Deer Hunting Archives - Page 38 of 198

30 01, 2023

Are Climbing Tree Stands Still Popular?

Clay Hanback2023-01-25T08:25:55-05:00January 30th, 2023|Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Deer Hunting, Gear Reviews|Comments Off on Are Climbing Tree Stands Still Popular?

The fat 4-pointer glided in below my perch, young muscles rippling in the morning sun. I pulled the Bear and the aluminum arrow sliced the air. Thwack, the buck mule-kicked and bolted. When I heard him crash, I shinnied down the tree, stepped out of the boot straps and over the bottom of the metal platform and went and got my deer. A fine November day in the early 1980s, back when life and hunting were slower and simpler. That fork-horn was the third deer I’d killed that season with my old wheel bow from the same climbing stand fixed to the same hickory tree. A decade earlier a man called Baker had introduced the first climber to the market. [...]

19 01, 2023

Meat Pole Deer Mount

Clay Hanback2023-01-19T10:07:01-05:00January 19th, 2023|Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Deer Hunting, whitetail deer|Comments Off on Meat Pole Deer Mount

Matt send me this picture and asked, "Mike, what do you think?" I replied, "Not for me, but got to admit it's different and actually pretty cool!" What do you think, like the meat pole mount or not?

19 01, 2023

20 Tips For Late-Season Deer Hunters

Clay Hanback2023-01-17T14:37:50-05:00January 19th, 2023|Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Deer Hunting, whitetail deer|Comments Off on 20 Tips For Late-Season Deer Hunters

If you haven’t tagged out by now it’s gonna be tough. The first and second ruts are history. Other hunters have killed the easy bucks and spooked the survivors into hiding. You’ve got 2 options. Eat tag soup and pack it in until next fall, or bundle up, hang in the woods and try to pull an 8-pointer out of your stocking cap on one of the last days of the season. I reckon you’ll go for the latter, so I pulled together these tips to help you score at the tag-end of the season. Hunt Grains and Greens Thin and weary after weeks of rutting, does and bucks have got to eat, especially when it’s cold and snowy. Corn [...]

17 01, 2023

How To Act When You Shoot A Buck

Clay Hanback2023-01-17T10:50:33-05:00January 17th, 2023|Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Deer Hunting|1 Comment

I have always tempered my killing with respect for the game pursued. —legendary hunter Fred Bear I am no Fred Bear. When it comes to bowhunting, I could not carry the man’s jockstrap. But for the last 40 years I have hunted and killed deer according to Fred’s mantra. I suppose that is why it makes me uncomfortable and a bit ashamed to witness an episode like this, either in person in the woods or on YouTube or TV: A fellow shoots a buck and watches it topple over. Grinning, he raises his arms high into the air, balls his fists and starts hollering, “He’s down, he’s down,” This is typically accompanied with fist-pumping, strutting and more yelling. There are [...]

9 01, 2023

Sheds Dropping Early: ID A Doe!

Clay Hanback2023-01-09T09:44:34-05:00January 9th, 2023|Big Deer TV, BigDeer, Deer Hunting, Shed Hunting, whitetail deer|Comments Off on Sheds Dropping Early: ID A Doe!

Cody emailed the other day: “Mike, haven't found any sheds yet, but a guy doing drives with us the other week shot what appeared to be a doe but when we got to the deer it was obviously a young buck that had already dropped his antlers.” This is no big deal, an honest mistake, and most state laws about late season hunting take this possibility into account. But I use the anecdote to point out that bucks seems to be dropping their antlers earlier than usual in many areas, including here in the Virginia Piedmont. Lots more bone will fall off the bucks’ heads in the more usual shedding weeks of January, which is when late antlerless seasons are [...]