Double Diamond Outfitters

Last week I got a phone call from a TV producer that was in South Texas filming a show for the Animal Planet, not a hunting show more of a reality show, and he was having a tough time getting a coyote on film and he was wondering if there was anything I could do to help.  They had been hunting with a certain south Texas "outfitter", yes I use that term very loosly with this particular person, for 8 days and had yet to get a coyote on film.  They were down to their last day or 2 of filming and were scrambling to get a coyote on film and the producers in LA were starting to panick.  After harassing him for not making the show about me and for not calling me sooner, I told him I could probably get him a coyote but since I wasn't involved with the show he didn't want to hunt with me.  My only other option was to get him a coyote that was already mounted and let him use the magic of television to make it work.  I was about half joking, but he got all excited and was all for it.  It didn't take long to find him a coyote and the rest was up to him.

The vicious coyote bungeed to the seat and heading to his 15 minutes of fame....

Quick, there's a coyote.  Shoot him!!

Hmmm.  That dead coyote just got up and walked away.....on 2 legs....doh

I'm sure all businesses get strange phone calls, but it seems like being in the outfitting business I get more than my fair share of strange phone calls.  I'm not complaining.  I love my job and really enjoy taking people hunting and talking hunting with people so I'm happy to help anytime I can.  I have to admit that this call definitely ranks up there in the unusual requests though!!

As of 30 minutes after sunset February 29 all whitetail deer in Texas are safe until October 1st.  Whitetail season ended months ago for most of the country, but all of the ranches I hunt have special permits issued by Texas Parks and Wildlife, Managed Land Deer Permits (MLDP), and since all of the ranches are MLDP Level 3 we are allowed to hunt with a rifle October 1 through February 28 (or 29th on a Leap Year like this year).  The extra days allow us to reach the harvest recommendations to try and maintain the optimum number of whitetail for the carrying capacity of each ranch, and in a drought year like last year that's very important!

With a few more whitetail to harvest, needing to scout for the upcoming spring turkey season, and needing to fix the fence where the wets drove through it when being chased by CBP we headed to South Texas the last weekend of February.  

With all of the rain we have been having South Texas is looking great, but hunting whitetail with wildflowers blooming is always  a little different...

We got a few deer on the ground the first evening, so we were off to a great start.  Plus we had a great view on our trip back to the house...

In between hunts we had to get the fence fixed as well.  Some wets in a stolen truck were being chased by CBP and in an attempt to avoid being caught they drove through our fence, across the ranch and through our neighbors fence as well.  Hopefully, we didn't loose any of our deer, but unfortunately that's just one of the hazards of South Texas.

The new fence going up....

We got the fence fixed and were able to harvest a few more whitetail that afternoon, plus I got a bobcat.

All in all it was another great weekend in South Texas.  We got the fence fixed, I located some turkey, and we were able to help out with the ranch management by taking 6 whitetail and 1 bobcat.  

Plus Brutus got some more practice....

It was time to head north though.  I had to get to the Shonto.  We still had quite a few deer to harvest and time was running out.....

Last week I was back at the Shonto hunting exotics.  I met Bill at the Dallas Safari Club show back in January, he mentioned that he was interested in a blackbuck hunt and after a few emails and phone calls we were able to arrange a date and head to the Shonto.

He arrived Wednesday afternoon and after getting settled in we headed to the rifle range to check his rifle just to make sure it was still zeroed.  One shot was all we needed to check his zero and then we headed into the field.  Hunting safari style allowed us to cover a lot of the ranch and see a lot of mature blackbuck.  In the course of the afternoon we easily saw 100 blackbuck, 100 axis (most are still in velvet, but we are going to have some HUGE axis in another 45-60 days!), oryx, fallow, sika, whitetail, turkey, and Texas dall.  After passing on several nice blackbuck, we spotted the one we wanted with about 6 other rams and readied for a shot.  Blackbuck are small animals and this one was grazing on some new growth about 300 yards away.  Not a very big target at that distance!  

After a few tense moments, the blackbuck finally settled down and the big one we were after stepped clear and Bill took his shot and he connected with a big 20" blackbuck ram!

After getting the blackbuck in the cooler we headed to the pavilion for dinner.  We have 4 miles of Turtle Creek running through the ranch and the pavilion sits on the bank of the creek and is a wonderful setting for dinner, swimming, fishing, and just relaxing and enjoying the beauty of the Texas Hill Country.  Throw in ribeyes and sweet potatoes, and it just doesn't get much better.

Bill wanted to take home some meat, so the next morning we were back at it looking for some does to fill his freezer.  Being a Level 3 Managed Land Deer Permit ranch we are able to shoot whitetail until February 29th and Bill helped us with our management program and harvested a couple of big whitetail does.

While we were out we ran into some turkeys strutting and gobbling.

Spring turkey season isn't far away and it looks like the birds are going to really be putting on a show for us on opening weekend.  I can't wait!

We got Bill's blackbuck and whitetail does loaded up and he was off to his ranch to spend the weekend with his family.

It was a short hunt, but a lot of fun and very successful.  I really appreciate Bill giving me the opportunity to take him hunting on the Shonto.  With all of the rain we have been getting lately it's shaping up to be an awesome spring and I can't wait to get back!

Last week we had 3 brothers from Louisiana come to the Shonto to bow hunt exotics.  We were after blackbuck, sika, scimitar-horned oryx, and maybe an axis if we found one that was close enough to being done growing it's antlers (axis are typically hard horned from late March to July or August).  Bow hunting exotics can be quite a challenge, but if there's any ranch where you can expect to harvest an exotic with a bow, it's the Shonto.

Tuesday morning as we headed out to several of the permanent bow stands on the ranch we were seeing quite a few animals in the headlights, and spirits were high.  We all saw some nice animals, but being the first morning none of the brothers decided to shoot.  Several blackbuck presented Jake, my hunter for the morning, shot opportunities, but he elected to pass and get a feel for what size of trophy to expect.  We were about to wrap up the hunt when a monster axis started heading our way and Jake immediately changed his mind from shooting a blackbuck to wanting this axis.  He wasn't quite finished growing his antlers, but Jake wanted a big axis in velvet and we had one headed our direction.  Unfortunately, something spooked the big axis and that was the end of our hunt.  From that moment on, all Jake could talk about was the big velvet buck and that's what we focused our attention on for him.

Tuesday evening saw Jake and I back in the same stand that we hunted that morning looking for the big velvet axis, but no luck.  We saw quite a few blackbuck and a really big sika, but he just couldn't get the big velvet axis out of his head.  His brother, John, had a bunch of axis come in to his bow stand but he was looking for a nice blackbuck and his other brother, Wesley, connected on a nice blackbuck.  The ice had been broken! 

