5 for 5 in Donley County with Pics and Stories (alot of pics and alot of stories, lol)

We wrapped up our hunt last Sunday on the 4th in Donley County. I've been able to take a week each fall and hunt this little place (180 acres) north of Hedley for the last ten years and this was by far the most successful overall. I've been lucky enough to take a few good deer over that time, including 2 in the 150's, not to mention some other wallhangers taken by my buddys who've gone with me in the past but as far as the entire group is concerned, it couldn't have been a better week. To kick things off, we arrived at lunch on Monday, November 28th and went to set up some cameras and show a buddy and his wife around the place as it was there first trip to the little "honey hole". It was her first time to hunt whitetails so hubby was gonna sit with her until she got a good un. After looking around the place, she chose to sit in the "tower blind" on the north side of the place which overlooks about 10 acres of wheat surrounded by mesquites and a couple of aerial foodplots (corn feeders) for variety. That evening, as the story was told back at the cabin, a really nice buck stepped out in the wheat at about 100 yards around 5:15 and the emotions began to flow. She took aim with her 243, squeezed, bang and nothing moved. Eject, squeeze, bang and he trotted about 10 yards. Eject, forget to squeeze, eject (live round falls on the floor and didn't come back far enough to chamber the last round) squeeze and click. CRAP. Hubby grabs his trusty Remi 700 243, hurried squeeze, WHOP, DRT (then he also took a doe that was dumb enough to hang around). Now it's picture time:
The tape we used came out to be 126 3/8" with a left broken browtine and his right G3, G4, and mainbeam were also broken. The biologist that stopped by the taxi last week said he was 6 1/2 years old.


Tuesday morning rolls around and she's still bummed about the mishap so they decide to sit on the south side and just as daylight begins to break, hubby notices a buck chasing a doe at about 180 yards. Hubby gets the deer to magically stop between two mesquites and somehow, his wife manages to spin around pick up the gun, control her emotions, get a halfway decent rest on the side of the blind, squeeze and WHOP, drt with the ol' 243. I'm sure hugs, high fives and kisses followed over there and after an agonizing 2 hour wait by the rest of us, we had to go check out her FIRST whitetail and take some pics.
We taped him out at 126 4/8". He had a 1" G4 on the right side so it made him a 9 and the biologist said this one was 4 1/2" years old.


My best friend who has gone with me several times over the years, finally connected on a wide, mature buck Wednesday evening. He sat on the north side in the "tower blind" and was covered up with deer all evening. After staring at young bucks and does, this fella appeared out of the mesquite with his nose to the ground and with a loud MAWH (or however you spell that noise to get a deer to stop), he let his model 70 featherweight in 7x57 bark at 240 yards. With a spin and a stagger and 20 yard Core-Lokt shuffle, his buck was down. I was sitting about 400 yards to the south over a ridge and couldn't wait to go and help load him up. With a big congrats and a high five it was once again picture time (also took pics the next morning).
I don't remember the exact score but he was a 6 that never grew browtines (we have past pics of him) and was right at 21" outside and the biologist said he was 4 1/2 years old.


On to Friday evening. My wife was sitting in the tower blind and I was sitting in the cedar blind 400 yards to the south of her(same spot I was when my buddy shot the 6 Wednesday evening). At about 4:45, I got the privilege of watching the oldest deer I've ever seen while hunting. He definately didn't have the biggest rack ever but you could tell he has ruled the area for quite awhile. After watching him for about 20 minutes, I realized we had pics of him from 2009 and was at least 5 1/2 then so I decided to take the old guy. He started to leave and I did the MAWH thing, and when he stopped I touched off the 308 and he fell in his tracks. I can honestly say that I'm as proud of that buck as any other. In the pics from '09, he had 6"-7" brows but he had already broken them off this year, his G2's were about the same and he had a little G3 on his left side. No professional has aged this guy but his teeth were worn to the gumline!



Saving the best for last, my wife, on the last evening and last hour of the hunt, took her best buck to date. She again sat in the tower blind on the north side and wanted to sit by herself (she says I make her too nervous, LOL). At around 4:45, she looked to the NW of the wheat and said her heart jumped into her throat. The buck walked straight south and she lost him in some plum thickets but said it gave her enough time to pull her glove off and get her heartrate from about 240 bpm to 180 bpm. Then, like the ghosts they are, he appeared from the ground 240 yards straight west of her. She eased her Remi 700 270 out the window and as he was facing hear, she touched the trigger and center punched him. One half spin and a Hornady shuffle, he was down. I couldn't get over there fast enough to see her smile and give a big hug and smooch.
He is one of the prettiest bucks I've seen and taped out at 133 4/8" as an 8. I'm not positive but I'm thinking 4 1/2 maybe 5 1/2 on age.




Thanks for lookin' and I hope I didn't bore everybody to tears. Good luck to everybody the rest of the season.
NT

Nice deer, all of them. It sounds like you have a really nice place to hunt. Congrats.

We have land in that area as well. Between Hedley and Quail. Thats alot of deer off of a 180 acres.

Thats a bunch of great bucks and stories to go along with them congrats to all of you.

Nice bucks. Congrats!

5 bucks off 180acres in the panhandle and people wonder why the panhandle is going to hell

I don't have a problem with it....................they all look like nice mature deer. Matter of fact I would say 2 are what be considered Mgt/cull bucks. I guess if the OP was shooting "anything" it might be different. To each their own I guess

Congrats nice deer

I agree with most those deer being mgt deer but the panhandle does and cannot handle 5 bucks being killed on 180 acres. 7 I know you don't hunt up here do I am sure you don't have a problem with it

My ole lease was in Turkey Tx, then again I only killed turkeys

Nice bucks.

I have no problem with those deer either. All 4.5 or older. Some culls and a heck of an old buck That I would consider a trophy for age. Congrats to the hunters looks like a great week

For all we know the place might be one of those honeyholed surrounded by a big place where hunting is not allowed or is limited to only a few family members.

Duck and Goose hunted such a place years ago 36000 acres where only 2 or 3 deer were taken a year. Some of the surrounding property had great hunting for the deer that would hop the fence from that place

Great looking bucks. Congrats!

