2020 1 Jan/Feb TTHA Issue by Texas Trophy Hunters Association

[ THE JOURNAL ] VOLUME 45 NUMBER 1 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2020

CEO'S LETTER January/February 2020 Volume 45, No. 1 www.ttha.com

45 Years of TTHA and Counting

Official Publication of The Texas Trophy Hunters Association, Ltd.

n my first few months leading the team here at Texas Trophy Hunters Association, I’ve reconfirmed something I was already pretty sure of: Texas hunters are as diverse as the landscape of the state we hunt. At the 2019 Hunters Extravaganzas in Houston, Fort Worth, and San Antonio, I saw more than 50,000 residents of the Trophy Hunter Nation, and the diversity was obvious. Some of us have been hunting for decades, while others of us are just getting started. Some of us are whitetail hunters; some, mulie hunters; some, bird hunters; and some, exotics hunters. By default, I think almost all of us are hog hunters and varmint hunters, as well, in the name of conservation and wildlife preservation. I think many of us, though, are just hunters, with no qualifier needed. Many of us like to throw a little fishing in with our hunting, as well. Some of us hunt for horns, heads and hides. Some of us hunt for meat. Some of us simply hunt to experience the outdoors, either by ourselves or with our friends and family. I think most of us relish all of those things in some form or fashion. Some of us hunt with a bow; some, with a rifle; and some, with both. Some of us hunt high fence; some of us hunt low fence, but I’d be willing to bet that most of us take advantage of whatever hunting opportunities we can get. Some of us are male; some of us are female. We all come from various ethnic and economic backgrounds, but when we camo up and head to the field, we’re all just hunters. Here at TTHA, we talk a lot about the Trophy Experience. Your trophy may be symbolized by a 12-point whitetail mounted above your fireplace. Your trophy may be symbolized by a good ol’ chicken fried deer steak with cream gravy steaming on your table. Your trophy may even be symbolized by a photograph on your living room wall (or on your iPhone) of your child or grandchild’s first deer, quail, dove, or hog. Whatever it is, your Trophy Experience is your own, a product and a reminder of one of your life’s passions. As TTHA celebrates its 45th year in 2020, I’m happy to report that hunting and the Trophy Experience are alive and well in Texas. According to data published on the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service’s website, the total of hunting license, tags, permits and stamps sold in Texas grew from around 1.1 million 45 years ago to just under 1.7 million in 2019. The total sales price of those licenses grew from just under $5 million in 1975 to a staggering $47 million during that same time period. And that’s just in Texas. Interestingly enough, those numbers declined in the late ’90s, fluctuated some between 2010 and 2014, but have steadily increased again since then. One of the most important things we do here at TTHA is to share stories of your Trophy Experience. While that’s a really cool part of our job, it’s not simply to tell a story. It’s to tell a story to reinforce the passion for hunting and the outdoors for those of us who already enjoy that passion, and to hopefully ignite that same passion in the next generation and in others who have yet to experience the lifestyle that we know and love. My hope for TTHA is to unite all segments of the hunting community to promote, protect, and preserve our Texas hunting heritage for decades and centuries to come. That’s a tall order but one we can all work towards. It’s sport. It’s science. It’s heritage. It is life. So hunt on, Trophy Hunter Nation, whatever your Trophy Experience may be. Dave Keith, CEO Texas Trophy Hunters Association

January/February 2020

326 Sterling Browning Rd. San Antonio, TX 78232-1220 210-523-8500 • info@ttha.com

Founder Jerry Johnston Publisher Texas Trophy Hunters Association Chief Executive Officer Dave Keith 210-632-3413 •dave@ttha.com Editor Horace Gore Executive Editor Deborah Keene Field Editor Jason Shipman Associate/Online Editor Martin Malacara Graphic Designers Faith Peña Dust Devil Publishing/Todd & Tracey Woodard Staff Writers Jim Heffelfinger, Dr. James C. Kroll, Will Leschper, Ted Nugent, Brandon Ray, Gary Roberson Contributing Writers Ron Compton, John Goodspeed, Steve Hall, Tanner Henson, Judy Jurek, Lee Leschper, Randy Miller, Mike Murphy, Lee Phillips, Johnnie Rosenauer, Matt Williams Director of Sales & Digital Media Dillon Brown 210-310-9499 • dillon@ttha.com Sales Representatives Deborah Copeland 210-430-0473 • dcopeland@ttha.com Tim Hinojosa 210-396-2160 • tim@ttha.com Advertising Production Deborah Keene 210-288-9491 • deborah@ttha.com Membership/Marketing Director Lauren Conklin 210-491-2133 • lauren@ttha.com Trade Show Director Christina Pittman 210-491-2126 • christina@ttha.com Administrative Assistant/Event Coordinator Jennifer Beaman Accounting Assistant Sandra Pastran Hunters Extravaganza® is a registered trademark of the Texas Trophy Hunters Association®

To carry our magazine in your store, please call 210-523-8500 • info@ttha.com

TTHA protects, promotes and preserves Texas wildlife resources and hunting heritage for future generations. Founded in 1975, TTHA is a membership-based organization. Its bimonthly magazine, The Journal of the Texas Trophy Hunters®, is available via membership and newsstands; the award-winning outdoor TV program, Texas Trophy Hunters TV®, airs on the Pursuit Channel; and TTHA hosts the Hunters Extravaganza® outdoor expositions, renowned as the largest whitetail hunting shows in the South. For membership information, please join at www.ttha.com or contact TTHA Membership Services at (877) 261-2541.

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[ THE JOURNAL ] VOLUME 45 NUMBER 1 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2020

CONTENTS FEATURES 24 Dr. Deer’s Prescription

| By Dr. James Kroll

30 45 Years of Women in the Hunt

| By Judy Jurek

34 Panhandle Bonanza

| By Brandon Ray

48 Hunter Education:

Five Decades of Success

| By Steve Hall

52 Predator Hunting: 45 Years of Change | By Gary Roberson

56 Deer Hunting in the Southwest

| By Jim Heffelfinger

78 Hot Off-Road Wheels for 2020

| By John Goodspeed

90 Deer Contests: Past and Present

| By Jason Shipman

94 Game Cameras and Big Bucks

| By Matt Williams

102 Hunting Alaska: Then and Now

| By Lee Leschper

108 Hunting Late-Season Texas Waterfowl | By Will Leschper

114 Up On a Stump | By Horace Gore

102 4|

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[ THE JOURNAL ] VOLUME 45 NUMBER 1 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2020

CONTENTS COLUMNS

118

10 Founder’s Circle 12 Fence Posts 18 Hunting Pioneers 40 Beyond The Hunt 62 Nuge’s Soundboard 66 Must Haves 71 Jr. Trophy Hunter Corner

118 The Draw 122 The Next Generation 126 Blast From The Past 127 Kamp Kitchen 130 Preacher’s Corner 131 Feeding Times &

Moon Phases

132 Hunt’s End

MEMBER STORIES 26 The Napkin Buck

86 My Handgun Buck

43 Lightning Does Strike Twice

98 The Making of a Hunter

| By Ron Compton

| By Lee Phillips

| By Randy Miller

ON THE COVER Photo By: Marty Berry

| By Johnnie Rosenauer

The Journal of the Texas Trophy Hunters, 1982 ISSN-08941602, is published bimonthly (a total of 6 issues) by The Texas Trophy Hunters Association Ltd., 326 Sterling Browning Rd., San Antonio, TX 78232-1220, Phone (210) 523-8500. All rights reserved. Periodical postage paid in San Antonio, Texas 78232-1220 and Additional Mailing Offices. Subscriptions: $35 per year includes membership in TTHA. Phone (210) 523-8500. Advertising: For information on rates, deadlines, mechanical requirements, etc., call (210) 523-8500. Insertion of advertising in this publication is a service to the readers and no endorsement or guarantees by the publisher to are expressed or implied. Published material reflects the views of individual authors and does not necessarily reflect the official position of the association. Contributions: should be sent via email to editor@ttha.com, or mailed to the Editor, Journal of the Texas Trophy Hunters, 326 Sterling Browning Rd., San Antonio, TX 78232-1220. They must be accompanied by a self-addressed stamped envelope or return postage, and the publisher assumes no responsibility for loss or damage to unsolicited materials. Any material accepted is subject to revision as is necessary in our sole discretion to meet the requirements of our publication. The act of mailing a manuscript and/or material shall constitute an express warranty by the contributor that the material is original and in no way an infringement upon the rights of others. Photographs can either be RAW, TIFF, or JPEG formats, and should be high resolution and at least 300 dpi. All photographs submitted for publication in “Hunt’s End” become the sole property of the Texas Trophy Hunters Association Ltd. Moving? Please send notice of address change (new and old address) 6 weeks in advance to Texas Trophy Hunters Association, P.O. Box 3000, Big Sandy, TX 75755-9918. POSTMASTER: Please send change of address to The Journal of the Texas Trophy Hunters, Texas Trophy Hunters Association, P.O. Box 3000, Big Sandy, TX 75755-9918.

January/February 2020

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VOLUME 45 NUMBER 1 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2020

Gourmet Wild Game: Tamaulipas Style he Journal took part in a gourmet cooking and dining T event in mid-November, hosted by the state of Tamaulipas, Mexico, and the Culinary Institute of America at its campus near downtown San Antonio at The Pearl. Tamaulipas is pulling out all the stops to highlight not only its gastronomical delights, but that state’s rich hunting and fishing resource. “The idea is to give awareness to (Tamaulipas’) diversity,” said Fernando Olivera Rocha, secretary of tourism for Tamaulipas. Olivera Rocha said Tamaulipas has 150 ranches open for hunting, with about 100 of those opening in the last three years. Tamaulipas also has 104 fishing tournaments and has world-class wildlife refuges for bird watching and eco-toursim. Chefs Angel Garcia and Hector Urtaza Alvarez gave a short cooking presentation by preparing a few choice food samples, using venison and wild boar, to whet everyone’s appetites. After the demonstration, guests sat down to a five-course meal at the nearby Savor restaurant. On the menu: wild boar tilteña; fall pumpkin soup with Texas quail; duck confit enchiladas with pumpkin seed mole; venison tamales; and pipián (pumpkin seed mole) custard for dessert. Chef Garcia enjoys hunting and fishing as much as he enjoys cooking. Seven years ago, he took his best whitetail, a 16-pointer. His family owns a restaurant in Tampico, called El Porvenir, which has been around for 97 years. “Tamaulipas is a natural paradise for hunting,” he said. He loves talking to people while sharing a taste of his hometown and the natural flavors of his country, either in the family restaurant or anywhere else on the planet. “To me, it feels more like hosting at home than in a restaurant,” Garcia said. “More like serving friends and not customers.” The San Antonio food event was the third in an on-going project to promote Tamaulipas. The other two took place in New York and Madrid. “We’re open again,”

Facts From 1975 Do you remember where you were in 1975? To help jog your memory, here are some popular items and key historical highlights from the year Texas Trophy Hunters Association was born: • Mood Rings • Rubik’s Cubes • Pet Rocks • Hip-huggers, bellbottoms • 8-Track tapes www.TTHA.com

Left: Chef Angel Garcia. Right: A dish of wild boar tilteña.

Left: Pumpkin seed mole custard dish for dessert. Right: Fall pumpkin soup with Texas quail.

Left: Duck confit enchilada with pumpkin seed mole. Right: Venison tamale.

Olivera Rocha said. “Come experience different activities and (hunting) seasons and have an opportunity to experience everything.” For more information, go to visitam.mx. Just enter the URL in Google Translate if you can’t read Spanish. —Martin Malacara

• Disco • Magic 8-Balls • Movies: “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” “Jaws,” “Nashville,” “Dog Day Afternoon.” • “Saturday Night Live” premieres on NBC; George Carlin hosts the first show. • “All in the Family” is America’s top television show for the fifth straight year. • President: Gerald R. Ford • Population: 215,973,199 • Unemployment: 5.6%

• Cost of first-class stamp: $.10 • Quart of milk: $.46. • Jan 1, 1975: Federal Hourly Minimum Wage rose to $2.10 an hour. • Vietnam War ends (April 30). • Home videotape systems (VCRs) are developed in Japan by Sony (Betamax) and Matsushita (VHS).

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45 YEARS OF TEXAS TROPHY HUNTERS

By Jerry Johnston, TTHA Founder

exas Trophy Hunters Association (TTHA) was founded in 1975. I was 30 years old. Gerald Ford was president of the United States, and Dolph Briscoe was governor of Texas. “Muy Grande” in Freer was the only big deer contest in Texas, and hardly anyone used corn to hunt deer. A deer blind was a board on a tree limb, or an 8-foot stepladder. Popular deer rifles were the .30-06; .300 Savage; .270 and .243 Winchester. Jennie Crowder and I ran Texas Trophy Hunters out of our original office, a single wide trailer on Prue Road in northwest San Antonio, and Texas was quite different back then in many ways. Available hunting products and services were few. Places to hunt were seemingly plentiful, if you could afford them, and “day leases” were common at $20 to $50 per day. It was a time when Texans held a high regard for white-tailed deer and deer hunting, and a good time for me to start a deer hunting fraternity. Real old-time deer leases were the common way of hunting. The problem was lease openings were few where deer hunting was really good—in South Texas and the Hill Country. Most of Texas was enclosed by four to five strands of barbed wire fence, and deer-proof high fences were new, with less than eight to 10 in the whole state! The words “deer management” had no real meaning to most hunters, and it was about this time that two wildlife biologists were trying to cultivate a new profession, which would be called wildlife consulting. In my mind, this was the beginning of true management of a popular wildlife resource, the whitetailed deer. 10 |

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The two biologists were Al Brothers and Murphy Ray. Al and Murphy had been busy for a long time, compiling chapter after chapter of a book titled “Producing Quality Whitetails.” In 1976, the first deer management book of its kind hit the bookshelves and coffee tables of almost everyone interested in white-tailed deer in Texas. I got one of the very first books right off the press. It’s signed by Al with his statement that the book was meant to reprogram the minds of Texas deer hunters. TTHA and this book were the beginning of a 45-year quest to produce bigger and better whitetails. As a result, the Texas trophy-hunting culture had a heavy hand in producing quality whitetails in Texas. Texas Trophy Hunters’ first magazine was a quarterly issue called Texas Hunters Hotline. The first issue came out in July 1975 with only 26 pages inside the cover. The “hotline” wasn’t much more than a nice pam-

phlet, but it was the beginning of Texas Trophy Hunters Association. Our first gathering was called the TTHA First Annual Convention and was held in the El Tropicano Hotel on the Riverwalk in downtown San Antonio. We had a wall full of some of the biggest and best Texas whitetails, and a few taxidermists and knife makers had booths. Later on, several local hunting products dealers approached me with a question: “Why don’t you let business people pay the TTHA to exhibit at the annual event?” I thought it made good sense. The following year we moved to La

Texas Trophy Hunters’ first magazine was a quarterly called Texas Hunters Hotline. It debuted in July 1975 with 26 pages inside the cover.

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Author photos

The words “deer management” had no real meaning to most hunters until two wildlife biologists, Al Brothers and Murphy Ray, created a new profession called wildlife consulting. In 1976, “Producing Quality Whitetails” was the first deer management book of its kind.

Here’s an example of what may have been the first-ever trail camera. They’ve shrunk in size.

Villita Assembly Hall, again in downtown San Antonio, with lots of deer heads and booths showing dealers’ products. A few years later we were in the Henry B. Gonzales Convention Center and had the first event that was open to the public for admission. Texas Trophy Hunters Extravaganzas were on their way to becoming an annual part of Texas hunting history. Back in this time, there were very few manufactured deer blinds or feeders. I recall Lehman feeders, and Braden Wire and Metal produced an aluminum hunting tripod. C. E. Blackwell produced one of the very first metal tripods. Prior to that, guys like me sat on stepladders, or sat in trees. Hardly anyone knew corn would attract deer, so deer feeders had barely been invented back then. Today, competition is fierce in the deer feeder and deer blind business. Army surplus camo was about all anyone had in 1975, unless you had an Eddie Bauer catalog and a pocket full of money. I can remember, we used to go buy some cheap coveralls and spraywww.TTHA.com

paint patterns on them, holding up some mesquite leaves to make a pattern. Now, camo is an industry of its own with hundreds of different patterns. Some have come and gone, but many of the old originals are still with us with improvements like UV protected, charcoal infused fabric to mask scent. Speaking of scent cover, all we ever did in the early days was to cut the scent gland off a doe and hang it downwind. I can recall one of my favorite commercial scent covers was Tex Isabell’s Skunk Scent. It came in two bottles, and when you put three drops of each bottle together, it was like real skunk. Then came Tink Nathan’s. I called it Tink’s STINK! Today, there are several makers of scent cover. One of the industry’s most popular items today is the trail camera. I have photos of an example of what may have been the first-ever trail camera, and even took VHS movies. The thing was so big I think a midget could have gotten inside! Boy, those things have come a long way since the first ones. In fact, the growth of the hunting industry has snowballed in the last 45 years, as well as the quality of our Texas whitetails. I can’t help but believe TTHA and its members were a

big factor in this evolution. Through all these years, there have been so many individuals who have helped inspire me. Some of these icons have guided me, picked me up when I was down, and gave me pep talks when I needed a pep talk! I couldn’t have made it without a lot of help from some very good friends. Yes, we’ve come a long way in the past 45 years. Deer hunting has changed to “deer shooting,” and the quality of bucks is higher than it has ever been. Hunters are still trying to find a better place to hunt, and today’s guns and shells will kill a buck in the next county. We now have so many season opening dates that it’s hard to tell when the regular deer season opens each year. But, the woods and pastures are still full of hunters, more than ever, and the annual deer harvest is higher than ever before. Much of this continued excitement of deer hunting has come from 45 years of Texas Trophy Hunters, an association ready for deer hunters since 1975.

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[ THE JOURNAL ] VOLUME 45 NUMBER 1 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2020

HUNTING NEWS

FENCE POSTS

NEWS ABOUT HUNTING, GUN RIGHTS, AND LEGISLATIVE ITEMS Texans Vote “Yes” To Support State Parks, Historic Sites On Nov. 5, Texans voted overwhelmingly in support of Proposition 5, a constitutional dedication of revenue from the Sporting Good Sales Tax, so those dollars can only be used by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and the Texas Historical Commission on public parks and historic sites. This amendment will ensure there will be funding to protect Texas water quality, natural areas, beaches, and wildlife, so that our children and grandchildren and future generations can enjoy them the same way we do. It will also create a consistent stream of revenue for the maintenance and long-term planning of state parks and historic sites. Proposition 5 will provide the funding to achieve these goals without raising taxes or requiring additional fees. “The people of Texas sent a clear message that our state parks and historic sites matter, and they are a vital part of our heritage,” said State Rep. John Cyrier, chairman of the Culture, Recreation & Tourism Committee in the Texas House. “I was proud to carry the Legislation that put this issue in front of Texas voters. Prop. 5 will ensure that current and future Texans will have the opportunity to enjoy the rich history and culture that our state parks and historic sites afford.” “Texans have demonstrated their love of our state parks and historic sites with a resounding vote of yes in favor of Proposition 5. The passage of this proposition is important for maintaining, protecting and preserving the land in Texas that’s available for public enjoyment. This proposition was designed to create a positive impact on our environment, our culture and our way of life. The dedicated revenue for our parks and historic sites will ensure these Texas treasures are around for future generations to cherish and enjoy,” said Joseph Fitzsimons, founder of the Texas Coalition for State Parks. 12 |

January/February 2020

“We would like to extend our deepest gratitude to the people of Texas for voting to approve Proposition 5 and thus securing the future funding of parks and historic sites across this state for generations to come,” said S. Reed Morian, Chairman of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission. “With this constitutional amendment, voters have given the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and the Texas Historical Commission a chance to make real progress towards addressing the needs of parks and historic sites statewide. On behalf of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission and the 3,200 men and women of the department, I would like to thank Gov. Greg Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, Sen. Lois Kolkhorst, Rep. John Cyrier and the Texas Legislature for making this a priority last session and building the tremendous legislative support needed to put Senate Joint Resolution 24 on the ballot. We would also like to thank the countless supporters over time who have volunteered their time to help inform the public about this important piece of legislation.”—courtesy TPWD and Texas Coalition for State Parks

Big Time Texas Hunts Winners Announced The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department announced the 14 lucky winners of the 2019 Big Time Texas Hunts, which were selected at random from entries in the drawing. All told, hunters bought 106,114 Big Time Texas Hunt entries. More than $973,495 in gross sales was generated, and proceeds from the drawing go to support wildlife research, habitat management and public hunting. “Big Time Texas Hunts continues to be an important conservation fundraiser for TPWD,” said Justin Dreibelbis, TPWD Private Lands and Public Hunting Program Director. “If a hunter is lucky enough to win, they will experience the hunt of a lifetime. If they don’t, they can

feel good knowing the funds from their entry goes directly to wildlife conservation and public access projects on public hunting lands in Texas.” The Texas Grand Slam hunting package winner, Lee Ferguson of Marshall, is making plans for four separate guided hunts for the state’s top four premier big game species: desert bighorn sheep, white-tailed deer, pronghorn and mule deer. Following are the other category winners of the Big Time Texas Hunts: ULTIMATE MULE DEER HUNT Carlton Martin, Palmhurst NILGAI ANTELOPE SAFARI Carrie McCoy, Montgomery PREMIUM BUCK HUNT James Handley III, Campbell EXOTIC SAFARI Stanley Harris, Cypress WHITETAIL BONANZA John McCall, Arlington; Chris Fields, Corsicana; Phillip Lucky, Waxahachie; Justin Venable, Groesbeck; Darrell Dugas, Nederland BIG TIME BIRD HUNT Richard Way, Christoval GATOR HUNT Gerald Burch, Jr., Bynum TEXAS WATERFOWL HUNT George (Kelley) Taylor, Corpus Christi WILD HOG ADVENTURE Lance Lang, Minot, North Dakota All winners have been notified. Entries for this year’s Big Time Texas Hunts will go on sale May 15, 2020. Big Time Texas Hunts is made possible with support from Toyota and the Texas Bighorn Society.

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HUNTING NEWS

Two members of the ranching community died in a recent helicopter crash: Above, José Rene “J.R.” Garcia Jr., 39, and right, Charles Short, 49.

Deer Capture Helicopter Accident Kills Two A tragic helicopter accident occurred on a South Texas ranch near Hebbronville on the morning of October 23, claiming the lives of two members of the ranching community. Charles Short, 49, and José Rene “J.R.” Garcia Jr., 39, died as a result of the accident. Three helicopters, piloted by highly skilled and experienced pilots, were being used to capture deer on the ranch when the accident occurred. For reasons unknown, two of the helicopters maneuvered too close and collided. One helicopter, piloted by Short, went down instantly while another made a crash landing. Short died at the scene and his passenger, Garcia Jr., was rushed to the hospital, but died shortly after. The pilot of the second helicopter was uninjured, but his passenger received serious injuries and remains in the hospital recovering. A third helicopter was uninvolved in the incident, but quickly made it to the scene to assist. Short will be remembered for his expert piloting skills and willingness to help others. He was the son of veteran South Texas helicopter pilot, James Clyde “J.C.” Short, Jr., and considered “heliwww.TTHA.com

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VOLUME 45 NUMBER 1 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2020

copter royalty” by many. He was known for his work with RiceTec and the East Foundation. He loved family, friends, and flying. He is survived by his wife, Lachelle Short, and two daughters, Paige and Payton Short, of Alice, Texas. Garcia, Wagner Ranch manager, was assisting with the deer capture on the ranch. He previously worked for the King Ranch as a cowboy and later as a manager on the Laureles Division. He had a strong work ethic and loved spending time with his family, rodeoing, hunting, and fishing. He is survived by his fiancée, Teresa Lourdes Garcia, and children Derek and Ava Garcia. Our thoughts and prayers are with the families during their time of loss. We honor and celebrate the lives of these men who died doing what they loved. They will be dearly missed by all who knew them. Donations may be made to the following funds to help the families and their children. —Jason Shipman Charles Short Family Fund and/or J.R. Garcia Family Fund c/o Frost Bank P.O. Box 1600 San Antonio, TX 78296

Gov. Abbott, Texans Support National Hunting and Fishing Day Outdoors enthusiasts celebrated National Hunting and Fishing Day on Sept. 28, and supporters of the special day called on Texas hunters and anglers to invite someone to go hunting or fishing, whether a first-timer, child or grandchild, friend, co-worker or neighbor. Gov. Greg Abbott issued a proclamation supporting the special day, saying in part “Our sportsmen and women have generated millions to support the conservation efforts of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, and Texas’ hunters and anglers have boosted the state’s economy by purchasing and equipping themselves with the necessary tools to engage in their pursuits. Participation in activities like hunting and fishing are richly rewarding experiences. Not only do they create thousands of jobs and revenue for our great state but they are also great opportunities to deepen human relationships and reconnect with

the environment.” For more than 100 years, hunters and anglers have been among the earliest and most effective supporters of wildlife conservation in North America. Led by President Theodore Roosevelt, it was hunters and anglers who called for the first game laws restricting the commercial slaughter of wildlife. They urged sustainable use of fish and game, created hunting and fishing licenses, and lobbied for taxes on sporting equipment to pay for wildlife conservation. Across the nation, including here in Texas, populations of white-tailed deer, redfish and other game species were almost wiped out by the early to mid-20th century from decades of unregulated exploitation. But today most fish and game have come back to plentiful abundance. In modern Texas, hunting and fishing remain a cultural and economic force. In fact, the traditions are gaining traction among some urban audiences as a logical extension of the local food movement. “We are definitely starting to see a shift in younger urban people becoming more interested in fishing and hunting,” said Chef Jesse Griffiths, who owns Dai Due butcher shop and restaurant in East Austin and wrote a 2012 book about preparing wild fish and game. “It’s a pretty natural extrapolation from your farmer’s market, your local food conscientiousness. Maybe they’ve got a few chickens in their backyard and maybe they’ve planted a small garden plot. Once they’ve grown their own tomato, it’s a pretty easy mental leap to, ‘Oh, this tomato is pretty amazing. I bet a redfish or a catfish or a feral hog or a dove that I went out and got myself would be this good too.’” On the economic side, a study by Southwick Associates showed more than 1 million people hunt each year in Texas, hunting creates more than 36,000 jobs in the state, and it generates more than $2 billion in retail sales. The study showed more than two million people fish in Texas, generating more than $2 billion in retail sales and close to 30,000 jobs. The next National Hunting and Fishing Day will be Sept. 26, 2020. —courtesy TPWD

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[ THE JOURNAL ] VOLUME 45 NUMBER 1 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2020

TYHP Photo

Youth Super Hunt At last year’s Super Hunt No. 16, held in northeastern Gillespie County Jan. 4-6, 2019, huntmasters and volunteers from the Austin Woods & Waters Club, in cooperation with the Cave Creek Wildlife Management Association, under the guidance of the Texas Youth Hunting Program (TYHP), hosted 51 youth hunters, each with an accompanying parent or adult guardian. Over that weekend, 61 animals— whitetail doe and axis doe—were taken by youth hunters, which contributed greatly to the wildlife management mission of the Cave Creek Wildlife Management Association. Super Hunt No. 17, scheduled for Jan. 17–19, 2020, hopes to accomplish more youth hunter fun and success. The Texas Youth Hunting Program, established in 1996, is a partnership between the Texas Wildlife Association and the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department with the mission of introducing youth hunters to a safety-oriented, mentored hunting experience. The community of Cave Creek is located north of Stonewall and northeast of Fredericksburg. The headquarters for the Super Hunt is the historic Cave Creek One-Room Schoolhouse and Community Center, which is made up of the schoolhouse and the original pavilion. Learn more about the program at www.tyhp.org.

Game-changing Wildlife Legislation Introduced in Congress Fish and wildlife populations are under increasing pressure from habitat loss, invasive species, emerging diseases, and extreme weather events in Texas and throughout the country. As many as onethird of our nation’s species are on the 14 |

January/February 2020

HUNTING NEWS

brink of becoming threatened or endangered. A bill just introduced in Congress seeks to reverse this trend. House Resolution 3742, known as the Recovering America’s Wildlife Act (RAWA), would provide $1.3 billion annually to state initiatives, and $97.5 million to tribal nations, to support at-risk fish and wildlife populations and their habitats. The funding would come from existing revenues, and would not require any new taxes. Texas would get an estimated amount of more than $50 million per year. U.S. Representatives Debbie Dingell, D-Mich., and Jeff Fortenberry, R-Neb., introduced the bipartisan legislation with 61 original cosponsors and with nationwide support from conservationists, hunters, anglers, businesspeople, oil and gas company representatives, and the outdoor recreation industry. Texas is home to more than 1,300 of the 12,000 species identified nationwide as Species of Greatest Conservation Need. Many iconic fish and wildlife are in decline, including the much-loved Texas horned lizard, Pronghorn antelope, Guadalupe bass, sea turtles, and many grassland and coastal birds. H.R. 3742 is being called a once-in-a-generation opportunity to save these wildlife species, and to provide more regulatory certainty for businesses, land developers, the oil and gas industry, and governmental entities. “H.R. 3742 would be a game-changer for fish and wildlife - in Texas and across the country,” said John Shepperd, Texas Alliance for America’s Fish and Wildlife spokesman. “The Recovering America’s Wildlife Act is a cost-effective way to recover fish and wildlife populations without the more reactive, ‘emergency room’ measures of the Endangered Species Act. Once a species reaches the need to be listed as Threatened or Endangered, the process of recovery is more difficult and expensive. It is much smarter to act before these at-risk populations reach a critical point.” “Healthy fish and wildlife populations are the backbone of Texas’ multi-billion dollar outdoor recreation economy,” Shepperd said, “which includes hunting, angling, wildlife watching, kayaking,

nature tourism, camping and hiking. Research has proven children do better in school when they connect with nature. Functioning ecosystems provide food, fiber, timber, pollination, and clean air and water which benefit all of us.” Janice Bezanson of Texas Conservation Alliance notes that “the Recovering America’s Wildlife Act would bring much-needed funding to Texas for projects designed to keep species off the endangered species list, without raising or creating new taxes. This legislation is good for wildlife, good for business, good for Texans.” H.R. 3742 directs existing federal revenues to the Wildlife Conservation and Restoration Program, established in 2000. State wildlife agencies will distribute the money through grants and partnerships within the conservation community for habitat restoration, research, land protection, establishing conservation easements, reintroducing wildlife, and other initiatives listed in each state’s Wildlife Action Plan. Particularly interesting for a private lands state like Texas, the funding could expand cost-sharing programs for private landowners to conduct voluntary wildlife and habitat stewardship activities on their property. It will also be used to fund educational programs and introduce more Texans to outdoor recreation opportunities. The Recovering America’s Wildlife Act gained a lot of support in the last congressional session; 116 Members of Congress cosponsored the House bill, evenly split between Republicans and Democrats. Texas had the second highest number of cosponsors of any state, 13 total, including six republicans and seven democrats. The Texas Alliance for America’s Fish and Wildlife is a coalition of more than 160 organizations and businesses which actively supports the legislation. More information, including what people can do to help, is at txwildlifealliance.org. A preliminary report by Texas Parks and Wildlife Department outlines early ideas on Texas goals and objectives, and highlights examples showing how RAWA funds could be spent in Texas. —courtesy Texas Parks and Wildlife Dept.

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Left: Roy and Pam Hindes III have been a strong team for decades. “I couldn’t do what I do right now without Pam,” Roy says.

Hindes III Photos

Near left: Roy has earned acclaim for his deertrailing dogs. Roy finds trailing wounded deer for kids to be the most rewarding and enjoyable.

ROY HINDES III

By Jason Shipman

Editor's note: This is the twelfth in a series of pioneers to be recognized for their contributions, past and present, to Texas hunting.

oy Hindes III is a pioneer of our hunting heritage. Known to many as “Little Roy,” he and his family have a deep-rooted history in South Texas. Roy and the Hindes family have also had a profound impact on deer hunting and management. Aside from the history of the family, Roy is known far and wide for recovering wounded deer with his trailing dogs. Hindes family ancestors helped settle the area and establish the towns of Tilden and Hindes. The family had extensive ranch holdings at that time, but the drought and economic depression of the 1930s each took a toll. A decade later, Roy Hindes Jr., known as “Big Roy,” repurchased the spread presently known as the Hindes Ranch. “Daddy bought the ranch back in 1949 and we finally got it paid for in the ’70s,” Roy said.

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Roy was born in 1951 in the middle of one the worst droughts in Texas history. “I can remember watching Daddy ‘burning pear’ for the cattle,” Roy said. The drought finally broke in 1956 and according to the history books, would officially end in 1957. “I remember seeing rain for the first time in 1956,” Roy said. “I’ll never forget that storm hitting and my brother and I hiding under the kitchen table, scared out of our minds!” Being on the ranch in those formative years was quite the learning experience for Roy, and to say that his father was influential would be an understatement. He remembers killing his first buck at the age of 6 with a .222 on the edge of an oat patch. “It was just a three-point buck, but I couldn’t have been more proud,” he said. “I remember telling one of Daddy’s friends that I plugged one!”