Since John had seen a bunch of axis and Jake and I saw a bunch of blackbuck, Wednesday morning we decided to swap blinds and I took John with me to the stand where we had seen the blackbuck and Jake went over to the stand John had been hunting hoping the big velvet axis would show up.  Jake had about 25 axis come in to his bow stand, but not the big one.  John and I had blackbuck all around us and it didn't take long for him to connect on a real nice one.

John's blackbuck with his bow!!

Wednesday evening saw Jake back in the same stand he hunted that morning, Wesley moved to another stand across the ranch in search of the scimitar-horned oryx and John and I were trying to find him a blackbuck, fallow or sika doe.  

The oryx didn't come in for Wesley, but some nice axis did and he quickly called an audible and connected on a nice axis in velvet!

All of our efforts were now focused on finding the big velvet axis for Jake.  He saw more axis on Wednesday evening at his bow stand, but not the one he was looking for.  We only had 1 day left on their hunt.

With Thursday being their last day to hunt, Jake decided to put the bow down and break out the rifle.  This axis was huge and he really wanted to take him back to Louisiana.  We got on the big axis 2 times Thursday morning, but both times he ducked in the brush in a hurry and we were never able to get a shot on him.  We hunted hard, but it just wasn't meant to be.....unfortunately.

Once again we had a great time at the Shonto and had 3 animals in 3 days and they were all bow kills!  Pretty impressive in my opinion.  I really want to thank Wesley, John, and Jake for the great time.  I really enjoyed getting to know them and getting to hunt with them.

It's no easy feat getting on trophy blackbuck and axis with a bow, but like I mentioned at the beginning of this blog, if you want to try and bow hunt exotics there's no better place than the Shonto!!

On January 4, 2012 the US Fish and Wildlife Service repealed the regulatory exclusion for captive-bred African antelope species under the Endangered Species Act.  Basically, that's a fancy way to say that they are no longer going to allow the hunting of addax, dama gazelle or scimitar-horned oryx CITES permits.  CITES permits are not easy to get and most ranches won't go through the trouble of dealing with the US Fish and Wildlife Service just to be able to shoot these animals on their ranch.  It's a little complicated to try and explain, but "60 Minutes" did a story on it and explained it very well....in my opinion.

If you are not a hunter this may be a good way to get a better understanding of the new ruling.  If you are a hunter, this is amazing because CBS was actually very honest in the way they edited this.  Click here to view the "60 Minutes" story.

It's very sad that the ignorance of a few is going to mean the death/extinction of 3 species.

If you've ever wanted to kill an addax, dama gazelle or scimitar-horned oryx you have until April 4, 2012.  After that it's going to be almost impossible.

I've debated since I got back from Mexico about writing this, but in the end I decided it best to let as many people know as possible so that others won't have to go through what my hunters and I had to go through in Mexico.

For as long as I can remember I wanted to go to Hermosillo, Sonora and hunt the giant desert mule deer I had seen pictures of so when I met Lorenzo Tadeo Leon about 6 years ago I felt like I had finally made a contact in Hermosillo that I could possibly end up hunting with in Hermosillo one day.  I sent several hunters to him over the course of 6 years and had good reports back and over the years began to feel more and more comfortable with him and going to hunt in Hermosillo.  I finally booked a hunt for myself and my 2 hunters, Roger and Kenny, for January 9-17, 2012.

Sunday night, January 8th, Lorenzo Tadeo Leon called and said his truck was stolen and inside his truck he had the generator for our mule deer camp, the 2 rifles my hunters were to use, and the gun permits for my rifle as well as numerous other hunters that were to hunt with Lorenzo Tadeo Leon.  It was the night before we were to fly into Hermosillo but Lorenzo Tadeo Leon assured me that he could get rifles for us and that everything would be fine and that we should still come to Hermosillo.  I was a little hesitant, but he sounded confident that he could get us rifles, so we went ahead and flew into Hermosillo.  Lorenzo Tadeo Leon met us at the airport and took us North of Hermosillo to our mule deer camp and when we pulled up to the gate I noticed a Camou Brothers sign on the gate, and knowing their reputation, knew that we were hunting a ranch that had been over-hunted.  As we pulled up to camp I could tell by the look on Lorenzo's face that he hadn't been to the house like he said.  2/3 of the windows were missing, a door was missing, we had no hot water, and all of the copper in the conduits had been pulled out.  Before Lorenzo left that evening he said he was going to pick up his coues deer hunters and take them to their camp and come back to our camp the next afternoon and that his buddy, Marco, would be at our gate at 8am the next morning with 3 rifles.  That was the last time I heard from or talked with Lorenzo Tadeo Leon.  He still won't answer/return my calls.

The next morning we woke up and were waiting on Marco, but he never showed and we were stuck in camp with no rifles.  That afternoon the owner of the ranch showed up with about 4 Mexicans, all the glass for the windows for our house, a generator, water heater, all the copper wiring, and the door that was missing.  It took them 2 days to get the house back in order, and in the process all of the guys working on our house ate the majority of our food and drank the majority of our drinks.  Being bored sitting in camp without rifles, and working in construction the majority of my life, I started to help the guys fix the house.  Luckily I can speak pretty good ranch Spanish and during the rebuild of our house I came across a guy that had 3 rifles and he agreed to bring the rifles to us the next day.  After sitting in camp for 2.5 days without rifles a guy showed up with 3 rifles and we could finally hunt.  We were out of food, drinks, gas for the generator, but at least we were hunting.  The only problem was that Lorenzo Tadeo Leon hadn't paid the majority of the landowners, so we could only hunt about 6-8,000 acres of the 80,000 acres he promised we would be hunting.

On top of paying for the hunt, the gringos were now paying to rent rifles, gas for the generator and trucks, food, and drinks, but like I said, at least we were hunting.  Both of my hunters shot mule deer, but both of the 1st desert mule deer their guides told them to shoot were very small (115-125") desert mule deer and were very bad calls by the guide.  In both instances the guide told them it was their fault and it wouldn't count against them and they could keep hunting.  The second buck that Kenny killed was a better desert mule deer, but it still only scored 150".

With 1 day left to hunt, Lorenzo Tadeo Leon must have called someone in our camp because the guys took the high rack off 1 of out trucks and drove off with our truck that night and left us with only 1 vehicle for 3 hunters.  Come to find out, Lorenzo Tadeo Leon needed his truck to get the coues deer hunters back to the airport.  Luckily we still had the 1 truck because we needed it to get back to the Hermosillo airport.  Without that truck we would have been stranded in the Sonoran desert and missed our return flights home because Lorenzo Tadeo Leon never came back to our camp to pick us up.  Lorenzo Tadeo Leon also had the tags for our desert mule deer and since he never showed back up, all the desert mule deer we shot had to be left in Mexico.

