whitetail deer Archives - Page 53 of 93

30 12, 2021

How To Choose A Deer Hunting Knife

Clay Hanback2021-12-26T12:09:20-05:00December 30th, 2021|Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Deer Hunting, Gear Reviews, sportsman channel, whitetail deer|Comments Off on How To Choose A Deer Hunting Knife

Wood or stag knife handles are pretty, but handles of Kraton or a similar high-tech rubber are better for fieldwork on game. You can grip a rubber handle securely and tightly, even in wet or bloody conditions. This ensures better cuts on an animal, and there’s less chance a blade will slip and slice your finger. For all-around field care, a stainless-steel blade with a slight drop-point design is excellent. Whether you prefer a fixed-blade or folder, try one with a “gut hook” (picture) which works great for field-dressing a deer. Most people buy knives online these days, but for serious deer hunting I recommend you go to Cabela’s or Bass Pro and hand-test several blades before you buy. Some [...]

28 12, 2021

6 Late-Season Deer Tactics

Clay Hanback2021-12-26T11:58:59-05:00December 28th, 2021|Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Deer Hunting, whitetail deer|Comments Off on 6 Late-Season Deer Tactics

Only One Wind: Back in the rut you never knew exactly from which direction a buck would come, so some days you probably cheated and hunted one of your best stands on a marginal wind. But now that deer have been pressured, there is only one good wind and little margin for error. In the evenings, deer move straight from their beds to a cornfield, beans or other last food source. The wind can’t blow anywhere back toward that bedding cover, nor can it swirl out into a piece of field where the does will pop out first. Set up downwind of a trail or funnel where your scent will blow back into a dead zone where you figure no [...]

20 12, 2021

How Long Do Whitetail Deer Live In The Wild?

Clay Hanback2021-12-20T09:32:42-05:00December 20th, 2021|Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Deer Hunting, Deer Science, whitetail deer|1 Comment

In the wild, a doe or buck that survives 4 or 5 years has lived a good, long life. Six or 7 years or more is ancient and rare for a wild deer. So I found it fascinating to read a report from Pennsylvania a few years ago that confirmed 2 wild does, which had been captured, ear-tagged and released, had lived to at least 13! One of those does was documented on a trail camera, and the other was shot by a hunter. That a deer could live 13 years in the wild with all the cars, coyotes and hunting pressure is yet another testament to how amazing whitetails are. As for the pictures here, I shot this fully [...]

13 12, 2021

Gene Wensel’s 222” Recurve Buck

Clay Hanback2021-12-13T14:36:15-05:00December 13th, 2021|Big Deer Stories, BigDeer, Bowhunting, Deer Hunting, whitetail deer|1 Comment

I ran across an article written by legendary bowhunter Gene Wensel, whom I have long admired for his knowledge of the whitetail, his fine writing and most of all his genuine and deep-felt love of the outdoors and hunting. This passage is from from the story of Woody, the giant buck that Gene shot on December 30, 2004 (that's Gene in the foreground of the photo and his brother Barry in the back). The 222” non-typical is likely the highest-scoring whitetail ever killed with a recurve bow, arrow and broadhead. Gene wrote: “Hunting is a basic human instinct no different from eating, breathing, sleeping or reproducing. Every human is born with an instinct to hunt. I heard someone say that [...]

8 12, 2021

98-Year-Old Mississippi Hunter Shoots Black Deer, Rarest Of All Whitetails

Clay Hanback2021-12-05T10:19:09-05:00December 8th, 2021|Big Deer Stories, Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Deer Hunting, whitetail deer|1 Comment

A Mississippi hunter shot this black, or melanistic, buck. It’s unclear when he killed it, but best I can determine he shot the rarest color phase of whitetail around last Christmas. Story goes the 98-years-young hunter drilled the buck through the heart at 125 yards. I have posted several melanistic bucks on the blog over the years, but this one is truly magnificent—solid black with white highlights! Nice rack with heavy bases, the unique buck eluded hunters and survived for 4 years. Black, or melanistic, deer are even less common, the rarest of the rare. The first one recognized by a scientist was in 1929. Of the tens of millions of whitetails that have been shot by hunters in the [...]