A couple of days after I photographed Dusty Chapman's trophy doe, he sent me a game cam picture of the same animal taken earlier in the season.

I've got to tell you, Dusty's story is one I know he'll be re-telling for years to come.

Labels: News, Texas

Not sure of the story on this buck but it came across my inbox yesterday.

What an unusual trophy and I'd love to hear the when and where of this buck if anyone knows the scoop.

Russell Graves
Texas

Labels: Rumors, Texas

Yesterday about noon, I got a call from my buddy David Chapman. David lives in the Waco, Texas area and he'd just left the deer woods down in his area when he got a call from his younger brother Dusty.

To give a bit of background story, I grew up with both David and Dusty. David is about five years older than me and was my "big brother" when my real brother and fellow Hunt Junky Bubba joined the Army. Dusty, on the other hand is nine years younger than me but we all attended the same tiny school in Dodd City, Texas where K-12 meets under the same roof.

Anyway, I was back in my hometown for the Christmas holiday when David called me and said that I might want to see the buck. Since I was at my parents house only eight miles away, I called my buddy Garry and Bubba and we all met at Dusty's house in Dodd City.

Dusty shot a nice deer and was telling David the story via cell phone when I arrived. The deer was a nice one by most standards: a moderately tall but wide eight point that would make most anyone proud to take it. When Dusty went to field dress the northeast Texas buck, he found out his buck was really... wait for it...

A doe complete with teats and a vulva.

However, in typical small town fashion, the news traveled and a crowd quickly gathered.

Unreal...

Labels: News, Texas

Yeah, I know it's not whitetails but if you are a lover of deer, you might think this is cool.

Yesterday I got a chance to document a desert mule deer study conducted by the Texas Parks & Wildlife and Texas A&M University - Kingsville. It was quite an operation and the crew pulled it off with speed and efficiency.

In short, once the mule mule deer were netted by the helicopter crew, the processing crew would:

1. Age the deer;
2. Measure the rump fat of each deer with an ultrasound;
3. Ear tag each deer with ID numbers;
4. Place a GPS collar on the deer to log its movements over time.

The purpose of the study? To develop more accurate deer census techniques.

RG
-Texas

Labels: Texas

Last weekend I was in a Hilton Hotel north of Fort Worth, Texas. When I picked up the Sunday paper, this story was on the front page. Interesting read:

Deer-smuggling case raises questions on hunting industry
BARRY SHLACHTER Star-Telegram Staff Writer

LAW ENFORCEMENT *Interstate trafficking threatens herds with bovine tuberculosis and chronic wasting disease.

Two years ago, Brian Becker drove 1,008 miles from Madelia, Minn., to the small East Texas town of Bedias, unaware that federal authorities had him under surveillance after being tipped off that his gooseneck trailer carried contraband -- trophy deer.

His smuggling operation, which reaped $300,000 from a single customer in four years, exposes a dark underside to Texas' $73 million deer-hunting industry, which has provided jobs and other economic benefits to many rural areas of the state.

On Nov. 24, Becker, 38, already on probation for smuggling deer to Oklahoma in 2005, was sentenced by a federal court in Plano to 33 months in prison.

The buyer, Robert L. Eichenour, 51, a wealthy Houston businessman and owner of a posh hunting ranch in Bedias, received an 18-month term and was ordered to pay a $50,000 fine. Both had pleaded guilty and did not dispute the charges.

"This is just the tip of the iceberg," said Mike Merida, a Fort Worth-based special agent with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, referring to interstate deer trafficking, which he said threatens herds with bovine tuberculosis and chronic wasting disease, a devastating condition likened to mad-cow disease but spread among deer, elk and moose.

Authorities disclosed that the tip-off came from within the game industry and pinpointed Becker's destination and shipment dates. During interrogations, the Minnesotan also claimed to have been dealing with a hunting ranch in North Texas and an investigation is ongoing, they said, declining to provide further details.

"From my perspective, there's a lot of movement of black-market deer, whether it's wild deer 'laundered' into a high-fence operation or 'put and take' hunting," said Capt. Greg Williford of Texas Parks & Wildlife, who says smuggling is an open secret in the industry. "We're out to try to prove it."

When breeding bucks with the right genetics can fetch as much as $500,000 at auction, "you always have some trying to go around corners," said John Meng, marketing director of the Texas Deer Association.

Eichenour was not a member of the industry association and, therefore, not subject to the group's code of ethics, Meng said.

Others cautioned against exaggerating the scope of wildlife trafficking, noting that the Becker case was only the third in the state in recent years.

"I would think it is extremely rare with all the restrictions and everything we must follow," said Johnny Hudman, game-ranch manager at the Stasney Cook Ranch in Albany.

The latest case

Becker, who was seen napping at truck stops, was to have been arrested crossing the Oklahoma-Texas state line, but authorities missed him, as they did on an earlier run.

He was finally nabbed hours later by Merida and Texas Parks and Wildlife personnel when his pickup and gooseneck trailer fell into a ditch outside Eichenour's 2,000-acre property, a high-fenced hunting ranch called Circle E. Eichenour was arrested when he came out to accept delivery of eight "shooter" bucks, Merida said.

Out-of-state deer, whether wild or bred in captivity, are banned by Texas, which is free of chronic wasting disease.

The restriction helps heighten demand for whitetail deer with large antlers, making it profitable for traffickers like Becker to haul loads 1,000 miles.