I've spent enough time in Mexico to understand how they do business down there and how the majority of them learned from the "school of manana".  I knew enough not to expect for things to go 100% perfect or like you would expect a hunt to go here in the USA, but there's no excuse for the way Lorenzo Tadeo Leon abandon us and never called to explain things to us or to try and help us out.  If I hadn't been able to speak a good amount of ranch Spanish we would have been totally screwed and would have spent 7 days in camp with no rifle and it would have been a much worse situation than it was.  As it were, we made the best of a horrible situation, but it was still a very bad experience.  Short of someone getting thrown in jail or dying, it couldn't have been any worse.

I've called Lorenzo Tadeo Leon numerous times and he still won't return my calls.  I would just like to hear his side of the story, but at this point I've given up hearing from him and have decided to pursue other methods to make this horrible experience right with my hunters.

I've repeated Lorenzo Tadeo Leon's full name numerous times so that you will never forget it as well as to get it to rank as high as possible in the search engines and help as many hunters as possible from having the same experience we did.  His home number is 011 52 1 662 284 4347 and his cell number (as of the writing of this blog) is 011 52 1 662 204 8504.  These numbers are very important in identifying him as like many outfitters in Mexico he doesn't have a business name or an outfitter number.

If you have any questions or would like more info or more of the gory details, please call me on my cell at 210-602-3118.

With the DSC Convention the 1st week of January, flying out to Mexico the day after DSC, hunting whitetail the weekend after I got back from Mexico, and then hunting free range bison out in West Texas last weekend, it's been a busy month.  Mexico wasn't the best trip, and I'll address that in my next blog, but this past weekend out in Marathon we had a blast hunting free range bison!!

When you're hunting an animal as large as a bison, you've got to have all the help you can get, so my buddy Craig (founder of allaboutexotics.com) and I loaded up and headed towards Marathon, TX last Thursday morning.  My buddy Ruben, custom knife maker extraordinaire and owner/operator of Ramos Knives, was also coming in from Jal, NM for some added muscle and to really put his knives to the test.  It was going to be a lot of work, but we were all fired up and excited to get to West TX and hunt free range bison in the Glass Mountains.  You can hunt bison on numerous ranches in TX, but there's only 1 ranch in TX that has them free ranging, that I know of, and I'm fortunate enough to get to hunt that ranch.

After arriving at the ranch we had to get all of our gear to the lodge and get things ready before my hunters, Dwight and Donna, arrived on Friday.  That's typically not very difficult, but when you're hunting bison you need a lot of gear.  Add that to the fact that you are hunting in the Glass Mountains and the lodge in 9 miles from the highway, and completely off the grid, and it adds a little excitement to things.

We met Ruben at the gate, unloaded my Scrambler, and headed to the lodge.

Once we got to the lodge it was time to get to work getting the water turned back on, solar electricity all switched on, and all the gear put away.

Once all the chores were done and dinner was cooked it was time to kick back, relax and get some rest before Dwight and Donna arrived and the hunt began.  

We couldn't resist a few games of shuffleboard 1st though...

The next morning we headed down the mountain to meet Dwight and Donna at the gate, and as we headed down the mountain Ruben decided he would like to try and shoot a "small" bison for some meat.  Once they arrived we headed out in search of a good eating size bison.  

After looking over quite a few bison, Ruben finally decided on this 700 pound bull...

It was a good way for Ruben to test out his knives and get the hunt started on a positive note.

The next morning we were up bright and early and off in search of a big bison for Dwight.  Once we located a couple of bison we had to get closer to get a better look.  The 2 bison were big, about 1,900 pounds, but not quite what we were looking for.  There was 1 bull that looked bigger, but he was about 800 yards away and heading away from us, so we were back in the truck looking for more bison.  After a few more miles we came upon another large bison but decided to pass on him as well.  He was much closer to the road than the first 2 and about the same size, so we decided that we would come back and look for him later if we couldn't find a larger bison.  Driving a little further we located what I thought was a really large bison.  The only problem was that he was about 800+ yards from the road and there was no cover between us and him.  You don't really need cover to hide you from bison since they are used to being out in the wide open and they are so large they aren't very scared of anything, but you definitely need some cover if the bison decides to charge.  Despite the lack of cover, we decided to try and get a closer look at this bison bull.  As we cut the distance in half we quickly realized just how big this bison was and knew it was the one we were going to try and shoot.  Just as we got inside of 300 yards the big bison bull raised his head and turned and looked right at us.  Then he raised his tail and I knew that we had gotten as close as he was going to let us get without endangering us all.  

We had to take the shot, so Dwight set up on the shooting sticks and waited for the big bull to turn and give him the perfect shot. He's the brown spot in the distance.

When the bull turned, Dwight squeezed the trigger on his .300 Mag.  The big bison took 3 or 4 small steps up the hill and began to stagger and within 15 seconds he was on the ground.  Dwight had made a perfect 1 shot kill on a monster bison!  We knew he was big, but we had no idea exactly how big until we walked up to him laying on the ground.  He was HUGE!!  Now the work began!  Just wrestling him into position for pictures was quite a chore.

I still can't get over his size.  He's an absolute monster!!

After taking pictures it was time to get to work and get him gutted and cooling down.  

On an animal this size there's no way to get him gutted without actually crawling inside of him, which is rather nasty to say the least. 

Thanks Barry!!

With the guts removed he was a little easier to manage and we were able to winch him on the trailer and were off to hang him up and get the hide off of him.  

We used the Sky Trak to hang him and cape him.

We let him hang over night to chill before we quartered him and put him in the freezer.

After getting him quartered and in the freezer he was ready to make the journey back to Amarillo, TX with Dwight and Donna.

It was another great hunt and I would really like to thank Dwight and Donna for letting me take them on a West Texas Free Range Bison Hunt!!  We had a great time and they are wonderful people to hunt with and it was great getting to know them and spend a few days in the Glass Mountains with them.  

I would also like to thank Barry for his "chest cavity duty" as well as all the other help around the ranch. A special thanks also goes out to my good friends Ruben and Craig for all of their help.  I couldn't have done it without y'all.  Thanks a lot!  I really appreciate it.

If you want a freezer full of bison meat, and a huge bison trophy, just give me a call and lets head out to West Texas!

Like most hunters here in TX I always look forward to October but unlike most hunters here in Texas it's not because of the start of Whitetail season.  For me, October is when I typically hunt Pronghorn and Aoudad out in West TX.  Unfortunately the West Texas population of pronghorn is being decimated by a blood worm and on a lot of ranches, mine included, there's no longer a huntable population of pronghorn.  It looks like my pronghorn hunts will be moving up around Dalhart, TX, in the Panhandle,  but more on that in another blog.

Hunting free range aoudad is always a challenge, but they are probably my most fun hunts.  I love the mountains of West Texas and I feel very fortunate to be able to hunt 50 sections between Ft. Davis and Valentine.  I've been hunting this ranch for about 7 years and have taken some great free range aoudad over the years and this year was no exception.

