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In the predawn chill I felt like a kid in a candy store. I was on prime whitetail country, in an excellent ground blind, with my mind dreaming about all of the high racked bucks, surrounding me in the early darkness. I had done my research this time on the best deer hunting in Texas for size and success ration and I was right in the middle of it. Mason Texas. The home of more Taxidermist, wild game processors, and deer, stand, and feeders ten I have ever seen in a town per capita. The reasons have to do with mild deer weather, oaks, and acorns, good water supply for grasses, bushes and forbes. The other is more of a man made item that the wild deer of the hill country have found to their liking.

There are many exotic game ranches in Texas, and the hill country is loaded with them. The low fence one with rams, hogs and low jumpers are usually fed corn or a protein feed daily. This is much to the deer’s liking along with the low fence that they can jump without breaking a sweat. This makes easy year round feed, water and cover available throughout the area.

I had selected a ranch with a low dollar whitetail hunt and 20,000 acres of deer to work with. Box blinds, and stands littered the acreage along with tanks and feeders. They also had an extremely low cost hog & ram hunt available and free lodging. During hunting season lodging on weekends can be a problem in the better deer hunting areas, so this is a welcome opportunity. If I filled early I would try a ram, and then get some pork. The two together make the best sausage or ground smoked jerky this side of the Rio Grande.

Gary xxxx and his son Jim are the ones that can make all of this happen. Jim runs the 20 ranches for hunting, and his father Gary does wild game processing, along with making that fantastic Jerky.

I called Jim at the Wildlife Ranch in Mason Texas and told him my weekend plan. Since the deer season was so long I would just hunt for 2 or 3 days for now and if I didn’t get a buck I would go back in a few weeks when time, work and family allowed. After using their free lodging all night I was here is the predawn enjoying the inside of this box blind as a 5-10 mile wind sweep by outside. Just cold enough to make deer hungry, just what I needed.

I checked my watch for opening hours and saw I had 5 minutes to go. I slowly cracked the windows so I had just a small view from every direction. As I peered out I could see deer outside already but couldn’t see well enough to recognize antlers. Either way I was primed and ready. I was shooting a .243 with 100 grain loads. It had worked well for me in the past, and felt confident in that it would continue the same winning streak this time.

As my east window was greeted with sunlight I was able to start recognizing shapes and movement. For what I could see they were all does, and I had set my sight on a 10 point or better. Pretty picky for me but I figures I could lower my standards on the next trip if I needed to do so.
For the next four hours I saw does and small bucks, with the biggest one a tall eight point that made me second guess my decision to wait. I would hold to my guns, I knew it was a good decision, but it certainly hurt. I felt the wind in my face so I knew unless I did something stupid I was just an eye in the sky to them and I could watch undetected. I watched and learned as the does and small bucks had a pecking order when it came to feeding on the corn under the feeder. Antlers weren’t always the winner as many a do stood up like a stallion flashing their front hooves to the trespasser. The skirmishes were short and many time just earn turned back was enough to stop the aggressor.

During this I noticed a deer back in the mesquite brush, that wouldn’t come out. He may have been at the feeder earlier in the predawn but at first light he slipped into the bush and stayed on the edge for about an hour and either laided down or left, because he just disappeared. I felt certain because of his actions he was a buck but due to his hiding skills.

By 10 o’clock all of the deer had walked away from my blind and no new ones were moving. I decide to call it a morning, and head back to the lodge, catch a nap and maybe hunt a ram for my mantle above my fireplace. Then in the evening slip back into the box blind for the evening hunt.

Back at the store I met Jim, and we talked about a ram for my mantle. He got me set up with a guide, a sandwich, and we were off after a Muflon. It was a low fence facility with about a mile square to work with. With the exception of the gate we went in it was big enough I never saw a fence. It was rugged thick country with junipers Mesquite and big rocks jutting out of the ground. The best protocol for hunting was to climb to a high point, glass, then use the spot and stalk to get within range. After an hour and a half of difficult walking and climbing hills we spotted a nice ram on a bench in a rocky ledge. He was located in a spot that if we got any closer then 200 yards, he would spot us. My guide Jamie said, it would be best if we climb to the top of another closer hill, and shoot from there down into where the ram was beaded. It would be difficult because a beaded ram isn’t much of a target.

Climbing one more hill I waited to catch my breath before cresting the top. Jamie, ahead of me said, “He is still there.”

I came to the top, put my coat and hat under the forearm of the rifle and laid out over the a big rock. Checking my breathing, keeping the rams chest and cross hairs together I slowly, confidently squeezed the 3 pound trigger of the Winchester model 70 featherweight. At he report the ram didn’t get up, the he jut rolled over and lowered his head.

Jamie slapped me on the back and said, “Good shot.”
I grinned, and said, “I knew this .243 could do it, she never let me down before.”

By the time we got the ram back to the store, skinned and hung in the cooler it was time to get back to the blind. I did so and quietly slipped back into the familiar space and got comfortable. The weather was much warmer and the wind had stopped, so have the flow of deer. After about an hour the same does started to appear again. I wondered if the same 8 point buck would appear or the one of unknown size hiding in the bush.

About 30 minutes before sundown I caught the movement in the brush where the hiding buck had been that morning. The light was in a better direction allowing me to not only make out his outline but also his antlers. He was at least a 8 point but probably more.

The range was only 100 yards or so but I needed a clear shot through the brush. As the buck moved to position himself, I noticed a small opening in the cover. The buck happened to stop with that opening just revealing his front shoulder. It was now or never, all he had to do is take one step and all I would have is a gut shot.

I squeezed the trigger, and the bush erupted with deer running every direction. I sat still eyeing where I had shot, so if anything ran out I would be able to shoot again. Nothing ran out bud I could see some repetitive movement on the ground at that spot. He may be down and can’t get up. I quickly exited the blind and went to the location just in time to see his last kick. The .243 had done its job again, but this time I had an 11 point to show for it. It was by far the nicest buck I had ever shot.

I called Jim on my cell phone and he told me not to clean it there, he would pick me up with the deer and bring it back to the store and storage locker. I said, “I would be waiting with open arms.” Then I hung up.
I though to myself, “A nice ram, and a big whitetail all in the same day, what about the other two days I planned to hunt.”

Well I guess tomorrow will be the day for pork.


Greg Merriam
RCS Outdoor Writers Inc
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