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47 Point Buck Shot in TN: New World Record

Record Buck Shot in TN

It appears that a 47 point white-tailed buck shot in Sumner County, Tennessee, will be a new world record. The hunter, Stephen Tucker, harvested the antler-rich buck back in November 2016, but had to wait out the mandatory 60 day drying out period required by the Boone and Crockett Club before it could be officially measured.

The potential record-breaking skull cap and antlers of the buck, which are estimated to be worth as much as $100,000, were kept in a rather safe place until they could be scored — in the vault of a local bank. Better safe than sorry, right?

Hunting a World Record

After monitoring the buck for months with game cameras, Tucker, 27, shot the nontypical buck with a muzzleloader in Sumner County, Tennessee. But it was not a one-and-done hunt, not by any stretch. Tucker bumped into the buck the very first day of the season, November 5, but his muzzleloader would not fire. Now, that sounds like my kind of luck.

Later that same day, the hunter crossed paths with the tremendous deer again, but could not seal the deal because the buck was too far out. Persistence and patience eventually payed off though. On November 9, 2016, four days after initially crossing paths with the deer, a somewhat frustrated Tucker once again found himself with an opportunity to tag the 47 point buck.

This time, the buck stood a mere 40 yards away. Tucker calmed himself, squeezed the trigger and wrote the final chapter of a very special buck’s life.

Record Whitetail

Now, just over 60 days later, the 47 point once-in-a-lifetime buck officially scored a whopping 312 3/8 inches, as measured by a 4-member panel from Boone and Crockett. Scoring the buck was a marathon in itself. It took the panel over 4 hours to finish the job!

“I have truly been blessed and I am very thankful,” Tucker said after learning the rack’s score. “I have had a lot of phones calls and questions and have tried to be patient waiting through the process. I am very appreciative to my family, friends, and the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, especially Captain Dale Grandstaff, who has led me through the process. I believe he has been as excited about it as I have.”

Something Special in Sumner County

The 47 point Tennessee bruiser will receive its official certification/coronation as the new world record white-tailed buck at the Boone and Crockett awards banquet in 2019. At that time, it will be measured yet again by two scorers. The current non-typical net world record of 307 5/8 was killed in 2003 by Tony Lovstuen in Albia, Iowa. It appears Tucker’s 312 3/8 will hold up.

The great thing about Tucker’s 47 point buck from a scoring perspective, in addition to the high total number of points, is that the buck looks to be a very symmetrical mainframe 10 point buck. A set of antlers with very symmetrical matched (mainframe) points will have few deductions, which is the difference between the gross and net scores, in both typical and non-typical antlers.

Obviously, the buck is also a new record for the state of Tennessee. The previous record for the state netted 244 3/8 inches. The buck shot by Tucker has completely obliterated that record, tacking on almost another 70 inches! The prior state record, shot in 2000, was also killed in Sumner County. Must be some good eats and genetics up that way. Wonder if I can find a good place to hunt ’round there?

Cold Weather Deer Hunting Tips

Hunting Cold Weather Deer

Cold weather and deer hunting do not always go hand-in-hand at southern latitudes. It’s taken for granted “up north,” but Texas’ Fall temperatures rarely stay in the 30’s, if they get there at all. Let’s face it, sitting around a campfire is not quite as enjoyable when you’re sweating.

The regular (General Season) has ended for white-tailed deer in Texas, but many counties have a Late Season and ranches involved in the MLDP program still have the better parts of 2 months left to hunt. The Late Youth Season and South Texas are still going strong until mid-January, too. It’s always good practice to harvest deer early in the season, if possible, because this leaves important food sources out on the landscape for the remainder of the herd trying to get through the winter, which has really just started.

Low temperatures benefit deer hunters in a number of ways, especially at lower latitudes, such as Texas. Whitetail, and some of those that hunt them, are real comfortable when the mercury drops. The deer, like us, are just not used to it. That said, it’s a good time to be out there. Below are 5 cold weather deer hunting tips to help you fill your freezer.

Cold is gold for deer hunting
Cold weather makes deer hungry
Focus on foods for hunting success
Go prepared for a cold weather sit
Hunt corridors to your advantage

These tips come from my experience hunting whitetail during cold weather events. In Texas, this means using strong cold fronts to anticipate an increase in deer movement. The ideas offered in this article are designed to help you elevate your hunting game when the mercury drops on the thermometer. Learn how white-tailed deer behave during extreme cold weather and use it to your advantage.

Cold is Gold

It takes a lot of energy to keep a deer humming along at really cold temperatures, at say, anything below 30 degrees F. Other than the peak of the breeding season, the rut, nothing is better at getting bucks and does up on their feet — because they have to eat!

Many of the whitetail subspecies found at lower latitudes are not built for cold weather. In fact, they have smaller skeletal frames and in areas where they are overabundant, they are even smaller. They are not built for really cold weather, or at least sustained cold weather. As a result, low temperatures get them up and keep them there throughout the day. Time for you to get out.

