"Many Texas deer hunters were concerned about the prospects for a good trophy season this year, but it looks like some late spring rain we received helped the trophy bucks sustain their antler growth over the summer until we got rain again in October. Of course, the drought did not really affect ranches that have feeding programs, such as the King Ranch in South Texas, where archery hunters took three good bucks in October, including a typical 12-pointer that could make B & C records. Butch Thompson, who runs the King Ranch hunting program, said the deer could score within an eighth of an inch either way of the 170 record book minimum.
Moving north to Wilbarger County, a local hunter arrowed a nine-pointer that will likely be the new Texas record typical bowkill. The buck's green score is 183 gross, 175 1/8 net. It scores as an eight-pointer and is the highest scoring eight-pointer ever reported in Texas. Deer densities are low in that part of the state but there are a few big bucks taken each season.
In Parker County, just west of Fort Worth, 16-year-old Beje Hott of Weatherford shot her first buck ever on opening day of firearms season, November 7 in North Texas. It was a 23-pointer that grosses about 190 nontypical. She was hunting from the hayloft of a barn on her grandfather's 54-acre farm. There will be other stories like hers as the season progresses and some may even involve bigger bucks. For certain, nobody expects the season to rival last year, when 25 Boone and Crockett-quality bucks were reported in Texas and hundreds of 150-plus bucks were taken, but it won't be a bust, either."
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