Sunday, October 28, 2001

Monster promise

Los Cazadores/Contributed photo

Mike McFerin's monster buck qualifies as the highest scoring deer taken on the King Ranch by an archer. It scored 196 and change.

As Mike McFerrin settled into his deer blind, he chased away thoughts that the buck he'd been eyeing for more than a year could fall to another hunter.
   Behind him was a restless eve of this bowhunting season intermittent with angst over hunting scenarios that end in disappointment and dreams of the perfect shot. Actually, two weeks of restless nights had preceded this morning.
   Sunrise was still 30 minutes away when McFerrin began to make out vague silhouettes in the distant brush. Heart pounding and visualizing a buck, the likes of which most men will never see, McFerrin's eyes strained against the dawn.
   He knew what he saw. But he needed to be certain.
   It was the buck. The one that he'd first spotted last season and several times since in both reality and in dreams; the one that he had captured on film and counted as his own. It sported 23 total points at last count, set on a basic nine-point frame with 14 abnormal points.

Los Cazadores/Contributed photo

This photo was taken long before Mike McFerrin took this protein-feed buck on his King Ranch lease. It grew 65 antler inches since last season.

   He estimated the animal at 7 1/2 years old.
   This scene had played in McFerrin's mind a hundred times.
   Just as he had imagined, the magnificent animal turned broadside as morning broke. It was his buck now.
   At the end of a slow deliberate draw and careful aim, an arrow flew true and vanished behind the heavy buck's shoulder blade.
   What followed, was to plague McFerrin countless times.
   The telltale jump and bolt of a buck that has been hit ended about 20 yards away. McFerrin's prize buck had settled on the ground, in clear view of his blind.
   He thought it was over and quietly rejoiced where he sat, only to be interrupted by an event McFerrin had not anticipated. This was not part of his pre-hunt dream.
   Another buck cantered up and nudged the injured deer to its feet, the way sympathetic elephants will for fallen herd members. McFerrin watched in silent disbelief as his injured trophy rose to its feet and sauntered from sight into the South Texas brush.
   All that remained was a blood-covered arrow that had passed through the animal and two small patches of dark red where the buck had laid.

Los Cazadores/Contributed photo

Bonnie McFerrin, Mike McFerrin's wife, arrowed this impressive 11-point buck, her first with a bow, during this year's bow season.

   There was no blood trail to follow.
   It was all McFerrin could do to stave off panic and heartbreak. Instead, he held on to hope.
   The search that followed involved more than 20 hunters, a helicopter, hours of frustration and a sleepless night.
   The next day, friends discovered the buck about 75 yards from where the fatal shot had been delivered. Coyotes had found the animal first in a dense, waist-high thicket.
   Its weight will never be known.
   The buck, still in velvet, grossed more than 215 Boone & Crockett points (non-typical) and netted 196 and change. The antler width spanned 21 inches.
   That would be good enough to place it fourth on the Pope & Young list of best bucks killed by archers in Texas. It's too early for this to be official, according to the Pope & Young folks. But the impressive rack does officially top the all-time list of bow bucks taken off the King Ranch.

Impressive shots For a snapshot of deer hunting throughout the season, check out the leader board of the Los Cazadores deer contest at www.loscazadores.com.

   McFerrin's buck is the result of a well-managed lease that comprises 13,000 acres held by Coastal Wildlife, Inc. Lease administrator Lon Hipp tells me the monster definitely is a protein buck.
   There are 33 protein feeders on the lease, which produces a high percentage of the 160-plus bucks taken off the King Ranch. During each of the past two recent seasons on this lease, member hunters have taken 14 bucks that scored 160 or better.
   Nine years ago, only six such bucks were killed on the lease in a single season.
   No deer are taken before their time. The strict rule is that bucks cannot be harvested before they reach 6¤ years old.
   The McFerrin story, no doubt, will make the highlights of the 2001-2002 Texas deer season, a young season already rich in hope-inducing tales.
   Topping other highlights is a 217 B&C buck taken in Maverick County. But secrecy surrounds this one, folks.
   Other bucks taken either by bowhunters or by gun hunters using a managed lease deer permit include a 159 ] taken by McFerrin's wife, Bonnie McFerrin; a typical 163 4/8 shot by David Schaible; a 174 buck shot by Houston hunter John Smart; and a 155 deer also taken from the same area.
   Most of these trophies were taken off the King Ranch, which experienced the worst September to September drought Kleberg County has seen in 80 years, replacing the 1954 worst drought on record, which old timers still talk about.
   Hunters prone to optimism (and who of us isn't?) should find solace in this season's start, even if their lease doesn't benefit from a diligent management program. Reports from biologists reflect above average antlers, plus good to above average body weights.
   Hog production has been phenomenal, to boot.
   That's because range conditions on most South Texas brushland was good enough this spring to produce good nutrition for antlers and has remained lush enough to produce healthy animals going into the season. And even if opening weekend of the general deer season didn't yield the buck of your dreams or if your opener disappoints, you still have reason to maintain a Boone & Crockett outlook for the season.
   Having said this, you should know that a full moon awaits hunters during opening weekend. Combine this with limited deer movement to feeders because of adequate browse, and your chances may look better in December.
   If you're looking for more bright spots, hunters in the Victoria area tell me the rut is already on there, well ahead of schedule.
   And Marty Prater, at All Creature Great and Small, says his deer-processing cooler is filling fast with fat deer. This also is ahead of schedule compared with recent season starts, he said. In addition, Prater's taxidermy shop has a 180-class buck killed in the Carrizo Springs area by a local hunter.
   By the way, if you find yourself with extra wild game this season, bring it in to Prater's shop (980-9278) and he'll process it for free then donate it to the Good Samaritan Mission. This goes for hog, deer and exotics.
   For a snapshot of deer hunting throughout the season, check out the leader board of the Los Cazadores deer contest at www.loscazadores.com.
  
  
  

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