200+ inch LF typical

I will probably regret posting this but I am on several forums and this one is the most respectful and fair that I have seen. The others not so much. I like to share what we do in hopes that others realize that world class LF bucks can be produced if you are on the right ranch and are willing to be patient and willing to work hard at it.

To me a trophy is the top end buck an area is able to produce - that may mean Hill Country a 140 or North Texas a 150 or whatever. To me the goal should always be to only harvest deer that have reached their maximum potential for the area they are in.

This is a 200 inch plus typical buck that we aged at 5 years old (this is the third year we have watched him) so we gave him a pass this year. I get that many folks will ask how could you let that deer walk? Our ranch and lease is all about long term management so this buck will get to breed for one more year and pass his genes on.

Yes he may not survive to next year or may go downhill but that is the risk that is taken when true long term management is the goal. If he survives to next year and goes backwards then we will let him walk another year to breed and hope he bounces back. Right or wrong that is how we roll.

Our guess is that he is 25-27 inches inside spread. As a side note the deer in the background of this picture is around 170 inches but nobody seems to notice! lol

Thanks for looking

Jaw dropper!!! Truly world class!

With a little rain and some luck you could be looking at a deer that could give the Hanson buck a run for its money next year.

Awesome buck, we pass up many deer just to shoot a 130-140 class deer. I can’t imagine seeing a low fence deer like that!

Hell of a 5 year old. Great buck!

what type of progression since 3 1/2?

Truly unbelievable! What y’all do is on different level! Congrats

Is that a trail cam pic?

Amazing deer bud. And excellent management plan. The more does he sires the more that can become common place. Herd management is not a sprint.

no one of our hunters got video of him and this is a still pic from that

was very nice two years ago and went backwards a little last year then blew up this year

Truly amazing. You and your other hunters are very committed to your goal. Hard to find that any more. You all are doing a heck of a job.

WOW...Nice work on your herd management!!

That’s a deer of 3 lifetimes, whatever y’all are doing is obviously working!!

I’d let that guy die of old age in hopes he could breed as many as possible.

Cheese and crackers! What a special animal that is. I admire the patience and dedication it takes to grow deer like that and pass on them when the protocol says to do so.

Good lord. That’s what my dreams are made of. World record potential deer

I am not sure i could pass that guy up. He might have a heart attack right in front of my stand.....


Unreal deer. Just unreal. You have a great system going out there tlk!

Amazing animal. Honest question here, so please don’t take it as a slight. Have y’all done nothing more than selective harvests and supplemental feeding? In other words, was it just god’s country and y’all just provide groceries and let them get old? Or are there other things you had to do to get where you are?

Much respect for the discipline it takes to get where y’all are. Hope he puts on 20 more inches next year.

At 5 he should have already passed his genes along. Genes don’t change from year to year, and if he took a year back then blew up, would you have had the same thought a year ago? I admire the conviction and commitment, there is nothing I will disagree on there. I wouldn’t have taken it to chance though if I saw him this year — that’s a one in a lifetime.

Low fence !!! Amazing !

No offense taken. Multiple things IMO. Next season will be my 14th year on the lease so we obviously have a great relationship with the LO and long term lease agreements. The LO and our members are all on the same page when it comes to management.

Yes we feed protein, cottonseed, and corn and we are obviously very patient and selective in the deer we take. Does not mean there have been a few mistakes over the years but all in all we err on the side of caution if we do not think a deer is mature.

Yes the forbs and brush on the ranch are excellent which obviously makes a difference. It is a large ranch. To me one of the major things done was adding water pilas all over the ranch which made a huge difference. Even if our tanks go dry in drought there is always water available. There are no livestock on the ranch nor oil field traffic.

In addition the LO and our lease members cull hard. I get that there are folks out there who say culling has no impact but in our case we have done it for years and the results are hard to argue with. We vary the number of does we kill each year based on fawn survival and range conditions. We kill culls on sight and some management bucks. There is no reason in our opinion to let a 3-4 year old basic 8 point walk unless he has some distinguishing feature (huge frame, unusual mass, etc.) We have too many 10-20 point deer to let 8's walk.

