Possible New State Record Whitetail Deer.

Articles: Features
Likely new State Record Whitetail Buck Harvested in Texas
With all the rain that blessed Texas over the last 12 months, all the industry experts predicted a record year for antler growth in the Lone Star State. But wow, no one expected such a monster to be harvested on opening day that will almost certainly become the largest native whitetail ever produced in the state’s history. And, what makes this 300 plus inch buck so unique is that it is a 100% native deer with no scientific influence at all.

Mark Barrett of the Las Raices Ranch is the proud hunter that harvested this magnificent animal that will undoubtedly jump to the top of the all time leader board in the Texas record books. The buck’s score is reported as 311 4/8" green gross, in full velvet. This score is not official, but is almost certain to replace the current state record that was set just 3 years and 1 day earlier by none other than Mark’s son, Marko, who is known to Whitetail Domains users as “Encinal”.

Macy Ledbetter, Co-Founder of Whitetail Domains, has been communicating with Marko since shortly after his father downed the giant buck. Macy indicated that Marko was excited for his father, and proud of the fact that the buck was harvested (in Marko’s words) on a “family owned and operated hunting ranch in Webb County, Texas that has exclusively ‘non-manipulated nor transported’ native genetics. Marko went on to say that the deer was a “100% native pasture deer that had not been manipulated in any way. Rain, protein, feed and patience..."

Our hat is off to the Barrett family for this incredible accomplishment, and Macy would particularly like to thank the Barrett’s for allowing him to sit on the front row and be a part of the excitement! All of us at Whitetail Domains also want to thank the Barrett’s for sharing their story with us first on Whitetail Domains!

For more photos and information on this buck and other bucks on the Las Raices, check out the Las Raices Ranch webpage on Facebook! There are more than 20 photos to ogle at on this new record book buck alone!

Oh, and if you want to keep up with all the chatter on the latest information on this giant buck, follow New Texas Record Whitetail on our Forums page.

Amos's ranch does it again...Awsome!!!!!!!

Mark Barrett, Las Raices Ranch, Harvests 1st ever 300" Native Texas Whitetail

A buck was harvested yesterday, October 2nd, in Texas that will most likely be the new state record for the biggest buck grown and harvested ever by a hunter in the state of Texas! Mark Barrett of the Las Raices Ranch is the hunter, as well as father to our friend Encinal on Whitetail Domains.

The buck’s score is reported as 311 4/8" green gross, in full velvet. This score is not official, but is almost certain to replace the current state record. In Encinal's own words, "Las Raices is a family owned and operated hunting ranch in Webb County, Texas that has exclusively non-manipulated nor transported native genetics. This is a 100% native pasture deer that has not been manipulated in any way. Rain, protein feed and patience..."

For photos and more info on this ‘almost guaranteed’ new Texas state record whitetail buck, and to hear the “back story” on the buck this is being dislodged from the top spot, read Record Whitetail Buck Harvested in Texas. And, to keep up with all the chatter on what other hunters are saying about this 'native genetics' super-buck, check out Potential New State Record Buck in the Forums section on WhitetailDomains.com.

Whitetail Domains congratulates Mark Barrett and the Las Raices Ranch on this magnificent buck, and for their shining example of what superior management can accomplish with no scientific influence whatsoever!

Walt Powell, Co-Founder
Whitetail Domains

Anyone have pics of this???

Pics are on texasbowhunter.com

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-s...43_255839_n.jpg

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=568329&id=120478427966129

Good Lord what a buck !!

Pics. are also at whitetail domain...What a great buck and an oustanding program.

That is a beast of a buck.

They will have to remove the velvet in order to be recognized by B&C right?

Awesome, just awesome

The ranch is high fenced so they'd have to do more than that. Great buck!

Awesome buck, how old was he?

Doesn't penning them in a high fence and adding tons of protein to their diet constitute .....SCIENTIFIC INFLUENCE!!!!

Not impressed. A free ranging 160 class buck is more impressive!

That is an awesome buck. But it is absurd, and a slap in the face to say there was no scientific influence. This place is clearly very well managed, as you can see all the great bucks he posts. You don't just get lucky, there is definitely science at work. Management is science!

I believe they are under 4K acres. They can't escape, but that is not a pen by any means. Deer under 4000 acres have plenty of cover and are as challenging as any free range buck. He doesn't pen them up, then release them...

x2

x3

If it is as challenging on 4000 acres as they would like you to believe, isn't is a bit odd they he got him the first day of the season?