Because the terrain is so rough and rugged we hunt aoudad out of a 4 seat dune buggy.  Once we locate the aoudad we get as close as possible with the dune buggy and then the hunt begins.  Aoudad have great eyesight and with the sparse terrain it's quite a challenge to get close enough for a shot, but that only adds to the excitement of the hunt.

Here's Brutus in the dune buggy...

Bill arrived the 1st week of October and the hunt was on.  Having hunted this ranch for 7 years I had a pretty good idea where to start so we loaded up dune buggy and headed into the mountains.  Late in the afternoon I spotted some aoudad about a mile away.  Daylight was fading fast and we had to come off the mountain we were on and get to the top of the mountain the aoudad were on, and we had to do it quickly.  We made it to the top of mountain and got into position for a shot, but we couldn't get any closer than 450 yards.  After making several moves to get closer we just couldn't get any closer and had to take a shot.  Bill picked out the biggest aoudad and fired and you could tell he was hit, but he didn't go down.  Aoudad are very tough and after having to chase one last year I knew I didn't want to have to do that again, so I was trying to get into position for a follow up shot.  With aoudad running all over the mountain it was tough to find the one that was wounded, but I was lucky enough to locate him as he stood broadside 510 yards away.  I layed down and got a good rest on some rocks and fired.  He took 3 jumps and fell over!

We had a big aoudad ram down on the first day of the hunt....

Now the hard part began.  We had to cape an aoudad in the dark on the side of the mountain and to make matters worse I got the dune buggy stuck at the bottom of a ravine trying to get closer to the aoudad.  Caping the aoudad was the easy part. Digging the dune buggy out, not so much.  I ended up hiking back to the house and driving my truck back to get Bill and Ruben, my buddy that came out to help with the hunt, and his aoudad and leaving the dune buggy on the mountain for the night.  The next day Bill headed home with his aoudad, Ruben headed back to NM and William, the ranch foreman, and I went back and got the dune buggy.  Just another day on a ranch out in West TX.

A few days later, Ron and Lori Kutter flew in to start their aoudad hunt.  After sighting Ron's rifle in at 300 yards we were back in the dune buggy and heading into the mountains to search for more aoudad.  Luck was on our side again and I spotted a small aoudad horn about a mile away and we were off.  

We got as close as we could and climbed up on some rocks to take a better look....

The aoudad finally moved over the top of the ridge and gave us the opportunity to get a closer shot...hopefully.  When we got to  where the aoudad had been I noticed there was another herd coming up the valley, aoudad rut in October and get in big herds,   and now we had almost 100 aoudad all together with 3 huge rams to choose from.  Once the herds came together the 3 big rams began to fight with each other and the sound of them butting heads could be heard echoing all over the valley.  

The rams finally separated enough for a clear shot and Ron did the rest.  This picture is awesome and says it all!!

With another big ram on the ground it was time for the hard work to begin.  Ron, Lori and Ruben (he was kind enough to come back and help with another hunt) began the hike down to his aoudad and I went back to get the dune buggy and met them at the aoudad.

I'm not sure if he's happy about his aoudad or the fact I brought him a cold beer.?.?

Ron shot a monster aoudad ram!!

I can't thank Ruben Ramos enough for coming out to help with these aoudad hunts.  Ruben is a custom knife maker from Jal, NM and a great friend.  I've used a lot of knifes over the years, but Ruben makes the best knifes I've ever had in my hands.  Check out his website here.

Ruben is not only a great knife maker, he's a great pack mule too!!!

This time I didn't get the dune buggy stuck, so we made it back to the ranch house just after dark where I fired up the grill and we had ribeyes' and grilled asparagus.  It was a great end to another great hunt.

I really want to thank Bill, Ron, Lori, and especially Ruben for once again making my these free range aoudad hunts very enjoyable and memorable.  I couldn't have done it without y'all.

I typically run my West Texas Free Range Aoudad hunts in October to coincide with the rut.  It's a lot easier to find a herd of 50-100 aoudad on 32,000 acres than it is to find 2-3 lone aoudad rams.  Aoudad are an exotic though, and can be hunted year around.  If you plan on hunting free range aoudad make sure you have a very comfortable pair of boots and are comfortable shooting 400-500 yards.  These hunts are a lot of fun and I can't wait to get back out to West Texas.

So who wants to hunt free range West Texas aoudad??

Whitetail season is a busy time of year for me and unfortunately keeping my blog up to date has been neglected.  I'm trying to catch up though....

Back in the 2nd week of November, Brandon and Marty came back to south Texas from North Carolina.  Last year they joined me on their 1st South Texas whitetail hunt and shot some great bucks.

Here's Brandon's buck from last year....

Here's Marty's buck from last year....

Facing the worst drought in Texas history, I knew I was going to have my work cut out for me on all of my whitetail hunts, especially my trophy whitetail hunts.  Antler growth has definitely been effected by the lack of rain and it's just been tough to locate any trophy whitetail.  All of my ranches are very well managed and feed protein, but you just can't replace what mother nature can do for you.  I knew what Brandon and Marty were looking for and was finally able to locate a few bucks I thought they might like.  

After picking them up at the San Antonio International Airport we headed to Encinal and with a cold front blowing in we were doing our best to make the afternoon hunt.  We saw quite a few deer, but not any of the bucks we were after.  The next morning we were settled in well before daylight.  As soon as it started to get light enough to see I noticed we had whitetail all around us and more were coming in.  Suddenly, one of the big 10 points we were hunting stepped into the sendero and after a few tense minutes debating whether or not to shoot him, Brandon decided he wanted to take him.  Unfortunately the big 10 had enough and was headed for the brush.  Luckily I was able to stop him just long enough for Brandon to make a perfect shot on him and the buck was ours.  

Here's Brandon with the buck we nicknamed Diamond...

That afternoon Marty and I headed back to the same blind where Brandon had shot his buck and once again were covered up with whitetail as soon as we got in the stand.  About an hour from dark we saw a buck coming in with really white front legs.  We immediately recognized the buck as Socks, one of the bucks on our hit list, and began to get ready.  Once the buck got to about 180 yards and turned broadside, Marty made a perfect shot and Socks was ours.

Here's Marty with Socks....

With their trophy bucks in the cooler it was time to help the ranch out with it's management program and try and get some of the management bucks on the ground.

It didn't take Brandon long to score on a great management buck...

After Brandon got his management buck, Marty and I were in search of a management buck for him but started having some difficulty locating any.  With our last afternoon hunt coming to a close, none of the management bucks were showing themselves.  Their flight was leaving San Antonio about 1pm the next day, so we would have one more morning hunt, but it was going to be a short one.  We were all beginning to wonder if the management bucks would show themselves.  Settling in for our final hunt none of us knew what was about to happen.  Once again as soon as it got light enough to see we were covered up with whitetail.   Suddenly at the end of the field one of the management bucks stepped out and started to head our way.  About that same time, another management buck stepped out in the middle of the field.  Luckily, the buck at the end of the field didn't like the other buck coming out and started running toward us.  The next thing we knew we had both bucks almost right under the blind and Marty got ready for his shot.  He shot and the big 8 point management buck dropped.  We looked up and the other management buck ran off about 100 yards and stopped and started eating corn.  It didn't take long for Marty to get on target again and the big 10 point management buck dropped as well.  With just a few hours until their flight was scheduled to leave we had two bucks on the ground and had our work cut out for us.