Circle E Ranch offers hunters "luxurious" accommodations and an array of game, including exotic species ranging from addax and aoudad to wildebeest and zebra. The ranch Web site, www.circleeranch.com, carries rave endorsements by hunters from as far away as Australia and South Africa. Circle E, appraised by Grimes County at $4.2 million and located between Huntsville and Navasota, charges $250 a day lodging -- a three-day minimum for hunters-- and a fee per animal shot -- $6,500 for a zebra -- including field dressing.

But domestic whitetailed deer was a major draw. Trophy bucks with mountable racks cost hunters $2,500 to $15,000 depending on antler size.

In Texas hunting circles, a whitetail buck with antlers scoring 140 to 149 on the Boone and Crockett scale is a popular size.

Although Texas had 1,007 deer-farming facilities in 2006, more than any other state, demand for that 140-149 trophy buck is high, says Mike Lamb, a West Texas breeder.

Recreational hunters who shot such trophy deer at Circle E were charged $3,500.

Lamb, who operates Lamb Ranch in Cross Plains, doubted whether anyone in Texas could profitably breed, vaccinate and raise a 140-score buck for the hunting market even at that price.

"It would take four years and cost me $3,500 to $4,000," he said.

But Becker was offering Eichenour such trophy bucks delivered for less than $2,000, according to Eichenour's attorney and federal and state investigators.

"This was purely a crime of greed," said Shamoil Shipchandler, an assistant U.S. attorney in Plano who prosecuted the case. "And the risks they took were significant and could have had great impact. Wisconsin already has spent $30 million combating chronic wasting disease in deer."

One-time breeding operation

Eichenour's lawyer, Trent Gaither of Houston, said that much of the $300,000 had been paid as "advances" on deer shipments to help fund Becker's breeding operation in Minnesota, called Becker's Deer Crossing. Merida disputes that assertion, quoting Eichenour as saying all of the money was spent on deer he received at his hunting ranch.

Paul Anderson of the Minnesota Board of Animal Health said Becker had a certified deer farm at one time but had not operated it as a breeding facility in years.

Both defendants pleaded guilty in February, but Eichenour failed to convince U.S. District Judge Richard Schell during the trial's sentencing phase that his action didn't pose a significant risk of spreading disease to wildlife and humans. This raised the punishment level under federal guidelines, Shipchandler said.

The only expert witness was called by the prosecution. Brian Richards, who studies elk for the U.S. Geological Survey in Wisconsin, spoke of the costly efforts to contain chronic wasting disease in that state.

Anderson told the Star-Telegram that Minnesota has not found a case of chronic wasting disease in wild deer and the last confirmed diagnosis in a bred deer was five years ago. The eight deer trucked down by Becker in October 2006 and six from an earlier delivery were euthanized. Their remains, sent to Texas A&M University, tested negative for bovine tuberculosis and chronic wasting disease, Merida said.

'Old-school' Texan

Eichenour did not return calls seeking comment, but his attorney said he expressed remorse before sentencing and had made arrangements for the hunting ranch to continue operations after he reports to a minimum-security federal prison in Bastrop on Jan. 9.

His client was used to dramatic shifts in fate, having saved his family's business, Coasting Casting Service, in his early 20s after his "drinking, gambling and philandering" father had "bled the company dry," according to a statement to the court filed by Eichenour.

Coastal, a multimillion-dollar venture that employed nearly 100, rebuilt engines for the oil-service industry.

"Yes, he is an astute businessman but remember this [hunting ranch venture] was not his business, it was a hobby," said the attorney, who described Eichenour as "old school -- a 'your-word-is-your-bond' kind of guy."

When told of Becker's long criminal record, which included horse theft, Eichenour expressed shock, Gaither said.

"He was amazed and said, 'Holy s---.' He had always considered Becker a good, decent guy who talked a good game and claimed to have a full-fledged breeding facility in Minnesota," the attorney recalled.

Efforts to reach Becker were unsuccessful. A woman who answered his telephone and identified herself as a relative declined to comment.

Courtroom comments

During the sentencing phase, Schell asked Eichenour why he brought deer from out of state.

According to his attorney, Eichenour said he never understood why Texas kept its borders closed to deer.

Moreover, he did not believe that chronic wasting disease was a real threat since elk and other species susceptible to the ailment could be transported here.

In a March 14 letter released by his attorney, Eichenour said the deer he bought from out of state were better quality and 10 to 25 percent cheaper than comparable Texas bucks he could buy to stock for his hunting clients.

"Whatever money I saved through my improper actions cannot nearly make up for the embarrassment, lost sleep and anxiety I've felt for the last two years," he wrote. "I have lost the privilege of hunting, which I absolutely love."

Admitting he knew he was breaking Texas regulations, Eichenour said he did not realize he also had violated the Lacey Act, a federal law that he had believed dealt only with endangered species.

"The bottom line is that I allowed myself to be swayed into believing that the closing of the Texas border to whitetail deer was politically motivated by the mega-breeders and not because of any real health threat," he wrote.

Mixed reaction

Bedias Mayor Mackie Bobo said Eichenour was not active in the community. Yet much sympathy has been expressed in Grimes County, where Circle E is located, with some officials saying the punishment was unduly harsh or, at the very least, reflecting misplaced priorities.

"We see murderers and rapists given probation, but bring a whitetail deer to Texas, and you do federal time," Constable Dale Schaper said.

