Richland WMA Draw Hunt 2019 - Live Hunt

[Kevin]

Nothing seen so far between the three of us. The cam I put out on a trail caught that buck I saw driving in. Will have to at the card to tell what he is.

[Kevin]

What a sunset!

[Kevin]

Well, nothing shot tonight. Compartment beside us a dude shot a 2.5 year 9 pt that they kept the head (not wide enough) but let him keep the meat.

Try again tomorrow!

[Kevin]

Back at it. Been in the chair blind since 5:45. At 7:10 I realized I needed to move it for better views. Got it moved and was stepping in and a doe came out at 100 yards. Watched her and the pipeline for a minute and she disappeared.

Finishing getting set up and a buck runs through. I get set up and just wait and he comes back out on a steady walk. I can finally tell he is outside his ears and legal and pull the trigger... click. Bullets in my gun but not the chamber since I rode my bike in this morning. By the time I chambered a round he walked back into the brush.

At least it wasnt a HUGE buck lol
Still pretty frustrating. Ive seen 4 bucks this morning - mostly smaller.

[chrisgunguy]

Sounds like you're getting dialed in. Stay at it.

[Kevin]

Little forky!



There are 3-4 like him in the area.

[TeamAmerica]

Originally Posted by Kevin

Well, nothing shot tonight. Compartment beside us a dude shot a 2.5 year 9 pt that they kept the head (not wide enough) but let him keep the meat.

Try again tomorrow!

Whoops!

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[BuckSmasher]

Originally Posted by Kevin

Back at it. Been in the chair blind since 5:45. At 7:10 I realized I needed to move it for better views. Got it moved and was stepping in and a doe came out at 100 yards. Watched her and the pipeline for a minute and she disappeared.

Finishing getting set up and a buck runs through. I get set up and just wait and he comes back out on a steady walk. I can finally tell he is outside his ears and legal and pull the trigger... click. Bullets in my gun but not the chamber since I rode my bike in this morning. By the time I chambered a round he walked back into the brush.

At least it wasnt a HUGE buck lol
Still pretty frustrating. Ive seen 4 bucks this morning - mostly smaller.

You have today and tomorrow right? Tomorrow they should be moving a lot after this front, I would guess.

[Kevin]

[Rwc]

Congrats and have enjoyed following along.

Rwc

[gonehuntin]

Heck yeah, congrats. Been following this.

[chrisgunguy]

Awesome. Tell us the story when you can.

[texan16]

Awesome, congrats on a good one. I have never hunted there (and live less than 5 miles away) but I know even though the deer numbers are pretty high, the success rate for hunters is pretty low and understandably so. You go into a tract of land blind and have a short few days window to try to figure it out and kill a deer. Congrats on getting it done !!!!!

[Texasm1976]

Congrats been following you. Right down the road from you on out lease. It’s been very slow. My dad got this buck last weekend


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[BuckSmasher]

Very Nicely Done!

[Kurdawg]

NICE congrats

[bps3040]

Congrats

[Chad C]

Congrats!

[Low Fence]

Congratulations

[lab man]

Congratulations

[Kevin]

I’ll post the story up in a bit. Fighting the rain and cleaning/skinning.

[stickemhard3]

Congrats!

[chrisgunguy]

Can you continue to hunt for more bucks or is it pig and doe only now?

[Kevin]

I can shoot a pig at this point I’m sitting with my Dad trying to get him a buck. We are actually in a box blind near a buck we got pictures of last night.

So far we saw a pig run through the cut.

[Kevin]

[Kevin]

[chrisgunguy]

Good deal.

[Kevin]

5 does out feeding

[Kevin]

Quick update. Had a 3.5 y/o 8 come in at last light and then a 4.5+ 6 pt. Dad was going to try and shoot the 6 but didn’t work out. They are just moving across the cut area and you have to get lucky to spot them, judge them, aim and then shoot before they hit the other side and disappear.

I’m back home tonight but Dad and Larry are hunting one more time in the morning. This weather change got them moving so hoping for a big one to hit the dirt.

