Got My PB

I am pretty much a meat hunter...can't eat the horns, so my usual preference is a nice fat mature doe. Buddy of mine has had a ranch near Brackettville for 5 seasons now. We have been shooting nothing but culls. He is trying to get rid of short tines and small or missing brow tines. Hunted in the morning and passed on what I saw, but figured I'd drop a 6 point that was older and would never have a decent set that afternoon if he came out again. My buddy said that a heavy 8 with no brow tines might show and to take him if I wanted. Well, he showed at about 200 yards but I waited for him to work his way closer. Dropped him with a neck shot at about 75 yards next to that 6 I saw in the morning. As you can tell, there was no ground shrinkage. The two of us had a heck of a time getting that fat boy in the ATV. As it turned out, this one was not the one he referred to because it did have very short brows. But it was still a good one to take out. Found a good local taxidermist to do a Euro for me.

Congrats that will load the freezer up

Good buck. Side note bucks have bigger bodies than does usually so more meat for a meat hunter

Nice job will be a good looking Euro

Nice. Forrest

Congrats, fantastic deer

Posted it for ya

Nice buck and heck of a cull
Congrats on your new PB

Nice buck, congrats!

yup, he phat.

Nice "cull". Gonna' make a nice euro.

Thanks for all the comments. Thank you Biscuit for posting the pic. What made this guy a "cull" was the super short brow tines. If he would have had much better brows, he would have been off limits so that he could make better babies. But yes, this buck is an example of what can happen with good management and letting them mature. My buddy's place is 925 acres, so it's big enough to where you can manage fairly effectively. It also helps that he feeds cottonseed and has a couple of big neighbors that rarely hunt.

My story is probably like some other "senior" THF members...roughed it for many many years and slowly improved to more comfortable situations. I am lucky in that this place has electricity and running water, plus a nice 3 bedroom trailer. It's quite a step up from the Madison County lease that I was on for 18 years. No electricity or water...started out with just a tent and finally built an 8 x 12 cabin. Never saw anything like this brute there, so most years it was a doe and/or a decent 6 to 8 point. Lost the lease, so for quite a while I've hunted with my uncle at his 110 acres west of Alice...not a target rich environment and probably a 4 to 1 doe-buck ratio, but it's usually good for a doe and some pork. I have been drawn for a few TP&W hunts, but always antlerless or management buck hunts. My buddy lucked into the Eagle Ford stuff, thus the 925 Brackettville acres. What's crazy is that the deer population has blossomed on his family farm/ranch and he is seeing bucks there that are better than anything we have seen at his Brackettville ranch. He won't hunt the family place other than hogs, so those nice bucks have a sanctuary there.

To Sapper's comment, you should have seen the hams and backstraps on this guy. Yea, it would take 2 does to get the same amount of meat as this buck. I have had a few experiences with bucks whose meat was very "gamey", thus the doe preference. And as most of you know, it sure is a lot better to get a buck before they start rutting. Anyway, to clarify, I think the key message is that if I have a mature doe and a young 8 point with potential standing next to each other, I'll shoot the doe.

Nice job, Congrats!

He's wide.

👍👍

Very nice 8
Congrats!

Congrats!!!