By Brandon Ray

With so many things vying for a kid’s attention these days, some young people would rather play video games or hang at the mall rather than learn to hunt. But not Kali Barbour.

Kali, 8, shot her first-ever deer last season. Using a single shot rifle in .223, she took a mature doe. She was hooked. Since then she’s hunted spring turkeys with her dad, Kyle, and sat in the shade and watched the big folks shoot doves. But what she really wanted, she told her dad, was a buck.

Archery season in Texas opened September 29. Kali shoots a compound bow—her dad owns an archery shop—but she does not pull enough draw weight yet for deer. So Daddy Kyle rigged up a brand new crossbow for his little girl. (Crossbows are legal in Texas during archery season.)
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By Brandon Ray

Opening morning of Texas’ bow season was soggy across much of the state--good for breaking the drought, not so good for deer movement. Dense fog also hampered hunters in the morning. By Saturday afternoon, skies cleared and conditions improved.

My friend Ronnie Parsons, who has arrowed 34 P&Y whitetails in Texas, missed opening morning for the first time in 40 years. He had a good excuse: The ranch he hunts in west-central Texas received five inches of rain from Friday night until Saturday morning. He said small creeks that have been dry for two years were running and the banks of the Concho and Colorado Rivers were flooded. Talk about a drought buster!
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By Brandon Ray

Overall Activity Status: Deer still seem in a lazy summer pattern. Food is the only thing on their minds. Most of my reports from friends revolve around information gleaned from trail camera pictures, rather than actual sightings. A few lucky ones have mature bucks hitting corn feeders every day in shooting light.

I was pleasantly surprised to find the above photo of a dandy typical 12-point on one of my trail cameras positioned along a creek. I recognized the buck instantly. Last year, he was a typical 11-point. His rack jumped about 20 scoreable inches since last season. Yes, the picture was taken in the dark, but at least now I know that buck survived last winter and he’s still in the area. I had one, and only one, picture of him on camera, this one! Will I ever see him in daylight? Who knows?
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By Brandon Ray

Years ago, it seemed that every evening I would scout before opening day of Texas’ archery deer season, some giant critter would walk right in front of me--namely, a big aoudad ram or boar hog. And I was always unarmed. It’s legal to hunt exotics and hogs year-round in Texas. I’m a slow learner, but finally I started carrying a rifle or bow on my evening scouting trips.

On Wednesday, September 12, while I was perched on the rim of a canyon, just such a scenario unfolded.
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By Brandon Ray

I spent the weekend scouting. First, from the truck driving along CRP fields and canyon breaks here in the Texas Panhandle. It was the start of a spotlight survey I’m required to do three times per season on our ranch for our Managed Land Deer Permits (MLDP). I snapped the accompanying photo of a good mule deer right at sunset. He has a deep-forked, 4x4 frame with brow tines and a narrow spread. And the extra kicker inside one of his back forks makes him an 11-point. He was part of a bachelor herd of four bucks. All were still in full velvet.

On Sunday evening, I sat perched on the rim of a broad canyon behind a tripod-mounted 80mm Leupold spotting scope. Below me was a winding river with a few tall cottonwoods, cedars and thick mesquites. The vegetation is still green and very thick, making it difficult to spot the deer. I only saw three whitetail does, moving near a corn feeder at sunset. But the evening was not a total loss.
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By Brandon Ray

The accompanying trail cam photo shows a classic summer bachelor herd of velvet-clad bucks. The bucks are hitting a bait site--in broad daylight--in late August. The buck in the middle is a no-brainer come bow season. A symmetrical 10-point with a good spread. An even bigger buck is hitting the same spot!

I like to run trail cameras starting in August to capture these images. Bucks will stay in bachelor herds through September and some into early October. About mid-October, they seem to stop liking each other and disperse. That’s why hunting the first week of the season, even when it’s hot, can be so productive. You might have a whole herd of bucks walk by your stand, instead of just one.
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