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Pass

the

Roy has since hunted many places including New Mexico, Colorado, and Canada. But according to him, “The best hunting anywhere is right here in Texas. There’s no place like home!” Roy enjoys the solitude that comes with hunting and believes we are in danger of losing it. Roy left the ranch briefly to attend junior college in Uvalde. “It was there that I heard about Al Brothers and the management practices they were implementing at the Zachary Ranch,” Roy said. “Daddy and I started working with Brothers and Murphy Ray at that point.” Roy and his father began high fencing the ranch in 1972 and finished in 1973, building the fence themselves, which was quite a feat. The Hindes family was on the leading edge of the deer management curve, and at the time, the only other high-fenced ranches in the area were the Y.O. Ranch and Louis Stumberg’s ranch. “We began managing our deer, and culled extensively,” Roy said. “We had great success throughout the years, learning as we went.” Big Roy was credited with perfecting the art of aging deer on-the-hoof, and the book later co-authored by Dave Richards and Al Brothers, entitled “Observing and Evaluating Whitetails,” would be dedicated to him. Participating in youth rodeos while growing up, Roy met Richard and Robbie Hurt from Dilley and they became good friends. They helped one another and dayworked cattle together. Roy would later marry Richard and Robbie’s sister, Pam, in 1974. They have two children, Roy “Cuatro” Hindes IV and Kristi Schulte, who are grown and have families of their own now, giving Roy a total of five grandchildren. “I couldn’t do what I do right now without Pam,” Roy said. “I’ll be taking a call on a deer trailing job and she will just start packing me a lunch. We haven’t made a Christmas or New Year’s Eve party in probably 20 years, and counting,” he added, with a laugh. The story of the Hindes’ deer-trailing dogs actually had its beginnings in 1936. Harry Sturgess, a friend of Roy’s grandfather, purchased a herd of cattle in East Texas and was driving them down to the Nueces River. Along the way, a couple of “blue” puppies had fallen in with the herd on the drive. Sturgess stopped in Hindes to water the cattle, and he gave the puppies to Big Roy. Originally, they were cattle dogs, but Big Roy began using them to trail wounded deer in the 1940s. “I picked it up from there and we began breeding for deer trailing dogs as well,” Roy said. Roy and his dogs have turned many a deer hunt that would have otherwise had a sad ending into a joyous occasion. He and his expert trailing dogs have recovered many bucks through the years, and gained notoriety and much deserved recognition for their efforts. Roy has been inducted into the Muy Grande Hall of Fame, as well being featured in numerous publications including past issues of the The Journal and Texas Monthly. Some people are lucky enough to have one good dog. When asked which dog was his best over the years, Roy said, “Many of them, actually. Our dogs have it in their blood, and they want to work.” Roy finds trailing wounded deer for kids the most rewarding and enjoyable. “Kids generally aren’t wrapped up with the size or score of the antlers and are still enamored with magic of the hunt,” he said. But his most memorable trailing job was with Jack Brittingham. “We had his big old buck bayed behind a tank dam in some thick brush and tall pear,” Roy said. “The two dogs kept running in and out of the thicket, fighting the buck, and you could tell they were somewhat scared. We crawled in there and got so close to the buck you could see the whites of his eyes and his nostrils flaring, before finally making the recovery.” Roy is a “boots on the ground” kind of man. And given the opportunity, he will shun the spotlight. Based on my long experience with Roy, his comfort zone is riding around dusty ranch roads at the family place while discussing all matters related to deer. You can bet he and his dogs will be out there doing what they do best during deer season, helping folks find their wounded trophy bucks. He sums up everything gracefully. “Being recognized is quite an honor, but only suitable if we use the opportunity to give the glory to God.”

Torch

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Photos courtesy Texas Youth Hunting Program. For information, go to tyhp.org. January/February 2020 |

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What Is The White-Tailed Deer Worth to Texas? Part 1 By Dr. James C. Kroll

often am asked that question—a seemingly easy one to answer—yet, it is one of the most difficult to provide a correct answer. The words “worth,” and even “value,” are not easy to define. Our new replacement for the Webster’s Dictionary, Wikipedia, defines worth as “The value equivalent to that of someone or something under consideration; the level at which someone or something deserves to be valued or rated.” There is that word “value” again. If we look up its definition, we find, “The regard that something is held to deserve; the importance, worth, or usefulness of something.” Although both words are useful, you have to use one to help define the other. So, when the TTHA staff asked me to write this issue’s column on what whitetails are really worth to Texans, you can see why I was a bit concerned about doing a good job. As a trained wildlife biologist and manager for almost 50 years, I often have pondered what any animal is worth. I used to get irritated when a young student would bring me some animal to identify, then once informed, would ask: “What good is it?” My curt answer, consistently, was, “What good are you?” To be truthful, however, it is a perfectly logical question for a young mind to ask. In a utilitarian world, we often equate “worth” with money, and we certainly can explore that in this column. Then again, the real value of any species involves a whole lot more consideration. So, let’s begin with the hardest question: What is the true value of a white-tailed deer? I am firmly convinced that every individual of every species has inherent worth. Although hunters habitually talk about the Boone and Crockett score or the number of points, when pushed, they will reluctantly volunteer that they “love” deer and deer hunting. So, there is a great deal of intrinsic value to a deer just being alive and there in the woods. I once had to kill all the deer off a 2,500-acre fenced property in northern Michigan, because they had contracted bovine

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tuberculosis from the “state’s deer” through the fence. Believe me, it wasn’t easy to kill all of the otherwise healthy deer from a dense forest on that large a property. But we managed to accomplish the task by late winter. We then let the property sit there for three years, while we allowed the disease to die out. I am here to tell you, there is nothing more sad or more strange than a deer woods completely devoid of deer. I really did not even want to go into those woods during those three years. Later, when we restocked the property, it was like a giant weight had been lifted off the place. Deer were running around doing what deer do, and the woods came alive once again. So, just knowing that the deer are there, and occasionally catching a glimpse of a set of antlers or a doe nursing her fawns, must have great value—perhaps more than the economic value of the hunt. Whitetails also have ecological values, especially since they are considered a “keystone species.” This is a species that, because of its size or activities, has the greatest impact on the ecosystem. The American bison was once such an animal, existing in numbers around 60 million as late as the Civil War. Their migration routes took them from Canada and the northern Great Plains to prairies in southern Texas, where they spent the winter. Each year, the migration progressed along slightly different paths to take advantage of new forage produced by previous migrations. Believe me, when that many bison show up on the scene, there goes the neighborhood. They ate everything down, stomped on the earth, dug up wallows, urinated and defecated all over the landscape, and then moved on. The disturbed lands they left behind quickly began the process of succession, generating succulent annual grasses and weeds that benefitted a host of animals coming behind the bison—pronghorn, prairie dogs, prairie chickens, wolves, black-footed ferrets, burrowing owls and on and on. Then

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Marty Berry Photo

the U.S. government decided the bison were too important to across Texas, but each had its unique traditions and “do’s and another species—Native Americans—who they were unable don’ts.” to defeat. After the slaughter of millions of bison, they acThe question I have is: What is the true value or worth of complished their task. The wonderful way of life enjoyed by these long-standing traditions? How do you place a monetary native peoples gave way to reservations. They were not the value on them? only ones to suffer. Most of the species listed above are now eiBaroness Anne Mallalieu noted, “Hunting is our heritage, it ther rare, endangered or extinct today, because the keystone is our poetry, it is our art, it is our pleasure. It is where many species—bison—disappeared. of our best friendships are made, it is our community. It is our The whitetail has the ability to alter the forest in many ways. whole way of life.” University types have tried to estimate valThey are able to survive in all types of habitats, but prefer the ues using countless surveys, which few hunters were interested earlier stages of succession, when nutritious forage is within 4 in answering. To get at the real value of hunting, some tried feet of the ground. It has been shown that a local deer populato buy the hunting licenses of folks and used the amount they tion can determine which trees reach the canopy by heavily were willing to sell as the true value of the hunting experience browsing the ones they like and leaving the ones they do not. to each person. How much would it take to get your license So, many of the plants in eastern North America today can trace this year? their origins to the white-tailed deer. When over-populated, So, you can see what appeared to be a simple question turns deer can negatively affect song bird species’ diversity, but they out to be much more complicated. The white-tailed deer and also can have a positive impact. Returning to the “intrinsic Texas both have a rich history that is closely intertwined. The value or worth” of whitetails, we also have to consider the hunt- first human inhabitants of the Lone Star state depended on ing heritage they helped create in North America. Our term whitetails for food and clothing, especially in the eastern por“buck” came from the value of one deer skin. tion of the state. In Texas, deer hunting was an important activity both to Native American culture is rich with symbolism and cerNative Americans and the early Spanish and Anglo settlers. The emony involving deer. The Anglo and Hispanic settlers brought Post Oak Savanna region of Texas, comprising some 12 million with them a history of deer hunting dating back thousands of acres at one time, was the primary hunting ground for human years in Europe. The skins of whitetails became “legal tender” inhabitants of eastern Texas. Periodic wild fires kept the forage in pioneer days. low and succulent, significantly increasing the productivity for In Part 2, I will discuss how whitetails affect the economics of game species. Many of our eastern highways are located along the state—the birthplace of white-tailed deer management. historic big game hunting trails. Each region of the Lone Star state developed hunting traditions uniquely suited to that area. For example, when I arrived in eastern Texas in 1973, the most common method for hunting deer was using packs of hounds. It was a deep-rooted tradition that, once the area became more settled, reluctantly gave way to more passive hunting techniques. Leasing became a tradition by the time I came to East Texas, and each lease developed a camp life unique to the region. Likewise, in the Hill Country, west of “Hunting is our Austin, it became an annual ritual for heritage, it is our hunters from the growing cities to come to that region the second Saturday in poetry, it is our art, November to hunt deer. That is where my it is our pleasure. hunting life began near Willow Springs outside of Fredericksburg. I can still smell It is where many of the brisket smoking, the beans boiling our best friendships and the chili steaming. In South Texas, the dense brush groware made, it is our ing up after heavy livestock grazing and community. It is our fire exclusion created unique challenges to killing a buck. Senderos were develwhole way of life.” oped to get around the thorny vegetation, —Anne Mallalieu and high rack hunting became common, along with the corn feeders. There were established hunting camps, as elsewhere

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Author Photos

STORY

Ron shares his tale of how his favorite hunting knife played a role in the hunting and taking of his whitetail buck.

any times throughout my life as an agriculture teacher, principal, counselor and parole officer, I have scribbled notes, jotted down “to-do” lists, and sketched plans for projects on a napkin. Many a treacherous shark and alligator have adorned out-to-eat napkins while my wife and I dined with our oldest son Brent, daughterin-law Natalie, and the recipient of napkin monsters, our grandaughter Ava Kelley. Some of the creations made it to

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January/February 2020

hard copy, some to scrapbooks, and some even helped in guiding me and others in attaining goals. Others, however, wound up in the washing machine via shirt and pants pockets, and eventually journeyed to their final resting place in the lint trap of the dryer, much to the disgust of my wife. One particular napkin, which eluded the aforementioned demise, stands out in my memory and gives rise to the tale of “The Napkin Buck.”

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The second weekend of whitetail deer season found me and my youngest son Jeremy at my deer lease in Llano County. This particular weekend was designated for father and son hunts. The lease property was known as the Grenwelge Ranch and had been in the Grenwelge family for generations. We arrived on Friday night, or in reality, early Saturday morning some time around 2:30 a.m. Our arrival was due to Jeremy’s participation in high school football. Jeremy and I arose after what seemed like a 10-minute nap. We were both disappointed when the morning’s hunt brought no takin’ whitetails to the feeders at our chosen stands. We parleyed at the four wheeler then rode back to camp, where we prepared and enjoyed a hearty brunch. It always seemed that I went home with more meat than I carried to deer camp. With the chore of disposing vittles out of the way, we gathered at the big wooden cable spool table in front of the camp house. We kicked back, taking it easy and thinking, “It just don’t get no better than this!” After letting the full-meal-deal settle a spell, I engaged in the task The author with his two sons, Brent and Jeremy, by his side. of sharpening my knife, with hope of putting it to use later that evening. My favorite toting knife at the time was respectfully known as old “Black Magic.” eight points, two of which were respectable brow tines for this It was a Case Sod Buster lock blade of the large variety, sport- area. As he broke from the brush, he began a “1-2-3” pause; “1ing black handles, which of course, gave rise to its first name. 2-3” pause pattern; going in a parallel direction to the condo. It The magic part came from the fact that it always remained seemed his mind was mesmerized by an object other than the sharp as I “magically” skinned, gutted, quartered, and boned “golden nuggets” being spewed out of the feeder. out the hanging carcass. It was spoken throughout our deer While doing the “buck-in-rut waltz” across the cactus camp that the only creature that could give old Black Magic and covered dance floor, he kept bobbing his head up and down. me a test was solely, the piranha. So much for self-annointed He would pause, look ahead, and then repeat the routine. I flattery. assumed by this demonstration that an earlier “hot” girlfriend As I finished the fine honing strokes on the Arkansas stone, had been there and then skedaddled. When the buck paused I carefully wiped the blade free of oil and stone residue. Due at the rim of the little draw that led to a shin oak, buck brush, to the way I folded the napkin around the blade and pulled and mesquite thicket, I gave my best imitation of a doe bleat. it straight away, the resulting creation on the napkin closely It must have been close enough, because he froze, looking resembled the hoof print or track of a whitetail. “Cool,” I straight toward me in the condo. remarked to Jeremy as I flashed him the napkin art work and With my rifle already in position, and crosshairs in the kill said, “I’m going to shoot a buck with a foot just like this out zone, I took a deep breath, let out half, and gently squeezed the of Carl’s condo stand this very afternoon!” Jeremy responded trigger. A roar came from the condo. The buck jumped high, with a kind of grunty, snorty, wheezy sound, followed by a and after a double hind-leg kick, he set sail for the draw. After belly laugh. Carl’s condo stand earned its name by being huge disappearing into the draw, he soon reappeared, coming out on and giving true meaning to families hunting together. Lease the far side. members were allowed to occupy stands other than their own, The rest of the flight-for-life was over in less than 20 yards. if the owner was not present. Jeremy said he would occupy That’s when a big grin, a run away heart, and rattlin’ knees hit old “No. 2,” where taking a deer was almost a guaranteed deal. me. I put the binocular on him for a long assessment. Not a Through the years, my two sons and I had seen “boxcar loads” book buck by any means, but a good one. of whitetail, and took some nice ones at No. 2. After the mandatory 15-minute watch period to assure the Some of the other lease members and guests had inhabited it, buck went down for good, I kicked back and made myself and disgustedly whined and moaned, stating, “There ain’t one comfortable in the stand. The quiet added to the stillness and confounded deer within 40 miles of that old box!” When Brent, beauty of the view from the stand’s windows. I was at peace Jeremy, or I, came in with a whitetail taken at old No. 2, we and sat totally enthralled with what God had given me. It was were deemed lucky. getting dark, and I could hear my son, “Jeremiah,” headed my As the prime hours approached, we mounted up for the ride way on the four wheeler as the headlights danced through in. Jeremy and I bid each other good luck and trekked to our the shin oak and mesquites while I gathered all my hunting chosen evening posts. I had just settled in, situated my supparaphenalia. plies, and got silent when a slight movement caught my eye. I Jeremiah is the nickname I’d tagged Jeremy with, due to my viewed it from the left end condo window. enchantment with the movie, “Jeremiah Johnson.” Jeremy slid The movement finally materialized out of some buck brush, off and began to share the sighting of spikes and does at No. 2. and I quietly and quickly “binoed” him as a shooter. He sported When he finally shined his flashlight my way, he spied two upwww.TTHA.com

THE JOURNAL OF THE TEXAS TROPHY HUNTERS - The Voice of Texas Hunting®

January/February 2020 |

The author's Case knife, nicknamed "Black Magic" in the far right photo, made a rather unique pattern after being wiped with a napkin. The pattern is oddly similar to the hoof print from his aptly named "Napkin Buck."

turned palms and had a questioning look in the window of the condo. “Waiting for a decent buck?” filled my ears as I creeped, stooped, and crawled over to the exit of the stand. “I ain’t old; I’m just careful!” I replied. “I heard you shoot. Where is he?” Knowing my standard answer—“That wasn’t me”—was coming, he questioned me. “What did you shoot?” “Just an old spike,” I replied. “He needed to go.” While placing my backpack and rifle in their appropriate places on our ATV, I told him, “He ran that way,” followed by a head nod to signal the direction in which to search. That was all he needed to hear to be off and running with flashlight in hand. “Here’s some blood!” he said. My tracker, blood trailer, and hunting companion topped the draw and shined ahead. “That’s some old spike. You always lie! Why do I ever believe you?” I walked over, we high-fived, hugged and giggled like girls at a slumber party. We took a knee and examined the buck. “Would you have shot him?” I asked. “You bet!” he said. We examined the entrance and exit holes where the 130-grain bullet had struck, sent via my .270 Weatherby, nicknamed “E.F. Hutton.” The Weatherby earned its name several seasons prior to this one. Sitting around the campfire one evening while cleaning my rifle, one fellow hunter asked, “Why E.F. Hutton?” My reply: “When E.F. Hutton speaks, everbody listens!” We got the eight pointer loaded, strapped down, and made our way across the ranch. Jeremy stopped under the hanging tree where I slit the hind legs, inserted the gambrel, and hoisted my buck. While Jeremy left to change clothes and prepare for the chore at hand, I was busy. I dipped a front foot in some of the blood that had accumulated under the hanging deer and made an imprint on the napkin next to old Black Magic’s mark. I was astounded and somewhat shocked at the results. They were similar—not identical, but close. As Jeremy returned I placed the napkin on the trimming table and watched his face 28 |

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for a reaction. Eyes gleaming, mouth open wide, he blurted out, “No way,” as he looked from the napkin to the foot and back several times. “You are the squirreliest person I have ever known!” he said. “Nobody, nobody, could ever come up with the bull that you do! I don’t believe it!” He stared at me while just standing there shaking his head. We had a good laugh together as we ran the scenario through our minds. I tucked the napkin away in a plastic sandwich bag for safe keeping. I still have it today, and show it to fellow hunters when they visit my home. Black Magic is now the prized possession of my granddaughter, Ava. What started out as a bit of a joke and boast, and seasoned with a dash of bull, became reality in the end. Jeremy took a big mature doe the next morning at old No. 2 while I packed and cleaned at the cabin. When we finished the processing, packing and putting the venison on ice, we headed home. We logged another successful and enjoyable South Texas whitetail hunt in the journals of our minds. We did not take a “monster” buck. We did not fill the tags. What we did do, is put some good-eating meat in the freezer, just an unthawing and grilling away from the table. I can almost smell the aroma of deer chili simmering in a dutch oven right now. The time spent with my son in the glorious beauty of old Mother Nature will forever be entrenched in my mind. I hope he will feel the same way when he has kids of his own. One thing I’m sure of is that future generations of Compton hunters, while gathered around a campfire, will allude to the tale of The Napkin Buck.

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FISHING SHOOTING EXHIBITORS ATV/UTV TRACK DOGS BIKING ARCHERY CAMPING BOATS RANCHING 4X4 /OFF ROAD TRACK CONSERVATION LAND MANAGEMENT

Allison Ashley Riley of Needville with her sevenpoint. At age 9, her aunt— the author—guided her to take her first deer.

Photos by Judy Bishop Jurek

45 Years of Women in the Hunt By Judy Jurek

s a female who loves to hunt, I guess that might make me a huntress. But I’m not a feminist, so I’m fine with simply being called a hunter. Not shy about my age, I happily admit to recently signing up for Medicare, so that makes me 65 and qualified enough to discuss the many changes I’ve witnessed and experienced in my 45 years as a woman in the hunt. I was the tomboy out of four girls, the most outdoorsy one in the family. At a young age I learned to shoot a shotgun and .22 rifle to protect our 20 acres from varmints and snakes, while putting occasional rabbits or doves on the dinner table. Right out of high school I married a true country boy who had hunted a variety of game all his life. It was only natural I fell right in alongside him, so all hunting costs doubled at the word “go.” The first time I encountered a problem

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was when I wanted to deer hunt with my husband John. He, his dad, and his brother day hunted on a Jackson County ranch, and the owner believed women shouldn’t hunt. After meeting with him several times discussing cattle, horses, and hunting, he finally agreed to allow me to hunt once on a trial basis. Luckily, I was the only hunter to connect that morning, so I proved my worth and was welcomed thereafter. It was common in the 1970s and the ’80s for many ranches and hunting lease ramrods to have “male only” stipulations. Women were sometimes allowed at Thanksgiving or Christmas. It became my job to call on possible hunting trips or deer leases to immediately learn if females were accepted on the ranch and permitted to hunt. The answer was often “no” to both. In the early 1980s we attended the first

or second TTHA hunting show in Houston held at the Albert Thomas Convention Center. It was very small compared to today’s shows. The only other female in the entire place was Jennie Crowder— Girl Friday for TTHA’s founder, Jerry Johnston. She was chief coordinator, busily doing everything. One man asked me why I was there. When I replied, “I hunt,” he snorted loudly, shook his head in disbelief—or disagreement—and walked away. Today, the Extravaganza aisles are crowded with women of all ages as well as children. Although many may not be hunters, they are interested in the sport and all it encompasses. Women make up many of the exhibitors touting goods from feeders to optics to clothing and much more. That’s just one of the differences between then and now—acceptance of women in the hunt.

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Recognition and approval of females into a previously almost exclusive male activity is perhaps the most dramatic change I’ve seen on the overall hunting front. When the first hunting shows began to appear on television, there were few women featured. Today many shows have female hosts. As the old saying goes: “You’ve come a long way, baby!” Our very first deer lease experience was quite memorable because it was made up of 10 hunters, five husband-and-wife hunting teams. We had a great community camp house on the Guadalupe River near Bergheim. Today the area is solid subdivisions. We had many great times and have remained good friends. It was slightly unusual 40 to 50 years ago that all those ladies were women in the hunt. Few leases we’ve been on in the many years since have had more than two or three female hunters besides me. The male hunters often brought wives or girlfriends, but few of them desired killing anything. Most would rather accompany their man in the blind or simply relax and enjoy the essence and camaraderie of deer camp. However, the number of daughters joining their dads to hunt to kill game has dramatically increased over the past 20 years. Today, some are initiated into hunting by their moms or aunts. At age

This fine axis buck was taken by the author in 2002, near Bandera.

9, my niece chose me over her dad to guide her on her first hunt. She killed a spike. Last year, she took a seven-point on our place with her husband and two young sons in tow. I’m proud to have played a part in her hunting career. As a female hunter 45 years ago, I had to wear men’s clothing for warmth on cold days. My jeans, shirt and long underwear fit, but the outerwear was always too large and bulky. But a girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do when it comes to hunting. Looks and style were never that important to me, especially when I was trying to be one of the boys. Today, women’s hunting clothing runs the gamut from functional to fashionable in every conceivable camouflage pattern and fabric. Underwear, outerwear, and everything in between are now

This trio of lovely ladies are, left to right, Sarah Arkell of Magnolia; Kandi Malley of Boerne; and Kay Kelley of Carrizo Springs with their favorite pistols. www.TTHA.com

manufactured with the female body (and anatomy) in mind. What an improvement that has made in the life of every woman in the hunt. Another factor is weaponry. I used my mother’s lever action .300 Savage for many years hunting the Gulf Coast prairie and Hill Country. For bird hunting I relied on my dad’s heavy Browning 12-gauge automatic shotgun. The majority of hunters I knew, male and female, used hand-me-down guns built for men. Slowly, shotguns and rifles came into being with women in mind using shorter stocks, lighter weight, and many other great features. For years now, I’ve shot a Remington 700 chambered in .300 Weatherby Mag. But I would not be able to handle it without a muzzle brake. I’m not a bowhunter mainly because years ago I couldn’t handle the bows made back then. They required much strength to pull back and shoot. Today, women of all ages, even youth of every size, are able to handle the vast array of archery equipment, because much of it is built especially for them. There have been many good changes for the female hunter since Texas Trophy Hunters began in 1975. The aforementioned are but a few of the ones I deem really important, and all have promoted the last 45 years of women in the hunt.

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Panhandle Bonanza Diversity of both habitat and game sets this region apart from the rest of the state. By Brandon Ray

t was sunset, and the slanting rays of light illuminated the open landscape. Rough canyons, open plains and a winding river bottom surrounded me. Through the clear lens of my spotting scope, I dissected the river bottom below. Two fine whitetails, an eight-point and a 140-class 10-point, fed under the canopy of cottonwood trees. A swivel of my scope towards the cedars and mesquites up top revealed a herd of mule deer.

They were bounding over a fence into a wheat field. And in the rocks and cliffs just below me, a herd of 15 sand-colored aoudads defied gravity on the rocky slopes. A sky full of noisy, chattering sandhill cranes circled overhead. Such is the diversity of game in the Texas Panhandle.

Big Game Diversity Diversity is the word I think of first when I think of hunting the Texas Panhandle. It starts with diverse habitat. The Rolling Plains and High Plains at the top of Texas boast large ag-fields, deep canyons, mesquite flats, lush creek bottoms and miles of prairie. These different ecosystems support lots of wildlife. Mule deer, whitetails, pronghorn, aoudad sheep, feral hogs and even elk roam the vastness of this region. Rio Grande turkeys wander river bottoms, coyotes, foxes and bobcats wear prime pelts in the winter months and quail, doves, pheasants, ducks and geese offer shotgunners a mixed bag. The weather is diverse, too. Game in this region must survive harsh winters with deep snow and temperatures in the single digits. Hot

A mature mule deer buck in the Texas Panhandle.

Author Photos

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summers with temperatures above 105 degrees are at the other extreme. And the wind always blows in the Panhandle. So why hunt in this tough environment? Not only is there diversity of game, but quality of both game and experience. On well-managed lands, bucks grow to good size. And because this region of the state is farther from big cities, you won’t find as many hunters competing for the same ground. Here’s a brief highlight of popular hunts and best areas for each one.

Mule Deer One minute I was daydreaming in my blind with my head in my lap, and the next, I looked up and the big mule deer buck I’d been chasing for weeks stood broadside at 20 yards. My arrow found the crease behind his right shoulder. At sunset, I admired his 11-point rack. His greatest spread was 26 inches. I passed the same buck the year before and he definitely grew into a monarch. The year was 2014. No other tag is as closely guarded in my pocket as my Texas mule deer tag. What a privilege to get to hunt mule deer on Texas soil. No trip to the Rocky Mountains required. Panhandle mule deer live in broken canyon country, like around Palo Duro Canyon or the lower Caprock Escarpment, but they are also found in the sand hills and mesquite flats of the lower and western counties. At the northern-most counties, mulies grow big on wheat, corn and milo fields. The general season is short, about two weeks in most counties, and even shorter in a few others. October’s archery-only season is a great chance to hunt bucks before they hear gunfire. Like any hunt in the Panhandle, get a high vantage point, whether that’s on a barn roof or canyon rim, and use binoculars and spotting scopes to find bucks. Locate crop fields like wheat and milo and you will find deer. On well-managed ground, mature 10-points will score 140-160 inches. A few bigger bucks, 170-190 inches come from the region every year, but the top end bucks are hard to find. That’s because bucks don’t get the chance to age because they are so visible and easily picked off around crop fields. Sand hills counties produce a few monsters every year as do counties along the New Mexico line in the northwestern Panhandle. Like deer anywhere, the management on a given ranch or adjoining neighboring ranches influences the size and quality of deer available more so than the county name. I’ve encountered big bucks near Canyon, Claude, Dalhart and Channing.

The author with the 11-point, 26-inch wide mule deer described in the article. This hunt took place in 2014.

A successful Panhandle deer hunter approaches a fine whitetail buck.

Whitetails Once you accept that Panhandle whitetails live in places you don’t expect to find deer, you start finding them more often. Yes, river bottoms are prime habitat and numerous creeks and rivers across the top of Texas harbor whitetails, but they live other places, too. I’ve found big, mature bucks chasing does in wide open CRP fields, seas of grass that stretch for miles. I’ve found whitetails in rocky canyons. I’ve seen big bucks hiding in cotton fields and bedded in milo fields. They come to corn feeders just like any Texas deer, but you can also hunt spot-and-stalk. My friend and biologist, Jeff Bonner, gives this advice for hunters coming from the southern part of the state. “Don’t get tied down to a blind. When rifle hunting, cover ground, glass from high spots and walk and rattle to find deer, especially in counties with a low deer density,” Jeff says. His words ring true. Jeff killed a 200-inch beast a few years back www.TTHA.com

in open country. Not any one specific county grows the biggest deer in the Panhandle, but rather the ranch and surrounding ranches’ management plan will determine the quality of deer. Most areas will produce bucks scoring 120-140 inches regularly. Bigger 150-170-class bucks are taken every year and a few 200 inchers, most of them kept secret by the hunters because they don’t want others near their honey hole, also come from this region. The highest numbers of deer are in the eastern counties, mostly on creeks and around wheat fields. I’ve been on good hunts near Perryton, Canadian, Memphis, Claude and Childress.

Pronghorn Dallam County, in the northwestern corner of the Panhandle, consistently produces the best pronghorns. Think of Dallam

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County to the Panhandle the way Hudspeth is to antelope in the Trans-Pecos. The good news is lots of other counties grow big bucks. Lipscomb in the northeast corner, Hutchinson, Oldham, and Hartley are all good, just to name a few. Shooting a mature, 70-inch buck with 13-inch horns is realistic across the region, but bigger 75-80-inch bucks take a little more effort to find. I’ve shot a couple of 15 inchers in the Panhandle, but most of my Texas bucks have had shorter 1314-inch horns. Texas bucks are known for heavy mass, which boosts a buck’s score. Texas’ antelope hunting is controlled by landowner’s permits, so you’ll need to plan in advance. Contact regional Texas Parks and Wildlife offices for a list of landowners selling permits. The season is short, about nine days starting on the Saturday closest to Oct. 1. A mature pronghorn buck only weighs 100-140 pounds, so reasonable calibers like a .243; .25-06 and .270 rank as my favorites. I’ve toured the Panhandle hunting pronghorns with good memories from Stinnett, Channing, Dalhart and Pampa.

Aoudad Aoudad or Barbary sheep were first introduced to the Panhandle in 1957-58. Since that time, these nomadic beasts have adapted well to this arid region, particularly in the Palo Duro Canyon counties and lower Caprock area. But free-ranging rams show up in odd places. A friend sniped two big rams, a 30

and a 32 incher, last fall north of the Canadian River in broken country. Because aoudad are exotics, they can be hunted yearround with no bag limit. Big rams will weigh 250-300 pounds on-the-hoof. A mature ram with crescent-shaped horns 28-32 inches is a realistic goal for a well-prepared hunter. While aoudad can be hunted any time, mid-September and October are my favorite times because this coincides with the aoudad rut. Every year, I see big rams during this time frame I don’t see the rest of the year. For success, bring good optics, a flat-shooting rifle and sturdy boots. I’ve been on memorable hunts near Canyon, Claude and Post.

Migratory and Upland Birds It was the last hour when the birds started to fly. Doves were dive-bombing the small windmill pond two, three and 10 at a time. The September sun was a hot 95 degrees that day, but so was the action. My 20-gauge’s barrel felt like a branding iron that had been left in the coals too long. In just over one hour, I had my limit of 15 birds. Soon enough those birds would be wrapped in bacon, stuffed with onion and jalapeños and sizzling on a hot grill. September doves are one of my favorite fall traditions. I’ve had memorable hunts near Amarillo, Lubbock and Abilene. The best shooting is typically the last two hours before sunset. My favorite tactic is to guard windmills or stock ponds with

Far left: Whit Peterman and the author with Whit’s heavy-horned Panhandle pronghorn from 2018. Near left: An aoudad ram at first light on the edge of Palo Duro Canyon.

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decoys on fences and on the ground to lure birds in for a close shot. Mourning dove are the most common, but white-wings and Eurasian collared doves also live at the top of Texas. You’ll find bobwhite and blue quail in the Panhandle. I’ve had great bobwhite hunts near Albany and Throckmorton, and memorable hunts for blues west of Lubbock in oak brush and sand. Typically, the bobs are in the flatter terrain and lower portion of the Panhandle, while blues favor rougher country and the western counties. But the birds don’t read the guide books, so you might find blues where there should be bobs and vice versa. I’ve been so distracted by the vast numbers of blue quail we flushed off the road on big game hunts in the northwestern Panhandle that I wished for a shotgun instead of my rifle. Pheasant represent a winter tradition in Panhandle farm country. An army of hunters clad in orange surround playa lakes, stubble fields and old homesteads. When a long-tailed rocket bursts from a pile of tumbleweeds with a wild cackle, it’s as addicting as an elk’s bugle or a turkey’s gobble. I’ve had great hunts with friends around Dalhart and Stratford. Spring moisture influences the number of birds for the coming fall hunt.

Predator Hunting Snow was blowing sideways when I found the two furry coyotes in my scope. Their muzzles were red, feasting on the half-buried hog carcass in the snow. I touched off the .243 and

dropped the first one. The second coyote hesitated. My second bullet dropped him. Both coyotes were nicely furred and headed to the taxidermist. I shot the big hog a few days earlier and purposely left it to bait coyotes in the snow storm. By the end of the week, I killed five off that one carcass. All of them in daylight. It was an unconventional way to thin coyotes, but it was effective. Predator hunting might be the last free hunt. With a good relationship, most ranchers will gladly allow a hunter free access to kill predators. Coyotes, bobcats and foxes wear prime pelts in the Panhandle. Bitterly cold winters mean their pelts are thicker and prettier than their cousins found farther south in Texas. Prime months for fur would be December through February. A beautiful bobcat I shot last winter near a Panhandle windmill had hair as thick as any cat from Montana. I’m old school and like the simplicity of a mouth call. I prefer a high vantage point. A canyon mesa, haystack or old barn roof works well. Be sneaky in your approach of your calling location, watch the wind and keep movement to a minimum. Sit with your back to some cover, eyes scanning for movement and rifle rested on shooting sticks. Blow the call in short bursts and wait 20-30 minutes. In my experience, most predators respond in less than 20 minutes. The Panhandle summers might be hot and the winters might be cold, but I’ll endure both for the abundant hunting opportunities in this forgotten corner of the state.

The Panhandle boasts endless views and striking sunsets. Bring quality optics for any big-game hunt here.

Right: The author with a stringer of dove shot over a Panhandle windmill. Middle: The author with a pair of winter coyotes. Far right: The author with a Panhandle bobcat. Prime months for thick furs are December through February.

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TEXAS DOVES, GUNS, DOGS AND MORE Some tips to newcomers on the art of dove hunting.

Author photos

Over/unders should have barrels choked improved cylinder and modified, or come with choke tubes and have a single, selective trigger for top or bottom barrel. The over/under shotgun can also be fired one at a time if needed.

