We deer hunters live for opening day, the longawaited opener of deer season. Through the long, hot summer months we eagerly await early November and again the opportunity to take to the woods in quest of antlers and venison. It’s now been almost three months since the fall ‘opener’. The majority of deer hunters have cleaned their rifles and began thinking about spring fishing opportunities or possibly catching a big blue catfish during the dead of winter. But wait, we do have options!
I’ve been planning a second ‘opener’ for the past couple weeks when my friend Larry Weishuhn called and invited me out to his deer lease in west Texas not far from Sterling City. But deer seasons are closed in Texas now, right? Well yes for the most part, but on many ranches managed by Texas Parks and Wildlife (TPWD) deer hunting is allowed through February. On these ranches, TPWD biologists determine the number of bucks and doe that need to be removed each year in order to keep the herd in balance with the habitat. Special landowner permits are issued and hunters tag their deer with these permits rather than the tags that come with their hunting license. In essence, a hunter can be ‘tagged out’ with his hunting license tags and still hunt deer on these ranches, using the special permits. Hunting by any legal means (weapons) is allowed.
After our phone visit, I began planning this second opening day! In many ways, it promises to be even more fun than the official opener back in early November. We all wish for cooler weather for the opener, but in truth, daytime temperatures in much of Texas in November are often in the sixties or even warmer. Weather in late January or February should be much cooler. I like that I won’t have to worry about keeping all that great tasting venison cool! In early season, most of us are after that mature buck. We’re looking deer over closely to ensure that buck we shoot has some age. Although the biologists suggest we take surplus does off the range early in the season, most of us are so focused on buck hunting that we wait until later to shoot doe. My hunt with Larry and our good friend Jeff Rice will be for doe only. I’ve already taken a good buck this year early in the season up in Oklahoma with my friends at the Choctaw Hunting Lodge. This hunt I’m preparing for will be an old time ‘deer hunt’, any mature doe will be a candidate for the meat pole and, later, the skillet or sausage grinder!
This will be my first time to visit Larry’s lease which consists of about 8,000 thousand acres of beautiful, rugged west Texas landscape but I’ve hunted a good bit north and west of San Angelo and absolutely love hunting this vast ranch country. For the past several years, Larry has talked about how tasty the venison is from this area and he says the deer’s diet is the primary reason.
Deer absolutely love eating Filaree, a native weed sometimes called Texas Stork’s Bill or Heron Bill. The plant grows in abundance in many areas of Texas during the winter months. This year the plant is really flourishing thanks to timely rainfall, and deer are taking advantage of the nutrition. I’ve read that Filaree grows in areas where the soil is not suitable for grasses. It seems nature always finds a way to supply food for wildlife, regardless the soil conditions or region.
Just like the official deer season opener, we are making plans for camp meals which, for this late season hunt, will include fresh pan-fried venison steaks and smoked wild pork barbeque. I’m excited about putting my new muzzleloader to work on this late season hunt. I hunt with everything from big bore air rifles to compound bows but love shooting muzzleloaders.
A few weeks ago, my new CVA Optima 50 caliber arrived via the UPS man. I’ve shot a lot of different smoke poles through the year but never one with all the built-in features of this one. The folks at CVA thought of everything, including a breech plug that can truly be removed with two fingers. The rifles even come with a patented “Palm Saver” on the end of the ramrod which makes seating the bullet over the powder charge much easier. A little piece is cut out of the palm saver to allow the bullet to pass through without obstruction. As the folks at CVA say and to which I agree, “It’s just a better muzzleloader.” I began shooting the very clean burning IMR White Hots, which make serious fouling a thing of the past. Clean up with this black powder substitute is a breeze, and swabbing the barrel between shots is no longer necessary.
Planning for the hunt is almost as much fun as the hunt itself. I’m looking forward to spending a couple nights in the old camphouse on the ranch and eagerly awaiting the meals of fresh game meat we will prepare. Just to get a jump ahead, I smoked 4 wild pork backstraps, then cut them into smaller pieces and put them in my big cast iron skillet along with onion, jalapeno, fresh garlic, cumin, cilantro and the juice from a couple of limes. At camp, I’ll add a can of Rotel and allow all the ingredients to cook down to a thick paste. Don’t know exactly what I’ll call it but I know my concoction is mighty tasty on freshly heated flour tortillas.
I’m not a long range muzzleloader hunter. I prefer to keep my shots inside about 125 yards, the closer the better to my way of thinking. I’ve been using a new (to me) deer food attractant called Vineyard Max (www. vineyardmax.net) that is made from a blend of grape skins and grains. My plan is to bait a couple areas where the deer have been feeding on the Filaree and try to get them in for a close shot. I have my muzzleloader shooting a tight group at 100 yards, and my old cast iron skillet is already packed in my ‘cooking box’.
More on our second “Opening Day” hunt next week!
Remember the Lake Fork Campfire Expo is Feb. 10 at Fisherman’s One Stop on Hwy 515. For booth information, contact Donna at 469-552-1824. Come by and visit with Luke and Larry Weishuhn, and a host of others around the campfire.
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