Grimes County Judge Gene Stapleton said the 18-month sentence "totally ruins [Eichenour's] life. If you are going to ruin someone's life, ruin a drug dealer's life."

But Eichenour will not win any popularity contests among the state's deer breeders.

"I am outraged," said Lamb, the West Texas whitetail rancher. "I've spent a lot of money proving my deer are tested and healthy. An outbreak from smuggled deer would totally wipe me out. Nothing is worth the risk, and to have people exposing the wildlife population to make a few thousand is just ridiculous.

"Am I surprised? Actually I am. I would believe someone might move deer from Arkansas, Louisiana or Alabama. But deer brought down from up there have a very poor survival rate. If they were bringing them down to hunt them instantly, how close to 'canned' hunting can you get?"

News researcher Cathy Belcher contributed to this report.

BARRY SHLACHTER, 817-390-7718

(C) The Star-Telegram 2008

Labels: News, Texas

Here's a news release from this week's Texas Parks & Wildlife Department:
Game Wardens Arrest Men for Illegal Deer Trapping, Sale

AUSTIN, Texas — Game wardens in the Special Operations Unit of Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s Law Enforcement Division have arrested six men and executed two search warrants as part of Operation Texas Shuffle, a year-long investigation into the black market deer trade in Texas.

"Our focus here is stopping two main areas of criminal activity: deer being brought illegally across state lines, and wild deer being illegally laundered into deer breeding facilities," said Col. Pete Flores, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department law enforcement director.

Five of the men were arrested yesterday, including William Kornegay, 42, of Eden in Concho County; James Johnson, 60, of Florence in Williamson County; and Jeff Arbogust, 48, of Austin in Travis County, Chris Sharp, 33, of Marble Falls in Burnet County; and Ronald Rogers, 39, of San Saba in San Saba County. The sixth suspect, Lance Clawson, 40, of Regency in Mills County, turned himself in this morning.

All six are alleged to have trapped, purchased or sold wild native whitetail deer. In addition, Rogers, Clawson and Kornegay are involved with permitted deer breeding facilities and are believed to have laundered wild deer into the permitted facilities. Kornegay serves as an agent for multiple licensed deer breeders. In one case, Clawson, a permitted deer breeding facility operator, allegedly darted wild deer and put them illegally into his facility.

Deer breeding is a legal and growing business in Texas, estimated by one breeder organization to be worth about $650 million per year for the state economy. It is illegal to capture or obtain wild deer and place them into breeding facilities. Breeders must obtain captive, pen-raised deer from other permitted breeders. There are currently 1,099 permitted deer breeders in Texas, holding 86,989 deer in 1,161 facilities. The vast majority of these are whitetail deer, and the rest are mule deer, the two native species in Texas.

"Money is driving the illegal trade in wild native deer," said Capt. Greg Williford with TPWD Law Enforcement Division’s Special Operations Unit. "A captive-raised breeder buck can sell for tens of thousands of dollars. So, catching deer in the wild seems a lot less expensive, until you get caught."

TPWD regulates deer breeding, issuing permits and conducting periodic facility inspections as warranted. A particular concern is monitoring breeding facilities for diseases such as Chronic Wasting Disease. CWD has not been detected in Texas, but it has cost tens of millions of dollars in other states. Texas borders essentially remain closed to the importation of whitetail and mule deer because of disease concerns.

Clawson and Rogers were previously apprehended Oct. 16 by Texas game wardens and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service special agents for smuggling eight deer into Texas from Oklahoma. Such interstate smuggling is not only illegal but also poses a disease threat to native whitetail deer.

Numerous Class B misdemeanors (fines up to $2,000 and up to 180 days confinement) have been filed on all six men for violating state Trap, Transport, and Transplant regulations relating to whitetail deer. As the investigation continues, additional charges and arrests are anticipated, including possible felony charges of tampering with a government document, and possible illegal possession of tranquilizer drugs, also a felony.

Based on where the alleged offenses occurred, county attorneys in Mills, Bell, Lampasas and Concho Counties will be prosecuting the misdemeanor charges.

Anyone who observes illegal deer trapping, sale or purchase in Texas should call Operation Game Thief toll-free at (800) 792-GAME. OGT is Texas’ privately funded wildlife crime stoppers hotline, operating 24-hours-a-day, seven-days-a-week. Rewards of up to $1,000 may be paid to callers (who may remain anonymous). Game wardens recommend making the call immediately when illegal activity is observed, and say it is helpful to have a description of the activity, location of the violation, physical descriptions of alleged violators, description of any vehicles and the direction of travel.

Labels: News, Texas

I know I've seen this buck before... I just know it.

Labels: Rumors, Texas

Like most, I get my fair share of fake e-mails and to combat internet misrepresentation, I subscribe to snopes.com's weekly e-mail update that keeps me abreast of what's real and what's fake in the world of forwardom.

Labels: Rumors, Texas

Here's another research project that some of my students did a few years ago.
An Analysis of Harvest Trends of White-tailed Deer in the South Central Texas Rolling Plains

Throughout the Rolling Plains Region of Texas, deer hunting is becoming a big business. Every year hunters from all over the state and parts of the nation flock to the area to pursue the elusive white-tailed deer. When they arrive, millions of dollars are collectively spent on things such as gear, license, land lease fees, fuel, groceries, lodging, and other supplies. Therefore, it is easy to see that the economic impact, although there is not an exact figure, is great. As a result of the influx of hunters, many businesses in the area benefit from the additional capital being pumped into local economies. With the new money, comes a trickle down effect and, in turn, the entire community benefits from money being spent at a single business.

