Published: October 27, 2009 03:45 pm      

Fall Reflections

Autumn cool fronts are the harbinger of good times and good tales

By MATT WILLIAMS

Outdoors Writer



I love fall. That's largely because it is the harbinger of cooler weather. Jack Frost as a remarkable way of making everything wild seem a whole lot wilder.

Take a look around or cup an ear. If the timing is right, you will see and hear what I am talking about. The sights and sounds of autumn are everywhere.

To wit:

• I am not a hardcore waterfowler, but I love to hear the resonant chorus of a flock of snow geese on a crisp, clear night as they race southward on the leading edge of a fall cold front. Thousands of geese make the flyaway across Texas from northern breeding grounds each fall. For many, southeast Texas marks the final crossroads in the last leg of the long journey.

• I don't hunt squirrels as often as I used to, but I still love to hear the convincing bark of a good squirrel dog that's "treed" in a hardwood bottom or upland thicket. My dog, Cutter, has gotten way too fat and lazy in his senior years to make an all-day affair of chasing cat squirrels. But he still gets the itch to hunt when the woods behind our house are still and quiet on a chilly fall morning or afternoon.

• I haven't drawn out for an archery elk hunt in three seasons, but I love the high-pitched bugle of a revved-up bull rolling across a rugged mountain valley at 11,000 feet. Even more exciting is seeing a mature bull come charging in to a bugle call looking for trouble.

Bull elk bugle to attract cows and to discourage other bulls from entering their territory. Most bugling occurs in September and October, when the aspens are turning gold and rutting activity is at its peak.

• I have rattled in a number of whitetail bucks, but I have never been successful in killing one coming to horns. Regardless, I love the sounds synthetic or authentic antlers make when tickled together from good vantage point on a windless morning. Not knowing how, or if, the tactic will work from one day to the next is always a mystery. When rattling works, it is almost like magic.

• I stand by the belief that the best time go bass fishing is whenever you can, but I love the sight of an empty parking lot at a ramp when there is a nasty cold front in the forecast. Fewer boats means less competition for hotspots. Inclement weather during fall and winter means a drastic drop in barometric pressure is in the works. Often times, that's a reliable indicator the fish will be biting.

• I haven't been quail hunting in years, but I still love the sight of a staunch pointer when its got the number on a covey of bobwhites. Most of the good hunting dogs I have met are all business in the field. The hunt to please, not for themselves.

• I am always beating the bushes for a good story. The thing I love about this job during fall is there is rarely a shortage of entertaining deer hunting fodder circulating in the mill. Often times, some of the best stuff falls smack in my lap.

News of more whopper bucks trickled across the outdoors desk this week. Two of them have East Texas ties.

The biggest belongs to 44-year-old Eric Minter of Kaufman. His story is a classic.

Minter is a 12-year veteran Texas Parks and Wildlife Department game warden stationed in Kaufman County. When he is not on duty keeping close check on area woods and waters, Minter enjoys a little outdoor play time himself.

An astute archer, Minter has taken several of does and multiple feral hogs with his compound bow. Until last week, however, he had never drawn blood on a buck.

Minter joined the buck club in a very big way on the morning of Oct. 19. Hunting on a 400-acre open range lease in Kaufman County, the lawman brought down a brute of a non-typical that is sure be among the best bow bucks taken statewide this year.

The rack is classic starburst. It looks as though a bomb went off about halfway up each main beam. The antlers carry 31 scoreable points. Gross green Texas Big Game Awards score is 212 3/8 B&C, 205 2/8 net.

Located along the eastern outskirts of the D/FW Metroplex near Cedar Creek Reservoir, Kaufman County might seem like an unlikely place to hatch such an amazing deer. But that is not necessarily true.

Like neighboring Hunt County, Kaufman County does not have a very high deer density. However, it does have a history of kicking out a few high quality animals with superior genetics.

Minter said he came by his good fortune after going through a string of bad luck last year. It started when he learned the 800-acre chunk of real estate he had been hunting on for nine straight seasons was being sold.

To make matters worse, the new landowner leased the property to a different group without giving the game warden the opportunity to re-lease the land. In hind sight, he joked might give the landowner a hug and a kiss if he ever gets the opportunity.

• I pretty much had to scramble to find something else before this season, said Minter. "I located this place late last spring and then I had to put together a group to lease it with me. We didn't really get on the place until early August. We put out game cameras and saw a couple of pretty good deer, but nothing that came close to this guy."

Minter said he hunted off and on during early October but never saw much to get excited about. He shot a doe from his 20-foot climber on Oct. 16 and was concerned that the scent left over from that episode might hurt his chances if he returned to the spot with so little rest. Obviously, that was not the case.

The area around Minter's stand was deer central last Monday morning. He saw a good mix of does and young bucks, but nothing showed up that he wanted to draw on until about 8:30 a.m.

"I first saw the deer about 60-70 yards away, but couldn't tell much about it other than it was a big-bodied buck," he said. "He was moving up and down a wood line. Then, for some reason, he turned and ran straight away from me and disappeared."

The deer showed again about 15 minutes later, only this time it was on a beaten trail that winds within easy bow range of Minter's stand. The trail dissects a wooded flat with white oaks that had been raining acorns for quite some time.

"That's when I got a look at his rack," Minter said. "I couldn't make out everything about it, but I did see those two drop tines. That's when I knew he was a really good buck."

Minter waited until the buck was settled in and feeding on the protein-rich nuts before letting his arrow fly. The Grim Reaper broadhead found its mark at 30 yards and the buck dropped in its tracks.

A true steward of the resource, Minter was almost at a loss for words when asked to describe his thoughts about taking such a fairy tale deer.

"I really don't know how to explain it," he said. "Truthfully, the numbers have never meant that much to me. That's not why I hunt. I hunt because I like to be out there in the woods. It seems like you always hear about this happening to the other guys. When it happens to you it comes as a shock. It's going to take some time for this to sink in."

Trinity County deer hunter Loren Joy of Huntsville is as serious a trophy hunter as you will find in this part of the country, but he can offer a good hint of what Minter is going through. He was on an emotional roller coaster ride for the better part of a week after shooting an outstanding 12 pointer on his 6,000-acre lease in Trinity County. The lease is under a Level 3 Managed Land Deer program, which allows rifle hunting for bucks in October.

Believe it or not, Joy was initially sick about the chain of events that took place on the afternoon of Oct. 15. The buck he shot had been placed off limits from harvest for at least another year, because he was believed to only 4 1/2-years-old, a year shy of meeting the club standard for trophy buck harvest.

"We knew he was out there, because we had been watching him on a trail cameras for about four years," Joy said. "We felt certain he was only 4 1/2, so we agreed to let him go for another year. He was pretty safe (from poaching) where he was at."

Joy said it was about 6:30 p.m. when a high 150s eight pointer he had been laying for showed up on the heels of a hot doe. Both deer melted into the brush, about 250 yards away. A second buck crossed the road behind a different doe, but Joy was unable to get a good look at it before it disappeared.

Moments later, a doe and a big-antlered buck stepped back into the road. Assuming it was the big eight pointer he'd seen momentslatter, Joy touched off shot before the deer slipped into the thicket.

That's when he realized the case of mistaken identity. He shot the 12 pointer thinking it was the big eight pointer.

 "I knew I had screwed up and I was sick about it," Joy said. "I felt terrible."



Fortunately for Joy, good news came later in the week after biologists aged the jaw bone on the deer at 5 1/2-years-old.

"That was the best news I had all week," he said.

Joy's whitetail is a whopper. It grosses 175 B&C, 167 net. Chances are good it will rank among top typicals taken the Pineywoods this season.