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By The Old Dove Hunter

on’t laugh! Dove hunting is an art, and old, seasoned hunters know a successful dove hunt requires good equipment, shooting skill, attention to the dove after the shot, and knowledge of dove feeding and flying habits. It also requires respect for the landowner. I’ve dove hunted from Oklahoma to Argentina for more years than I want to count, and if I know anything—I know dove hunting. There are several reasons why dove hunting—especially mourning dove hunting—is so popular. In most states, it is the first hunt of the fall when hunters by the thousands are itching to shoot their shotguns at a flying target. By treaty with Canada and Mexico, Sept. 1 is the first day allowed for migratory bird hunting, so all dove hunting begins on Sept. 1. All migratory birds, including doves, tend to move south as the fall season approaches, so northern states have to hunt early to get any decent dove hunting. Although doves breed and produce young all over North America, a large portion of the total population migrates south ahead of the first fall weather fronts. Hunters in the midwest and southern states shoot a lot of locally hatched doves during the first two weeks of the season. When October approaches, and doves get older and bigger, hunters are heard to say, “The Kansas doves are here.” The Kansas doves are simply the older doves hatched locally, as well as the older doves hatched in the north that are moving south. Texas begins to get birds from northern states about the middle of October each year. The experienced dove hunters, who have good places to hunt with lots of birds, may hunt six or seven times during the first days of the season. But the novice hunter who just hunts where he or she can, hardly ever hunts more than two or three times— so the average days for dove hunters in Texas is about four or five. In an average year, in all three dove zones—North, Central and South—in Texas, some 300,000 hunters will fire about 15 million shot shells, and take home some five million doves that are cooked and eaten in more ways than a Baton Rouge Democrat can tell the truth. I’ve dove hunted for over 60 years, sometimes alone, sometimes with a few friends, and a few times with close to a hundred hunters. What I’ve seen with all women and youth

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A FEW WORDS TO THE WISE If you are lucky enough to have found a landowner who will let you hunt, keep these 10 self-imposed rules in mind: 1. If you pay to hunt, pay in cash and don’t ask for a receipt. 2. Pick up all spent shell hulls and drink cans, shell boxes and other trash, and take it with you. 3. Pay attention to gates, and leave them as you find them. Refrain from letting the kids close the gates. 4. If you or anyone else uses a dog, keep the dog under complete control around farm animals or poultry. 5. If you can, take the landowner and/or family to dinner. It will pay off. 6. If the landowner or family hunts, find out what gauge they shoot and bring a few extra boxes of shells when you come hunting. 7. If you clean birds on the property, ask the landowner where to do it. It’s best to take the birds with you and clean them later. 8. Determine if landowner family eats doves, and if so, offer some CLEANED AND WASHED birds—enough for the entire family. 9. DO NOT EVER take extra hunters with you to the hunt. Determine early on who will be hunting with you and make it agreeable with landowner. DO NOT EVEN ask to bring more hunters, unless invited to do so. 10. Respect the landowner, and your hunting privileges will last longer.

dove hunters is that they usually shoot 20-gauge shotguns. Male hunters, both old and young seem to be split evenly with 12- and 20-gauge guns. A few—and I mean a few—hunters who are good shots, and have a slight ego problem, shoot 28s and .410s. But, when you add it all up, more hunters in Texas shoot 20-gauge guns than any other, and most guns are auto or over/ under doubles. The choke of a shotgun barrel—the degrees of constriction in the last 2 to 2½ inches of barrel—determines how thick and even the shot string is at dove shooting distances 15 to 40 yards. The experienced dove hunter will do better with modified choke, which has the best shot pattern from 20 to 30 yards. Novice hunters will do better with modified to full chokes, which are good up to 30 to 40 yards with Nos. 8; 7½; and 6 bird shot. Hunters who want to use steel or similar shot for environmental reasons, should stick to No. 6 shot, and remember that light steel shot gets there quickly, but also slows quickly after about 25 yards. Steel shot cuts through the feathers, and doves bleed profusely. So, if you have ants, go and retrieve your doves immediately. Let’s think of a young, novice hunter who wants to get www.TTHA.com

into doves, and needs some advice from an old dove hunter who is long in the tooth. I’ve already said that a majority of young hunters in Texas like the weight, recoil and killing power of the 20-gauge shotgun. Most beginners these days will buy their shells off the shelf, so I would recommend a Remington Model 1100 20-gauge auto with modified barrel. A vent rib is good, but not necessary. If the hunter is very young, Dad or Paw-Paw may want them to shoot single-shot for a while. The Model 1100 can easily be shot one shell at a time. If the hunter wants an over/under double, and the pockets are a little deeper, Winchester, Beretta and Browning make good guns that are affordable. The barrels should be improved cylinder and modified—most new guns have choke tubes—with a single, selective trigger. Auto ejectors are nice, but not a must. The over/under can also be shot one at a time if needed. I began this treatise on shotguns and gauges for doves by saying that dove hunting is an art. You have to learn how to shoot your gun. You have to learn the limitations of your gun and the shells you shoot. You must learn how to lead a fast-flying dove or a slow-flying dove. You have to learn where to sit so that your downed doves will be easier to find. You have to learn to watch each dove that you shoot all the way to the ground, go to the spot, throw down your cap as a marker, and find each downed bird. I hunted doves for 30 years before I decided to get a retriever. My retrieving dogs for doves and ducks were two black labs, back to back. They retrieved birds for me for many years, and I would not hunt doves today without a retriever. There are good retrievers besides labs—Brittney and other spaniels, English setters, German shorthairs, golden retrievers, etc., to name a few. A dog must be well-mannered and under your complete control when hunting with other hunters and other dogs.

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Author Photos

STORY

Lee with his trophy buck, taken with a little help from Heisman Trophy winner and former NFL quarterback Ty Detmer.

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ou have probably heard the saying: “Lightning never strikes twice.” It certainly did in my case during my November 2018 whitetail hunt in South Texas. Here’s my story. If you are a sports fan, or a fan of college football, then the name Ty Detmer should be very familiar to you. Ty orchestrated those high-powered offenses at Brigham Young University in the late 1980s and the early 1990s. He won the Heisman Trophy, and then went on to enjoy a 14-year career in the National Football League. I had the privilege of meeting Ty a few years ago at the Muy Grande Deer Contest in Freer, Texas. Imelda Sharber, who runs the contest, introduced us. In our earliest conversations, we hit it right off. The common thread was the fact we were both lifelong deer hunters. As I would soon learn, Ty hunted when he had the opportunities in college, and while he was playing pro ball. He remarked, “I even got a couple when I was in your part of the country. While I was with the (Cleveland) Browns, I didn’t have much extra time. But I found a spot and killed a couple of does for the freezer.” It was then I knew I was talking to the real deal—another avid lifelong hunter. As we talked, we made plans for a hunt at his T-14 Ranch. The ranch consists of 1,300 acres, located just east of Freer. I had picked out a young buck at his place that had a wide spread to his antlers. Ty agreed we could hunt the buck after four years, which would allow time for him to mature. It was January 2018, and after

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We continued to sit and watch the deer movements. After about 10 minutes, Ty whispered, “There’s our boy.” He looked through his binocular and then handed it to me. I was shocked! I was looking at the widest antlered buck I had ever seen, walking straight towards us about 120 yards away. I eased my crossbow off and slid forward on my seat to make myself ready. Ty said, “Just relax until he is 50 yards out.” The big buck kept working his way closer, and I was all ready as he crept inside of 40 yards. With my bow shouldered, we waited motionless as the deer munched the corn on the ground. After a couple more minutes, Ty whispered, “He’s now at 30. When he relaxes, take him.” I put the crosshairs a little high on his ribcage and squeezed the trigger. The arrow made a loud slap, and the buck bolted away. That’s when the unthinkable happened. My shot went low and missed the heart by 2 inches. The arrow and broadhead were buried in his font leg. The arrow hit the buck of my dreams squarely on the front leg bone, and it was clearly visible as he trotted off. As you can imagine, I felt ill. We had four years of planning this hunt and letting the deer reach maturity. As we sat there, Ty and I discussed what we saw, and studied the playback of his video tape. It confirmed the arrow was buried about 5 inches right on the bone, and showed him trotting with a limp. We sat there for 10 minutes and then got down slowly to see if there was any blood sign. We carefully followed his tracks into the thick brush, and went about 60 yards or so. We looked thoroughly for 20 minutes without locating a single speck of blood. Our only course of action would be to let the deer rest and come back in a couple of hours. After a very nice lunch, we tracked the buck. Kaili and Rocky also Lee had a setback when trying to take the wide-boy buck, but rose to the joined in the search. We picked up challenge and finally accomplished his goal, which made everything feel the trail and our footprints. After much sweeter.

the years of planning and patiently waiting, the time finally arrived. I flew from Ohio to Corpus Christi, Texas, and then drove my rental car the remaining 11⁄2 hours to the ranch. I arrived in the late afternoon, and we had just enough time to sight-in my crossbow. We all took turns at 20 yards, and Ty, his daughter Kaili, and his good friend Rocky Biegel were all hitting the bull’s-eye. The bow was ready to go! This was my first time hunting in Texas. I had been here several times before while on vacation. But it was time to see some of those legendary Texas whitetails for myself. I was awake at 5 a.m. the next morning. I am a person who does not like to rush, so I slipped into my camo, and enjoyed a glass of orange juice and a muffin for breakfast. Ty came over at 5:45, and we were soon riding in the truck on the way to the blind. Ty had done some previous scouting, and he thought the blind we were going to would give us the best chance for seeing the wide-antlered buck. Not long after we settled into the blind, the action started to pick up. It was not yet fully light, but I could see a big buck working its way towards us off to my right. I nudged Ty for him to take a look. He leaned over and shook his head slightly as to say that wasn’t the one. More and more deer began to show up, and I was taken back by the sheer number of bucks, both big and small. The numbers of deer were not what I was used to seeing while hunting in Ohio. I’m only used to seeing a few does, and rarely a big buck on my hunting outings.

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about 10 minutes of searching, Rocky discovered a few drops of blood. We were feeling better, and we followed these tiny drops for another half hour. After an intensive search, we decided to put things on hold so hopefully we would not push him any further. We would search again in the morning. Maybe we could learn something by observing circling birds. Over the next couple of days, we searched and searched. We could only guess as to where he might be, and we walked and drove to those sections of the ranch. After all of this searching with no additional discoveries, we were all just a little down. I was still sickened by the fact I had wounded the buck. At the middle of the third day, Ty decided we would go after another buck for me while still keeping a lookout for the wide-antlered buck. We hunted hard for the next couple of days, and I was able to take a very nice 10-point and a boar with the crossbow. Even though I failed on the “wide-boy” buck, I left Texas with two great trophies. Ty told me right before I left, “We’ll keep a watch-out for him. If he did survive, you’re perfectly welcome to come back this fall and hunt him.” My email inbox dinged in late April. I saw it was an email from Ty entitled, “Wide Boy.” I opened it immediately, and saw a picture of a buck with velvet stubs on his head. The deer was standing favoring his front leg, and the leg had a big bald spot on it. The email explained how Kaili was on the ranch and saw the deer limping along. She confirmed that it was the buck I wounded, and that he appeared to be in good shape, other that he was standing gingerly on his right front leg. I was almost in disbelief at first, but it finally sank in that the buck had survived my arrow. Ty assured me he would keep me posted on his progress over the summer, and that is exactly what he did. As late summer arrived, we were so pleased to see the injury had not affected the development of his antlers. We were expecting deformities on one side, but other than dropping a point— making him a seven-point—his antlers were wide and perfect. Ty continued to send updates, and we set the calendar for mid-November to do the return hunt. I arrived on the second Saturday in November for the week-long hunt. This time I brought my crossbow and 12-gauge shotgun with rifled slugs. The initial plan was to hunt the buck with the crossbow, and go after a wild hog with the shotgun. I wanted to show Ty the effectiveness of my slug gun, because this was once a primary weapon for deer in Ohio. Shotgun hunting with smoothbore slugs is being replaced by guns with rifled barrels that shoot sabot slug loads. On my last trip we discussed that a shotgun could be a very effective weapon in some of his blind locations. Little did we know, we were about to find out. Unfortunately, the weather turned very cold, windy, and rainy. Ty and I discussed the plans, and we decided that going after the big buck with the shotgun would be best. We simply wanted to eliminate any potential problems of a hard rain washing out any blood sign from a hit with an arrow. I had hoped to take the buck with my crossbow, but the weather simply wouldn’t make that feasible.

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I was up bright and early as usual and checked the weather conditions outside. It wasn’t raining, but it was cold and windy. It was pretty clear that the shotgun would be the weapon of choice for this day. Ty stopped over at the guest house to get me, and we went on our way to the blind. We parked the truck behind some brush and slipped quietly into the blind. I had not hunted in this spot before. Ty explained the buck was hanging out on a different part of the ranch, and this spot would be our best chance to see him. Daylight began to break, and we could see deer moving in a couple of different places. After 10 minutes it was light enough to see, and Ty said, “There he is—to your left.” I slowly turned my head, and there stood the wide-boy buck about 60 yards away. He was with several deer, and I was hoping that would work to our advantage. Ty whispered, “Just hold tight. Let’s see if he won’t walk past right in front of us.” I sat ever so still as the big deer walked right towards us. Just like Ty predicted, the deer slowly walked right past us. He stopped at 25 yards, presenting a perfect broadside shot. I put my bead sight on his chest and squeezed the trigger. The loud boom of the gun broke the morning silence, and the impact knocked the buck right over. I just sat motionless for a few seconds. It took just a bit for it to sink in that I had just taken the wide buck. Ty was exuberant and said, “Hey man, you got it!” I replied, “After 4 years we sure did!” We took the deer back to camp and were very pleased when he taped out to an even 25-inch inside spread. It was certainly the widest antlered buck I’d ever seen in over 40 years of whitetail hunting. I was so blessed to take this great deer, especially when it looked like we might never recover it. In my case, you can say lighting certainly did strike twice.

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Hunter Education: Five Decades Of Success

Steve Hall, Hunter Education Coordinator for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, instructs a group of prospective young hunters. The Texas program now certifies between 55,000 and 70,000 hunters annually.

unter safety education is an institution, a rite of passage, for hundreds of thousands of new hunters each year, not only in Texas but in every state, Canada, Mexico and other countries. Though the first voluntary program began in 1946 in Kentucky, the first one mandated was in New York in 1949. The New York Conservation Department adopted the NRA’s “Hunter Safety” Program, including their “Ten Commandments of Shooting Safety,” as the primary curriculum. Hunter education programs quickly expanded throughout the United States. The curriculum expanded to include topics such as regulations, hunting ethics, outdoor survival, shot selection and a hunter’s role in wildlife management. In 1972, with the passage of the Dingell Hart Amendment to the Pittman-Robertson Act of 1937, state fish and wildlife agencies could begin using “Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration” dollars (sporting arms excise taxes) to fund their hunter education efforts. In Texas, a voluntary hunter safety program began in 1971 under the direction of Texas Parks and Wildlife Department— formerly called the Game, Fish and Oyster Commission. The program was assigned to Theron D. (T.D.) Carroll as part of the Information and Education (I&E) section. The first students were certified in 1972 with a course held in Austin. In the early 1980s, an assistant of Carroll’s, Darrell Holt, was hired to coordinate the program, and he appointed I&E specialist John “J.D.” Peer to assist him. They began to offer pre-service workshops for volunteers to become certified to teach hunter education and in-service workshops to improve the quality of instruction. Peer sent black and white photographs and news releases to statewide media outlets to promote the program. The program went from a six-hour requirement to eight-hours to add instruction in hunting responsibility and ethics and improve the overall actions and image of hunters, deemed

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TPWD Photos

By Steve Hall, Texas Parks and Wildlife Hunter Education Coordinator

necessary to sustain a positive future of hunting. The volunteer instructor quickly became the centerpiece of the Texas program. Game wardens, also certified as instructors, wore many hats, and relied on volunteers to conduct courses in their counties. Wardens conducted background checks and interviewed volunteers to ensure that persons of high character represented the department. As with any volunteer corps, hunter education instructors represented a dedicated, fun, cohesive group. The workshops enabled them to meet others from around the state, standardize and learn hands-on training techniques, and copy ideas for training aids that made learning more fun—especially during live-firing exercises and the handling of firearms. Key objectives included safe muzzle control at all times and understanding various action types/firearms. In 1985, Peer left the ranks to serve as coordinator for his native Oklahoma, and TPWD hired me to serve as assistant hunter education coordinator to Holt. I had previously been an employee and volunteer instructor for the Colorado Division of Wildlife, a public-land state that produced a model mandatory hunter education program beginning in 1970. With the passage

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of S.B. 504, “Mandatory Hunter Education” in Texas in 1987 and subsequent approval and implementation of rules in June 1988, I became the education director, partially because of the ailing health of Holt, who passed away in February 1989. Program requirements moved to 10 hours over two days to add a skills component along with a student evaluation in knowledge and attitude. With the increased workload, I hired an assistant, Terry Erwin, in 1987. He managed the program for more than 24 years.

everal strategies in Texas helped the program expand immediately. The first was teaching hunter education within the vocational agriculture program, as it was called, in high schools. Fortunately, a relationship with the committee overseeing the agriculture science curriculum was established at the onset of mandatory hunter education. Jay Eudy, head of the agriculture program for the Texas Education Agency, agreed to have over 600 agriculture science teachers initially trained as instructors at their annual conference and would teach hunter education as part of their developing “Wildlife and www.TTHA.com

Left to right are TPWD Hunter Education Coordinators Terry Erwin, T.D. Carroll, and author Steve Hall.

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Recreation Management-381 Course.” Before 1988, enrollment in agriculture programs was waning. But with many teenagers needing to complete the mandatory training, enrollment increased and the partnership quickly enjoyed a win-win relationship. To this day, agriculture science teachers train and certify between 10,000 to 15,000 high school students annually. A second strategy was the notion of “home study” as an effective means to deliver the knowledge portion of the course, so instructors could focus on attitude and skills when the students arrived for a “field course.” Working with the state of Nevada and with Delwin Benson, Colorado State University professor and developer of home study and shooting sports curricula, Texas studied the concept and found students could learn just as capably at home. With advancing computer technologies, the system could only improve, which it did. Texas launched its “Home Study” course with a field book, videotape and workbook, underwritten by Outdoor Life in 1997, and later, with a web course of its own design, in 2004. A third strategy was needed to improve overall convenience and the handling of last-minute requests. Many states did not typically have a great method to allow would-be hunters to go afield “at the last minute,” whether it was because of an invitation from a company, friend or relative, or because of procrastination and scheduling conflicts. In 2003, Texas devised a “hunter education deferral” to allow adults the opportunity to hunt without certification, alongside a guide or mentor—certified or exempt—for up to one year. Youth accompanied by adults already had such an exemption. The purchase of this new “apprentice license” could be handled just like any other, at a point-of-sale vendor such as a sporting goods retailer. In the first 10 years, over 10,000 deferrals were purchased each year. The strategy worked for giving Texas hunters a chance to “try hunting” prior to completing a course. A fourth series of strategies, which brings us to the present day, began in 2014 after the passage of rules to allow for streamlining instructor-led courses—registration and records all online—and the offering of an online-only basic certification for those age 17 and older, without the additional field or classroom requirements. This effectively doubled the average number of certifications and improved awareness even more. The downside was the lack of hands-on opportunities for the adults. To offset that factor, the department developed a “Hunting 101” series as part of advanced hunter education and a way to get adults and families hands-on opportunities such as species-specific seminars and workshops—deer, dove, turkey, hog, waterfowl and upland game—or method-specific opportunities— bowhunting, muzzleloading, shotgun, outdoor survival and modern firearms. The department and volunteer instructors are currently implementing this new series to grow interest in the various types of hunts and/or target shooting opportunities. The hunter education instructor also slips the messages of safe, legal and ethical hunting back into the mix and further reinforces the fact that “Hunting is safe—and getting safer!” Data don’t lie. In the ’60s and ’70s, Texans were involved in over 100 injuries and 30 fatalities each year. Today the annual average is under 20 injuries and between 1 to 3 fatalities, two-thirds of which were caused by hunters who never passed the training. Either they were exempt, born prior to September 2, 1971, or they were in violation of the hunter education regulations, the No. 1 citation written by Texas game wardens in the past 10 years. 50 |

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Above: In the ’60s and ’70s, Texans were involved in more than 100 injuries and 30 fatalities each year. Today, the annual average is under 20 injuries and between one to three fatalities, two-thirds of which were caused by hunters who never passed hunter-ed training. Below, graduates of Texas hunter-education courses now number in the tens of thousands annually. Tables courtesy of Steve Hall.

The hunter education instructor reinforces the messages of safe, legal and ethical hunting and the fact that “Hunting is safe—and getting safer!”

The Texas program has served as a model program for many states and has earned many top instructor and state awards, nationally. The program now certifies between 55,000 and 70,000 hunters annually and conducts outreach programs and activities for thousands more each year. Hunter education partially led to additional programs such as target range development grants, bow hunter education, mobile sporting clays, Texas Becoming An Outdoors-Woman, Texas National Archery in Schools Program, Texas Youth Hunting Program and other programs of the department and it partners. Hunter education is certainly a conservation legacy program. For more information, visit Texas Parks and Wildlife website at: https://tpwd.texas.gov/education/hunter-education.

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TPWD Photos

Predator Hunting: 45 Years of Change

By Gary Roberson 52 |

January/February 2020

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Left: The author began calling with hand calls, such as a Burnham Brothers C-3 Fox Call.

Author

irst of all, congratulations to the Texas Trophy Hunters Association on their 45th anniversary. Coincidentally, another landmark event occurred in 1975 when I married the love of my life, Miss Deb. Not only has my life changed since 1975, there have been many other changes, including predator calling. While I began calling with hand calls, the first electronic calls I ever carried into the woods were compact cassette players. Compact cassettes were invented in 1962 and a few years later, Burnham Brothers and Johnny Stewart were not only selling cassettes of animal recordings, they were also marketing rugged cassette players, equipped with speakers that would produce the volume needed to cover a larger area. These speakers came with 100 feet of speaker cord so the sound would be produced at a distance from the hunter. I met Murry Burnham at a Hunters Extravaganza in San Antonio in 1987 and invited him to come to Menard for a hunt. In 1988, Murry and I began making a few hunting trips around the state. It was about that time I learned he was working on an electronic caller with no moving parts. An electronic caller with no moving parts was well suited for outdoor use in extreme conditions such as freezing, dusty or damp conditions. Burnham Brothers introduced the first digital caller, the Compucaller, in 1990. At the time, I remember Murry saying the only other feature needed was a remote control. In 2003, Burnham Brothers introduced the Compucaller II, a digital caller that could be operated remotely. From a distance, a hunter could play, stop, change sounds and adjust volume simply by pushing buttons on the handheld remote. Having the ability to produce the sounds many yards away from the hunter without the hassle of speaker cord was a huge improvement in electronic callers. While most hunters would agree this call had all the features of the perfect electronic caller, I did not agree. After years of observing coyotes and bobcats, I realized they were communicating, though I could not detect any sound. I began doing research to find out how this was possible. What I found made perfect sense. Canines and felines can produce and hear frequencies that www.TTHA.com

photos

a human cannot. The human ear can detect frequencies up to approximately 22,000 Hertz (Hz) while a canine can hear up to 45,000 Hz and a feline up to 64,000 Hz. Until a remote-controlled digital caller could produce ultrasonic sounds in the 60,000 Hz range, the perfect electronic caller did not exist. The only way to test sound frequency is to play the sound on an oscilloscope. If animals were not producing and hearing ultrasonics, there would be no need to replicate ultrasonics. To our surprise, the very first baby cottontail we recorded went over 90,000 Hz and a recording of myself lip squeaking on my hand went over 40,000 Hz. To date, every prey animal distress sound that we have tested went ultrasonic. When testing all the popular electronic callers on the oscilloscope, we found that they maxed out at 15,000 Hz to 17,000 Hz. When Burnham Brothers produced the ULTRACALLER in 2019, there finally was an electronic calling device that would go ultrasonic. When tested, we found this product would reach frequencies in the 45,000-47,000 Hz range, proving that all previously electronically produced sounds were artificial. Sound is not the only area where improvements have been made in predator hunting. When I began calling critters, everyone I knew called after dark with the aid of a light. In the early ’60s the light of choice was a 6-volt Ray-O-Vac lantern. With fresh batteries and decent optics, a hunter could kill a fox or coyote out past 50 yards. While I am a daytime caller, I realize the popularity of the sport is driven by the ability to call from a vehicle after dark. I believe it was in the early ’70s when Brinkmann came out with the Q Beam Varmint Special, the Cadillac of predator calling lighting. The Q Beam remained the most popular light until the Burnham Brothers introduced the first digital caller, the Compucaller, in 1990. Then, in 2003, Burnham Brothers introduced the Compucaller II, a digital caller that could be operated remotely without the hassle of speaker cord.

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Left: Though he prefers day hunting for predators, the author loves hunting with the Trijicon REAP-IR thermal night-vision riflescope, mounted here on a Ruger ARstyle semi-auto.

Below: The author notes that the Burnham Brothers’ ULTRACALLER electronic calling device reaches frequencies in the 45,000-47,000 Hz range.

lighter weight and brighter LED lights were adapted for nighttime predator hunting shortly after the turn of the century. Night vision was first invented in the 1930s when Germany equipped about 50 tanks with night vision devices. While crude by today’s standard, the ability to see in the dark was much better than with the human eye. About 10 years ago, I began hearing about hunters using night vision for hogs and calling predators. I recently purchased the top-of-the-line thermal night vision riflescope, the Trijicon REAP-IR. I chose it for its clarity, weight and size. While I will admit that I love hunting with this product, I have not given up calling in the daylight hours. In 1975, most every predator hunter I knew carried a bolt action rifle. Today, the younger generation and a few of the older guys are carrying semi-automatic AR platforms. When I questioned them on their weapon choice, most said it’s because they have a quicker follow-up shot. While I cannot argue with that response, I cannot recall many situations where my bolt gun costed me a fleeing coyote. Another change in predator hunting weaponry that has occurred in the last few years is the use of suppressors. While growing up, the only “silencers” I ever saw were in James Bond movies when the bad guy would screw one on the barrel of his pistol before murdering someone. I did not say that suppressing a rifle was a bad idea, because reducing the report of a firearm might keep from spooking other predators in the area. What I do see as a huge negative is that by putting a suppressor on a rifle, you destroy the purported efficiency of that rifle. While we have seen many changes in predator hunting over the last 45 years, I have the feeling that we have just begun to evolve. Predator calling has been around for many years but 54 |

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the popularity of the sport has grown substantially since the turn of the century. I hope to see another 45 years.

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Photo by George Andrejko

Stalking deer in open country challenges you to use all your skills as a hunter to overcome their finely-honed defenses.

DEER HUNTING

IN THE SOUTHWEST

By Jim Heffelfinger

he big-antlered deer take all of the spotlight in South Texas and most areas to the north and east. Although the small gray whitetails and desert mule deer in the Southwest are well-known to some, they are underappreciated by most deer hunters. The Southwest includes West Texas through northern Mexico and up through southeastern California and southern Nevada and arcing through southern Utah and Colorado, with Arizona and New Mexico as the iconic centerpieces. We are starting to see more interest in hunting West Texas and arid lands to the west, and that can only be a good thing. When hunters and landowners begin to see more value in a species, that equates to advocacy for habitat protection 56 |

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and proper management. The history of wildlife conservation is full of examples of species saved from extinction and brought back to abundance because of the interest of hunters. The isolated mountain ranges in the Southwest are populated with smaller versions of white-tailed deer, while the lower desert scrub and grasslands are dominated by southwestern mule deer. Because southwestern deer occupy different habitat types compared to whitetails to the east, it makes for very different hunting experiences. Mule deer like wide open spaces where they can see their surroundings and detect danger well before it affects them. Southwestern whitetails occupy the most rugged and brushy terrain available. Desert mule deer are known for their

lack of consistent movement patterns compared to whitetails. You can usually predict the daily movements of a whitetail from bedding areas to feeding areas and back again. Not so with mule deer. They are much more nomadic in their movements as they drift around and locate whatever it is they feel they need at any given time. This, and the fact they do not make scrapes, makes it more difficult for the hunter to get a handle on them during the deer season. Because of differences in terrain and deer behavior, a deer hunt in the Desert Southwest is differentâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;not better or worse, just different. The great thing about pursuing southwestern deer is not so much the critters themselves, but the beautiful country they will lead you through.

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Look on the bright side

For an eastern forest or brush country deer hunter, going west to pursue these deer cousins is like going to a whole different country. Hunting strategies are different. The more you know before you go, the greater your chances of scoring. I have always said hunting is mostly luck, but there are things you can do to increase your chances of getting lucky. Being skillful is one. This statement has a way of irritating some hard-working hunters, but the point is you have no control over a lot of things, so you should focus on those things you can control. “Glassing” is the term used for the style of hunting where you search for game with binoculars and then sneak within range for a shot. Many people hunt with binoculars, but do not really “spot-and-stalk” game. Glassing has become much more common in recent years as hunters learn how effective this method is in open country. Carrying around a pair of binoculars all day and using them to get a better look at a deer only after you jump it out of its bed is not glassing and is not very effective. Optics are more important to a serious mule deer hunter than even toilet paper. Obviously the better the quality of your optical equipment, the better your chances are for finding quality game. Generally, the more you pay for optics, the better they are. So find the best binoculars you can afford and then

When planning where you will glass from and what direction to cover, you need to consider the direction of the sun. You always want to have the sun to your back. Not only does this prevent you from looking into the sun, but it assures you the deer will. More important is the fact you will be looking at canyons and hillsides illuminated brightly by the rising or setting sun behind you. Deer are many times more obvious when standing on a hill that is glowing in the sunlight. Study your maps and apps before going afield and have a few potential sites selected that will allow you to look to the west or northwest in the morning and east or northeast in the afternoon.

Photo by Jim Heffelfinger

Different deer, different strategies

Come prepared to finish the job. Don’t get caught with a deer on the ground and not have the tools to take care of it.

buy the next better pair. You will never be sorry you bought binoculars that are too good. However, the $2,000 binoculars may not be 10 times better than the $200 pair, so you have to choose your optics based on what you can afford. There is certainly a trend in hunters owning some pretty high-quality glass made by Zeiss, Swarovski, Docter, or Steiner.

Get up and lay low When glassing you should climb as high as possible to get the best view. It is always tempting to convince yourself you can see a lot of country and don’t need to climb any higher. But for every 50 feet in elevation, more and more country below opens up for your inspection. Climbing higher may make your stalk longer—returning to the bottom—but I would rather have a longer stalk after spotting a deer than never see the deer in the first place. It is very important you do not set up and glass from the crest of a hill or ridge where you will be skylined and easy to see. Always come down the slope enough

Photo by Shawn Gray

Glassing from high points allows you to look down into thick cover where bucks are going to be spending much of their time.

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Southwestern whitetails are small but very challenging to hunt in rugged terrain.

especially as the sun moves through the sky.

Photo by George Andrejko

Be early and stay late

where you’ll have a solid background. Just because deer are seen at greater distances when glassing does not mean you can sit in the open. Whenever possible, you should set up in the shade of a tree, bush or other structure. This keeps you comfortable against the sun in warmer weather, but also makes you a lot less obvious. Regardless of temperature, shade keeps the sun from glinting off your optics or equipment. Part of laying low is being quiet. Sound carries tremendous distances in open country. Deer can discern normal from abnormal sounds in their environment. If I can hear rolling rocks clattering across the canyon, you can bet deer can, too. If you make a significant noise while traveling between glassing points, 58 |

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sit tight and stay hidden to give deer a chance to lose interest and stop staring at the ridge you’re on.

Take a seat The adage that good hunters wear out the seat of their pants before the soles of their boots describes perfectly what glassing is all about. At least 90 percent of your time should be sitting down behind your optics. I usually find a high glassing point where I can stay all day. If you can see a large area from where you are glassing, there is no sense in moving. The deer will get up and move at some point, so staying put and waiting for them is the best strategy. Move around the hill and glass at different angles to cover even more ground,

If you want to be successful, you have to make sure you are actively hunting during the first and last couple hours of the day. The first hour after the sun breaks above the sky line is the “golden hour.” Not only because everything glows in the early golden light, but because this is when your chances of seeing a deer are highest. You have to plan accordingly so you are in your glassing location before it gets light. You should also plan to glass until it is too dark to stalk. Staying out all day takes a little more preparation and more attention to your comfort level. This is where a waterproof, padded seat is important, as is your posture while glassing. You have to be comfortable or you will start thinking about other, more comfortable places to be. Since you should walk in and out in the dark, you may want to preset GPS waypoints for the spots you want to glass from. This allows you to get to and from your glassing locations efficiently in the dark.

Concentrate It may seem obvious, but brown animals will not stand out like a neon sign on the other side of the canyon. It is important you maintain a high level of concentration. It is easy to fall into “screen-saver mode” where your eyes glaze over. If you do not stay focused, it is easy to miss deer right in the middle of your field of view. Ideally you become one with the binocular and forget you are looking through it. Maintaining focus and concentration is the most important, and least talked about, quality of a successful hunter.

Have a system Glassing does not entail looking around willy-nilly hoping to spot something. Glassing efficiently and effectively means you search your visible area in a systematic way. A tripod is a necessity if you are serious. When I first saw people using binoculars mounted on a tripod I thought that was going a little overboard. Then I tried it and found out

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Fools rush in

Photo by Jim Heffelfinger

They say good judgment comes from experience, and experience comes from—well, poor judgment. When a deer is seen, it takes good judgment to decide when to pursue quickly and when to wait until it beds down. It is a

Be prepared for all weather and pay attention to your own comfort so you can concentrate on finding deer.

difficult call and depends on what the deer is doing at the moment and what you think it will do in the next hour. I have had more deer put the slip on me because I was being too careful, but I have also blown stalks by rushing in. It depends on the situation and the terrain. Plan your stalk carefully before moving from your location. Mark the animal’s location exactly in reference to unique land features that you can find when you stalk close to where the animal is. Look at the wind direction, vegetative cover, and topography to decide how you can get within range without being detected. As you stalk towards the animal, relocate it frequently through binoculars to keep track of where it is. These steps help you move efficiently to the animal, even if it is on the move. You, of course, want to stay hidden from view at all times. Find a small side canyon to follow towards the animal or a hill to stay behind. This keeps you hidden from view in what the European stalkers call “dead ground.”

Glassing up success

The more the merrier. More sets of eyes means more potential to find bucks in the Southwest. www.TTHA.com

Photo by Jim Heffelfinger

what an amazing difference it makes. The tripod allows you to search the area systematically, while stabilizing the field of view. A stable background is important if you are trying to detect a subtle ear flick or tail wag. When glassing, start by looking through your binocular at the lower edge of what you can see from your vantage point. Study that full field of view until you are sure there are no deer in that view. You then pivot the binocular on the tripod to scrutinize the next field of view to the right of the one you just “cleared.” When you get to the end of your first bottom “row,” move the binoculars up one field of view and then back in the opposite direction one field of view at a time. Do not sweep the binoculars from one side to the other, but instead move them frame by frame in a process of elimination. Overlap each field slightly because the focus is clearer in the center of the field of view. When you concentrate on each small patch of deer habitat, you are not looking for a whole deer. You are looking for an ear or eye or tail. Once you locate one of those parts, the deer will be very nearby.

