South Texas in January....(pic heavy)

Took a few pics and spent some time hunting MLD on a large ranch down south this season. Lot of really good bucks on this ranch and a lot of them are broken up right now. Some do not have any broken points, some have one, while many have a lot and even a few a whole main beam busted off. Some of these pics were on foggy/overcast days and some on nice days.

A few more....The buck in the first few pics was chasing does around then moved into a some pear and started to eat.

Was painful just to watch him eat that pear leaf... I saw several bucks eating pear on this ranch and they have done this for many years now. Just part of their diets at certain times.

A few more....






There were a lot of quail on this ranch. The usual high numbers of Blues, but I saw very high numbers of Bobs also. I saw both every time I sat out and when riding around the ranch. Could here Bobs calling every morning in high numbers at every stand I hunted at.

Wait they are still chasing rutting......


Great pics as usual

A few more.....

A few more.... The buck in the first two pics came in from a long distance off and I could tell he was wide and different looking. He appeared to have some antler damage in velvet. He was also blind in his left eye.




This buck appeared to be very rutted down and I thought he looked very old. I found out later he was they thought he was an 8 yr old.

WOW, what a bunch of beautiful bucks!!!

Great pics as always!

I bet that was a blast watching and photographing all those great deer.

WOW! Awesome pics stx. Thanks for posting.

Like the others. WOW. Awsome photos. Pretty cool just to be able to watch deer like that.

You have the most amazing photos!!!!!! thank you for sharing them!!!!!

What dreams are made of.

Wow! How big is that place? Tons of big ol' bucks.

Awesome photos of incredible bucks!

That's a great bunch of bucks and wildlife pictures. Thanks

DAMN!

Great pics as always

Holy crap, some awesome deer right there.

Sweet looking bucks STX!

Magnificent pics of some truly great bucks.

Beautiful deer.

Simply amazing.

Not to shabby

Wow. What kind of feeding program are they running? I don't think I saw an 8. Have they just about culled the 8s out so 10+ is normal?

Beautiful deer.

Man those are some amazing pictures

Nice pics.

Thanks!!!

love the pictures - South Texas is a special place and no wonder it gets into people's blood -

All I can say is Wow! The pictures you take are the best.

Many many great shots, well done sir!!!

So which one did you shoot?

Thanks for sharing!!!!!!!

Lots of great bucks on that place, looks like the bucks were after the young this year does like you see this time of the year.

Yea 2 weeks before Christmas

Good looking Herd STX

X's 2 Excellent photos again STX

It is not my place, so I will just say it is a large ranch. It would take me at least a month or more to sit in every stand once.

They feed year round and have for a over 18 yrs now. There were 8's but by their management criteria 8's are targeted by age 2. They want deer to show a 5x5 rack at 2 or at least be an 8 that has the look of a buck that will be a 10 at 3. They are removing the bottom of every age class till 5 or older based on point count and then score by age class.
With the size and thickness of this ranch is tough to get all the lower end bucks off each. Some also get old or are not seen for several years and start downhill. This buck was actually follow/chasing a mature doe in and another 2 yr old 8 was with them. This buck had not been seen on TC or by anyone on the ranch till this day.



The other 8 with the doe and older 8. If he had stayed around after the shot, he would have been shot.

This buck was coming in from a different direction when the 8 above pushed a doe in. After the 8 was shot this buck immediately then started chasing the doe.



Not every 2 yr old 8 is shot. I saw this buck and told the biologist/manager that I had seen him and thought he was an 8 that would be a 10 the next year. He said he had seen him and passed him also for the same reason. He was framey for his age and tall tined.




"Chasing" by the young and dumb happens earlier than the actual rut.

Thanks everybody. It was fun to see quality deer in each age class. I got to see this after some management hunting has been done this year and in the years past. So the pics reflect that work and a great management plan. The Ranch Manager/Biologist has been doing a tremendous job. His efforts and plan for the ranch are showing in the deer herd and the overall way the ranch looks.

Thanks for sharing, stx. They've built one helluva deer herd on that ranch. What buck/doe ratio do they try and maintain?

Man those are some great pics. You guys are so lucky that get to hunt down there on those great ranches.

1 to 1 but it varies at times. They are not concerned about ratio as much as what bucks that they keep/take off. They keep the doe numbers they want on the ranch to maintain the herd then let the buck numbers adjust to that with management.

Thanks!

Sausage.!

My breathing and heart rate were both racing looking at those bucks!!!!

awesome pics sir

I love big bucks.

awsome photos - chance of a lifetime to experience that type of hunting and photo ops.

thanks for sharing

Beautiful set of pictures with a nice narrative! Thanks.

Are they all native?

Look like native genetics to me for South Texas with a lot of supplemental feeding and management program.

Nice...not often you can see that many quality bucks on one place

Great pics as usual. Enjoyed the birds nearly as much as the bucks.

Great pictures as always!!! Looks like a great ranch and a good week of hunting

Great pictures! Bet that was a good time!

Absolutely fantastic photos of some beautiful animals. As a hunter other than the culls, how would one know which buck to take? So many that are outstanding. Thanks for sharing.

Beautiful bucks captured by great photography.

Very Nice - I was wondering where Texas kept all the best bucks - now I know!

Great pics and some fine animals also.

Those are some amazing bucks. Those "culls" would be trophies where we hunt.

They have strict guidelines on taking bucks by age class. They start taking the lower end of all 1 yr olds, 2 yr olds then go by minimum point count and score on all remaining 3's, 4's and 5 yr olds+. If a guest is unsure of a buck they can video it, get someone to give an okay and go back to that stand. They hope the buck returns. Had a guest video a buck that was mature/borderline on score and he videoed the buck so it could be judged to get approval. Okay was given but that buck was not seen again for 3.5 days of hunting and hunter was out of time. Many times one of the ranch employees will sit with guest who are not sure about judging deer.

Very, very nice.

STX, you're going to make Mike Biggs nervous. Outstanding, as always.

Great pictures, thanks for sharing!

Very nice pics as always. Thanks for sharing

Unbelievable ......... bucks, pics and ranch! Thanks for the hunting trip!

That Would be tough to sit there and see so many good deer, then videotape one to see if it could be taken then lose it. wow

Awesome pictures stxranchman, I bet you glad we have sd cards now for camera's and not still using 35mm camera film.

Where are all the spikes?

Magnificent pictures, STX. Thank you very much for sharing!

Awesome pics! Awesome Bucks!

That is about as close to my dream ranch as I can imagine! What ranch is it? Are they booking hunts?

Sounds like a terrific operation, and as usual your photos are nothing short of outstanding! Great stuff!

Private ranch that does not sell any hunts.

Excellent pics, thanks for sharing!

Very nice! We video every deer and decide if he needs to be taken works really well for us. We have the same management plan take out the 8's at the right age and things start to look very good. There are a few that get older like my sons deer this year, but those have slipped through the radar for years.

Unreal photos and what an opportunity. You are the man for sharing !

Thanks y'all.

Wow
Fantastic bucks and beautiful pics!

But the buck below..............HOLY MOLY!
Is he only 3.5 as he looks in this picture?
Also love the deer with the muley forks on his 2 and 3 on the one side.

7 or 8 of those photos about gave me a heart attack!

Yes, I would call him a 3.5 yr old. Saw a buck that was what I called a 5 yr old that looked a lot like this buck only he had droptine and double forked G2's.

Thanks everyone

Ridonculous

Great pics.