Here's the buck I tagged this past weekend north of Uvalde. It's a legit 10-pt. without the broken point on the crab claw of the left main beam and a little kicker point coming off the right brow tine. Inside spread is 16 inches.

The other buck I shot two weeks ago is a good heavy 9-point with an 18" inside spread. I got another cape for him, though.

I need to go drop the capes off at the taxidermist right now. I'll take a couple of photos with both sets of antlers together and post them later with a few other terrain photos. etc.

Great buck! Was there any ground shrinkage with the 9 pt you shot a while back or was he as good as you remembered?

Congrats

Drum

Congrats on another great buck.

Congrats.

Tony he is a real nice one Congrats

Very Nice Tony. Congrats! Were they rutting pretty good? I will be in Uvalde Dec 27-31...hoping for one muy grande!

Nice WT Tony, congrats

Tony, great G2s and G3s on that buck!

Very nice!

Am looking forward to seeing the other photos, too...

Thanks guys!

Drum,

No ground shrinkage on the 9-pt. In fact, it was a bit better than I thought it would be because I never really got a good look at the spread before I shot it. See the pix in my next reply.

Frank,

The G-2s are 9" & 9" and the G-3s are 11" and 10.5" on the one in the photo above. The 9-pt's G2s and G3s are all within 1/4" of 10" either way.

Tim,

Yup, they were going at it hot and heavy. That's why I moved my trip up from New Year's weekend to this last one.

Perhaps I'm messed up, but I thought the season in the Uvalde area closes on Jan. 17, no????

Here are couple of pix with both sets of antlers. I put my rifle in one for size comparison sake.

The wider one with the dark skull plate is the one I shot two weeks ago.

Tony,

A couple of very nice deer there. Congrats on a successful season in Texas!

These are a few pix of the terrain.

The first one -- taken at 3X from where I shot -- is where I killed the buck this weekend. We were glassing from a ridge about 600-800 yds. away, and I found him with my 12X binocs. He was bedded with three does where the left arrow is pointing.

I stalked within 200 yards when one of the does nailed me. The buck popped up and trotted to the opening where the arrow on the right is pointing to him on the ground. He stopped, facing almost dead away and looking back at me.

Because I thought my .264 was shooting too high, I left it in camp and used my custom Robar .300 WM (in the photo above). I nailed him low in the neck -- bang-flop, DRT. The 180-gr. TBBC blew through the neck, leaving about a 3" exit hole for the taxidermist to patch up.

Other than the different types of vegetation, the terrain was very much like the areas where I hunt Coues deer. Since I refuse to hunt over feeders, it was an ideal situation.




Doug, the ranch manager, looking over one of the valleys.

congrats on 2 nice deer; I like the look of that country, and am in agreement on the spot and stalk nature of your hunt rather than over feeders....

nice work,

Best Regards,
Craig Nolan

Some photos of my humble accommodations.

The kitchen area with Doug slicing up the baby back ribs he just pulled off the BBQ.





The rec room area, complete with satellite TV.





The bunk room. There are two small bedrooms and two big bathrooms at the far end. I slept in one of the BRs.

Great bucks!!! Hell of a year bud!

Looks like you had fun. Glad they found your other buck.

Nice Bucks no doubt!!!!

Not sure about when it closes Tony. I was thinking Jan 7 (may well be 17th), but any of the ranches that are enrolled in the state mgt program can hunt into Feb.

I am hunting Dec 27-31 (not Jan). Sounds like I might be a little late for the rut...

We are hunting the 18,000 acre low fence Harris Ranch...

quote:

I will be in Uvalde Jan 27-31...hoping for one muy grande!

Aaahaa. In your other message (see above), you said "...Jan 27-31", thus my question.

I think you might still get in on the rut. Good luck.

oops...Bad Typo! Sorry...been traveling so much the months are all running together...

I'll bet that the bunkroom sounds like a saw mill on a full night.

I like your hunting boots!

Fjold,

I cracked up when I read your comment.

Coincidentally, Doug's friend Bob, who is standing in the kitchen, is quite the snorer. He slept in the bunk room the first night and kept both Doug and I awake half the night. I even had the BR door shut. Sooo...we relegated him to one of the couches in the rec room the 2nd night. Man, what a difference.

Pegleg,

Hey, don't knock the tennies. I often wear them when I know the weather will be mild and I'll be trying to do some sneaking up on game. The tennis shoes are a lot quieter than my lug-soled boots because I can better feel where I'm putting my feet down.

In fact, after a spring bear hunting trip in BC in the early 1980s, while bowhunting I sometimes made stalks in my stocking feet on Arizona's javelina. But that soon got old after a few cactus needles. So I started carrying soft-soled mocassins in my pack just for the purpose.

For entertainment purposes, here's the lead to an article I wrote for OUTDOOR LIFE in the 1980s about the spring bear hunt, where I first did the stocking-foot deal.

*****

"Take off your shoes."

As I glanced up at the huge mantle of menacing black clouds that was dropping lower onto the British Columbia mountains, a light mist settled on my face. The prospect of running around in my stocking feet during a soon-to-be-released, springtime gully-washer failed to excite me. Wondering if maybe his brain was caught in a zipper, I turned to my companion.

Roy Pattison was already bent over, removing his second shoe, but he undoubtedly sensed my apprehension. He looked up, then smiled when he saw the puzzled expression on my wet face.

"Standard operating procedure," he whispered. "The less noise we make, the better. In fact, on the way up here I heard your extra ammo rattling in your pocket. Separate them."

Realizing I should have known better, I sheepishly divided the five shells into different pockets and sat on rock to undo my boot laces. It was then that the strange irony taking place occurred to me.

In preparation for western Canada's supposedly frequent spring rains, I had bought boots with a waterproof Gore-Tex lining. Now, as the raindrops grew larger and puddles began to form on the little used, dirt and gravel two-track, I was taking the boots off.

I hitched up my socks and stood, feeling slightly ridiculous but ready to continue the stalk, nonetheless. "Let's go. I'm ready."

The guide began walking and I followed, wincing as the sharp-edged gravel indented the soles of my feet. As my socks wicked up more moisture, each step caused an uncomfortable, squishy feeling.

Earlier our binoculars had located two dark spots in a swath of emerald green grass more than a mile distant. Although the sighting prompted Pattison to assemble his spotting scope, I surmised he already knew what he was seeing after having chased Canada's bears for over 20 years.

Nice bucks Outdoor Writier, your pictures and story are always first class. I hope to chase coues deer sometime soon.

Congrats Tony that's a beautiful buck!

-Sean

Thats two nice bucks you got there Tony

Congrats on some beauties Tony.

Reloader

I should have mentioned that I'm having the bucks mounted by Chris Kreuger. His wife, Mary, is a regular here.

These are two mule deer from the AZ Strip (NOT MINE!)that Chris did. He'll do the whitetails and landscape, and I'll make the wooden base.

And...taadaa -- the finished product, which I just picked up today.

Nice job on the mounts!

Very nice Tony!

AWESOME!!
W.

I like it!

Sure looks fine to me.

That's some first-rate taxidermy...

Great looking mount!

Bob

Tony,

Kudos on the two Bucks; both have excellent racks. I'd be proud to shoot either one.
Thanks for the narrative, and some great pix.

Don

Nice mounts!

You gotta love Texas deer hunting, congratulations. Dr.C