Many people don't know this (and a lot don't care
) but Texas has a draw system for hunting on public land here also. I have been applying for 10 years and have not been drawn yet. This year I applied my son for Elephant Mountain WMA youth hunt in far west Texas and he beat the odds and got drawn. 1 of 8 hunters drawn.
It was about a 9 hour drive from the house to the WMA and we had to be there at 9:00 on Friday morning, so we left the house around 6:00 am on Thanksgiving Day heading west. I do not suggest traveling on Turkey Day if you don't have to, the traffic wasn't bad, but finding a place to eat lunch was difficult as almost every place was shut down. Finally found an IHOP open.
We got to Elephant Mountain around 4:00 and hustled to get the tent setup and camp ready before dark.
the next morning we show up at the headquarters for the meeting a little early and was able to snap a few pics of some of the heads they had picked up from the sheep that are on the mountain. Here are a couple of pics of them.
Finally got the orientation out of the way, and headed out to our assigned compartment around noon. We had about 2000 acres of the WMA to ourselves. We pretty much spent all afternoon friday trying to learn our area and do some glassing also. We ended up seeing 22 does, 2 bucks and 7 sheep that afternoon. One of the bucks was about 22" wide but was only a 2x2 and while it was only 250 yards from us, it was in a different compartment that we weren't allowed to hunt. We ended up coming up with a game plan for the next morning of setting up on a small hill with the sun to our back so we could glass the bottom of the mountain and the area around us.
Shortly after sunup, I picked up movement in my binocs, when I put the spotter on it, we had 4 bucks, with 3 of them in the 18" - 20" range about a 1/4 of the way up the mountain, but unfortunately they crossed the fence into a different compartment. I kept an eye on them while glassing the rest of the area, but could only find a few does. The bucks moved off about 300 yards or so from the fence and then began milling around feeding and 2 of them finally laid down. The third one turned back around and was slowly making his way back towards the fence. Finally around 9:30 he laid down about 50 yards from the fence at the top of a small draw. We watched him for about another 30 minutes and decided we would head back to the truck and go back to camp, grab a bite to eat and then head back out and set up on a small knoll about 200 yards or so from the fence where he had bedded down at with the hopes that he would come on across.
When we got back to the truck I ask Jake if he wanted to go straight back to camp or make a swing through the compartment and take a look to see if there was anything else around. He said to do the drive through. We got to an area on the road that was pretty much lined up with where the buck had bedded down so I stopped to see if I would be able to see him from the road. I could and he was still there, probably about 500 yards or so from the road. As we were watching him, I just happened to glance down a little lower on the hill and saw another deer on the move coming towards us.
When I took a look at it, I could tell it was a buck, a small one, but a buck none the less about 300 yards away on the other side of the fence. Now we were setting in my pickup out in the wide open. This buck started heading towards us at a trot. I told Jake that it looked like he was going to cross the fence and we might get a shot at him if he wanted. All the while, this bigger buck was just laying there watching us. I am guessing that this small buck apparently had a death wish or was on a suicide march because he came up to the fence, hopped across it and came on in.
When he finally stopped, he was behind some brush about 100 yards away. Jake & I had been discussing what to do, he wanted to wait and try to get the bigger buck, but there were no guarantees that he would cross the fence. I gave him the old saying of "A bird in the hand is better than 2 in the bush" He looked at me and said "WHAT?" I explained that saying to him. So he decided he would try to take this buck if it presented us with a shot. He got out of the truck & got ready. The deer finally started moving again, and once again he was moving towards us. When he got to 86 yards, he stopped in a small opening, almost straight on towards us, just a slight angle. I told Jake if he was comfortable to go on and take the shot. It was just a few seconds and his .270 went off and then I heard that unmistakeable thwack of the deer getting hit. The buck made a slow circle and fell right where he was shot at.
The bullet hit in the right front brisket area and came out at the back left ribcage area. One shot, one kill. I happened to glance back up at the other buck and he was still bedded down. After all of the pictures, cleaning & dragging (86 yards) I looked again and he had had enough and had disappeared.
While this buck won't make anyones trophy case, it is Jake's first mule deer and we were very excited about that. The first picture he is just holding the antlers normally and then in the second one he said he was going to hold them out away from him to try and make them look bigger. I don't think that worked.
If you look at the second picture, you can see where the draw that is running up & to the right makes the turn back to the left, that is where the bigger buck had bedded down. One fence is about 50 yards to the left of it. The fence that this buck jumped can be seen in the background of the pictures.
