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NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2010
hunting on
the edge
going stag
in search of the
Perfect duck limit
Mystical
encounters
The 2010 deer season
couldn’t arrive fast enough
for the Barrett family.
Timely rainfall created ideal
habitat conditions, giving
bucks a boost during the
antler-growing period;
one buck in particular
had their attention.
Texas
Sized
by JEFF COPELAND
Las Raices Ranch
produces one for
the ages.
3
TEXASSPORTINGJOURNAL . COM
I
N MID-JULY,
game cameras
on the South
Texas ranch captured the year’s first
images of a buck the
Barretts
watched
grow for the previous five years.
Just knowing he
was still out there
provided a measure of satisfaction. The risk of losing deer from
year to year due to post-rut stress, injury or predators is very great,
and due to the amount of grass on the ranch created by the rainfall, they did not have the comfort of a shed horn to tell them that
the deer had survived up to that point.
Not only had this buck survived into his seventh year, he had
grown, and from the looks of things, produced his best set of antlers ever. By mid-August, game camera images revealed multiple
drops, extremely long tines and double row points from the G-2
all the way down the beam on both sides. Mark Barrett and his
son, Marko, decided it was time they take turns living at the ranch
to get photos and video. The game plan was to set up in the area
where remote cameras captured images of the big buck, which
figured to score anywhere from 265-305 B&C, according to close
friends who’d reviewed the latest photos.
But, after several days of sitting in a metal blind with no air circulation in 100-113 degree South Texas summer heat, they had no
luck getting video or photos. They constantly joked that the deer
was smarter than they. He wanted to be out in the heat even less
than they did.
They finally had their first encounter with the deer under a full
moon at the end of August. He came out just after dark to water.
Marko watched him by moonlight until 9:30 when he laid down.
It was a sign that the big buck was coming out of hiding. Later,
Mark captured a few photos in broad daylight, and Marko supplemented them with videotape soon thereafter. Both realized the
buck’s monstrous size, but watching the brute in person hammered it home, making September a stressful month. After taking
their initial photos and videos, they decided to leave the buck
alone. Too much activity in the area might spook the buck into
moving or changing behavior.
Marko was free to scout other deer on the ranch, but a game
camera remained active at the “Laguna” blind most of the time.
There was a well being drilled 600 yards to the east of the blind
day and night. In some of the videos you can hear the brake on
the rig squealing. Luckily, the deer didn’t seem to mind and stuck
around. Photographer Dave Richards spent one night monitoring
the buck and said that at one point the rig STOPPED making noise
and the deer got spooked. They were pretty well accustomed to
all the noise.
Even on a ranch that had been intensely managed for many years,
this is an impressive little two-year-old. Good tine length and several
kicker points atop a small and obviously still growing body caught
the owner’s attention at an early age.
At three, this buck still surpassed the elevated culling criteria on Las
Raices Ranch. Good frame, multiple long tines an a few kickers kept
this buck on the “one to watch” list.
As a four-year-old, this buck really began to blossom. His body frame
had obviously finished growing and much more of his nutrition
intake was going toward growing antlers. Tine length and antler
mass really exploded and the extra points really began to show the
buck’s true genetic potential.
JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2011
4
TEXAS SIZED
The deer showed up pretty irregularly
in the daylight for most of September.
Trail cameras would show him there before dark or after sunrise about every
fourth day. Right before the Managed
Lands Deer Permit season opener, which
coincides with the archery-only season,
the big buck started to show up regularly
in the evening.
On opening morning, Mark and Marko
hunted out of the “Laguna” blind and
were unsuccessful. This didn’t surprise
them; however, because the buck primarily came to water in the evenings and
stuck around a little for food before moving off. They knew their best chance lie in
the evening hunt.
The script in the evening worked out
pretty well. With fading light, the deer
walked out on the left side of the blind
along a sendero and headed to water.
Marko was sitting on the left side and
followed the deer’s movement, but Mark
had no view, and with other deer milling about in the area, had no alternative
but to sit and wait. The next 15 minutes
seemed an eternity as dusk swiftly turned
to nightfall.
The deer finally finished drinking and
TEXAS SIZED
While the buck didn’t increase his B&C score much this year, he was still an impressive buck and too young
to shoot. Considering that the previous year was likely his first year to be actively involved in the rut it is not
surprising that he didn’t make the same tremendous improvement in antler size. This isn’t uncommon for
five-year-old bucks.
browsed his way back into view. Expecting
a long shot, Mark had his scope zoomed in
to a high setting. When the deer stepped
into the sendero closer to the blind than
expected, there was a scramble to crank the
scope back down. Finally, Mark was able to
make a great shot and the deer went right
down.
This hunt was the culmination of years of
good management and patience since first
noticing this deer as a two-and-a-half-yearold.
Mark recalled the initial sighting when
someone approached them one day with a
video and said, “Have you seen that little
deer over at Laguna with the kickers?” The
Barretts took several video sessions of him
that year and were able to take some still
shots as well. As a two-year-old, this deer
had multiple kickers and stickers, very long
tines, long beams and double rowing towards the beam tips. Everything about him
looked special. It was not hard at all to pick
him as the best of his age class that year.