Because its prerut and they patterned him? I don't know. If he was taken on the last day, would that have changed your mind?

Get ya checkbook ready!

7.5...

those genetics are natural and native, no breeder bucks and no brought in genetics, or DMP pens for that matter.

Amos(marko) spends more time in the stand then 99 percent of the people on this board.

that ranch is no different then any other ranch in the area as far as food, and for the record he didn't fence it his niebhors did, which doesn't matter any way 4k acres is a little over 6 square miles.

Only science to that deer is keeping his deer numbers under CC via harvest of his does and making sure no one hunting gets trigger happy until his bucks get old...

Congrats again to marko... hell of a deer and hell of an awsome job managing native herds!!!!

Good question...and probably not.

Guess that is why there are 32 flavors at Baskin Robbins! Nice deer regardless.

x2... someone has been holding out on us.

x3

I'm amazed at the deer they have on that ranch but that one is just insane

x4

How many 160 inch free range bucks have been shot? How many 300 inch native deer have been shot?

x2

Lots of 160in LF bucks if you go to the right ranch!!

He is a great buck no matter where he was raised. Get over it.

Yes, great Buck, congrats Marko, impressive!

Still pen raised no matter how you look at it, great deer but doesn't really mean much in the big picture to people chasing the trophy of a lifetime in low fence, anyone with $$$ can buy a high fence buck, great if you like that type hunting but wouldn't not have the same feeling as walking up on 170" buck in a free range.

x2 if it was a breeder buck I say nice deer and leave it at that.. but it's native with the same genetics that have been in that area for a 100 years.

X2 Well said.

Can't knock the impressive buck, but it would have been better served as a breeder than a trophy just my opinion.

that is an absolute monster. congrats for sure. what i like is the father shot him and did not sale it off to the highest bidder, cause who knows how much that sucker would have brought in.

and the beauty of it is it wasn't a breeder and the only breeding it did was via natural meaning only if he was the dominant buck

Ingorance shinning through every word of this statement.

Not every High fence ranch is a pen and not all feed "tons of protein"

If it was so easy to buy a ranch and have monster bucks running around everywhere, then why aren't there more deer like this being taken every year? You can't show a deer your wallet and expect them to just grow into true trophies. It takes genetics. There are some truly large trophy deer taken on low fence ranches that feed protien and have food plots. Do they not qualify as trophies in your judgement of what it takes to produce a trophy? Just curious.

need to read few more of amos post before jumping to assumptions on BUYING DEER.... go back, search his name.. do a little reasearch then come back and post a proper response....

with that age structure, I can bet he got dished out plenty of butt whoopins even w/ that massive set of headgear.

and another, your definition of "pen" is warped

I understand you guys and you have your opinions I can respect that, I don't think if you were incarcerated regardless of how big your institution was you would still be trapped, feed protein and any other supplement it is just taking care of your heard. As I said not disrespecting the hunter or the deer. I just don't view it as a trophy. If I respect your thoughts what is the problem with respecting my views. To each his own i am for hunting regardless of how it is done, just my thoughts on a trophy are different than yours.

A. If you consider 6 square miles of heavy woods a "pen", then sure. That's a pen that is well larger than a buck's natural range anyway.

B. Someone didn't come up and just buy the deer. It was taken by a family member that put in hard work getting their herd to the point that it naturally produced that deer.

C. As mentioned - if it's as easy as opening a checkbook, why has no one done so in the history of the State? This wasn't a breeder buck or the offspring of a breeder buck. Native Texas genetics.

I can live with this. I have a feeling you have killed your share of big bucks, so I know you respect that deer no matter where it was killed, you have your convictions on what is a trophy and nothing wrong with that.

Trophy or none trophy in my eyes doesn't really many anything.. I just like deer.... big, small, ugly, fat, skinny or short...as long as its not a breeder deer, which I'm not a fan, but will never say anything bad.

Guys like us(that only shoot mature deer) can't really diss any thing Marco does b/c his practices are what many of us use on our own places.. and his results are what help convince our niebhors/other hunters not to shoot great young deer with lots of protential.

I dont think he said you can buy one from him (Amos). I read it as him saying you can buy one in general.
It is a a monster buck!!!

yep.... what bobo said... also if all low fence places and hell if all high fence would practice what he does there would be awesome deer for all to have..

