18 09, 2023

Big Deer’s 2023 Moon-Rut Hunting Guide

2023-09-18T08:55:01-04:00September 18th, 2023|Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Bowhunting, Deer Hunting, Deer Rut, Deer Science, whitetail deer|6 Comments

Over the past 40 years I’ve spent more than 1,000 days in deer stands across North America during the magic month of November, during every imaginable moon phase, during all the waxing and waning days. Though many scientists don’t put much stock in the moon and its effects on whitetails and the rut, my journal notes and personal observations say differently. I am convinced the various lunar phases can and do impact the movements of rutting deer, though admittedly those effects can sometimes be difficult to see and predict because of warm-weather patterns and moderate to heavy hunting pressure from region to region, Here are my 2023 moon-rut predictions. Factor them into your gameplan as you schedule your rut-hunting vacation [...]

11 09, 2023

Early-Season Whitetail Q&A for Bowhunters

2023-09-05T08:40:18-04:00September 11th, 2023|Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Bowhunting, Deer Hunting, whitetail deer|Comments Off on Early-Season Whitetail Q&A for Bowhunters

You scout and glass a couple of small bucks, a decent 8-pointer and a shooter 10 coming to a bean field like clockwork in the evenings. Will those bucks, and especially the 10-point, be around when bow season opens in a few weeks?   That bachelor’s club will start to break up in mid-September, but a few of the bucks may still run together into October. In what is known as the “fall shuffle,” some of the bucks will shift a mile or more to winter range while some of them—maybe that big 10--will stay right there, close to where you’re spotting them now. Keep glassing the fields and edges, and hang a tree stand or 2 in the nearby [...]

7 09, 2023

How Many Tree Stands do You Need to Hunt Deer?

2023-09-05T08:34:47-04:00September 7th, 2023|Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Bowhunting, Deer Hunting, whitetail deer|Comments Off on How Many Tree Stands do You Need to Hunt Deer?

As a general rule, hang 3 to 5 tree stands across a 100-acre block of whitetail timber. Spread out those stands to cover as many food sources, travel corridors and staging/bedding thickets as you can, and to have options for hunting all the different winds. Keep these 5 things in mind when setting those stands: A solid tree about 15 inches in diameter is perfect. It is easy and safe to get your arms around as you set steps, climb and hang a perch with a strap or chain. Once you’re up, a tree as wide as your body breaks your silhouette, but it is thin enough so that you can turn and look around for incoming deer. Once you’ve [...]

5 09, 2023

Bowhunting Tactics for the Suburbs

2023-09-05T08:30:13-04:00September 5th, 2023|Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Bowhunting, Deer Hunting, whitetail deer|Comments Off on Bowhunting Tactics for the Suburbs

For years now, hunters have ben shooting some huge whitetail bucks in small to tiny tracts of land in cities and suburbs where bowhunting is permitted. In Connecticut, northern Virginia, outside New York city, even out in Missoula, Montana. Kevin Robinson is one of those hunters, and he’s killed all these bucks in the suburbs of Missoula. Try his tactics wherever you hunt bucks around houses, roads and towns. When archery season opens in September, Kevin hunts high draws that overlook the city in the evenings. In his favorite setup, his tree stand is tight to one of 2 deer trails that run up and down a mountain. Having scouted and glassed the area for a month, he knows the pattern [...]

30 08, 2023

Why Some Bucks Grow Non-Typical Antlers

2023-08-17T11:26:31-04:00August 30th, 2023|Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Deer Hunting, Deer Science, whitetail deer|Comments Off on Why Some Bucks Grow Non-Typical Antlers

In Perry County, Ohio, Ethan Featheroff arrowed a 20-point giant that scored 220 7/8”. In Logan County, West Virginia, Donny Baisden scouted, hunted and shot the awesome unicorn buck that taped out at 182 5/8. The 20-year trend of hunters shooting monster non-typical whitetails continues, and many more giants will fall in 2023. Here are 3 reasons bucks grow such huge, gaudy racks. Injury: Biologists have long known that trauma to a buck’s skull plate or velvet antlers or a major bodily injury (i.e., a broken leg) can cause a rack to grow crazily during the current antler cycle or even for several years thereafter. Injury probably accounts for the most freakish racks, like a “cactus buck.” If deer tries to jump a wire [...]

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