So there is a lot more to it than feed. The biggest challenge is finding the right lease members who are willing to be super patient and work with each other. Yes we have rules but they are common sense rules and yes we follow them (including me). So end of the day and as I have told many folks it does not happen by accident.

Sounds like the best deer hunting lease in the state of Texas!

To be clear, many on here argue culling to “change genetics” doesn’t work. I think few would argue culling for management doesn’t work (as evidenced by your lease). The genetics of the deer herd are still the same as when you joined 14 years ago (again evidenced by the fact you haven’t imported any different genetic lines and you are getting what you see in this thread, amazing deer), the difference is allowing full genetic expression. Sorry, not trying to derail or start an argument, but the point was worth making and distinguishing from some of the previous posts about the topic.

To belabor the point a little more, i recently saw a pic of a dead deer someone shot very near a low fence lease some on here are members. The area has very little hunting pressure, there is no management set up and no supplemental feed whatsoever. This deer was all of 200”, just a beautiful deer. Where genetics are allowed to express fully, good things can happen (sometimes). But too often we shoot deer too early and don't allow full genetic expression, other times nature does that for us with drought or disease or stress. The point of a management plan is to try and allow more deer yo maximize their genetic potential. Lots of ways to get there. Tlk is doing it right for them!!

IMO you are totally correct - I have stated here multiple times it does not change genetics - and yes I prefer not to veer off here on whether culling works or not - that is for a different thread. I am old school and believe in the saying "if it ain't broke don't fix it" - so in our case we will keep on keeping on.

Tlk, added a little more in an edit to my post...we are in alignment. Keep up the good work!

Btw, if next year that buck drops to 180-190, give me a call i will come Out and cull him for you

That is a lottery deer. The right genetics had to line up to produce him. The more he can pass on helps increase the odds it will line up again. The does fawns that have his genetics are passing on also. Yall have a great mangement program, I love seeing this.

Good deal. I could be pretty patient for a shot at taking down Milo Hansen. Hope you have called dibs!

This is the almost 200” LF buck my uncle took last year. They watched him for six years.....

They have been managing this herd for almost 20 years and have a few more they are "watching"....only way it works is if everyone agrees on the plan and then follows the plan....

Amazing animal and group of men who've worked hard to produce him.

Jeez the perfect deer does exist!

I agree - Genes do not change year to year ......... but the more does that receive those genes is a good thing.

To answer you question - no matter if a deer blows up or not, our practice is to wait until they are a minimum of age 6. If in doubt we wait to see what happens the following year.

I cannot tell you how many "once in a lifetime" bucks I have seen killed here over the years that easily could have been shot at younger ages. That is why our lease is not for everyone.

Beautiful deer.

Congratulations on your management success and thank you for sharing.

thank you Sir

Y'all have a serious program and produce monster bucks consistently. Hell of a buck.

Awesome deer! I'm just going to throw this out there. Do you think a high fence around your lease would worsen or better your program based on the acreage you have? All hypothetical

I haven’t shot a deer on my lease in 5 years.

I would like to officially put my name on your waiting list.

The funny thing is he had an opening either this year or the year before if I remember correctly.

We have openings every so often - usually due to job situations like oil field, etc.

I'm curious, how many acres is the LF lease? Does it back up to any HF ranches. How much protein are you feeding? Being a bit skeptical, it's one thing to have a buck of a lifetime on a low fence property where the deer can come as go as they please, and the folks on adjoining leases would drop in heart beat! However, when there are multiple 200 class deer on a LF lease and they're there year after year it makes me ask how? Game management is one thing and something myself and my neighbors all work together on, but what's your secret? Yes, great genetics being passed down I get, though on low fence you don't have control of the does genetics. It takes two to create a 200 plus deer plus great food and protein. Even in deer breeding programs, not all bucks born have what it takes to be monsters. This is made even harder to produce on LF deer with unknown genetics.

Just curious how big your lease is and what you're doing in the game management program, that a lot of us aren't!

If you will go to the top of this page (page 2) I pretty much already covered most of your questions. I have been on this forum now for 8 years, posted a number of pictures of our deer, and there are even a few members of this forum who have actually been on this ranch.

