whitetail deer Archives

9 12, 2025

How to Get a Buck on Public Land in December

Clay Hanback2025-12-09T17:32:34-05:00December 9th, 2025|Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Deer Hunting, whitetail deer|0 Comments

I don’t need to remind you how tough a gig it is. After all those long, hard, deer-less days and weeks of hunting public land, you might be on the verge of hanging it up for another year. But I urge you to persevere because the potential reward is worth it. Killing a buck, any buck, on public late in the season is never easy. But keep grinding and do it, and it will be a day you won’t forget. Timber Food and Cover Right now, the last best scraps of mast and forbs for deer are too random and scattered to find and hunt efficiently on a large national forest or WMA. You’re better to take a more holistic [...]

5 12, 2025

Will Cows Wreck Your Deer Hunt?

Clay Hanback2025-12-02T10:37:24-05:00December 5th, 2025|Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Bowhunting, Deer Hunting, whitetail deer|0 Comments

Question from a reader: Mike: My brother and I hunt 40 acres, mostly timber. The old farmer has a lot of pasture land surrounding the property with cows grazing year-round. It seems that every year we run into the issue of him opening the gates and letting his cattle into the woods where we hunt. This is always a discouraging time for us, especially with the rut quickly approaching. I'm a little optimistic that the noise and movement of the cows allow for a little more cover, but it is a heartbreaker when you sit down for a morning hunt and have 10 cows walk under your stand at first light. The confidence that this is going to be a [...]

2 12, 2025

Is the .243 Enough Gun for Deer?

Clay Hanback2025-12-02T09:09:27-05:00December 2nd, 2025|Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Deer Guns & Loads, Deer Hunting, whitetail deer|0 Comments

This is an old picture of my first deer rifle, a Sako action in .243 fitted into a walnut stock handmade and checkered by my dad, a wood artist by trade. Topped with an old Weaver scope. I shot a lot of VA spikes and 4-pointers and a few does with it, though we didn’t kill many does back in the day when I was young and carried that rifle a lot. I handloaded and used 100-grain bullets, various brands. I remember that all the deer I shot in the lungs with the 100-grainers ran a pretty good ways through the woods, but they all died. I don’t recall ever losing one. Why don’t I use the .243 today? I [...]

13 11, 2025

How to Beat “Lockdown”

Clay Hanback2025-11-13T12:32:48-05:00November 13th, 2025|Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Deer Hunting, trijicon, whitetail deer|0 Comments

Last week was a kick-ass week to hunt, and many good bucks were tagged across the nation. Now, on November 13, I'm getting reports from all over the East and Midwest about the woods and fields going quiet as the "lockdown" or breeding phase of the rut is happening. Well, here's a simple, positive and effective strategy for the next few days.--MH "Lockdown” is the mini-phase when older bucks hook up with the older does to breed, and they all seem to go underground for three or four days. To punch your tag, I believe your best chances the next few days are in the morning. Head for your best stand or blind deep in the timber and hunt there [...]

9 11, 2025

.35 Remington: Thick-Woods Buck-Thumping Cartridge

Clay Hanback2025-11-09T11:55:53-05:00November 9th, 2025|Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Deer Guns & Loads, trijicon, whitetail deer|0 Comments

I bet most of you hunters under the age of 40 have never have heard of the .35 Remington, much less ever owned a rifle chambered for it. The cartridge gained popularity in the 1950s and ‘60s, when Marlin and Winchester chambered lever-actions for the .35 Rem. People who hunted thick woods, from northern Michigan to Maine to anywhere in the country where most shots are 100 yards and in, loved the hard-hitting cartridge that dropped deer on the spot. The niche round continued to be popular into the 1980s and ‘90s. I began hunting with the .35 Rem. in 2018, when Marlin, owned by the now-defunct Remington Arms Company at the time, chambered a new Model 336 lever for [...]