whitetail deer Archives - Page 3 of 93

17 02, 2025

How Many Bucks Do Hunters Shoot Each Year?

Clay Hanback2025-02-17T11:57:52-05:00February 17th, 2025|Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Deer Hunting, Hunting News, sportsman channel, whitetail deer|0 Comments

According to the National Deer Association’s 2025 Deer Report, hunters across the U.S. are tagging a historically high number of bucks. The total buck kill of 3,086,182 in the 2023-24 season (the last season for which complete harvest records were available) is only the second time the harvest has topped 3 million in the last 25 years. Big news: We’re shooting more mature bucks than ever! In 2023, 43 percent of the bucks shot across North America were 3½ years or older. That’s the highest percentage of mature buck harvest that the NDA has ever reported. Oklahoma hunters get the gold star for holding out for a mature deer; an impressive 85% of bucks shot in the Sooner State in 2023 [...]

3 02, 2025

How to Choose the Best Taxidermist

Clay Hanback2025-01-26T12:48:46-05:00February 3rd, 2025|Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Deer Hunting, Deer Management, Hunting News, whitetail deer|Comments Off on How to Choose the Best Taxidermist

My hope is you’ll shoot a giant 10-pointer this fall and holler to your buddies, “Men, I’m putting this big boy on the wall!” Depending on where you live, expect to pay $600 to $800 or even more for a shoulder mount. To help you get the best return on your investment, here are some tips for choosing the right taxidermist. Check with Local Hunters You probably know some of the best hunters in your area, or at least know of the locals who kill a good buck most every year. Ask around, call them up and find out which taxidermist they use. If possible, visit their man caves, check out their mounts and see the work for yourself. You [...]

29 01, 2025

Deer Season is Over: Learn from Last Year’s Mistakes

Clay Hanback2025-01-26T12:32:20-05:00January 29th, 2025|Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Deer Hunting, Deer Management, Hunting News, Shed Hunting, sportsman channel, whitetail deer|Comments Off on Deer Season is Over: Learn from Last Year’s Mistakes

Trail Camera[MP:04][TP:071F][IMEI:868032061698167] Sitting here thinking back about what went right and what went wrong last deer season, which was a challenging one for me and the Big Deer TV team. The best memories are of the few days when I shot a buck on TV, but actually I will learn the most by replaying and analyzing all those tough and lean days and weeks when I didn’t get a deer. How did I mess up? What could I have done differently? Lots to chew on. Lesson 1: Scout More and Better A buddy in October and said, “Hey man, I got permission to hunt a new farm, you in?” “Let’s go!” I roared and off we went for a [...]

26 01, 2025

Update: Should You Eat a Deer with CWD?

Clay Hanback2025-01-26T12:13:45-05:00January 26th, 2025|Big Deer TV, BigDeer, CWD, Deer Hunting, Deer Management, Hunting News, Shed Hunting, sportsman channel, whitetail deer|Comments Off on Update: Should You Eat a Deer with CWD?

Deer hunters have been wondering, and some have been worrying about it, for many years. Here's the latest on Chronic Wasting Disease: In a recent experiment at Rocky Mountain Laboratories in Montana, scientists tried to contaminate “human cerebral organiods,” or tissues that closely resemble human brain tissue, with injections of Chronic Wasting Disease, which has been documented to infect deer in 35 states and 5 Canadian provinces. For a week the researchers exposed the imitation brain tissues to high concentrations of CWD from 3 different sources. Good news, in ongoing testing, no infection! Yet another scientific finding that CWD does not jump from an infected animal to a human. BUT does this mean it is okay to eat a deer [...]

21 01, 2025

Giant Indiana Jestes Buck, 209 7/8 Inches NT

Clay Hanback2025-01-21T15:35:54-05:00January 21st, 2025|Big Deer Stories, Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Bowhunting, Deer Hunting, Deer Management, Hunting News, Shed Hunting, whitetail deer|1 Comment

Great guest blog on one of the coolest deer from the 2024 season from Big Deer field reporter Dean Weimer. On the evening of October 4, 2023, Danny Jestes watched a couple of does and a small buck feed in an open grass field for the better part of an hour. Then, as if shot out of a cannon, all three deer skedaddled into a nearby thicket. At the edge of the woods stood what Jestes assumed was the reason for their abrupt exit. “When I turned and looked over at the edge of the woods, there stood a magnificent buck with all kinds of headgear,” he says. “The buck was looking straight toward me.” After a few minutes the [...]