It is a very large LF ranch - not all the bucks born here are trophy deer and I certainly never said that was the case - that is why we do a lot of culling. Our primary neighbor lease (same ranch) is on the same management program we are. We have a protein feed pen around every 300-350 acres and a cottonseed feeder around every 200 acres (half of which are outside of pens so that the fawns can get to it without having to jump into a pen). We use predator control including trapping coyotes hard.

We have water pilas spread across the ranch which keeps deer in our area even during drought when other ranches around us ponds have dried up. We put wormer out for our deer once a year which has added about 10-15% to our body weights. Our native brush is excellent and diverse. We have no cattle. We have no oil field traffic. I could go on and on.

Nothing magic and sorry you are a bit skeptical but I understand

So Jeff - I noticed this is your first post here in over two months. Please tell us about the J&D ranch north? How many acres? LF or HF? How much protein do you feed? Pics of your deer? Management program? Who are your neighbors? Fill us in please on how you run your ranch?

Congrat's, that a friggin toad!
I hope mother nature is kind to him (and all of us) next year.
Do you join Holden's pasture?

What a buck!

Wow....... incredible job all around that buck isn't luck its obviously a culmination of all the hard work you, your LO and your lease members have put in! It's obviously paying off!

If you really must know, on Oct 1st I was placed on a ventilator and put in a coma for six days with Covid, I spent 16 days in the ICU. I lost 30 pounds of muscle mass during those 16 days. I spent a total of 40 days in the hospital. I'm learning how to walk all over as well as eat and swallow. The breathing tube gave me ulcers in my throat narrowing my throat passage. I have physical, occupational and throat therapy five days a week. Though not all in one day, physical therapy 3 days a week and OP and throat two days a week. PM me, I'll give you my real name and you can go on my FB page it's all well documented with my ups downs and my progress. Most of which my wife posted.

I just started getting back on line and looking around. Sat evening was my first time in a deer stand. My wife drove me to the stand helped me get in and then picked me up. When I get back for PT later this morning I'll answer your questions about my ranch!

Please where a mask. Covid is no joke!

I am sorry you got covid and hope you recover fully - no need to answer any questions - carry on

Amazing deer and program. To me the ability to let them walk comes with faith that they will return. Its much easier inside a HF, but with the program, feed, acreage, dedication yall have going it sure looks like you retain them anyway.

Always happy to look at your pictures, would be great to see the pictures of his progression

Kudos, I hope some day I can be a part of a similar program!

Wow, what a deer. I'm not sure I could ever let a world record class deer walk, no matter the age. Too many things to go wrong....he damages in velvet, gets hurt, breaks off a tine, etc.

Y'alls management is truly special....how a true trophy hunting ranch should be ran. Congrats and would love to see the pics for the last 3 years.

It's not been a fun couple of months. We own a 162 acre ranch in Young County, not huge but it's ours. On my west side I have two neighbors one with a 162 acre ranch and the other with 325 acres. Across the main Rd to my north my neighbor has 325 acres. We all work together on game management and share game pics. We work with our local state game biologist and he tells us the shooters and based on our herd size how many does to take. Our deer genetics produce 120, 130 & some low 140 class bucks. For the last four years minus this year, I've taken a couple 130's, one 142 and a couple 120 class bucks. My neighbor to the west took a 158 10 point four or five years ago. None of us saw him on camera nor had we ever seen a buck that big on our cameras. It was in the middle of the rut, great deer and we always hope to see another.. My neighbor to my south high fenced his 168 acres and put trophy WT in and a bunch of exotics. His HF covers my ranch and my neighbors entire south fence. Don't get me started on HF, as HF 168 acres is ridiculous if you ask me. To my east my neighbor has large wheat fields.

I have two big boss 150 lb gravity fed protein feeders and I run seven corn feeders and stands. We don't hunt the protein feeders. Yes, seven corn feeders is a bit much for 168 acres but I need places for the boys and their buddies to hunt when they all come out. Each stand has pics of shooters and non-shooter bucks I start filling the protein feeders in early April. Usually we fill each protein every four to six weeks. I usually keep them filled until rifle season. This year since I was in the hospital I'm not sure when they went dry.

