Any big deer hunters out there any news of the rut???post it

[Cameron Crazy]

any news on the rut? in your area anywhere just post it i would like to know big hunter myself

[raider4life]

Does hitting one this morning count?:devil:

[GreenMonster]

Friend of mine tagged an 11 point last week. Had bark all over his antlers. Wichita County deer, about 10 miles south of the Red River 10 miles west of Wichita Falls.

[Vrabird]

Hunt west of Alice in Duval County. Seen a few good bucks, but they are not chasing does yet. They come out just long enough to see them and they are back in the brush. The rut usually starts around Christmas or after down here. I'm going again this weekend. Might get lucky and get a shot at one.

[Buccaneer]

Signs say whitetail rut is finally on
December 15, 2005

The deer season within a season is here.

As recently as this week, hunters were reporting that the South Texas whitetail rut had not begun. But as the week progressed, stories to the contrary started trickling in to the Outdoors Desk.




The South Texas whitetail rut generally begins sometime between Thanksgiving and Christmas, depending on temperature, day length and other factors, according to Texas Parks & Wildlife biologist Randy Fugate. Historically, this mating season peaks around Dec. 21, give or take a day or two, Fugate said.

Reports from recent weeks of a few scrapes and aggressive behavior in bucks have been replaced with unmistakable sightings of bucks chasing does this week, mostly north and west of Corpus Christi. I suspect that lackluster reports of a slow early season are about to change.

I've already received several indications of this from wildlife biologist Macy Ledbetter, who said he expected antler growth to be noticeably inferior to last season's exceptional showing.

"It's a lot better than I expected or predicted," Ledbetter said. "Just look at the deer contests entries and you'll see what I mean."

Indeed, the leader boards of the Muy Grande Deer Contest in Freer (muygrande-freertx.com) and the Los Cazadores contest in Pearsall (loscazadores.com) punctuate Ledbetter's point with some impressive bucks. Check out bowhunter Kelly Welch's Webb County buck, with its double drop tines. Her 180-class buck leads the bowhunting category for women in the Muy Grande contest.

By the way, congratulations to Leonel "Muy" Garza for reaching a milestone. His Muy Grande contest turns 40 this year, an anniversary no other deer contest enjoys. Hat's off to you and this grand tradition, Muy.

Garza has witnessed the sport of deer hunting undergo dramatic changes. The opening of deer season once was more like a race to harvest bucks. Hunters are more patient and selective regarding the bucks they take nowadays. Rather than shoot an impressive young buck, even mainstream hunters consider what could be if they wait another year or two. Hunters are savvier than ever when it comes to aging deer on the hoof.

This notion of the potential of a buck has permeated the culture and helps explain why season's start as slowly as they do and don't climax until mid-January. I'll explore more about the science behind deer hunting and deer breeding in Sunday's column.

Garza said another reason for this season's late start near Freer is that recent land sales have resulted in many hunters unfamiliar with the range of deer quality on their ranches.

"I can't blame them for waiting," Garza said. "They're still trying to figure out what they've got."

Whatever category of hunter you fall into, biologists tell me that South Texas range conditions are conducive to healthy deer this season. Ledbetter gives this extreme example of support.

A Live Oak County buck taken this week off a low-fence well-managed ranch should score 170 and change, Ledbetter said. It sported 15 points. But this isn't necessarily the impressive part. The buck weighed about 210 pounds field dressed. The average field-dressed weight of a South Texas buck ranges from 160-180 pounds.

And thanks to an early season freeze that eliminated some of the greenery, deer should be easier to spot than if the cold snap had not occurred.

Good hunting.