What if businesses could make their goods and services more valuable to their hunting customers? Is there any one time of the deer season when your chances of taking a white-tailed buck are greater than any other time of the season? We believe that there is a best time to hunt. By identifying the time of the season when hunters have, statistically, the best chance of killing a buck, we believe that businesses can benefit from the information.

For example, many businesses currently run specials that are designed to attract a clientele at a particular time of the year. Independence Day specials attract people they know will be barbecuing and partaking in other outdoor activities. Businesses can run the same kinds of specials during the time of the season when hunters are most apt to be afield. Specials may include a discount on lodging or meals if a valid hunting license is shown. Also specials may include simply being more cognizant of a hunter’s early morning and late evening hours and an adjustment of hours to accommodate the schedule of a prospective clientele.

In our agriscience project we will prove to you that more bucks are killed during the breeding season (Nov. 23-Dec. 5) of the South Central Texas Rolling Plains. We will show you this through data that we have recorded how many deer were killed during the 2004 and 2005 white-tailed deer seasons. We are trying to prove that more bucks are killed during the breeding season (also known as the rut) so businesses can increase their profit during this time. The rut is the time of season when the bucks are out looking for the does in order to breed.

Again, this information is important because it can help out the local economy. For example, if businesses know when the rut season begins, they can price their products according to when their customers are more likely to be in the area hunting afield. To further illustrate this concept, businesses could have hunter-oriented specials during the rut.

In Childress County and the surrounding lower Rolling Plains region, deer hunting is becoming big business as hunters from all over the country converge on the area to pursue the big white-tailed deer that are prevalent in the area. In fact, some landowners report that their hunting income from leases exceeds their traditional agriculture income.

Therefore, by analyzing harvest data, we hope to prove the following hypothesis:

Statistically, hunters are more likely to harvest a white-tailed buck in the North Central Texas Rolling Plains between November 23 and December 5 because these dates fall on top of the peak of the breeding season.

MATERIALS-METHODS

We obtained the harvest information from A&K Meat Processing in Wellington, Texas, out of the deer harvest logbooks that the Texas Wildlife and Parks Department requires game processors to keep. From the logbook we counted all of the whitetail deer killed in the 2004 and 2005 deer season, and then we separated the bucks from the does. In 2002 we have data on 576 deer harvested and 582 deer harvested in 2005. Breaking those numbers down, in 2004, 417 bucks and 159 does are represented in this study. In 2003, 398 bucks are represented in the study while 189 does are accounted for in the report.

The data was collected by going through all the general hunting days during the 2004 and 2005 white-tailed deer season and counting the number of deer brought into the game processor each day. We also counted how many bucks and does were brought in to the processing plant.

To obtain harvest data, our only choice was to collect the information from Wellington, Texas since Childress, our hometown, doesn’t have a game processor. Since Wellington is only 30-miles away, the processor we collected data from serves the Childress area as well as much of the South Central Rolling Plains region of Texas.

The reason that the data was collected from a game processor is that Texas doesn’t require hunters to check in deer. Therefore, since there is no organized check-in process on a state level, harvest data is hard to obtain from an area-wide standpoint. Consequently, in order to build a possible trend for the annual harvest, our only choice is to collect data from game processors.

CONCLUSION

We have concluded from our research, that more bucks are killed during the breeding season (rut) than any other time of the year as shown by the two years of harvest records collected. To recap, the rut is the time of the season when the deer are breeding.

Granted, one of the flaws in this study is that we cannot account for the number of hunters afield. Therefore, we must assume that the hunter population afield stays relatively constant throughout the season; and that hunter intent for which sex to harvest stays the same – more work will have to be done in this area. However, we do know that traditionally, most hunters go afield during opening weekend; and the number tends to diminish as the season progresses. Without hard numbers; however, we cannot accurately make that claim.

With all of that said, we can say that, for two years in a row, we did prove our hypothesis by showing that more bucks are killed during the rut. By knowing when the rut is and exploiting its potential for hunters, both landowners and businesses can benefit from this natural phenomenon by promoting hunter-friendly specials during that time of year in order to increase their traffic. By changing the prices of their hotel rooms, food, etc. to suit the hunters, the businesses can potentially increase their profits substantially.

Labels: Texas

As promised in the last video Rack Report, here is the latest offering from the Hunt Junkies.

Labels: Texas, Videos

Here’s another cryptic deer story that came across my inbox but this one appears to be true. In suburban north Houston, this huge buck was killed by a motorist close to a golf course.

Unbeliveable!

Just goes to show that the big boys can lurk just about anywhere.

-Russell

Labels: Rumors, Texas

I know that this is a whitetail forum but I had to brag on my buddy Kace Neskorik because last Saturday, he took his biggest deer to date - this nice desert mule deer from Cee Vee, Texas.

Congratulations, Kace!

Labels: Texas

Bubba and I finish the weekend with a nice, mature buck.

Labels: Texas, Videos

Details are a bit sketchy on this but here's a breaking story out of Wichita Falls, Texas from www.texomashomepage.com and the Wichita Falls Fox Television Affiliate:

Labels: Rumors, Texas

Me and fellow Hunt Junky Bubba Graves team up for rutting whitetails in this exclusive Realtree Rack Report from the Texas Panhandle.