They obviously didn't have a problem seeing a bunch of shooters in 1 weekend. Maybe no one around them hunts at all?

i understadn what you are saying about small palces and that many bucks. but isnt it kinda their choice of what they shoot on their place? does anyone on here say anything to you about what you shoot? not being rude, just to each is own

Great deer and stories. thanks for sharing. i think that is the biggest 5 point i have ever seen,,cool deer

Very nice deer.....You would be a good friend to have lol. Lots of great deer.

Congrats to all. Great bucks.

remember this post... http://www.texashuntingforum.com/forum/u...see#Post2831028

Great story, great read... congrats

That really is True. That is about 1000 acres worth of deer. All appear to be "management deer" but that doesnt make it less than 5.

His place he can shoot what he wants, just know it is going down hill every year due to the numbers being shot not hacking the deer or him just an observation since hunting up here since 97 and it is apparent that is going down hill.

You probably need ARs.

Don't think 13" is an issue

well hopefully it will all turn out ok. ive seen your bucks ya'll take and they are all awesome.

Awesome week for sure!

We have peanut fields north of hedley, all I want to know is how many does did yall take, the buck to doe ratio is so bad the deer did more damage than hogs.
Surely you took your four does also or did you do what most city people do kill your bucks and leave the does because it cost to process kills?
WOW some things never change.

Later Rance

I will hunt it the other weeks of the season if you want someone to watch over things for you. I'm amazed of 5 deer of that caliber coming off 180 acres. How many do you typically shoot in the other 9 years? We'll take 1 maybe 2 decent bucks off 4-500 acres. But sounds like your numbers are little higher.

T2 - I'd be happy to come and take some does off your hands...

great stories and great pics...how the heck do you pull that many mature bucks off 180 acres!!??

Nice deer. Congratulations!

+1

Thanks to all for the kind words. This 180 acres sits about 600 yards off the river and is surrounded on 3 sides by a VERY large ranch, the other side is the FM road. ANYWAYS, sorry BMD that you think the panhandle is going to crap, guess that 166+ that your daughter shot last year is crappy. As far as does are concerned, the week we were there, we saw roughly two bucks for every one doe and the game camera pics showed the same through the nights. We have set out game cams the last 4 years and it has been roughly 1 to 1, at least what shows up on this 180. Maybe all the other does stay by the river. This is my 5th buck to take in 10 years and as I mentioned in my OP, this was by far our most successful week we've had. Normally there is one or two at most mature bucks taken off that place by us. The gentlemen that owns this spot does allow other friends and family to hunt there as well and has for as long as I know. While we were there, we heard 3-4 shots all week so I'm just wondering how it would be different if we took one buck off the 180 and the other 4 off of the several thousand acres that surrounds us? Thanks again for the knowledge BMD, if you have any other words of wisdom on management practices, like maybe we should only take 8-10 year old deer, let me know. Introducing a wife to whitetail hunting and she takes a 4 1/2 year old and hubby takes a 6 1/2 year old, another takes a 4 1/2 year old 6 with no browtines, my wife takes a 5 1/2 year old 8 and I knock one down that is at least 8 1/2......and some of you have the nerve to say that isn't right! Carry on and once again, best of luck to all of you the rest of the season.

Dude do what you want I said your place but killing 5 bucks on 180 acres is not a good thing, guess u are lucky reaping the benefit of your neighbors.

x2 but living off the neighbors management is what leads to HF in this type of situation.

I hunted 400 low fence acres that had 500 deer on it on a consistent basis! Every single year we killed 20 bucks or so and 50+ doe. Me and 4 buddies leased it and once we shot our 2 bucks a piece the landowner had family come in to kill as many does as possible and any post mature bucks or mature bucks with less than 8 pts. All 5 of us also killed 3 does every year which was mandatory. We did this for 14 years and every year the survey results would come in and again we would have around 500 deer! Not a single one of you knows what the deer density is on his place so saying 5 bucks is too many is just spewing something that you don't know what your talking about. If the numbers and age structure is there then do it! Which obviously it is or they wouldn't have shot the age of deer they did. We happened to sit in the corner of a high fence place that bordered two sides and our other two sides where bordered by 6000 acres that an anti-hunters rights activist owned. Because we fed very heavily we had a TON of deer. Maybe his place is very similar. Just because it's not the norm doesn't make it incorrect

No problem dude. If the ranch around it allowed deer hunting and took the effort to plant food plots, feed protein, etc. I guess we would be reaping the benefits of the neighbors but since it is a quail lease surrounding us and they do nothing to improve the quality of the deer, the wheat and oats we plant and additional feeding we do seems to work quite well. Would you be more comfortable if I said this place was about 6000 acres b/c that's the size of the ranch around us. As long as all the landowners in the panhandle don't sell off 180 acre tracts and everybody doesn't start shooting 1 or 2 year old deer, I think the panhandle will be ok.

Some people have nothing better to do with thier time but complain about what others kill.



A very nice weekend op

Man I think that's awesome you guys had such a successful weekend and story to boot. BMD; do you own land or lease? If you're leasing; I'm assuming your looking @ getting off your place if that area is indeed going to crap? If you own; are you thinking about selling b/c of the same reason? I would doubt that you are since you've killed some dang good deer where you are at (from what I can tell) I have to agree w/ one of the original postings of putting your pixs up and having them scrutinized. Comments of a negative nature when someone posts pictures of a positive experience and good time; just aren't warranted.

And...nice pics and GREAT stories. Enjoyed it

Great deer!
Also - this should provide relief for the quantity concerns.
I know for a fact deer jump fences!! Plus this time of year they travel for miles during the rut. Right place right time, heck those deer could have came from the neighbors neighbors neighbor, etc... In this particular case the size of the tract of land hunted is irrelevant IMHO. Last time I checked they dont know how to calculate acreage, and they sure don't care about the property line and how many of their associates can be supported by 180 acres. Personally, I think 180 acres should be for one gun only and one set of tags - but then again thats just my
And if next year there aren't as many mature bucks, just wait 3-4 years while the resource renews itself. But perhaps limit what you take outta there once you see the repercussions, if any.

Nightlight, I agree with that. It just ruffles my feathers when people bash without knowing a given situation. Like I mentioned, I've been hunting that same spot for 10 years and we've never seen any change in deer numbers or quality. Being that we only hunt there for one week out of the season, timing and weather have always played a big part in deer activity during the day. The game cams we've used the last 4 years are amazing at telling us what comes through at night and just the overall numbers of bucks, young and old, and does that visit this small place. The owner bought this 180 in 1984 and has told me more than once the last few years that the numbers and overall quality have never been better. I'm still kicking myself about the 170" bruiser I couldn't get a shot at 2 years ago.

