I've probably posted this picture, and maybe the story on here before, but it came up on my screensaver and I do, in fact, look at it a lot. 40K acres, 20 mi. west of Kermit. Several years ago now. I linked up with a guy on one of the lease sites that managed the place for his family. Lotta folks in Midland/Odessa would know him. Broken' down ranch that had seen oil and gas royalties for 50+ years. No water or electric. I looked at the place with him and then agreed on two tags. I took every piece of camping equipment I owned. We stayed in the LO's travel trailer, but don't use the John! I asked my next oldest brother to come and we looked for mule deer for about 3 days with nary a sighting. I finally went down the road that the LO said "There's nothing down that road. It just goes over to the neighbors." I started seeing deer in around the gravel pits and old well sites, so I radioed my brother and said he needs to come over to where I was. I sat shotgun in his truck and we rolled down the road. I saw this buck browsing on that itty-bitty oak scrub that grows out there and said "Stop. Get outa the truck and shoot that deer." This is the only time he ever did, without hesitation, do what I told him to. (He was my boss at work, and, 11 years and 4 months older than me.) He got out, got the rifle, and came around to my side and stepped up on the nerf bar. (Do they still call 'em that?) He needed to lean back, but my door was locked. He frantically knocked on the window and I opened the door (a detail he loved to retell). He was a helluva shot and the buck went down. We walked up and the buck tried to get up. He put another, or two, in him. The most excited I've ever seen my brother. That's my grandfather's pre-64 .270 in the picture. (I have no idea where that rifle is now.) My brother has been gone a few years now. I had my problems with him, but this was a happy time. (I was proud of my camera set up abilities. ) You get maudlin when you get older.

My brother was also my hunting partner. Cancer took him 10 years ago.

Great story, thanks for sharing!

That it is

Old heavy deer...very cool story!

Great story and awesome deer. It's always enjoyable to recall those hunting times with family. I certainly enjoyed those times with my dad. This time of year is when I miss him the most and I learned so much from him about how to respect wildlife. He was a true sportsman.

Thanks for posting.

That is a cool area of the state. Growing up in Midland I would love to find an outfitter out there. Great story and thanks for sharing.

The man, the myth, the Bard of Menard.

Thank you.

Cool pic and story, i hunted Winkler County for many years - i took a 205”, 199 3/4”, 197 from Winkler County- some big deer there, hunted east of Kermit and also leased a big ranch southeast of Kermit, those shinnery covered sand dunes can grow some toads