Hunting & Fishing Monster whitetails getting some APA airation

[Jered Joplin]

It was time for the annual deer smack down at the Timberghost Ranch this year. Normally I'm sitting behind the camera but this year things were a little different.
Here are this months Berger testing results:

292"








280"








I don't know what the score was on this guy but the Body was freak'n huge.






This one was injured by a bow hunter. We found him two days later feeding in a field. Needless to say the decision was made quickly once we spotted the arrow in him.





This deer was shot by another hunter with one of our rifles. He had a broken leg that had healed from the previous year. Because of that the rack came out really freaky looking! Any way I liked the photo so I thought I would share it as well.




I've got the 280" on video and I'll try to get it up by this weekend but no guarantees.

 

[Tip em over]

Nice job on culling out those dinks lol...

 

[slayer_21420]

Do you get to pick the one you're going to shoot before heading out into the field? lol.

I guess I shouldn't talk, I once shot a penned "Russian boar" because it was cheaper by the pound than pork at the store.

 

[Jered Joplin]

No it's not like that at all. The deer are tagged when they are fawns and cut loose on the ranch. The colored tags let them know how old it is. The two I shot hadn't been seen in weeks. My lucky TX Huntco hat draws them in every time.

 

[JRWALLSIII]

That's two studs!!! Congrats!!

 

[lancetkenyon]

Are these raised near a nuclear power plant...that leaks? Holy headgear Batman.

Is this a high fence ranch? Only questioning because seeing that many bruiser non-typical bucks, let alone harvesting them, is out of this world lucky if not.

Regardless, amazing deer, thank you for sharing. Makes me jones for archery season here to open up.

 

[Jered Joplin]

Yeah they are high fence. Those guys don't just grow on trees. 20 years ago they said a big deer for them was 160". Just goes to show you what you can do with the right program and management in place.

You can see some of the little guys running around in the footage I have. That's what ended up getting the 280" one shot. The little guys got too close to the does and he didn't care for it too much.
I got a very brief fight scene as well. I also found one dead in a creek. These big boys don't play when the rut hits and you either kill them or they kill each other.

 

[Shooter0311]

That is a good story and amazing hunt!

 

[jbell]

So I guess you would of let the one with an arrow in it walk if it wasn't wounded. Well that was very kind of you to go ahead and end its suffering even though it was just barely a shooter. HAHA

Very nice animals for sure, looks like 2013 has been a good year with this awesome hunt, the New Mexico hunt (I really enjoyed those pictures) and that killer fishing trip down south. Good times, good times...

 

[redirt78]

I've killed a few management deer inside a high fence, nothing anywhere near the size of these beasts. The sights you see are pretty much once in a lifetime in the wild, if that. Big mature bucks that are mostly unpressured are like a different animal, no fear. The way they act, the way they fight and the way they communicate is totally different than what you usually see in the wild. Most are very aggressive, will fight to the death and their vocalizations are very guttural, growling at times and mean. I was tree'd by an old buck once while taking pictures of his rub line along a creek. Got some cool 35mm shots of him bristling up, pinning his ears back and coming towards me. I eventually had to drop the camera and climb, he waited at the base of the tree for a while before leaving. It was cool to get to do it but killing one in the fence sure doesn't feel the same as getting out in the wild and doing it on your own, as I'm 100% sure you know. Great bucks by any count, maybe one of these years we can be blessed with something remotely close to some of them while on the outside.

 

[Jered Joplin]

Life isn't worth liv'n unless you're liv'n it!

 

[jbell]

Life isn't worth liv'n unless you're liv'n it!

So damn true, that is the only way to live. Keep on L-I-V-I-N...

 

[EasternNChunter]

NM

 

[hornet shooter]

Different strokes for different folks I guess. I used to guide a few hunts like this for a buddy of mine in South Texas. It's not my cup of tea if I were the hunter but I don't see any reason to get upset about it. Congrats on the MONSTER bucks!

 

[Jered Joplin]

Everyone has their idea of what they like or don't like. I've hunted whitetail with everything to include my Ridgeback and a knife. For that reason I won't hunt anything with a knife ever again. That being said it's whatever people get out of whatever they do.
I hunt for myself and don't ask for someone else's permission or ideals. There are always some monster deer running around on that ranch that no one has been able to kill until some lucky SOB comes along and does. This year that lucky SOB was me!
I've hunted everything from no fence to high fence. I would tell you that just going on an early season management hunt in that place is worth every penny to get to see the deer on that place whether you shoot one or not.

I never see complaints about people hunting quail plantations or pheasant hunts. I would say that anything that benefits the hunting community in a positive manner is a good thing regardless of one's opinion.
So the answer to the question is yes I call it hunting because I have experienced it as such. I used to have preconceived notions about a high fence ranch and until I went on one. It's always easy to judge or concede from the outside looking in.

 

[EasternNChunter]

NM...