I see both sides of this disagreement.

First off, the buck is a monster that anyone would love to kill. Yes it was high fence, but if your neighbors box you in, what are you going to do? I'd manage it the best I could, which is obviously what he has been doing.

Thats why I opened my mouth on Amos deer, he is doing what Breeders can't.... produce huge deer with out releaseing bucks and AI'ing does. Not to mention those deer aren't for sale!!!

Hell and its not just the big NT's that I love about his ranch, he's had several 160's pushing 170 8's that have been taken.

Guys like us(that only shoot mature deer) can't really diss any thing Marco does b/c his practices are what many of us use on our own places.. and his results are what help convince our niebhors/other hunters not to shoot great young deer with lots of protential.


Well said, and it isn't easy letting those good young ones walk. If it was you would see more big mature deer outside the fence. And you wouldn't need AR's... IMO

there is a huge difference between penning deer "in" and fencing morons "out".........

Lol, good point Doc

Well I dont have time to read all three pages of this. So was the deer killed with a rifle or a bow?

Aren't you supposed to be cutting grass JCB?

I gotta eat lunch you know!

So was it a bow or rifle?

Congrats to the Barrett family. Awesome buck!

21 ft rule

if im the neighbors that "fenced" him in I'm in a real big hurry to get the wire cutters out and cut my stupid fence down. and kicking myself the whole time im doing it

I could be wrong, but because it is high fenced, the B&C record books wont accept this deer.....right? What is their reason for that? I have no opinion either way about high/low fence. As long as I am hunting then thats all I care about.

No high fence deer qualify for B&C. It doesn't matter how big the ranch is.

B&C is a little werid on thier definition of HF... "escape proof fencing"... any one that hunts long enough know any thing under 9 foot isn't escape proof.

Most of you TX big buck contest state I think . any thing over 7'6 is HF

Is it funny that MOST people putting up high fences are in it to grown their own "high scoring deer"....but the record book for those scores wont even accept those deer....Im just saying it would be nice to see this deer from Texas in the B&C record books

I think the best thing to do would be to buy land along a big river system and HF 3 sides and leave the river frontage unfenced. Bet you could get some deer in the record books that way.

The 5 acre/1000acre debate reminds me of a story.....

A guy once asked a girl if she would sleep with him for a $1,000,000.....she said,"Yes." Then he asked if she would sleep with him for $10.....she said, "No....what kind of girl do you think I am?"

He replied,"We have already established what type of girl you are. Now we are negotiating a price."

High fenced is high fenced!!!

LMAO You forgot the 21k part but who's counting acres

Some people don't care about books and public records, they take pride and managing their deer and having the healthiest deer herd around... antlers is just a bye product of healthy mature deer

Exactly

LMAO

1000 acres, 21,000 acres, it's still huntin'.

You have that backwards people care about antlers and a by product of that is mature deer.

X2 Well said.

I also see what trophy slayer is saying and I respect his opion on this deer. He does not like high fenced hunting and I can respect that just as he respect those of us who do hunt high fence ranches.

And to Marco, aka Encinal & Amocuernos, shame on you for holding out on us on this beast! What an unbelievable buck. Congrats to your dad and you for raising such a monster of a native whitetail! Wow, simply incredible. From what I remember of your deer, this one seems to have a lot of the same type of similarity. I wonder if this one is the son of your great buck? Congrats again

could go either way..I personally like to have a selection of healthy mature deer. Not all have it in them to be massive horned, but the more you have running around, the better your chances are of finding one you like.

I have always wondered why B&C will not accept high fence, regardless of the size, but they will accept critters killed on islands regardless of the size of the island. It is easier to escape a 9 ft. fence then an island 9 miles from shore.

That is the most awesome buck . I can congratulate them for it . I will also say hunting is hunting and I wish you all the best but ... you cannot compare a HF deer to a LF deer .

Tell me this..If there is no difference in high fence or low fence then why is there never any mention of 200 plus inch deer being taken from lf? Does 3/4 of the huge ranches in Texas not feed the same thing year round? Well then maybe its because hf people have been buying these breeder bucks from genetically altered facilities for the past few years and this is what has come of it..I don't care what you say but this 311 inch deer will be an afterthought in 5 years..Seriously when is it enough? 400?500?

You read my mind! If you fence "out" these type of management plans, what the heck are you raising on your side, Tyrannosaurus Rex?

