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Hi! I’m Jason Zisler. I have been on many
different Big Game hunts such as: moose, mountain lion, black
bear, mule deer, whitetail deer hunts and more. I have been
hunting and continue to hunt in places such as: Canada,
Alaska, Montana, Maine, South Dakota, Tennessee, Nebraska,
Iowa, Missouri, Illinois, Texas, and more.
I have seen the good, the bad, and the ugly when it
comes to outfitters. I
personally deal with outfitters regularly because of my job. I
am a web developer who specializes in hunting, fishing, and
outdoor-related websites. I
have dealt with well over a hundred hunting outfitters all
across North America and hunted with many.
I learned quickly that even the most convincing or even
the most “humble sounding” outfitter can be misleading. |
It was my first time hunting
with Texas Outlaw Outfitters. To be honest I didn't know what to
expect. Any hunter booking a hunting trip without a direct report
from a friend knows this. You can talk to all the referrals you
want, listen to all the stories from the outfitter you want, but
unless you personally know someone that has been there, you don’t
really know. On the
other hand if waited for that I’d never go anywhere.
My brother Scott and I decided
to come down to Northern Texas and give Texas Outlaw Outfitters a
try. Neither my brother or I had a clue what we would experience.
We are both from Michigan. Where we come from in Southeast
Michigan, hunting is hard. There are too many hunters and trophy
hunting properties are just non-existent for us because of the small
properties and abundant hunters. A “big buck” is something a
hunter might harvest MAYBE once in a lifetime.
Usually these so called “big bucks” don’t exceed 110
– 120 inches and are a rarity for most people. Unless you have
prime hunting property.
So we decided to hop on a plane
to Texas to try some Trophy Texas Whitetail Hunting. The
thing that attracted me to this outfitter so much is not only the
trophy bucks that they said were there, but everything else that was
walking around. For around $300 or so you can by a Texas big game
hunting license and this basically covers everything.
Really almost everything you can think of is in season in
Texas: Whitetail deer, Wild Boars, Rio Grande Turkey, Mountain Lion,
Bobcat, and Coyotes are all in season. It’s sure is exciting for a
guy that (let’s face it) wants to come home with something that he
can mount. If that’s you this is your hunting paradise.
As soon as we arrived in
Wichita Falls, Texas the guide was there to meet and greet us and
help us grab our equipment. We had about an hour or so drive to talk
about the week’s upcoming hunt.
It’s always fun to hear what the guide has to say. What
they have been seeing and how the movement has been.
It was funny as we were driving
I thought: “Is this what the hunting property will look like?”
There were very few trees and completely flat ground for as far as
you could see. It didn’t look very promising at first. Then as we
traveled through Crowell, Texas and continued on, it changed
dramatically and almost instantly. As we rolled closer Richards
property on the Pease River, the flat ground with cotton fields
turned into what looked like prime hunting property. There is a big
valley and a rather tall bridge that goes over the Pease River
there. The Pease River splits Ford County and Hardeman County. It
also borders the Copper Breaks National Park to add to the
exclusiveness of the area.
Despite how impressed I was
with the area we were hunting. The Texas weather was certainly not
in our favor. We went the opening week of the Texas rifle season in
November. It was hotter
than we wanted as every day was in the 80’s and maybe even reached
90 or more degrees a few times during the week. Remember I am from
Michigan where I am use to firearm season being as cold as 20 or 30
degrees.
When we arrived, the guide got
us acquainted with some of the stands.
We double checked our rifles to make sure everything was on
and then got settled into our lodging arrangements.
The next morning we were ready
to start hunting. My
brother Scott and I were so pumped to be hunting in Texas. The
anticipation of the first day in a new state, with a new outfitter
is always exciting.
My
brother and I had different expectations since I had been on many
hunts and this was his. Scott
was really hoping or expecting to harvest something quickly. Many
people have a false illusion on how good a hunting property is. I
figured it would be good, but I realized that it might take a good 4
days to get a shot a trophy whitetail.
