Getting Some "Puss" in Texas

[Elkwhisper]

Took a really nice bladed 4x4 "cull" buck last night.... headed out now to try and take a better buck and hopefully a javelina.

I'll try and post some pics this evening.

 

[mconway951]

Great looking cat cant wait to see the buck your gonna nail any hogs runnin around?

 

[huntin' lunatic]

Nice bobcat

Where bouts in Texas are you? This kitty has been prowling around my backyard where I hunt. Waiting on him to show up during the day, my boy would like a rug.

 

[Elkwhisper]

Sorry for the delay in updating this post.................. made it home for a couple of days to spend some time with the wife and kid and am now back in Vegas for SHOT Show. Ended up taking what they called a "cull buck" on the first night. This was a buck they just wanted taken out of the breeding pool, due to his lack of points. Of all the bucks in the food plot that night, he was definitely one of the more aggressive ones and was activily chasing does, even though we are well into January. It is hard to tell from the picture, but he is actually pretty heavy and has major blading to his G2's. Far from my best buck, but I like him,.

This was one of the most different and frustrating hunts I have ever been on..... but I definitely had fun. I had a real hard time wrapping my mind arround the fact that I couldn't shoot the big bucks I was seeing, and instead was looking for one that would go under 140". There were a ton of big bucks on this property.... in fact I bet I saw 5 or 6 that would go ove 170" and a couple that might even go over 180". Lot's of wide bucks in the 24-27" inside spread range. It was pretty impressive to see the lengths to which this ranch has gone to provide the ultimate in habitat, and nutrition for these bucks and the intense management program involved.

I didn't end up taking the "management" (130"- 140") buck that I was down there for........ but that didn't really bother me. The cull buck and bobcat I took were plenty for me. I do have a better appreciation for the type of hunting that goes on down there, and learned that even in Texas, the land of high fences, corn feeders and tripods, that the deer are still deer and very wild.

That said, I wouldn't trade a single day down there for a day chasing elk or mule deer back home in the Big Sky. If anything it made me really appreciate how lucky those of us that live in MT are.

Elkwhisper

 

[Bucnutz.wis]

Nice Buck - great story - Congrats... again !!

 

[noharleyyet]

Whisper, were they feeding protein year round? No doubt, fishbowl management and money grow big horns down there. You hear any trophy fee numbers?

 

[fishfrey]

Congrats on the puss. Love the colors.

 

[trevore]

Congrats on the cat and the cull. Hunting on a place in Texas that is truly managed for big deer is just as you said. Frustrating and exciting. I've been on some really good ranches and I've seen some really big bucks. But of course they were off limits for a poor boy like me.