Why I am Hunting Free Range South Texas Whitetail Bucks in Low Fence Ranches? |

Back in 2014, Dr. Dave Samuel’s (wrote for Bowhunter Magazine and an acquaintance of mine at a Hunter-Ed workshop) who is a bow and rifle hunter as well as a PhD Wildlife Biologist wrote a piece that is worth reading. Bergman’s Rule is that the body size must grow larger as you go north. Is that true for antlers too?

https://www.grandviewoutdoors.com/big-game-hunting/are-the-biggest-antlers-farther-north/

Quote from Dr. Dave Samuel article; “The fact that many south Texas ranches do not allow bucks less than 4 or 5 years of age to be harvested is one of the reasons that area produces some really good bucks year after year. Managing bucks so that you get older age classes is one reason that, relative to antler size, Bergmann’s Rule falls flat in Texas. Management trumps latitude.

Throughout deer range, soils and good feed explains antler size more than Bergmann’s Rule. Hunters, leasers, land owners and land managers can do a lot to get healthier and heavier bucks and does on their properties, no matter where they are. Managing habitat and the deer is why we find big bucks and healthier deer scattered all over whitetail range.” end quote

So Texas ranches are sort of like counties in northern states. They run from a few thousand acres to 80 thousand acres or more. They often manage cattle along with whitetails and other wild game.

Making money is a capitalist thing to do. If you can manage food and cover and a healthy “wild” land, you can hunt birds, Turkeys, Havalina, Wild Boar, Whitetails and Mule deer for hunters and make a good living from the Earth and lifelong friendships too.

My hunt style is to use the Rut to Rattle in a wary buck! I want to hunt him naturally…so we are on a more equal footing. There lies the challenge and if I do my part, the reward as well, will come. Maybe a big antlered buck has your name on it.

Common in south Texas is the prickly pear cactus (formally Opuntia), a food source for whitetails including many oak species of acorns and browse. Supplemental feeding and feed crop growth keeps them healthy, though if your a true purist you will find your true wild spaces are shrinking rapidly unless you have the funds.

Image courtesy of Wikipedia with fruit.

Spending money here in the USA is also a great thing for our Economy!

Good Hunting!