck's brain…variations in photo-period (amount of light each day) prompt the pineal gland to initiate hormonal reactions in a buck’s body. Clint first points out that the whitetail deer is a “short-day breeder.” After the summer solstice occurs on June 21, each day’s length begins to shorten, dropping to less than 11 hours a day in early to mid-November. He then writes, …as daily photo-period reduces [...]

30 10, 2023

Hunt Buck Scrapes at Dusk

Clay Hanback2023-10-24T07:11:15-04:00October 30th, 2023|Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Deer Hunting, Deer Science, whitetail deer|Comments Off on Hunt Buck Scrapes at Dusk

Researchers at the University of Georgia’s “Deer Lab” conducted an extensive study on the scraping behavior of whitetail bucks. On major finding: 85 percent of all scraping (by bucks of all ages) occurs at night, and a 3½-year-old or older buck is rarely observed at a scrape. Take that at face value and you’d never hunt scrapes again. But not so fast; read between the lines for some useful data. When analyzing the time codes on their trail-cam images and video reels, the researchers noticed that a flurry of heavy scraping occurs at or just after dusk on late-October and early-November days. Hmm, so here's how to play off that science. Scout for a doe trail, draw or ridge funnel [...]