DAY ONE: We selected our stands
and Scott and I were really on opposite ends of the Richard
Naron’s Property. I was in a double ladder stand with a rest for a
rifle and Scott was on top of a hill in a box blind.
I
elected to stay out all day and my brother, when I last talked to
him, was uncertain when he was coming in. The first morning was slow
for me. I had only seen 1 buck—a small 5 point. Then later in the
morning I saw a nice sized hog. But at that time I had my heart set
on a trophy Texas whitetail. So I held back. Nothing
more for me that day and the sun was really beating on me. I was
thinking it wasn’t smart to be out there all day because of the
heat.
When I came in we had a great
dinner and talked about the first day hunting with Texas Outlaw
Outfitters. My brother had said that he seen a several deer and a
couple smaller 8 point bucks. But he did see about a 400 pound
Russian Boar the first day! He
also saw some Rio Grande Turkeys.
He still wishes he would have shot that monster Texas hog.
Like me, Scott was really after that trophy Texas whitetail.
Now it was time for bed and to hope for a better day 2. But
this time I wasn’t going to stay out all day unless I seen more
action.
DAY TWO: I started out in my
ladder stand and thought I would give it another shot. To my dismay,
I really didn’t see anything in that stand again other than the
hog that was walking up the path 15 feet in front of me in the
dark... I thought that was interesting!
I came in for lunch this time
and we talked about Scott’s hunt.
He began to tell me to is disappointment that he had a
MONSTER Boone and Crockett buck (probably around a 180+ class
non-typical deer with stickers everywhere walk in front of him 60
yards away. The problem was that he was watching another feeder (his
blind had 2 feeders) and only caught a quick glimpse of him before
the whitetail buck quickly disappeared in the Texas mesquite.
He was really upset with himself and was already feeling like
he would never have another chance like that again. I reassured him
that he would get another chance. After all, he seen the first
monster and it was only a day and half in the bag of a 5 day hunt.
That evening there was a major wind and thunderstorm.
So we couldn’t go out that night. BUMMER!
While continuing to encourage
my brother, I was starting to feel the same way.
But at the same time I was excited because one of us seen a
monster. I really couldn’t see how he felt that way. I guess
because he had never been on an outfitted hunt. He, like many
others, maybe though it’s just as easy as those hunting shows make
it out to be. But this was real Texas trophy deer hunting. Not some
preserve or some rehearsed hunt.
DAY THREE: Day three I had
plans to move to a different stand location. After all, Texas Outlaw
Outfitters had quite a few stand locations to choose from. I elected
to move a little closer down river towards my brother.
I figured I would go down in direction where a big buck was
spotted. That morning I
decided to hunt in a ladder stand. Right off the bat, I saw tons of
coyotes. They seemed to be everywhere.
Then some does in the distance. Then I ended up seeing a
couple “questionable bucks”. In
my eyes they were a little small so I decided to pass. I sat and
watched them for over 30 minutes in bow range from me.
When I came in for lunch we
talked again how the hunt went. Scott had seen more Rio Grande
turkeys and a few more whitetail deer and a bunch of feral hogs. He
did have a large buck in view but it was just too far out of his
comfort zone. He was
hoping the buck would come closer but that never happened.
This really only added to his disappointment but to his
excitement at the same time if that makes sense.
As we headed out for the
evening of day three I was feeling a little better about my chances
at harvesting a Texas whitetail. After
all I was seeing deer from this location, as well as some turkeys,
and some coyotes. Definitely there was action and I loved it! I sat
there this time and seen some more coyotes, some does, and fawns,
and another questionable 9 point.
Remember it’s day three and still no shot at a trophy.
While my brother has had 2 at least in view. Basically
my third evening in Northern Texas was a repeat of that morning
except the addition of some hogs.
I was tempted to shoot one but again I didn’t want to mess
up my whitetail hunt.
When I came in I was excited
and told them that the action was starting to heat up.. But
unfortunately the hunt was running out. I was still optimistic
because of what my brother had see and all the action I was seeing.