Here's Marty with his two management bucks......

We quickly field dressed the bucks and headed back to camp to load up and hopefully get them to the airport on time.  

With all the luggage and 5 whitetail, we had a full load...

I'm not sure how, but we made it to the airport in time for them to make their flight and another very successful hunt had come to a close.  

I've really enjoy getting to know Marty and Brandon and getting to hunt with them the last two years and hope we get to hunt together for years to come.  We always have a great time and end up with some great whitetail.

Whitetail season is always a busy time of year for me but I'm very fortunate to have access to some of the best ranches in Texas and this past week was no exception.  Early in the week a friend,Chris Childs, owner and operator of the Shonto Ranch, called and asked if I could help guide for him and since I didn't have my own hunters I jumped at the chance.  

Chris had 6 hunters coming in from Mississippi to hunt whitetail and the Shonto has some of the best whitetail Texas has to offer as well as world class axis, blackbuck, oryx and fallow.  Plus this time of year they stock some monster rainbow trout weighing up to 10lbs.  It's not uncommon to see 400-500 animals in an afternoon on the Shonto, with close to half of those being whitetail.  I know most people think I'm exaggerating and telling a "hunting" story when I tell them those numbers, but on the Shonto it's reality.  The guys from Mississippi found out first hand...

With the rut in full swing, the bucks were everywhere and it didn't take the Mississippi boys long to start knocking down some great whitetail.  In 2 days we ended up killing 7 bucks!!  Adam, pictured in the center w/o a hat, killed the largest buck of the group and it was a monster 6.5 year old buck scoring right at 160".

We had a break in the action on Thursday and that gave Chris and I time to regroup and get ready for the next group of hunters coming in on Friday.

Friday morning as I was scouting for the next group of hunters I probably saw 300+ animals and knew we were going to have a great next hunt.  About 1 o'clock Carlos, Juan, and Hector showed up and after getting settled in and a short safety orientation we were back at it.  I could tell they were skeptical about me telling them I had seen 300+ animals that morning, but it didn't take them long to become believers.  I almost had to take their bullets away from them as we headed out for the afternoon hunt!

It didn't take us long to locate some great deer and Carlos was the first to connect with this great 10 point.

Keeping things rolling, Juan connected on this great management buck and that brought our afternoon tally up to 2 bucks.  Not a bad first afternoon....

Calling it an afternoon, we headed to the pavilion where we sat by the fire, retold storied of the afternoon hunt, made a plan for the next morning.  The sweet potatoes were ready and I grilled ribeyes.  It was the perfect way to wrap up the evening.

The next morning it was Hector's turn and we started off just the way we left off the previous afternoon.  After looking over numerous great bucks he decided on this great management buck.

After loading up Hector's buck Carlos kept asking about a big 14 point buck we had seen the previous afternoon.  He was a main frame 12 point with split brow tines.  Just a stud whitetail.  We talked about it a little while and we were off in search of Carlos' second buck of the trip.  Once again the rut really helped us out and it didn't take us long to find the monster 14 point.  Once we located the buck and got into position Carlos made a great 150 yard shot and his second trophy whitetail of the trip was on the ground.  I love this picture.  His smile says it all.  What an awesome buck and an incredibly happy hunter!!

Having killed all the bucks they wanted, it was time to help out the management program and kill some does.  It didn't take us long to get everyone a doe and as we were headed back to the skinning shed we noticed one of the momma cows was having some trouble calving.  It didn't look good for the momma or the calf unless we could help her out.  Luckily I got to her in time and after a little pulling I was able to get the calf out and both momma and baby are healthy and happy.

His first steps were a little wobbly...

The other cows had to come check him out....

Momma had to give him the once over.....

We named him Hector.....

So the grand total for the week was 7 bucks with the group from Mississippi, 4 bucks and 3 does with Carlos, Hector and Juan, and 1 brand new bull calf.  I feel very blessed and lucky to be able to get to do what I do for a living.  I get to see and do all kinds of things that most people never even hear about let alone get to experience first hand.  With every hunt theres always a story and this week was no exception.  I'll be talking about this week for a long time to come.  I really want to thank Chris at the Shonto Ranch, all the guys from Mississippi and Carlos, Juan and Hector for letting me be a part of this.  If they had half as much fun as I did it will take weeks to wipe the smile off of their faces!!!

This is my story that is in the current issue of Texas Trophy Hunter magazine.  Pages 10 & 204.  I hope y'all enjoy it.

Now That’s What You Come To South Texas For

Like most hunters across South Texas, I anxiously awaited the start of the 2010-2011 whitetail season.  With record rainfall starting at the end of 2009 and continuing into the summer of 2010, range conditions couldn’t have been better for antler growth.  It was going to be an awesome season and being the owner/operator of Double Diamond Outfitters I was going to be fortunate enough to get to spend almost every day of the season chasing whitetail.

After a short 2-day break for Christmas I was headed back to the Pearl Ranch, 5500 low-fenced acres between George West and Freer, to meet Roger Baber and his 14 year old son Trip and guide their hunt for the next few days.  I was really excited to be hunting between Christmas and New Year because you just never know what you will see when you are hunting the rut in South Texas, especially on a low-fence ranch.

As we started our hunt on the afternoon of December 26^th, the weather was cool and overcast with a light north wind, perfect hunting conditions for South Texas.  We were hunting a big 9 point that we had seen several times.  We estimated it would score in the 160s.  The big 9 never showed, but Trip was able to harvest a great management buck and get the hunt off to a good start.  Over the next couple of days we kept hunting the big 9 point, but he never showed himself so we decided to move to a different part of the ranch and see if we could locate some of the other big bucks on the ranch. 

