Texas Hunting Leases

Fortunately, I know some people with a White-tail Doe “problem”.  Having the Does is not the problem.  Having too many of them on a ranch where you are trying to improve your deer herd’s health is.  So, since my Texas hunting license affords me the privilege of harvesting up to five White-tailed deer during a season, I was happy to lend them my services for a day. 

On this particular hunt, we had planed for a morning and afternoon session with rifles over feeders in order to choose older and larger does to harvest.  Its not every day that you get a chance to shoot two deer, and because I was able to do so this day, it sets up this story’s comparison to make a point.  Shot selection matters, and here is why.

My first hunt had me sitting in a tower blind about 100 yards from a feeder at first light.  As planned, we were there before the feeder went off, and once it did, the usual smorgasbord of animals were on hand to partake in the offering.  This morning, the area was crowded with bucks, a few does and some weanlings.  We watched the scene play out for about thirty minutes before I raised my rifle up and sighted in one of the healthy does.  But, as luck would have it, she could not keep still for long as a young buck was trailing her and making her nervous.  After a while, she had had enough and began to ease off back into the brush.

At this point, I had her scoped while she was walking away and opted to make a noise to get her to stop just long enough for a broad-side shot in which I took.  I knew that I had only a few seconds so I took the highest probability shot I could and that was to the vitals of the upper-chest area.  After shooting, we saw her run off in a wounded manner and knew that she was hit.  We waited for about 20 minutes in the blind before we climbed out and went to look for her. 

Good hunters know that a wounded deer can run for a long ways after being shot.  Depending on the severity, hurrying after a slightly wounded one might only cause the animal to run further away from the point of impact.   The average whitetail deer carries about eight pounds of blood in its system.  And, a full grown deer must lose at least 35 percent of its blood before it will fall.  So, we patiently walked up to the point of impact and searched for a blood trail.

Following a blood trail involves several basic rules.  First, find the point of impact and take note of the amount of blood in the area.  A large amount of blood indicates that a good shot was made and if the blood is pink, then a lung shot was likely.  Start off in the direction the deer ran and look for blood and the splattering it makes when it hits the ground.  The drops from a running animal will generally point in the direction the animal is running and show forward momentum in their pattern.  When following a blood trail, make sure when you lose sight of it, to go back to the last sign and look a full 360 degrees before moving forward.  A deer will not just run in a straight line, but might get disoriented and bound off completely in another direction.

Following these steps, we found the doe about forty yards into the brush and examined the wound.  The shot had penetrated the deer in the vitals and had a good exit wound on the other side.  Despite this, she still was able to run a good ways.  Because we were in a fairly open location, we were able to find her quickly.  But, this is not always the case for many hunters.

The second hunt of the day was pretty much the same scenario as the morning’s but this time, the doe cooperated and stood long enough for arguably the best way to dispatch a game animal with a rifle.  Raising my scope to my field of view, I carefully aimed for the small patch of white on the deer’s neck, just about the where it blended in to the rest of its darker color.  Exhaling slowly, I gently squeezed the trigger and dropped her right in her tracks.  Obviously, no waiting and blood trail necessary.  And, most importantly, a more humane kill on the animal.

Most deer hunters have their own opinions about shot placement.  But, the most experienced ones I know shoot for the neck.  Some may argue the lower probability of this shot, but if you spend enough time at the range - and you should - you gain the confidence in your weapon to make that shot repeatedly.  This brings up another good lesson and an idea for another story - range time before every hunt and during the off-season. 

Dec. 19, 2007 - TP&W

AUSTIN, Texas — Texas game wardens this month concluded an investigation into an illegal deer hunting ring in Southeast Texas, filing 247 criminal charges against 20 offenders.  The case involves illegal activity spanning four counties. A total of 27 animals are known to have been killed, with 13 sets of antlers and one doe head seized as evidence. Game wardens uncovered 606 possible criminal charges ranging from Class C misdemeanors to felonies, although ultimately 247 criminal charges were filed in late November and early December.  A team of nine game wardens participated in the investigation, which eventually led to two search warrants and charges filed with six courts in four counties: Montgomery, Edwards, Liberty, and Houston. Two assistant district attorneys from Montgomery County assisted with most of the investigation. The suspects face paying approximately $15,000 in civil restitution, a process that compensates the people of Texas for each illegally taken wild animal. 

The suspects range in age from 16 to 25 years old. Most of the charges filed against them were for hunting deer at night, hunting from a public roadway, hunting during closed season, hunting from a motor vehicle and possession of illegally taken deer.

“We did consider the ages of those involved when preparing to file charges, and more charges could have been filed,” said Col. Pete Flores, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department law enforcement director. “We understand that young people occasionally make mistakes. But the scope and nature of this activity goes way beyond a youthful prank, and wildlife crimes cannot be tolerated in Texas. I would add that this illegal activity is not hunting, and it is not representative of youth hunters in our state.”