My is this. I have hunted the area my entire life. The herd quality is going down. 2 of those deer are culls, no doubt. The other 3 were nice and if a personal best more power to you. If not, they should have walked. If very many people kill 5 bucks per 180 acres, the area will deplete in a hurry.

Just curious as to how many deer are being taken in an average year off of this place if others are hunting it? What is the deer density on an average ranch in that area or county?

aggiebrahma, the two culls I'm assuming you're talking about was the 6 with no brows and the old one I shot and yes the other 3, as I mentioned, were all personal bests with one of them being a first. I can't afford to hunt all over Donley Co but with all the declining deer numbers and quality in the panhandle, I guess we're just lucky to have a "honey hole" surrounded by alot of ground that has no deer hunters. As you stated and BMD as well, 5 bucks per 180 is crazy but somebody mentioned deer jump fences and sometimes forget to stay in THEIR or YOUR area. Does anybody know the land size of the TX panhandle? I would bet that there isn't enough hunters to hunt 5 per 180 in the state so I think it'll be alright.

The below is just a statement, not an attack on the OP, but the growth of a trend.

I know my Uncle owns a 160 acre field that he plants in peanuts most years in Donley. It is 1 mile south on the river and in the middle of a 7000 acre ranch. That rancher and my uncle have had a long standing agreement going back to the 60's when it was just muleys and turkey. He doesnt hunt the deer hard going into the field and we dont hammer the deer that come into the field. Off of this 160 acres we have killed 7 deer over 150, since 1993. We have to learn to not deplete our resource. I promise, we could quail hunt all day when I was a kid in the 80's and not see a whitetail. The demise can happen as quick as the appearance.

Not knocking anyone's deer, post the pics great nice deer all good but post up 5 bucks off 180 acres and every Jo in the state wants to lease 180 acres in the panhandle and shoot away, the herd will go downhill, not one time did I bash any of the deer, what I question is posting about the 180acres, even it is in middle of 6k acres, just saying every hunter in the world can read this and think damn I need 180 acres in the panhandle where I can shoot 5 bucks in a weekend. How many times I gotta say it is not the deer I critiqued just think putting it out there 180 acres in the panhandle can support this is a good idea? Of he believes his place can support it go ahead but generally speaking this is what has hurt the deer in te panhandle maybe was little short in my reply congrats on some great mgt deer.

Congrats! Great deer, family/friends time & loads of fun. That's what it's all about. Hope you share again next season.

BMD, what would you do if this guy was your neighbor? Just curious.

Nontypical, nice pics and great stories.

I know you didnt ask for this and I dont mean to attack you or your wife and friends. It is simply a trend I see in that particular area. I have spent alot of time there and remember when there were no whitetails on my Grandfathers or Uncle's places. When I put our first box blind up in 1993, I could see no other box. Last year I counted 7 I could see with binoculars along Buck Creek. BMD was up there in the mid 90's before the explosion happened. I dont think the area can withstand the pressure it is receiving now. Cherokee in Wellington is covered now with deer hunters. When I was a kid it was quail hunters.

Just my opine and nothing more.

ranchman, I would say an average over the last 10 years I've been going there is 6-8 bucks and the same on does each fall. This year there's been 8 bucks already taken but last year there was only 4 that I'm aware of. I honestly do not know the deer density in the area but the numbers and quality hasn't changed in the last 10 years on this 180 acres. This year was a little odd as we saw roughly twice as many bucks as does. Throw in the game cam pics the last four years and it's crazy the number of bucks that we never see during the day.

Very nice bucks!

Looks like an incredible week! Congrats!

Whats pulling the deer onto that 180? Wheat or peanuts?

That is the situation we have, but we work with the man that surrounds us, cause he could make life a beyotch if he wanted to.

great deer and a great story nontypical! its unfortunate unnecessary comments like these are made and could be kept to themselves...

That is about what I was expecting based on what all you have posted so far.

It sounds like with this place the potential to grow some really nice deer is there. If your neighbors aren't hunting then the sky is the limit to deer growth. Keep shooting the culls and let the young ones walk. Only concern would be the other hunters. Do y'all shoot any mule deer on the property?

All we have is wheat, oats, and corn feeders. The area around us doesn't do anything for the deer.

What makes the comment unnecessary? Looks like a conversation. You must be one of those in the pics, cause you have 10 posts in 3 years and I have never seen you get into one of the A&M bashing threads, so you have to be passionate about this one.

And this one as well

They dont lease it out? Lord, I know it is getting rarer and rarer to find ground not leased. Dad even let a cousin lease some of ours out this year to try and make up some income due to the crappy harvests.

I come here because I enjoying looking at people's pictures and stories,No I am not involved with those pictures or story, I could give a Rats a** about how many posts I have in 3 years apparently to you it matters

Everyone knows the number of posts you have dictates how badazz of a hunter you are. I just hit 200 posts so now I am about to go judge some age and score question pics

Who said anything about shooting away? If everybody had 180 acres in the panhandle and didn't take a YOUNG deer, I'm assuming there wouldn't be a problem. If anybody can take a mature deer, no matter where it's at, more power to them! I would expect to get bashed if all these were 2 1/2 but seriously BMD. I can't say that every hunter has the ability to pass a 2 or 3 year old 120" but we all do so simmer down. Mgt deer, cull deer or whatever, they were mature, and everybody was happy. I wonder what a first time hunter would think if they read this entire post? Hopefully they wouldn't be discourage from harvesting a couple of deer them and a buddy took off of the 60 acres they may have permission to hunt and be timid about posting it and sharing their good times with us.

In 10 years I have seen 2 quail hunters on the place that surrounds this 180 that I can remember. The guy that owns this 180 said there isn't any deer hunting on that ranch.

taking 4-8 bucks a year on 180 acres is assured in that area. I hope that mind set doesn't travel north.


Awesome deer and Congrats..

Just have seen the outfitters stacking hunters up there lack cord wood on these ranches and most are coming from the hill country and a ten walks out he dies regardless of age not questioning your hunting only questioning the 180acre part if it offends you sorry. You may know exactly what you are shooting but 8 out of 10 moving our direction have no clue and it is my opinion that posting 180 acres when in your own words is more like 6k due to know hunting around you supports the idea that 8 guys on 1200 acres is good. If all the land around is divided into 180 acres and everyone shoots 5 how many mature bucks will be left at te end of one season and that is my only point.