With cool, overcast conditions and the rut we decided to go to the blind early Tuesday afternoon.  We loaded my Jeep Scrambler and started the 15 minute drive.  Everything was perfect until we were 150 yards from the stand feeding one of the senderos when I realized I forgot my binoculars.  I couldn’t believe it!  I didn’t have time to drive back and get my binoculars and wasn’t much of a guide without them.  Luckily I remembered we had an extra pair of binoculars at the other house, which was much closer to the blind we were hunting.  While dropping Roger and Trip off at the blind I noticed a couple of does down one of the senderos but didn’t think much of it since we see resident does fairly often in that sendero.  After getting the binoculars I raced back to the blind and noticed Roger waving out one of the windows of the blind.  I thought he was just looking at the does and wasn’t very concerned, but then I noticed the closer I got to the blind the more frantic the waving became.  There had to be something in the sendero, so I got out of my Scrambler, told Brutus (my lacy pup) to stay in the bed of the Scrambler and eased up to the edge of the sendero.  Easing up to the edge of the sendero I saw 1 of the biggest native TX bucks I’ve ever seen.  It was following a couple of yearling does.  He was an absolute monster!  We had to figure out a plan, and fast.  I ran back and turned off my Scrambler, told Brutus to stay one more time and ran back to the sendero.  Belly crawling back into the sendero, I had to get far enough into the sendero to get a good look at the buck and be able to age/score him, not get seen by the does or the buck, and hopefully be close enough to communicate with Roger and Trip.

The buck was quickly closing the distance to us as he pushed the yearling does down the sendero, but he wouldn’t turn broadside so I could age him.  I had him rough-scored at 167” and knew a buck that big had to be 6.5+ years old before we would shoot him.  As he closed to within 100 yards I was finally able to age him at 6.5-7.5 years old and knew we had to take this buck and quickly.  With the buck inside 100 yards and the does at about 80-90 yards, I was trying to hand signal to Roger what I thought the deer scored and that he was old enough but we were having some communication issues.  As the buck approached another sendero, which lead to the feeder, we finally were able to work out the communication and I heard Trip flick the safety off on his rifle.  When the buck turned to step back towards the does he paused just long enough for Trip to fire.  Unfortunately, having quickly acquired a bad case of buck fever, Trip shot over the buck.  Luckily the buck wasn’t sure where the shot came from and ran closer to us, across to the other side of the sendero and stopped to look back to see what happened.  That was all the time Trip needed for a second shot; this time he found his mark. 

The buck was hit, but he didn’t drop and ran into the brush.  It looked and sounded like a good hit, but until we recovered the buck we were all pretty nervous.  Luckily we had Brutus and he had stayed in the back of the Scrambler while all of this was going on.  Roger and Trip came down from the blind as I was putting the GPS collar on Brutus.  We gave the buck a few minutes to expire, and then we were off to hopefully recover him.  We found where the buck was standing when Trip shot him and we quickly got Brutus on the blood trail.  It didn’t take him long to find the buck and once we caught up to Brutus and got our hands on the buck we all breathed a sigh of relief. 

This buck was a monster 12 point and there was no ground shrinkage, in fact just the opposite.  This buck got bigger the more we looked at him.  I scored him for the Texas Big Game Awards and he gross scored 171-4/8” and was 7.5 years old!!!  Now that’s what you come to South Texas for!!!

A few weeks ago, I was lucky enough to get an opportunity to hunt axis deer.  I was really excited because I’ve never killed an axis buck.  I’ve shot a lot of axis does, and passed on some great axis bucks, (yes I’m still kicking myself over several of them) so hopefully this time I would finally get my 1^st axis buck. 

Since I was hunting 15-20 minutes from my house, just outside of Boerne, I decided to concentrate on afternoon hunts when the temperature would continually be dropping.  We had been seeing some pretty nice axis at specific feeders, so each afternoon I would concentrate on those feeders, stalking and still hunting, looking for the bigger axis that were on my “hit list.”

My first 2 trips I saw a lot of animals, both whitetail and axis, but not any of the bigger axis on the hit list.  Despite the heat, it was still a lot of fun to get out and see all of the whitetail in velvet and all the other axis.  You almost always see axis that are hard antlered, in velvet as well as bucks with no antlers, so there’s rarely a dull moment and it makes for some very fun hunts.

As I drove out for my 3^rd hunt, I couldn’t help but think that the 3^rd times the charm, right? Once again the hunt started off a little warm but I was seeing deer right from the start, so I kept telling myself it was just a matter of time until one of the big boys showed up.  As the sun began to set and I stalked up to one of the feeders I saw a big-bodied axis moving through the brush and thought I recognized him as one of the bigger axis.  Once he stepped out into the open I immediately recognized the antlers and knew he was one I had been looking for.  After a few short, but tense, minutes waiting for my axis to get clear of the other deer, he finally turned broadside and presented me a perfect shot.  I could tell he was hit hard and watched him run off into the brush and was pretty sure I saw him fall. 

Despite thinking I saw him fall I wanted to give him a few minutes just to make sure so I headed back to my Scrambler to get Brutus, my Lacy dog.  He doesn’t get much blood trailing/tracking this time of year, so I thought this would be a perfect opportunity. I put the GPS collar on him and unloaded him and headed back to where I shot my axis, but there was no blood.  I knew I had hit him, but was really surprised there was no blood.  From the way Brutus was acting I knew he could smell him and it didn’t take long for him to find my axis.

I was able to get a few pictures and quick measurements before it got completely dark.  He has 30-1/2” and 31-1/2” beams, not bad for my 1^st axis in my opinion.   It was a great hunt with some great friends and I would really like to thank Brent, Mandy, Addison, Payden, Karsen, and Reagan for all of their help and hospitality.  I couldn’t have done it without them, so . . . . . thanks a lot guys!  I really appreciate it!  Axis steaks on me . . . .

Wes

 Summer is probably the best time of the year to hunt axis deer in Texas.  That's when the majority of the bucks are hard antlered.  The only bad part about hunting axis in Texas in the summer is that it can be pretty hot, especially in South Texas.  If you can brave the heat though, you are in for some great hunting to get you ready for the upcoming whitetail season.

As we were scouting for whitetail late this last summer we kept seeing some axis deer at 1 particular stand.  Since axis, as well as most other exotics, will out compete whitetail we try and shoot them whenever they show up. Luckily we had Evan sitting with his dad, John, in this particular stand when some axis showed up.  Evan, 9 years old, has been hunting with his dad for the last few years but had never killed an axis until late in August of this year.  The 1st evening they saw this buck it didn't give them a shot, but the next evening this buck came in to the feeder and Evan made a perfect shot with his 7-08!!  Congrats Evan!! That's a great axis buck and a great shot!!

It's never to early to get your kids, or anyone for that matter, introduced to the outdoors and hunting.  We need all the help we can get at introducing more people to the outdoors and getting them interested in hunting.  I grew up on a farm and have been roaming around the woods since I was just a kid.  Some of my most fond memories are of my days spent on the farm with my parents and grandparents.  It was a great place to grow up and so much fun as a kid.  

Unfortunately, with the majority of the population now living in cities it's difficult to find the time and place to take your kids hunting.  That's why I was really happy to get an email from a friend of mine about a hog he shot this morning.  I know in Texas we kill a lot of hogs and take hog hunting for granted, so another hog picture/story isn't that exciting, but this time it's a little different.  He got up this morning and as he was helping get the kids ready for school he noticed a big hog under his feeder.  He shot the hog and his son helped track him.  How many other 5 year olds can say they got to trail a hog they watched their dad shoot before school this morning?? Take your kids hunting and keep our heritage alive!