Labels: Texas, Videos

I just got this via e-mail and don't know anything about where or when the buck was taken and all I know is that a hunter named Dylan Smith shot this giant buck and the video.

So Dylan, if you out there, care to share your story?

-Russell
Texas

Labels: Rumors, Texas, Videos

If you remember a few weeks ago, I posted a video and story about Deer School here in Childress. Well, last week it was time to catch some of the excess deer and with the help of Dusty Whitaker from Whitaker Helicopters, we netted three.

Labels: Texas, Videos

I got a message via e-mail a couple of weeks ago via fellow Rack Reporter Will Brantley. While I've followed the e-mail trail trying to discover more about the deer all I can come up with is what I heard in the beginning - it comes from around the central Texas town of Corsicana.

Labels: Rumors, Texas

I got this information on a tip from my buddy David Brimager who heads up the Texas Big Game Awards.

This bad boy was taken on the opening weekend of deer season on the huge King Ranch in deep South Texas.

According to sources, Terry Hall of New Mexico shot him September 27 while this giant 6X7 still sported velvet.

Right now, the buck is gross scoring around 196 which puts him as the largest typical buck ever arrowed in the Lone Star State and one of the top 5 ever taken in Texas.

-RG

Labels: Texas

Eric White of Amarillo killed this 11 point on opening day. Eric had
been scouting this buck for two months and had made several stalk
attempts with a bow. Opening day of rifle season was a different story.
This buck came in early to feed and a successful shot was made. What
even makes this story more sweet is that this is Eric's first buck.

Congratulations!

Labels: Texas

Here's a video from Photobucket that a friend sent my way. While I think the fight took place last year (because the SoTx rut typically doesn't start until December), it is still impressive nonetheless.

Labels: Texas, Videos

Steve from down in the Texas Hill Country told me about this big 8 he killed with a longbow.

A huge 8-point with a longbow... That's gettin' things done.

"I shot this buck on Monday evening, Oct. 13th. Bob Sarrels had invited me to hunt with him this week. He took my place on a lease I have been on with Bisch for the past 5 years. Bisch shot a really nice 8 pt. on opening day and had a few more nice bucks on his trail cam pic's.

I hunted the same stand where Bisch shot his 8 pt. On Sunday evening I saw a decent 9 pt., a decent 10 pt., a cull 6 pt. and a spike/fork (that I missed). On Monday evening I went back to that stand again. I settled in (about 30 feet up) and immediately had what I thought was the spike/fork back in there. (He ended up being a fork on both sides). As soon as he cleared the brush I shot him. He was quartered away and I hit him a bit far back. I heard him crash fairly close, though, so I was confident he was down.

I decided to sit there and see what else would come in, since the feeder hadn't even gone off yet. The 9 pt. came back in a short time before the feeder went off. A little while after the feeder went off, the cull 6 pt. came in. I decided I would shoot the 6 pt. Before he got into my shooting lane, however, I noticed another deer coming. It was a large 8 pt.

I had been told that there were no restrictions as to what I could shoot, so I began trying to judge the 8 pt. He looked like a mature deer and was certainly bigger than anything I had ever shot before. After a short time he was standing in almost the exact spot the smaller buck had been when I shot him a little while earlier. I took the shot. Again, I hit him farther back than I wanted, but it did the trick. He went about 100 yards before piling up in a thick area of cactus and underbrush.

I tracked, found, and field dressed the smaller buck and dragged him about 300 yards before deciding I couldn't wait any longer to go and look for the 8 point. He left a good blood trail and was not terribly hard to find. I dragged him about 30 yards out of the thick stuff and into an opening where I knew I would be able to find him in the dark.

I went to get Bob and found that he also had shot a buck. He had shot a 2 1/2 year old spike.
It had been raining all day and I only have a two wheeled drive pickup. We were now trying to decide how long it was going to take us to drag 3 deer the mile back to camp. We ended up calling a friend in Tilden (Scott Shallcross) who graciously came to our rescue with his 4 wheel drive pickup. Scott came out and we loaded the deer in his truck and he let us store them in a walk-in cooler he had in town.

The 8 point weighed 210 pounds on the hoof. I green scored him at 129 5/8" gross/ 127 1/8" net.

I was shooting 50# Sarrels Superstition take-down longbow, aluminum arrows, and a 140 grain Magnus 2 blade broadhead with a 100 grain steel insert."

Great job, Steve!

-Russell Graves
Texas

Labels: Texas

Yeah, I know this has nothing to do with deer, BUT... The story is a cool one so click on the video player and look at how we roll in Tejas.

Labels: Texas, Videos

Here is a dandy buck taken in South Texas by Jared Dylla. Jared scored big on his birthday buck and you can see how proud he and his dad Tim are of the deer.

Here's the story on this great buck:

I got on a lease just outside of Floresville on Hwy 97 with a good friend who is also a co-worker about 3 months ago. It is 500 acres of heavy brush surrounded by open farm land on 3 sides, and yes it is low fenced! Across 97 is 1,300 acres that is high-fenced that was originally part of this place but was sold about 4 or 5 years ago.

This place has a creek that holds water so you can just imagine how many hogs are there considering all the groceries they have to eat surrounding it. But, my buddy had shown me a picture of a really nice 10 point scoring around 130 that another hunter had gotten last year. He looked to be about 4.5 so I figured there were some pretty good genes and potential here. I needed a place to take my son, the price was right, and it was 1 hour from the house so I signed up. I figured we'd get a doe for meat and a bunch of pork to boot.

