Of course, seeing them at long distance and shooting them are two different things. However, one local outfitter, Delten Rhoades of Sandhills Adventures, has been quietly establishing a reputation for producing good bucks. He has access to about 180,000 acres of private land, and does not allow any bird hunting on that land during deer season. He has been offering bird hunts for eight years and deer hunts since 1997, with four deer clients that year and nine clients in 1998. In 1997, the best deer he produced scored 145 B & C. In 1998, the best deer taken scored 150. Rhoades says the hunting was hurt by temperatures in the 70s, and that with cooler temperatures the results might have been much better. He says clients can reasonably expect to take a buck that scores above 135, with a definite possibility at a buck that scores higher than that.
The habitat and the modus operandi of hunting here are unique. When white settlers arrived in this part of the country there were no trees, so they set about planting large numbers of elms, cottonwoods and cedars. The elms and cottonwoods have grown to huge size and the cedars have spread out to form very dense shelter. The deer hide in these large copses of old trees and they feed in nearby corn and........(continued)