That fence would be removed quicker than I typed this.

You need to do some research before you go on a rant...Los Cazadores has had lots of LF bucks over 200" posted their in the last 10 yrs as well as the Texas Big Game Awards program. Also please explain "genetically altered faciltities" to me? Just curious as to what you expert opinion is of one. I was not aware that you could alter genetics. You make it sound like raising a 300" deer is easy, if so then why aren't more being raised? Just curious.

The last 2 neighbors to fence them out have also killed book deer on their ranches..one is around 10,000 acres in size and the other was just over 100,000 acres. They had no say in the fencing. They would rather have stayed LF on those sides. With these kind of deer who would not want to be LF. Somethings are just out of your controll.

Really, there are no 200+ LF bucks. Well below is a link to 3 of them taken last year alone! LMAO

http://www.[censored]/contests/category.asp?contest_id=18&division_id=1181&category_id=9&cat_div_id=2238
And no, all ranches don't feed the same thing or use the ultimate management tools the same way, especially culling the herd!!!

Is there some reason that this deer could not have been raised on a 4,000 acre LF ranch had he been born there and had the same groceries be it natural or out of a feeder???

I think it is time to have a record book for "High Fenced" and "Free Range" animals. Kind of like what they will do with baseball "steroid" era. Just call this deer the "Barry Bonds" buck! Great deer, but no way this deer would ever have come off of a free range ranch. Just saying.

I guess we better quit hunting then?

Why could a deer like this not be raised on a low fence ranch? Your statement holds not water at all!

Show me a 300+ deer on a free range ranch and I will retract my statement. Nothing against a high fenced ranch, but there is no way a deer can reach that size without it. There is too much pressure on free range deer of any size. Unless you have a 10K+ ranch, they will range too far. That is why you have seen a huge jump in deer scores in Texas over the past 10 years. Don't know where you hunt, but if a 150 class deer shows up, they will die from lead poison in most parts. Just think, a 150 class deer is a trophy of a lifetime for most. This deer is twice that. He would never get a chance to grow that big in free range.

he could be, but chances are he would get shot around the 200" mark. There could be big deer like that on the low pressure 20000+ acre ranches, b/c you start talking property that size and no one really knows what they have. Heck we have 16 cams running on 5K acres and don't know 1/3 of whats on the place.

There have been quite a few 200+ LF bucks taken in north Texas in the last 10 years. Montague, Grayson, Hood, Clay, etc..

possibly, but that deer did not just spout 300" from year 3.5 to 6.5 or how ever old he was. That deer has been huge for a while

Hell the 200+ inch Henson buck is 3.5 years

Wish we could see some big typical bucks...

Mainly freaks that get that big.

EXACTLY! You hit the nail right on the head with this. Maybe there is/are 300 deer on LF places, maybe not. But the fact is that there could be and you know it! What about the King, Kennedy, or other large ranches that have many thousands of acres??? Can you sit right here and say that they don't have a 300 running around there. But, the bottom line is that given the chance to get to 7.5 and the right groceries, IT CAN HAPPEN!

I believe on another website I read today that they figured he made about an 80" jump from last year to this year. If that is indeed the case Mark and Marco probably had this deer at 220"+ last year and let him walk at 6.5! Now, what kind of hunter(s) let a mature 220" buck walk at 6.5??? My answer to that is ones that are very, very dedicated to their management program and spend a little time on their knees asking for the Good Lord to bless there ranch with plenty of H2O which they got this year to make this buck blow up! Now, what if they would have had 8" of rain instead??? Maybe he goes from 220+ to 190 or less!

Txduckman. Please elaborate on "quite a few." When you get that number, take it and divide it by the 100K+ deer that were taken in Texas last year. Then, you will get an understanding of the chances. I would have a better chance of winning the mega millions and then getting struck by lighting on the way home then I would killing a 200+inch deer on free range. And I have 7000+ acres of prime land in Panhandle!

World Record Non-Typical
SCORE: 333 7/8

SHHHHHH!!!!! Keep all the pressure in South Texas.

deer is a pure monster. Marko and his dad know what they are talking about, and know what they are doing.

Sorry bwilliams, meant grayson county. No big deer in the TX Panhandle. Believe me, if I had the money to High fence my place, would do so to just keep the rednecks from shooting anything that walks or crawls!

This one?

that ones son!

He ain't the only one.