I've had a camera set up for about a month and I've gotten over 4,000 pictures of which 3,900 had every color of pig imaginable, including some colors I didn't knew existed. I did get one picture of a buck at midnight 3 weeks ago but it was a long way off and pretty blurry to boot. But I could see the deer had a good G4 and pretty good beams and appeared tall and guessed if the other side matched he was a solid 130 class deer or better.

After hunting yesterday morning and seeing 4 does but no pigs, we got out and headed to my buddy's ranch in LaSalle county to visit with a hunter he had at the ranch whom I guided last year and wanted for me to come and look at his buck he killed and catch up on the year past. We headed back to Floresville about 3:30.

At 5:30 we climbed in the stand after corning the senderos up with the jeep feeder. About 6:00 we had 4 does and a fawn come out. They were acting pretty jittery so I told my boy to get ready as I believe we were not far away from delivering the pork. Time went by and nothing came out.

I've put up burlap curtains in all the windows to keep the deer from seeing us in the stand and had the right window one slid to the left so I could see through about a 3" opening. My son could not see as his side of the window was covered with the curtain. We sit so that he can watch two ways and me two ways without moving around to look out. Around sundown I looked out the window and saw a little buck come out. I told him to hand me the binos and he asked what it was and he wanted to see. I told him it was a little buck and to just hold on a second. By the time I looked back up his buck had stepped out. I knew instantly he was a shooter.

I looked at my son and asked if he was ready to shoot a buck. He asked if it was the big 8 point that my friend had a picture of from last year and that he had past up. I said yes, lying just a little as I saw he had 10 solid points with a possible 11th with a short G5. I got the video camera ready and he turned his chair to use the back of it for an arm rest. I slid the curtain over the other way and he watched the deer as there were now 10 in the sendero so that we wouldn't spook them. I set the stock of the rifle on the window and he took over. The buck fed facing us for an eternity and he held the rifle on him the entire time. Finally, after about 15 minutes all the other deer had left that sendero for another and the buck started to get anxious and I thought to myself, "Oh my Lord please don't let the hogs come out and run this great buck off."

I told him to get ready and then he turned quartering to us and I asked him if he was on him. He said I'm rock solid and on him. I told him to put the crosshairs on the front shoulder 4" from the front and squeeeeeeeeeeeeze the trigger. About 1 second later the 150 grain bullet out of the .308 slammed him to the ground and he never kicked. After high fives and congratulations I asked him if he knew what he had and he said yeah dad, a big 10 point. I couldn't stop laughing!

This morning I woke up with another bill from the taxidermist and he woke up a year older with an unbelievable trophy buck!

Happy 10th Birthday son, Love dad!


Final stats are:

18 6/8" IS
41 3/8"BEAMS
5 4/8" G1s
18 4/8" G2s
15 7/8" G3s
10 2/8" G4s
31 2/8" MASS

141 4/8"

Congratulations guys!

-Russell
Way Back, Texas

Labels: Texas

I was out for a few days but my e-mail box started loading up with a few reports from this weekend's youth gun season in Texas. The first one is from Brandon Driskill and the story of his daughter Kynlee's first buck.

Here's how Brandon tells it:

"As we sat in the stand, I tried to remember back if it was hard for me to sit still and quiet when I was 10 years old. I just kept telling Kynlee that she has to move slowly when her head is close to the windows. She did her best, as this was not her first hunt with me. She had already bagged a boar hog earlier in the year that went around 125 lbs. It was a lot of fun, except for the fact that she wanted it to have some "teeth" to show off to her friends and it didn't.

I had been scouting one morning when I saw a cull spike that had about 6" tines and knew this would be a great deer for Kynlee, my youngest daughter, to harvest. I called her and we talked about her coming and hunting with me that evening, and her first question was, "Does it have horns?", as she wanted something to be able to brag about.

The evening hunt came and went and the spike deer did not show up, but we enjoyed our time in the blind telling stories and watching other deer move around the feeders. She was a bit hesitant at first, but we decided to give it another try in the morning after reassuring her that our deer would show up in the morning for sure. She did not really know how I knew that he would show up for sure, but seemed to believe me.

We arrived into the tower blind and settled in as the sun began to rise. The wildlife started to awake and move, as a deer showed up at the feeder. Kynlee kept asking where our deer was and just told her that he was a late riser and didn't get an early start as the other deer did. She laughed and said he was like momma in the mornings huh? I had no response to that.

Our deer showed up and was at the feeder and after about 15 minutes of trying to get a shot on him, his vitals were always in the vicinity of the legs of the feeder or the ladder leading up to it. I talked her into to trying a neck shot, but she was not totally convinced that she could hit him at 132 yds. The deer jumped the panel at the feeder and began to leave and told Kynlee she had to get on him because he was leaving. She quickly moved around a little and said I got him as she squeezed the trigger. I watched as the buck dropped to the ground without as much as a kick at 150 yds.

We laughed and hugged in celebration of her success. She was mostly excited because her buck had 2 points and that was bigger than here older sister had shot the year before, as it was a 1 point cull buck. We took some pictures and loaded the deer and made our way to meet Tommy at the processing facility.