I'm still trying to figure out how Nontypical shooting 5 deer at his place directly affects any of you that are bellyaching about it??

Man, this is probably why HuntinAggie doesn't post on this website for the fear of getting jumped on by the same 3 THF keyboard warriors.

Keyboard warrior? You and your little buddy amuse me. Go back to TFF.


T-sips ought to love this. 3 Aggies fighting.

Not jumping on him, just dot see why post the 180 acres it just supports what has been increasing in the area it is a forum and thinking this is worth discussing for others to read. Not saying that nontypical is hurting anything but putting it out to the public that shotting 5 bucks on a 180 acres in the panhandle is all good is why I said something. Sorry to have offended you as well. Geez!

Congrats!

but but I thought this was a conversation? now its an internet fight...what do you want an aggie ring sword fight via the web?

Yep, an Aggie that allows anti-Aggie rehetoric to go on on THF and stay quite, loses creditability in my eyes, and yes that counts also.

It was a conversation and you ruined it. You dont want any of my ring.

How did the aggie hurt himself golfing?

He fell off the ball washer!

RHETORIC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

pretty damn funny though......

I do get what you're trying to say but if all the land around the panhandle is divided into 180 acres, seriously, we're all in trouble......you're reaching on that comment cuz that won't happen. I can't help that an outfitter is overbooking to try and make money quick, he'll go downhill pretty fast. I posted what I posted to answer all the who, what, when, where, HF, LF, how big/small a place is it so I wouldn't have to keep posting but now it's a different battle.

I hear you and really everyone is gonna do what they want just this one hit home as we have a neighbor that shoots any buck that hits the ground hell they have shot two this year and come on our place to retrieve and it is 200 acre place just an observation of what is going on in panhandle, not aimed at you personally

THis is good entertainment on a nasty day!

no where did I see nontypical say he was looking for a lease manager, so you guys quit trying to manage his lease for him, nontypical great bucks, you hunt your tags how you want, the rest be damned

Nowhere did I see where we were trying to tell him how to manage it

how about we jsut be done with this. he put his deer and story on here for our entertainment and his excitment. we have all said our piece. Congrats on great deer and sorry if this ruined any of your excitment.......

Alright, I've had enough.

Who wants to fight?

I'm in for a little fall brawl!

Nontypical, looks like yall had a great time, Congrats. Hard to believe that you had such a great experience and some can't understand that the deer taken weren't concieved, born, raised and shot within the 180 acres of your place. If thats what they think they should be asking you for the secret to growing and holding so many nice deer. But ther're not asking that so they must understand it. Suppose they are upset that your property serves as a natual funnel or pichpoint of some sort, giving you the opportunity to enjoy your hunting. How dare you own such a nice place, surely these other hunters don't look for similar terrain features, don't look for water, or bedding areas, or food plots, or transition sights, sit near or create scrapes and put out c'mere deer. Nope, they walk the land - for weeks sometimes until finally they have a vision quest that reaveal to them enough acreage has been covered to warrant taking a deer. Flint arrowheads only mind you, and when you kill one you have to move to another sight far away before you shoot again so you don't take to many from the same spot. See that would deplete the resources. They probably move at least 181 acres away, any less seems to get you lectured. But what do I know, I just shot a Ram, only four legged animal I've shot in years.

No worries and thanks again for all the comments. I don't apologize for the practices that I have as I'm confident in what I do. I have friends that give me a hard time for letting some walk that maybe I shouldn't have and that is why I've only taken 5 bucks in 10 years off this place and in no way have any of the comments taken anything away from our good times. Calming down just a little, I do realize what a couple of guys have said about 5 deer off 180 acres and if that was the norm where 5 people could harvest 5 mature bucks plus does off of every 180 acres of any piece of property, not just in the TX panhandle but anywhere, there would probably be a big decline in numbers and quality very fast. That would equate to about 167 mature bucks off the 6000 acres that surrounds us. Sounds a little far fetched but that would definately hinder the area but as mentioned that isn't the case here.

Great bucks & even greater stories, Nontypical. Be proud of your deer & cherish your memories...Be proud to be a hunter.

good bucks

I don't know what has made me smile more reading the battle cries, sarcasm, and serious comments, or the worst mount thread. Either way, BMD and supporters I applaud the comments and agree....
Nontypical GREAT weekend, I am proud of getting newbies hooked on the sport, and just as proud for you taking the deer.

Yall rock on This has been very interesting......

How many aggies does it take to figure out if shooting 5 deer on 180 acres is a good idea??????

nice

Nice bucks. PAy no attention to anyone that pays to shoot pet zebras. Their opinion means nothing.

Yeah will please pass on your wealth of knowledge

BTW when do I get to try the pet zebra burgers

Uh oh!!

One damnit. I already told you its a bad idea.

Come on by poker the zebra is awesome hell jmc lives around to he should come try one and then he will want to shoot one too.

Got my stag back and boy is it tasty!

I'll tell you what it sounds/looks like to me.

1. Nontypical3006 apparently is surroundded by large acreage (apparently not hunted or very lightly hunted) - wouldn't matter if it was 180 or 6000 plus acres - In fact, you my as well call it 6180 acres because thats what it really is when you get down to it other than he sits only on 180 of it. Wait a minute! Coudn't that be a good thing (180 acres disturbed/hunted...6000 plus not hunting. I would really love to know what all is on the 6000 if those deer came just from the 180. Based on some of the opinions here, the 6000 acres left now has no mature bucks or is greatly running at risk of not having any. Further than the truth. It tells me the 6000 plus acres has some very very nice deer that are totally not pressured allowing good survivability.

2. All bucks were nice mature or nice cull bucks

3. Sounds like he has a healthy population and buck to doe ratio.

4. If I was a betting man, I'd bet nontypical3006 knows more than all of us combined on what "his" lease and local surrounding area can support or not and what is right or wrong in regards to the quality and quanity of deer shot. Looks like he's been on it a number of years and is very tuned in to what is going on.

