Deer season already includes several whoppers
The 2009-10 Texas archery and MLD seasons for whitetail deer are relatively young, but several hunters have already scored big on lifetime bucks.
MLD is short for Managed Lands Deer permit. The program is structured to allow landowners operating under an approved deer management program more flexible hunting seasons and harvest opportunties.
There are three MLD levels. Level 3 MLD properties have the greatest flexibility. The program allows hunters to target antlerless deer and bucks by any legal means, including rifles, from Oct. 3 through Feb. 28.
The two best bucks reported from East Texas so far this year came from Level 3 MLD properties. Both were taken on low fence ranches in Trinity County by rifle hunters.
One of the bucks is a monster, a 15-pointer shot on the afternoon of Oct. 8 by 58-year-old Charlie Moore of Trinity.
There's a good story behind the big whitetail, which will likely be among the highest gross scoring nontypicals taken across the region this year.
Moore, an auto body shop owner, is a member of a 6,000-acre lease intensively managed for quality deer. He and several other members had been watching the buck for several years using trail cameras. Moore recorded close to 300 images of the buck over the last two seasons. He estimates its rack scored around 160 Boone & Crockett points last year.
"Everyone talked about it, and we decided to put him off limits last year because we figured he was only 4 1/2 years old," Moore said. "Our club rule on trophy bucks is they need to have at least nine points and be 5 1/2 years old. We figured he would really be something special this year."
Indeed, he was.
Moore's camera caught the buck at a protein feeder several times this summer, and it was obvious its rack had grown considerably larger.
As opening weekend drew closer, Moore did an admirable thing. He told his wife, Patricia, that she could shoot the deer if the opportunity knocked.
The two hunters were sharing a box blind on the afternoon of Sunday, Oct. 4, when the buck showed up right at dark in a shooting lane. It was about 300 yards away.
"Patricia had been practicing shooting for about 6 weeks," Moore said. "We both felt confident she could make the shot at that distance."
Unfortunately, it didn't work out. When she shot, the deer bolted. Closer inspection of the site revealed a few hair fragments on the ground and very little blood.
"We could hear him in the woods making a gasping sound, almost like he was sucking for air," Moore said. "I figured she had hit him in the lungs, and he was out there just bleeding out."
The hunters looked for the deer well into the night with no luck. They organized a search crew the following day and combed the adjacent pine plantation for hours. Still, no sign of the deer.
Moore returned to the spot Tuesday and spent the entire afternoon looking unsuccessfully for the animal. He swapped batteries and a new flash card in his game camera before going home.
The story took an encouraging turn Tuesday night as Moore downloaded the images off his game camera. A couple of them depicted the monster buck. The photos were taken the previous afternoon, one day after his wife had taken the shot.
"We knew right then that he was alright, that Patricia had probably just grazed him," Moore said. "That was a big relief for both of us. You hate to see any deer get away, especially one like that."
Moore returned to the same stand two days later, but he didn't expect to see much. The hunting conditions were anything but ideal. Outside temperatures were in the upper 80s, and the wind was howling.
Shortly before 7 p.m., he saw movement in a shooting lane about 125 yards away. The big buck was facing him, and the wind was in its face.
"There is no doubt he winded me. He had his nose straight up in the air," Moore said. "I could tell he was getting ready to bolt, so I shot him the second he turned broadside."
Moore's buck grosses 187 4/8 B&C points and nets 153 3/8 after more than 34 inches of deducts for a lack of symmetry. "I'll take him, though," he said. "In my book, if they grow it, they ought to get credit for it."
The Oct. 3 opener of the MLD season couldn't have come sooner for 39-year-old Tony Hawk of Humble. He nursed an itchy trigger finger for several months after a big 13-pointer started showing up at a protein feeder he'd situated deep in the heart of his 22,000-acre lease in Trinity County.
The craziness started last July. That's when Hawk got the first picture of the deer on a trail camera.
"Those cameras can be a blessing in the sense they will give you a good idea what is out there, but they also can be a curse because they will worry you to death," Hawk said. "Once I located this deer in July, I found myself counting the days between the weekends, so I could drive up to the lease just to check to see if he was still hanging around. For months, it was all I could think about."
Hawk said the deer was predictable as day and night throughout the summer. He got regular photos of buck in broad daylight, sometimes twice daily, until mid-September when his movement patterns changed.
"He was almost nocturnal at times," he said. "I was still getting pictures of him leading up to October, but most of them were a night, right at daylight or right at dark."
Hawk spent 11 hours in a pop-up blind on opening day and never saw the deer. He returned to the spot before daylight Oct. 4 and stayed until noon before taking a break for lunch. He headed back out about three hours before dark. The buck came slipping in about 7 p.m as the final minutes of daylight waned. Hawk dropped him at 85 yards.
The deer is a main frame 11-pointer with two kickers. It grosses an unofficial 160 B&C points as a typical. Chances are it will rank among top scoring typical whitetails taken in the Pineywoods this season.
In a normal year, the South Texas region will kick out more 160-inch deer than the rest of the state combined. This year has been especially dry down south, but it appears the arid Brush Country is on its way to another banner year just the same.
One of the best tools for keeping check on the heartbeat of the South Texas deer harvest is the Los Cazadores Big Buck Contest. Based in Pearsall, the popular contest draws hundreds of entries from around the region. Deer are categorized in High Fence, Low Fence, Mexico, Archery, Handgun, Open, Youth, 160 Club, Freak of the Year and Found Dead divisions.
Some whoppers have been checked in thus far. One of the most noteworthy is a magnificent 13-point typical shot behind high fence at the Simms Ranch in Maverick County by Donald Sanders of Magnolia. The rack grosses 207 6/8 points and nets 198 7/8.
Leading the low fence division is a 190-inch Zavala County typical taken by Kirk Brannan of Lake Jackson. The deer is main frame 12-pointer with a pair of kickers.
James Newport of Pearsall leads the low fence archery division with a 199-inch LaSalle County giant.
The best high fence archery kill turned in thus far belongs to Rob Aldridge of Leander. The big 13-pointer scores 173 4/8.
A 17-pointer taken on Venado Creek Ranch in San Augustine County by Mike Merritt of Baytown currently holds down the No. 2 spot in the contest's Open division. The Open Division is designated for low fence, high fence or archery hunters who harvest a deer that previously has been used in a deer breeder program and subsequently released for hunting. Taken behind high fence, Merritt's buck scores 215 B&C points and has an inside spread of 22 5/8 inches.
Another former breeder buck was taken recently by Nacogdoches' Stephen Godfrey, who arrowed the deer on Circle K Whitetail Ranch in Rusk County. The heavy nontypical rack features a double main beam on the left side. It grosses 192 B&C points.
Neither the Venado Creek and Circle K deer are eligible for entry to the Texas Big Game Awards Program, because they were former breeder bucks held in captivity and subsequently released into the wild.
The 2009-10 deer season may be young, but it is off to an awfully good start for a number of Texas hunters. Some are sure to remember it as the year of the whopper.
Matt Williams' e-mail address is mattwilliams@netdot.com.
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