Hard to keep a deer typical in today's management when you get a rainfall year like this one. Deer just want to seem to be nonytpical..but the season just started and I would be that their will be a 200"+ typical this year also (maybe even LF).

hah... I remember lurking and reading the post with that picture on it...

The suburban was getting criticized... well... when you have 4 contests to go to... and you don't want a deer to spoil... what do you do? You put it in a closed cab... wear a jacket and turn the AC on 60 and HIGH...

Thought that was pretty funny...

http://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/hunti...official_040610

Amos, out of curiosity, how much do you feed/spend annually on protein?

Amo, I've never seen the inside of a Suburban look any better! In fact, for a deer like that I'd gladly put the entire body of the animal in there and even when it was in full rut!

Hwyman, I said Texas, not Kansas! We all know that you can shoot a 300+ inch deer on every street corner in Kansas!

hey, the panhandle might as well be Kansas!

So now we get the whole story!

Nope, no deer in the panhandle!

Agreed.

I dont really care about the story behind that buck. The smile on that old man's face is priceless

Correct me if I am wrong, but he won't be recognized by B&C if the ranch is high fenced. Awesome, once in a lifetime deer, but does that make him the new High Fence State Archery Record? Why would you high fence 4,000 acres?

Just read that the ranch was fenced around by neighbors. I would hate that my buck not be recognized by B&C because of my neighbors. If it is not recognized by B&C, would it still be the state record?

X2 - pic with his son even more priceless

A lot of guys feel that way but to me I couldn't care less if I shot a big deer and he wasn't in the B&C book. I don't know why but it just isn't a big deal to me at all about having my name in some book along with several thousand other people.

That is kind of funny...would almost make a person call that fella' a city slicker. (Like the guy I saw loading a small buck into the back of a Lexus this weekend @ DCNF)

Congrats to Marko and his dad!! Truly awesome buck.

Most of the negative comments on here are from guys who are jealous. Hell, I'm jealous. I've never laid eyes on a buck even remotely close to that size. High fence, low fence, no fence...who cares?? Heck of a buck, and it took a little luck for him to grow to that size and a little luck to kill him. He could have easily gone nocturnal and they wouldn't have ever found/killed him.

Give the man his due.

Brady texas- "the Brady buck"
&
Camp Bullis Buck

Right there are two bucks that are LF that are very close to 300 inches of horn in TX

talk about element of surprise once you open up the back

camp bullis is high fence smart guy. 8 ft chain link, and they do some supp. feeding.


If anybody want a pic of it, give me 5 min and I'll be back with a pic

I want to see the pic.

28k acres and found 7 miles from the fence.

I'd say 43 sq miles is about as close to LF as you can get.

My point is its not a breeder buck and it wasn't genetical engineer other then by nature.

I can't believe anybody would criticize a deer of this magnatude.

I read a post earlier stating that he passed him up at 220 and six years old because "he knew he was in a high fence and could't leave"

there are 365 things that could have happed to that deer to end his life besides a bullet or arrow. coyotes, stress, drought, getting in a fight, etc.......all these things can and do happen to mature bucks on a regular basis. for him to let a deer like that walk shows DEDICATION that 1% of the hunting population has. for you to say something like that just reeks of jealousy.


all this bull**** about "oh, he shot it under a high fence on MLD, a 160 class low fence buck would be more impressive, you can take that 160 and put it where the sun don't shine, I'll take you to a ton of ranches, low fence, that have produced 160 in deer. Hell, I'll take you to some that have produced 180's and one that produced a 197.....low fence/no protien.

I would agree that this deer, had it been pen raised, cross bred with northern genetics, etc, would't be nothing to write home about, but its 100% native, grown on what 10,000 other ranches are doin with their herds.

what this buck represents, is what can be done with proper herd management. No need for outside genetics, DMP pens, just good old texas stock and some time and good groceries.



Way to go Mr. Barrett. Looking forward to seeing that buck at the los cazadores awards banquet next year!

For all the jealsous winey babies...

The only thing a high fence does on a place like that is keep the neighbors from shooting him before he got where he is.

I have 330 acres in south texas, it is low fence, and we feed corn, protein, and have lots of good food plots. Why wont we ever shoot deer close to being that big??? because they will get shot before they get the chance, genetics has little to do with it if you dont let them mature.