5. I agree that if the large majority of that region was made up of small leases such as 180 acres and everyone shot that many bucks of that caliber there would be little to go around. The thing that is apparently be hugely overlooked here is that, that is not the case in this incident. There's tons of land around him not hunted. I don't hunt the panhandle region but what i do know of it is that it is made up mostly of very large tracts of land vs the majority being small land/leases. I could be wrong that is just an observation/belief.

5. Their historical track record on the place seems to really support the notion that they have a very healthy property and have shot nice quality deer within very normal ranges taking into consideration the nice caliber of deer taken and numbers of deer taken in the past.

6. Congrats to all on a nice hunt with very nice deer. You have a gem of a place that looks like it has high potential to continually pay off with slective hunting - which appears to have been the case here and the past.

good luck and let us know what next year brings.

I wouldnt have took the time to type that out

Yeah - I thought about that as I was typing

I thought aggies only fought over sheep, not deer?.
Hmm, guess the SEC is changing aggy already.

Think your skull will be ready pretty soon

I shot that 8 I sent you a pic of. Going to do a euro on him too. When he calls me for something I have out there ill take that

There goes that thinking thing again.

Great deer too.

++++++++++1, well said.

I find it ironic that someone from east of Dallas is concerned about someone posting something that may result in an influx of hunters into the panhandle.

If you are talking about me, it is because I and my family own and farm land in the SE panhandle.

Nontypical - first of all I really appreciate your story and pictures. Sounds like you had a great time and harvested some fantastic deer. Second, I for one appreciate your restraint and decorum in the face of criticism. You should be applauded for that. Third, you sound like a very ethical hunter, who understands not only your property, but what is happening around it, and you have maximized your opportunity by providing supplemental feeding. Your description of your acreage being surrounded by a large ranch with no deer hunting on three sides and a river on the other leads me to believe that your harvest does not hurt the quantity and quality in your location. You have just maximized your opportunity. I would argue that there is not a hunter on this forum that does not try to take advantage of their given situation. Fourth, your harvest was in line with law, as well as ethical hunting. You harvested either old deer or management deer. In my opinion what you did actually helped, yes helped, the overall quality. And there is nothing wrong with taking a mature "trophy", as it is recognized by you. As you succinctly reported, deer are nomadic. They don't care about property boundaries. You are providing supplemental feed, helping the overall population. Bucks follow does. You gave food to does. Bucks naturally follow. Kudos to you. Fifth, not sure how the whole Aggie thing came up, but it sounds like some folks need to act like adults. I personally am not an Aggie, but my son is and I know he would be offended just because he chose to attend one of the finest universities in the country. Sixth, some folks on here think they have the "right" to criticize without all the facts being displayed. Some of these members I have agreed with in the past, but IMO this has gone too far.

Anyway, thanks for hanging in there. You handled this fine while some folks beat a dead horse all day. Best wishes!

No. Your post did not mention it but there was speculation that the OP advertising his success on 180 acres would lead to people from the Hill Country flooding the panhandle and ruining their hunting.

Seems hipocritical to chastise someone for posting information on the number of acres he hunts in order to prevent others from doing exactly what you do.

You know what I shouldn't have said a damn word, I don't have a damn clue, your right not a damn thing has changed the deer herd is better than ever I hope everyone in the state shoots 5 off every 180 acres, I am a dumb arse and don't know anything about the panhandle or even deer for that matter, and why would I even care I live east of Dallas.

LMAO, what a mess.

I understand all points.

4 guys (me included) hunt 12 sections (7680 acres) and we maybe take 4-6 bucks a year off the place. Last year we did however take 6 bucks and 35 does off the place.

Guess everyone could bash someone for NOT taking off the required number of deer cause it don't meet THEIR criteria??

Just agree to disagree and let each person hunt the way they want to hunt their land.

great post!

Nontypical, great pics and story line, looks like ya'll had a blast! Sure hope the "firsts" had a great time as well

Nice job guys and gals

Anytime you post on public forum you run the chance someone will take exception or have a differing opinion. That is life. I have stated my opinion as eloquently and polite as I can muster. My point was then and is now, the panhandle is experiencing an explosion in pressure. NT is from the panhandle according to his location tag. He will certainly concur. I can remember a time when we had no white tails. I only hope that we can urge hunters to take care of the resource. We killed them out once, it could happen again.


The Aggie thing got brought up simply by the fact that 3 of us participating in the thread are Aggies.

Isnt that considered organized crime!

this is what it boils down to, bmd and the other haters are butt hurt because nontypical shot good deer in a week, while they spent more money on more acreage and more time, while they get good deer they feel they have been cheated, nontypical if you were to turn your lease back on the market the haters would fall all over each other to get your 180 acres

No need to respond to that

Man you are good.

Poker you sure are eating lots of popcorn tonight

Gotta eat something. Had lunch at 3 couldnt eat tonight!

It's ok BMD. I think everybody would probably agree that taking 5 mature deer per 180 acres in the state would not be good. I have no idea the exact acreage of Donley Co but let's look at 4 counties in the panhandle: We'll go with Gray, Donley, Wheeler, and Collingsworth. If they were only 20 square miles each that would give us 40 square miles of land total which is about 1.024 million acres. If it were all split into 180 acre tracts, there'd be 5,689 tracts, and 5 old bucks per 180 acres was harvested that would be a grand total of 28,445 mature bucks harvested in those 4 counties. Let's get real, that will never happen. I will apologize to anybody reading this that assumes you can run up to the panhandle for a week and shoot 5 mature deer off of a small piece of land. As I have mentioned more than once, this is the first time we've been this fortunate in 10 years and it's the first buck I've taken there since 2008. I guess I could go back and post previous years where we only took one buck or two, maybe that would chill a few people out and let them sleep a little better. If we're "shooting" this place out, it would seem that after 10 years all we'd see are doves flying around the feeders. ---DISCLAIMER--- I take no responsibility for anybody who comes and leases/buys a small piece of land in the TX panhandle after reading this and doesn't shoot 5 mature bucks in a year off of it. From working and hunting in the panhandle since '99, it definately seems that it greatly depends on your SURROUNDINGS and proper management practices that will determine the quantity and quality of deer you'll see.

Hate to hear you say that. I just bought 90 acres on leasebroker.com and was expecting 2.5 bruisers next week. The guy with the crossbow survey will contact you tomorrow...




