Fair warning this one is going to be long. I used to write a story after every hunt I went on. It’s been a very long time since I wrote one but this one is too good not to put into writing so I can relive it forever.
Wow, what an opening week of hunting season, this has been one for the ages and will be hard to top. My nephews Dillan and Camden have been hunting with me since they were kids and it’s a tradition for them to travel from Alabama to Texas usually a few times a year to hunt with me. It’s the only way I can get them to come visit me. LOL
I got into a great lease near San Angelo last year and I’ve taken both of them up there as guest to hunt with me. I let Dillan take my management buck last year, a nice old 8pt. Camden came and hunted with me last spring during turkey season and was lucky to get a big Tom gobbler.
Fast forward to this summer and scouting for this year’s deer season. I bought some Browning cellular cameras and put them out around my property and at my lease. I gave my nephews the password and app to download so we could all look at trail cams together as summer was coming to an end and the antlers were starting to finish out. There were some great deer at the lease and a few at my property near Leander. We were texting and calling each other every day anxiously awaiting season to open and talking about all the different deer. They both talked about which deer they liked and hoped one of them would give them a shot.
They both know it’s much better hunting at my lease than it is around my house. There is a better chance at a bigger deer, the deer density is better, and the deer pattern better. I only get one management buck up there and I offered it to one of them this summer. I talked to them and told them that one of them could hunt at the lease but they had to make the hard decision of who was going to get to hunt at the lease and who was going to hunt at the house. They worked it out and decided that Dillan would hunt the lease and Camden would hunt my property.
The trail camera pictures were pouring in and the deer were in their late summer feeding pattern. They were at the feeders religiously morning and evening as they usually are in August and September. There were four good mature 8’s at the lease that were possible for Dillan to shoot. Camden had picked out a big 11 pt at the house that he was set on getting but there were some respectable 10pt’s and 8pt’s in the mix. It was looking like things were rolling into place for the opener. We put a plan together and all took a weeks’ vacation for opening week of archery season.
As usual, just like every year, the acorns started falling around the first of September. It sounded like hail with acorns hitting the roof of my house, acorns piling up everywhere. The deer were backing off the feeders and becoming unpredictable. It’s no surprise as this happens out here every single year. For some reason or another I always think I have it figured out and have these deer patterned to a T, but it all falls apart just before season starts.
Dillan and Camden packed up and drove 670 miles to my house Friday before the opener. I got off work and we hung out on the front porch of my house watching my front pasture. I have a big pasture out front with a feeder about two hundred yards away. We watched the feeder through binoculars and had three nice bucks come in a little before dark. One of the deer was the 11pt that Camden had his heart on. I have two stands on my property and obviously Camden decided we would be hunting the front pasture for the opener. The weird thing is that the big 11 had been using the feeder behind my house, this was thee first time he’d ever been seen in the front. He threw us a curve ball the day before the opener.
Opening morning came and it was gorgeous. I can’t remember a Texas archery opener ever being this chilly. It was actually cold, and the winds were perfect for that stand. We were settled in the blind by 6:00 AM, about an hour before shooting light. Soon the sun started to break, and we were seeing deer creeping around. I saw a nice buck in the distance and put my binoculars up and recognized it to be a 10pt that we had seen the previous evening. When I saw the deer I immediate told Camden “Don’t pass this buck”. The buck didn’t waste any time and a few minutes later he was 20 yards away perfectly broadside. I was filming and ready to get the shot on video. I turned to Camden and asked him if he was going to shoot the deer and he just shook his head no. “I’m waiting for that 11 pt.”. At this point I thought he’d lost his mind. He had driven 670 miles, bought a $325 out of state license, and had a 120”+ 10 broadside with the camera running and was passing on it! I was thinking to myself he didn’t realize how well the cards had fallen into place for this opener. Anyway, he watched the 10pt with a few does for about 45 minutes until they filtered out. The big 11 never showed.
The evening hunt was pretty much the same but with fewer deer, still no sign of the 11 pt.
After talking with Camden and the deer being so unpredictable with the acorns and full moon, I think he was starting to regret passing the big 10 when he had a chance.
We were back in the stand Sunday morning and the 10 came back in. This time Camden decided that he better capitalize on his luck and decided he would take the deer. It milled around for a bit and finally turned broadside. I had the video camera running and he drew back and sent the lumiknock lit arrow at the buck. To my surprise I watched the arrow sail right under the deer’s chest! The buck jumped up and ran up a hill about 40 yards and just looked back at us. I actually thought he may drift back down to us for another shot, but he casually walked over the hill and out of sight. Total defeat! When Camden missed the deer, he was extremely upset with himself. I was surprised at him missing because he’s a natural talent. In our group of bowhunters with him and some others I hunt with he’s probably the best archer in the group. That being said there is a huge difference in shooting targets and shooting a live animal and the adrenalin that goes with it. Ole buck fever got him!
We decided that we would go ahead and make the trip to the deer lease and see if we could get Dillan on a deer. The 10pt that Camden missed wasn’t spooked and I thought he would be back, and I was hoping the 11pt would make an appearance again.
We packed up the camper and drove 200 miles West and got to the deer lease Sunday Evening.
My buddy Jason was there smoking some ribs and watching some football. We all looked over trail camera pictures and enjoyed some good food and deer lease comradery.
The other lease members had headed home after the Sunday morning hunt. Everyone was reporting slow hunting and not much moving.
Dillan and I decided we would hunt a stand in a bottom that I put a Krivoman blind in this year. There were three different mature 8pts in that area that would be shooters if they showed up.
We were in the stand early and got settled. Dillan did several practice draws with his bow and made sure he had good shooting lanes. When the sun started lighting the day up, I could see a big 10pt that I call “Flames”.


