I kept watching the weather, hoping for a change in the searing temperatures we had been experiencing.  Here it was, first weekend in November, the opening day of firearms season upon us, and the forecast was for temperatures in the 90’s.  I know that the deer in South Texas are used to the heat, but this was ridiculous.  Anyway, I was sitting at my company’s lease outside of Laredo loading up the truck to head out to a blind for a little scouting expedition.  The lease is restricted to gun hunting, but I never pass up a chance to get down here.  The ranch is VERY intensely managed for trophy class deer, and our employees are used for the purpose of culling deer that aren’t quite up to the ranch’s standards, while our clients get the chance at hunting bucks with the potential to make the minimum Boone and Crockett score or better. 

My clients were arriving that night, and I wanted to get an idea of how the deer were going to be moving (if they were going to be moving).  I arrived at the stand, and got settled into the tower blind.  During the course of the afternoon, I watched several deer feed down the senderos.  I also watched a lone coyote as it too traveled up and down the roads.  Most of the action was from does and small bucks, but as the sun set, I spotted a monster several hundred yards away.  He was too far to film, so I replaced the camera with my spotting scope in hopes that I could accurately describe him to the ranch manager.  This was definitely a mature deer.  He sported a very heavy rack with at least a 20” inside spread.  I counted 10 long points with none of tines (other than the brow tines) being shorter than 8 inches.  He was every bit of 160”.  I kept watching this deer for the next 20 minutes until darkness came.

The next morning the fog rolled in and put a quick end to everyone’s hunt.  No big deer were seen, although a couple of coyotes were taken as well as a 250 lb wild boar.  That afternoon, the heat was intense.  It was 92 degrees and no one was looking forward to sitting (and baking) in a box blind.  My feelings changed about the afternoon only 10 minutes into my hunt.  While filming the intro to the hunt, deer started pouring out of the brush to feed in the senderos.  The heat didn’t bother them at all.  I was covered up with deer all afternoon.  I watched six different bucks including a beautiful 4¼ year old 130 class 8 point.  Fortunately for those bucks, none met the criteria for culling set by the ranch manager. 

Sunday morning came, along with the forecast of more fog.  After discussions with the ranch manager, I decided to sit in a blind located on one of the higher spots of the ranch to avoid the fog.  He wanted me to scout out the area for two different deer.  One was a typical 12 point that would push 170 inches (not a shooter for me), and the other was 3½ year old buck carrying a basic 8 point frame with no brow tines which I was instructed to harvest if the opportunity arose. 

The sun rose, and in the growing light I could make out a shape in the road.  A young spike was already out and feeding.  By the time I had enough light to film, two more deer were feeding in a separate sendero.  A nice 2½ yr old 10 point and the one I was sent to look for.  No, not the monster 12 pointer, but the cull 6 point.  I radioed the ranch manager, and described the deer to him.  We both agreed that the deer was not genetically up to par and I got the go-ahead to take him.  I gathered some good footage of the two bucks and took the shot.  My shot hit him perfectly, and he ran less than 30 yards before crashing in the brush.

Upon recovery, I was amazed how big his body was.  As a 3½ year old, he weighed 170 lbs.  But his slender rack was that of a yearling.  While we normally like for a deer to get some age before he’s harvested, it was a good management decision to harvest this deer before he could pass on any of his genes.

Once again, I had a great South Texas deer hunt.  I was fortunate enough to have a couple of encounters with a couple of big deer.  I also was able to help out the ranch with its management goals and put some meat in the freezer at the same time.

I wish you all the very best this season.

Tom Dade

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