More East Texas big bucks trickling in
As many experts predicted, the 2010-11 Texas deer season is turning out to be a good one. Bruiser bucks have shown up in hunter scopes in all corners of the state, and things are likely to improve with the meat of the rut still ahead in the South Texas brush country.
The eastern half of Texas has kicked out a number of impressive whitetails this year, including a few from places where you would least expect them.
One of the surprise bucks stepped out in front of Tracy Murphy of Montgomery on the morning of Nov. 12. It was Murphy's first year on the Houston County lease, which spans just 120 acres and is cloaked in pine timber.
"The lease has a dry creek and a narrow pipeline that run that through it, but that's about it," said Murphy. "I was amazed to see a deer like this show up on a place like that."
With G2s longer than 11 1/2 inches and G3s longer than 10 inches, Murphy's buck is a hoss in every respect. The 10-point typical rack grosses 165 7/8 Boone & Crockett points and nets 161. It currently ranks No. 1 among Region 6 typicals on the Texas Big Game Awards Program leaderboard.
Small as it is, Murphy says there is something about the chunk of land that makes it particularly attractive to whitetails.
"I'm not sure what it is, but I sure do like it," he said. "I have seen 17 different bucks out there since opening day, but this is by far the biggest."
Two more outstanding Pineywoods deer reported earlier this season include a 12-pointer shot on Nov. 19 in Angelina County by Ray Brown and a Walker County buck taken by archer Greg Buckner.
Details on the Buckner buck are limited, but it appears to be a 10-point nontypical with at least one split G2 on the right side. TBGA lists the gross score at 169, which makes it the highest scoring nontypical registered in Region 6 this season. Ben Bartlett of Lufkin taped Brown's buck at 164 1/8 gross points as a typical and 155 7/8 net.
Region 5 (Post Oak Savannah) hunters have enjoyed an eventful season, as well. A pair of 190-class whitetails and one high 160s buck are listed on the TBGA website, but reliable sources tell me there are several more giants that have yet to go public.
One was reportedly taken near Corsicana and scores upwards of 200 B&C points. Additionally, there has been some chatter about a couple of exceptional bucks from Grayson County. You can expect some of these deer to show up on the TBGA website in coming weeks.
The highest scoring Region 5 buck that is official thus far belongs to Chris Zachry of Streetman. Zachry tagged the buck on Nov. 22.
Zachry said he was hunting a 6,000-acre company lease adjacent to the Richland Creek Wildlife Management Area in Freestone County. It was a high noon buck taken while most hunters were lounging back at camp.
"The moon was full that night, so I'd planned on hunting from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m.," Zachry said. "This buck showed up right at noon after a bunch of does. He was rutting pretty hard."
Zachry's buck, a 15-pointer with exceptional mass, grosses 196 4/8. It assumes the TBGA lead for Region 5 non-typicals over Dillon Chevalier's Wood County whopper taken on Halloween Day. Chevalier's buck was taken by bow and arrow and grosses 191 6/8.
Ranking third among Region 5 nontypicals is an impressive 15-pointer taken Nov. 6 in Madison County by Sean Phoenix of San Antonio. Phoenix's buck grosses 168.
As a side note, all of the aforementioned deer were taken from open range, no high fences. To keep check on weekly updates, see the TBGA website at texasbiggameawards.com.
Matt Williams' e-mail address is mattwilliams@netdot.com.
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