Double Diamond Outfitters

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.....

So my season gets started in earnest tomorrow.  Pronghorn season begins tomorrow and I'm headed out to Ft Davis for the next week to hunt Pronghorn and Aoudad.  I love being out there this time of year.  We normally have great weather, the scenery is absolutely gorgeous, and I love to hunt pronghorn and aoudad.

It looks like it's going to be a great season.  I'll keep you posted, so stay tuned.

So the CO archery season is in full swing and the hunting has been pretty good. We have been seeing some really good mule deer at our water troughs, and the elk are talking like crazy.  We don't have anything on the ground yet, but have had a 170ish mule deer within 30 yards, but on the wrong side of the fence, and a 280ish bull elk at 22 yards.  The elk came in on the 2nd day of the season and he just wasn't big enough for that early in the season.  Here's a little video after it was decided that he wasn't big enough.  He's the bigger of the 2 elk in the video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ng_jmFquRJg

Not being in CO this time of year is weird for me, but I've been going to different ranches and scouting for whitetail and have been seeing some really big deer.  It looks like a lot of the deer just stuck their head in the protien because of the drought.  I've seen several deer that just blew up and grew 30"+ this year.  Crazy in the middle of the worst drought in recorded history in this part of the world.  I'm really excited about getting out to start hunting whitetails.  I've got some great whitetail to hunt this season if anyone is still interested.  It's going to be an awesome season and I've still got dates available, so just let me know.

Not much to report today except some cool weather and great hunting.  My buddy, Ryan, passed a 280" elk this morning.  It's just way to early in the season to be killing a bull like that.  Not that there's anything wrong with a 280" elk, but when you've been seeing 300"+ bulls it's kind of a no brainer.  He got it all on video though, so that should be awesome to watch.

The rain we got right after we planted the wheat is really going to help and we will probably have wheat coming out of the ground in a couple of weeks.  This should really increase our chances at mule deer & elk later in the archery season.  The elk and mule deer are really coming to the water tanks and things are looking real good and should only get better as the season progresses.

CO is off to a great start and the game camera pictures I'm getting from our ranches in TX are looking very promising as well.

I'm ready to start hunting, so stay tuned.

Wes

So today was the 1st day of archery season in CO.  I always love this time of year in CO.  By this time of the summer in TX I've had enough of the heat and I'm ready to head to cooler weather and hear some elk sing to me.  Unfortunately I write this from TX and I'm not going to be making the trip to CO.  I'm bummed because we have been seeing a lot of tracks around our water tanks, seeing a lot of really big mule deer and we got some rain on the wheat we planted and it's starting to come out of the ground.  It'll be ok though.  We are going to have corn, oats, and wheat planted next year as well as have the water tanks full and the animals will be there.  I'll be ready and it will only be better!

I start hunting in earnest in early October out in West TX for Pronghorn.  Since I'm not able to make it to CO to hunt elk or mule deer, I can't wait to see some Pronghorn!  Plus we've been getting some great pics of fuzzy horned whitetail and despite the lack of rain we are seeing some great whitetail! Its going to be a great season and I'm really looking forward to getting back into the woods. 

I've still got some openings for whitetail hunts, so if anyone is interested please send me an email or call me.

I'll keep you posted about CO as I get updates.  I'll post some pics when I get some.

I hope everyone has a great hunting season and thanks for reading.

Wes

Well the new site is up and running.  I've still got a little tweaking to get it 100%, but we are really close. Have I mentioned how much I like the new site??

I'm just putting the finishing touches on the new website.  I'm really excited about the new look.  Hope y'all like it.  Let me know what you think.

Double Diamond Outfitters has a new look. Getting close to launching the new site.