OUTDOORS

It seems only yesterday that I was climbing into my ladder stand with bow in early October. The leaves were just beginning to change colors, a stark contrast to the winter woods that are now dormant with trees ‘sleeping’ a couple more months until the sap rises and nature’s cycle begins anew. Deer season is over for this year, but the memories we deer hunters made will last the remainder of our lives. Many harvested that trophy buck of a lifetime; others stocked their freezers with prime meat from the wild. One thing that is for sure, harvest or no harvest, we all spent some glorious days afield with great friends or family and, when we think about it, that‘s more important than antlers or meat.

I often travel the state hunting deer, from the mountains of far west Texas to east Texas’ Pineywoods. But this year, the farthest hunt was about 80 miles from home. The majority of hunting was in my own county. I took a fine buck within a mile of home and, just last week, during the last of the muzzleloader season, shot a big doe that will provide plenty of steaks, roasts, and sausage for meals throughout the year.

I was on a late season muzzleloader hunt with my friends Edgar and David Cotton. I’ve grown to love spending time with this father son duo; we speak the same language as the old saying goes and relish the time we spend hunting or simply watching wildlife from a deer blind. The drive from my house to their Becker Bottoms Ranch is short. It only takes me about 25 minutes, and I’ve made several of these afternoon hunts recently but, until last week, failed to take a deer. Oh, I saw plenty but not the heavy horned ‘management’ type buck I was looking for. Late season muzzleloader season is a great time to take surplus doe. Having already shot my one trophy buck in the county, I was looking for a big, fat doe or spike buck. The ranch is intensively managed and only select deer are harvested. I’ve seen lots of bucks throughout the season there but not one spike.

As David and I climbed into one of the tower stands, I had already ‘guessed’ the outcome of the hunt, and venison from a late season doe was in my prediction. Deer flock to the fresh g r e e n e r y provided by a winter food plot, especially during late season, and we both fully expected the hammer to fall on my old smoke pole! David glanced at the Hunt Stand app on his phone and whispered that we were hunting during the estimated peak of movement for game. I replied, “It’s always prime time when hunting in the Becker Bottoms!” The woods were dead still and as the sun began to sink over the horizon, a sight was created in the western sky that the great landscape artist Monet could not equal on his best day with brush and easel.

About thirty minutes before legal shooting ended, we both caught movement back inside the tree line out past the food plot. A wary old doe was first to the enter the field’s edge, followed by 5 other does and a couple of nubbin bucks. And then a buck appeared, his right antler was broken, and he had the appearance of a battle- scarred veteran of the woods. It was easy to see the leader of this group, the big doe eased a few feet into the greenery, nibbled a couple of tender sprouts and threw her head up and gave our hunting blind a long, hard stare.

Something didn’t seem quite right to the doe and with a flip of her tail, she was back inside the woods, taking the other deer with her. This old doe was appreciably bigger than the others, almost as big as the broken antlered buck but she was by far the most wary. David and I decided this would be the doe we would target for the freezer and hoped and expected the lush vegetation of the food plot would draw her back to the field before the end of shooting light.

With only a few minutes of daylight left, the big doe again appeared at about 90 yards and presented the perfect broadside shot. We were soon back at camp with some very fresh venison hanging on the meat pole. After a quick dinner of grilled hot dogs on fresh light bread with a liberal supply of mustard and some canned pinto beans with jalapeno (I’m now a huge fan), we spent a few minutes telling tales around the fire pit. Then the short drive back home for all of us. What a perfect ending to deer season. May this lifestyle go on forever!

LUKE’S GRILLED VENISON Because all the fat needs to be trimmed from venison, the meat is naturally more dry than domestic meats. I like my steak cooked well done, not burned but well done. Put the more tender cuts of venison backstrap directly over a fire of wood embers or charcoal and it will inevitably be dry, even if cooked medium rare. I like to have a cast iron skillet with butter and plenty of fresh chopped garlic over the coals beside the venison steaks I’m grilling. After the steaks are seared on both sides and take on that ‘smoked flavor’ from the coals, I place them directly into the skillet and turn them often so they will become moist and even more flavorful. Using this method, it’s easy to cook steaks to the desired ‘doneness’ while keeping them moist.

Contact outdoors writer Luke Clayton through his website www.catfishradio. org.