Texas Hunting Times

Big Buck Shot in Ridgeway Wisconsin – Giant 8 Point with Droptines!

Wisconsin deer hunting is known for producing some truly giant bucks, both in terms of body size and antlers. This year, a giant main-frame 8 point buck was shot near the town of Ridgeway. The heavy-set buck has 8 normal points and 2 abnormal points, both of which are drop tines! One on each side. This is prime example of a monster whitetail buck that most hunters can only dream about. At this time, I don’t know who shot the deer, or who even commented on the deer, but here is what they had to say about this Ridgway beast of a buck:

Unknown Author: “Here’s the big 8 point buck shot while deer hunting in Wisconsin, longest tine is 17 inches. It’s already insured for $10,000.00 and in a vault. Rough estimate of the deer’s age by the DNR is 3 ½ years old, Boone and Crockett representative is scheduled to score the rack in about 40 days, buck shot on opening day. Trail camera pic’s started to show up after the buck was shot; no one talked about it prior to the kill (imagine that). Continue reading Big Buck Shot in Ridgeway Wisconsin – Giant 8 Point with Droptines!

Public Hunting Lands in Texas – More on the Way?

A democrat-written bill that was designed to provide additional federal land access for public hunting and fishing was shot down this week. The bill also excluded lead for fishing and hunting from any environment regulation. What’s most surprising, the hunting bill was shot down by the GOP. Is this another partisan battle? Currently, it appears the Republicans took a stand against this public access bill only because of the riders and unclear the taxpayer cost.

If they can work out the cost and rider issues, then certainly more public hunting land access would be a good thing. How will this impact Texas hunters? It’s unclear at this point, especially since Texas is low of federal land. But there is definitely more land that will be available for public hunting in Texas if this bill ultimately passes.

Source: A wide-ranging bill to give hunters and fishermen more access to public lands stalled in the Senate Monday after Republicans said it spends too much money.

Republicans supported opening lands for outdoorsmen and many other provisions in the bill sponsored by Democratic Sen. Jon Tester, but GOP senators blocked the legislation on principle Monday evening in a mostly party-line procedural vote after Senate Budget Committee’s top Republican, Jeff Sessions of Alabama, objected to spending on conservation programs included in the bill.

The sportsmen’s bill would increase land access and allow hunters to bring home as trophies 41 polar bears killed in Canada before the government started protecting polar bears as a threatened species. The legislation would also exclude ammunition and tackle from federal environmental laws that regulate lead, allow bow hunters to cross federal land where public hunting isn’t allowed, encourage federal land agencies to help states maintain shooting ranges, boost fish populations and protect animal habitat.

Attracting Bucks to Your Property

Question: “We never deer hunted our property because there have never been any deer, but that has changed. Behind my barn I have recently found three does and a fawn on my game camera. These deer have been out there for about 3 months, but are coming from an adjacent property. One doe has a fawn so I know there is at least one buck somewhere around there. However, I have yet to see a buck on my game camera. Any suggestions on attracting bucks to come to my corn feeder from the neighboring lands? It’s buck-only during the deer hunting season and I’m hoping he shows up. Thanks.”

Deer Hunting Pros: Deer hunting would be so much easier if we could just bring them in on a string, but deer have a mind of their own. Free ranging whitetail deer have the luxury of selecting when and where they want to go. Bucks will cover more acreage than does, so the buck that sired the fawn you observed on your game camera may be miles away from your property today. Continue reading Attracting Bucks to Your Property

Deer Hunting in South Carolina: Bucks and the Rut

Question: “I deer hunt a suburban tract of woods directly behind my house. I live on the edge of a subdivision and own the 50×100 yards of woods that divide the subdivision and a horse farm. Its a natural funnel for whitetail deer that are traveling between two large-acre tracts of woods and I regularly see 18 to 25 deer a day walking through.

I shot a big, well for South Carolina, 8 point buck last week during the first days of the rut. I just moved here last spring and have never hunted in this type of situation before and never put much thought into this but… I know bucks get territorial during the rut. I do know this was the 8 pointers main area because I watched him run a nice 10 point out about two weeks ago. Continue reading Deer Hunting in South Carolina: Bucks and the Rut

CWD Testing of Mule Deer in Texas

Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) is reminding mule deer hunters and landowners in the Trans-Pecos portion of West Texas about new procedures developed as part of TPWD Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) response plan. The plan includes mandatory check stations for harvested deer and elk taken inside the CWD Containment Zone (map), which covers portions of Culberson, Hudspeth and El Paso counties. Hunters lucky enough to harvest a deer in the CWD zone need to make sure that they get their animal tested.