I haven't agreed with all of BMD's post on this particular thread but... He seems perfectly pleased and very fond of his place. What he wants is to keep others the h@%^ away from it. Makes sense. Don't want to give up your honey hole. (Ever been around duckhunters who value "their spot" more than their lives?) Just can't stop others from posting success to do so.

All I was saying is this is the belief you appear to have the exception with all the land around you but you have been hiring up here 10yrs then you know exactly the point I was trying to get across seems to me from your story you are hunting 6180 acres in 180 of the ranch. I apologize for raining on your parade but I am sure you har seen exactly what I am talking about.

It would actually be 80 sq miles haha

i think you ought to post you pics again and say

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Look another Aggie.........

80 square miles is over 4 million acres. That's aggie math, wait a sec, I went to WT, LOL. But seriously 4 20x20 counties is 40 square miles.

Let me re-phrase....Should have said 80 x 80 is over 4 million acres and 4 20x20 counties would be total 40x40 or 1600 square miles......maybe, LOL.

Did you learn math in Aggie land

By Gawd, I know my rithmetic!

Its actually 51,840 acres

640 acres is a sq mile.

4 counties at 20 sq miles each. Lets see, hmmmm.

20 sq miles + 20 sq miles + 20 sq miles + 20 sq miles = a grand total of 80 sq miles. You might just learn something from an AGGIE

Maybe only AGGIES no this. I guess if you hunt 180 acres you don't really need to know that conversion.

Dont pull the Aggie card kiddo. It turns out bad for us everytime. This is T-sip country.

No rain BMD. I realize the panhandle was a big secret for many years and it is receiving alot more pressure than it was 10 years ago. Just look at all the hunting shows filmed up here now. I drive all over the panhandle for work but have actually only been able to hunt a couple small pieces of it, this 180 and just recently 320 SW of Wheeler (which I hope to add to next year). I honestly wouldn't be able to tell anyone of an overall increase or decrease in deer quality. All I could tell someone is what I've been able to see from the road while working and the experience I've had in Donley County. The biggest deer I've ever seen was last November at 11 pm driving to work. He was a typical 10, stopped 20 feet in front of my truck for about 15 seconds while chasing a doe and made my 160" 10 look like his little brother.

Congratulations to all of you on your great bucks! Your wife's buck has the same dark red hair below his bases like a friend of ours shot this year. My 10 point last year was like this too. I am particularly fond of this coloration.

You are in a unique situation on your place and being surrounded by a large unhunted tract of land is a huge bonus. I too have only shot about five bucks in 10 years, but the wait for them to grow up has definitely been worth it!

I forgot to say, nice bucks!! Congrats to the first timers!!

If one section is one mile x one mile and that is 640 acres, how would 20 miles x 20 miles not be 400 sections or 256,000 acres. Let me explain the 4 county example (given they were perfectly square and all 20x20): If you are at the NW corner of Gray County and drive 40 miles S, you will be at the SW corner of Donley County. From there, drive 40 miles E and you will be at the SE corner of Collingsworth Co, drive 40 miles N and you will be at the NE corner of Wheeler county then 40 miles west you will be back where you started at the NW corner of Gray. That looks like a 40 mile x 40 mile square to me. If this is the case there would be 1600 sections or 1,024,000 acres. I've got a headache, LOL. But seriously, someone tell me if I'm wrong 'cause I'd like to buy some land someday......

Hell I don't know congrats on some great deer

Wow this thing has come full circle.

5 for 5 to start with and now we are in advanced math for the "aggies" and I have summised the statistical probability of killing 5 mature deer in less than 180hours on 180 acres. Long long equation that I wont get into now so as to not be anymore confusing to our resident aggie friends.

This thread is officially exhausting! But yet I can't stay away.

My head hurts

I'd give all you aggies a math lesson but it seems like theres 2 or 3 of you all and I don't want to have to repeat myself 2 or 3 times. GO MUSTANGS.

This was awesome, like one of those heavyweight fights where they both get punched out and exhausted but neither can knock the other out, the crowd cheering for their favorites, and then when the 15th round finally ends they hug and tell each other how much they respect each other. Oh dangit, I said the number 15 - now you're all going to try to figure out how many minutes that is..lets see, do we count the time between rounds... LOL!

Your talking miles square, not square miles.



And Donley alone shows to be 933 square miles.

That's it. I re-read my hastily posted math skills and realized what I was thinking wasn't what I was typing, go figure. Donley would then be just a touch over 30 miles x 30 miles if perfectly square so that would mean we'd have a few more 180 acre tracts to go around, LOL. Thanks for the clarification longhorn_cop.

#1 Some of you guys need to head back to 4th grade math.

#2 Nice bucks. Even if it was on 180 acres, they are all mature. Don't see a problem with it. Now if he's shooting every yearling that walks out, that may be different, but clearly he isn't.

Nice bucks! BMD I dont guess it is any of your damn business what they do on their own land.

Glad to see this thing is still going! Also - did I see a group aggie math problem? lol - please make sure to show your work

lol

I have read every single word written in this thread and i dont see the big deal. Me, my dad, my 2 brothers, my uncle, his three kids, my wife, and about 15 of our friends and their guest all tag out every year on our 5acre lease. You figure that up and thats 195 deer a year that we tag, there is at least that many more that we dont tag, and we hope to expand next year and start letting our 15 friens' guest bring a guest. I'll admit that some of the deer we shoot still have milk on their mouths but they are the best eating. Then we go to our place in oklahoma and do the same thing.

Don't you guys have real jobs? How od you find the time to post all day?

Maybe not but since I'm a land owner in the panhandle, I do hate seeing that many deer taken off a 180. I for one do not want to see HFs up there, but its just a matter of time apparently, that sum owners will fill they have no choice but to protect their investments and resources.

Second 4.5 year of age isn't mature as far as horns... It means they finally reached a point where the skeleton is done growing so for the first time in their life they can start contributing more nutrients to their antlers.

And the day of the big ranches are done up there, and there are more and more small places popping up. Land prices are high for what it is but still accessable to most people compared to the hill country or crosstimbers.

Land 10 years ago was 150-500 acre.. now its 1000+.

Again not one person has said a bad thing about those deer.

Panhandle is not the hill country. Nor is the deer density.


Yall can bash BMD, aggiebrahma, and me all you want.. but fact of the matter is bragging about taking 5 mature deer on what amounts to a place the size of an irragation pivot.. is counter productive to the area.