As a hunter you are simply a predator, and successful hunters remain hungry and focused like one. Some hunters speak of the “Three P’s”: patience, perseverance, and a positive mental attitude. You must have patience to spend enough time in an area you know is good and resist the temptation to move too frequently or give up too early. If you are seeing deer, sit tight. You never leave

deer to find deer. Perseverance is hardest toward the end of a tough hunt. You need to maintain the tenacity to keep getting out there early and staying late. Having a positive mental attitude means you are constantly expecting to see an animal in the next few minutes. Hunters who do expect to see a deer and those who don’t expect to see a deer are usually both right. After several days of unsuccessful pursuit, I find myself repeating the Three P’s to keep my spirits and concentration level high. Being prepared for the hunt doesn’t only mean being prepared to start off on the right foot, but it means being able to finish the job when—not if—you are successful. Before the hunt, run through the scenario of successfully killing an animal and make sure you have everything you need to completely care for the animal. In remote areas of the Southwest, that usually involves a few good knives, knife sharpener, meat bags and a pack frame. No matter how hard it is to get a shot at a deer, there’s much more work to do after the animal is on the ground. Open country deer hunting is very different but rewarding because of the skill it takes to find, and close the distance on, a buck of any size. Thomas Jefferson once said, “I’m a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work, the more I have of it.” And so it is with hunting in the Southwest. Working hard and good preparation will allow you to turn luck into success.

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January/February 2020 |

TAMU-TTHA

Lending A Helping Hand For 17 Years T

he Texas A&M Collegiate Chapter of the Texas Trophy Hunters Association is a student-run organization started in the spring of 2001. In 2002, our chapter held its first banquet at the Texas Hall of Fame in College Station, Texas. Over the past 17 years, the banquet has benefited and touched many lives by enabling underprivileged children and adults to go on hunts that would not have otherwise been possible. Aside from banquet, we host many events for our members such as tailgate parties for every A&M home game, meetings, socials, member hunting/fishing trips, and we participate in intramural softball tournaments. Being a member of TAMU-TTHA gives students entrance to all of our events, and we strive to create an atmosphere of similar interests where our members can show off hunting pictures, ask questions, sell gear and be involved in our chapter. Our group sets out each year to serve purpose beyond being an interest-affiliated, student-run organization on campus. Our goal is to maintain interest and passion for the outdoors while doing our part to improve the trophy hunting industry for generations to come. Each year we host a benefit banquet and donate the proceeds to a non-profit organization in the

outdoor industry. This year we chose to donate to Texas Hunt for the Cure, which is a small organization located just outside of Dallas, Texas. Texas Hunt for the Cure takes children with life altering or life-threatening disease and diagnoses on the hunting or fishing trip of their dreams at no cost to their families. In 2018, we donated $15,500 to Texas Hunt for the Cure. The TAMU-TTHA officers got the opportunity to present the check at their Family Reunion, which is a big event they have every year to bring together all of the children they have taken on hunts and their families. At this event they have activities and games, present the mounts to the hunters, and remember and honor the children that lost their battles. This was an awesome experience for us officers, and it really got our blood pumping to make this yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s banquet bigger and better than ever before to maximize the funds we could give to Texas Hunt for the Cure. This year, we held our banquet on October 11th at the Brazos County Expo Center. Throughout the months prior, the officers worked hard getting donations and sponsors. We put together silent auctions, containing anything from custom cornhole boards to decoys and blinds. Then we had our live auction for

various African plains game, whitetail, hog and even black bear hunts. We also had various games where guests could guess the score of mounts, pluck a duck, and play cooler pong to win prizes. Everyone was welcome to our fajita taco bar and their share of Lone Star Beer. Our banquet usually brings in outdoorsmen from all over the state. We hosted sponsor tables filled with ranchers, outdoor affiliated companies, or even just families who love the outdoors and want to come out to support. This year we had quite the turn out for sponsor tables and general admission. The event concluded at about 10 p.m., and we welcomed everyone to join our tailgate party for the A&M vs. Alabama game the following afternoon. As TAMU-TTHA officers, we look forward to attending Texas Hunt for the Cure’s annual Family Reunion again this year to present our donation. We couldn’t thank all of our donors, sponsors, and attendees enough for such a great event this year, and we look forward to doing it all over again next October. Gig ‘em & God bless, Alyssa Loth ’20 TAMU-TTHA Banquet Chair

Venison: The Ultimate Sacred Flesh By Ted Nugent

amey! You’re darn tootin’ my venison is gamey! That’s exactly why it is celebrated around the world as the most desirable, delicious, nutritious, natural, organic, healthy food on planet Earth. Let us all dedicate ourselves to destroy the bastardization of the once glowingly positive term gamey! Gamey does not mean nasty, rancid or yucky. Originally when describing wild game meat, the term gamey was universally considered the ultimate positive compliment anyone could use to describe how special and delicious venison is. Somewhere along the line as mankind migrated away from the independent hunting lifestyle of self-sufficiency and rugged individualism, some hunters became increasingly nonchalant and disconnected from the spiritual respect for the animals we hunt and became less considerate on how they handled the hard-earned carcass. That’s when they messed up and foolishly allowed urine, body fluids, bile, guts and all sorts of flavor destroying guck to infect the meat. Somebody somewhere took a bite of irresponsibly mishandled venison and got a sucker punch of nastiness that

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turned them off from the flesh of game. Knowing that they had a bad taste experience with game meat, they knee-jerkingly pronounced they didn’t like the gamey punch of venison. And it all went downhill from there. Gamey is supposed to mean delicious in a taste bud stimulating way. Special, robust, unique and yummy! In my lifetime of rock-’n’-roll globetrotting adventure, satisfying my extremely demanding palate has brought me to some of the world’s finest eating establishments and served by world-class chefs and kitchen creationists. (See page 7.) With my reputation as a gung-ho American hunter, most chefs come out of the kitchen to meet me and say hello, always eager to discuss their basic worship of game meat as the foundation of the best meals possible. Passionate dialogue ensues about the joys of hunting, killing, gutting, aging, butchering, preparing, grilling, serving and eating what we all know to be the best, most exciting meal there is. Venison in all its varied and exciting forms and species and presentations. The worst crimes of flesh mishandling come in

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Gamey is supposed to mean delicious in a taste bud stimulating way. Special, robust, unique and yummy! In my lifetime of rock-’n’-roll globetrotting adventure, satisfying my extremely demanding palate has brought me to some of the world’s finest eating establishments and served by world class chefs and kitchen creationists. With my reputation as a gung-ho American hunter, most chefs come out of the kitchen to meet me and say hello, always eager to discuss their basic worship of game meat as the foundation of the best meals possible. many sundry forms. Bad hits on game can and will happen, but dedication to “aim small miss small” shot placement can make or break a quality meal. If a bad hit is made, all the tainted flesh exposed to any body fluids must be carved away from the desirable cuts. An inexcusable mistake is a sloppy gutting process. There is no hurry. Nobody gets an award for the fastest gutting time. Care and caution should always be the modus operandi for keeping undesirable fluids off the meat. Take your time and

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use a real sharp knife very carefully. Another bizzarro failure I witness all too often is the horror of carting a dead deer in the back of a pickup truck exposed to sunlight and warm temperatures. Getting the carcass cleaned and cooled as soon as possible is Job No. 1 for us deer hunters. Walk-in coolers are a Godsend, but getting the quarters in the shade or cooled down any way possible will spell the difference between so-so venison and great venison. Then, of course, the final cooking process is the end all deciding factor for killer table fare, and keeping it simple and rare to medium rare, regardless of the preferred cooking process, makes all the difference in the world. I have unlimited killer ways to cook my sacred flesh, but the easiest and still one of the best is aged backstrap with all the fat, muscle and silver removed, marinated for an hour or so in really good olive oil and melted duck fat, covered with a little herbs and seasonings of choice. I stab small slices into the strap and insert shards of fresh garlic throughout. I grill it relatively quickly over hot, glowing wood coals till singed on the outside, then roast off-heat for another 10-15 minutes. Serve with onions, peppers, garlic and small potatoes cooked in the drippings, and what you have is the most unbelievable taste bud exhilarating gamey meal you can imagine. Venison is game meat. It’s supposed to be gamey delicious, and when handled with genuine loving care from field to table, nothing comes close. Game on! Gamey on!

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January/February 2020 |

MUST-HAVES

[ THE JOURNAL ] VOLUME 45 NUMBER 1 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2020

1. Coyote Cannon

Engineering hunting lights since 2007, the new Coyote Cannon has raised the bar even higher. Gun mounted or used as a scan light, it stands out as the brightest and farthest shining light on the market with over a mile beam-throw. The interchangeable LED modules make it possible to switch between five different color options (red, green, white, 850nm and 940nm). Powered by a 21700 5000mah battery, you can expect 21⁄2 consecutive hours of run time on High. The full dimmer allows for intensity control at your fingertips allowing to dim or brighten the light for longer run times. Visit sniperhawglights.com.

2. Henry Texas Tribute Edition

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The Henry Texas Tribute Edition is a .22 S/L/LR caliber lever action rifle, which features a 20-inch blued steel octagon barrel, a Brasslite receiver cover, a brass buttplate and barrel band, and fully adjustable sights. The wood has a deep black stain to provide a stark contrast to the gold highlights throughout the gun. Both sides of the rifle are studded with inlaid metal five-pointed stars, with four on the right side of the buttstock, and a lone star on the right side of the buttstock. The forestock has the word “TEXAS” engraved in a classic Western typeface and filled by hand with gold paint. The buttstock engraving depicts the state of Texas filled with a “Lone Star Flag” motif, which is also hand-painted in gold. Visit HenryUSA.com/rifles/Texas-tribute-edition for more info.

3. Hornady Handgun Ammo Hornady Handgun Hunter ammunition is built around a bullet as rough and rugged as the conditions and game demand. The MonoFlex handgun projectile is manufactured with a tough copper alloy that achieves deep penetration and 95 percent weight retention. Bullet expansion across a range of velocities is aided with a proprietary elastomer material added to the bullet’s open cavity. Upon impact, the elastomer compresses, then pushes out and causes the bullet to expand faster than a standard hollow point design. Visit hornady.com/ammunition/ handgun-hunter#!/.

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MUST-HAVES

[ THE JOURNAL ]

VOLUME 45 NUMBER 1 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2020

4. Wraith scope and mount A true 24-hour scope, the digital Wraith HD optic has a daytime color mode, along with two night-vision mode options. In addition to recording capabilities and 4-32X digital magnification, it also features a detachable 850nm IR illuminator, 10 reticle options, an additional Weaver rail for accessories, high-definition 1920x1080 CMOS sensor, 1280x720 display and more. Weighing a mere 4.9 oz. and constructed from durable aluminum, the bolt-action Weaver mount features a cantilever design with multiple mounting positions to make it comfortable on a wide variety of traditional rifle designs. Visit sightmark.com.

5. Rifle support The Kopfjäger Ambush Support Assembly (KJ85005) is a patent-pending stabilizing arm designed to mount effortlessly to the interior wall of your box blind. Used in conjunction with Kopfjäger’s Reaper Grip and a bipod (sold separately), the Ambush’s innovative design frees up valuable space in your deer blind, eliminating the need for a tripod or shooting stick. The Ambush combined with a Reaper Grip gives shooters of all ages and capabilities the confidence they need to make a precise shot. Though the Ambush is a useful tool for all hunters, it is especially practical for young, elderly and disabled hunters, due to its load-bearing qualities and ease-of-use. Visit kopfjagerindustries.com.

6. Backcountry Hauler The Pack Rabbit Backcountry Hauler is a versatile system that provides utility on and off the beaten trail. Its modular design offers a highly effective way to carry all types of gear and game. Lash loops, compression straps, internal and external anchor points all ensure your trophy remains fixed and secure. A flip-down seat provides rapid, on-the-fly comfort and convenience for spotting and stalking. A 500 cubic-inch external pouch allows for rapid access to essentials and the storage of a hydration system. The adjustable padded hip belt can be fitted for S-M-L, and has MOLLE/PALS fields for attaching holsters or other types of accessory pouches. Visit pack-rabbit.com. www.TTHA.com

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MUST-HAVES

[ THE JOURNAL ] VOLUME 45 NUMBER 1 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2020

7. Scent-free body care

Lethal Shampoo & Body Wash is a 2-in-1 formula that cleanses hair and skin, removing human odors from human fats, salts, lactic acid, butyric acid and amines – then rinses free and clear, leaving behind no residue or fragrance. It’s ultra concentrated so a little bit goes a long way. Lethal’s 24H UNSCENTED | FOR HUNTERS deodorant is aluminum-free, non-staining, dye-free, and goes on clear and stays clear. Visit lethalproducts.com.

8. Trophy Tree

Trophy Tree is a versatile system that maximizes corner space by allowing multiple sizes and species to be displayed vertically, like never before. Trophy Tree comes with five arms and prongs, and five 14” poles for those who wish to hang larger species and skull capped trophies. Each pole contains 16 equally spaced slots to allow the showcasing of antlers perfectly above or below the next. Each Trophy Tree arm quickly inserts into narrow slots on the poles. Additional poles and arms are sold separately for maximum customization capabilities. The Big Hooker arm and Skull Plate adapter will also be an option for those who wish to hang larger species and skull capped trophies. Visit skullhooker.com.

9. Hunt Like A Girl e-book

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Carly Brasseux, a female hunter from Dallas, debuted her first e-book, How To Hunt Like A Girl. In it, you’ll find the basic information she couldn’t seem to find as a new girl in the hunting world. You’ll learn from some of the top female hunters and gain an understanding of the who, when, where, why and how of hunting, conservation and the great outdoors. What she hopes makes this e-book different and credible, is that it has perspectives from the top female hunters. These are the women who have started, developed and conquered the outdoors industry. Visit misspursuit.com/ hunt-like-a-girl-buy-my-e-book/.

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MUST-HAVES 10. NoSweat Spending the day hunting or doing target practice usually requires some type of headwear to keep the sun out your eyes and your head toasty warm. While hats are a convenient accessory to bring along on excursions, dealing with a sweaty, smelly one at the end of a long day is not. NoSweat liners stick to the inside of any hat to instantly wick away sweat and prevent stains, odors and the constant need to stop what you are doing to wipe your face. The thin liners take only seconds to install and depending on the person and activities being performed each one can last up to two weeks. Visit nosweatco.com.

[ THE JOURNAL ]

VOLUME 45 NUMBER 1 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2020

11. Nose Jammer detergent Nose Jammer laundry detergent gets rid of smells that alarm game and replaces them with compounds that animals are conditioned to smelling, without the use of toxins or UV brighteners. It won’t fade your favorite camo patterns and lasts for days. The detergent can be used in all machines, including High-Efficiency models. The formula contains Vanillin and other natural aromatic compounds including lignin, a major support structure for trees, grasses, and shrubs. These compounds don’t alarm game animals but instead jam the olfactory system. Visit nosejammer.com.

12. World’s Strongest Coathanger The World’s Strongest Coathanger Jr. is a heavy-duty hanger despite the added suffix. This compact hanger still does the job with a 65-pound capacity, perfect for any heavy coats, winter apparel, hunting gear, wet gear, fire and law enforcement vests. Each hanger is made in America. It’s available in orange, red, and black. Visit theworldsstrongestcoathanger.com.

www.TTHA.com

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COA Summer Camp Guiding our Youth and Outdooremen to a Relationahip with Christ through Experiences in Godâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Great Outdoors

Summer Camp 2019 Was Over The Top Are you going to join us for Summer 2020? Call Amy Marbach at 210-875-0889 or AmyMarbach@att.net

www.mycoa.org

Things Keep On Changing

blinds were places on roads or fence lines where deer were known to feed and cross the landscape, headed towards water and browse. It was years later when we started putting corn on the roads to attract the deer. In the early years, we would hunt the crossings on the fence lines and senderos morning and evening. And when the time was right, we would grab the old rattling antlers and roam up and down the roads, tickling the tines to try and draw out a buck from the thick brush. It was also at this time of my life that the size and age of the deer were not really as important as it is today. If you saw a pretty good buck, you would let the smoke pole go to work. There were a lot of big bucks taken, but there were also a lot small bucks as well. We were definitely trophy hunters, but we also loved making sausage, so killing a deer was a big deal. Around 1980, my dad and I went out to an uncle’s house to buy some corn. We had our own burlap bags Corn and feeders really changed the dynamics of Texas hunting. Because deer congregate on corned roads and feeders year round, hunters may sit and watch bucks for hours and really study them.

Author

photos

ow the years have changed our Texas hunting. As I think back on the last 45 years, it’s mind boggling on how much our methods and styles of hunting have changed. From just the clothes we wear, to binoculars, guns, bows, crossbows, etc. All have been added to our way of hunting in this modern era. Not to mention all the different animals we can hunt. We can spend time year round doing what we love and enjoy. With the Managed Land Permits, our whitetail season has increased in days. When it’s not whitetail season, we are headed to the woods to hunt hogs, axis, blackbuck, aoudad, oryx, and addax, to name a few. We have also come a long way in how we take care and prepare our game. Our local processors do a wonderful job, but if you are like me, you like to prepare the different meats in lots of different recipes. When I first started hunting as a kid, we would head to South Texas and sit in old wooden box blinds. These

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and we would take them with us to fill. My dadâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s uncle, Adolph Scheele, was a farmer near Converse, Texas, and he had a scale and would load up our burlap bags with corn, weigh them, and then sew the top shut. We had to pay by the pound, so a scale was very important. We would get two to four sacks full of corn that

A classic Texas box blind overlooks roads or fence lines where deer are known to feed and cross the landscape, headed toward water and browse.

Right and below: The amenities at deer camps have changed a lot, and mostly for the better.

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might weigh around 50 or so pounds. But we did not have feeders in those days. We would just sit on the back of the truck or hang the sack out the window and trickle the roads on the ranch with the corn. We did attract a lot of birds and javelinas in those days, and as God as my witness, the deer would walk over the top of the corn without even a sniff. But it did not take very long, and the deer started picking up the yellow nuggets, and shortly after that, they started running to the roads when they would hear our truck. In the early 1980s we started making our own deer feeders and loaded them up with corn and parked them near one of our wooden hunting blinds. We attracted more javelina and quail than deer, but it was a lot of fun to have something to look at. Those early feeders, much like today, did not always go off for all the various reason we struggle with today. They would get stopped up, have an unplugged battery, short out, or get drained by a corn-happy raccoon. After we started using feeders, we started seeing more hogs in South Texas and they started taking over the feed stations. It was a lot of fun at first, as we had something else to shoot besides deer and javelina. On top of that, the hogs tasted great and made delicious sausage. After you killed your first 10, you saw how they became a problem, so we had to start building feed pens to keep the hogs out of our feeders. The corn and feeders really changed the dynamics of our hunting. We could corn the roads and sit and watch deer for hours and really study them. Because of that, we were able to start aging deer on-the-hoof and really focus on taking out the mature deer. This helped our Texas deer so much, we really started seeing more and bigger bucks hitting the ground each year. The sheer number of giant bucks in this magazine each issue is staggering compared to the beginning of Texas Trophy Hunters. When I finished college in the early 1990s, we started something all-together new, and that was feeding protein pellets to our deer. In the beginning we used our corn feeders to disperse the pellets, but after lots of problems going that route, we went to the demand feeders that we have today. The gravity feeders would allow the deer to come in and get their fill. The supplemental pellet was also a big hit with our deer, which added to their overall health. We started growing a little bit better bucks with all the added supplemental feed. The demand for big deer was drawing big dollars to leases and outfitters as everyone was looking for that big buck. We started seeing more high fences go up all over the country as a way to grow bigger deer and to make sure you were feeding the right ones. The idea of targeting cull bucks, management and trophy bucks took on an entire new meaning and the overall score of the deer became a huge deal. Of course, we all like to measure up our animals to have an idea of them overall. But back in the day, it was more important to talk about a 20-inch wide buck or

THE JOURNAL OF THE TEXAS TROPHY HUNTERS - The Voice of Texas HuntingÂŽ

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Right and below: Raising huge deer, both whitetails or exotics, is a lot of fun. Breeding the right bucks and does,carefully culling herds, and supplemental feeding can produce outstanding trophies.

180-pound dressed deer. That was the tape measure and how you told others about the deer in your freezer. As a Texan, I know everything becomes larger in our great state, and now with the pen-raised whitetails, it’s not out of the ordinary to hear about guys killing 200- and 300-inch deer. To some, it might not be their thing, and to others, the pure enjoyment of raising huge deer is a lot of fun. It’s crazy to see what you can do by breeding the right bucks and does and what they might produce. The same can be said of our free-range deer and the approach we take in culling our herds. No matter where you stand on the debates of high fence, low fence, pen deer, native deer, etc., it’s a lot of fun to hunt in Texas and to share all the pictures and stories created each and every year. Where will our industry go from here? I know one thing—it will be fun to watch and see what takes place the next 45 years. No matter what, it’s a lot of fun to introduce new people to the outdoors and share all of the different types of hunting. It’s also really fun to sit by the campfire and tell the stories of yesteryear. Michael Marbach is the CEO of the Christian Outdoor Alliance, www.mycoa.org; 210-827-9802. COA’s mission is to guide youth and outdoorsman to a relationship with Jesus Christ through experience in God’s great outdoors.

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Hot Off-Road WHEELS For 2020 T

New off-road vehicles INCLUDE BATTERYPOWERED MODELS, AMPHIBIOUS 8X8, AND MORE

here are plenty of choices for the latest all-terrain vehicles and side-by-sides ranging from small and maneuverable models to big and brawny ones to carry more passengers, cargo or both. One veteran ATV model gets upgrades that include an 89-horsepower engine and a tow rating of 1,750 pounds. If four wheels are not enough for you — and water is

By John Goodspeed

in your way — another model is an amphibious 8x8. An electric vehicle company is introducing a model powered by a lithium battery pack with a range of more than 35 miles off-road. Creature comforts are not being forgotten, either. The costs listed are manufacturers’ suggested retail prices.

Argo XTV

www.argoxtv.com Xplorer XRT 1000 LE, $12,199 Six new models join the line of Xtreme Terrain Vehicle models, pushing the total to 20, including the 1000 LE shown here. Built to carry two, it features an 84-horsepower 997cc V-twin engine, 11.6 inches of ground clearance and a towing capacity of 1,300 pounds. It comes with hand guards, a front brush guard, power steering and a V-belt CVT automatic transmission. All Xplorer XRT models sport improved suspension performance, steel front and rear racks offering 99 pounds and 165 pounds of capacity, respectively.

Aurora 950 SX Huntmaster, $28,499 4x4? That’s not good enough for the top-of-the-line, amphibious 8x8 Aurora series introduced last year. This model is powered by a new 950cc V-twin engine that develops 40 horsepower. Also new is a 33-horsepower 850cc engine. All Aurora models can reach up to 24 mph on land and 3 mph in water. Constructed of high-density polyethylene with a flat floor and a smooth underbody, it carries up to four riders. The Huntmaster comes with a 3,500-pound Warn winch, a front brush guard and AirLock rims, which allow lower tire pressures for a smoother ride. Auroras are rated for 1,800 pounds towing and 10 inches of ground clearance. 78 |

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Can-Am Off-Road can-am.brp.com/off-road Outlander Mossy Oak Hunting Edition 650, $11,049 This model in Break-Up Country Camo was designed with the help of Mossy Oak and its pro staff team. It offers the same double A-arm front suspension and sway bar of other Outlanders but gets stiffer springs and a suspension preload that increases ground clearance by one inch to 12 inches. Other features include heated grips and throttle and a reinforced seat for more comfort. The Rotax 649.6cc V-twin engine develops 62 horsepower. The front rack can carry 100 pounds with 200 pounds in the rear. It can tow 1,650 pounds.

Honda Powersports

www.powersports.honda.com FourTrax Recon, $4,299

The emphasis is on maneuverability with the smallest ATV in Honda’s lineup. With a turning radius of 8½ feet, it sports a 44½-inch wheelbase, 75-inch length, 40.7-inch width and 42.1-inch height. It weighs 434 pounds. The 229cc engine is mounted longitudinally to do away with right angles in the drivetrain. As with larger models, the five-speed transmission comes with either a foot-shift lever or electric push-button shift. Suspension is a double wishbone in the front and a swingarm with a single shock in the rear. Ground clearance is six inches. Payload is 33 pounds on the front rack and 66 pounds on the rear.

Pioneer 500, $9,199 The littlest model in the Pioneer line fits in the bed of a full-size pickup and weighs 1,025 pounds. At 50 inches wide and 102½ inches long, it seats two. Its size also means it’s maneuverable with a tight 12.8-foot turning radius. Ground clearance is 8½ inches. The 475cc engine delivers power through a five-speed transmission that can work automatically or manually via paddles on the steering column. Payload in the rear rack is 450 pounds. Towing is rated at 1,000 pounds. The suspension features dual-rate coil springs and is independent doublewishbone front and rear, where the preload is adjustable.

HuntVe

www.huntve.com Terlingua Li, $19,900 This new all-electric 48-volt model from Martex Global Enterprise and HuntVe uses lithium for its battery pack for long life and long range — more than 35 miles off road and 50 miles in uniform terrain. At 200 amp-hours, the Terlingua Li offers the highestrated amp power capacity available. Unlike traditional lead-acid batteries, lithium does not require monitoring and filling. It’s also lighter, will maintain an 80 percent better charge during storage and should have 10 times the number of charge cycles. Production of a single bench model should begin by the second quarter. It will include an on-board rapid charger, four-wheel independent suspension, EPS and a power dump bed.

John Deere

www.johndeere.com/gator XUV835M, $15,919

This model is built for comfort — John Deere’s quietest cab with standard air-conditioning and heating — and for speed reaching more than 45 mph. The 812cc engine develops 54 horsepower and 47 foot-pounds of torque and is fed by an 11-gallon gas tank for long range. The CVT transmission allows slow creeping for tight situations. The cargo box holds up to 1,000 pounds. Towing is rated at 2,000 pounds. The three-seater also features a tilt steering wheel. The suspension is an independent dual A-arm front and rear. It is compatible with more than 90 attachments. www.TTHA.com

THE JOURNAL OF THE TEXAS TROPHY HUNTERS - The Voice of Texas Hunting®

January/February 2020 |

Kawasaki Motors Corp.

www.kawasaki.com Brute Force 300, $4,299

This smaller model in the Brute Force line is designed to be more agile than its 750 big brother yet still quick on its feet with a 271cc single-cylinder engine, which produces 15.9 foot-pounds of torque. With a wheelbase of 45.9 inches, its turning radius is 9.2 feet. Of course, it’s not rated to pull or haul as much with 500 pounds towing, 44 pounds on the front rack and 66 pounds on the rear. The CVT transmission offers high and low ranges. The front suspension is independent double wishbone while the rear is a swingarm with one shock. Ground clearance is 6.1 inches.

Mule PRO-FXT EPS Camo, $16,199 The 2020 Mule Pro series is the most powerful Kawasaki side-by-side with an 812cc, three-cylinder fuel-injected engine producing 48 foot-pounds of torque. Power is delivered by a CVT transmission and dual-mode locking rear differential. The camo edition comes in Realtree Xtra Green. The FXT seats six and converts to a single-row seat to carry more cargo. Payload is rated at 1,616 pounds while towing tops out at 2,000 pounds. Independent double wishbone suspension front and rear allows 8.7 inches of travel. Ground clearance is 10.2 inches.

Kubota

www.KubotaUSA.com Sidekick RTV-XG850RL-A, $14,499

The Kubota Sidekick gets up to 40 mph with cargo, courtesy of a 48-horsepower gasoline engine. With six models to choose from, the Sidekick offers a comfortable 60/40 split seat cabin design. The CAMO machine shown offers Realtree camo print. Additional features include speed-sensitive power steering with tilt steering wheel adjustment, and five-position suspension adjustments with 9.8 inches of front ground clearance and 9.9 inches of rear ground clearance. The CVT-plus transmission requires no belt adjustment and provides better acceleration and longer belt life than conventional CVT systems. The cargo capacity of the bed is 1,000 pounds and it can tow up to 1 ton.

Polaris Industries

www.polaris.com Sportsman XP 1000 S, $14,999

Polaris claims a couple of industry firsts with this new model in the venerable Sportsman line — the widest track at 55 inches and the most suspension travel with 14 inches in the rear. For comparison, the Sportsman XP1000 is 47.6 inches wide with a rear suspension travel of 10¼ inches. The 1000 S comes on a new chassis said to be 31 percent beefier that can tow up to 1,750 pounds and carry 200 pounds on the front rack and 300 on the rear. Powered by a 952cc V-twin engine packing 89 horsepower, it rolls on 27-inch Duro Powergrip V2 tires on 14-inch aluminum wheels. Ground clearance is 14½ inches. Standard equipment includes EPS and a 3,500-pound Polaris winch.

Ranger XP 1000 Texas Edition, $18,899 The first Texas Edition Ranger expands on the new XP 1000’s capabilities with one inch more suspension travel at 11 inches and one inch more ground clearance at 13 inches, load-adaptive rear shocks and a Polaris Pro HD 4,500-pound winch. It comes with seating for three, shown here, and a six-seater ($20,299). Features include a sport roof, premium seats and Black Cherry Metallic paint. Like the standard XP 1000 models, it is powered by a new 1,000cc engine with 61 horsepower and 55 foot-pounds of torque sitting on a new chassis said to be 25 percent more rigid than its predecessor, the Ranger XP 900. Tow rating is 2,500 pounds while the cargo box hits 1,000 pounds and is 1-inch deeper. 80 |

January/February 2020

THE JOURNAL OF THE TEXAS TROPHY HUNTERS - The Voice of Texas Hunting®

www.TTHA.com

Suzuki Motor of America

www.suzuki.com KingQuad 750AXi Power Steering SE+ with Rugged Package, $10,949 For 2020, the 750 AXi gets upgrades including EPS with higher capacity for reduced steering effort and less vibration while the instrument panel is more dressed up with service reminders based on mileage or running time. The Rugged Package includes front and rear steel bumpers with a powdercoated black wrinkle finish that matches the steel cargo racks. It includes a 2,700 lumen LED light bar on the front bumper, 25-inch Carlisle tires on aluminum wheels and Metallic Matte Colorado Bronze bodywork with Solid Matte Sword Black trim. The independent front and rear double A-arm suspension features shocks with preload adjustment and 10.2 inches of ground clearance. It can tow up to 1,322 pounds.

Tracker Off Road www.trackeroffroad.com 800SX Crew, $12,999

Bass Pro Shops/Cabela’s/Tracker Marine teamed up with Textron Off Road to build the full line of ATVs and side-bysides that are sold at Bass Pro, Cabela’s and Tracker stores nationwide under the new Tracker Off Road brand name. The six-seater 800SX Crew, also available in TrueTimber Strata with a Warn 4500 Winch ($13,699), is powered by an 812cc three-cylinder engine that puts out 50 horsepower and 48 foot-pounds of torque. It can tow 2,000 pounds and carry 1,000 pounds in the tilting cargo box. It rolls on Maxxis Bighorn 2.0 Tires on 27-inch aluminum wheels. Ground clearance measures 10¾ inches. A full-length polymer skid plate adds protection. Wiring for accessories is already installed.

Yamaha Motorsports U.S.A.

www.yamahamotorsports.com Kodiak 700 EPS SE, $9,799

This new special edition comes with painted bodywork and a Warn Pro Vantage 2500 winch on this Tactical Black model. It also is available in Matte Silver ($9,299). Yamaha says the 686cc engine combines big-bore performance with a compact body design usually found in mid-sized ATVs to enhance its overall feel and handling. The engine’s power band is focused on midrange rpms. Aluminum wheels mounted with 25-inch Maxxis tires are standard. Towing is rated at 1,322 pounds. The front rack hauls 110 pounds while the rear carries 198 pounds. Ground clearance is 10.8 inches.