Source: The CWD response plan is being implemented after tissue samples from two mule deer in far West Texas this past summer tested positive for CWD. These are the first cases of CWD detected in Texas deer, whitetail or mule deer.

Hunters taking mule deer inside the Containment Zone during the general season, Nov. 23 – Dec. 9, are required to submit their harvest (unfrozen head) for CWD sampling at mandatory check stations within 24 hours of harvest.

“We recommend hunters in the Containment Zone and High Risk Zone quarter deer in the field and leave all but the quarters, backstraps and head at the site of harvest if it is not possible to bury the inedible carcass parts at least 6 feet deep on the ranch or take them to a landfill,” said Shawn Gray, Mule Deer Program Leader for TPWD.

Mandatory check stations will be open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Nov. 23 – Dec. 10. Stations will be located in Cornudas at May’s Café (on US 62-180) and in Van Horn at Van Horn Convention Center (1801 West Broadway).

Hunters that harvest deer in the Containment Zone outside the general season under the authority of Managed Lands Deer Permits (MLDP) will need to call TPWD at (512) 221-8491 the day the deer is harvested to make arrangements to have the deer sampled for CWD.

In addition to protocols within the Containment Zone, TPWD has created a High Risk Zone for voluntary CWD sampling during the hunting season. Biologists have been collecting voluntary mule deer harvest data in the region since 1980 and this year CWD sampling will be offered in addition to age and weight measurements. Here is a list of voluntary mule deer check stations in West Texas.

Rut Report – Coleman County Deer Hunting

Question: “I’m deer hunting in Coleman County, about 10 miles north of the county line. So far, deer movement has been slow. We have not seen any signs of rutting or chasing by bucks going on to date. We are seeing a few scrapes and rubs, of course, and it looks like bucks are checking scrapes some on our piece of real estate. I didn’t get to hunt the past weekend, I was in Coke County with a friend on his property. Has anyone seen or reported any rutting activity while deer hunting in Coleman County this year?”

Response: My cousin hunts in central Coleman County and yes, he has been seeing some rutting activity with bucks chasing does. He says bucks are checking out the estrus he’s using regularly. In their area, they have a lot of acorns on the ground, so they hunted away from the feeders on their ranch. This past weekend they sat in areas where they could see some country and looked for cruising deer. Continue reading Rut Report – Coleman County Deer Hunting

Texas Deer Hunting Season: Numbers Good

It’s almost mid-November so that means the white-tailed deer hunting in Texas should be heating up. Unfortunately, the weather has been a tad on the warm side for hunters looking to bag a buck. By all accounts this season’s forecast has shaped up to be a good one, but habitat conditions have been great and food sources for deer plentiful. But Texas has the country’s largest deer population, so things don’t have to be perfect for deer hunters to make hay.

According to Texas Parks & Wildlife Department (TPWD) estimates, the 2011-12 deer hunting season saw more than 650,000 hunters harvest nearly 600,000 deer. Both of those figures are right near the average for the past 10 years. But hunters and biologist alike will tell you that last year was tough one for hunting deer. Whitetail went through the worst drought I can remember, but conditions improved greatly into the fall and deer did well. Hunters had fewer deer in the field because of decreased fawn production and the ones that were there were difficult to find.

But the carryover of deer from one year means better things down the road for hunters looking for older age class bucks. It’s just going to mean a draw-down in the abundance of natural food, some cooler temperatures to get some serious deer rut action across Texas taking place. According to hunter Don Wiswell, things in the Hill Country looked upbeat:

“Deer brought into the local deer processor on opening weekend was fairly slow but steady. Older aged bucks were harvested over the weekend more so than in years past. The biologist logged in 32 bucks and 11 does with an average age of 4.5 and 3.5 years old respectively. Some hunters reported bucks chasing does (rutting activity) and body conditions were fair to good with layers of body cavity fat. With older aged bucks harvested, this meant antler development was somewhat better than average.

Many deer were taken at feeders, as usual, but several hunters reported that some deer were not coming to feeders readily. Instead, these deer were shot away from feeders and had browse and forbs versus corn in their mouths. Most hunters were optimistic about future deer hunting days, but warm temps and a full moon slowed the movement of whitetail during daylight hours.”

CWD Check Stations in West Texas

The deer hunting season has been underway for bowhunters and things kick off tomorrow for gun hunters. Hunters have been busy, chomping at the bit to get out there are hunt, but mule deer hunters taking an animal inside the West Texas Containment Zone during the mule deer general season, November 23 through December 9, are required to submit their harvest (unfrozen head) for CWD sampling at mandatory CWD check stations within 24 hours of harvest.