[Kevin]

Originally Posted by Kevin

Back at it. Been in the chair blind since 5:45. At 7:10 I realized I needed to move it for better views. Got it moved and was stepping in and a doe came out at 100 yards. Watched her and the pipeline for a minute and she disappeared.

Finishing getting set up and a buck runs through. I get set up and just wait and he comes back out on a steady walk. I can finally tell he is outside his ears and legal and pull the trigger... click. Bullets in my gun but not the chamber since I rode my bike in this morning. By the time I chambered a round he walked back into the brush.

At least it wasnt a HUGE buck lol
Still pretty frustrating. Ive seen 4 bucks this morning - mostly smaller.

Continuing the story...

After the incident above, I waited about 30 minutes but had to get out of the stand to take care of some urgent business. Once I finished, I stood up and deer snort from both sides of the pipeline. “Perfect” I thought as I saw one doe run tail flagging away from me. I headed back to the stand and got settled in. A bit later I caught movement and it looked like the buck I saw earlier. Gun up, confirmed he was outside his ears, and then shot as soon as he stopped. At that point he was only 6 feet from being back in the brush. Shot felt good but he didn’t drop. By the time I recovered from the shot, I could see him bound off into the thick stuff boarding the pipeline. Hrmm...

Since I didn’t see him drop, I decided to wait 30 minutes before looking. At the 20 min mark it started raining HARD. Got out of the blind and walked to where I thought I shot and didn’t see anything.

Walked back the blind and picked out the “no closer than this” and “no further than this” points for the shot and then walked back over. Because distance is hard to judge from a flat landscape of a rolling pipeline, he was somewhere between 125 and 200 yards away.

Walked back again as it was now raining harder and still didn’t see anything. I then see a buck walk across the pipeline again and think “oh crap, was that him!?! “ At that point i called for reinforcements. A bit later I see my Dad rolling up in the truck and I wait and give him the story of what happened.

He starts at the 125 yard mark and starts looking for fresh tracks or blood. I start walking down the pipeline looking for anything like blood or tracks. I’m praying at this point! I hate missing but I hate wounding even worse but I keep thinking “it felt like a good shot!”

About 160 yards out I notice a larger and fresh track moving in the right direction. I just decided to follow that trail in and walk 59 yards inside and see something white. BUCK!!!!!

I couldn’t believe how it worked out. In the end it wasn’t the monster I thought he was, but he is my first public land buck and the first deer I’ve killed on a TPWD draw hunt since my very first deer (also at Richland Creek WMA) at 16 years old. I turned 40 last week!

Overall I couldn’t have asked for a better hunt. It made it even better getting to spend it with my Dad. I really hope he shoots a monsters in the morning.

[Kevin]

Couple more pics from the hunt... Dad and Larry are still out there until noon today. Good movement with this weather.

[Kurdawg]

Nice congrats

[Kevin]

Just heard Larry shot a good one. They are going to look for it now. Also shot a pig this morning. Dad is still in stand looking for a big one.

[Snowflake Killa]

Congratulations


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[BuckSmasher]

We need pics!

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[Kevin]

I haven’t heard back since I heard Larry had shot. Not sure if that’s good news or bad news.

Ill keep you posted!

[Kevin]

Originally Posted by Kevin

I haven’t heard back since I heard Larry had shot. Not sure if that’s good news or bad news.

Ill keep you posted!

Man unfortunately they couldn’t find the buck he shot. Bottom line is the shot through the vitals is much better than a shot to the neck.

[Raypo]

Congrats!

[droebuck]

Originally Posted by Kevin

Man unfortunately they couldn’t find the buck he shot. Bottom line is the shot through the vitals is much better than a shot to the neck.

Man a lot of old timers like that neck shot but I'm not a fan. Watched my Grandfather shoot one in the neck once and it flopped around on the ground a few seconds then got up an ran off, never to be seen again. I'm not saying neck shots aren't fatal but I prefer vitals. I've enjoyed your thread, nothing like public land success.