For as long as I can remember I've wanted to kill a desert mule deer and free range, "native" elk here in Texas.  Sounds easy enough for someone that lives in Texas and ownes an outfitting company, right? Well it's not anywhere as easy as it sounds and good desert mule deer country is extreamly tough to find.  Add in free range, "native" elk and it's almost impossible.  But after years of looking I've finally found the ranch where both is not only possible but very probable.  

The name of the ranch is the Cerf Ranch and it's 12,000 acres between Ft. Stockton and Sanderson.  When I was out there last week I saw 7 bull elk and about 40 mule deer and about 10 whitetail.  The Cerf is in the heart of the highest density of desert mule deer in Texas.  Throw in the elk and whitetail and you quickly get one of the premier hunting ranches in the state.  I will be offering desert mule deer, elk and whitetail hunts on the Cerf this fall.  The desert mule deer hunts are $4500, the elk are $5000 and any whitetail we see during your hunt can be harvested for $1500.  As with all of my hunts, these hunts are fully guided and include meals, lodging, and field care of your animals.  We will be staying on the ranch in a 3 bedroom house.  Hunters should expect to harvest desert mule deer scoring 150-180", elk scoring 300-350" and whitetail scoring 120-150".  Desert mule deer and elk hunting is more challenging than hunting whitetail, so get to the range and be prepared before you head to the Cerf.  

We can legally hunt elk year around in Texas but will start our hunts, both rifle and/or archery hunts, in September during the bugling season.  The desert mule deer season is regulated by TPWD and runs from November 26th - December 12th.

If you or anyone you know is interested in hunting desert mule deer and or elk in Texas please let me know.  This is a great oppertunity and a great ranch and I'm very happy to be able to offer hunts on the Cerf.  It took many years to find a good desert mule deer and elk ranch, but it was well worth the wait!!! I can't wait until September!!

Last week Trueman came down from Indiana for his 1st ever hunt, a South Texas spring turkey hunt.  I really enjoy having 1st time hunters and Trueman was no exception.  Since Trueman was a 1st time turkey hunter I asked a friend, and my best turkey guide, Billy to come help call to make sure that Trueman went back to Indiana with 2 nice Rio Grande Turkey's.

Before the sun came up Monday morning we made our way to within 200 yards of one of the turkey roosts and started softly calling to the turkeys in the roost.  Despite our best efforts, when the turkeys flew down from the roost they flew away from us and kept following the hens away from us.  As the sun came up, so did the wind and by early morning the wind was easily 20 mph which made it very difficult to hear any turkeys gobbling.  After taking a short break for lunch we headed to another location on the ranch where we had been seeing turkeys strutting and got lucky enough to find 2 hens and 2 toms.  Despite our best calling we couldn't pull the toms away from the hens and were getting ready to leave when we noticed a lone tom that had snuck in behind us.  He put on quite a show for us but stayed just out of range and then a lone hen came in and pulled him away from us.  Once again we were about to call it quits when Billy was able to call the tom away from the hen, he came in and Trueman made a perfect shot and had his 1st Rio Grande Turkey on his 1st ever hunt. 

Tuesday morning we started out at another turkey roost, but once again the toms followed the hens away from us once they hit the ground.  Since the turkeys were still in the area we didn't go far, but it took us a few hours to find them and get in position.  After getting in position, Billy started calling and again Trueman made a perfect shot to collect his 2nd Rio Grande Turkey in as many days.

Like I mentioned, 1st time hunters are a blast and I really appreciate Trueman making the long drive from Indiana to South Texas to hunt with us.  We had a great time and Trueman went back with 2 great turkeys.  His 1st bird had a 9-1/4" beard and 1" spurs and his 2nd bird had a 9-1/2" beard and 1-1/8" spurs.  Not bad for a 70 year young, 1st time hunter!?!?

March 20th was opening day of Spring Turkey Season in Texas and I had the pleasure of having DJ come down from New England for his 1st South Texas Rio Grande Turkey hunt.  Being an avid turkey hunter, DJ has hunted turkey's all over the country, including the Texas Hill Country, but he had never hunted turkey in South Texas and I was really excited that he gave me the oppertunity and joined me between George West and Freer.

We got to the ranch Friday afternoon, got our gear unpacked, and headed out to do a little scouting and make a game plan for opening morning.  The forcast was for a strong front to move through South Texas early Saturday morning and we knew our morning hunt would be cut short so we were trying to be prepared.  Well, we were prepared Saturday morning, but the tom's were "henned up" and had other ideas.  They were pretty quiet once they flew down from the roost but we had a few gobbling enough to get us further and further away from the truck just to make sure that we would be completely soaked to the bone before stumbling back to the truck. After returning from George West, to dry all our clothes, and eating lunch we headed out to make up for lost time.  With the wind at a steady 25mph, and gusting to over 30mph, we knew we were going to have our work cut out for us.  As we headed back out we spotted a lone tom strutting and headed towards him.  We were able to get within about 70 yards of him, set up the hen decoy and started calling.  After about 20 minutes of gobbling like crazy he sprinted in to our set up, stopped when he saw the hen decoy and DJ made a great shot at about 17 yards.  With all the rain we have been having in Texas there are bluebonnets everywhere so we grabbed DJ's turkey and went to get some pictures.

After some great pictures we were off to see if we could double up in 1 afternoon.  We headed back to a location where we had seen several tom's and about 6 hens the previous afternoon and got lucky and they were there again.  After sneaking, crawling, duck walking, and crawling a little more, we got to within about 80 yards of the turkey's and began calling.  We called for over an hour, but both tom's were very content to stay with their hens and could care less about what we were doing.  With the sun fading and the turkey's not cooperating we were about to pack up the decoys and call it a day when I spotted 2 red heads walking through the brush.  Unfortunately they saw us as well and we thought we were busted.  Luckily they were more concentrated on the hens than us and continued toward us and the decoys.  The only problem was that with the sun fading, the 25mph winds, and having been sitting in the shade for over an hour, both DJ and I were freezing and shaking like crazy.  Once the tom's saw the decoys though it was all over.  They came to within 25 yards, DJ took a deep breath to help control his shaking, and he once again made a perfect shot.  All the turkey's scattered but as we were about the get up and collect everything, the other tom came back in and tried to jump on the dead gobbler and show him who's boss!!!!  It was an awesome way to wrap up and afternoon and an awesome hunt!!!  With daylight fading we hurried to get some good pictures.

The final tally was: Rio Grande Turkey #1 22lbs & 10-1/2" Beard, Rio Grande Turkey #2 19lbs & 9-1/4" Beard.  2 great turkey's, within a couple hours of each other, in those weather conditions, and both on opening day.?.?  I thought that was pretty awesome and I'm pretty sure DJ did as well!!!