After hunting with both of my daughters the previous year, I could not wait for this hunting season to get here. Taking your kids hunting is possibly the greatest joy one could have, just being in the stand sharing stories, laughing, and just sitting with them. I owe a great thanks to my lifelong friend, Tommy Peebles; he is the wildlife manager on the Cook Canyon Ranch near our hometown of Ranger. I am fortunate enough to help him with hunts on the ranch and in turn get to spend some time in the blinds with my girls. So, take your kids hunting as they will hopefully someday really know what it means to be able to enjoy that time with their kids, as I do now. And if you’re able, thank the ones that took the time to introduce you to hunting…..

Thanks Dad. "

Congratulations Kynlee and Brandon!

Labels: Texas

Okay, I made a mistake. When I ran across this deer I thought that Justin Bone - from down in South Texas - had shot this brute this season. Turns out, it was last year. Either way it is still a stud and it deserves a mention.

Here's Justin's story:

"A couple of weeks ago my dad videoed a beautiful mainframe 12 pointer from one of the rifle blinds. The whole time I watched the video I sat in awe wondering what could possibly be going through his mind besides getting his gun out the window and shooting him. I figured if he wasn't going to shoot him then I would!

I set up a ground blind along the road that he has been frequenting and brushed it in to blend with the surroundings. That evening I sat in the rifle blind to watch the deer's reaction to the blind. Overall, The deer took to the blind very well considering he stood perfectly broadside to the new blind for thirty minutes! I had made the decision that I was ready to make the sit in the blind for the morning hunt. The next four hunts started and ended the same with the buck coming in each hunt, but would only present me with an unfavorable shot angle. Having him patterned so well, I had no reason to take a shot that wasn't in my favor. Then on Saturday evening everything all came together. At about 6:45 he came in a turned broadside as if he had rehearsed it. I let him move his front leg forward then drew my bow back. Before I knew it the arrow was on its way. I saw the arrow slam through he shoulder, and then the buck did the jump and kick routine confirming a solid hit. Now is when my nerves went into over drive! I saw the buck enter the brush the immediately heard a crash. After a few minutes I went to recover my trophy. The blood trail was poor, but the recovery was short and easy.

I took him to Los Cazadores the next morning to have him scored. He ended up grossing 166 4/8 and netting 163 even. That's only 3.5 inches of deductions on a typical 12 pointer!"

To hear Justin tell it, he's got a big non-typical he's after this year and will fill me in on the details when it goes down.

Finally, here's some video from last year's hunt...

Labels: Texas, Videos

Here is another cool study conducted some of my students.

Abstract
Hunter's Attitudes Towards Whitetail Deer Antler Size - A Two Year Study
By Wade Hardin & Lonnie Sessions, Childress FFA

In Texas, white-tailed deer hunting is a multi-million dollar industry. In order to educate land managers and hunters and to further the hunting economy of Childress County, we have developed research that we believe will help out hunters and landowners alike.

For nearly two months we conducted an on-line Internet poll asking hunters what they believed contributed most to the overall score of a set of antlers. Based on the information from our poll we found that 45% of the hunters that voted thought that the inside spread of the main beam made up most of the score. 26% thought tine length was most important, 14% thought that main beam length was most important, 10% thought circumference was most important, and 2% said that non-typical points were most important.

We then analyzed 258 Texas deer that were scored according to the universally accepted Boone and Crocket scoring system.

Based on the information we collected from the score sheets over the past two years, we broke down into percentages, we found that the inside spread makes up only 12.64% of the total score. The main beam length makes up 28.59%, the tine lengths make up 37.18%, and the circumferences make up 21.2%.

The reason our research is important is that if we can educate hunters to recognize what properties of the antler actually brings a higher score, then deer management practices can be optimized so that higher scoring bucks are taken. This research is important for landowners as well. They need to know this information so as they can develop high scoring bucks on their land. With high scoring bucks on the land that hunter's lease, the hunter's are willing to pay premium dollars for the right to hunt on the land.

Labels: Texas

This past Saturday, a new archery season began in Texas and I am already starting to get reports of some great bucks. Take for example, Kelvin Billington who scored on the second day of the season.

Here's Kelvin's story:

"I've been using the game cam all year to see what's been coming to the feeder. The best thing so far has been a good 8-point, so I set my sights on him.

Saturday morning nothing comes to the feeder but squirrels, coons and cows. About 9:00am I climb out of the stand and pull the card on the game camera. When I get home, this buck is on the last two pictures - notice the time...

He did this last year - only showing up late at night. We never seen him in daylight.

Well, Sunday morning I decide to give it another try. The feeder goes off and here comes the coons. I have my video camera with me so I use up a little film on them. About 8:00 am I spot a buck headed towards the feeder. At first I pick up the binoculars to make sure it's the big 8-point I'm after. He's headed straight to me, so I can't really count points but I know he's big so I put the binoculars down, turn the video camera on, pick up my bow and wait for him to get up to the feeder. Once he turns side ways I see he's the 10-point from the game cam photos. He gets to thirty yards and I send an arrow his way."

Congratulations, Kelvin!

Labels: Texas

What's a guy to do when you are still a week out from the start of the Texas archery season? Sight in a rifle.

My sight-in procedure isn't very complicated. Shoot my first volley from about twenty five yards away and get it close, then refine my accuracy from 100-yards away.

I am not much of an extreme shooter and won't try and lob shots from super long distances. Instead, I always try to get close to game so that my skills as a shooter won't compromise my ability to cleanly harvest an animal.

After a few shots, I had the rifle dialed in like I want it. Now the wait commences...