“We recommend hunters in the Containment Zone and High Risk Zone quarter deer in the field and leave all but the quarters, backstraps and head at the site of harvest if it is not possible to bury the inedible carcass parts at least 6 feet deep on the ranch or take them to a landfill,” said Shawn Gray, mule deer program leader for TPWD.

Hunters that harvest deer in the Containment Zone during the archery-only season or outside the general season under the authority of MLDP (Managed Lands Deer Permits) will need to call TPWD at (512) 221-8491 the day the deer is harvested to make arrangements to have the deer sampled for CWD.

Voluntary check stations will be set up at the following locations during the first three weekends of the general season, Saturday through Monday (Nov. 24–26, Dec. 1–3 and Dec. 8–10), from 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday and 9 a.m. – 1 p.m. Monday:

Midland at Naturally Fresh (Deer Processor) (1501 Elwyn)
Bakersfield at Chevron Station (south of I10; Exit 294)
Sanderson at Slim’s Auto Repair (823 West Oak; Intersection of US 90 and 285)
Alpine at Hip-O Taxidermy (east side of town on US 90, across from Dairy Queen)

TPWD stated, “All deer brought to the check stations this season will be aged as part of our CWD surveillance,” said Gray. “We also intend to collect other biological information such as antler measurements and field dressed weights as time allows.” Sounds like a good opportunity for hunters to get some information about their kill as well as keep up with CWD in West Texas.

Helicopter Deer Surveys in Texas

Helicopter Deer Surveys

Question: “We conducted the yearly helicopter deer survey on our 8,500 acre lease in Maverick County, Texas, a couple of weeks ago. The results were lower than what we had expected. Counted a total of 44 does, 32 fawns, and 54 bucks. The majority of the bucks were deer with 8+ points. In fact, 16 percent of the bucks had 10 or more points and even three 12 point deer were spotted. The alarming number is 130, the total number of deer observed during the helicopter survey.

Our helicopter counts on this ranch usually total at least double, with around 100 bucks and 100 does being counted annually, with fawn numbers fluctuating based on spring and summer habitat conditions. How worried should I be that we observed around half of the deer we normally do? Will this impact our deer management efforts long term and the deer hunting short term? The density showed 1 deer for every 65 acres! The cover is much more dense this year because of the rainfall, but the helicopter deer survey numbers just seem to be way off in left field.

We are aware that helicopter surveys observe an estimated 35-75% of the deer herd, but these numbers are far from the historical numbers. Same survey technique, same time of year. Concerned the deer population is declining on our lease. Any ideas or suggestions on what is happening or are we interpreting our deer survey data correctly?”

A Helicopter Deer Survey in Perspective

Texas Hunting 411: It is important to remember that no deer survey technique is perfect, including helicopter surveys. They can work well, and many programs swear by them. But the truth is none of them is perfect. There are numerous factors that can impact a count on a given day. The deer density on your ranch may have gone down or even stayed the same. I would be suggest that numbers are down, maybe not as much as you may think.

Addition deer herd information can be collected using game cameras, stand counts and daylight driving surveys. This information can be used to supplement the helicopter survey data. Deer surveys are just one tool in your toolbox as a manager, and a single survey depends on deer movement, habitat conditions and a host of other things. Survey data should be used to mold an overall view of the deer numbers on a property. Compare that information with what you are seeing on the ground and in game camera photos.

If you are very concerned about the whitetail population on your place then the best bet would be to replicate the survey. Another helicopter survey may confirm your worries or find that deer numbers were better than you thought. It may be worth it for piece of mind, one way or the other. At least then you can put into the place the proper management actions, primarily reduced harvest this deer hunting season. Also, pay attention not only to what you are seeing, but also what you are not seeing. Look for deer skeletons or signs of dead animals. If there was a big deer die-off in your area then the view from the sky will give you a heads-up.

Mountain Lion Road-Killed in Bandera County

There is a lot of talk of mountain lions in Texas. Ask any hunter and they will tell you a story about the one their uncle saw crossing the road, the track they found or the one they saw that got away. The fact is there are more mountain lion stories than there are mountain lions in Texas. And there is one less today because a mountain lion was found road-killed near the town of Bandera. Apparently this rough country still holds a few cats.

Lone Star Outdoor News: “’It was a 121-pound tom found by a road crew in Bandera County,’ said Broach, owner of Rhodes Brothers Taxidermy in Kerrville. ‘The road crew called the game wardens, and the wardens and biologists brought it here for the time being.’

Broach said he isn’t sure what the officials are going to have him do with the lion.

‘I’m hoping I’ll be mounting it for them, because whoever hit him, hit him just right,’ he said. ‘He’s in great shape with no physical damage. That was a very big, healthy tom.’”