Scott had seen a couple Russian boars and a few deer that
evening but nothing to pull the trigger on.
DAY 4
The morning of day 4 of our
Texas deer hunt started out again for me in the same stand with
similar action. Scott was still in his original stand hoping for
some more action. That morning was rather hot. It was mid 70’s in
the early morning and by 9am it was 80 degrees.
I looked and looked across the morning landscape with no big
buck in sight yet.
Then it happened.
I was sitting there and I seen
a deer pop out of the brush and jump a barb wire fence and run
towards me just 30 yards to my right side and stop.
Then I heard a buck grunting like he was coming in after her
and I knew the action may get intense. But by the sounds of the
whitetail it sounded like a young buck to me.
My eyes began to scan the brush just waiting for a buck to
appear. I had really anticipated a smaller buck. Maybe because of
what I had seen over the past couple days.
Then this massive buck leaps out of the brush and stops at
the fence 100 yards from me. He had a tall rack and what seem to be
unbelievable at first. This
was the biggest whitetail buck I had ever seen while hunting. My
heart began to drop as he hesitated to follow the old doe who was
still only 30 yards from me. Instead, the Texas Whitetail buck
turned and began to walk down the fence line further down my right
side. He was getting
further away and through the twigs I was running out of places to
get a shot off. Then the buck stopped and stood up straight and
looked at the doe. For a split second I had a shot. I fired through
a small patch of twigs and the buck dropped in his tracts!!
I was so excited I called my brother immediately. As I was
talking to him I see the buck trying to gather himself so I shot him
again and he dropped. I was so excited about harvesting my biggest
buck ever! What a hunt! One
the 4th morning I harvest my monster Texas whitetail deer
with Texas Outlaw Outfitters.
I called the guide and he came and picked us up in 4x4 Yamaha
Rhino. We loaded my
trophy whitetail and headed back to the house.
Scott was still thinking about
his hunt. After all 80% of the hunt had passed and no buck down yet.
Although Scott had 2 opportunities it’s easy to get discouraged.
But that’s hunting! I
told him to switch stands and hunt with me on my stand.
Because I had told him that I had at least seen several other
smaller bucks and who knows, maybe a big one would come by.
So he agreed to come hunting with me at my stand.
It was early morning (just
enough daylight to hunt) the coyotes were screaming the turkeys were
gobbling at full volume all at once.. Then I looked and there was a
buck about 50 yards away.. Scott didn’t seem him at first because
of his angle. This was a not a massive buck but none the less it was
a buck and Scott was at this point desperate to harvest a nice Texas
whitetail. He got his gun ready and fired at the buck. The buck
didn’t run or stumble he just walked away. So we assumed that
maybe he missed. But since he was only 45 yards away that wasn’t
really likely. We waited for a couple hours before tracking the
deer. About 30 minutes after the shot we had over 30 tom turkeys
within 30 yards of us but because of the deal with the buck we
decided against harvesting one. After the turkeys left we began to
tract the buck and almost gave up.. Then I found the buck lying in
the creek. Scott was
happy to have such an exciting hunt and so did I. Our
worries about temperature became a non-factor as you can see.
Together in the stand we saw and had an opportunity at a total of 6
whitetail bucks over 125 inches. Three of them were over 150 inches.
All this on potentially the hottest and worst week of rifle season!
We both had a great time and
Richard was an excellent guide while still giving us the freedom to
hunt where we wanted. The
food was great as well as the hospitality.
One thing about Richard is that when he speaks about his
outfit, he is totally honest. I believe it’s actually better than
what he tells potential customers. I think he does that because he
doesn’t want to disappoint anyone.
But how could I be disappointed.
I harvested a monster buck, my brother harvest a nice buck
and had chances at bucks bigger than mine. We had a great time! We
had several opportunities at hogs, turkeys, coyotes and bucks.
All this on a week when the temperature 85-90+ degrees. I can
image what it would be like later in the season! Thanks for a Great
Texas Whitetail Hunt and Great Hospitality Richard! We will see you
next year!
Jason Zisler |