With DJ getting his 2 tom's we were able to relax a little and on Sunday we decided to take a few pictures of all the wildflowers that were blooming.  2009 saw South Texas in a terrible drought, but in October it started raining and it hasn't stopped and South Texas is in great shape.  I don't think I've ever seen this many wildflowers in South Texas in over 25+ years.  It's absolutely beautiful. There are so many bluebonnets in some areas that it looks like water.  It's impossible to explain and definitely not a very common occurance, so you have to make the most of it while we have it.

We had a great time, a great hunt and I really appreciate DJ coming down to hunt with me.  I've got Trueman, a 70 year young, 1st time turkey hunter coming down on Sunday afternoon and we will start hunting Monday morning.  I'm really excited to meet him and can't wait to get to hunt with him.  I'll keep you posted and thanks for reading.

Wes

 Spring time in South Texas is a beautiful time of year.  All the trees and flowers are blooming.  There are bluebonnets everywhere.  The weather is very mild and pleasant, the Rio Grande Turkeys are gobbling and most of the axis deer are growing their antlers.  It's an awesome time to be in the woods.

Turkey season starts this weekend and we will be outside of George West chasing turkeys come Saturday morning.  With all the rain and warm days that South Texas has had over the last few months the brush country has never looked better.  The grass is knee high and there are wildflowers and bluebonnets blooming all over.  We have been seeing turkeys strutting and drumbing all day long and they have really been gobbling the last few mornings.  We are hunting a ranch that gets very little hunting pressure and I'm really looking forward to getting out this weekend and trying to call in some of those big gobblers we have been seeing.

Spring is also prime time to hunt big axis deer and we've got some great axis deer this year.  You can find axis deer with hard horns year around, but spring and summer is typically the best time to find the biggest axis bucks.  If you have never hunted exotics in Texas you are really missing out and should give it a try.  It's a great way to extend you hunting season, hone your shooting skills, and take home some great trophys.

Scarlet, 9 years old, shot this great axis buck during her spring break just outside of Boerne, TX.  She made a great shot with a 257 Roberts and he only went about 25 yards.  Congrats Scarlet!!  Thats a great axis buck!!!!

After wrapping up pronghorn season it was time to start hunting whitetail.  In Texas, a good protion of the ranches have Managed Land Deer Permits (MLDP or MLD for short) which allow us to start rifle hunting at the beginning of October.  With a lot of the ranches hunting whitetail the week I was hunting pronghorn, I knew there were some really big deer killed already.  My buddy, James Newport, shot a monster whitetail with his bow opening day that grossed 202" and will net right around 196".  That's a net Boone and Crockett Non-Typical with a bow!!!  On that same ranch on the same hunt, another hunter shot a whitetail that grossed 230" non-typical!!! Two book non-typical deer, during the worst drought in recorded history, on the same ranch on the same day!! Very impressive!!

Mike was coming in from NC and for the last year we had been planning on bowhunting a big deer.  We finally decided on hunting the second week of October and we were targeting a mid to high 170s" buck with a droptine.  I was a little nervous that this buck was going to break his droptine when rubbing off his velvet, but he was still going to be a monster buck either way.  The first couple of days were pretty slow with Mike only harvesting a couple of hogs, but we had some very close calls with a couple of other bucks that were on our hit list.  The 3rd morning we broke the ice with Mike harvesting a 132" management buck and that's all it took.  As the light was fading fast, the big deer we were hunting stepped into view from the ground blind's window.  After a couple of very nervous minutes, the big deer finally presented a quartering away shot but he was walking a wouldn't stop.  We grunted at the big deer and he stopped for just a couple of seconds, but that was all the time Mike needed.  Mike made a great quartering away shot and the buck only ran about 40 yards. When I saw his antlers sticking above the grass I knew we really had killed a monster.  After hunting the next morning, and Mike missing another management deer on our hit list with his recurve, I took the buck to Pearsall to be entered into the Los Cazadores Deer Contest.  They scored the buck at 179" w/o the 4-5" droptine he had broken off!! We hunted for another 1.5 days and Mike connected with 2 more deer and another hog. 

The final tally was 4 deer and 5 hogs in 4.5 days with Mike taking 2 of the bucks and 3 of the hogs with his recurve.  The big deer currently sits 2nd in the High Fence - Archery Division of Los Cazadores.  We still have over 2 months of deer season to go, but we are definitely off to a good start!!

I wrapped up Pronghorn season with 3 successful hunts.  The biggest Pronghorn we killed was 14-7/8" and scored just over 70".  That's a pretty nice Pronghorn for where we hunt and it was Barbara's 1st Pronghorn, so she was very excited.

The 1st few days of the season were cool, overcast, and rainy but after the 1st weekend it cleared up and we had great weather.  It was deffinitely a nice change having the cooler weather, though.  The sun can get pretty intense at that elevation, so being overcast was pretty nice.  West TX has been getting quite a lot of rain, so the grass was pretty tall and that made it a little difficult to spot the Pronghorn unless they were up and moving.  When they layed down, they pretty much dissapeared. 

Unfortunately West TX, mainly the region around Marfa, has been experiencing a drop in Pronghorn.  The ranch we hunt still has good numbers of Pronghorn and some really nice bucks, but it's still a little concerning.  Most of the ranchers in the area, ourselves included, are participating in a study in conjuntion with the TPWD to try and find out the cause of the decline in Pronghorn populations in the area.  We collected several samples for the study and they said they got some pretty good data, so hopefully  they will find out what's going on and help the numbers of Pronghorn rebound.  I know it's been pretty dry and hot during July when the babies are normally being born, so hopefully they will get some rain and cooler weather and that will help as well.

We also saw quite a few Aoudad.  We saw 1 really big Aoudad, about 31", with a broken right horn.  I would imagine his bases were about 13", so I would love to see the Aoudad that hit him hard enough to break his horn.  I got pretty close to a herd of about 40 and got some pretty good pictures.  I love hunting Aoudad and spent a couple of days in the mountains looking for them.  We got close enough for several shots, but none of the hunters I had with me when I saw them wanted to shoot an Aoudad.  That's normally how it works.  When you are hunting them they are hard to find, and when you don't really need to find them they walk out right in front of you.  It was still fun though, and with my camera I shot all of them several time and didn't have to clean a thing.

I just got back and will start hunting a mid 170" whitetail with a drop time, but I can't wait to get back out to West TX next season and hunt Aoudad and Pronghorn.  We may not have as many Pronghorn permits next season, but I'm sure we will have some.  If you are interested in hunting Aoudad or Pronghorn, just give me a call or email me.  We'll have a blast!!

I'll keep you posted on the whitetail hunt.  This is a big deer and we will be bowhunting, so cross your fingers.  I tried to update the blog via my phone, but couldn't figure it out but I'll try again on this next hunt.

Stay tuned.....