The sun was shining brightly as my plane touched down in San Angelo, Texas on November 11th, 2020. It was a glorious day, and I was on an exciting hunt! 

I last hunted in the Lone Star State in 2018 and wanted a chance to see and  maybe harvest an even larger buck than in 2018 which was already a  huge 144 B&C buck. 

At the baggage claim, I was greeted by Clayton Kibbe, 19 years old, in his new Blue 4×4 Jeep, later to be  my guide.

Clayton, boastfully tells me of his bona fides, he was brought up in a serious hunting family around the famous 825,000 acre King Ranch in South Texas and its Legacy. He proved that time and again! 

I arrived in camp and Ted the lead guide said I had the choice of  any bunk. Nice! Camp is simple, and part of the Cargile Ranch, a house for bunks and bath, a large barn, and dining building, but very functional with a separate dining room for a dozen hunters or more.

Pictured below on the far end is Ted our lead guide, Clayton and hunter Brian who is getting  married  next  month. Congrats! Yes, you can see the Covid social distancing here too!

On the hunt there were just 4 hunters in camp as the rut has just begun. The following week will see a dozen hunters. In the kitchen is Rhonda, Ted’s wife and the camp cook and teacher of 30 years now retired. Very knowledgeable and fun to talk to! Thanks so much! I teased her when I arrived! “Beach  Boys “Help me Rhonda” she smiled. She is also a skilled hunter and a great shot, attested by her husband Ted on Huge Moose and Deer and Safari hunts! Hunters Skip, in the hat, and Sawyer, another young Texas hunter getting some dinner.

The Whitetails on this ranch are managed by Greg Simons of Wildlife System, Inc. The cattle ranch is around 24000 acres with dozens of hunting blinds set up in it. Most of the trees on the property are mesquite, large juniper with some live Oaks in the mix.

The hunting box blinds are slightly elevated, mostly hand made of plywood, with several highly elevated box blinds. Below view from one of the many blinds. These simple blinds are great! Just keep those hornets away, and they did. 

Texas Wildlife folks say there is plenty of game here in the Edwards Plateau this year. But it has been a dry summer and hard on the deer, we discovered.

 The ranch owner John Cargile showed up and we chatted about the deer health and dry weather. The Texas State folks mandate that the ranch should harvest 200 does this season to balance the herd. I hope they do as I saw near to 100 deer or more on my 3 days afield. 

On November 12th just in the morning alone we counted 30 whitetails and ended the days count in the 50’s. That is more deer seen than in my lifetime in New Hampshire, many were 8 point bucks. I brought 2 rifles but chose the Weatherby in 6.5 Creedmoor as the shots may be longer. 

Below is my new Tactacam video footage of my shot on a Texas 8 point buck. I had the Tactacam up near the muzzle and not quite level as the picture is quite a bit angled. I will have to fix that on the next hunt.  Don’t get dizzy… 

You can see the Weatherby rifle flash and the buck jumping 3 feet off the ground at the shot. It was an excellent shoulder hit with Nosler Trophy Grade 6.5 Creedmoor 140 grain AccuBonds as you will see in the later video Part 2. My Leupold VX-3 scope did it’s job with great clarity!

My Crazy Smile tells it all,  for the buck I just harvested. A nice shot from my Weatherby and great buck! I was using a Leupold VX-3 scope. This buck did not come close to my other buck but he was mature and somehow I felt compelled to the shot. I had a great rest, and a steady aim!

Later my hunting friend Skip, who lives just outside of San Antonio, shot an even better buck. Well, actually he shot and supposedly missed one as he and guide Clayton found no hair or blood. He didn’t! We eventually found him after the coyotes started eating his back side the next day. A call to the office allowed  him to take a second buck but had to pay an other sizable harvest fee. Skip didn’t hesitate on the extra fee and was rewarded with this nice buck. He offered me the buck deer meat and I accepted. 

Below are the many Angus cattle, momma and calves in a protective munge. What’s goin’ on, they  moo, as they are transfixed by us hunters. 

