Texas Hunting Leases

Marko Barrett of San Antonio made Muy Grande Deer Contest history with this record breaking Webb County buck entered in the All-Around Men’s Division.  The deer scored about 273 gross B&C points with 34 points and a 25 1/2-inch spread. The buck was still in velvet when it was harvested off his 4,000 acre, high-fenced ranch under a Managed Lands Deer Permit.  The deer was harvested via rifle from a brush blind at about 120 yards.

On his website, Barrett describes the deer as a 7 year old that he had been watching for years.  This year, the ranch received “56 inches of rain and counting” which pushed this deer well over his historical best score.  Barrett thinks that he will score somewhere in the 270′s when “he is stripped of velvet and dry”. 

Barrett describes the ranch’s management program as an “all native deer” operation with no breeding.  They feed protein year-round and “use multiple feeders so the dominant buck won’t keep the others from the feed.”

Barrett says things have been crazy since he shot the buck with all of the emails and phone calls.  However, that is what “buck fever” is all about.

Texas Parks and Wildlife Provides Free Publications and Wallet Cards for Hunters.

The TP&W website is arguably the most robust of any state wildlife agency in the country.  But, with so much information, finding it can be a little difficult.  One page I like that has some good information and resources is their Hunting Publications page.  Some great ideas the page has are links for a shooting saftey wallet card and current hunting and fishing limit card. Some other publications include basic hunter education documents about game cleaning and wildlife identification guides.  During your hunting camp orientation and work days, it would be good idea to pass these out to your lease members.  You can also keep an eye out for an updated Hunting Season Wallet Card which hopefully will be out soon.

Brad Paisley’s hit song “Ticks” has come at time where checking for them on something other than a wife or girlfriend may be a good idea for South Texas hunters and ranchers.    Hunters along the Rio Grande from Del Rio to Brownsville as well as Starr, Maverick, Dimmit and Webb counties are being notified that the state quarantine zone has been expanded by the Texas Animal Health Commission.  Under this quarantine, landowners may be required to treat deer and exotic populations for the disease. Hunters should leave harvested animal hides behind and both are encouraged to call the TAHC for inspections.

The disease does not affect humans but can be devastating to untreated cattle.  Texas Cattle Fever has a history dating back to 1886 where cattle in Illinois were killed by infected herds moving in from Texas cattle drives.  Cattle in Texas have long been treated for ticks by using a dipping method developed on the King Ranch by Robert Kleberg.  However, Mexican herds still carry the disease over the border where wildlife can be infected.  Modern ways of treating deer populations include a “four-poster” method designed to distribute tickicide to the head, neck and ears while feeding.  This method was originated by some Kerrville scientists for other tick-transmitted diseases such as Lyme disease.  “Use of ivermectin-treated corn and 4-poster technology is vital to the ongoing campaign to eradicate cattle-fever ticks introduced to southern Texas on hosts such as cattle, horses, white-tailed deer, or exotic ungulate wildlife that come across the Rio Grande from Mexico,” says entomologist John George, who leads the research at Kerrville. “By using all our resources and knowledge, it will be possible to minimize or eliminate ticks on white-tailed deer and other ungulate wildlife, keeping U.S. cattle free of Texas fever.”

When hunting these areas of South Texas, make sure that you work closely with your land owner and the local state and health officials to keep this disease in check.  The Texas cattle industry is an important one to our state and is connected to providing private hunting lands that we all enjoy