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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