Wolverine X2 R-Spec, $14,949 Refinements include a stronger frame with new upper and lower A-arms front and back. The rear A-arms are redesigned to minimize camber changes during suspension travel for enhanced response in rough terrain. The 847cc parallel-twin engine uses a drive-by-wire system for improved throttle control. The compact two-seater shares some tricks with Yamaha’s sportbikes, including a 270-degree crankshaft and lightweight internals. Smoothness and quietness are enhanced with helical-cut drivetrain gearing and a number of noise- and vibration-reducing inserts around the cabin. Shown here in Realtree Edge, it also comes in Alpine White. It can tow 2,000 pounds and carry 600 pounds in the bed. Ground clearance is 11 inches. www.TTHA.com

THE JOURNAL OF THE TEXAS TROPHY HUNTERS - The Voice of Texas Hunting®

January/February 2020 |

PLATINUM LIFE MEMBERS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40

Mark Herfort........................... Rosenberg, TX Laura Berry........................Corpus Christi, TX Owen West ...........................San Antonio, TX Kirk Templin .......................... Sugar Land, TX Alexander Jumonville ..........Baton Rouge, LA Brian H. Welker ..................... Sugar Land, TX Milton Schultz, Jr. ...................Glen Rose, TX Don Saunders .......................San Antonio, TX Al Brothers ................................. Berclair, TX Jimmy Yarborough .........................Alpine, TX Shelby Fischer .............................Victoria, TX D.H. Braman, III ...........................Refugio, TX Dr. James A Twaite ...................New York, NY Dr. C. Richard Stasney ...............Houston, TX Jack Carmody ............................. Leander, TX Skipper Bettis...............................Remus, MI Jim D. Young............................Redmond, WA Jorge Legrand.......................San Antonio, TX Bob Zaiglin ...................................Uvalde, TX Steve Bedowitz ......................... Carrolton, TX Wes Pinkerton ..................... Ben Wheeler, TX James G. Brooks, Jr. M.D. ..............Dallas, TX Cliff Reiss ............................ Wadsworth, OH Troy Grimes ............................. Cedar Hill, TX Mark J. Belisle ..............................Austin, TX Mike Pennington............................Austin, TX David Low .......................................Ennis, TX Larry Ramming ...........................Houston, TX Willis M. Marburger ....................Houston, TX Greg Williamson ..................... Fort Worth, TX Steven Futch ........................ Bossier City, LA John Wilson ................................ Bullard, TX William Carl Young ............... Georgetown, TX Nolan Ryan ......................................Alvin, TX Jim Christ...................................Houston, TX Mark Bonnet.................................Uvalde, TX Don Myers ............................... Grapevine, TX Christopher Davis ......................Pearland, TX Bryan Hollier ...........................Nederland, TX Guinn Crousen .......................... Arlington, TX

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Garry Isom................................... Ingram, TX Billie Marek, M.D. ....................... Mission, TX Robert James, Jr.........................Houston, TX Gregory B. Edwards ........................Austin, TX Ray Murski ................................Meridian, TX Mike Murski ..................................Dallas, TX Manuel P. Lastra, M.D. ................McAllen, TX Bart Umphrey ..........................Beaumont, TX Roger M. Sutton ......................Sunnyvale, TX Scott Garrett ..............................Houston, TX Elmer E. Lich ..............................Comfort, TX Steve Kotzur ..................................Hondo, TX Steve Skinner ................................Austin, TX Craig Becker ............................ Kingsville, TX Micheal Redmon .......................Kingwood, TX Dr. Larry Redmon ........................ Overton, TX Dr. Alberto “Champi” Nava ............Laredo, TX Horacio “Bacho” Hinojosa .............Laredo, TX Dan Offield .......................................Azle, TX Ron Fash ....................................Houston, TX Tracy Lee Widle ..........................McAllen, TX Tod Fields ...................................... Plano, TX Don Keller ..................................Big Foot, TX Johnny Mack Pursell ...................Refugio, TX Daniel Kutscher ...........................Staples, TX Moe Bergeron ............................ Baytown, TX Dr. James E. Bauerle.............San Antonio, TX Vance W. Johnston, II ...........San Antonio, TX Jonathan W. Delmer .............San Antonio, TX Jimmy Reeves........................... Kirbyville, TX Randall Welsh ...................................Arp, TX Jack Brittingham ..........................Athens, TX Ronnie Howell ........................... Hubbard, TX Randy Garrett ............................Anthony, NM George “Maverick” Wills.... Farmers Branch, TX John D. Sloan, Jr. ..................... Longview, TX Sid Terry .....................................Houston, TX Tommy Hammond ............... Wichita Falls, TX Michael S. Burton ...................Spicewood, TX Petar Bubalo.............................. Franklin, NJ

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Mark Murphy ................................. Plano, TX Dodd L. Hackman........................Houston, TX Clarence Kahlig, II ................San Antonio, TX Alan L. Lee, II................................. Nemo, TX Alan L. Lee ................................Hillsboro, TX Harry Dugas............................New Iberia, LA George Kostohryz, Jr./La Mansion De Sarita ................................ Fort Worth, TX Roger Garcia, J.D. .......................Houston, TX Dickie Tillman ........................... Lakeway, TX Wesley Kyle ............................Pipe Creek, TX Jime Hale Miller ..........................Lometa, TX Gary Rose ...................................Rosanky, TX Ron Snider..................................Rosanky, TX Dan L. Duncan ............................Rosanky, TX Bo Elizondo.............................. Kingsville, TX Robert Scherer ...........................Houston, TX Stewart Frederic .................... Pascagula, MS Carey R. Durst ..................Fredericksburg, TX Willie Hinz, Jr. .....................Missouri City, TX Ricky Ramsey ............................... Louise, TX Bill Glendening ..................... Round Rock, TX Rick Cantu ................................. Bellaire, TX William J. Miller ................. Grand Prairie, TX Robert I. Kelly................................Austin, TX Anthony J. Mihalski ..............San Antonio, TX James P. O’Neill, Jr. .......................Cocoa, FL F.E. Knapp, Jr.........................Brownsville, TX Norma Guzman Kresta ...... New Braunfels, TX Michael Read.......................... Bridgeport, TX Gregory Kimmel ...................... Fort Worth, TX Gus E. Young, Sr. ..................... Fort Worth, TX David Johnson ........................Spicewood, TX Robert Cornish...............................Perrin, TX Danny Hurtt .......................... Duncanville, TX Harold Coates ....................Corpus Christi, TX John W. Valentine, II ....................Coppell, TX Ron Ingram..................................Tuscola, TX Stephen Scott Clayton ................Houston, TX Dr. Juan Cantu Garza Garcia, .............NL, MX

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John Wright..................................Vernon, TX Stan Hickey ...............................Crawford, TX Robert Randal Martin ................. Marquez, TX Jack W. Matthiessen ..........San Antonio, TX Rick Knape ..............................La Grange, TX Rick Payne ....................................Austin, TX Robert J. Villarreal...............Port Aransas, TX Gary Reynolds............................Marshall, TX Jim Shrieve ..................... The Woodlands, TX Carl Beeler .................................Houston, TX Tommy Gillaspie .........................Houston, TX David R. Smith............................... Cuero, TX Paul Yates ........................... Winterhaven, FL Dan Verrips...................................Adkins, TX Larry Grimland...............................Dallas, TX Jim C. Epps ................................Houston, TX C.D. Shackelford......................... McLean, TX Sidney Baldon, II.........................Houston, TX Jason Montague ............... New Braunfels, TX R. Vern Garling, Jr...........................Ovilla, TX Leonard Philipp .......................... Bastrop, TX Freddie H. Bailey, Sr. ...................Houston, TX Duane E. Dycus ...................... Richardson, TX David Z. Mafrige..........................Houston, TX Randy Wyatt .........................San Antonio, TX Micheal Traugott...................San Antonio, TX Andy “Tipps” Gilley ...................... Kilgore, TX Doug Harrison......................... Kennedale, TX Bobby Schmidt ..............................Austin, TX Chuck Davis .................................Killeen, TX Denis Kuchta ......................... Jamesburg, NJ Michael A. Burgess ...............San Antonio, TX Carrol Beene............................. Pittsburg, TX Jason Davenport .........................Houston, TX Phil Lamey .......................................Katy, TX Connard E. Barker ................ Montgomery, TX Ed Kuempel ..................................Sequin, TX George Fore .................................El Paso, TX Robert Saunders ......................La Grange, TX Buck Alambar .................................Waco, TX

NEW PLATINUM LIFE MEMBERS

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Kyle Sells

Sidney B. Baldon, III

Buster Horlen

Thomas Grant

Harry Zboril ..............................El Campo, TX Barrett Thorne ........................... Amarillo, TX Clint Croft ............................... Deer Park, TX Terry Owen ...................................Sonora, TX Billy Jack Lloyd .............................Manor, TX Will Clark ...............................Prairieville, LA Casey Harrison ....................... Kennedale, TX Mark Winklemann ......................... Taylor, TX Rob Hall .......................... Carrizo Springs, TX Phillip G. Harrison ......................Houston, TX Mike Lemker ............................ Magnolia, TX Chip Wagner ........................... Fort Worth, TX Cheryl Thompson-Draper ............Houston, TX John Thomas Draper ...................Houston, TX Reid Ryan ........................................Alvin, TX Jim Retz ................................. Fort Worth, TX Ted McKnight............................. Lakeway, TX Jefrey R. Smith ............................. N.R.H., TX Aaron Thomison ..............................Hutto, TX Zeev Nederman .....................San Antonio, TX Walter H. Snider, III ....................Houston, TX Keith Prince................................ Garland, TX Mark Johnson..................................Tolar, TX Don Smelser ......................Clenton Twsp., MI Jerry Y. Alvarez ..............................Hondo, TX Bo Stover .......................................Hutto, TX Rich Lander ..........................San Antonio, TX Marty Berry .......................Corpus Christi, TX Kenneth Ray Everett...............Jourdanton, TX Jeff Scrivener ..........................Jonesville, TX Scott Lemke ...............................Houston, TX Drake McLean.......................San Antonio, TX David Bippert ........................San Antonio, TX Monty Montgomery ................. Lago Vista, TX David Lee Bollmeyer ...................Houston, TX Wade Grimes ..................................Ovilla, TX Rodney J. Dunn......................... Arlington, TX John S. Spencer................................Katy, TX Tom Evans .......................................Alvin, TX Joseph Bandeaux.............................Vidor, TX Steve Boone ...................................Irving, TX Gib Vela-Cuellar ...........................Laredo, TX David L. Merchant ............................Alvin, TX Gene Riser...........................George West, TX Randy Gortney .........................Texarkana, TX Kenneth Lewis ..............................Conroe, TX Edgar G. Pereda ........................Coronado, CA Ivan D. McNab, Jr. ..........Fair Oaks Ranch, TX Mark Chesnutt.........................Beaumont, TX John Holt ................................ Deer Park, TX John M. Decker.......................Fort Worth, TX David Archibald.............................. Mexia, TX Bobby Weaver ..............................Warren, AR Stephanie ............................ Montgomery, TX Jeremy Rutenschroer ............Weatherford, TX Kontomitras..........................Los Angeles, CA Herman Ford .........................San Antonio, TX Philip Robers .............................. Blanket, TX Robert John .........................George West, TX Lt. General Leroy Sisco .................Boerne, TX Ken Ewald ..............................Martindale, TX

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Larry Tschirhart ......................Castroville, TX Trey Moore.......................College Station, TX Rodger Ruiz ......................................APO, AE James Patrick .......................... Rockwall, TX Joe Sakulenski ........................... Mission, TX Ricky Howard ...........................El Campo, TX Fred E. Wiedenfeld................San Antonio, TX H. D. Houghton .................... Stephenville, TX Larry H. Hipsh, Jr. ..................Gulf Breeze, FL Bryan Berger ..............................Flatonia, TX Eddie Pierce ........................... Fort Worth, TX Jason Moore ............................ Bessemer, AL Christopher Wardlaw ......................Waco, TX Justin Deorsam ............................Uvalde, TX Steve Holland ...............................Conroe, TX Doug Gray .................................Pasadena, TX Brad Hatcher .................................Dallas, TX Randy Lake..............................Lampasas, TX Randy White ........................ Ponchatoula, LA Nick Patronis........................Panama City, FL Warren Montague ............. New Braunfels, TX Temple Ramming ........................Houston, TX Russell Russell ..........................Houston, TX Mark Saxon ..................................Adkins, TX James Rodgers .............................Sunset, TX Juan J. Hernandez .................. Floresville, TX Robert Brett Smith......................Stafford, TX Price D. Chambers ........................... Post, TX Cody Hamilton .................College Station, TX Travis Hamilton................College Station, TX William D. Goglas .....................Kingwood, TX Walter English ......................San Antonio, TX Jerry Lee Villarreal ............Corpus Christi, TX T.J. Wills .................................Pensacola, FL Jimmy Hasslocher ................San Antonio, TX Bill Lyons .............................San Antonio, TX Larry White............................. Fort Worth, TX Ignacio Villarreal ................. Canyon Lake, TX Kevin Mitchell ..........................McKinney, TX James Soefje .......................Wixon Valley, TX Michael Gallagher.......................Houston, TX Jason Gregory..................................Tyler, TX Tom Whitten ............................Texarkana, TX Gary W. Holzhaus ....................Castroville, TX Lamar Strong.............................. Mission, TX Cole Stinson ..............................Pearland, TX Ron Garison .................................Doyline, LA Mike Johnson ....................... Whitehouse, TX Kelly Chancelor ...................... Fort Worth, TX Horace Gore...............................Gonzales, TX Joe Swann ................................. Lubbock, TX Chuck Gregory .................................Tyler, TX Danny Tilson............................. Arlington, TX Randy Cupp ............................... Roanoke, TX Chris Henry........................ Mineral Wells, TX Justin Rogers ................................Dallas, TX Billy Cowsert ........................San Antonio, TX William D. Bineham ..............San Antonio, TX Dr. Leighton Wier ..................San Antonio, TX Randy Costa ........................Missouri City, TX Hunt Allred ....................................Dallas, TX

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Mark Clark ............................... Theodore, AL Kenneth Crockett ................ Friendswood, TX Claude Sims .........................Dawsonville, GA Donald Cosper ...........................Burleson, TX Dwight Conway ..........................Brenham, TX Joe Hausberger........................Highlands, TX Eric Meyers ............................. Corsicana, TX Christopher Centafont .................. Dothan, AL Matthew Skipper .................... Fort Worth, TX Gary Majewski ............................Houston, TX Jerry Majewski ...........................Houston, TX Chuck Walther.............................. Milton, FL Pat Wilson....................................Boerne, TX Debbie Chisholm.................... Pleasanton, TX Tommy Keasling ......................... Humble, TX Marc Manning ..............................Burton, TX Ralph Bullard ............................. Addison, TX Raymond Haselip ................... Garberville, CA CC Bar Whitetails ..................... Redwater, TX J.H. Quinn, III ............................... Elaine, AR Michael McGee ................................Katy, TX Ken Archibald .......................... Rockwall, TX Tina Kahlig ...........................San Antonio, TX Larry A. Mazziotta ................... Slatington, PA Frank Leyendecker........................Laredo, TX Wil Drash .............................San Antonio, TX Matt Mills .........................Spring Branch, TX Kyle Adkinson............................ Garrison, TX Lucas Bryant ..................................Tioga, TX Daniel Dain........................Corpus Christi, TX Paul Miller .................................Houston, TX Paul Phillips ............................. Arlington, TX Lee Hoffpauir ...........................Lampasas, TX Salim Ahmed ..............................Houston, TX Don Wood .................................... Odessa, TX Vernon Hampton ............................. Buda, TX Leo Butler ........................Fredericksburg, TX Russ Thomsen ............................Mabank, TX James Leininger ...................San Antonio, TX Randy Pretzer ...............................Teague, TX Bill Hollingsworth ........................Carlton, TX Gary Shumate ...........North Richland Hills, TX J.B. Tinney .................................Houston, TX Shawn Lyons ...............................Coppell, TX Edward McDowell ................ Montgomery, TX Christi J. McDowell .............. Montgomery, TX Bubba Catt .......................... Hattiesburg, MS Scott Brown................................Moulton, TX Leonard Busby, III ........................ Laurel, MS Robert Harvey ............................Watuaga, TX Steve Golla ...................................Adkins, TX Mike Masters ........................... Converse, TX Ed Carroll .................................Pasadena, TX Ryan “Rhino” Haecker.......New Braunfels, TX Bill Gray .....................................Bandera, TX Thomas Balke.............................Houston, TX Tommy R. Fogle ..........................Houston, TX Dwayne Jone .............................Kempner, TX Thomas Natusch ...................Weatherford, TX Nick Kerksieck ......................... Arlington, TX Mark Hoard ..................................Killeen, TX

Cory Kennedy

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Art Mowdy ................................. Oatmeal, TX Peter De La Garza ..................... San Juan, TX Chris Farmer............................ Corsicana, TX Michael Hooser..........................Granbury, TX Derek Hoelscher ........................ Alvarado, TX Larry C. Davis ......................... Fort Worth, TX Carroll L. Bagley ...........................Dayton, TX Robert Rountree ...........................Conroe, TX Greg Holmes...................................Waco, TX Dion Alvarez.............................Greenville, TX Teri Alvarez ..............................Greenville, TX Terry Ray ...............................Brownsville, TX Johnny Cavazos ....................San Antonio, TX Andy Wright..................... The Woodlands, TX Larry Santos ..................... New Braunfels, TX H.D. Crissey ...................................Dallas, TX Scott Harris .................................Abilene, TX J. Jones ................................. Fort Worth, TX J. Mark Hicks .............................. Denton, TX Ricardo Munoz ..............................Zapata, TX Willis ..........................................Abilene, TX Eric Lindstrom ..............................Dayton, TX Jesse Beckett.............................. Cotulla, TX Dallas Munroe ............................Houston, TX Waldine Schnautz .......................Pearsall, TX Kelt Gibson................................... Gunter, TX Dan Boren .............................. Muskogee, OK Raymond J Strohmeyer ..................Gretna LA Paul F Montealegre.....................Houston, TX Colton King .........................Canyon Lake, TX David Scrivener ......................... Longview ,TX Stuart C. Stauffacher ....................... Katy, TX Wayne Williams................... Bay Minnete, AL Sarge Walters........................ Lumberton, NC Charlie Hawn ................................Athens, TX Jason Cross ........................... San Angelo, TX Robert Jordan ............................. Hockley, TX Ryan S. O’Neal........................... Amarillo, TX Paul O’Brien ......................Corpus Christi, TX Murray Touchette ........................Houston, TX Coralina Ranch ...................... San Angelo, TX Ryan Bartula..............................Granbury, TX James Dorsey ...............................Conroe, TX Mario Reyna ...............................Houston, TX Joe Betar..............................San Antonio, TX Scott Kramer ..............................Houston, TX Dwayne Spann ............................La Porte, TX Collin Bosworth .......................... Tomball, TX Gilbert Joines .............................Houston, TX Austin Owens..............................Comfort, TX Tony Bandiera ................................Dallas, TX Frank Stegient ........................ Fort Worth, TX Terry Martin ..............North Richland Hills, TX Howard Pena .......................... Fort Worth, TX Glen Bullard ...................................Aledo, TX Patricia Bullard ..............................Aledo, TX Ronald W. Williamson ..................Coppell, TX Marko Barrett .......................San Antonio, TX Timmy Latiolais .....................Breaux City, LA Misty Schnautz .............................Devine, TX Bob Holig ............................Long Prairie, MN

Need to update your membership information? Please call Lauren at (210) 491-2133 or email at lauren@ttha.com

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John Hughes, JW Hughes Excavation Inc.. Hico, TX Bradley James Humphries........... Decatur, TX Eddie G. Mann, Jr. ................... Fort Worth, TX Matt Slape ...............................Levelland, TX Bo Faber .....................................Pearland TX Hip Zamora, Jr. .........................El Campo, TX Danny Webb .........................San Antonio, TX Joe Inman ..................................Stafford, TX Rocky Foley ................................... Mexia, TX James B. Shrieve ..........................Conroe, TX Carl Smith .................................... Terrell, TX Jon Prather ................................. Manvel, TX Gary Lux .............................. Schulenburg, TX Kyle Poulson........................... Fort Worth, TX Jason Vanderbrink .......................... Nixa, MO Anthony Acitelli ........................... Anoka, MN Matthew Merritt ............................Austin, TX James Alpha.................................Conroe, TX Val Cooper ................................. Lubbock, TX Richard Jonas..............................Helotes, TX Terry Kemp ................................... Haslet, TX Michael Halleron ......................... Anoka, MN Bryan Medve............................Richmond, TX Grayson Gieser...........................Burleson, TX Carter Smith ..................................Austin, TX David Caldwell ........................Fort Smith, AR Ted Allen Trout............................Houston, TX Syd Dyer, M.D ..................... Lake Charles, LA Chris Reynolds............................ Tomball, TX Richard Smith...................................Katy, TX Don Criss...................................Santa Fe, TX Dallas F. Munroe .........................Houston, TX Rick Duff ....................................... Plano, TX Feddie Duke Brooks Jr...................Conroe, TX Danny Darwin ...............................Sanger, TX Jeff Gorski..................................Houston, TX JD Woods .........................................Katy, TX Cita Wardell ...............................Houston, TX Bob Hood ............................... Fort Worth, TX Walter Hill................................... Corinth, TX Archie T. Parker .........................Cleburne, TX Daniel B. Hastings, Jr....................Laredo, TX Donnie Kamp. .........................Lumberton, TX Jack Allen ....................................Burnet, TX Byron Burris ................................Victoria, TX Gardner G. Welch ........................Bandera, TX Duane Ondruch .................... Schulenburg, TX Daryl Allen ................................Pearland, TX Clark Jordan ..............................Pearland, TX Greg B. Vest .................................Dayton, TX Paul Brown ................................. Cypress, TX Rudy Garcia ................................Houston, TX Brett Holden ............................Richmond, TX Billy E. Key ............................Normangee, TX Chris Lillis ..................................Midland, TX Bill McDonald ........................... Magnolia, TX Steve Munz.............................. Wildwood, FL Randy Wilson ..............................Abilene, TX Kash C. Hanson ....................San Antonio, TX Danny Justice ........................... Magnolia, TX Justin Knee ................................Houston, TX Peter Villarreal.. .........................Houston, TX Luke Gorski ............................... Houston, TX Ricky Burnett ..........................Livingston, TX Matthew Allen ............................. Canton, TX AJ Downs .....................................Conroe, TX Robert Taylor ................................Aubrey, TX Randy Willmon ........................Livingston, TX James Sladecek ......................... Holland, TX Travis Buckner ...........................Sherman, TX Ronnie D. Cole ............................. Kilgore, TX

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Murry Burnham.......................Spicewood, TX Ron Widup ......................................Irving, TX PJ Doyle .........................................Llano, TX Howard Schwerdtfeger ................... Marfa, TX Ray Homeyer... .......................Coldspring, TX Dr. James Parsons.. ...................Pearland, TX Matthew Burke ...........................Freeport, TX Chuck Scianna.......................... ... Waller, TX Rick Sargent................................. .Rome, GA Ruthie Wagener.. .......................... Gillett, TX James Moore ..........................Port Arthur, TX Elton Hollis III. ....................... .. Baytown, TX Jason Wheeler ........................... Lovelady, TX Ronald Owens.......................Whitewright, TX Carlos Hasette. ..............................Tilden, TX John Lynch. ..........................San Antonio, TX Mike Lynch ...........................San Antonio, TX Thad Steele .................................El Paso, TX Raymond Skelton...................... Magnolia, TX Ronnie Gibson ....................Universal City, TX William Alford ...................Corpus Christi, TX Dr. Robert Gershon....................... Denton, TX James Fahrenthold ...............San Antonio, TX Lawrence Berry ...........................Houston, TX Kagan Bosworth ......................... Tomball, TX Marty Logan ..................................Dallas, TX Timmy Schuelke .................Lake Jackson, TX David Krajca ...................................Ennis, TX Bill George ................................. Garland, TX Booger DeChaume .....................Crawford, TX Randy Bailey............................... Garland, TX Michael McFerrin ......................Kingwood, TX Tom Snyder ..........................San Antonio, TX Ignacio Sauceda .........................Houston, TX Kenneth Courteau ............... Orchard Park, TX Darrell Palmer.. ......................... Houston, TX Hil Stroup. .................................... Austin, TX Gary W. Hall ..............................Bulverde, TX Terry L. Booker .......................Shelbyville, TX Mark Lee.. .................................. . Crosby, TX Jim Whitley ..............................Ledbetter, TX Waylan Langford ............................ Wylie, TX Eddie Lynch ..........................San Antonio, TX Alfredo Guajardo ..................... Fort Worth, TX John P. Gaddis ......................... Galveston, TX Joseph L. Harcrow Sr ............... Cleveland, TX Brad Barone............................. Picayune, MS Jay Treadaway .........................Monahans, TX Robby Winstead ............................Sandia, TX Eric Wieser, MD .............................Dallas, TX Collier Pennington Jr. .................Midland, TX Chris Keese ............................Liberty Hill, TX Clayton Johnson ...............................Inez, TX Joe R. Jones .............................Kingwood, TX Jeff Jones ................................Kingwood, TX Dare Johnson .........................Shreveport, LA Chris Solomon ....................... Cedar Park, TX Kenneth Witt ..............................Midland, TX Robert Bierstedt ..........................Helotes, TX Jeffrey Bearden ............................Conroe, TX Perry Sooter .............................. Perryton, TX Betsy Lechow .........................Liberty Hill, TX Brooks Jordan .............................Silsbee, TX Will Oliver ..................................Houston, TX Mike LaMar ............................... Guymon, OK Rick Shepherd ............................La Porte, TX Rocky Rakocy ............................Loranger, LA David Smith .................................Tomball, TX Morgan S. Nalty .......................... Metarie, LA Cody Lancaster ........................... Tomball, TX Simmie C. DeVille Jr. .................... Spring, TX

Shawn Calhoun ............................. Spring, TX Rocky Pavia ............................. Beaumont, TX 561 Les Setters Jr. ......................... Pearland, TX 562 Gray Frye ....................................Bandera, TX 563 Jeremy Boltinghouse ................... Kenedy, TX 564 J.D. Villa ...................................Rockport, TX 565 Philip Frey ........................Fredericksburg, TX 566 Brian Steffek ...........................Colleyville, TX 567 Kris Pavia ................................ Beaumont, TX 568 John R. Survil ................................Argyle, TX 569 David Humphreys .....................Fort Worth, TX 570 Daniel Copp .............................Ewa Beach, HI 571 Alisa Dean ....................................Sandia, TX 572 Richard Phipps ........................Monahans, TX 573 Thomas Scott ................... New Braunfels, TX 574 Bret Ferguson .........................Castroville, TX 575 Jason Ferguson ..................... Pleasanton, TX 576 Chad J. Jones ........................... Magnolia, TX 577 Adam Mize.................................Cleburne, TX 578 Bruce Champion ......................... Abilene, TX 579 Shelby Stewart ......................... La Vernia, TX 580 Trey Spencer ...............................Midland, TX 581 Riley LeClair ...................................Irving, TX 582 Ashley Nelson............................. Tomball, TX 583 David Podany ........................... Cedar Hill, TX 584 Larry Bartek ................................. Poteet, TX 585 Christopher Garner.....................Longview, TX 586 Timothy James ................................Alice, TX 587 Josh Leininger .................. Spring Branch, TX 588 Russell G. Weatherly ..................Fordyce, AR 589 Shawn Wyatt .................... New Braunfels, TX 590 Ryan Wyatt ...........................San Antonio, TX 591 Cody Johnson ................................ Willis, TX 593 Cody Nicholson .................... Montgomery, TX 594 Michael D. Harper Jr. ............San Antonio, TX 595 Josh Harendt ........................ Forth Worth, TX 596 Larry Autrey ................................Brenham, TX 598 AC Ranch........................ Mountain Home, TX 599 William Hardisty ............................. Avoca, IA 600 Ruben Gomez............................ Rockport, TX 601 Jim Masters, Jr. ...................San Antonio, TX 602 Chris Johnson..........................Richmond, TX 603 Dwayne Collier............................Stafford, TX 604 Glenn Carline.........................Morgan City, LA 605 Luis Arce ...............................San Antonio, TX 609 Brandon Grenier.......................... Houston, TX 610 Jackson Craft ............................ Baytown, TX 611 Kevin Wood .................................. Conroe, TX 612 Rex Taylor .................................Cleveland, TX 614 Bob Helms....................... The Woodlands, TX 617 Kathy Countiss ............................Medina, TX 618 Dan Countiss ...............................Medina, TX 619 Trevor Truesdale ....................... La Vernia, TX 620 Garry R. Alexander ................Montgomery, TX 621 Vincent K. Ney .......................San Antonio, TX 623 David Tamplin ........................... Wimberly, TX 624 Daniel S. Mulligan, Sr. ....................Irving, TX 625 Alton Stefan ............................... Tomball, TX 628 Billy Smith ..................................Bastrop, TX 629 Greg Tompkins...............................Boling, TX 630 Britt Barwise ....................... Port Aransas, TX 631 Matthew Gomez .............................Pettus, TX 632 Glen Kusenberger .......................... Cibolo, TX 633 Brittain Griffith ............................Hockley, TX 634 Shawn Scoggins .......North Richland Hills, TX 635 Tracy Shrader ........................... LaGrange, TX 637 Ryan Hunter Jones....................Kingwood, TX 647 John F. Webre ............................. Bedford, TX 650 John C. Husbands ......................... Conroe, TX 651 Steven Wayne Kocurek, Jr. .....San Antonio, TX 652 Kevin Borowski ............................Hockley, TX 558

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David Canfield ..................Fredericksburg, TX William K. Brown .......................... Spring, TX Heath Bures ................................ Ganado, TX Michael Hodgkins ................Lake Charles, LA Troy Lancaster ................... Corpus Christi, TX Dr. James Simpson ........................Spring, TX Charles “Butch” Thurman .......Bridge City, TX Charles “Bubba” Thurman ......... Rockwall, TX Alvin Prause ............................Beaumont, TX Lewis G. Penrod ........................... Warren, TX Brant Hawkins ........................ Bridgeport, TX Jimmy Paul McMahon............. White Oak, TX Brian Lemley ..................... Mineral Wells, TX Jeff Cook.............................Missouri City, TX Lance Johnson.................College Station, TX Keith G. Bailey ......................... Deer Park, TX Landon Wright .......................... Magnolia, TX Phil Egbert ................................Kempner, TX Dave Wilcox..........................San Antonio, TX Shawn Gerlach ........................... Mission, TX Tim Masek..................................Flatonia, TX Ryan Murphy .............................Paradise, TX Jim Butcher..........................San Antonio, TX Icehole, LLC.................................Kerville, TX Michael F. Joseph ....................McQueeny, TX Larry Herwig ..................................Dallas, TX James McCoy ...................... Stephenville, TX George Mercer ......................Willow Park, TX Frank Santibanez ............... Mineral Wells, TX Rusty Russell .......................Weatherford, TX Tommy Wilkins ................................Elgin, TX Del Flores ....................................Helotes, TX Rusty Clark .........................Missouri City, TX Harold Greer ...............................Houston, TX Tom Lyne, III .................... College Station, TX James D. Autry ........................... Houston, TX Ross Jackson ...............................Golden, CO Anthony Ghillowe ...............Corpus Christi, TX Tommy Merritt .......................... Longview, TX Michael Wieck ..........................Waupaca, WI Conrad Charles Wilder ..........San Antonio, TX Preston Lee Jones ................San Antonio, TX Paul Armstrong...........................Houston, TX Randall Palmer................... Orange Grove, TX Kevan Fowler .....................Spring Branch, TX Eric M. Hunke ........................San Antonio, TX Atlee Parr ..........................Corpus Christi, TX Michael Olien ................................Cibolo, TX Jeffrey Wayne Triplett II .............Pearland, TX Skip Priess ............................ San Angelo, TX JRANCH.............................. Lake Charles, LA Trey Bonner ...........................League City, TX Heith Denney .......................... Fort Worth, TX Travis Hunter ................................Marion, TX Russell Harder.................. New Braunfels, TX Mark Svane ....................................Tioga, TX J.L. Bearden ..........................League City, TX Ronnie Hatfield...................Lake Jackson, TX Keith Jordan .......................... Cedar Park, TX Baker Wardell............................. Houston, TX Brian P. Wood ............................Bulverde, TX Elvin Chamorro ...........................La Porte, TX Javier Olivarez ...........................Edinburg, TX Jerry Burks.......................... Montgomery, TX Joe Taylor ........................... Orange Grove, TX Christopher Charles Clark ................. Taft, TX David L. Rumley .................Corpus Christi, TX David H. Rude, Jr ........................Houston, TX Col. Brad Hildreth .........................Ponder, TX Carter Finnell ..................... Chesterfield, MO Brian Huntley ....................... Buffalo Gap, TX

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Joshua LaRue ........................... Decatur, TX Mark Wilson ....................Corpus Christi, TX Jeff Huckaby ............................ Humble, TX Brad Hildebrand ........................Houston, TX Edgar I. Cabello ....................Rio Grande, TX Mark E. Starkey ......................... Del Rio, TX Pat Sparks......................................Katy, TX Gary Lott, Jr................................Dayton, TX Jacob Trim ...........................San Antonio, TX Joseph Robbins .......................Ingleside, TX Donald Covarrubio................. New Caney, TX Louis Bazan. ...............................Boerne, TX TSD. ..............................................Mico, TX Marcie Heidrich...............New Braunfels, TX Allen Heidrich. .............. ..New Braunfels, TX Gene Johnson. ........................ ..Hockley, TX Ryan LeBlanc. ....................Johnson City, TX Clent Rawlinson...................... Magnolia, TX Patrick F. Taylor ........................Houston, TX Bryan K Harlan.............................Dallas, TX Hunter Oglesby ................ Corpus Christi, TX Danny Cantrell ............................ Spring, TX Sean Murphy................................Dallas, TX Charles Floyd............................Houston, TX Larry Garza ...............................Houston, TX Heath Payne .......................San Antonio, TX Bill Carter................................... Spring, TX Rick Butcher........................Pflugerville, TX Robert Eugene Stevens, Jr. .......... Crosby, TX Hawk Bennett ...........................Pearsall, TX Fred Johnson .............................. Spring, TX David Pascal Law ................ Washington, TX Eddie Aguilar ......................San Antonio, TX Justin May......................................Katy, TX Klint Myers .............................Hamshire, TX Javier Jimenez ..........................Houston, TX Jake Leissner............................Houston, TX Ted Hogan.................................. Odessa, TX Nathan Word......................... Colleyville, TX Matthew C. Hagee ......................Boerne, TX Mia Perez............................. Pleasanton, TX Bearett Saffel ................................ Rice, TX Anthony Aaron Alvarado ......San Antonio, TX Chad Allemond ........................ LaVernia, TX Nicholas L. Zinsmeyer ...........Castroville, TX Christopher Whootton ..........League City, TX Darin Hollis ..................................Diana, TX Damon Hills ............................ Longview, TX Gricelda Mendietta................. Robstown, TX Chuck Wilson ........................Livingston, TX William Plauche ......................Sherman, TX Sheyanne Jean Luckman ...... Pleasanton, TX Jordan Symon ...........................Houston, TX Chad Jones .............................Princeton, TX Tommy Simmons....................... Bedford, TX Joshua Hernandez ..................... LaCoste, TX Javiel Mendietta .................... Kingsville, TX Buster Horlen .....................San Antonio, TX Austin Beckner ...........................Frisco, TX Anthony Rast ......................... Carrolton, TX David Blaylock .......................... Decatur, TX Jeff Southern...............................Lufkin, TX Michael D. Dagenhart..............McKinney, TX Hal Gahm ...........................San Antonio, TX David Trim ...........................San Antonio, TX Sidney B. Baldon, III .....................Crosby, TX Eric Lipar .....................................Spring, TX Ian Cockrell .............................Granbury, TX Strait Allen Clark .............................Taft, TX Richard Delgado, Jr..............San Antonio, TX Darell Hoffer........................... El Campo, TX