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Wow, what an opening week of hunting season, this has been one for the ages and will be hard to top. My nephews Dillan and Camden have been hunting with me since they were kids and it’s a tradition for them to travel from Alabama to Texas usually a few times a year to hunt with me. It’s the only way I can get them to come visit me. LOL
I got into a great lease near San Angelo last year and I’ve taken both of them up there as guest to hunt with me. I let Dillan take my management buck last year, a nice old 8pt. Camden came and hunted with me last spring during turkey season and was lucky to get a big Tom gobbler.
Fast forward to this summer and scouting for this year’s deer season. I bought some Browning cellular cameras and put them out around my property and at my lease. I gave my nephews the password and app to download so we could all look at trail cams together as summer was coming to an end and the antlers were starting to finish out. There were some great deer at the lease and a few at my property near Leander. We were texting and calling each other every day anxiously awaiting season to open and talking about all the different deer. They both talked about which deer they liked and hoped one of them would give them a shot.
They both know it’s much better hunting at my lease than it is around my house. There is a better chance at a bigger deer, the deer density is better, and the deer pattern better. I only get one management buck up there and I offered it to one of them this summer. I talked to them and told them that one of them could hunt at the lease but they had to make the hard decision of who was going to get to hunt at the lease and who was going to hunt at the house. They worked it out and decided that Dillan would hunt the lease and Camden would hunt my property.
The trail camera pictures were pouring in and the deer were in their late summer feeding pattern. They were at the feeders religiously morning and evening as they usually are in August and September. There were four good mature 8’s at the lease that were possible for Dillan to shoot. Camden had picked out a big 11 pt at the house that he was set on getting but there were some respectable 10pt’s and 8pt’s in the mix. It was looking like things were rolling into place for the opener. We put a plan together and all took a weeks’ vacation for opening week of archery season.
As usual, just like every year, the acorns started falling around the first of September. It sounded like hail with acorns hitting the roof of my house, acorns piling up everywhere. The deer were backing off the feeders and becoming unpredictable. It’s no surprise as this happens out here every single year. For some reason or another I always think I have it figured out and have these deer patterned to a T, but it all falls apart just before season starts.
Dillan and Camden packed up and drove 670 miles to my house Friday before the opener. I got off work and we hung out on the front porch of my house watching my front pasture. I have a big pasture out front with a feeder about two hundred yards away. We watched the feeder through binoculars and had three nice bucks come in a little before dark. One of the deer was the 11pt that Camden had his heart on. I have two stands on my property and obviously Camden decided we would be hunting the front pasture for the opener. The weird thing is that the big 11 had been using the feeder behind my house, this was thee first time he’d ever been seen in the front. He threw us a curve ball the day before the opener.
Opening morning came and it was gorgeous. I can’t remember a Texas archery opener ever being this chilly. It was actually cold, and the winds were perfect for that stand. We were settled in the blind by 6:00 AM, about an hour before shooting light. Soon the sun started to break, and we were seeing deer creeping around. I saw a nice buck in the distance and put my binoculars up and recognized it to be a 10pt that we had seen the previous evening. When I saw the deer I immediate told Camden “Don’t pass this buck”. The buck didn’t waste any time and a few minutes later he was 20 yards away perfectly broadside. I was filming and ready to get the shot on video. I turned to Camden and asked him if he was going to shoot the deer and he just shook his head no. “I’m waiting for that 11 pt.”. At this point I thought he’d lost his mind. He had driven 670 miles, bought a $325 out of state license, and had a 120”+ 10 broadside with the camera running and was passing on it! I was thinking to myself he didn’t realize how well the cards had fallen into place for this opener. Anyway, he watched the 10pt with a few does for about 45 minutes until they filtered out. The big 11 never showed.
The evening hunt was pretty much the same but with fewer deer, still no sign of the 11 pt.
After talking with Camden and the deer being so unpredictable with the acorns and full moon, I think he was starting to regret passing the big 10 when he had a chance.
We were back in the stand Sunday morning and the 10 came back in. This time Camden decided that he better capitalize on his luck and decided he would take the deer. It milled around for a bit and finally turned broadside. I had the video camera running and he drew back and sent the lumiknock lit arrow at the buck. To my surprise I watched the arrow sail right under the deer’s chest! The buck jumped up and ran up a hill about 40 yards and just looked back at us. I actually thought he may drift back down to us for another shot, but he casually walked over the hill and out of sight. Total defeat! When Camden missed the deer, he was extremely upset with himself. I was surprised at him missing because he’s a natural talent. In our group of bowhunters with him and some others I hunt with he’s probably the best archer in the group. That being said there is a huge difference in shooting targets and shooting a live animal and the adrenalin that goes with it. Ole buck fever got him!
We decided that we would go ahead and make the trip to the deer lease and see if we could get Dillan on a deer. The 10pt that Camden missed wasn’t spooked and I thought he would be back, and I was hoping the 11pt would make an appearance again.
We packed up the camper and drove 200 miles West and got to the deer lease Sunday Evening.
My buddy Jason was there smoking some ribs and watching some football. We all looked over trail camera pictures and enjoyed some good food and deer lease comradery.
The other lease members had headed home after the Sunday morning hunt. Everyone was reporting slow hunting and not much moving.
Dillan and I decided we would hunt a stand in a bottom that I put a Krivoman blind in this year. There were three different mature 8pts in that area that would be shooters if they showed up.
We were in the stand early and got settled. Dillan did several practice draws with his bow and made sure he had good shooting lanes. When the sun started lighting the day up, I could see a big 10pt that I call “Flames”.


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