That is an awsome deer, I love the trash, great job and keep it up, I want my old man to get a good one too, prob wont be that good but great to us.

matt

same thing with the barrett buck.


camp bullis has a pretty strict policy on hunting as well. hunter numbers and harvest are kept pretty low. which we all know leads to big old bucks

Thats was my point

The bucks I mention where native genetics just like Amos's ranch

I guess people don't realize that deer travel on average, no more than 2 sq. miles from their birthsite. Which is the equivalent to 1280 acres. So, don't bash a high fence place over 1280 acres because unless there is a higher driving force, the deer aren't going anywhere anyways!

it depends...we see them travel that far daily and they tend to semi-migrate from the pine ridges down to the river when the acorns start falling..but I guess since those can't get shot, they don't really matter.

That buck is the crowing achievement of their hard work and patience. Congratulations to them. Just proves what can be done if one is committed enough.

If all hunters in Texas practiced a little more management and let those young bucks walk then we all might have at least a small chance of shooting monster bucks.

My family owns a small place (300+ acres) in San Saba Co. Like most places in the hill country, the genetics are there for some nice deer. The age structure isn't. The bucks never make it beyond their 3rd year generally. I haven't hunted my own property in more than 10 years simply because my idiot neighbors shoot anything they see with hair or bone. Wish I could afford to high fence them out.

Don't want to get involved in the high fence/low fence/no fence debate...but I hunt on a 10k acre ranch in West Texas and we see deer travel much farther than 2 miles. I have set on a ridge and watched a group of deer travel over 3 miles and were still moving when they crossed over the next ridge. We have pictures of the same bucks at different feeders that are over 6 miles away as the crow flies.

2 Square Miles might be "average", but it isn't unusual for them to travel much farther on my place.

All it is is an average, like I said. I have managed deer for 15+years, I know deer "travel" farther that that. But they typically reside, if you will, no further than 2 sq miles from birth.

I personally hunt on a ranch that is a little over 1200 acres, low fenced. We see the same deer year after year, day after day, with the exception of a few. If 1200 acres is enough range for them to roam but still stay in the pasture, what's to say 4000 acres is too small? Nature can do miraculous things. I have no doubt in my mind that this may be one of them. Couple the ranch's management techniques with nature's way of doing things, and great things can happen. I believe the buck is native. Afterall, anything can happen.

Take me to some of these ranches you speak of pleeaaaasssse!!!!!

got the same problem around kerrville luckily for me less people are hunting it would make me happy to see them all leave or stop huntin my brother and dad are on a lease in south texas for this reason and as soon as i get outta college and have the money hopefully i will be there 1700 acres of low fence beautiful but back to the point if everyone practiced deer managment it would definately increse the odds of shooting a hell of a trophy for the area you hunt of course hill country deer can grow to the 150's just have to be passed on definately should be an average of shootin 130s and 140s if managment catches on and more and more people are the information just has to be put out there and gotten to people with some sense

I'd step up the grammar a little before I tried graduating.

You are exactly right Matt and if you were to HF your place you could let those great young bucks walk and raise some 6.5+ year old monsters but then you'd have to handle the wrath of all the people on here when you post your great deer! I can just see it now when you post your 170" deer. The very first question is HF or LF!!!

A buddy of mine got tired of this same thing and since two sides of his was already HF, he bit the bullet and fenced the rest of his 600+/- acres. It is truly amazing 6 years later on what he has running around inside that almost 1 sq mile! Good luck to you with your place.

I don't care either way, but what it does show is that the Rack has become the MOST important part of the hunt to some people.

I blame TTH and the ego.

Didnt b&c start the big antler/horn club .

yelp!!! that damn Teddy Roosevelt and his Boone and Crocket club

Yep ain't it a shame that a man over 100 yrs ago had the foresight to see the value of wildlife and what tha mean't to a nation to preserve them for all of us to enjoy today. It's a shame that we can't do that today...oh wait that is what they call wildlife management.

\
Well, I've always said that a doe taste better then any buck I've ever eaten anyways so if someone claims to be a meat eater there are plenty of very reasonably priced doe hunts to be had and last I checked there are 5 tags that can be used for does on everybody's license!



I do to! Thanks to the TTHA and other groups like them we now have a larger, more healthy deer herd with much, MUCH better bucks then we've ever had before! Thanks TTHA!

Not trying to be a smart azz here but the fact remains that if you are not interested in large antlers, kill does because they do eat much better then a rutted up buck.