Russell Graves - Texas

Labels: Texas

If you know much about me, you know I've got a pretty good gig going. For the past fifteen years, I've taught agricultural science at Childress High School. I know, you may be thinking, "What does farming have to do with whitetails?"

Well, the answer is plenty.

After teaching for a couple of years I saw a need to incorporate wildlife management into my curriculum and did so enthusiastically and the kids responded in kind.

You may recall a few weeks ago my post on Deer School. As part of the curriculum, my students often pair up and do additional research on various topics related to deer or deer management. Over the next few posts, I will highlight the students' projects by presenting the abstracts of their award winning work.

In all, the circle is complete. I learn from their research and the students learn a lot from the time the spend on these problems.

I hope it helps you too...

-Russell Graves
Tejas






What's Coming to Dinner - The impact of deer feeders on white-tailed feeding habits

Deer hunting in Childress County, Texas is big business. Each year hunters from all over the state and nation descend on our county to hunt white-tailed deer. One of the most common practices hunters employ to help increase their success is by placing feeders where they hunt, filling them with corn, and setting the feeder timer to sling a measured amount of feed at a predictable time.

For this project, we developed the following hypothesis:

Deer feeders will increase a hunter's chance at harvesting a buck.

In our experiment, we documented how many does and bucks came to the feeders we monitored during the 2004 - 2005 deer season. In our experiment, we monitored three different feeders placed in random locations in the Childress County, Texas. Each feeder was set to dispense corn for three seconds at 7:30am and 5:00pm.

At each feeder, we placed motion-sensing cameras that would take a picture if an animal moved in front it and triggered the unit. We analyzed our data by going through these pictures taken and recording how many does and bucks were in the photos.

Early on, it was evident that in our experiment more does came to feeders than bucks. In total, we recorded 366 unique photos over two seasons.

In all, the percentage of deer coming to all of the feeders combined was 82% does to 18% bucks. Of the bucks that came to the feeders, only 17% would have scored 120 Boone & Crockett points and almost all of those came at night.

In our hypothesis, we stated that our outcome would be that the same amount of does and bucks would come to the feeders. We were proved wrong though because our experiment showed that more does come to feeders than bucks.

Labels: Texas

Let me introduce myself and my brother William, or, uh... Bubba as the family calls him. Since last October we've been filming a web show that we call Hunt Junkies. The premise is simple: get together when we can and film our hunts - both good and bad - to provide fodder for the web.

To my surprise our little show has been a hit. Therefore, I bring to you the first two episodes of this year. None are of deer yet but that all will change soon enough.

If you want to see the entire collection of the Hunt Junkies web series, take a look HERE

Enjoy!


EPISODE 2.1




EPISODE 2.2

Labels: Texas, Videos

When I became a father, one of the things that re-invigorated my love of hunting was the promise of taking my kids afield. I've been toting them along on more social pursuits like dove hunting. However, I had to wait until my oldest child, Bailee, was mature enough to handle the rigors of sitting still and being quite for a couple of hours.

In Northwest Texas where I hunt, elevated blinds are the norm and are the best friend of any mom or dad wanting to take their kid deer hunting. Quite, comfortable, and warm, the blind I have works great for containing the sound of Bailee asking, "When we gonna see a de-ur?" in her distinctive Texas drawl for the tenth time.

When she was five, I felt like she was ready to take afield and if you click the LINK, you can read the story of her first deer hunt told in her own words.

As this season progresses, I'll be sure to keep you filled in on Bailee's successes as she goes on her first quest for her own whitetail.

Russell A. Graves

Labels: Texas

Yesterday, I posted a video about the wildlife management program at Southwest Texas Junior College. Well, today I am proud to share this video with you about my program at Childress High School.

You see, when I am not thinking and blogging whitetails, I teach agricultural science at Childress High School in Childress, Texas. At the high school ,we have our own wildlife management area complete with a 20-acre high fenced area and our own deer herd. That's right, we have our own deer herd.

Originally, this article ran on Realtree.com but I thought it'd be cool to show it again.



Deer School is in Session in the Texas Panhandle

While high school students everywhere learn about the traditional three "R's" of education, students enrolled in Childress High School's wildlife management program study the three R's of a different kind - racks, rubs, and resource management. This past academic year, the first class of Deer School mustered in the tiny Texas Panhandle town and was an instant hit with students.

"We're really lucky to have these deer and all of the opportunities we have available to us," says senior Stormy Teichelman. "I'd be willing to bet that we're the only school in the country who has all of this available for the students."

Since whitetail deer are the most economically important species of wildlife in the area and arguably Childress' number one tourist attraction, the idea to teach wildlife and natural resource management and use whitetail deer as a vehicle was a natural one. With a couple of grants and some generous donations from local businesses, the concept of Deer School was set in motion.

At the heart of Deer School is a 22-acre enclosure that is currently home to two bucks and four does. Adjacent to the enclosure, the school also owns an additional 66 acres of rangelands that is home to both free ranging whitetail and mule deer and is also under management by the Childress High School students. Food plot plantings, soil management, plant identification, forage management, and hunter education and safety make up parts of the curriculum, but a healthy dose of deer biology is thrown into the mix as well.

Whats cool about the class is that instead of reading about age and nutrition's effects on antler growth, students can go into the field and see the effects for themselves. Students get to chart antler growth, reproductive rates, and body growth by traveling just two miles from the main high school campus.

"I love the fact that everything is so hands-on," says junior Creede Breeding. "In most classes, you may do a worksheet or watch a video or do so