Monster Texas Whitetail

[Aggie01]

Boxhead's comment in another thread about our scrawny Texas deer made me want to post this.
I apologize to those of you who saw this on the old forum.

I got this perfectly proportioned 8 point about 2 years ago. It's one of the few racks I have saved.

[Aggie01]

And now we add some perspective:

[rigby]

Holy smokes! It didnt hit me as huge but I had no idea, thats freaky.

[mt]

That was a good one to cull if you were trying to improve the genetics of the herd. Comparing Texas deer to deer in other States is like comparing apples and oranges. Whitetails from the midwestern States will fill your freezer much faster than a Texas Hill Country whitetail. They're all fun to hunt though.

mt

[zeus]

I wouldnt' have culled him unless I had reason to believe he was an older deer. Looks like a 1.5 year old deer to me from the rack, maybe the OP can tell us the age. If its a young deer, the genes weren't all that bad. I've seen deer go from very small racks to nice racks in a year.....

[2 Dogs]

The 3 pointer I got over to Flats ranch last year was about the size of a healthy jackrabbit....

[Aggie01]

I thought he was a 4 point when I pulled the trigger.
A six point when I walked up to him.
and found the other two points when I went to load him up.

I aged him to less than two years, as imperfect a science as that is.
For the record, my degree is in Wildlife Ecology and Management.
Neither of which we practice on my Dad's places.
So we don't cull, or wait for trophy bucks, we make meat.
My deer season this year consisted of 3 coyotes.
All the friends and neighbors who have been doing things their way for 50 years don't care to listen to some "college boy".
These are the guys who if you ask em how their rifle groups, they tell you they got a deer with it two years ago, so it shoots fine.
Seriously, the neighbor shot a doe off his porch about three years ago, 30 yards away. Broke both front knees with the first shot from a 30-30 and managed to put the second shot where it put the animal down.

[sixshot]

I've got friends in Utah that shoot every bit as good as your neighbor ;D

Dick

[mt]

During a life time of being an invited guest instead of paying customer here in Texas, I've learned that every rancher has different standards for herd management. They range from old spikes, barren does and basket bucks to some years being limited to does only. They all go in the freezer and I've always been grateful for the opportunity to hunt.

mt

[dakotadogman]

I got a Dakota prairie whitetail rack that just about matches that one perfectly. Beautiful rack, if only he was say 18 inches bigger. : )

God Bless,

[Cucuy]

Jul 1, 2009 22:18:27 GMT -5 2 Dogs said:

The 3 pointer I got over to Flats ranch last year was about the size of a healthy jackrabbit....

Don't downplay that. A TX/MX jackrabbit sized deer is a fine target. For those who don't know (e.g., North-easterners, of which I'm one who transplanted to TX), jackrabbits are scary and fearsome beasts. I ran into my first a few months ago somewhere in the mountains of Nuevo Leon/Coahuila. I was "attending to functions" behind a cactus patch and I saw this near doberman-sized rabbit staring me down with these crazy eyes. Didn't have a gun, wished I did, but he did help with my agenda...

[nobearsyet]

I was amazed when I moved from Ohio to Texas when I enlisted, the deer were dinky by comparison

[sixshot]

Texas is a mighty big place & the size of the deer can be mighty different also. I've shot a fair number of the smaller ones, mostly around Brownwood & Possum Kingdom Lake, in other areas they can have some very respectabe deer, I've never taken one but I've seen quite a few. The high fence operations usually feed their deer year round & with all those supplements believe me, they have some BIG deer, not in the midwest US class but very big deer.

Dick

[ronegg]

OK, this post has convinced me to confess to the first deer I took after moving back to Texas.

I had quit hunting after Viet Nam, as I thought, if they aren't shooting at me, I won't shoot at them. My father really enjoyed hunting and with by BIL did all the upkeep of a ranch just south of Abilene about 45 minutes. We still hunt there today. Anyway, shortly after moving back to God's country, I was invited to go hunting at this ranch. I saw a lot of deer the first day, but not the big buck I was looking for. After that I didn't see a thing. The last evening of the hunt I was sitting in a blind on a bluff overlooking a feeder and it was getting dark. I hunt with a Weatherby 308 in a scout configuration. With that scope you don't get the light gathering effect you would with one close to your eye. In any event, I had just picked up the rifle to check if I had enough light to see and caught a flicker of ears. With just a split second to make a decision, I mounted the rifle and fired. A huge flash out of the 18 inch barrel and a quick check through the scope and the deer was down. I gathered my gear and walked down the steep incline to the body. It was a doe, a fawn really about 20 inches tall. I couldn't believe it. So, to make myself feel better, I thought I would go back to the ranch house and get my Dad to help me with my deer.

As I approached the house, a pickup drove in. He introduced his self and it was the owner of the ranch. Now I had heard of him, and he had heard of me. He was a big time oil drilling RICH, great guy. He had driven down from his home in Snyder, about two hours, with 2 inch steaks to grill and drink some beer with my Dad and BIL. Anyway, we had never met until then. He asked me if I had any luck. Well what are you going to say? No!!! I said I shot one over by the bluff blind. He said, get in, I'll help you. OH WOW. We drove over, stopped, got out and went to the deer. Now this guy is about 6' 4" and 230 lbs. He looks at the deer, looks at me, looks at the deer, looks at me, doesn't say a work. He reaches down, picks it up and tosses it over his shoulder into the bed of the pickup.

The steak that night was fantastic. I still tell my BIL that something that small, you got to be good to hit it and it is real tender!!! Ron

[Markbo]

I've shot deer in Texas that I picked up by the scruff of the neck one handed and wondered if I'd get 30lbs of meat off of it. I have shot deer in Texas that two grown men (full sized men, not Fermin sized men) could barely lift into a pick up.

I have shot everything in between too. Come on fellahs... to talk down about Texas deer is to not know the whole story. They may be small in the Hill Country, but there are millions of them. There is a reason they are that small.

With some judicioius culling and a sound protein feed supplement plan, we took 100lb, 16" bucks one year to 150lb 20" HEAVY horned bucks two years later.

How's this for a Summers worth of sheds?