whitetail deer Archives | Page 3 of 19

25 10, 2020

Rut Tactic: Shoot A Doe, Attract A Buck

Clay Hanback2020-10-25T10:49:33-04:00October 25th, 2020|Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Deer Guns & Loads, Deer Hunting, sportsman channel, whitetail deer|0 Comments

For whitetail hunters, what’s a hot scent attractant to use in early November? Try a dead doe! Missouri biologist Dr. Grant Woods has on occasion shot a mature doe and let the dead deer lie in front of his stand. “The smell of an adult doe, especially one in a pre-receptive or receptive stage, is a great attractant to mature bucks,” he says. “I’ve shot several bucks while they were actually sniffing the doe I had harvested earlier in the hunt.” Grant says that even the disturbance of a single rifle shot doesn’t matter when bucks are moving and rutting. “I realize this is contrary to popular belief, but it can work,” he says. If you try this unorthodox tactic, I [...]

23 10, 2020

The 2020 Ammo Shortage: If You Can Find It, Buy It Before Deer Season

Clay Hanback2020-10-23T10:50:49-04:00October 23rd, 2020|Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Deer Guns & Loads, Deer Hunting, Remington, sportsman channel, whitetail deer|1 Comment

Photo is from a Walmart in Virginia, two weeks before the gun deer season. Other than a few boxes of .300 Win. Mag. (we don’t shoot a lot of whitetails with the .300 Mag. around here, lol) the shelves were pretty much bare. There were 2 lonely boxes of Winchester 165-grainers for .30-06, a fine round that many Virginia hunters do use. I’d have scooped them up, but I have a good stash of .30-06 at home. Sure they are long gone by now. The ammo shortage of 2020 is real and widespread across America, worse in some places than others, right before the start of gun deer seasons. I asked followers on Twitter if ammo was scarce where they [...]

19 10, 2020

What Symmetry: Southern New York Bow Buck

Clay Hanback2020-10-16T14:02:40-04:00October 19th, 2020|Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Bowhunting, Deer Hunting, whitetail deer|0 Comments

Instagram post/message from Brendan Whelan, who shot this beauty earlier this month in southern New York: I shot at my biggest buck last year, hitting him in the shoulder and not recovering him, only to see him a week later chasing does. Having a 4-year history with that deer and only 2 encounters total made it that much harder to swallow that I messed up my one opportunity I had worked so hard for. Well, this year he never did show back up, but this guy did! I watched him grow all summer as he transitioned over into my food plot in early September, all the while keeping tabs on his movements with trail cameras. Opening week we had a [...]

16 10, 2020

BIG DEER 2020 Moon-Rut Guide For Whitetail Hunters

Clay Hanback2020-10-16T10:43:28-04:00October 16th, 2020|Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Deer Hunting, sportsman channel, whitetail deer|1 Comment

2020 moon phases: Full October 31…last quarter November 8…new (dark) November 15…first quarter November 22...full November 30 I’m a moon fanatic. Over the last 30 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 researchers and hunters 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 believe there is a little something to the lunar phases and how they impact the movements of rutting deer. Here are my 2020 predictions. Use them to plan your upcoming rut-hunting vacation. No trick but [...]

15 10, 2020

How To Read Whitetail Buck Rubs

Clay Hanback2020-10-15T08:22:03-04:00October 15th, 2020|Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Deer Hunting, whitetail deer|3 Comments

Here’s how to place value on 4 different buck rubs you’ll find in the woods this month and next, and how to determine which ones will—and won’t—help you pin down the movements of big deer. Type: Ordinary Rub Tree: Pine or cedar 2” to 3” diameter Skinny: If you find 500 rubs, 400 will look sort of like this one. Studies show that bucks blaze ordinary-looking rubs on aromatic cedar or pine trees 70 percent of the time. They pop up from velvet-shedding time in early September on through the rut. Six- or 8-pointers or a giant 10 might make them. You just never know. Hunt Value: Low to moderate. A lot of these rubs, sometimes in clusters, tell you [...]