Originally Posted by
Hammerstrike44
This deer was taken by my ten year old son on our place 80 miles northeast of Del Rio in Edwards County. I can tell by your photographs that you are disciplined shooters. Most folks looking at your photographs would not know what they are seeing. A man managing the deer on his place. We bought our place five years ago and the wall of the ranch house was covered with young eight and ten point racks. We had to cull about 20 does and any cull bucks we found for three years. We took all we could legally and invited most of our hunting friends and guests to hunt culls and does. I can't count the seven and eight point cull bucks, five and six years old that were taken the first three years. I bet I cleaned 50-75 deer in that time period. Now we have a healthy and robust deer population, with trail cam photos and some taken by my family and I in the 140 to 160 class. My son took this 150 class nine point on December 18, 2009, at 7:15 a.m. from a ground blind. He was shooting a custom, single-shot, break open rifle, calibered in 7.62X39mm, 124 grain Federal soft point ammunition, with a Bushnell Sportview Buckmaster 3X9X40 scope at 190 yards. This was the first wall hanger I allowed him to take. I made him nuts passing up bigger, younger bucks, but I wanted him to learn patience and deer management. (Since he and his counsins will inherit the place) He has taken a deer (does and cull bucks) since he was seven and additionally, I wanted him dead on, consistently, at 200 yards before I would let him shoot a mature trophy. This buck was six years old and 17 inches between his main beams (look how far outside the ears this buck's horns are) We are not high fenced and only provide mineral and food plots. We also have about $500,000 worth of exotics we bought with the place. We had an Aggie biologist come out and take a look and he photographed some of the exotics we needed to cull. A local guide from Del Rio came out and splits the money with us for guiding exotic hunts. There is little pressure on the exotics and the biologist said "since you have three high fences around you on smaller places, if you cull these, the rest will stay put as long as there's not a 'commercial hunt' in the planning." No need for high fences. We still take culls, but allow the grandchildren and children, to take the big deer. Our friends and guest have two rules. If you can't age a buck or doe, either one of us or the guide goes with you-no cost. (We pay the guide since he's made us a lot of money) If you can age deer, eight points or better, five years old or older, and horns outside the ears at least two inches (about 14 inches between the main beams) My nieice took a 140 class the same morning and I took a 160 class later in December 2009. I don't have any photos yet because the taxidermist wanted to hang the mount in his shop. I had the buck mounted on a pedistal and it turns 180 degrees. This buck is in my son's bedroom along with a huge Black Buck antelope he took a couple of years earlier. He told me he need a better deer rifle and wants a Weatherby .270. He hears me brag about mine so I guess I poisoned the well so to speak. I also use my most reliable rifle, a simple Savage 11, calibered in .270 with a Nikon Monarch 3X5X50 scope and have had this rifle since graduating from Texas A&M. I taken more deer, at longer ranges, with this rifle, than any other deer rifle I own. I also have a BAR Mark IV, 30-06 with a Swirovski 3X9X40, semi-auto and I can hit anything with it. I have a brother that made all his kids shoot a 30-30 lever action before he would buy them a gun. (By the way, its my son who got me into collecting AK/AKMs)
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