[BTLowry]

Originally Posted by BuckSmasher

Were there any standby positions given for this hunt?

6 people for 4 spots


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[BTLowry]

We gave them hell for the time we had

Drew 13 which was 25min ride around the road to get in the back gate with 2 other groups

Then my stand was a little over 2mile 4 wheeler ride and another .35mi walk
Saw deer every sit, just not the caliber that we were there for

I don’t know the final count, but last I heard was 9 bucks killed


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[bossbowman]

Really surprised at the lack of big buck harvests there this year after what I saw scouting it last year for the archery hunt that ended up getting cancelled becasue of the flood.

[BTLowry]

Originally Posted by bossbowman

Really surprised at the lack of big buck harvests there this year after what I saw scouting it last year for the archery hunt that ended up getting cancelled becasue of the flood.

Out of the 9, one was a 13” youngster

One was 3.5 and the rest were 5.5+ as far as I know

The few I did see in person I would not have guessed were older deer based on antler size

Maybe they have been eating something that is tough on their teeth (pea gravel ) but I feel confident the staff there have all been around long enough to age them as accurately as anyone

The floods really hurt the population from what I was told. 1:32 deer density currently and I think they said it was around 1:12

The deer we saw were all healthy and slick looking

Kevin maybe we will meet someday

Congrats on the buck






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[bossbowman]

Originally Posted by BTLowry

Out of the 9, one was a 13” youngster

One was 3.5 and the rest were 5.5+ as far as I know

The few I did see in person I would not have guessed were older deer based on antler size

Maybe they have been eating something that is tough on their teeth (pea gravel ) but I feel confident the staff there have all been around long enough to age them as accurately as anyone

The floods really hurt the population from what I was told. 1:32 deer density currently and I think they said it was around 1:12

The deer we saw were all healthy and slick looking

Kevin maybe we will meet someday

Congrats on the buck






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Eh... I don't know about that, we shot a buck on a youth hunt at a state park last year that looked 3.5+ all day long and the biologist aged it @ 2.5. Just out of curiousity I sent the incisors in for cementum aging and results came back he was 4.5 years old... so theres that

[bossbowman]

Originally Posted by BTLowry

The floods really hurt the population from what I was told. 1:32 deer density currently and I think they said it was around 1:12

Just curious what they said happened, they drown or just get wacked when pushed on the private ground?

[Kevin]

Originally Posted by BTLowry

Out of the 9, one was a 13” youngster

“One was 3.5”

Kevin maybe we will meet someday

Congrats on the buck


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Thanks Man! Mine was the 3.5 y/o but I’m still happy with him. That was my first public land buck. Yeah I think we never crossed paths because it too you a lot of extra miles to get back to HQ! I was driving a couple minutes. Overall it was still a good hunt. It was much better than the Kerr WMA Hunt 2 years back. On that hunt I only saw 1 buck the entire time and only a few bucks killed all week.

[Kevin]

Originally Posted by bossbowman

Just curious what they said happened, they drown or just get wacked when pushed on the private ground?

Young deer drowned and older deer drowned and got whacked.

[Kevin]

I personally saw a 6.5 y/o 10 pt that was brought in that went 110. He had great mass but his tine length was lacking. At that time I asked what the biggest deer was and he was a 7.5 that went 115.

[BTLowry]

Originally Posted by Kevin

I personally saw a 6.5 y/o 10 pt that was brought in that went 110. He had great mass but his tine length was lacking. At that time I asked what the biggest deer was and he was a 7.5 that went 115.

No telling how many "mature" bucks I passed due to going by antler size and not paying much attention to body
They had me looking for one of the ones the size of those they had in orientation

bossbowman, like Kevin said. June floods drowned the fawns and fall floods pushed deer onto property outside the WMA
They had a nice euro of one they found in a drift after a flood they said got trapped and drowned

There were lots of places where the water mark on the trees was about 6' in our compartment

[bossbowman]

Thats a shame its in a down cycle again it looked fan freaking tastic last fall before the floods. It will trend back up again eventually, always does.