Here are a couple of pics of the scenery
) but Texas has a draw system for hunting on public land here also. I have been applying for 10 years and have not been drawn yet. This year I applied my son for Elephant Mountain WMA youth hunt in far west Texas and he beat the odds and got drawn. 1 of 8 hunters drawn. It was about a 9 hour drive from the house to the WMA and we had to be there at 9:00 on Friday morning, so we left the house around 6:00 am on Thanksgiving Day heading west. I do not suggest traveling on Turkey Day if you don't have to, the traffic wasn't bad, but finding a place to eat lunch was difficult as almost every place was shut down. Finally found an IHOP open.
We got to Elephant Mountain around 4:00 and hustled to get the tent setup and camp ready before dark.
the next morning we show up at the headquarters for the meeting a little early and was able to snap a few pics of some of the heads they had picked up from the sheep that are on the mountain. Here are a couple of pics of them.
Finally got the orientation out of the way, and headed out to our assigned compartment around noon. We had about 2000 acres of the WMA to ourselves. We pretty much spent all afternoon friday trying to learn our area and do some glassing also. We ended up seeing 22 does, 2 bucks and 7 sheep that afternoon. One of the bucks was about 22" wide but was only a 2x2 and while it was only 250 yards from us, it was in a different compartment that we weren't allowed to hunt. We ended up coming up with a game plan for the next morning of setting up on a small hill with the sun to our back so we could glass the bottom of the mountain and the area around us.
Shortly after sunup, I picked up movement in my binocs, when I put the spotter on it, we had 4 bucks, with 3 of them in the 18" - 20" range about a 1/4 of the way up the mountain, but unfortunately they crossed the fence into a different compartment. I kept an eye on them while glassing the rest of the area, but could only find a few does. The bucks moved off about 300 yards or so from the fence and then began milling around feeding and 2 of them finally laid down. The third one turned back around and was slowly making his way back towards the fence. Finally around 9:30 he laid down about 50 yards from the fence at the top of a small draw. We watched him for about another 30 minutes and decided we would head back to the truck and go back to camp, grab a bite to eat and then head back out and set up on a small knoll about 200 yards or so from the fence where he had bedded down at with the hopes that he would come on across.
When we got back to the truck I ask Jake if he wanted to go straight back to camp or make a swing through the compartment and take a look to see if there was anything else around. He said to do the drive through. We got to an area on the road that was pretty much lined up with where the buck had bedded down so I stopped to see if I would be able to see him from the road. I could and he was still there, probably about 500 yards or so from the road. As we were watching him, I just happened to glance down a little lower on the hill and saw another deer on the move coming towards us.
When I took a look at it, I could tell it was a buck, a small one, but a buck none the less about 300 yards away on the other side of the fence. Now we were setting in my pickup out in the wide open. This buck started heading towards us at a trot. I told Jake that it looked like he was going to cross the fence and we might get a shot at him if he wanted. All the while, this bigger buck was just laying there watching us. I am guessing that this small buck apparently had a death wish or was on a suicide march because he came up to the fence, hopped across it and came on in.
When he finally stopped, he was behind some brush about 100 yards away. Jake & I had been discussing what to do, he wanted to wait and try to get the bigger buck, but there were no guarantees that he would cross the fence. I gave him the old saying of "A bird in the hand is better than 2 in the bush" He looked at me and said "WHAT?" I explained that saying to him. So he decided he would try to take this buck if it presented us with a shot. He got out of the truck & got ready. The deer finally started moving again, and once again he was moving towards us. When he got to 86 yards, he stopped in a small opening, almost straight on towards us, just a slight angle. I told Jake if he was comfortable to go on and take the shot. It was just a few seconds and his .270 went off and then I heard that unmistakeable thwack of the deer getting hit. The buck made a slow circle and fell right where he was shot at.
The bullet hit in the right front brisket area and came out at the back left ribcage area. One shot, one kill. I happened to glance back up at the other buck and he was still bedded down. After all of the pictures, cleaning & dragging (86 yards) I looked again and he had had enough and had disappeared.
While this buck won't make anyones trophy case, it is Jake's first mule deer and we were very excited about that. The first picture he is just holding the antlers normally and then in the second one he said he was going to hold them out away from him to try and make them look bigger. I don't think that worked.
If you look at the second picture, you can see where the draw that is running up & to the right makes the turn back to the left, that is where the bigger buck had bedded down. One fence is about 50 yards to the left of it. The fence that this buck jumped can be seen in the background of the pictures.
Here are a couple of pics of the scenery