They noticed that he often ran with a
little, heavy-horned 10-pointer with big
brow tines that looked to be the same age.
They continued to see these deer together
for the next five years during the preseason
For a manager, it is a really tough chore to opt to let this buck grow for one more year. This is an awesome buck that most hunters would be very happy to take. Long beams, great mass and tine length
and a drop tine...wow.
2010-2011
2010-2011
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TEXAS SIZED
This year the buck truly reached his potential. The
timing of this deer reaching seven years of age in
a year of more than adequate rainfall, created the
perfect antler-growing scenario. The goal of land
managers is to make the proper culling decisions.
The hope of land managers is for ideal environmental conditions. This buck is the result of everything
coming together perfectly.
and became amazed at their progression
over time. At two-and-a-half, he was a tiny
little thing with multiple points next to
his G-4’s and kickers off of his tall G-2’s.
The following year he developed into a
basic 12, with bumps on his main points,
but no kickers. That year, however, he put
on double row points on both sides of his
G-2’s and G-3’s, giving him 16 points
along the top of the beam.
At four-and-a-half years, he again
changed configuration. Gone were the big
double row points in the back, but he put
them on in the front next to his G-4’s and
G-5’s. He also added many more kickers
and stickers than he had as a yearling, and
added a drop tine.
At five-and-a-half, he lost the drop,
some of the kickers and all of the double
rowing, but put on much more mass, tine
length and beam length.
Last year, he put the drop back on with
a little double row in the front and a few
kickers, but lost the overall tine length
and mass that he had the previous year.
This past season at seven-and-a-half,
everything came together. He put on every antler trait he had ever displayed, and
then added more to it.
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TEXASSPORTINGJOURNAL . COM
To learn more visit www.biggame.org
TEXAS SIZED
Las Raices
Ranch
The Barrett’s Las Raices Ranch has been
intensely managed for many years to
produce this type of buck. Just like any
successful management plan, they made
several changes over time as goals have
been reached or continued to be out of
reach.
When they first developed the partnership that initially joined the
ranch, no spike was safe. ALL mature eight-points were considered
“culls” regardless of frame size, and they gave no thought to what type
of does they harvested. Now they leave their spikes, look to take the
worst deer out of the three-and-a-half-year-old age class and continue
to get more aggressive as the classes get older.
The largest leap forward for their “culling strategy” came with the advent of the game camera. Now, with multiple years of records and photos, they can track the progression of most deer and see if they deserve
another shot based on what they have done in the past. With particular
attention to individuals, and not carte blanche rules, they believe they
can pick a few more diamonds out of the rough, and it’s hard to argue
9
TEXASSPORTINGJOURNAL . COM
with their results. They feed Livengood Brush Country 20 percent protein
at stations about every 120 acres. Most stations host multiple feeders to
deal with dominance issues when bucks are together in bachelor groups.
They try to keep the buck/doe ratio about 1:1. While they strive to become a little more inverted and have more bucks than does, the openness of their country and normal lack of rain can really knock a fawn crop
out. With no grass, and very little canopy for thermal cover, many fawns
die during a hot year of predation and dehydration. They have determined the need to carry a few more does than they would like to steadily
produce the amount of buck fawns necessary to meet their harvest goals
five-seven years down the line.
Opportunities are available to hunt the Las Raices Ranch for non-family members. Their lodge comfortably sleeps 12 hunters. All of their hunts
a re fully-guided and most hunting is done from stands or ground blinds
overlooking feeders or oat patches. They do have two top-drive vehicles
for scouting and driving around during the middle of the day, but very
rarely do they hunt for deer out of them. They are set up to accommodate
bowhunting in a few spots, and have several popup blinds to go after
deer with bowhunters. They offer great country cooking, a full bar and
one morning of the hunt, breakfast is served at an old stagecoach house
on the west side of the ranch.
- Jeff Copeland
To learn more about the hunting opportunities
available, you can visit their website:
www.lasraicesranch.com.
reCord
breaking
307 1/8 b&C
Mark Barrett with “Mini,”
his 307 1/8 B&C
record setter.
100% Native Genetics
plus a little ‘Rain, Protein, Feed and Patience.’
Congratulations to Mark Barrett of the las raices ranch
for bringing down what may be the largest native whitetail
ever produced in texas history. Scoring an astounding
307 1/8 B & C, this 100% native pasture deer shows
what can be accomplished through sound management
and top-quality feed manufactured by livengood Feeds.
Special thanks to Cuerno Grande
Wildlife for 25 years of dedication
and commitment in developing the
Brush Country line of deer feeds,
distributed by Texas Farm Store and
manufactured by Livengood Feeds.
ContaCt our field representatives: lee Williams (512) 376-1418
or terry Pluenneke (512) 376-8159 | texasnutrition@livengoodfeeds.com
Photos used with permission; ©2007, 2010 Los Raices, LLC
Mark’s son, Marko
previously held
the record with his
LIVENGOOD FED 272
7/8 B&C kill, also
taken on Las Raices
Ranch in 2007.