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Mark Beaman ......................San Antonio, TX Bobby Cortez, Jr .....................Rosenburg, TX David Nicholas Newberry......Springtown, TX Atkinson ................................Beaumont, TX David Stoddard .........................Kerrville, TX Bill Bolton ..................................Canton, TX Tex Reginald Horton .............. Arthur City, TX Kathleen Hoffer ......................El Campo, TX Forrest Montealegre..................Houston, TX Derek N. Jacob ............................Austin, TX Jeremy Ballew .........................Granbury, TX David Jose Moya, Jr. ........Corpus Christi, TX J Andrew Venables ...................Brenham, TX Julian Shane Garcia .................... Crosby, TX Mike Flanagan ..............................Wylie, TX Quint Greenville ...................League City, TX Clifton Love ..............................Houston, TX Chris Azure ................................. Presto, PA Jason A. Smith ........................Brenham, TX Dwayne Marcantel .................. Magnolia, TX Matt Hughes ............................ Hillsboro, IL Brian Gilroy.........................San Antonio, TX Kenley Williamson ...................... Mullin, TX Louis P. Robles ..............................Kirby, TX Steven Flax...................................Krum, TX Dennis W Robles ..........................Austin, TX Peggy “LB” Davis ................. Cedar Park, TX G.D. Farrell, Sr ........................... Cotulla, TX Kenneth Musgrove ..........................Katy, TX Tom Cusick .................................Boerne, TX Chaise Cooper...................... Springtown, TX Kelsey Carr .............................Kingwood, TX Richard Salinas.........................McAllen, TX Clay Walker ..............................Houston, TX Ricky Meyer ...........................Columbus, TX Brent Beck ...............................Midland, TX Britt Barnard......................... Colleyville, TX Mike Biggs ........................... Fort Worth, TX Lloyd K Perrin ..............................Brady, TX Teresa Boyer ................................. Allen, TX Lance Beckner ........................McKinney, TX Nathan Argueta.........................Houston, TX Brett Matthews .......................... Linden, NC Buck Boyer ................................... Allen, TX M. Brandon Smyrl ...............Friendswood, TX Robert Pittman ....................San Antonio, TX Jorge Luis Alvarez Jr ........... Santa Elena, TX Edgar Tovar ...............................Bandera, TX Clay Pope ................................Sante Fe, TX Brandon Cowart ..........Tennessee Colony, TX Jan Daniec..........................San Antonio, TX Rey Garza....................... Rio Grande City, TX Governor Rick Perry .....................Austin, TX M.Max Yzaguirre...........................Austin, TX Donnie Mordecai ......................... Waller, TX John Hall ......................Fair Oaks Ranch, TX Margaret McDowell ......................... Iola, TX Ovidio Cerda ...............................Bishop, TX Travis Bartniski ........................ Cypress, TX Erik R. Lacy ............................. Oakdale, CA David Williams........................Kingwood, TX Oscar Hernandez .................San Antonio, TX Brad Peterson .......................Brookshire, TX Chad Potts............................ Fort Worth, TX Amos Ross.............................Fort Worth, TX Mike Rizkal................................Prosper, TX Butch Amlong ........................Jacksboro, TX Randy Councill............................Conroe, TX Alex R. Jasso ...............................Austin, TX Bradley Matthys............................ West, TX Rylan C. Holub .......................... Tomball, TX

Dan H. Meeker ...................... Fort Worth, TX Dr. Scott D. Kimble ............. Karnes City, TX 3297 Luther Bierwirth..............................Katy, TX 3333 Stephen Gillaspie .....................Houston, TX 3455 Rickey Redmon .....................New Iberia, LA 3473 David B. Gill.. ............................. .Godley, TX 3484 John R. Rain ............................ Amarillo, TX 3579 Michael Seals .................................Katy, TX 3587 Reed LeBlanc .......................Port Neches,TX 3588 Derek M. Adams ........................Houston,TX 3811 Gary Mobley................................. Bryan, TX 4098 Mike Bock ......................... Montgomery, TX 4124 Rylan Campbell ............................Aledo, TX 4304 Terry A. Porter......................... Magnolia, TX 4343 Cory Kennedy ........................... Poolville, TX 4444 Samuel Gillaspie.......................Houston, TX 4516 Travis Zatopek..................... Round Rock, TX 4570 Dustin R. Haney ................. Montgomery, TX 4603 Marvin Thornton ........................ Gilmer, TX 4747 Michel P. Wilty ....................Birmingham, AL 5047 Brandt Wells.................................Center,TX 5257 Cliff O’Rear ............................. Arlington, TX 5354 On Target Shooting Outfitters , LLC Mabank, TX 5552 Brad Sheffield..........................Marshall, TX 5256 John T. Motes .......................... Live Oak, TX 5646 David Bell. .............................Splendora, TX 5682 Lonie V. Selsor ................ St. Martinville, LA 6169 Wayne Phillips ..........................Denison, TX 6401 Robert Glynn Underwood ...........Houston, TX 6466 Burt Parnell ...................................Aledo, TX 6576 Hubert Guillotte .................... Brookshire, TX 6709 Mark A. Haney ......................Woodlands, TX 6969 Todd Krenek............................. Garwood, TX 7060 Walleck Ranch .................... Karnes City, TX 7111 John P. Thompson, Jr. ..................Dallas, TX 7366 Reno Puente ........................San Antonio, TX 7411 Thomas Grant .....................Montgomery, TX 7565 Rio Rojo Ranch .........................Bagwell, TX 7673 David McLamb .............................Argyle, TX 7727 Richard Otto Allerkamp Jr. ..........Seguin, TX 7774 Dan W. Mayes, III ........................ Hardin, TX 7777 Dale Wofford ............................ Cypress, TX 8357 Matt McCallum ....................... Rockwall, TX 8570 Jasper Jones ............................Midland, TX 8888 Marcus Barrera ................ Corpus Christi, TX 9104 Cecil Dalton ................. Highland Village, TX 11757 William C. Shiver ....................Pearland, TX 12911 Scott W. Kroll .................Corpus Christi, TX 21110 Todd Bassett .........................Palestine, TX 31274 Mindy Richardson .................... Baytown, TX 31298 Keith Hancock, II ............. Grand Prairie, TX 32718 David Sanchez, Jr .............Corpus Christi, TX 42502 J.P. Hooser ................................Killeen, TX 62417 Tyson Johnson ..............College Station, TX 65284 Lane Hunter McGaughey ....Hallettsville, TX 71511 Merced A Hernandez ..................Laredo, TX 72011 David Sommer ........................Brenham, TX 72816 Darren Mackie .......................Palestine, TX 76475 Roscoe Sparks ...........................Strawn, TX 77777 Leonel Hernandez II.....................Laredo, TX 81612 Stephen Crowley .................Waxahachie, TX 92113 Larry P. McDougal, Jr. .............. Fulshear, TX

Allan G. Willis............................ Caldwell, TX Jason Fischer ...............................Seguin, TX 9 Michael Nibert .................College Station, TX 10 John Ellisor ..............................Kingwood, TX 11 Mike Gary ...................................Red Oak, TX 12 Joel M. “Ford” Scott ................... Humble, TX 13 Mason E. Hale ............................... Bryan, TX 14 Cody Ulmer ....................................Dallas, TX 15 J.D. Hill ...................................... Garland, TX 16 Jennifer R. Lee .................................Katy, TX 17 Jason Watson ..................College Station, TX 18 Micheal Doering ..............................Anna, TX 19 Gavin Saldivar.................................Chico, TX 20 Margaret M. McDowell ........ Montgomery, TX 21 Manuel “Manny” Sanchez DVM ...Missouri City, TX 22 Holly A. McDowell................ Montgomery, TX 23 Cliff Carroll ................................ Bedford, TX 24 Jared Cochran ............................ Tomball, TX 25 Jarrod Carroll ......................... Fort Worth, TX 26 William Smith ........................ Texarkana, AR 27 Ben Rumbaugh ........................... Tomball, TX 30 Kyle Sells .....................................Adkins, TX 32 Hunter Mc Conathy .........................Aledo, TX 54 W.R. Griffin ................................ Bellaire, TX 63 Scott M. Pierce, DO..................Greenville, TX 71 John C. MacNeill ................... Sugar Land, TX 72 Robert Rogers....................Spring Branch, TX 75 Daniel B. Quinn............................Cypress, TX 81 Dr. J. Manuel Gonzalez, Jr. ............Laredo, TX 88 Charles Brodrick .............Fair Oaks Ranch, TX 89 Blas M. Martinez Jr. ......................Laredo, TX 90 Jerry L. Newcomb ............ The Woodlands, TX 93 Edmund Meier, Jr. DVM .........San Antonio, TX 94 Gus B. Smith ..............................Houston, TX 100 Chad Hale................................... Tomball, TX 1129 Nathan Olien................................Cibolo, TX 1329 Kevin Oates .................................Cibolo, TX 1369 Diamond A Whitetails..................Seguin, TX 1992 Andy Iverson .............................Midland, TX 1994 Susan Meier .......................San Antonio, TX 2010 Abbey Lea McDowell.. ........ Montgomery, TX 2011 David Sakulenzki....................... Mission, TX 2013 Jonathan Sakulenzki ................. Mission, TX 2014 Jeremy Sakulenzki .................... Mission, TX 4444 Robert Simmons ................. Round Rock, TX 8808 Jacob Brice Espinoza.................Houston, TX 9507 Chasen H. Doyal........................ Cypress, TX 51408 Kevin C. Mills .............................. Lucas, TX

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TTHA Texas A&M Platinum Life Members 0 L. Justin Gayle, M.D. .......College Station, TX 1 Scott W. Bugai, DVM .....................Seguin, TX 2 Jesse Beckett .............................. Cotulla, TX 3 Ronald J. Carroll ...................... Mansfield, TX 4 Galen Pahl.......................College Station, TX 5 Jack Allen ....................................Burnet, TX 6 Robert Moseley ........................Palestine, TX

Texas Tech Platinum Life Members Darin Gray ....................................Burnet, TX 2 Larry Anders ..................................Dallas, TX 3 Leland L. Fellows III ................... Lubbock, TX 4 Jason Moorman ............................Snyder, TX 1

Sam Houston State Platinum Life Members Michael W. Murray ........................ Spring, TX 2 Philip S. Karasek .................East Bernard, TX 16 Brandon Marcantel .....................Houston, TX 1

Stephen F. Austin Platinum Life Members Sam Permenter Jr ..........................Lufkin, TX 2 Blake Wilcox ....................... Montgomery, TX 1

Texas State Platinum Life Members Aaron Jones ..................................Austin, TX

Texas Christian Platinum Life Members Holden Harrison ...................... Fort Worth, TX 2 Giacomo (Jack) Conte ...............Galloway, OH 1

Need to update your membership information? Please call Lauren at (210) 491-2133 or email at lauren@ttha.com

Author Photos

STORY

Randy has been a dedicated handgun hunter for 18 years. He loves the challenge.

he 2018 season marked my 12th year on my current deer lease. It’s a 1,000-acre, low-fence ranch about two hours west of San Antonio in the Junction area. When our group got this lease, it was a very typical Hill Country ranch with an abundance of deer that looked more like over-sized rabbits. It had never been managed for age or genetics, so body size and antler quality were lacking, to say the least. We took this ranch, and even though it was a low-fence operation, we committed ourselves to managing it as best as we

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could. Our approach would be somewhat simple: protein feed year-round, get our doe population in line, and let the bucks age. Once we started to see bucks age and develop antlers to whatever their individual potential would be, we’d then start culling anything with inferior genetics. Knowing full well this would be a long process, we committed to sticking with this plan and let the generations of better genetics build upon themselves. Twelve years and essentially two new generations of whitetails later, we are finally seeing this strategy pay off. In

the first 12 years, we certainly killed a few decent deer, especially when you consider the location of our ranch and the stereotype that comes with a Hill Country lease. This means a great buck for our ranch wouldn’t even come close to a trophy buck farther south. It’s all relative. 2018 was a break-out season for us. We had killed a few decent deer over the years, but this was the first year all of us consistently saw good, mature bucks throughout the season. The other critters clearly proliferating are hogs. It was

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almost overnight that we went from the very occasional hog Super Blackhawk .44 Magnum with iron sights and absolutely sighting, to seeing them on trail cams every single night. loved that gun. It was responsible for a plethora of venison and We are doing our best to keep this population in check, but pork that graced our freezer. as every Texan knows, once you think you have a hog problem, However, this past year I had an itch to step up in caliber it’s probably too late. A perfect way to sum this up is by saying size and try something new. That lead me to the XVR in .460. this: In my first 11 years on this lease I didn’t kill a single hog I purchased this gun the summer before last, and shot it every and very rarely saw one on a trail cam. During the 2018 season chance I could, spending countless hours at the range. This was alone, I killed four. a critter killing machine, just waiting to be unleashed! One of my lease mates and good friends, David, killed one It was a Thursday evening, with crisp temperatures, and I heck of a buck in 2017. The buck had 13 scorable points and had my new handgun that I couldn’t wait to take aim with. I was the best deer ever killed out there. He killed it late in the was planning on taking a healthy doe that weekend, but had season with a rifle and that buck now hangs on his wall to planned to wait a few hunts just in case I saw something more forever commemorate the hard work, patience, and delicious enticing. Thursday evening closed with a lot of deer showing venison that comes with a solid management approach. up, but nothing to pull the trigger on. So, when 2018 rolled around, you can imagine his standards Friday morning, I awoke to a coffee pot percolating that very were elevated a bit, and boy, was I glad for it. On the opening distinct liquid black-gold aroma. After sufficiently caffeinating weekend, David saw a really nice, mature 11-pointer at one of myself, I headed out for the morning hunt in the pitch black. his blinds. When he relayed the description that night around My stand isn’t far from camp, so I opted to walk to and from a campfire, he described the buck as being somewhat narrow, every hunt. That walk is something I look forward to, every day but with a lot of character. of hunting season. He also said that had he not killed the big 13 the previous Shortly after the sun came up, with several deer and turkeys season, he would have made an attempt on this one. This story milling about, I caught movement about 200 yards down my certainly had our attention, especially since it was opening right lane, which faces due south. It was a buck for sure, but weekend. Like any hunter, our hopes are always high leading with the sun just starting to appear over the horizon, it was difinto the year. ficult to get a good look at him. It was a quick sighting and then The very next weekend I would return for a three-day hunt he buried himself back into the thick cedar brush. at the lease. And as unusual, I was on the ranch by myself. Less than 20 minutes later, he reappeared down the same The second weekend of the season, I was the only one out of lane, this time at about 100 yards in clear view. I quickly masix hunters who was there. I arrived Thursday afternoon, just neuvered my binocular up and had a very nice surprise waiting in time to change clothes, grab my gun and head to my blind. on the outer edge of my comfort zone with a red-dot topped The weather had turned really handgun. The buck looked to be mature, cold for this time of year, as we with a narrow rack. usually don’t see these crisp temperatures until later in the season. My firearm of choice was a recently acquired Smith & Wesson XVR handgun in .460 Magnum, with an 83⁄8 -inch barrel. I’ve been a dedicated handgun hunter for about 18 years. Quite frankly, I’m consumed by hunting with short barrels. I love the challenge and I love the simplicity of handguns. I’ve been all over the board in these 18 years in terms of handgun platforms, calibers, barrel lengths, and iron sights/ optics. In all my time, I’ve discovered that my favorite handguns to hunt with are big-bore, Randy's buck proved quite challenging, but straight-walled calibers he met the challenge head-on and came home with a wall hanger. on a revolver platform. For years I hunted exclusively with a Ruger www.TTHA.com

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I could see this buck had some nice character to his antlers. After studying him enough to realize this was in fact a good, mature buck for our place, I made my decision. I smoothly reached for my handgun and positioned myself for a shot on this buck. He was the best deer I’d seen in all my years out there. And there he stood, calm and perfectly broadside, almost as if he had read my script this morning. My heart pounded at the thought of taking this buck with a handgun. I eased the hammer back and steadied the dot right behind the shoulder, all the while trying to get my breathing under control. My nerves were high, but I felt really good about the rest, so I slid my trigger finger down to that familiar cold, curved piece of metal that was begging to be squeezed. Just as I achieved the perfect grip and finger position, he disappeared. My heart sank as I watched him disappear into the brush, just as cool and calm as when he came in. The good news severely outweighed the letdown. He didn’t appear to see or smell me, and he didn’t leave as if he was spooked for some reason. And more than that, our 12 years of intense management clearly paid off. I was laser focused on this buck now, and wanted to spend as much time as I could in the stand, to see if he reappeared. Because we hunt on a low-fenced ranch, I knew if the buck crossed a fence onto a neighboring property, he’d end up wearing someone else’s tag. So, I sneaked out of my blind and walked back to camp for a quick bite to eat, then went back on stand until dark. I sat in the stand over 10 hours that day, but I never saw him again. Saturday morning came with high hopes and once again I sneaked into the blind. This time I took water and a sandwich with me. I was prepared to stay until noon if I had to. And I did. He never showed up. After a quick trip back to camp for more water and food, I was back on stand again till dark. Saturday ended much the same as Friday, with 10 hours in the stand, stiff muscles, and no buck. The walk back to camp was much needed to loosen up again and reset my brain. Buck or no buck, I was hunting in beautiful country on a crisp weekend. But I still wanted that deer. On Sunday morning, my plan was to hunt till mid-morning. If the buck didn’t present himself, I had hoped to get a shot on a nice-size doe. I wanted to be on the road and headed back home no later than noon. With everything involved in closing up our camp, I gave myself a 10 a.m. “last call” for taking a shot on an animal. The morning progressed, and once again I saw a lot of animals, mostly does and young bucks. At about 9:30 I had two deer left, a doe and a yearling spike. By this point in the weekend I had resolved that I probably wouldn’t see that 11-point again. So I raised my handgun and was excited about possibly tagging a delicious doe for the freezer. Just as I reached for my handgun, both deer took off as if they’d been hit with a hotshot. I was trying to figure out what I had done to get them spooked like that, then the buck appeared. This time he was directly in front of me at 65 yards, with his head down and perfectly broadside. I didn’t hesitate and slowly cocked the hammer. The red-dot settled nicely right behind his shoulder as my trigger finger found its home. That .460 is extremely loud, and thank goodness I’ve never forgotten or neglected hearing protection. The gun made a familiar muffled bark and I immediately saw the buck kick his back legs high in the sky. He ran about 30 yards before succumbing to the .460’s hard-hitting, heart-stopping power. The buck weighed 145 pounds on-the-hoof, and provided more venison than any other deer I’d killed on this ranch. I had delicious venison in the freezer and a beautiful buck hanging in my living room. Is there anything better? 88 |

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Randy likes to reduce the local feral hog population with his handgun, too.

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Deer Contests: Past and Present Jerry Johnston paid close attention to what deer hunters wanted in their trophy shows.

Texans like to see big bucks with drop tines.

By Jason Shipman

exans like white-tailed deer, especially a big buck with drop tines. People all over the world have been enamored with deer and other trophies since the dawn of time. Cave art makes a great case in point. Early man crafted elaborate scenes on the walls of Texas caves recounting their stories of successful hunts. Time has gone by, and with it, substantial change. But the essence of the hunt remains the same. Today, hunters continue to seek recognition for their trophies by participation in deer contests as well as offering their stories and photos to social media outlets. Almost any hunting magazine will have more than one whitetail feature, but big buck contests show off the best bucks. There are several major deer contests today, and many that have come and gone over the years. The oldest deer contest in Texas is the Muy Grande in Freer, created by Leonel “Muy” Garza about 55 years ago. The Hunters Extravaganza Annual Deer Competition is likely the second oldest, and it should come as no surprise, since Jerry Johnston and Muy have been the closest of compadres. Jerry founded the Texas Trophy Hunt90 |

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ers Association in 1975. At the time, modern-day deer management practices were in their infancy. The general public wanted all the information they could get, and the timing was spot-on for the creation of a deer hunting association. “I paid close attention to what the people wanted,” Jerry said. The very first Texas Trophy Hunters show was held in 1976 at the El Tropicano Hotel in San Antonio. “The first show was not an Extravaganza, but was instead called a convention,” Jerry said. “The next year we advertised it as the ‘Trophy Hunters Extravaganza’ with a big buck contest,

and the rest is history.” A niche was filled, and the organization and idea took hold, becoming the voice of Texas hunting for the next 45 years. TTHA’s Hunters Extravaganzas are the granddaddy of all hunting shows. If you’ve never been to the Fort Worth, Houston, or San Antonio shows, you should plan to attend one in August 2020. Walking through a show will bring you up to speed on all of the latest and greatest hunting gear, as well as the opportunity to visit with like-minded celebrities like Jerry Johnston, Dr. James “Dr. Deer” Kroll, NRA’s Laura Berry,

TTHA’s Hunters Extravaganzas are the granddaddy of all hunting shows. If you’ve never been to the Fort Worth, Houston, or San Antonio shows to enter your buck, you have plenty of time to plan your trip for this year. The Houston show runs July 31-Aug. 2; San Antonio runs Aug. 7-9; and Fort Worth runs Aug. 14-16.

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The Hunters Extravaganza Annual Deer Competition gives everyone a chance to show off his or her deer and win prizes.

Operation Game Thief’s Jimmy Hasslocher, or the governor of Texas himself. Aside from hunting gear, there really is something for everyone, including the deer contest, cooking shows, jewelry, clothing, hunting vehicles, wildlife seminars, and entertainment for the kids, to name a few. It’s difficult to have a hunting show without a deer contest, or other antlers on display. Folks need the “eye candy” for entertainment value. The exhibitors usually have antlers at their booths that portray hunting operations, taxidermy, and the like. Throughout the early years, there were antler collections brought in for display by such renowned collectors as Dick Idol and John Stein. But Jerry had his eye on a big buck contest for the shows that would be something special. The big draw in the way of deer heads and membership participation is now the Hunters Extravaganza Annual Deer Competition. “Everyone wants to show off their deer and they like having a chance to win a prize,” Jerry said. “We started the deer contest the year after that first convention at the Tropicano, www.TTHA.com

but it has grown to be a big attraction. The size of the bucks certainly has,” Jerry said, with a laugh. All joking aside, the deer entered have indeed become larger through the years through the use of intensive management practices and hunting methods. The deer contest exhibit routinely has some of the best bucks taken across the state each season for the visitors to view and enjoy. Notable deer are often entered that may have been featured in The Journal, or have garnered some other prestigious recognition. With multiple categories to compete in, a potential entry should not be overly concerned with its chances of winning. “Watching the kids come up and receive their plaques is probably the most rewarding part,” said Horace Gore, who ran TTHA’s deer contest for over 20 years. Presently, the contest has categories for typical and non-typical as well as divisions for high fence, open range, modern firearms, archery, women, youth, etc. “Right now, we’re looking at having Mexico as a separate division,” Horace said. “Hunters are entering some

big Mexican bucks, and the hunting rules south of the Rio Grande are pretty liberal,” he added. Great sponsors have always stepped forward to provide prizes and up the ante for all the participants. Optics packages such as those from Vortex, along with Buck Knives, Texas Hunter Products, and Snyper Hunting Products are a few brands easily recognized. Special awards are also presented for the Best of Show-High Fence and Best of ShowOpen Range. Winners receive a TTHA Platinum Lifetime Membership package. Additionally, every entry in the three contests has a chance to win a free buck hunt in random drawings for youth and adult. Entering a deer in TTHA’s deer contest is quite easy. The contest is open to all TTHA members. Not a member? No problem. You can bring your deer and sign up on the spot! In the meantime, we hope everyone has a successful and memorable hunting season. We look forward to seeing the hunters and their deer, and hearing their stories at the 2020 Hunters Extravaganza deer contests in San Antonio, Houston and Fort Worth.

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David Perkins Photo

Game Cameras and Big Bucks

By Matt Williams

’ve always kept close tabs on the pulse of the East Texas deer hub and the caliber of bucks hunters kill around here from one year to the next. In looking back, there was a time when an 18-inch eight-pointer with 120 inches of antler was a pretty good one in the Pineywoods. Though entirely legal under state law, such a buck isn’t nearly as commendable these days as it used to be, particularly on private lands. Shooting one could get you slapped with a stiff fine or cost you next year’s buck tag on some clubs. You might even get your walking papers if you screw up a second time. As interest in game management— with a heavy emphasis on letting the young bucks walk—continues catching on across the Pineywoods and Post Oak regions, more and more hunters reap 94 |

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the benefits by killing older deer with remarkable antlers. Deer scoring upwards of 150 Boone and Crockett inches are more common on open range now than ever before, as are truly magnificent bucks cracking Boone and Crockett record book minimums, or coming really close to it. Antler restrictions now in effect throughout both regions have certainly helped things along by allowing more young bucks to cross the threshold into maturity. The same is true of improved habitat management, offseason supplemental feeding programs using nutrient rich protein, and a constant push to meet antlerless harvest quotas. But what about those game cameras? True, a rigid box with an electronic eye inside that triggers on heat or motion doesn’t mean squat when it comes to bone-growing nutrition. Even so, quite a few hunters believe game cameras play an important role in the rise in qual-

Do you settle for a lesser buck when game cams have shown that a monster tall-tine 10-pointer still prowls the neighborhood (inset)? Kevin Smithhart of Lufkin held out for the big one he knew was in the area.

ity and trophy class bucks coming out of eastern Texas these days. And their reasoning makes plenty of sense. Used correctly, the high-tech hunting tools can provide a studious hunter with a wealth of useful information to file away in their memory banks. Moreover, they can provide a pretty good idea about the caliber of bucks in an area before a hunter heads to the woods and faces the all-important decision whether to click the safety and pull the trigger, or not. Think about that for a minute and imagine being the guy wearing the camo in the following scenario: It’s late October, and opening day of

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buck at about 9 a.m., about an hour after passing on the 140-inch eight-pointer. “That’s a prime example of how game cameras can work for you,” Smithhart said. “The eight-pointer I passed on that morning was a really good deer around here. I probably would have shot him had I not felt like that bigger deer was in the area.” Smithhart says game cameras are great tools for becoming familiar with a deer herd. Plus, they will sometimes show you some big deer that you otherwise might not know are around, and aid in planning strategies to hunt them. “I think they cause me to stay in the stand longer and hunt more careful,” Smithhart said. “It’s much easier to do that when you know there is a big buck in the area. I’ll always keep 4-5 cameras in the woods during the fall.” David Perkins is another East Texas deer hunter who has learned to put a tremendous amount of faith in game camera intel. He bought his first camera in the late 1980s. Roughly 30 years later he still considers it one of the best deer hunting investments he’s ever made. “Game cameras have made a huge difference in my hunting,” he said. “I have to agree they are having an impact on the quality of deer coming out of East Texas these days, mainly because they are helping to get people to lay off the younger bucks. I have personally passed up on several smaller deer or marginal deer

photo

Smithhart’s buck, taken on Nov. 4, 2016, ranks as the fourth-biggest Angelina County typical reported to the Texas Big Game Awards Program since the program’s inception in the early 1990s. It also is the highest-scoring Angelina County typical reported to TBGA since 2012. The buck grossed 1647⁄8 and 157 net.

dreds of dollars on film development and prints at the local Walmart 1-hour lab. “He was into it pretty heavy and he killed some good bucks, too,” Smithhart said. “I remember when I got my first game camera, Ernest gave me my first album to put the pictures in.” Smithhart has taken some outstanding bucks over the years. He’s targeted several of them exclusively using intel gathered by his trail cameras. On more than one occasion, he’s allowed mature “shooters” to walk, because his game camera had found bigger deer in the vicinity. One buck that stands out in particular is the tall-tined 10-point typical with abnormally long brow tines. Smithhart shot the buck on Nov. 4, 2016, and the buck grossed 1647⁄8 and 157 net. It ranks as the fourth biggest Angelina County typical reported to the Texas Big Game Awards Program since the program’s inception in the early 1990s, and the highest scoring Angelina County typical reported to TBGA since 2012. According to Smithhart, the buck is a good example to illustrate the idea that good things sometimes come to those who choose to wait rather than giving in to an itchy trigger finger. Smithhart had been after the buck since 2014, when it first grabbed his attention as a handsome eight-pointer he estimated as 31⁄2 or 41⁄2 years old. Two seasons later, a game camera showed him the buck had morphed into a 10-pointer. He said he shot the

Kevin Smithhart

the general season is less than a week away. You make the rounds to pull camera flash cards one last time and discover multiple daylight images of a dandy buck working a scrape line. He looks to be a main frame 10-pointer with thick, chocolate-colored beams, a 4-inch drop tine, and a couple of definitive kickers. The buck easily cracks the 160s. Better yet, the dates on the pics indicate he’s visited the scrape twice in the past five days. Moving on, you find several more images of the same buck on a trail camera pointed at a corn feeder, roughly 200 yards away. You don’t recognize the deer as one you’ve seen or heard anyone else speak of before. Three weeks into the season, the big whitetail has shown up several more times in the trail camera viewfinders, but appears to have gone nocturnal. It’s Thanksgiving weekend and there’s a buck tag burning a hole in your pocket, but still more than a month left in the season to hunt. A handsome 140-inch 10-pointer comes barreling in under your corn feeder on the heels of a hot doe on a crisp Saturday afternoon. It’s the best buck you’ve seen all year, and a very respectable one at that. Do you settle for the lesser buck when you feel pretty certain a monster still prowls around the neighborhood? Kevin Smithhart knows that scenario all too well. Smithhart is a veteran deer hunter from Lufkin who can remember the days when letting a young buck walk was about as popular with East Texas deer hunters as catch and release was with bass fishermen. He also recalls the late 1980s, when the late Ernest Bartlett became the first serious shutterbug on their hunting lease, a 5,000-acre open range tract along the Neches River in western Angelina County. It was long before the advent of digital technology. Kodacolor and Fujifilm negative films were still kings. Smithhart said Bartlett burned dozens of rolls of film through his early model trail camera. He also spent hun-

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David Perkins

photo

Kevin Smithhart Photo

Left: East Texas deer hunter David Perkins puts a lot of faith in game-camera intel. He believes game cameras help people lay off younger bucks. He has personally passed up several smaller deer or marginal deer because he was searching for a particular buck that he had on a game camera. Bottom: One such buck was an Angelina County eight-pointer Perkins called “The Old Man.” Perkins hunted the buck for four consecutive seasons before tagging the deer, which scored 1486⁄8.

because I was searching for a particular buck that I had on a game camera, some for multiple years. I know several other hunters who have done the same thing. Sometimes it doesn’t work out, but when it does it’s worth it.” Perkins’ most memorable cat-andmouse game with an East Texas whitetail dates back to 2010, when he got the first pictures of a 31⁄2-year-old Angelina County eight-pointer he eventually came to know as “The Old Man.” The name befitted the crafty ol’ buck. That’s because the deer was 71⁄2 years old before Perkins finally killed him. The buck scored 96 |

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148 6⁄8, outstanding for an eight-pointer. Perkins hunted the buck relentlessly for four consecutive seasons. In 2012, he dedicated the entire season to hunting a buck he never laid eyes on. He confessed his game cameras made him do it. “There’s no telling how many hours I hunted that deer over the years,” Perkins said. “If I ventured to guess it would probably make me mad.” Another way Perkins thinks game cameras benefit East Texas hunting is because they help hunters become familiar with bucks roaming on their lease before they actually cross paths with them in

a hunting situation. The more familiar you are with bucks on your property, the easier it is to identify them quickly. “The woods are thick in East Texas and sometimes you don’t get much time to look a deer over before you have to make your mind up,” Perkins said. “Having pictures might help you pick up on a crooked brow tine, kicker point, or some other distinguishing trait that may help you identify a specific deer quickly when there isn’t much time to do it. It might prevent shooting a buck that needs to grow another year,” he added. To hear Texas Parks and Wildlife Department wildlife biologist Sean Willis of Lufkin tell it, game camera usage in eastern Texas has almost become somewhat of a fad. It’s hard to find a deer hunter in these parts who doesn’t have at least one. Willis works closely with around 50 hunting clubs in five East Texas counties enlisted in the department’s Managed Lands Deer Program. Together the clubs total around 225,000 acres. “Just about all of the hunters are running game cameras nowadays,” Willis said. “I’ve got some clubs that are even using game cameras to do their deer survey rather than relying on spotlight surveys.” The biologist says a few of the clubs rely on game cameras to build “No Shooter” libraries of bucks each year as part of their management efforts towards producing more and better-quality deer. “They’ll provide the pictures to the rest of the members and make everyone aware that they want to let specific bucks get a little older,” Willis said. “The members can study those pictures ahead of time, so they are less likely to shoot those bucks if they see them. People still make mistakes, but it certainly helps.” Depending on the individual deer, a year or two extra in age can make a mountain of difference in the tale of the tape.

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Author Photos

recently watched the Texas Trophy Hunters TV show about STORY an 11-year-old young lady selected out of the audience at the Hunters Extravaganza in Houston to do a hunt at Jerry Johnston’s place. Her joy and enthusiasm reminded me of a similar incident, which was my pleasure to lend a helping hand in creating. I am writing about it as a way of encouraging our readership to find ways to create something similar within their own circles of young people. In fall 2018, my wife and I participated in a community-wide service project called BIG SERVE. Instead of the usual worship services that day, churches banded together to help in a half-day effort to support area non-profits by cleaning, patching, sorting, etc., around different locations. Danell and I were team leaders for Hope Hospice in New Braunfels and would do some outside and inside painting for them. But a big storm came through the night before and it rained buckets on the scheduled day. It was way too wet to paint and our team was reassigned to other “rainy day” activities. However, in planning for the proposed work, I was very impressed with the staff members I met and ended up donating a doe/hog hunt for their annual gala, a fundraising event held in May 2019. The successful bidder that night was Dr. Michael Cole, DDS. Dr. Mike called to introduce himself and explained his goal was to take his soon-to-be 11-year-old stepson, Caleb, on the hunt. The doe hunt would be scheduled after buck season in early January 2020. We knew some of the same people, and we hit it off right away just talking over the phone. I asked if he and Caleb would like to take a tour of our place beforehand so they would know what to expect when the hunt time came around. After what I imagine was a pretty brief conversation on the topic, we arranged a time. The afternoon of our hog hunting trip, I took along a Remington Model 7 Youth chambered in .223 that we bought for our daughter when she was about Caleb’s age. It is an accurate and well-scoped firearm. As a beginning hunter, Jessica killed several hogs with that little rifle, giving them what we called an “ear wax job.” She soon graduated to a .257 Roberts to take her 98 |

January/February 2020

Dr. Michael Cole's young stepson, Caleb, took this hog on a hunting trip to the author's ranch.