I commend them for getting new people into hunting especially the wives, and only taking older age class deer.

Bobo there are 3 HF places I know of within 2 hrs of me. Its coming more and more each year

It suxs.. we aren't small land owners..and we don't want to see it, but what people don't realize land is cheaper up there and its cheaper to put a HF in up there.
To the point you can by 10-20 acres to one up there compared to Stx and hill country.. its happening every day up there.

We have a 100 acre cotton/wheat patch the borders a 13 section ranch. Needless to say those deer were rough on our cotton crop. We invited everyone to come shoot those damn deer. Lots of meat hunters. We would easily take 60+ deer (mostly bucks) off that place annually. They would pour out of that ranch in the the evenings into the field and we would open fire, shooting as many as we could before they could jump the fence. Ranch owner tried to get us to stop but we said hell no. They eat our cotton, we shoot your deer. This went on for over 15 years. They finally gave up and high fenced it two years ago. WIN WIN if you ask me. Do miss the nice bucks we would get from time to time.

A tad different then what the OP put up

We are in Donley county very near to the area of the OP. I know of two high fences within just miles of us and both those went up in the last few years.

We have one that borders us on the SE in Collingsworth.

Out come will be the same...regardless. except the smaller place got HF'd

Suxs to see but well within their rights, can't say I blame them

disagree...............the OP shot 5 deer total. This poster quote "shot as many as they cold" Doesn't sound like there was any mgt plan with the guy hurling bullets at whatever came onto their land, of cotton.

I hunt in wellington and there are a couple of them down 15th

No your right.100 percent.

But I don't call 5 bucks on 180 panhandle acres of any age any kind of management.. essentially when you are possibly wiping out an entire age class for 5-6k acres every year.

that's impressive, but were they still suckling when you shot them???



...and i found the untouched original of this pic. anyone else trashing aggie math will be shot in the face!!!!

That's careless! Destroying crops or not I would have been pissed! Opening fire towards your neighbors is irresponsible.

Tell josh congrats! He and I went to MHS together.

Key word is possibly. Having Game cams proves otherwise as well as the last 10 years we've been hunting there. The same person has owned this 180 since the mid 1980's and the quality and quantity hasn't changed. If anything it has gotten better. In the last 10 years I've been on this place, we have never had a lack of numbers or sightings and pics of several mature deer in the week we are there. I'm done trying to defend our "practices" on this little "honey hole" but with the limited to no pressure all around us, we'll be fine. Maybe we'll only see one or two during the day time next year but I would bet the game cams will tell a different story through the night just like years past.

Will do Turney!

Fun is what it was.

It goes both ways. They never offered to pay us a dime for damages incurred by their deer herd. We would easly sustain losses of 40 -60% of our crop each year. 60 bales of cotton @ 1.15 per lb is $34,500 in losses each year.

A lot of people fail to realize that deer cost a lot of cotton farmers a lot of money. That's how we make our living. Deer hunting is suplemental/recreation. Farming is for making a living. Like I said. They put up a high fence and we all get along now.

"their deer herd", like they can control that. They're not livestock! That's funny chit right there. I guess we should all pay our neighbors for each others hog damage too.

I never would have thought a 100 acre cotton field would bring in close to 100K. I need to get in cotton business!

^^^^ no joke

You guys on here crack me up.

I can plant 120 acres of alafafa and have 100 deer in it....doesn't mean I have 100 deer living on my 120 acres..just means I have the only alafafa/wheat/peanuts/beans still available for miles.

Panhandle is not the hillcountry and core ranges are 5 fold and winter time ranges are very food dependent.

Not bashing you or your deer, but as a fifth generation rancher/farmer in the high plains I'm tired of seeing the tall fences, but I don't own your land or theirs so if its legal its legal.

I am big enough land owner to destroy some smaller ranchers hunting if I HF'd. I know all the land owners around me and know a year like this year their hunting income means a lot to them. I respect that and we respect each other.

I just hope some day you don't get fenced off..bc that's bad for everyone. Especially for your land owner because he has land he can't lease now, and you will just find another honey hole....

Joseph I guess you're not a deer hunter huh? This is a hunting forum. You might be out of place.

WOW this thread still has some juice eh

His numbers aren't that far off on gross... not net.
also same reason there where very very few deer from there all the way to the badlands because they had no value and they where shot on site 20 -30 years ago..its taken generations to help change that mind set.



Your right this is a hunting forum and not a stewardship forum . enjoy your hunting while it lasts up there, bc its turning into the next hf hotspot.

He's an insult to the word "hunter"

Question: Do the majority of people HF a place, whether it's 200 or 20,000 acres for their own personal recreation or is because they want to start breeding whitetails and maybe carry extotics as well? The reason I ask is b/c the only guy I know that has a HF place, it's about 3,000 acres and is in the NE panhandle, told me he put the fence up b/c he wanted to get some breeder bucks and exotics as well and start selling hunts. Just curious.

I don't know about motivation for HF but I can tell you that if advertisers paid a fee per page generated on a thread, you'd be a rich man and could buy another 180!

Little from column A, little from column B

After years of analytical research and after studying copious amounts of empirical data I have come to hypothesize that the angle of the dangle must be equal to the fall of the ball,otherwise databases may be corrupted and incongruencies arise.

Erathkid - have you tried Chimy's? Not a bad margarita

Nightlight,I haven't.What is Chimy's?

A margarita bar - one in Ft. Worth and another in Lubbock

Majority for own personal but sell hunts just to pay up keep. Fenced hunts are hard way to make a living..but not much isn't these days.

A lot of the breeding just has to due with what native genetics are present...you can find most places haven't introduced outside genetics and the hf is more of a away to regulate cc and age classes.

LOL. Never thought that posting 5 deer off 180 hunted acres surrounded by 6000ish acres that isn't hunted would generate 9 pages and counting of what the hell's, I shoot every deer I see, mathematical equations, congrats, way to go's, there won't be any deer in a couple of years, aggie jokes......and so much popcorn.

It is kind of funny...Life that is,it goes full circle.

I dont make it to Ft worth often,but do get to Lubbock every now and then.

Well it sounds like we all should have a margarita, pull out our calculators, and sing kumbaya. Great thread!

Damn I just read all of this. Something must be wrong with me:)

I dont see how a man shooting deer on his own land legally can cause a problem. Just because Joe Bloe wants to kill a big buck the average Joe is supposed to not hunt his own place? Hell if he is killing them out then why are they on his place. Maybe the neighbors need to feed them a little.