On the covid front, I finally started walking without a walker or cane. Though my balance is not great. Four weeks ago I could walk 30 yards with my walker before wanting to collapse. I can know walk a 1/4 mile but I'm very wibbily wobbly so my wife stays close if I go down, which I've only done once. Going back to work 1/2 days next Monday. I'm an engineer and work from home but any type of normalcy I can get helps me greatly. Plus it's our slow part of the season with X-mas and New Years. It will be nice to chat with peers.

My apologies, I've never heard of a LF producing multiple 200 class buck. Y'all are very fortunate.

Jeff if you need someone to fill your feeders or any help at the ranch let me know. I'm not too far from you, over in Baylor county Megargel.
I'll be out there this weekend and have already filled my buck tags. Just hunting for fun now and to assist my wife and daughters when they come out.
Seriously if you need help I can be there!!

Bolt Guy - man that is very thoughtful of you

That ^ is a fact!

Boltguy,

Many thanks and I would like to meet up since you're very close. We had a small army of help from our friends in town. The actually had a Care Flight Ambulance take me from Wichita Falls Regional hospital to Presby Allen Hospital where I spent 16 days in the ICU and a total of 40 days. The put me on the ventilator while in route to Allen. Folks came everyday to feed and stay with the dogs, put hay out for the cows. One weekend a few buddies showed up to cut grass and fill the feeders. I owe so many people so much for all their help and a lot of it was not by asking. They simple did what needed to be done to help up us. In-debted is what my wife and I are to all of them. I would have done the same for them. PM on the way!

PM sent

WOW. Im not sure what's more impressive, the deer or y'all's ability to let him walk after this year!!! That is the most beautiful typical I've ever seen!!! I may have missed it while going through the thread, but what region is your lease in?

we are deep south texas -

any openings coming up on that lease?

I brag on tlk and his place all the time. He truly has it going on and I know it wasnt easy to get it started nor is it easy to keep it going. One of the better looking bucks I have ever seen. I understand the program and the need for discipline but Im just not sure I could ask my guys to pass that up. I know tlk makes some guys jealous when he posts deer like that and I know he holds back posting more but I am so glad he posts cause they are a thing of beauty and I love looking.

[quote=cowie14 I'm just going to throw this out there. Do you think a high fence around your lease would worsen or better your program based on the acreage you have? All hypothetical [/quote]

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Appreciate it - last thing I try to do is make somebody else jealous - I just enjoy sharing with other hunters what we do and I enjoy seeing and hearing what other hunters/leases do and picking their brain. Always trying to learn and get new ideas.

There are folks here who I have exchanged information via private message and/or phone talking about our management plan and lease as well as others not on this forum. I have also learned a lot from others on this forum.

This X 10

Wow

What a fantastic buck for sure and I couldn't agree with your more TLK

They cannot get to their full potential unless you let em walk!

God, I wish I could say that I would let that one walk for one more year. But that would be dishonest of me.
Beautiful buck Sir.

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I think the only regret you'll have is when he's gone. Managing for ultimate LF bucks doesn't get any better than this. Congrats on your efforts & patience.

Have you ever found any of his sheds?

We have not and we have a shed hunt weekend every year - would love to find them when they drop this year for sure!

Wouldnt a pro photographer pay to try and photograph him. He really is THAT special. I would pay to have a quality print of that animal.

photograph or photoshop?

i keep trying to spread the word Jeff but get chastised for being chicken little over in the OT

Looks a little phony to me.

We have video of this deer - I would post it here but it does not have the option to post videos that I can find. The still picture is taken off the video.

It is not photo shopped or phony - geeze

These photo shopped or phony?

I hope you guys have been seriously looking for his shed the past couple of years.

Wow! Great LF deer. Love the deer in the background also.

Great buck. I have lots of respect for the people and places that will do this.

We have one that is 5yr this year on our place as well and he will go until he is a minimum of 7.5 and maybe longer. Great typical that is near 210" and will net just over 200" this year

And here i am paying 5k a year to shoot 140s. Someone come kick me haha

Nothing wrong with that.

A lot of us in that same boat but for me it’s about much more than just a deer. Having complete access yr around anytime I want to a big lease, hog and predator hunting yr around, spending time with great friends, having a place to teach my son about the outdoors are just a few of the things that make it worth the money. Last yr I killed a 126 in white tail but this yr I got a 193 in mule deer so I guess it averaged out haha

True