I made it back home safe and sound with some 30 pounds of boned venison that I took on the plane in a wheeled cooler. I had Rhonda buy the cooler for me at the local Walmart for $24 bucks. Thanks Rhonda!  I located a game processor in town that would ship the rest of the frozen boned venison back via ground. It was expensive but I love my wild game meat.

Here back in Plaistow, NH I began the process of butchering the boned meat. Below are backstraps that I have laid out to remove silver skin. I vacuum seal all of  my game   meat, it is essential to prevent freezer burn and can last a very long time in a freezer. I do have a large power meat grinder for making burger and sausage.

My wife and I enjoy cooking and chefing in our large kitchen and wild game is often on the menu. We have moose, boar and deer in the freezer. Since I have retired, I enjoy chefing a step above menu for when Sue gets home from her duties as microbiologist and medical technologist at a major hospital. Great to get the PPE off!

We love venison cooked in our blue Dutch oven below. Somehow the antlers just don’t seem to fit!!

But it creates a great finished product. OMG Sooo Good!

In all I harvested one buck and 2 does and will receive meat from Skip’s buck making 4 deer in the freezer. Should last us, along with other organic wild game a very long while indeed. I haven’t bought any beef burger all year.

Check out my Thanksgiving recipe for Venison Jalapeno Poppers!

Good Hunting and Eating!

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From my experience, the rut has the largest effect on deer movement, so I recommend you hunt into the rut. Why?  Bucks that are in search of a mate are more susceptible to be attracted to calls, rattles and scents. Bucks that have found a  mate or does that found a buck are less likely to be attracted to sounds and smells.

Early aggressive buck behavior and receptive does, for mating begins here in the Northeast in very late October and peaks around November 20th or thereabouts.  By late November nearly all does have neared completion of the first estrous cycle. As I said, bucks are harder to pull away from does as the rut progresses. Late November, Post rut, the bucks are looking but most does are bred, but now bucks can again be more  susceptible to calls like a doe bleat. In the photo above,  my brother and I filled our tags after Thanksgiving with two dandy New Hampshire bucks taken  near the 13 mile woods above Berlin! My brother took his with a Ruger M77 in 300 Win Mag and my buck fell to a 338 Win Mag. Neither buck took a step!

Snow helps hunters see where the deer tracks are, and increases the ability for hunters to see deer. It is best to dress warm and stay still on a deer stand, eat a candy bar and hunker down. I learned this hunting near the 13 mile woods near Errol, NH when I took my first deer many years ago. I was “on stand” earlier than those in our hunting camp. I greeted them going out with my deer in tow as they were coming in.

My best times to call in a buck are the last week in October and first week in November. I have observed does at dusk moving toward buck bedding areas during the early rut.  Below, this little buck was called in with a fawn bleat.

I like late October to first week November. If muzzleloader hunting, it is prime for getting a shot at a big buck moving normally that is not disturbed. He can be called with a grunt tube or rattled in. In the right wind, you can often smell tarsal gland, that means there is a buck in front of you! That happened to me, but I was too young to understand its implication. The buck slipped away.

Often these bucks are not far from does and waiting for them to come into estrous, constantly smelling them down wind. Or when bedded on a hill side, smelling the updraft in early morning. I took a dandy eight point during muzzleloader season by grunting and rattling. I saw a doe nearby so I played like two bucks vying for the chance to mate.  The hidden buck came in for a fight. I shot him at 20 yards and he went down  ker-plop.

I took another eight point by sneaking in his bedding area and used scents to create curiosity during the first day of Shotgun season. He came in looking from almost behind me. I thought it was a squirrel! I saw his antler first, then his head. My shotgun was pointed in the wrong direction, I gasped  mentally. The buck new something was not quite right but curious to see my face. I kept hiding my face as I raised the shotgun in alignment with a tree so he could not see it. Finally at 20 yards I swung the shotgun to shoot. In less than a second he bolted but stopped broadside at 40 yards, still  not sure what spooked him. A one ounce slug was on its way and struck his shoulder. A follow-up shot finished his curiosity. This particular hunt was my best ever because I got the drop on him in his bedroom.

