Enjoy the banquet.

Thanks, Creek. If this turns into a HF/LF thread then I may not enjoy my time.
I’ve already got a lady with me that prefers I not be on my phone….

Tlk, well yes, thats not a secret, that ranch is along a major higway and anybody can drive by and see the missing fence. But thats one of the best areas in the country and every ranch around there has the same results as they do. Hf or lf monsters get killed in that area.

Im not at the banquet this year, but post up the bid price for the deer hunts. Each year they get fewer and fewer hunts donated, which is kinda sad bc combined the people in that room own millions upon millions of Texas land. Ive bought some really good hunts in the live auction over the years, including the Las Raices deer hunt, but thats not even donated now.

I’m not sure if the deer hunts donated or less or not but there are a bunch of em. Overall there are tons of stuff getting donated cause they have raised more and more money every year.

Yes. The same ranches win year after year in most of the categories. It used to be a big deal to get a jacket buck from Los Cazadores. But there was a more level playing field back then. You have ranches that may be high fenced but utilizing native genetics and supplemental feeding competing with ranches that have an inflated carrying capacity surviving on feed and utilizing DMP pens, but they both enter the same category. Then you have “pasture born” first generation breeder deer being allowed into the same category. The Open Division is pointless imo. It’s the same guy and same ranch winning about every year.

I really just think that hype about whitetail has reached a point to where no one really cares anymore, so you have a big drop in interest across the board. If I shoot a big deer in Texas I’m not entering it into any contest or award show because I don’t care to be recognized beyond whatever attaboys I get from my friends who may see a picture, it’s just not important. And a lot of folks feel the same way. I know of several big animals that would have made TBGA showcase but the hunters declined to enter.

First two auction items brought 35500 so we are on a roll. About 50 more items to go. I’ve heard they are hoping for a Million raised off auction tonight. It will be well spent towards TWAs mission.

One of my buddies shares a fence with them, Cactus Jack is “majority” HF’d. Its enough HF id even call it HF

HF may have improved the potential for controlled management, but they've also killed a lot of the passion, intrigue, luck, and adventure of whitetail hunting. It's truly unfortunate.

I entered my buck from last year, and truly proud to be near the top all-time in my county. If I had killed one of those HF Cactus Jack bucks I wouldn't have bothered and it wouldn't have really meant anything to me.

na, I think most people just dont want to enter deer into a contest.

Technology opens alot doors to finding land owners and there is no benefit having your name all over the internet

I know previous TBGW scorers that have multiple 200” LF animals that net book and wont enter them.

A German Shorthair Pointer pup just sold for $47000 in the auction.
Everybody about freaked out.

More power to them. I feel like my chessie is headed that way

I can see that part of it as well.

Good gosh, that's crazy.

Like I said - Good donations+booze+guys with something to prove=cash for the cause.

I wonder what a dog with a whole tail would go for?

Yeah, Ken did a good job with place.

Whole tail dogs go for atleast $70,000

2 years ago i bought that w tx quail hunt, i thought it was a 2 day hunt, realized after breakfast sunday morning that it was only 1 day in far west tx.

Right before i bought the quail hunt, a guy bought an east tx squirrel hunt for $13,000 haha. And one year they sold a 1 day quail hunt for 4 at $110,000....but it did include dinner with lee bass and his wife at their ranch.

Only saw 3 whitetail hunts in the auction , wish some of the members would donate. Im sure a cactus jack hunt would go for around $20k

Agreed. Whitetail hunting as a whole has been sucked dry of a lot of the fun, all over the nation. Go hunt a free range property in Kansas or Illinois they run surveillance on the deer 24/7/365.

No longer are we going to the stand to hunt and hope to kill a big deer, we go to thr stand to hope to kill deer X and maybe Y, and they will hold out because they have spy cam photos of them coming to the food plot every day at 3:48 pm….

The mystery has been taken out of it. Fence height has little to do with it. That’s why I care very little about hunting whitetails anymore, aside from just having a live target to shoot at

TxTro, I’ve always liked you but youre becoming a Debbie downer on some topics. Just cause WT hunting isn’t fun for you does not mean it’s not fun for millions of the rest of us.
Threads often get off topic but I really hate it happened to mine.

Back to topic. I really wanted to take a pic of all the kids involved with the “baby sitting” activities.
TWA coordinates/provides activities and supervision for young children during the event. It seems like at least half the people there bring various age kids. It’s great to see them get involved. Many make a weeks vacation out of the event. The water park is awesome.
I sat next to the guy that killed the number one Muley and after the presentation lunch I was hoping he would hang out over at his mount and swap stories like many do. His 10 year old boy was immediately dragging him to the water park.
Another thing about all the kids there is that most were very well behaved.

Dang man, you're either trying to talk yourself into believing that due to loosing your desire or hunting the wrong part of the state and paying too much attention to how other hunters operate. Make it your own, control your hunting and make it what you want it to be. If it's your place or lease, and you hunt it your way, it would only be as you describe because you made it that way. Look at your signature line, find a huge piece of land in the panhandle to buy or lease and do it.

Agree with above, i can very well afford to shoot a massive WT deer, as i am sure quote a few others on here can, but i choose the adventure and the experience. I own property, albeit small in the grand scheme of some of these STX ranches, but i choose to let nature work while i try to slowly and deliberately manage it.

To me its about the chase and not so much about the number.

When you find the chase is no longer fun, its time to chase something else, which i believe Txtrophy has started doing. But don’t poo poo those who choose to continue the chase. Everyone has their own motivations.