Texas Late Season Deer

[Benfromalbuquerque]

Texas late deer January season. I took my 5 y.o. to Texas this past weekend to meet some family he’d never met and experience his first deer hunt!
I wanted to drive Thursday night and at least make Amarillo, but bad snowfall closed the interstate. We left 04:30 Friday and the going was slow. The bypass due to the closed interstate added several hours. Roadways were snow covered with occasional patches of glare ice from Ft. Sumner on over to Muleshoe. Some shots here of the especially terrible Clovis section.

 

[Benfromalbuquerque]

After Muleshoe the roads were better and we could travel safely at speed limit. This section was some gorgeous West Texas landscape. Caprock canyons and vast rolling hills. I leapfrogged a Utard going 2mi over speed limit because at times I would get lost in the views then back to my normal 8mi over cruise control. Passed the Dickens County sheriff office which reminded me of Magdalena Marshal building. Lost in time.
I had topped off fuel at Fort Sumner and didn’t bother while passing through Lubbock. That was a mistake. I made it into Benjamin, TX with estimated 18mi in my tank. I was thinking I’d have to find a sympathetic fuel co-op and fast! That 6666 horse deal was like nothing I’d ever seen. Not just a ranch, but a massive spread encompassing towns and a couple airstrips.
We made Dallas just before 5pm. Then up to Montague County for a late morning hunt.

 

[Benfromalbuquerque]

Texas allows baiting and we used that (though ultimately didn’t matter). Five year olds are figity, prone to out bursts and victims of boredom or hunger all. the. time. Corey Anderson who runs the YT channel Outdoors With Overtime also has a five year old boy and gave me confidence that this could be done with a child so young. Anderson has his kid observe and listen for a set time before any screen time. This also worked for me. I had my little guy bundled up and hot hands in his pockets, boots too. When we weren’t in a blind then we moved slowly through the trails and learned about reading tracks in the muddy snow. Truck stop scale put him at 56lbs and he was carried a good bit of the time. I gestured towards tracks in the snow and said “what animal did that?” Answered “a deer!” We had just sat on a snowy hillside, watched a doe browse on an adjacent property. I said “no, see the toes?” He corrected then to “a bobcat!” “Well, what about those nails on the end of the toes?” “Oh, that’s a dog, some canine, Dad.” Those several hundred hours watching Kratt brothers shows paid off. I didn’t teach him that though I am very proud of my little guy. I know I didn’t have that knowledge at that age.

 

[noharleyyet]

You weren't far from us...Clay Co separates our County from Montague. Neither of you will forget that time together...way to go.

 

[Benfromalbuquerque]

Hour before sunset on Day 1 and we were back in the blind we tried that morning. Spacious thing with carpeted floors. Though it’s a metal box and makes a distinctive booming noise whenever little boots kick the walls. PBS kids app caught a bar of connectivity and we were quiet. 12min after sunset and I had shifted my focus from the feeder area. Late season Texas deer limits hunters to doe or unbranched antler deer (button, spike or at least one antler that is spike). Dink appeared! Wasn’t headed to the feeder at all, some agenda taking him perpendicular of where the deer should have been. 50yd chip shot and I shot the right shoulder. Still moving and I had doubts about the efficacy of my hand loaded 7.62x39. I was not going to blood trail a wounded deer in the dark with a five year old. Two more shots and down. Skinning the deer revealed that all of my shots were mortal. 28.5gr AA2200, Speer .308 HotCor 130gr. My barrel bore is from USA manufacture .310 and mileage may vary for those with the same caliber of Soviet/Chinese/European manufacture. First shot was so traumatic there was little salvageable shoulder.
I got to demonstrate the gutless method that night to my uncle and we were off to find anywhere open at 9pm on Saturday night. This is also a thing about rural Texas. Anyhow, we had another full day of tracking, bumping white flags in the Texas brush and some Longhorn cafe then back to Albuquerque. This was a winning hit in the bottom of the 9th all around and a great start to my son’s woods memories.

 

[Flatbrimmer]

Haha! I love the Sam Adam’s hat and that long hair dude! You got that kid on a skateboard yet!? Lil homie looks like a shredder!!

Congrats Ben and Son!!

Do you notice a size difference in Texas whitetail from other places?? Every time I watch a hunting vid in TX, I’m like man, that looks like a skinny ass deer…

 

[WildWill]

Weather like that sure can make the trip nerve racking especially with a kiddo on board been there. Looks like it was worth it and you had a great time with your boy. Hopefully just the beginning of many great adventures congratulations.

 

[Nick87]

Good job. Off to a fun start.

 

[Benfromalbuquerque]

Haha! I love the Sam Adam’s hat and that long hair dude! You got that kid on a skateboard yet!? Lil homie looks like a shredder!!

Congrats Ben and Son!!

Do you notice a size difference in Texas whitetail from other places?? Every time I watch a hunting vid in TX, I’m like man, that looks like a skinny ass deer…

We started him first with skiing as my wife an I both only boarded and never got that skill as a child. I agree that Texas deer, at least WT, are never that big. Though the subspecies is not remarkably different like Coues or Key, there is a difference from say Vermont or Montana WT. I think the distinct subspecies evolved as a matter of latitude with bigger deer weathering cold, smaller deer closer to the equator. That said, a dink is a dink wherever we hunt.
My son has declared he wants to be a scientist (paleontologist astronaut biophysicist doctor-type). I told him that the study of deer could make lots of money.

 

[noharleyyet]

My son has declared he wants to be a scientist (paleontologist astronaut biophysicist doctor-type). I told him that the study of deer could make lots of money.

Dr. James Kroll approves this message...

 

[Valley1320]

Following. Passed right thru, stop in at Fort Sumner Processing sometime

 

[Benfromalbuquerque]

Dr. James Kroll approves this message...

Dr. Deer is a demigod. Can you just imagine the pride any of us would have if our kid became that? If my son’s sister became President, I’d still tell people what her brother does.

 

[noharleyyet]

Dr. Deer is a demigod. Can you just imagine the pride any of us would have if our kid became that? If my son’s sister became President, I’d still tell people what her brother does.

Attended a 'deer talk' he gave at our University. Very informative & approachable.