Public lands whitetail hunts in Texas this year are superb.

[1IV]

With the rain and cold and inclement weather we haven't had that many garbage hunters out there. I took the big 140+lb 10 point yesterday at Caddo national GL, Fannin Co. 90 -100yds level .308 165gr SP, DPMS AR10, w/ Primary Arms ACSS 6x fixed and piggy back red dot. Canoed in across a lake - 27° clear morning, no wind.

I got a nice spike buck out of the opener at Caddo Lake, Marion Co. 5.56, 75Gr, Primary arms 1-4x. He made me wade into knee deep cold bayou to retrieve him. Last act of defiance and all that. 45° raining all week. High winds. It was a doe cull, and he was a bit of a suprise. Checked him for antlers at 50yds and sent it. Never saw the stubs. Texas game law says bone nubs are antlers so he was my one buck for that county. FAR heavier than any doe I was hunting for.

Primary Arms has proven to be reliable in any weather or conditions.

Love that the freezers mostly full. And I've still got a doe tag for USFS- More WMA I will use in December.

Ground Stalking after locating food sourse groves.

Even found a old heavy blade gerber machete when hauling out the spike buck.

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[Moonpie]

Nice deer.

 

[Vaquero]

Nice job.
Thanks for sharing.

 

[deemus]

I think if the nubs are under 1" you can tag as antlerless?

 

[1IV]

In Texas furr coverd nubs up to an inch yes. But any white bone antler showing, and you have a legal buck.

I clarified it at the deer check station.

New Texas regs for 2018 reads as:


A LEGAL BUCK DEER is defined as having a hardened antler protruding through the skin AND : at least one unbranched antler; OR. an inside spread measurement between main beams of 13 inches or greater. may have an inside spread of 13 inches or greater.

 

[1IV]

When talking to the game management techs and the warden about complicated game laws governing public lands: The balancing act the state does to offer access to hunting oppertunities for the average guy, vs Safety / herd management, is pretty delicate.

One thing the antler restrictions does do is offer a consequence to garbage hunters that shoot at anything on 4 legs. It is successfully guiding the mob of "sometime" hunters into allowing good growth of local game populations.

Having them under the legal expectation to actualy examine the circumstances, and animal, results in fewer hunter safety disasters.

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[FireInTheWire]

Cool man. Nice hunting. Good looking buck

 

[deemus]

When talking to the game management techs and the warden about complicated game laws governing public lands: The balancing act the state does to offer access to hunting oppertunities for the average guy, vs Safety / herd management, is pretty delicate.

One thing the antler restrictions does do is offer a consequence to garbage hunters that shoot at anything on 4 legs. It is successfully guiding the mob of "sometime" hunters into allowing good growth of local game populations.

Having them under the legal expectation to actualy examine the circumstances, and animal, results in fewer hunter safety disasters.

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In my area, no bucks harvested the last five years. This year several have seen 10 point bucks with good spread. Management works in areas that need it.

 

[Sam Colt]

A lesson I learned years ago is that does generally aren't solitary, especially early season. If you're looking at a solitary deer pay very close attention because it has a higher liklihoodof being a button.

 

[1IV]

Yeah. TooTrue. He was following a pair of doe I could'nt weed a shot on. That cypress swamp is thick. Gotta love trick shooting between the trees. First time you ever shoot a 1 inch tree limb 1/2 way to a animal and it spares it with a near miss, is the moment you learn to spot your tunnels and wait for the sighted game to enter them.

There is a very lucky pig out here that took off after a well placed shot. I was doubting my zero till I found the cut in 1/2 limb.

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