TPWD Mule Deer Hunt - Horseshoe Buck

[Burnadell]

My goodness, what an awesome buck and great write up. Congratulations, Kevin!

[Kevin]

Thanks again all!

Here is the wrap up / additional pictures...

Conclusion

Final Thoughts
The TPWD draw system has its issues. From low draw odds and out-of-state competition to short hunt periods and often mediocre opportunities - it’s hardly a star in the public land department. One thing that is nice is... its cheap and I've been successful more than not if I just wanted some meat of a representative animal.

I remember my hunt at Kerr WMA, which required 15 years of points, where very few hunters shot deer. Kerr was meant to be a star in the WT draw, but my entire group never saw a mature animal and I saw a handful of deer the entire hunt. Come to find out, they put all the hunters in the south of the property to see what impact it would have. It was clear, the deer went north. It was still a fun trip even coming home empty-handed, but not what I was really expecting after 15 years of applying. It’s rare not seeing a deer on my own land and I have fairly low deer density - not seeing deer on multiple hunts at Kerr was just disappointing.

Suggestions for TPWD
* Use the land you have to it’s full potential
* Put the right number of hunters on the entire place to meet management goals.
* Any public land with a huntable population should have hunting access
* Offer longer hunt periods or the ability to draw compartments early in order to scout
* Require out-of-state hunters to purchase a license to apply for draw hunts
* Draw hunts earlier - drawing hunts in the middle of season is beyond frustrating and leaves little time for arrangements/time-off. I drew a doe hunt and paid for it only to then draw the Mule deer hunt at nearly the same hunt period.


With all that said, I’ve also had some great TPWD hunts. My first doe was shot on a TPWD Youth draw hunt out at Richland Chambers 27 years ago. First two deer with a bow we’re on Corp land, but still public. Then I went on to shoot my first public land buck a few years back, again at Richland.


Richland Buck from 2019

This year, the Mule Deer hunt was fantastic for the entire group of hunters. That starts with the great TPWD employees they have out at the WMA. I know some years are harder to hunt than others, but we all had plenty of space to hunt, saw animals, and it was peak rut. The guys wanted us to shoot solid deer and that helps tremendously. I will continue to put in for the draw hunts because it helps raise money for TPWD and you never know when it’s going to be your turn to put your hands on a monster.



Cooler on the morning of the 2nd full day. Funny side note, there is a note on the whiteboard in the head quarters that says "bear proof the cooler" after a black bear climbed on top and tried to enter via the cooler unit on the top.



Its hard to tell in this picture, but this buck has one base that is the size of a coke can. Buck was 6.5+


Aggies getting it done - didn't ask for OK to put faces up so blurred out. Buck was 7.5+


Actual Black Gap



Memorial to the TPWD personnel that were recently killed in a helicopter crash



I put on a desert mouse drive for this hawk and in return, he let me get some photos.



The road goes on forever and the party never ends

Until the next draw, gents!

[Kevin]

Oh... I put the tape to him tonight and came up with 181 2/8 gross!

Right: 82 3/8
Left: 81 3/8
Inside: 17 4/8
____________
Gross: 181 2/8

[Lee230]

What a great experience and a tremendous buck, many congrats Sir!!!

[Iowa1210]

What a great experience and a tremendous buck, many congrats Sir!!!

Thanks for taking us along, 1st class write-up. Hopefully I get picked someday.

Sent from my Pixel 5a using Tapatalk

[Shane]

What a cool buck! Congrats, Kevin!

[TKRanch]

Not sure how I missed this!! Great job! Fantastic buck!! Well done sir, Congrats!!

[acepipeman]

This was a great thread... Congratulations!

[Rock63]

Very nice buck and excellent write up!

[roberts]

I do not know how I missed this. Great recap and great muley. Congrats.

[Tomkat70]

Congratulations on a great buck and thanks for sharing your hunt with us.

[Rwc]

First read through and extremely impressive.

Congrats and appreciate you giving up time to let us re-live with you.

Rwc

[Bjayroe]

That looks like a crazy fun hunt! Did you run into other people?

Intro
The dream started 14 years ago when I was 28 years old. I had just finished with my first out of state hunt (see here) for black bear and mule deer was high on my list. That was several incredible hunts ago but long story short, I became married with children and my priorities and risk acceptance changed quite a bit. Fast forward to 2022 and my 3rd kid was born in August just before applying for my 2022 TPWD draw hunts. Like it has been for the last 14 years, mule deer was part of that application process. Little did I know at that time, 4 months later, I would be walking the hills of a remote WMA with my eyes set on a nice representative mule deer. I am not going to type the name of the WMA in any of my posts to hopefully keep down the random out-of-state googlers, and I would appreciate the same from other posters. It will be obvious in the pictures.

I pulled out of Fort Worth on the day after Christmas to head to as far west as I’ve travelled in Texas since I was a child. Spent the night in Fort Stockton and had a great dinner at K-Bobs near the Walmart, which I used to purchase last minute items.

Next morning I got up and drove to the WMA just soaking up the land of Cowboys and Indians. The area looks just like something out of a great western with eroded mountains, mesas and cactus. About 10 minutes before pulling into the WMA I encountered my first mule deer, a doe that love tapped the bumper of my old 2006 z71 GMC Sierra that refuses to die. With my heart rate at extremes, I pulled into the headquarters for the 10am checkin.



Travis and Kevin are the TPWD guys running the WMA and they were great. They are really vested in the hunt and try to set everyone up for success.

When it was time to pick my unit, Travis gave me two options. The first unit was fairly open with mountains on the east and the second unit had a lot more terrain. I chose the first unit because it offered the chance of Elk and Travis had a huge buck on camera there.

Day 1
I started off by driving the entire unit and just decided it wasn’t what I wanted.


I then called the headquarters and asked to check out the other unit and since no others hunters were there, they let me take a look. I drove the roads and decided it was what I wanted and make the move. The camping spot was where I wanted to hunt, so I also decided to camp near the HQ. I joked with Travis that since it was the rut, that huge buck could for sure cover the 2 miles between units.




That afternoon I scouted and setup in the north part of the unit and watched a saddle and basin that wasn’t accessible from the road. The hike up was extremely rocky and I ended up sitting in a rock pile for the hunt. I spotted 4 groups of Javalina but didn’t see a single mule deer. Before it got too late, I hiked back down and regretting not bringing the hiking stick left in the tent.

That night I ate some leftover pot roast by a small fire before heading to bed.

Day 2
I woke up early and drove to an access road parking at the base of the hills. I hiked .75 miles up into the hills to a location I picked the day before and waited for the sun to rise. I sat there until 11 just spotting 2 javelina.






When it was about time for lunch, I spotted two small Big Horn sheep feeding on the mountainside. While it wasn’t what I was after, it did give me some confidence that my glassing wasn’t the reason for seeing no mule deer.

Can you spot the little big horn?

Around noon I hiked into another area that looked promising for the next morning (the sun plays a huge role here) and hiked back to the truck for lunch and relocation.





<to be continued tomorrow>

[KLAPPER]

Awesome buck! Congratulations!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Kevin]

That looks like a crazy fun hunt! Did you run into other people?

Zero people outside of evenings at the ranger check station, and that was limited. Park is closed during hunt dates.