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Caleb taking aim with the author's .223. He loaned it to Caleb for the hunt.

first trophy deer and has now used a Model 70 Featherweight in 7mm-08 for several years, taking a couple of very nice bucks, along with several management deer. The .223 has been my occasional varmint rifle, but mostly serves as a gun safe queen. What a great choice for a young person to begin shooting with. As a slight side note, Jessica’s story of that memorable hunt plus a picture of her and the deer was published in The Journal, and the framed article hangs in her home right under the mounted antlers of that very nice South Texas buck. We stopped by my family place east of Pearsall first and had a little gun safety class that Dr. Mike agreed was appropriate. Caleb was very attentive, and afterwards, proceeded to demonstrate his shooting skills by doing a superior job for a first-time centerfire rifle shooter. He was quickly hitting the kill zone on the target with every shot. His enthusiasm and confidence were both raised up a notch, and it felt good to see him and his dad excited to proceed to the next step of the afternoon. We then headed over to a high fenced pasture I have leased for many years and set off a feeder that runs all year long. I left the hunters in the blind and proceeded to check on several things around the place before settling myself into another location about a quarter mile away from them. A few deer came out, but no hogs. Close to dark, I thought I heard a shot. I was upwind and that small caliber from an enclosed structure does not make much noise, so I was not certain. Upon driving up to them, lo and behold, I found a sure ’nuff grinning young man and his proud father. Caleb had managed to conduct what Dr. Mike called a frontal lobectomy. To us non-medical folks, that means he about took the top of the skull off a young hog. After the time-honored www.TTHA.com

tradition of story recounting and celebrating, we headed to Devine for a Triple C meal where a certain old South Texas farm boy Aggie had a few hunting yarns to spin for the happy hog hunters while we were eating. It was a really fun time for yours truly to have “fresh ears” for some of my old stories from the 60 years the good Lord has blessed me to hunt in South Texas. The experience was all the better, considering it was the evening before Caleb’s 11th birthday. In talking about writing this article, Dr. Mike has assured me his son had plenty of listeners when he told and retold the story in the following days at school. Seems like they are both pretty excited about coming back in January, and Caleb’s two sisters are thinking they should come along as well. My grandkids are too young to hunt just yet. Although, they have been spending time in the deer blinds since they were infants and enjoy riding Poppi’s “pick ’em up” truck around the ranches while sitting in my lap and throwing out corn for the deer from the truck bed. I reckon at this juncture while waiting on them to grow a bit more, helping to make other people’s kids into hunters is a good use of my days! I encourage us all to keep our tradition of good stewardship of the land through effective game management going on by exposing the next generation to the experience. Like my longtime friend Jim Mullen is fond of saying: Take a kid hunting. It’s good for both of you!

Caleb's hunt took place a day before his 11th birthday. He had a story to share with his friends at school.

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Located approx. 11 mi. west of Cotulla. Beautiful property with red sandy soil and typical south Texas brush in the heart of big deer country. The ranch is high fenced on the front and partially high fenced on 2 sides. There is an abundance of Whitetail deer, turkey, hogs, quail and dove. Improvements include: 3 water wells, one being a Carrizo well with 60 HP pump, 3 stock tanks, 3 bedroom 2 bath modular home, 9 deer blinds, large field 30+ acres.

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Live water property, 5 miles out of Boerne on Cibolo Creek, breathtaking views!

Hunting Alaska: Then and Now

By Lee Leschper

Author Photos

o, what were the good old days of hunting in Alaska like? If you were hunting Alaska 60 years ago, the year the Great Land became our 49th state, how different would it be? Quite a bit different, in ways you might not imagine and some you’ll recognize. Today’s Alaska bears and moose are just as big and the caribou and salmon still migrate in vast numbers, but the landscape has changed for good. Alaska became the 49th state on Jan. 3, 1959. That year Alaska sold 29,899 hunting licenses, according to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service records, and the state’s population was 224,000. Compare that to 2019, with 735,720 Alaskans, of which USFWS estimates 124,330 of those hold hunting licenses. Because Alaska, like many western states, sells multiple tags and permits for different species, the state sells almost a half million total permits, tags, stamps and licenses. Many other Alaska residents—senior citizens like yours truly and those qualifying for subsistence hunting—also hunt without buying a license. Non-resident hunters, once a limited and hardy few, now spend more than $7 million in Alaska for the right to hunt—about

double the total spent by Alaska residents. At statehood, there was unlimited opportunity to buy a license all over the country and hunt almost anywhere. While that’s still true in some parts of Alaska, most more accessible and premium hunts now require winning a permit in the annual lottery for both non-resident and resident hunters. The odds of drawing a prized muskox or Dall sheep tag seem as slim as the Texas Lottery too. In a nutshell, there are now more people who want to hunt and eat wild game in Alaska. Alaska is still a happy hunting ground. But you have to deal with more regulations and more competition. As with most wildlife resources, management is as much about managing people as managing animals. The state has to balance protecting a sustainable population, with the constitutional mandate to maximize the yield of fish and game for the use of Alaskans, to use as a staple of Alaskans’ diets. The simplest solution has been restrictions on harvest. For example, in 1959, any bull moose was fair game, pretty much anywhere. Today bull and cow moose tags are allotted by lottery throughout much of the state. And antler restrictions limit legal bulls to spike-fork bulls or bulls with at least 50-inch spreads or bulls with at least three brow points on one side.

Giants still live in Alaska. Alaskan Keith Manternach shot this massive caribou in 2018 from a remote area he was able to access, thanks to a small plane. Aircraft have dramatically changed hunting opportunities in Alaska.

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All terrain vehicles are the 21st century horses that have revolutionized Alaska hunting, allowing hunters to hunt rugged terrain from any Alaska road system and also pack out giant game animals like moose, big bears and caribou.

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Try counting points or spread on a running moose disappearing in low light! In much of the state at statehood, the caribou limit was five per day. Thanks to aggressive predator control before statehood, caribou herds had flourished and most Alaskans could shoot all they could eat. Today caribou are still abundant, but the hunting pressure has grown exponentially, so for most herds, the tags are allotted by lottery. The popular over-thecounter hunts still available, like the 40-Mile Herd on the North Slope, draw huge crowds to intercept migrating herds. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADFG) very succinctly sums up Alaska hunting in one paragraph on its website: “Alaska offers a variety of hunting opportunities, many of them world class. The options include taking kids grouse or hare hunting along back roads in the Interior, filling the freezer with muskox, or conducting a once-in-a-lifetime brown bear or mountain goat hunt in the Southeast rainforest or along the Southcentral coast. Some species, such as caribou and moose, are widely distributed across much of the state. However, depending on the month, animals may be scarce even where good habitat exists, but abundant elsewhere. Many big game species in Alaska make long migrations between their seasonal ranges. The keys to hunting successfully are careful planning and thorough preparation.” When did Alaska change? Very simply, with the discovery of oil on the North Slope in the 1960s—which brought more

people and more money into Alaska. It’s a common saying here that there’s Alaska before oil and Alaska after oil. Development of the Prudhoe Bay oil fields, construction of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline and the infusion of people and money changed the state forever. It also changed the competition for good hunting, especially on the road system. Alaska hunting is about logistics—then and now. It’s about getting through vast, rugged country where incredible game is thinly scattered and surrounded by huge expanses of emptiness. Taking good animals still requires an investment in time or money or both. Plus, a lot of blood, sweat and tears. Alaska wildlife management is unique in the United States because it’s prescribed in the Alaska Constitution that the wildlife resources, both game and fish, are managed for maximum sustainable yield, for the benefit of Alaskans to subsist and feed their families. The goal has always been to feed people with wild protein. Alaskans are all about their wild game and fish, as much today as before statehood. And it’s not just men or off-the-grid families. I fondly recall my first visit to a dental office in Anchorage one June long ago during king salmon season. The attractive young dental hygienist settled me into a chair, and picking up an instrument, the first words out of her mouth were: “So, you got your kings yet?” Conversation about teeth was forgotten while we compared bait versus fly, river versus salt, and the

As Alaska’s population has grown, more and more people are living in country that was once reserved for wildlife. This bull moose was the smallest of three camped out in Lee’s Anchorage yard last fall.

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Photo

above and following photos courtesy

Alaska State Library

Alaskan Nellie Lawing and her trophy collection, about 1930.

best recipe for brining salmon prior to smoking. ADFG does a pretty fair job managing the resources among the competing interests. Alaska also has an extremely organized and proactive professional guide industry that works aggressively to protect both the resources and its rights to particular areas for particular animals. It’s popular in some anti-hunting media today to hear that Alaska’s fish and wildlife are endangered, that salmon runs and caribou migrations are drying up, and there are no big bears or moose left. But nothing could be further from the truth. For the most part, Alaska has as many or more game animals than it did at statehood. In many cases, thanks to intense management efforts including lots of restrictions on hunting harvests and supplements to salmon runs like billions of stocked hatchery salmon, there’s more game now than what existed before statehood. Alaska Commissioner of Fish and Game Doug Vincent-Lang, a career Alaska wildlife manager, countered a recent national news story about declines in Alaska wildlife: “Alaska abounds in healthy habitat, which is evident from our abundance of numerous fish stocks and wildlife populations,” he said. “This the result of a robust and adaptive regulatory program that Alaska has in place that ensures sustainability of our fish and wildlife. As a result, on a sustained yield basis, we’re producing and harvesting more fish and game than ever before and are constitutionally mandated to keep that going for all future generations of Alaskans. The state’s right to manage was hard fought for at statehood and it has paid off for all Alaskans.” As the state’s population has grown, people have moved into game country. In Anchorage, where I live and wildlife is protected, more than 2,000 moose and hundreds of bears live inside the borough’s borders. At my home, we watch moose, brown and black bears, coyotes, all manner of small varmints, and waterfowl from our deck. With little to fear, the moose become a dangerous nuisance in May when the cows are calving, in October when the bulls are rutting, and in late winter when they’re all hungry and scrounging for food in deep snow. We posed the question to an Alaskan who’s seen it all and rides herd on Alaska wildlife. Eddie Grasser has a unique position to reflect on these 104 |

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changes. Today he‘s director of ASFG’s Division of Wildlife Conservation. For many years he led the huge Alaska Safari Club International Chapter, advocating for hunting rights and education. His family had guided hunters in Alaska for generations, since long before statehood. Grasser guided hunters to all Alaska’s iconic species, including polar bears in the early 1970s, before they were put off limits by marine mammal legislation. It’s unlikely anyone but Native Alaskans will hunt the great white bears again. Perhaps the single biggest change is how Alaska hunters get into the field, he said. Thanks to all terrain vehicles and small aircraft, the wilderness is open to anyone with a machine and a tank of gas. “When I first went into woods, we went by horseback,” Grasser said. “There were no four wheelers and very few swamp buggy guys. It was all (by) horseback. About 1955 we saw the first wheel tracks (in the area his family guided).” In most of the state, until the 1960s, if you didn’t go by horseback, you went by dog sled. While the dogs remain an iconic part of our history, today for hunting purposes they have been replaced entirely by snow machines, which travel farther, faster and don’t eat 365 days a year. Replacing horses today are ATVs, side-by-sides and Argos. There are side-by-side trails into any country accessible by a road. My last few caribou and moose hunts, for example, were aboard ATVs. Getting 10 miles back into the bush and packing that winter’s supply of meat is a whole lot easier, if not only possible, thanks to those ATVs. However, ATV use can lead to too much off-road traffic in popular areas, not unlike the vast number of shallow running boats on Texas coastal bays. Not everyone who can afford one also has the common courtesy and sense to operate it responsibly. It’s really about more people competing for a finite resource, Grasser said. “There are probably 10 times as many people in the state now as when we were a territory. We’ve been managing the people side (as well as wildlife) for a long time.” Another change modern Alaska hunters enjoy is great, rugged, lightweight, rust-resistant gear. “The gear is a lot better!” he laughed. “For example: then, your choice for long underwear was either wool or cotton.”

Charles Sheldon with Dall sheep skulls and bear hides from a successful hunt near Denali about 1913.

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Two men with caribou taken near Barrow in the early 1900s.

Given that “cotton kills” once it’s wet—a popular saying in Alaska—that meant there was no choice at all. Back in the 1950s, Alaska hunts were typically far longer than today. “For one thing trips were a lot longer,” Grasser said. “When I was little, our clients came for three weeks at a time. Now you’ve got hunts five days long.” The demographics of Alaska hunters have also changed, especially the non-resident visiting hunters. “When I was little, most of our clients were in their 50s and 60s. By the time I sold the business in the mid ’90s, a lot of our clients were younger people. There’s a lot more disposable income across generations now.” There are more women among today’s Alaskan hunting population too. But it’s probably the small airplane that’s had the biggest impact in opening wild Alaska to hunters. While there have been aircraft in Alaska about as long as they’ve existed anywhere, and bush pilots have been the biggest local heroes in each community, small aircraft became popular with Alaska hunters in the 1960s. Federal legislation in 1969 tried to resolve immediate issues by outlawing the hunting, killing or harassing of wildlife from aircraft. Alaska has tried to expand on that several times, outlawing hunting on the same day a hunter flies, and most recently, outlawing the use of cellular or satellite devices and even drones for assisting in hunting. Imagine going from sled dogs to drones in one lifetime. Many of my neighbors have Super Cubs parked in the backyard right next to their ATVs and boats. Today you can hire a bush pilot or transporter for hundreds, or more often, thousands of dollars, to deliver you into wilderness to hunt on your own for most Alaska game except the big bears, sheep and goats. Just don’t expect to be alone. During my last fly-in caribou hunt, which was a superb and successful experience, we had to hunt our sixth choice of campsites because other hunters had already flown in and set up in our first five choices. And we were never out of earshot of small planes overhead. Another big change in Alaska came in 1980 with the passage of the Federal Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act, which brought 157 million acres of land under federal control. ANILCA came on the heels of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, which expedited negotiations between Alaska’s Natives and the federal government for construction of the TransAlaska Pipeline. ANCSA brought Native control over more than 44 million acres of Alaska include game management. www.TTHA.com

“Until (ANILCA) we just had state management,” Grasser said. “You could hunt almost the entire state. There were only a couple of parks.” Added federal involvement created entire new bureaucracies and rules for everything from predator control, or lack of it, to subsistence hunting rules that give priority, broader seasons and limits to Alaska Natives, while often excluding nonNatives. That 44 million acres of former public land transferred to the 12 Alaska Native corporations became private land where access was limited or eliminated by the new owners. Some of the Native corporations offer limit drawings for hunts that are among the best in the state, although priority goes to their shareholders. With more cooks in the game management kitchen, both the challenges and approach to wildlife management have changed radically, Grasser said. “Certainly, there is more effort, more money spent and more people in the field. But I’d say at least since early statehood we did a much better job than USFWS,” he said. “Their history then was just wiping things out. There were no predators because they had killed them all!” For example, federal agents once aggressively hunted Kodiak brown bears by air, even using wing mounted rifles to kill the huge bears that were killing cattle belonging to the island’s infant cattle ranchers. Today the federal approach has flipped to total protectionism, to the chagrin of Alaskans. “They did a complete flip-flop,” Grasser said. While reflecting fondly on the early days of guiding in Alaska, he admits he wouldn’t enjoy it today. “We didn’t have all these rules and regulations. I don’t miss all the rules and stupid ideas. Most people my grandfather’s age came here for hunting, trapping and prospecting. There was no other economy.” By comparison today, oil and gas production drive the Alaska economy and pay 90 percent of the state’s government operations. Commercial fishing, health care and tourism, including hunting and fishing, provide more jobs but little net revenue. The Alaska of today is not like the Alaska of the last century. Nor is Texas for that matter. Hunting is more expensive. But if you get access, with all the new technology, it’s probably easier. Sound familiar? But if you’re fit enough, determined enough, and willing to dedicate several weeks or a month to chasing one species in good country, you can still have the hunt of a lifetime, for the cost of an over-the-counter tag. Do your homework, get in shape, hunt hard and savor the experience. Or hire the best guide or transporter you can afford and expect a super hunt as well as a good chance of success for huge animals. An Alaskan, for example, recently killed a bull moose with an 80-inch spread, now number four in the all-time Boone and Crockett record book—and he did it on a do-it-yourself hunt.

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Two hunters with the rack of a 73-inch bull moose, taken near Seward, Alaska, about 1910. January/February 2020 |

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Hunting

Late-Season Texas Waterfowl

Ruben Garza, Jr.

By Will Leschper

Photos

Mixed bag limits are common on Texas coastal duck hunts, with pintails and redheads being among the most impressive birds.

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ate-season Texas waterfowl hunting can be hit or miss for a variety of reasons. Perhaps weather patterns didn’t bring in rafts of birds, or ones that did migrate south decided to congregate in habitat that isn’t accessible to hunters. Whatever the case may be, you can add in another variable to this winter’s late-season hunts that could be somewhat detrimental: the annual waterfowl population estimate, which fell below 40 million for the first time in more than 10 years. However, despite a lower overall total, the hunting may actually prove better than it has in recent seasons. Kevin Kraai, waterfowl program leader for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, noted that weather will play a key role in the overall outlook for the rest of waterfowl season. “We’ve had an unusual fall with almost no cold fronts and so we had a stretched-out teal migration that caused some folks to have a poor season. Others who put in work were able to harvest plenty of birds though,” Kraai said. “We also had unusual weather in early fall up in the Dakotas and Canada, and their seasons were essentially cut short due to colder weather and temperatures that kept many bodies of water frozen. When those landscapes are frozen by about Halloween you can typically expect a better season for Texas hunters, which is how it pretty well played out. “When you get those cold fronts in early fall it starts to set things up well for the entire flyway and when you start to get birds moving, things really start to open up for hunters. When you get cold fronts that don’t stall out in the middle of Texas is when birds will start coming down across the whole state. “Our marshes were really fresh all summer so that’s a good sign, and if we get moisture through the winter that will mean better habitat for coastal waterfowl. When we have good cold fronts with moisture is when you can see those birds leaving places like Kansas and Nebraska. Until it gets really cold, they can sit on big reservoirs near crop fields and not have to move around much. There have been years where hunters in Canada and the Dakotas are hunting waterfowl during Thanksgiving and those typically have been tough years for Texas hunters if those birds are still that far north.” Kraai said the overall outlook for next year also could be looking up based on conditions in the prairie regions to the north. “There were large parts of Canada that were dry, but in the Dakotas they had record moisture. Conditions there throughout the breeding season were unprecedented with a lot of agricultural fields that never got farmed because they couldn’t get to them with a tractor or for other reasons,” Kraai said. “As a result we had what some up there are saying is one of the best years of duck production, especially for species like pintails, which would mean a nice bump in juvenile birds. That also means there should be good production for mallards, gadwalls and plenty of other species. The Dakotas produce a lot of birds for the Mississippi Flyway, too.” In looking at duck hunting along the Texas coast, Kraai noted that redheads—which typically are a staple in coastal hunting limits—are showing an interesting trend. “Redheads are doing very well as a whole. Their numbers are well above long-term averages,” Kraai said. “One of the things that’s interesting about agricultural practices going on in parts of Canada and the Dakotas is an increase in draining wetlands, getting water off small fields so they can be farmed. What that has kind of done has consolidated wetlands into deeper bodies

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Cupped wings are the best sight in duck hunting, no matter where you are. This year’s duck counts are the lowest overall in more than 10 years, but the outlook remains good due to increased duck production in the Dakotas.

TEX AS WATER FOWL BAG LIMITS Note: The only change from last year to upcoming migratory game bird seasons adopted by the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department will be a reduction in the pintail bag limit to just one per day. Duck Bag Limit: 6/day in the aggregate to include no more than 5 mallards, of which only 2 may be hens, 3 wood ducks, 3 scaup, 2 redheads, 2 canvasback, 1 pintail, 1 “dusky duck” (mottled, black or Mexicanlike) may only be taken after the first 5 days of the season in the respective zones. Mergansers: 5/day with no more than 2 hooded mergansers. Coots: 15/day. Possession limit is 3 times the daily bag limit for all migratory game birds except snow geese which have no possession limit. Goose Bag Limit: 5 dark geese, to include no more than 2 white-fronted geese, 20 light geese (no possession limit on light geese). Sandhill Crane Bag Limit: Zones A and B: Bag Limit: 3, possession limit 9; Zone C: Bag Limit: 2, possession limit 6.

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TEXAS WATERFOWL HUNTING SEASONS DUC K S , NORT H Z ON E REGULAR SEASON: Nov. 9 - Dec. 1, 2019 & Dec. 7, 2019 - Jan. 26, 2020 DUSKY DUCK: Nov. 14 - Dec. 1, 2019 & Dec. 7, 2019 - Jan. 26, 2020 YOUTH-ONLY: Nov. 2 - 3, 2019 DUC K S , S OU T H Z ON E REGULAR SEASON: Nov. 2 - Dec. 1, 2019 & Dec. 14, 2019 - Jan. 26, 2020 DUSKY DUCK: Nov. 7 - Dec. 1, 2019 & Dec. 14, 2019 - Jan. 26, 2020 YOUTH-ONLY: Oct. 26 - 27, 2019 H IGH PL A I N S M A L L A R D M A N AGE M E N T U N I T ( H PM M U ) REGULAR SEASON: Oct. 26 - 27, 2019 & Nov. 1, 2019 - Jan. 26, 2020 DUSKY DUCK: NOV. 4, 2019 - JAN. 26, 2020 YOUTH-ONLY: Oct. 19 - 20, 2019 GE E S E , E A S T Z ON E LIGHT & DARK GEESE: Nov. 2, 2019 - Jan. 26, 2020 LIGHT GOOSE CONSERVATION ORDER: FEB. 3 - MAR. 15, 2020 GE E S E , W E S T Z ON E LIGHT & DARK GEESE: Nov. 2, 2019 - Feb. 2, 2020 LIGHT GOOSE CONSERVATION ORDER: FEB. 3 - MAR. 15, 2020 S A N DH I L L C R A N E S ZONE A: Oct. 26, 2019 - Jan. 26, 2020 ZONE B: Nov. 22, 2019 - Jan. 26, 2020 ZONE C: Dec. 14, 2019 - Jan. 19, 2020

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of water that are more permanent. That has actually increased the amount of redhead nesting habitat that’s out there and they’re responding. “There also has been an interesting phenomenon the past few years where some bay systems along the Texas coast are completely void of redheads with not a lot of explanation. There has been no obvious lack of food or loss of seagrasses, so it’s hard to explain. A couple of years ago you had hunters going out regularly in places like Baffin and not seeing a single redhead. “One thing we are seeing with both ducks and geese are cues of birds changing their distribution and where they’re wintering within Texas in large part to human pressure. That includes redheads and when we see large rafts of those birds they’re typically where people can’t get to them or they’re difficult to get to, places like refuge areas or the national seashore. It’s becoming evident that these birds are becoming less tolerant of the vast amounts of airboats and hunting going on in some environments. There are still large pockets of redheads in the Lower Laguna Madre but we’re also seeing larger groups of birds that raft up together and fly around together, which can make hunting more difficult.” Ruben Garza Jr., hunting and fishing guide with Getaway Lodge in Port Mansfield, has been chasing after multiple species of waterfowl and saltwater game fish for years. He said the Lower Laguna Madre remains a prime hot spot in Texas for ducks. “We get a lot of really good birds in the early season (November and December) when there’s not as much hunting pressure on them. Those birds also decoy better so it makes those earlier dates more desirable from a standpoint of easier hunting typically,” Garza said. “But later in the season is when we will get our full-plumage birds; however, we also get a lot pressure down here after the second split of the season. We get a lot of coastal hunters who come down but we also get a lot of out-of-state hunters, too.” Garza noted that South Texas continues to be a hotbed for waterfowl, with the obvious draw being steady water. “We’re getting huge flights of birds (early fall) and for the most part it looks like they’re staying instead of going further south into Mexico,” Garza said. “We get pintails and redheads but we also get wigeon and our fair share of gadwall and mottled ducks. We’ll also get teal (bluewings and greenwings) with the occasional cinnamon teal. You also can’t forget about spoonies and come January those drakes look really, really good.” Garza said that hunting the late season continues to be a big draw for hunters from across the state. “When January comes around is when we get the most distinctive pintails, some really beautiful bull sprigs. I think we must have had about 15 or 20 birds just from January that ended up getting mounted,” Garza said. “Ultimately, if it wasn’t for the pintails last year when the limit was two, we would have struggled. The redhead hunting was pretty tough.” In addition to waterfowl hunting, Garza also noted that the Lower Laguna Madre offers other outdoor opportunities this month. “January is also a time when we do a lot of cast-andblast trips because that’s trophy speckled trout season,” Garza said. “I kind of do it backwards and will take folks fishing in the morning and hunting in the afternoon. Believe it or not, our afternoon hunts are phenomenal, just as good as in the morning. And that time of year we’ve also got dove hunting and I’ve had some really good dove hunts during that late season.”

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Water fowl C ou nt s

iologists, landowners and optimistic waterfowl hunters always eagerly anticipate the annual duck population survey released each August by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and Canadian Wildlife Service, hoping that waterfowl counts remain above board. The 2019 survey estimated the breeding duck population at 38.9 million, about a 6% decrease from last year’s count of 41.19 million. While that may cause some concern as a whole, the overall count still remains 10% above the long-term average. That being said, the 2019 survey is the first one since 2008 showing a dip below 40 million for the entire breeding population. Highlights from the survey include: l Mallards increased 2% to 9.42 million, 19% above the long-term average. l Green-winged teal rose 4% to 3.18 million, 47% above the long-term average. l American wigeon rose just slightly to 2.83 million, 8% above the longterm average. l Gadwall rose 13% to 3.26 million, 61% above the long-term average. l Shovelers declined 13% to 3.65 million, 39% above the long-term average. l Blue-winged teal fell 16% to 5.43 million, 6% above the long-term average. l Pintails fell 4% to 2.27 million, 42% below the long-term average. Also of note, all three diving duck species surveyed showed declines. Redheads fell 27% to 730,000, putting them at the long-term average. Canvasbacks dropped 5% to 650,000, 10% above the long-term average. Scaup fell 10% to 3.59 million, 28% below the long-term average.

Left: A pintail drake is a thing of beauty on Texas coastal duck hunts. Later in the season, the birds frequent the Lower Laguna Madre, providing outstanding late-season hunting. This year’s daily limit on the birds is one.

Huge flights of waterfowl are always a welcome sight for hunters, no matter where they’re at in Texas. The overall duck hunting outlook continued to appear strong throughout the season despite lower population counts.

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THE UNIQUE AOUDAD— SHEEP OR SAND GOAT?

By Horace Gore

1950s, there were more aoudads scattered around in zoos and on ranches in Texas than were present on their native habitats in North Africa. Hunters became interested in the aoudad as a game animal, and interest in the sand goat skyrocketed. Rev. Shaw’s descriptive name of Barbary sheep also became popular, because a hunter would pay bigger dollars for a sheep than a goat! Popularity in a game animal often increases when a celebrated hunter and outdoor writer includes it in articles and books for public reading. Jack O’Connor, world-renowned gun editor and writer for Outdoor Life and Petersen’s Hunting, hunted the aoudad in its native North Africa in the late 1950s. He was accompanied by another noted hunter of the day, Elgin Gates. They had no particular reason to hunt the aoudad in Africa, other than it being simply another species to hunt— and to them, another type of sheep. The aoudad was known to inhabit the roughest terrain of then French Equatorial Africa,

Photo

TPWD

he aoudad is an Old World mammalian species studied early by the Greeks. Taxonomists of that day gave the animal the genus Ammotragus, which literally means “sand goat.” They put the animal in the family Bovidae, and subfamily Caprinae. Caprid species are goat-antelope animals. Pallus (1777) recognized Ammotragus lervia. It’s the only species of Ammotragus. For 150 years, nobody cared about the classification of Ammotragus. The species was most common along the Barbary Coast of North Africa, and called “aoudad” by the Arabic-speaking people, which also means sand goat. History tells us the name “Barbary sheep” came from Reverend Thomas Shaw (1738), as he traveled the Barbary Coast and described the animal in his “Travels and Observations” about Barbary. Obviously, the wonders of wildlife were not a strong part of Rev. Shaw’s repertoire, because he described the animal as a sheep, while the Greeks labeled it a goat only 40 years later. Can you legitimately call a goat a sheep? If an animal walks, eats, looks and lives like a goat; if its scientific name today, after 250 years, means sand goat; and if it produces young when crossed with a Nubian milk goat, why would you call it a sheep? The answer is simple. Nobody cared one way or the other until the middle of the 20th century when the animal had become a standard species for most zoos in the world, and hunters had taken a liking to it in Texas and New Mexico as a prized game animal. By the

Jack O’Connor may have called the aoudad a Barbary sheep, but according to the author, the aoudad is no more a sheep than a Big Bend jackass is a racehorse.

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he exotic aoudad is doing well in Texas. Originally a popular zoo animal, the aoudad was brought to Texas in the 1940s and ’50s as a game animal that could be hunted year round. As an exotic, it was not protected by the state’s game laws, although a hunting license is required. Aoudads were originally kept behind high fences on large ranches, but since the ’60s, aoudads can be seen almost anywhere in the Edwards Plateau, the Palo Duro country of the Panhandle, and most of West Texas. Trophy aoudad rams have always been prized game animals, and lately, trophy hunts can bring in several thousand dollars. However, in today’s hunting world, a trophy desert bighorn ram is worth something like $150,000-$175,000, where a trophy aoudad might bring $5,000. But there will be 30-35 happy aoudad hunters for each sheep hunter. Today, in parts of West Texas, aoudads seem to be in the crosshairs of Texas Parks and

Wildlife’s program to restore the desert bighorn sheep to the area where it once roamed. The mountainous regions of the Big Bend country are the latest effort to establish sheep, but that area is also home to thousands of aoudads and a few Mexican burros that are doing quite well. TPWD wants the mountainous terrain for sheep, but most landowners want the aoudad, which does well and offers present hunting and monetary value. They know the bighorn’s chances of survival to a point of hunting is chancy, at best. So, there is the question of what is best for the Big Bend country—a chancy population of a few hundred bighorns, or a sizeable population of aoudads that are expected to thrive for a long time and offer hunting and economic values every year. Wildlife biologists who census the sheep from helicopter carry rifles to shoot all aoudads that they see, if the landowner will let them. One recent quote from a biologist that he had been

and was credited as being tough as a boot—the coyote of the mammal world. At that time, O’Connor was the foremost outdoor writer in the world, and his assessment of a hunt was gospel. He titled his story of the hunt, “My Strangest Sheep Hunt.” When he referred to the aoudad as a Barbary sheep, his notoriety gave the name “Barbary sheep” more popularity than ever before. No wonder Jack called it a strange sheep hunt. He was hunting a goat. Truth is, the aoudad is no more a sheep than a Big Bend jackass is a racehorse. The aoudad was one of many exotic ungulates brought to the U.S. as zoo animals in the 1930s and ’40s. Many of these species ended up on large, high fenced ranches in Texas as game animals. High fences and large expanses of terrain were important for keeping aoudads in captivity. Several ranches simply turned them loose, and never saw them again. Adaptability was also important. I know of one ranch of 5,000 high-fenced acres that released some 40-50 aoudads in the Pineywoods north of Houston—a far cry from their native North Africa. The fence was 8-feet high and new, yet in less than one year, not an aoudad could be found on the property. Several high-fenced ranches in the Edwards Plateau of Central Texas have been successful with the exotic aoudad. The old Texas Game and Fish Commission stocked aoudad in the Panhandle’s Palo Duro Canyon in the late ’50s. Aoudads still thrive in the canyon today. Many ranches in the mountainous areas of West Texas have also stocked aoudads, which have expanded their range to include many of the counties west of the Pecos. These aoudads, as well as those of the Palo Duro Canyon, are all free ranging. The aoudad is one of the most prized exotics of the hunting world. The benchmark for a trophy aoudad is 30 inches of curl in the sweeping horns. Thousands of hunters from around the world come to Texas to hunt aoudad, blackbucks, axis and www.TTHA.com

“censusing” sheep for two months seems to indicate the helicopter surveys are more for killing aoudads than counting sheep. In two months, you could count all the sheep and half the mule deer west of the Pecos. Oh, well. I’m not worried about the sheep or the aoudads. The aoudads will survive any attempts to eliminate them, and the habitat in question is probably too low in elevation to support more than a small population of bighorn sheep. That’s one of the problems with trying to establish sheep in places where they can’t get away from donkeys, aoudads, eagles, bobcats, coyotes and mountain lions. Comparatively, the lifestyle of the aoudad at any elevation is as long as your arm, while the sheep’s lifestyle on lower elevations is as short as your finger. That’s the problem. Those aren’t my words, but the opinion of several sheep biologists who visited from Arizona several years ago, where they have higher mountain ranges and lots of sheep.—HG

sika deer, red stag, and the big blue bulls—nilgai—of the Wild Horse Desert of deep South Texas. Through the years, the aoudad has been prized as hard to hunt, hard to kill, and worthy as a game trophy. Here in the U.S., the original moniker given to aoudad—Barbary sheep—has been used by ranchers who advertise Barbary sheep hunts. No one knows why the aoudad gets called a Barbary sheep. Hunters don’t know, and ranchers don’t know. They just liked the word “sheep.” The aoudad should more correctly be called “Barbary goat” if anything other than aoudad. The London Zoo many years ago crossed a male aoudad with a Nubian milk goat and produced a “kid.” Also, the aoudad has dietary habits and preferences of the goat family. So, what about this strange mammal with sweeping horns, a neck mane that hangs down between its front legs, agility that resembles that of any goat that spends his days on top of the family pickup, and a physique that is big in front and little in the rear? He will eat almost anything, including dirt, and live and do well in high heat or bitter cold. He can’t tolerate high humidity or damp, wet conditions. But give him half a chance and he’ll be thriving when all other mammals of his class and size are gone. He is truly the coyote of the mammal world—the “goat” that Jack O’Connor and Elgin Gates called Barbary sheep. It has long been known that hunters are prone to have their colloquial names for certain birds or animals. The wild turkey was first called a peacock, and we have an influence on what names we give to the animal world. Rev. Shaw saw the aoudad as a sheep in 1738. The Greeks saw him as a goat and officially named him as such in 1777. The Arabs called him aoudad, which also means sand goat. Shakespeare had it right in Romeo and Juliet: “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” What matters is what something IS called, not what it MIGHT be called. You can call the aoudad a Barbary sheep all day long, but when the sun goes down, he will still be a goat.

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PRONGHORNS ON YOUR OWN

With planning and patience, a successful do-it-yourself pronghorn hunt is within reach.