It's all about people trying to convince others that their way is the best. Or to show that they are the "best" hunter to everyone.

Or could it be trying to remind everyone that deer can be wiped out and need to be taken care of? I was there when there were no whitetails. It can happen again if common sense does not prevail. Folks doing what they want and not caring about those that come after is what wiped them out in the first place.

Sometimes I think it's a little of both. It's a very valid and very important point that everyone should be reminded that deer can be wiped out and the resources definitely need to be taken care of and managed, so that future generations can enjoy what those before them had available to enjoy. However, at the same time, there is possibly this mindset of that if 'I' feed and manage 'MY' deer year round, and I own 'x' amount of acres, then those resources are mine? Not saying this is true across the board. Have had a personal experience of several small land owners managing the combined resources with similar goals, then the largest of the small land owners of the group decided to high fence 'his' resources, but only on two or three sides. His acreage also being too small to high fence all 4 sides to actually build up and manage 'his' own herd and 'his' resources. There's always going to be someone who has more than the next guy, or has a 'better' way of doing it, or yada yada. But at the end of the day, we do need to be reminded to manage our resources, and that don't just apply to deer... I think money is the only thing left that the gov't can continually keep generating!

Being that you make more derogatory comments about HF and HF deer then any one else on this forum.. why don't you go back and read my posts on this thread...then look in the mirror everytime you cringe when you see a high fence.

Love how some people always have an opinion.

Low fence, first time hunter in the group, two women, youngest buck is 4.5

Usually all those would be good things on here.

Congrats on some nice deer

This is what we try to shoot off our place. Anyone can shoot a big deer. Them little ones are hard to see and even harder to hit.

Now you're just lying.

Thanks z71. Like I've mentioned before, I think everybody would agree that if 5 bucks plus does were taken for every 180 acres in the state of Texas, or anywhere for that matter, they would all disappear pretty quick. What frustrates me is when people spout off before asking any questions on what a given situation is. If I had said these deer came off a 6200 acre ranch, which is "technically" the case here, I kinda doubt anybody would have a problem with it and get all worked up. We do have a unique and fortunate for us situation being that deer are not hunted on alot of land surrounding us nor does the neighbor provide feed of any sort. We do and it works. Oh well......

Thank you, your situation is unique and I hope it continues to be.

x2

What, no post on this thread in 8 hours? What gives?

For once I stayed out of a controversial thread

This is amazing and entertaining. By the way, congrats all the deer. All are nice kills. Personally, I think there is some jealousy showing up on here.

Yep, never killed a 130 inch deer in Donley county. Very unusual for the area. There are far better places in TX to hunt for trophies.

How bout them hedley peaches ? Nice bucks also imo !!!

...I agree!

Some people need to shut their pie holes. Nice bucks. As long as you are taking mature bucks the situation is fine. You can shoot every mature buck in the state every year and guess what? You will have more mature bucks next year. That number will change each year depending on what the fawn crop was for that particular year but you get the idea. If you start dipping into the younger bucks, then you have a serious problem. Congrats on your 5 mature bucks.

I personally know Joseph and sir you could not be further from the truth! He is a stand up guy and it has been an honor to hunt with him and his family numerous times.

Hey non typical do you mind giving me your gps coordinates of your 180 acre place, I would like to lease your neighbors.

There from a camera not a cellphone already checked for him

i totally agree BMD, i have watched it go down the last 6 years. we hunt thousands of a and mgt properly but i all our hunters around us kill every walking thing. it shows like hell now. there are age gaps, one group shoots 10+ bucks a year off of less than 400 a. what kills me is we have ALL THE COVER, and they set up on our fence lines and kill all the 4 yr old deer that i pass on time and time again! i show countless people what a 6yr old mature deer looks like and have 15+ camers aon the place to track deer from year to year and it still doesnt matter. this year alone i know of 3 bucks we have been growing and watching the last 3 years dead. none over 5 yrs olda nd none of them are culls either. im with you 100%

But those are some good deer not to knock you at all on that! it would be a another story if they were all 2-3 yr olds

Old buddy at locker said he is busier than hell now days, but the 160-170 deer have just about vanished. Crying [censored] shame, but TX aint got enough sense to protect the deer. TPWD, take a trip to Pratt, KS and take some damn notes. The Panhandle should have buck days. One week after Thanksgiving. That will get some folks to move on down the road.

Cory im not refering to you guys by the way, the jack legs next to us and behind you guys

I just read all 25 pages of this post and kept thinking, TPWD has asked that all hunters "tag" out this year to help the deer population survive. They are saying the drought will continue another 4-7 years and the deer heard will suffer if the numbers aren't reduced, statewide.

Congrats on a great weekend of hunting and some awesome deer.

Your right I forgot the panhandle has same deer density as the hill country

yeah these guys would be pissed if they knew i killed 3 mature bucks off of 5 acres...darn, now they do...

but the second part of that is my property joins 1900 acres of state owned land that is not hunted....

Well, I have read all of this. I have never been one to pass judgement on another man's practices publicly. I have to say that we have had the same 3,000 acres for 10 seasons and I am giving up managing it. When I started hunting it I could see 1 blind for the first 5 seasons. Now out of my tower I can see 13. There are 4 of us. WE shoot 2 good mature bucks and 2 culls each year. 3 years ago we got hunters for the first time to our north and west. They are from San Antonio. Not bashing them for that but I will put it this way. Thanksgiving weekend they shot 22 times on 1400 acres. 1/2 of the acreage is dry dirt "wheat fields". I tried to talk to them about future plans before the first weekend their first year and got a cold shoulder like I was a theif. 3 yrs later we saw 1 mature buck this year. 1. 5 game cameras running and taking about 2,500 pics per week since September. 1 mature buck guy's. This will now be a "kids" lease for learning to hunt and meat hunting. Makes me sick that we passed some of the deer we have, letting them "grow up". Yeah right. We are going to hunt Iowa and Kansas. WE wont be spending money in Texas on Protein and the fuel money to go water and feed every month. I will put corn in the feeders sept. 15 and let the kids have fun. The Panhandle will be back to what it was 20 yrs ago and the bargain hunters will go back home. MAkes me sick.

I'd be happy with any one of those!!!