A puzzle, much like deer hunting, takes time and keen attention to detail in order to put the pieces together and for everything to align. Have you ever tried to put together a puzzle in a day and succeeded? No, I’m not talking about one of those 50 piece specials that you pick up at the dollar mart. I talking about the 2,000 piece popcorn kernel marathon that takes an hour just to get two pieces to match up! Rome wasn’t built in a day and neither is a successful whitetail pursuit for the do-it-yourself guys.

Make sure read Part 1 of this series, Taking Post Season Inventory With Big Tine Fortified Deer Blend: Part 1 as it will help paint a better picture as to what I’m doing at this time of year.

Putting The Pieces Together

When it comes to hunting mature deer, I’ll take any legal advantage I can get in an effort to put the pieces together towards killing a trophy buck. Big Tine is another tool in the arsenal and plays a valuable role in my post season scouting. In conjunction with trail cameras, Big Tine allows me to determine which deer made it through (or didn’t make it through) the season.

A small whitetail buck posing for a picture.

I’m not going to lie – I was hoping to showcase this article with all of the monster bucks I have on camera running around my hunting property but the truth is, my trail camera pictures are less than ideal. I put the cameras out for over three weeks and have a bunch of does, small bucks, and mule deer to show for it but no big boys showed themselves.

Does this mean that my hunting property is terrible? No. Does this mean that Big Tine doesn’t work? No. What I’m learning is that the properties I hunt do not hold the same amount of deer during the Winter months as they do during the Fall. I’m slowly putting the pieces together!

The pictures are telling me that there are indeed deer in the area but I’m certainly not getting mature buck pictures. My guess is that the majority of deer are wintering elsewhere due to the fact that the bedding areas and fields on the properties are now cow pastures. It is common practice for farmers to switch pastures for cows on a seasonal basis so that they can sustain them throughout the Winter months. Long story short; if cattle are present in both major bedding and feeding areas, deer numbers on the property will decline.

It’s Better To Know Than To Wonder

My trail camera pictures were not as I had hoped but at least now I know more about Winter movement and the reasons that may be affecting the lack of deer in the area. If it weren’t for putting out Big Tine and checking the cameras, I would have never known in the first place. Its better to know – knowledge is power.

One of the highlights of my weekend endeavor, in addition to checking trail cameras, was finding a matched set of antlers in close proximity to one of Big Tine sites. This little guy is an up-and-comer with great genetics for a 1 1/2 year buck! I believe I have pictures of this guy from last Fall so it will be cool to see what he turns into as a 2-year-old.

QuietKat is a great tool for shed hunting. I found this matched set within 100 yards of the Big Tine!

Learn more about how I use my QuietKat as an efficient shed hunting vehicle, HERE. I also found another nice 4 point side that had been laying a while (not fresh) and I also witnessed something that I have been wanting to see for a long time. I watched the bigger mule deer buck I have on camera shed one of his antlers as he was running away! After three hours of grid searching the spot where I saw him drop in knee-high grass, I was not able to locate his shed but it was still cool to see none the less.

Mule deer enjoy Big Tine too!

Never Stop Learning

I encourage you all to go out and run cameras over the top of Big Tine Fortified Deer Blend. It will not only help you discover what deer are using the properties you hunt but it will also add to your overall knowledge of deer movement and patterns. Whatever the outcome may be, it will make you a better deer hunter and will help you find the real reasons behind your results. It forces you to analyze and ask questions as to why deer are or aren’t there. And above all, it gets you outside doing what you love the most.

For more information about Big Tine Fortified Deer Blend and Attractants, please visit:

www.bigtine.com

– Adam Parr

During the Winter months I have traded in my bow for two different types of weapons better suited for the task at hand; Trail Camera’s and Big Tine Fortified Deer Blend. My goal for this part of the year is to find out which deer made it through the season while at the same time, give them a little extra nutrition when they need it the most.

I put out a variety of Big Tine supplements including; 30-06, Protein Plus, and Last Call.

Ordinary Bag Of Corn vs. Big Tine

People ask all the time why they should buy a bag of Big Tine for $18 when they can buy an ordinary bag of corn for $6. They essentially do the same thing, right? Wrong! Here is why the price is justified in my eyes and why I personally use Big Tine:

Cherry Aroma – One of the many advantages of Big Tine Deer Feed, in my opinion, is the cherry aroma flavor and the ability to attract deer. Deer get used to smelling corn, beans, milo and other types of food but when they smell something that is a bit out of the ordinary, it may be the difference in getting them to come check it out. This is what I believe brings them in so quickly because of how strong and irresistible it is to a deers nose.

Variety Of Food and Nutrients – For this particular outing, I employed the use of 30-06 in conjunction with Protein Plus. This adds more variety and nutrition to their diet during this time period when food is scarce and hard to come by. The mixture of corn, milo, sunflower seeds, and soybeans will keep them consistently in front of my camera for 3-5 days which should be enough to capture an inventory of deer that made it through the season.

Long Lasting Minerals – Every time you put a bag of Big Tine on the ground, you are essentially creating a mineral site that deer will continue to use over and over again. I have watched deer come back to these sites, pawing at the dirt long after the corn and other supplements are gone. The minerals are not only great for overall deer health but in addition to that, the minerals soak into the ground and will remain in the dirt for quite some time.

Long story short, here is a recap of why the price of Big Tine is justified in my eyes: The cherry aroma flavor is irresistible and that is what draws them in very quickly. The variety of feed is what keeps deer around for an extended period of time. Essential minerals soak into the dirt, creating a mineral site that will aid in antler growth and development long after the feed is gone.

Big Tine Is My Weapon Of Choice

I am anxiously awaiting to get back to Kansas to check my trail cameras and see what made it through the hunting season. Being that I live 6 hours away from these properties, I don’t have the luxury to glass crop fields on a regular basis so I have to rely on other means for scouting.

My Bow and arrow is the go-to weapon during the Fall; Big Tine is my weapon of choice during the Winter. Both items play an essential role in my success and year-long pursuit of whitetail deer, but now that Winter has arrived and scouting begins, Big Tine is as important as my bow was during the actual hunting season.

Placing trail cameras over Big Tine deer feed is a great way to take a postseason inventory of your deer herd and target bucks for next Fall.

If you have not yet tried Big Tine Fortified Deer Blend, get to your nearest retailer right away and give it a try for yourself. You will not be disappointed with the immediate results as well as the long-term benefits of healthier, bigger deer on your properties. Check out Part 2 of this series where I show my trail camera pictures and a few of the sheds I found: Taking Post-Season Inventory With Big Tine Fortified Deer Blend: Part 2

For more information about Big Tine Fortified Deer Blend and Attractants, please visit:

www.bigtine.com

– Adam Parr