The case began three months ago, when a man who was aware of ongoing poaching activity by a group of young men in the Splendora area northeast of Houston was driving on Highway 59. He drove by a highway billboard advertising Operation Game Thief, the Texas wildlife “crime stoppers” program that offers rewards for tips that lead to convictions. The man later told game wardens he began thinking about the message on the billboard and the ongoing poaching activity, whereupon he turned around and drove back to get the telephone number off the billboard and called OGT.

Game Wardens Dean Fitzpatrick and Brannon Meinkowsky of Montgomery County then began leading what became a two and a half month investigation of illegal hunting dating back to fall 2006. Most of the illegal activity took place in Montgomery and Edwards Counties, with one episode each in Liberty and Houston counties. The primary targets of the illegal hunters were white-tailed buck deer. Secondary targets were exotic wildlife species such as axis deer and black buck antelope. Most of the incidents occurred at night, from a vehicle on a public roadway. The majority of the animals were retrieved by the suspects, but some were left behind because the animal’s antlers were not considered big enough or the poachers were scared off by oncoming vehicles. The illegal hunting took place in developed urban subdivisions as well as rural areas.

Participants were caught poaching by two different game wardens during the course of the investigation. Game wardens had been investigating the killing of a deer on the Splendora High School football field. A few days after that incident, Montgomery County Game Warden Alan Biggerstaff caught three suspects after they shot and killed a deer in a subdivision near Conroe. Edwards County Game Warden Cody Hatfield caught four of them hunting from the roadway near Rocksprings in Edwards County. These two incidents were instrumental, providing a big break in the investigation that yielded names of many of the suspects. The two incidents also show how Texas game wardens are able to communicate and share information across the state.

For years I have seen the historic St. Charles Bay Hunting Club while fishing and hunting in the Rockport, Texas area.   If you have ever been to Goose Island State Park, then you were not very far from its campus overlooking its namesake bay.  For nearly one hundred years, the club has played host to outdoorsmen who came to the mid-coast to enjoy some of the best waterfowl hunting and fishing the state has to offer.  And, despite the growth of the surrounding area, it has managed to hang on, keeping its charm and traditions alive and well.

As a private club, its members have maintained a low profile away from the hustle of the once quaint town of Rockport/Fulton.  Not much has changed about the club’s buildings except some modernizing of the maintenance and storage facilities.  Upon arriving, you are assigned a room in one of the half dozen or so cabins, each having comfortable and clean beds and bathrooms.  The cabins have a small front porch in which to hang things or hang out and enjoy the view of the bay.  In the center of all this, is a main lodge with all the things needed to make this the perfect “man spa” but comfortable enough for the wives and kids.  It is here where we start our evening with a home cooked dinner in the dinning room.  Afterwards, we slip off to the lounge for some conversation and adult beverages.  It was late in the evening when we made our way back to our cabin for some sleep.  The 4:00 AM wake-up call is an early one but some of the younger die-hards give the trout a hard time under the lights on the pier before giving into the urge to rest.  When the morning knock comes at the door, its back over to the main lodge for a hot breakfast and coffee and back to the cabin again to get ready for the air-boat ride out to the blinds.

It felt good to be back on an air-boat.  Duck hunting the coast and air-boats seem to go hand in hand.  As a teenager, one of my first waterfowling trips was from an air-boat near Matagorda and I was hooked ever since.  Gliding over grass flats and oyster reefs and getting way back into the marsh where you could never get with a bay boat makes you feel like you are almost cheating.  This morning’s ride lasts about thirty minutes as we hug the shorelines and shallows out to the barrier island known as St. Joseph Island.  The boat pulls up to a wood blind with thick bay leaf brushing and there are three dozen decoys already sitting in the water.  I am reminded of a picture by one of my favorite artists, John Cowan, as I survey the scene.  Cowan notes the benefits of using bay leafs for blind brushing as they are perfectly suited for the task.  After unloading, we send the boat on its way and await shooting time.  A few minutes before, we load up our steel shot and wait for the show to begin.

Today’s weather is cool and windy out of the north.  And, it did not take long for the first ducks, a group of Wigeon, to make their way into the decoys and we dispatched two from the group.  Soon after a large flight of green-winged teal sneak in from behind us and somehow we overcame our being startled and took five in a quick volley.  The end of the day had us with Teal, Wigeon and a few obligatory Shovelers on our straps.  Although we saw plenty of Pintail, we did not have them come in close enough to make them our “hunters-choice” ducks.

Despite a full-limit hunt for our three man party, my favorite part of the trip was the boat ride home.  With the boat hugging the shoreline, I looked out ahead and as far as the eye could see were rafting waterfowl.  As our less than stealthy craft approached, the sky turned dark with ducks of all species trying to escape the sudden interruption of their feeding time.  It was good to see their numbers out in force and a reminder that all of the banquet dollars that I personally have contributed to their health was paying off.  The Texas coast is changing and attracting more people.  But, its always refreshing to see some things stay the same like traditional duck hunting lodges, hunting friends, bay-leaf blinds, air boats and miles of rafting ducks!