Like many of you, this Saturday was my local opening day of whitetail season. I saw two decent bucks over the weekend, but was only able to get pics of one. This one never came in bow range. The other I had at 15-20 yards, but let him pass as he wasn't quite what I was looking for. We all hunt different terrain/situations. In this particular spot, there is heavy brush (heavy for us) about 90-100 yards away from the edge of the ag field which is the primary food source the majority of the year. The deer have to run across open grass pasture to get to the ag field. The ag field itself is over 300 acres and I lost count at around 40 deer Saturday evening and that only being able to see about 1/2 of it. The kicker is getting anything within bow range. I know their predominant entry/exit areas, but it is still a crap shoot of exactly where they enter. The 7 point came in about 60 yards away and never veered my way. I probably would have taken a whack at him even though he only a 7pt. The brow tines caught my attention. I should note that I don't hunt back in the cover and bedding areas because I do not have permission to hunt it, thus I have to make do in home made elevated stands (quadpods) on the edge of the field on this particular location.
Great pictures. Texas deer just look differently than whitetails from across the country. Cool stuff.
Suprisingly, they eat it more than I used to think. They will still prefer alfala, corn, peanuts, and wheat, but if cottton is the only crop around, they flock to it as well. Like a lot of the country, we are overpopulated by a considerable amount based on our local State Game Biologists' calculated carrying base, so maybe that has something to do with it as well.
