16 06, 2023

How Spring and Summer Drought Affects Whitetail Deer

2023-06-16T10:16:33-04:00June 16th, 2023|Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Deer Hunting, Hunting News, whitetail deer|Comments Off on How Spring and Summer Drought Affects Whitetail Deer

As you can see by this map, much of whitetail country, from Texas to Michigan to Pennsylvania, is abnormally dry to moderate drought. A few pockets in the Midwest are extremely dry. Here in the Virginia Piedmont where I live and hunt, we’re 7 inches short of normal rainfall, and the corn and beans are parched and only inches high in many areas. How will these dry conditions affect the deer herds, and how might it affect the hunting this fall? First, in areas where there is insufficient moisture, crop and native plant growth is stunted, and the plants lack the nutrition that deer need for prime health. Biologists point out that drought conditions make new growth on shrubs harden [...]

14 06, 2023

Number 1 Tick Prevention Tip

2023-06-14T09:24:11-04:00June 14th, 2023|Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Deer Hunting, Gear Reviews, Hunting News|Comments Off on Number 1 Tick Prevention Tip

Over the next few months, we’ll be outside hiking, fishing, scouting deer, setting trail cameras and otherwise having loads of fun in the outdoors. We sure don’t want a nasty tick ruining the party, and possibly infecting us or loved ones with Lyme or another disease, so read on. According to Dr. Thomas Mather, Tick Expert at the University of Rhode Island, the biggest mistake you can make is not wearing tick-repellent clothing. “Ticks are out there, and they're likely to get on you if you go into their habitat. (Wearing) permethrin-treated clothing, especially socks and shoes sprayed with permethrin, is the easiest way you can help repel ticks and potentially keep them from biting you. It's essential to take all preventive measures. [...]

30 05, 2023

How I Helped Crush an Absurd Deer Hunting Competition

2023-05-30T09:28:28-04:00May 30th, 2023|Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Deer Hunting, Hunting News, whitetail deer|Comments Off on How I Helped Crush an Absurd Deer Hunting Competition

Back in the early 2000s, a group called the World Hunting Association (WHA) launched with a mission that promised “to take hunting to a new level by creating a competitive tour that showcases the sport’s finest hunters competing for hundreds of thousands of dollars in prize money.” For the first event, 5 celebrity hunters were to be turned loose in a 1,200-acre pen with bow or gun to see who could shoot the biggest buck with, I kid you not, “patent-pending, non-fatal tranquilizing technique that will allow for a thrilling tournament experience.” A PR guy from WHA emailed me and wrote: “It’s both a bow and gun hunt, but with a patented tranq technology. There are veterinarians on site to [...]

25 05, 2023

Illegal ATV Use on Public Lands

2023-05-25T11:32:06-04:00May 25th, 2023|Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Deer Hunting, Hunting News|Comments Off on Illegal ATV Use on Public Lands

I recently read that the illegal use of ATVs has supplanted garbage dumping as the No. 1 law-enforcement problem on our national forest lands and other public areas. I knew it was going on, I just didn’t realize the magnitude of the problem. Apparently, fools are flying up and down roads on their bikes behind locked Forest Service gates, cutting illegal trails around the gates, racing though the timber, and doing doughnuts in meadows and fields. They are littering trash, shooting up signs and basically raising all kinds of hell. They are ruining it for law-abiding people like us who hike, hunt and use ATVs responsibly. The U.S. Forest Service welcomes responsible ATV use in designated areas. I’m pro-ATV and [...]

12 04, 2023

Post-COVID Hunting License Sales Down 3.1%

2023-04-12T12:59:34-04:00April 12th, 2023|Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Deer Hunting, Hunting News|Comments Off on Post-COVID Hunting License Sales Down 3.1%

One of the only good things to come out of the pandemic was an increase in outdoors sports and hunting in particular. Studies documented a 4.9% increase in hunting license sales from 2019 to 2020 in what was known as the “COVID Bump.” Unfortunately, that bump that I and other bloggers cheered seems to be over. A study last year by the Council to Advance Hunting and the Shooting Sports showed a 1.9% decrease in hunting license sales from 2020 to 2021. The latest study just released by the Council indicates license sales decreased by approximately 3.1% in 2022 compared to 2021. “Our results indicate that the impacts of COVID on getting people outdoors may be waning,” said the Council’s [...]

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