Why does rifle season kill so  many deer? There are lots of deer hunters looking and bumping deer into hunters.

Rattling and buck grunting is not as effective in late season so I would not include it in my tool bag for mid November.

Finding a vantage point for active deer trails that cross, with wind advantage are great places to take a stand, as are places you expect hunters to push deer in your direction.

There are several large deer studies that conclude that moon phase effects deer in a minor way. Perhaps the most deer movement related to the  moon is when it nears a  new  moon phase where data and experience suggest there is slightly more daytime  movement. Hunting the moon phase, based on the existing data, is not reliable but helps if your gonna hunt those days anyhow.

Being observant of the wind  is your best friend. Keep the wind in your face if “still hunting”.

Shoot A BIG’UN

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New Hampshire Fish and Game announce 75% Success for hunters who drew a tag this year. You can read about it here.

75% of Hunters Successful in the 2020 New Hampshire Moose Hunt

Lets begin by talking about those kids around 12 years old that are going to hunt deer with family for the first time. 

The number one issue is safety. It has its own curriculum.  Next is to train and manage recoil and the primary subject here.

Hunting parents, sort of graduate those kids by going to the back yard with a BB gun, then to the range with a .22 Long Rifle. Next is the 5.56/223 cartridge’s. Here, the .223 allows a tad more recoil and a loud report like a hunting rifle.

Better yet find a outdoor club or state organization like 4H with youth training.

Safety glasses and hearing protection are essential on the range.

I personally will not hunt deer with a .223 but graduating to a .243 Winchester or 6mm is a breeze. The .243 Winchester/6mm is an ideal starter rifle as it is light to handle, recoils little and is a proven deer cartridge. Keep ranges short to 50 yards.

Hunter Education is essential. See Fish and Game for hunter training.

In my humble opinion it is best to start children with open sights and later to scopes.

Women who are new to the sport may want to try the organization, Becoming an Outdoors Woman which exposes women to all facet of the outdoors.

Beyond that, I suggest to begin with a .22 Long Rifle for fun and accuracy with a husband or trained friend in the shooting sports. It has almost no recoil to speak of. I would recommend a bolt action but a semi-auto works too. The learning curve is very fast, then shoot a 243 Winchester with light bullets, and graduate to 80, 90 and 100 grain heads for deer hunting. Training for aiming and broadside shots at the heart and lungs are your target goals at deer targets you can get on-line or at a store. Again keep ranges short to begin and work out to 100 yards. The .243/6mm is good to 300 yards for broadside deer.

In  both cases for youth and women, the learning curve is all about recoil management and a rifle that is a good fit, not cumbersome or heavy.

Men who hunt for the first time but have been to the range with rifles are still concerned about recoil and a sore shoulder. I like the 6.5 Creedmoor or 7mm-08 as it has several bullet weights. You can begin with 100 grain bullets and just stay there for deer. Or graduate to 140 grain heads which have ideal sectional density for deep penetration on all North American Game except brown bear. 

Now in all cases once you arrive here you can choose to stay where you are or choose a 30 caliber for deer and a bit more recoil.  The best easy shooting deer slayer in 30 cal. is the 30-30 Winchester which has very manageable recoil and excellent energy out to 100 yards for deer. Next is the .308 Winchester, an excellent choice and longer range options and a step-up in recoil. The 7mm-08 is a 7mm bullet in a .308 case, it is a fine option and similar to the 6.5 Creedmoor in energy. 

The 308 Winchester and above are cartridges such as 30-06 Springfield, .270 Winchester, 7mm Remington Magnum, 300 Win. Mag and a plethora of others for those who want or like firepower for larger game such as Moose, Elk and Bear or shoot long range. Or perhaps to hunt Big Game in Africa. Along with these, also comes recoil thus training for recoil is suggested. Of course an excellent recoil pad today can reduce felt recoil as much as 50 percent, so check them out!

Always protect and pad your shoulder or rifle pad. Never shoot with shoulder pain or shoot beyond normal amounts to bruise your shoulder. 

Good Hunting!

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