SUBSCRIBE NOW SUBSCRIBE NOW SUBSCRIBE NOW SUBSCRIBE NOW
Game & Fish
HUNTING | FISHING | STATE-BY-STATE | SPECIES | MARKETPLACE
 
advertisement
 
You Are Here:  Game & Fish >> Texas >> Hunting >>Whitetail Deer Hunting
 
RELATED STORIES
Deer Scouting 101
Do your homework before the season starts. Learning what sign to look for and what it has to tell you will help fill your tag this fall. ... [+] Full Article
>> The Perfect Whitetail Setup
>> East Texas' Public Bucks
>> South Texas Super Bucks
>> Texas' 2004 Deer Outlook
>> Texas Sportsman Home
 
 
CAMERA CORNER
photo of the week
This Week's Photo:
Look who bagged a 160-pound black bear during a hunt near Kokadjo, Maine, near Moosehead Lake...
[+] Enlarge Photo
 
OUR FAVORITES

The Great Outdoors: A Family Tradition, brought to you by Ford & Cabelas

[+] MORE
>> Win A $2,000 Fishing Trip
>> Share Your Hunting & Fishing Photos
>> Hunting & Fishing Tales
>> Build Your Expedition
 
RELATED HUNTING
North American Whitetail
North American Whitetail
A magazine designed for the serious trophy-deer hunter. [+] See It
>> Petersen's Hunting
>> Petersen's Bowhunting
>> Wildfowl
>> Gun Dog
 
RELATED FISHING
Shallow Water Angler
Shallow Water Angler
The nation's only publication dedicated to inshore fishing, covering waters from Texas to Maine. [+] See It
>> In-Fisherman
>> Florida Sportsman
>> Fly Fisherman
>> Game & Fish
>> Walleye In-sider
 
RELATED SHOOTING
Guns & Ammo
Guns & Ammo
The preeminent firearms magazine: Hunting, shooting, cowboy action, reviews, technical material and more. [+] See It
>> Shooting Times
>> RifleShooter
>> Handguns
>> Shotgun News
Texas Sportsman
Texas' 2005 Deer Outlook Part 2: Our Top Trophy Areas

Massive aid from Mother Nature statewide had a lot do with more big deer, he added. "It was a really green year for the entire state, habitat-wise, which is really good. Usually, in a year (with good range conditions), we usually will show a decline in the number of entries because deer did not have to move as much."

Based on the TBGA results, there were literally thousands of great 140-, 150- and 160-class bucks taken from every region of the state. As we'd expect, the best and most hunted regions, especially South Texas, had more than their fair share. But you can't find a spot in Texas that didn't produce at least some whopper bucks.

For my own totally arbitrary analysis, I did a quick tally of the higher scoring bucks in each region. Some, like South Texas and the Edwards Plateau, had hundreds of entries above the TBGA minimums.


continue article
 
 

So I set a personal arbitrary measure, for what I'd always consider darn big bucks, regardless of any contest or score sheet. My tally was for non-typical bucks grossing at least 170 B&C;, and typical bucks grossing at least 160. In either case, a buck with that much antler mass is going to be a personal best for most of us.

Here's how they tallied up.

There were 319 bucks, by my fast math, that exceeded those scores in 2004-05. That's a world of big bucks. Now here's the interesting part: There were at least half a dozen bucks that big from every region of the state.

The Trans Pecos, Coastal Plains and Post Oak Savannah each produced six bucks exceeding that pretty substantial mark. The Pineywoods produced eight, including a huge 204 3/8 gross non-typical buck in Trinity County for Jimmy Cochran.

The Rolling Plains, with far fewer hunters, produce 20 bucks of that class, topped by Hunt Allred's 235 1/8 gross non-typical that ended up the biggest buck of 2004. Hunt killed it on his family's Mill Iron Ranch in Collingsworth County.

The Edwards Plateau produced 27 bucks above my mark, topping several hundred bucks above the region's 130 minimum for typicals.

In case you're doing the fast math, that leaves a bunch of big deer, and yes, they were killed in South Texas. The Brush Country revived its image as a producer of lots of huge bucks, at least 226 bucks that scored 170 non-typical or 160 typical last season!

From among those 33 Texas whitetails exceeded the Boone and Crockett Club minimum scores, some were ineligible for entry because they were taken from high-fenced property, while others were taken by hunters who will never submit the deer for listing. Most of these record book bucks came from South Texas.

SOUTH TEXAS
For 2005, expect more great things from South Texas whitetails.

Today's South Texas Brush Country remains the biggest concentration of huge whitetail bucks in the Universe. But where once it was a vast spread of brush across a few huge ranches, today it's being cut into smaller chunks, many surrounded by high fence. There's no doubt big deer drive the economy in this region, from land prices to purchases of corn and high-protein feed by the ton.

This has changed the hunting environment too, so that while the region still offers the promise of the muy grande, it is also still semi-arid desert, dependent on rainfall to make the difference between feast and famine. Smart land stewards manage their wildlife resources for the droughts rather than the wet years.


page: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
 
QUICK NAVIGATION
 
OUTDOOR OFFERS
FISHING:
Rods & Reels
Tackle & Accessories
Clothing & Outerwear
HUNTING:
Optics & Scopes
GPS & Electronics
Clothing & Outerwear
Gear & Accessories
Bows & Arrows
 


 
OUR NETWORK: OUTDOOR'S BEST WEBSITES
[Featured Title]
Shallow Water Angler  
Shallow Water Angler
The nation's only publication devoted to inshore fishing, covering waters from Texas to Maine.
 *See the Site
*Subscribe to the magazine
[Features From Shallow Water Angler]
>> Complete the Illusion
>> Make It a Mondo Mullet
>> Solitude & Shallows - Chandeleur Island
>> South Carolina Creates Second Inshore Reef
* Subscribe to the Shallow Water Angler
[All Titles]
 >> CONTACT>> ADVERTISE>> MEDIA KIT>> SUBSCRIBER SERVICES>> GIVE A GIFT