Author Photos

By Brandon Ray

The author with his 2019 New Mexico pronghorn. Shot distance was 28 yards from a blind near a windmill late in the afternoon on day two.

uided hunts are expensive. Besides, I get more satisfaction from a hunt on my own. For a hunter’s first-ever, outof-state adventure, pronghorns are a good choice. Nonresident tag costs are reasonable, usually $300-$600. With a buddy splitting costs for food and gas, it’s possible to do a public land hunt for less than $1,000. Pronghorns are more visible than say deer or elk, so scouting is easier. A pronghorn hunt is not physically taxing like an elk hunt. My two favorite states for a do-

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it-yourself hunt are Wyoming and New Mexico. Wyoming has lots of public land and more antelope than any other state. New Mexico is close to home with quality bucks, public land opportunities and access to private land by paying a trespass fee.

PLANNING

Start with a phone call to the state game and fish office for the state you want to hunt. Find out deadlines to apply for tags. Bi-

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ologists for the region can share clues on best areas for big bucks. Ask for a list of landowners willing to grant access to private land in case you don’t draw a tag on public land. Once you narrow down where you plan to hunt, research the closest towns. Find out if they have a hotel, grocery store, gas station, etc. There’s nothing worse than sitting in a hot blind all day, driving to town after dark and finding out the only restaurant for miles has just closed! Research closing times and food options before the hunt. When available within a short drive of my hunt area, I prefer staying in a hotel over camping. August bow seasons are hot and a shower and comfortable bed at the end of the day help recharge me for another day in the heat. If camping is your preference, find a shady spot on the prairie. A small grove of cottonwoods will provide relief from the heat and a place to hang a buck for

dark are when most bucks drink. That said, I’ve had bucks water at 8 a.m., so I always plan to sit all day. Pack several ground blinds and fold-up chairs for such an ambush. Tent stakes, hammer and pruners will help set the blind and trim weeds. I place a blanket on the floor of the blind to keep dust from boiling on me during the day. Pack a small cooler with ice, water, sports drinks and snacks. Books, magazines and a journal also help pass the time. Good optics like a window-mounted spotting scope and 10X binoculars will help with scouting chores. A pocket-sized rangefinder will pin down shot distances around the blind. You don’t need a lot of draw weight for pronghorns. Bucks are thin-skinned with a live weight of 100-140 pounds. My typical antelope rig includes a bow drawing 58-62 pounds coupled with skinny carbon arrows with a finished weight around 400-450

Brandon likes to practice on a life-size target of whatever animal he’s hunting. Summer practice will pay off when opening day arrives.

skinning. Ask state game and fish personnel for rules on camping on public land.

GEAR FOR PRONGHORNS

The best odds for success for a bowhunter are hunting near water. It takes lots of patience to sit in a blind for 12-14 hours a day, but the result is usually a close shot at an unsuspecting buck. In my experience, midday and the last two hours before

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grains. Pack an extra release in your backpack. For do-it-yourselfers, you’ll also need skinning knives, flashlights, a big cooler full of ice for the meat and a can of gas in the bed of the truck. Don’t forget a spare tire should be ready if needed.

MY 2019 ADVENTURE

My nephew, Buck Monning, planned to join me for his firstever pronghorn hunt in August 2019. With no luck drawing

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AUTHOR’S 2019 PRONGHORN GEAR Bow – PSE Carbon Air 32

Arrows – Victory VAP Elite

Broadhead – Slick Trick

Optics – Nikon

Clothing – Sixsite Gear

Blinds – Primos Double Bull

New Mexico tags, I contacted a rancher for access. Expect to pay $500-$2,500 for access to a quality private ranch. I arrived two days before the season opener. My rig was loaded with coolers, blinds, targets, decoys and bow gear. I’d hunted the ranch before, so I knew which windmills were best for thirsty bucks. By the end of the day, I had three pop-up blinds set and trail cameras over water. I spent the last hour of the day driving and glassing bucks from the truck. I saw 12 different bucks and got a good feel for the top-end. The biggest bucks I saw were 14-inch, low 70s class bucks. The next day, I checked trail cameras and glassed new country. My nephew arrived after dark. We were ready for opening day. Opening morning, Buck and I split up at daybreak. I sat in the blind at the north windmill, Buck sat at the middle windmill. The action was slow in the morning, but as the day heated up to 92 degrees, the bucks got thirsty. By the end of the day, I’d seen seven bucks inside bow range. None of them were the bigger bucks I’d found while scouting, so I was being picky. The most action was during the last two hours of the day. I also saw mule deer, blue quail, road runners, crows and 33 Angus cows around the water. Buck had a busy day, seeing five bucks and several does. We each logged 13 hours in the blind. Hot food and a comfortable bed at the small-town hotel sounded like heaven. Day two promised to be hot, a good recipe for guarding water. I’d barely got my cooler and camera gear situated, when my phone lit up. It was a picture of a fine buck with a Mathews bow laid across it. Success! I photographed Buck with his first-ever pronghorn, a handsome 13-incher that came to water at 9 a.m. for a 20-yard shot. Next, Buck set off to the far end of the pasture to quarter his antelope and get the meat on ice. I was back in my blind for the rest of the day. Two average-sized, 12-inch bucks and six does came to water at midday, but mostly I looked at fly-covered Angus cows. It was the last hour when tan and white objects started to appear from the distance, all converging on my water tank. First, it was five does with a decent buck. Next, three more bucks came to water. By sunset, I had 15 antelope within 100 yards of my blind. The buck I really wanted, a heavy-horned 14 incher with long prongs we nicknamed “Hooks,” never got closer than 80 yards. One of the other bucks, an older buck with smaller horns, kept running Hooks away from the does. With the day fading, I faced a tough decision: take a respectable buck pacing around the water, or likely endure another 13-hour day tomorrow for maybe another chance at Hooks. When a good buck stood broadside at 28 yards, I eased my bow to full power. The arrow hit low in the chest and the buck only went 60 yards before going down in the yuccas.

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Here’s a pop-up ground blind set beside a water tank.

This mature buck walked less than 20 yards from the author’s blind. A few cows behind the pronghorn meant the only safe shot was with a camera.

In two days of hunting, Buck and I tagged two fine bucks and passed shots at others. Meat and capes were on ice for the drive back to Texas. Planning, preparations and some patience in the blind all paid off. A similar adventure is possible for any bowhunter willing to put forth the effort.

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Brought to you by

Summer with Ranch Brigade

Henson

was privileged to receive an opportunity to attend Ranch Brigade for one week in July 2019. That week made such an impact on me, I decided to alter the course of my future. As an eighth grader, I had decided to attend Texas A&M University to pursue a degree in agricultural leadership in order to work in the family business of ranch real estate. However, after one week of Ranch Brigade, I had found a new passion. I’m now on course to pursuing a degree in biomedical and veterinary animal sciences at Texas A&M to become a large animal vet. Ranch Brigade is located on the Warren Ranch in Santa Anna, Texas. The lush green pastures and rolling hills are home to a variety of natural grasses and livestock. They have top-notch ranch facilities, as well as first-class lodging and meeting areas. This “camp” is not like any other camp I have ever experienced. The amount of knowledge and hands-on opportunities reminded me of school, but without being boring or tedious. In fact, the enthusiastic and down-to-earth staff at Ranch Brigade made it a memorable experience that will always hold a special place in my heart. It’s not hard to fall in love with ranching when you spend a week under the influence of ranchers like Jon Taggart, Chris Farley, and Jeff Petter. What’s the point of learning about livestock production in the beef industry if you’re not going to get to enjoy the “fruits” of your labor? The food at Ranch Brigade is amazing. Cadets learn from calf to kitchen what it takes to raise quality beef. We attended a field trip to Santa Anna Processing and Taxidermy to learn about meat

processing and the various cuts of beef. In addition, two members of the Texas Beef Council taught us about food safety and how to properly grill a flat iron steak. It was my first time to ever grill my own steak and I can tell you that if veterinary school doesn’t work out, then I might have a real shot at being a grill master. It’s a good thing they fed us well because we worked up a massive appetite after all of the camp activities. The cadets were grouped into four herds that competed for a trophy buckle and bragging rights. Some of the activities were goat roping and sorting, fence building, and trivia. Mr. Petter also made sure that we learned farm chores, but in a fun way.

The cadets were grouped into four “herds” that competed for a trophy buckle and bragging rights. Some of the activities were goat roping and sorting.

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Brigades Photos

By Tanner

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Each herd had to work as a The staff at Ranch Brigade team to move square bales, supervised cadets as the empty feed sacks, and haul youngsters learned how to water in relays. ear-tag a cow, give mediIt was back-breaking labor, cines, use a branding iron but so much fun. It wasn’t all to mark cattle, and more. fun and games though. We also gained hands-on experience with working cows. The staff at Ranch Brigade supervised the cadets as we learned how to give medicines, use a branding iron to mark cattle, to dehorn a cow, and even how to castrate a calf or bull. I walked away from Ranch Brigade literally having first-hand experience at castrating a calf. How many camps have campers who can say that? On a more serious note, Ranch Brigade is important to me because I want to be involved in agriculture and own my own cattle one day. I have a passion for the outdoors and a desire to be a responsible land steward. Ranch Brigades laid the foundation for me to achieve those goals. The experience also opened doors of opportunity for me to increase my knowledge by keeping records of my accomplishments as I continue my education of the beef and cattle industry. I was able to attend the Beef and Cattle Short Course at Texas A&M where I learned so much and made connections with other people who share similar interests. I have also presented speeches and been given the opportunity to share information and photos of my experiences at camp. “Educating and empowering the next generation of resource managers with the skills

and knowledge necessary to successfully manage and promote sustainable beef production,” is Ranch Brigade’s mission, but the heart of it lies with the ranchers, staff, herd leaders, assistant herd leaders, and graduated cadets. To complete a week of hard work, competitions, team building, leadership activities, projects and public speaking is no small feat, but the sense of accomplishment and achievement makes it all worth it. No matter who you are, or where you’re from, you won’t leave Ranch Brigade without a passion for land stewardship and livestock production. Not to mention, one of the best weeks of your life filled with fun, knowledge, hard work, and leadership, mixed in with a little sweat and grit. Texas Brigades is a conservation-based leadership organization which organizes wildlife and natural resource-based leadership camps for participants ranging in age from 13-17. Its mission is to educate and empower youths with leadership skills and knowledge in wildlife, fisheries, and land stewardship to become conservation ambassadors for a sustained natural resource legacy. There are multiple camps scheduled in the summer, focusing on different animal species while incorporating leadership development. Summer camps include Rolling Plains and South Texas Bobwhite Brigade, South and North Texas Buckskin Brigade, Bass Brigade, Waterfowl Brigade, Ranch Brigade and Coastal Brigade. Visit texasbrigades.org or call 210-556-1391 for more information.

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THE WORLD''' ’S MOST LOPSIDED TREATY The Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo settled the Texas-Mexico border dispute and provided Alta California as Manifest Destiny. he Mexican-American War of 1846-1848 was an unnecessary fight and could have been avoided if the Mexican government had agreed to reasonable terms set forth by President James Polk after Texas joined the Union in 1845. Santa Anna had agreed to the Rio Grande River as the border between Texas and Mexico in the two treaties of Velasco, which he signed following his ill-fated battle at San Jacinto. The Mexican government refused to accept the treaties, asserting that Santa Anna could not sign a treaty as a prisoner of war. This left a vast expanse of land in a disputed agreement between the U.S. and Mexico, because the Rio Grande runs from the Gulf of Mexico west and north for 500 miles. When Texas joined the Union in 1845, President Polk urged Congress to settle the border dispute with Mexico. He was also interested in buying Alta California from Mexico as a way of completing America’s Manifest Destiny, a 19th century belief that the expansion of the U.S. to the West Coast was justified and inevitable. Alta California was a vast expanse from the Rio Grande to the Pacific Coast that Mexico had won in the war with Spain. The Mexican government turned down an offer of $40 million to buy Alta California and settle the border dispute. Mexico was a proud country in 1845, having defeated Spain in 1821 after an 11year war, and doubling the size of their country. They had no interest in selling, and they were firm on keeping their newly acquired Spanish conquest of Alta California and also the Nueces Strip. President Polk was an expansionist and a strong believer

in Manifest Destiny. He was not going to let Mexico keep the disputed land between the Nueces and the Rio Grande. He immediately sent military advancements into the Nueces Strip and erected a fort on the Rio Grande. This action erupted in gunfire, and a subsequent war with Mexico ensued, a war that could have been avoided had cooler heads prevailed. The Mexican-American war ended in 1848 with the signing of the Guadalupe-Hidalgo Treaty, which ceded the Nueces Strip and all of Alta California to the U.S. for $15 million and an assumption of $3 million in Mexican debts to American interests. This monetary agreement was less than one-half of President Polk’s original offer for the land. After completion of the treaty, the western side of Alta California was eventually created into the state of California. The rest of the territory was finally developed into all or parts of Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming. When the war ended in 1848, the Mexican inhabitants of the Nueces Strip, and lands west and north up the Rio Grande, found they were living in Texas, not Mexico. They were given the choice of becoming Texas residents or returning to Mexico. The lopsided treaty is an embarrassment to Mexico, even today. Mexico may have used poor judgment by refusing the $40 million offer, since it was inevitable they would lose a war with the U.S. The border dispute was a boondoggle from the day that Mexico rejected the treaties of Velasco and Santa Anna set foot back in Mexico City. — Horace Gore

The Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo brought the border of Texas to the Rio Grande, and all of Alta California to the U.S. (orange).

Editor’s Note: The farther along we crawl through the 21st century, the more we crave just a little bit of nostalgia. If you would like to share some vintage hunting photos (anything before 1960) with our readers, please send them our way, along with a brief description or story.

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by Photo Whitley Quim

INGREDIENTS • Package of Wick Fowler’s 2-Alarm chili mix. Prepare as directed on the package, with these variations: • 2 lbs. venison (chopped or coarse ground) • Add one can diced Ro-Tel tomatoes • Add small sweet onion, diced • Use ½ of the red pepper for most chili-lovers, especially millennials • Lone Star Light instead of water or half and half

Do you have a favorite Wild Game recipe that you would like to share with our readers? If so, please type or print recipe and send to: Texas Trophy Hunters Association ATTN: Editor 326 Sterling Browning Road San Antonio, TX 78232 www.TTHA.com

WICK FOWLER’S 2-ALARM VENISON CHILI— TTHA STYLE DIRECTIONS

Wick Fowler’s 2-alarm chili mix has been a winner for making Texas chili for 56 years. We will not try to “best” it, but from experience, we will suggest some additions and subtractions that may please the benevolent chili lover living in the suburbs. I’ve made Wick Fowler’s chili with venison more times than you can count, and I’ve always thought it needed additional onions. The Ro-tel tomatoes give it a bloom that is preferred by some chili aficionados. Cook 2 hours, with the last hour on medium heat. Remove from heat and let chili cool. Let it rest for at least one hour—longer is better—at room temperature before serving. This gives the spices time to completely secure the meat and other ingredients, and don’t worry—it won’t spoil! Reheat chili and serve with crackers and iced tea or another drink that will absorb the heat. —Horace Gore

P.S.: A slice or shredded American cheese in the chili bowl is yummy, and venison chili is surprisingly good over spaghetti! THE JOURNAL OF THE TEXAS TROPHY HUNTERS - The Voice of Texas Hunting®

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TTHA is proud to announce its continued partnership with Reata Insurance Group, Inc. and Philadelphia Insurance Company, offering an endorsed insurance program. Mike & Chase Pennington, the endorsed insurance agents for TTHA members, have used their extensive industry knowledge to put together an insurance program with Philadelphia Insurance Company, to provide superior protection for TTHA members. Philadelphia Insurance Company has over 25 years of underwriting experience focused on the hunting and shooting sports industries. This program will provide the most complete and comprehensive coverage for hunting leases, lodges, guides and other outdoor recreation operations. For more information contact:

Mike Pennington or Chase Pennington mike@reatatx.com chase@reatatx.com Office: 512-420-9333 www.reatainsurance.com

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The 629 Ranch is an ideal combination hunting and cattle ranch with approximately 15% being in productive fields and the balance in dense wildlife habitat. The property is well located halfway between Burnet and Lampasas less than 5 minutes off of Highway 281. Paved road frontage, water well and electricity. The ranch is home to Whitetail Deer, Wild Turkey, Feral Hogs and Varmints. The property has been well managed and only three bucks taken in the last three seasons with the best scoring 140 points Boone & Crockett gross taken by a bow hunter. $3995 per acre

The Jackson Ranch is located approximately 13 miles West of Lampasas, Texas on FM 580. The Historic Ranch has 1.82 miles of Colorado River frontage, elevations vary from 200′ high cliffs overlooking the river and views to the West, to low sloping grassy banks sheltered by pecan trees. The terrain is hilly to rough with a substantial portion on the west being rocky hills, ridges and canyons. Outstanding hunting on this large, low fenced ranch. $3150 per acre

A rare opportunity to own a large tract (over 7 Square Miles) within an hour of Austin located halfway between Burnet and Marble Falls. This beautiful Hill Country Ranch offers 40 mile views the spacious high mesa’s to beautiful bottom land, lush with grasses and dotted with Live Oaks. Ma ny of the draws are running water from numerous springs, all topped off with a 28 acre Lake. Game fenced and managed for years, this is a true Legacy Ranch for the discriminating buyer to seriously consider. Improvements include a spacious Main House on the high mesa, a foreman’s house, barn and multiple water wells. Listed for $6250 per acre

Ranches with river frontage offer the best in all around recreation such as hunting and fishing. Wildlife abounds in the river bottom and duck hunters take note - this ranch has superb waterfowl habitat. A hunting cabin is in place on the high bank of the river. The ranch is covered with large, ancient pecan trees as well as live oaks, and elms. A good mix of open pasture for grazing and trees for shade, the ranch is well balanced. $6900 per acre

Sportsmen Take Note – This Gulf Coast ranch bordered by the Victoria Barge Canal with views of San Antonio Bay is a veritable wildlife paradise. Conveniently located only minutes from Seadrift. Waterfowl Hunting is unparalleled, with approximately 200 acres of wetlands present on the property. This greatly benefits the numerous species of migratory waterfowl and other game animals in the area such as deer and hogs. The balance of the property is a comprised of a variety of quality soil types thus providing a high carrying capacity for grazing. The ranch is predominantly level with a good mix of open grasslands and nice Live Oak motts. $3365 per acre

Lost in Colorado By Mike Murphy

ack in the mid 1980s, my brother-in-law, Wayne, approached me about a mule deer hunt. Now, a preacher is particular with whom he is about to spend 10 days in a tent with at 10,000 feet. But with Wayne being a lay preacher and Les, who was a deacon in my church, I figured we had God on our side and nothing could go wrong. Apparently, God never cared for Murphy’s Law. All I could think of in K-Mart was what would fit in my fanny pack. I had 27 ways to start a fire, not including matches. It’s a wonder my church didn’t run me off. Even my wife Prissy said, “I’ll be so glad when you finally go to Colorado!” Well, November finally rolled around. With mud chains hanging on the cow pusher of my 3500 crew cab 4x4, we looked like real rednecks. None of us had ever been hunting north of Austin, Texas, but by the stack of topographical maps on the dash, you would never know. We rolled into Cortez like a big dog, feeling like we were really somebody, but not having any idea how to install our new mud chains. We set up our new Coleman tent in the San Juan National Forest and decided to scout the area for the next day’s hunt. With an agreed one-hour time limit and three shots for a distress signal, we fanned out. I went north—remember, this is before a Author Photo

Mike Murphy had a most memorable hunting trip in Colorado. He came through it unscathed.

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GPS—my backpack weighed about 45 pounds and I had never been in snow. I had a topographical map, and following the river, I felt like I was in charge. But after three or four deep draws and a light snow, I decided to turn back to camp. The compass, maps and everything began to look the same, so I decided to take my own advice and sat down and made a cup of hot cocoa on my new mini stove. At this point you would think two preachers and one deacon could pray for some “divine guidance,” so I’m not ashamed to say I called on the good Lord to direct my path. After two cups of hot chocolate and with map and compass in hand, I trudged south. My confidence was high when I found my own tracks—until I came across bear tracks, ones that crossed my tracks. I had never seen a bear outside the San Antonio Zoo. These tracks were 5 inches across and still smoking. When I say smoking, I mean I had just been there 30 minutes before and his tracks were on top of mine. We could have met. Well, I confessed to sins I had not even committed. Needless to say, I could not feel the 40-pound pack on my back as I hurried along, firing my .44 Red Hawk three times every 10 minutes. I do not encourage my readers to make a deal with God, such as, “God, if you will get me out of this one, I’ll get myself out of the next one.” But, next to disclosing ministerial secrets, I sat down next to a pine tree. About then, I heard three shots from Wayne’s thumbbuster .44. I was only 250 yards west of camp. Few feelings in life compare with the flood of joy that came over me. “Weeping may endure for a season, but joy comes in the morning,” as the saying goes. You might be lost several times in life. You might be exasperated and frightened. But, there is a plan drawn by the Master’s hand. If the hairs on your head are counted and a sovereign God knows where you are, trust in Him and lean not to your own understanding. If I can pray for or comfort you, please e-mail me at mikemmurphy@att.net. —The Preacher

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Fish and game move in search of food in cycles relative to the moon’s location to the Earth. The time spans listed are the prime or major period times to start each day and along each time zone meridian of longitude 75° (Eastern), 90° (Central), 105° (Mountain) and 120° (Pacific). To determine the feeding cycle time for fishing and hunting in the area you plan to fish or hunt, advance the sum of 4 minutes for each degree west and back up 4 minutes for each degree east. The next prime feeding cycle (not listed on the calendar) will be approximately 121/2 hours later. There are minor periods that occur between the prime or major periods. The moon’s phases are shown as New, First Quarter (FQ), Full and Last Quarter (LQ). The feeding times are not a cure-all. Weather and other environmental conditions affect wildlife feeding activity.

JANUARY 2020 1 2 3 4 FQ

3:50P–8:50P 4:35P–9:35P 4:50A–9:50A 5:35A–10:35A

5 6 7 8 9 10 11 FULL

6:20A–11:20A 7:05A–12:05P 7:50A–12:50P 8:35A–1:35P 9:20A–2:20P 10:05A–3:05P 10:55P–3:55P

12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

21 22 23 24 25 NEW

5:45A–10:45A 6:35A–11:35A 7:25A–12:25P 8:15A–1:15P 9:10A–2:10P 10:05A–3:05P 10:55A–3:55P

26 27 28 29 30 31

JAN

11:50A–4:50P 12:50P–5:50P 1:45P–6:45P 2:40P–7:40P 3:35P–8:35P 4:35P–9:35P 4:55A–9:55A

Dec 26 FQ

Jan 02

11:45A–4:45P 12:35P–5:35P 1:25P–6:25P 2:10P–7:10P 2:55P–7:55P 3:45P–8:45P

FE BR U A R Y 2 0 2 0

Jan 10

4:10A–9:10A

Jan 17

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

FULL

10:40A–3:40P 11:40A–4:40P 12:45P–5:45P 1:45P–6:45P 2:45P–7:45P 3:45P–8:45P 4:15A–9:15A

16 17 18 19 20 21 22

FEB

5:00A–10:00A 5:45A–10:45A 6:25A–11:25A 7:10A–12:10P 7:55A–12:55P 8:45A–1:45P 9:40A–2:40P

Jan 24 FQ

Feb 01

5:10A–10:20A 6:00A–11:00A 6:45A–11:45A 7:30A–12:30P 8:15A–1:15P 9:00A–2:00P 9:40A–2:40P

23 24 25 26 27 28 29

NEW

Feb 09

10:25A–3:25P 11:10A–4:10P 11:50P–4:50P 12:30P–5:30P 1:10P–6:10P 1:50P–6:50P 2:35P–7:35P

BEST

GOOD

FAIR

POOR

Annual vest pocket books, which show all the major and minor periods, can be ordered by sending a check or money order for $19.95 per book. For shipping and handling, please add $4.95 to an order of 1 to 4 books. Make check or money order payable to Feeding Times. Send to Feeding Times, P.O. Box 2240, Covington, GA 30015. After October 1, please indicate book year in your order. For questions or comments, call 404-373-7151.

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CHLOE JONES: whitetail five-point (first buck) with 13½-inch inside spread taken 2/2/19. GEAR: 300 Blackout, 120-grain Hornady ammo, Vortex scope. OUTFITTER: Dad.

JAKE BROWN: whitetail 10-point with 13½-inch inside spread, gross scoring 1286⁄8 B&C, taken 10/7/18 in Freestone County. GEAR: crossbow, 125-grain Rage broadhead. OUTFITTER: Dad.

J.D. PAGE: whitetail seven-point with 16inch inside spread taken in Coke County in 2018. GEAR: .220 Swift. OUTFITTER: Mom and Dad.

LOU GRAY: whitetail 12-point with 157⁄8 inch inside spread, scoring 1556⁄8 B&C, taken 11/17/19 in La Salle County. GEAR: Weatherby .30-06, Remington Core-Lokt ammo, Leupold scope. OUTFITTER: Charco Marrano Ranch.

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JORDEN MAHLER: whitetail 14-point with 205⁄8-inch inside spread taken 11/15/18 in Alberta, Canada. GEAR: Browning X-bolt; .308 ammo, Vortex scope. OUTFITTER: Tagged Out Hunting Enterprise. DOUG GOODSPEED: feral hog taken 11/3/19 in Medina County. GEAR: Remington .270; 150-grain ammo, Redfield scope. OUTFITTER: Hog Rock Ranch.

SCOTT MYERS: aoudad with 25½-inch horns taken 11/9/19 in Gillespie County. GEAR: Remington 700 .30-06, Hornady ammo, Leupold scope. OUTFITTER: self. PHILIP HANSELL: whitetail nine-point with 23½-inch inside spread, scoring 1555⁄8 B&C, taken 11/16/19 in La Salle County. GEAR: Browning X-bolt .270, Remington Core-Lokt ammo, Nikon Monarch scope. OUTFITTER: Charco Marrano Ranch.

SEND US YOUR HUNTING PHOTOS! NOTE: Only members of Texas Trophy Hunters Association or immediate family may submit photos. Out of fairness to all members, only one photo of each family member will be accepted each year. Do not paperclip or staple photos as this can damage them. Prints must be no larger than 4x6 inches and printed on photo-quality paper. No photos will be returned. Photos may also be e-mailed to HuntsEnd@ttha. com. If sent by e-mail, please make sure to include all information from the form below and limit your photo size to less than 5MB. Send a separate e-mail for each entry.

NO ENTRIES WILL BE ACCEPTED UNLESS THIS FORM IS COMPLETED PROPERLY. Hunter’s Name: ___________________________________________________________________

Please Circle One:

Member’s Name (if different): ________________________________________________________

Member ID Number: ___________________________

Email: __________________________________________ Date Taken: __________________________

Adult

Species Taken: _______________________________ Number of Points: ________________

Inside Spread: _______________________

Phone Number: (___________)__________________________________ Projectile: _________________________

Youth

Sighting System: _________________________

Outfitter: ___________________________________________

Net or Gross B&C Score (if known): _______________________ State or County: _________________________ Weapon: ________________________________________

Comments: ___________________________________________________________

Send To: Hunt’s End, 326 Sterling Browning Rd., San Antonio, Texas, 78232-1220

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THE ROUND-UP THE ROUND-UP [ THE JOURNAL ] VOLUME 45 NUMBER 1 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2020

Texas Trophy Hunters Association Round-Up ads provide excellent exposure at a minimal cost. For more information on placing your ad in the Round-Up, please contact Debbie Keene at 210-491-2127 or deborah@ttha.com

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CLASSIFIED

[ THE JOURNAL ]

VOLUME 45 NUMBER 1 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2020

“MEMBERS ONLY” Benefit!

Don’t forget to use your free classified ad! It’s once per year and you must have an active membership in good standing. Send to:

TTHA Classified 326 Sterling Browning Road San Antonio, TX 78232-1220

You may fax your ad to (210) 523-8871, Attn: Debbie Keene or e-mail to Deborah@ttha.com Send your ad in by January 10 to run in the next issue!

FREE CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING!

Available to current members of Texas Trophy Hunters Association only! Limit 25 words per ad. Each member may run 1 FREE ad in one issue per year. 25 word ads after FREE issue are $40 each. WE RESERVE THE RIGHT TO EDIT OR REFUSE ANY AD.

RANCH MAPS — Get the highest quality, fully customizable aerial maps of your property, today! Large Maps, Field Maps, CoolerTop Maps, etc. www.MapMyRanch. com (713) 302-2028.

S & D WHITETAILS — Limited hunts avail. Booking 2019 now. All native S TX deer from 140-230 class. Deer & Dove hunts Central TX. Over 7500 ac. 24-yrs experience. 5 Star rating. 325-642-7596.

BECOME A TAXIDERMIST — Lone Star State School of Taxidermy is booking classes for 2019! Located in Llano, TX, the deer capital of Texas! Call 325-423-0521 or visit www. texastaxidermyschool.com for more info!

TROPHY-BUCK INC Game Processing & Taxidermy. Family owned/operated since ’84. Year-round meat processing, mouth-watering sausage products, award winning taxidermy. We specialize in catering. Lytle, TX. 830-7094263. Trophybuckinc.com.

WILDLIFE REMOVAL TECHNICIAN Professional and affordable predator control available. 30+ years experience. References available upon request. Willing to travel. Call Chris 256-613-2089.

PECAN CREEK RANCH, Llano, TX. 5 Day Pkg Hunt/6 Guns @$2250/gun. Excellent Lodging. 1-8pt.+ Buck, 1 Management Buck, 2 Does, 1 Turkey. Unlimited Hogs, Fishing. 512-217-8483, kip.reagor@gmail.com, centuryranchhunting.com.

HUNTER’S RETREAT — Come and enjoy this cozy retreat surrounded by large trees & wildlife. Our goal is to make your stay one to remember. Find us on Airbnb, VRBO,FB Mkt. Place. 512-429-6474 Charlenemeltzer@ gmail.com. PROFESSIONAL TRAPPER For Hire. Offering exclusive predator control for ranches. Specializing in coyote & raccoon removal, experienced in low and high fence operations. Barry 731-697-2654 or goetrapping@ gmail.com. WWW.Goetrapping.com. CENTRAL TEXAS TROPHY hunts. Whitetails and Exotics. Semi-guided, lodging and meals included. Hunts start at $3000. Please contact Steve 281-216-8271. WILDLIFE & HABITAT Consulting. Commercial hunts available. Contact Certified Wildlife Biologist Jason Shipman 210-508-8447 or jasonashipman@gmail.com.

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AFRICA ANIMALS $5950. Argentina Free Range Red Stag $4500. NM Pronghorn $2995. Canada Moose $4500. NM Black Bear $4500. Utah Elk 330 Class $6400. 330360 Class $8400. Riata Worldwide Hunting & Fishing mike@riatahuntfish.com. HELP FEED THE HOMELESS — donate excess game animals to feed the homeless, orphans, and needy families. Go to www. trinityoaks.org “contact us” tab. SOUTH AFRICA SAFARI Hunt — Lindale Heritage Safaris. 4 Trophy Animals @ $3,000 in 6 days. Including Lodging, All Meals, Beverages, Laundry, Airport Transfers, Guided Hunt W/ Professional Hunter & Tracker. Other Packages or Additional Trophies Available: Call 214-317-0964 or email robbieplacino@ yahoo.com. 38 ACRES NE GRAYSON County – Rough, steep, heavily treed with rock outcroppings. Bowhunters’ paradise, trophy bucks and wildlife galore. 1,100 SF house, 42’x30’ steel building and storage shed. Pics available. $625,000. spikehud@icloud.com or text 214-676-7565.

TEXAS HUNTER FISH FEEDERS create ‘feeding zones’ that make catching fish fun for the whole family. Project fish feed up to 45ft. into the water to feed fish on a regular basis which helps you grow bigger fish faster. Call 800-969-3337 or www.TexasHunter.com. DEERVIEW WINDOWS — we manufacture windows for the use in deer stand and deer blind applications. All our windows and doors can be custom made to fit your specific openings or you can select from our standard sizes. All products can be viewed at www. deerviewwindows.com. THE LONE STAR Bowhunters Association. Preserving and Promoting bow hunting in Texas since 1974. Join today at www.lone starbowhunter.com. Take a kid hunting. PROPERTY FOR SALE – 34.65 acres in Kinney County, fenced, two cabins furnished. 3 feeders with winch and hog trap. $130,000. Call 210-669-3840 or annamkw@gmail.com.

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[ THE JOURNAL ] VOLUME 45 NUMBER 1 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2020

AD INDEX

JOURNAL ADVERTISERS FEATURED ADVERTISERS IN THE JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2020 ISSUE

5 Star Deer Guide. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121

Jason A. Shipman. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125

Texas State Rifle Association. . . . . . . . . . . . . 128

Berry Whitetails

Kubota. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16, 17, 21

The-Timer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134

Atascosa Wildlife Supply . . . . . . . . . . . . 46, 47 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Boyd’s Gunstocks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106 Briscoe-Cochina & Catarina. . . . . . . . . . . . . 134

Jerry Johnston. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Lone Star Ag Credit. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124 Lone Star Beer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Bruton Trailers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Lyssy & Eckel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89

CASA of Tarrant County. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134

New Mexico Professional Big Game. . . . . . 116

Buck Knives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Case IH Agriculture. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

Native Solar. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134 Outback Feeders. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92, 93

Charco Marrano Ranch. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100

Ranch Investments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129

Cuddeback. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107

Reata Insurance Group. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128

Christian Outdoor Alliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 Ducks Unlimited . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Grainger Ranch Recruiting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

Ranch King Blinds. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . IFC, 55

Riata Worldwide Hunting & Fishing. . . . . . . 132 SCI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

HB Hunting Products. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97

Shirley Ranch. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76

Henna Chevrolet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22, 23

Tag Safari. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134

Headwaters Ranch. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32, 113

Hornady . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

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January/February 2020

Speer Ag. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

The-Remote. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 Tina Kahlig & Associates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101 TPWD Gear Up for Game Wardens. . . 112, 134 Trijicon. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117

TTHA Bucks & BBQ. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8, 9

TTHA Gear . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74, 75 TTHA Hunters Extravaganza . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 TTHA Independent Dealers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112

TTHA Junior Trophy Hunters Membership. . 73 TTHA Membership. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64, 65 TTHA Platinum Life Membership . . . . . . . . . 82

TTHA PLM Listing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83, 84, 85 TTHA School Chapters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60, 61

West Texas Feeder Supply. . . . . . . . . . . IBC, BC

Texas Hunter Products. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

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