Yes, pretty amazing that over 100 years ago people were interested in big horns / animals and enough so that the formed this organization to compete with one another! Like it or not, almost everything we do is a competition in one way or another from little league baseball to our jobs! If I do not do my job better then the next guy why would a customer come back to me for more work? So yes, even our jobs are a competition of sorts. It is just the way of the World, pure and simple.

So with all this said, I guess the race is on to see who can produce the first 400" deer. Or is he in the making already?.......

Probley in the making if we get even more rain this summer... and everyone uses their doe tags like TPWD recommends this year since this is third year of awsome fawn recuitment.

But to be serious I have already showed you two buck in texas that where already very close to the 300 mark on free range so whats still your problem?

I don't remember asking for any free range deer close to the 300 mark, but thank you. (meaning have no idea what you are talking about)

The 1st 400" deer already happend I am pretty sure. Not a free range deer but over 400.

Sudden Impact was over 400" wasn't it?

I think the High Roller deer was too or very close to it.

WHOA I never said that I didn't want to shoot a big buck! My dream is a 150 with my bow! and what I meant about TTH is that every page in the mag is 200" pen deer.

google showed him at 417" @ 6yrs old.

Okay. Reading into your post it appears you are saying there is no way it's a native 300" deer and not from a breeding facility. BOBO referenced to Native Texas deer that were from the Pre-High fence era to show that native TX deer can indeed approach the 300" mark. I remembered your post and thought the same thing as what BOBO has said. I know what he (and Willis) is talking about even though he was talking to you.

What I was saying is I like what they are doing using only native Texas deer opposed to northern genetics etc. I have never said I had a problem with HF hunting, only I feel that record deer should be free ranging deer. It also seems that everyone has a different opinion on what free range is, but to me that is a deer that can walk from Webb county to coke county if he felt the need.

Techincally speaking he is not the record largest free range deer in TX that record still stands to the 284in Brady buck, but he is still the largest native genetic texas deer ever taken.

Respect your opinion!!!



Exactly! Now we can all stop jabbering and drink a cold one!



[/quote]

Sounds Good To Me!!

You buying and are they cold? Notice I didn't ask the brand.......some things truly don't matter much!!!

it does more than you think...from a Yeti cooler or an Igloo?

I see you lurking there!!! What you been up to BMD? Staying out of trouble I hope!???

Always how u been?

Purdy good, just busy with work and we bought a small place in the country and it is about to kill me! LMAO Sure wish I'd have had the money 20 years ago to buy it. You know, when you have the energy to do all the work needed to fix up 32 acres and take care of it! LMAO Working on cutting up about 25 trees that were either uprooted or busted off at the trunk with the tropical storm that moved through a few weeks back. Only thing good is the old BBQ pit and wood stove got plenty of fuel!

They let him back in with an ankle bracelet i'm sure.

glad to see you back Scott!!!

25 tree...OUCH.. thats way to much work.. You need to take off the rest of the year and go hunting....

Your son going to be a hoss after stacking all that LMAO.. poor kid

Hard work and sweat is good for a boy his age! Lord knows I did my share of manual labor in my younger years! LOL Besides, he wants to play football next year in the 7th grade and it'll get him stronger. Kid is pretty stoudt for 11 and can throw hay bales and 50 lb bags of feed around pretty good already!

I've got the week of TG and Christmas to NYs scheduled off to do a little hunting out in Sonora and I'm really looking forward to it!

I'm got x-mass to NY off also starting at the coast and hunting back north.

whats the differnece in "canned hunts" and high fence hunts...well canned hunts with certain animals are illeagal....You cant have an official boone and crockett on a high fence..it just isnt a level playing field..just my opinion

It's still a high fence deer even if it's 10,000acres. Not the same as free range no matter how awesome he looks. Just somebody else's well fed cattle in most of our books. Don't even get me started on why a deer of this nature is the reason we have such rediculously high lease fees.

JKB

Deer of this nature as you call them are not the reason for high lease fees. A buck does not know or care how big he is in all honesty he just cares where water, food, bedding cover, and escape cover are period. High lease fees are an agreement between the landowner and the man who leases from land from him. If that landowner thinks the deer on his ranch are better than someone elses he can charge whatever he wants and sadly someone will pay that lease fee if you choose not to. If hunters did not pay them maybe those lease fees would go down if hunters did not want to get just a little better place to hunt.