Hunt Accessible Foods

A strong cold front has just rolled in. Temperatures are slated to be in the low 20’s for the next few mornings and with mid-day highs in the 30’s. With cold, winter weather hitting hard (hey, at least for the area) deer will need energy. And energy comes from food.

So what are deer looking to eat? When it’s cold whitetail will eat just about anything that is easy to access, but they are really seeking carbohydrates for fuel their inner fire and warm them up. Carbs are easy to digest and they result in immediate energy. Hunt food sources that may not have been used heavily during the early season, but are still available. Yes, this includes fall plots planted for deer as well as spin-feeders. The cold temps should finally push them to eat the corn piling up under your feeder.

Another plus side hunting during the late season is that post-rut bucks have returned to a solid feeding pattern. The rut can knock as much as 25 percent of the body weight off a buck, and cold weather does not help, so they will be up and feeding. This will not help those deer hunting where late season regulations limit them to antlerless deer and spikes, but can pay off big for youth hunters, those hunting the South Texas General Season, and hunters on MLDP properties.

Dress for Cold Weather

The deer are cold so that means you too will be cold. One of the more important tips offered here is to make sure that you dress for success! And by that, I plenty of layers on both top and bottom. We are not in November anymore. Camo shorts, t-shirts and sneakers are not going to cut it in 20 degrees and 20 mile per hour winds that can be found in January. Those were the go-to attire when you were sweating it out in your box blind, but not now.

Get out your flannel, insulated overalls and sock hat. The critical areas to keep warm while cold weather deer hunting are your head, hands and feet. Develop a layered plan that will work whether sitting in a stand or covering ground. You will want to dress heavy for sitting, but be able to shed layers as you heat up. You also want to prepare for a full day of hunting because in cold weather deer will move all day long.

Hunt Corridors

Since deer are forced to move and feed when it’s cold out, then particular attention should be paid to hunt areas where they travel. Locate travel corridors in the area that are between bedding areas and food sources, get downwind and wait. This is when being dressed appropriately comes into play.

The probability that you will see deer using those travelways has just increased markedly since winter has finally rolled around. Those travel corridors, once well-vegetated, are now reduced to sparse grass and leafless trees and vines. Greater corridor visibility and hungry, roaming deer have tipped the odds in your favor. If you have any cold weather deer hunting tips please leave them in comments section and help a fellow brother or sister out. We’ll all appreciate it. Stay safe and good luck!

Conservation Option: Deer Management Program

TPWD’s Conservation Option

The Conservation Option and the Harvest Option are the two options being offered up through the Managed Lands Deer Permit (MLDP) Program for the 2017-18 deer hunting season by Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD). Texas property owners currently involved with the “old” MLDP Program are going to have to make a choice as to which route they want to go.

Those considering to get involved with TPWD, deer management activities on their land will also have to pick one to go with as TPWD has written that the MLDP Program will no longer exists in its current form. Say adios to Level 1, Level 2 and Level 3. They will all be discontinued.

But for those afraid of change, feel comfort in knowing that the Conservation Option appears to be pretty much the same as MLDP Level 3. Participating property owners will still receive technical assistance and individualized deer harvest and habitat management recommendations for their property. The Harvest Option is similar in many ways, but no formal involvement/assistance is required from a TPWD biologist and is geared for properties already working up their own annual harvest recommendations.

Conservation Option for White-tailed & Mule Deer

The Conservation Option offers participating property owners the opportunity to work with a TPWD biologist to receive ranch-specific habitat and deer harvest recommendations and MLDP tag issuance based on property-specific deer population and habitat data.

This option does require certain types of deer data as well as completion of habitat management practices each year in order to enter and remain in the program. Under the Conservation Option participants will enjoy the maximum harvest flexibility of MLDP.

Conservation Option Participation Requirements

Entry in the option requires a TPWD-approved wildlife management plan for the property that includes:

Deer population data for the 2 preceding years,
Number of bucks and does harvested in each of the 2 preceding years,
Two Department-approved wildlife habitat management practices must have been conducted in each of the 2 preceding years.
Deadline to request participation in the Conservation Option is June 15.
Requests made after that date will not be considered in the Conservation Option for that hunting season, but may choose the Harvest Option for that year.

Once enrolled in the Conservation Option, persons wishing to continue participation over future hunting season must:

Acknowledge their intent to participate in the upcoming season through TWIMS,
Provide current year deer population/survey data,
Provide the number of buck and antlerless deer harvested,
Implement 3 TPWD-approved habitat management practices each year enrolled as specified in the wildlife management plan.

Aggregate Acreage For Conservation Option

Multiple landowners may combine contiguous tracts of lands to create an aggregate, larger acreage for program enrollment. Only a single wildlife management plan addressing all tracts of land within the aggregate acreage is required. In addition, a single participant must be designated to receive MLDP tags and they may be used on any property within the aggregate acreage.

The aggregate acreage is required to complete 3 habitat management practices as directed in the wildlife management plan.

Wildlife Management Associations

Wildlife Management Associations (WMA) may enroll and participate in the Conservation Option. A single wildlife management plan addressing all tracts of lands within the association that receive MLDP tag issuance is required.

MLDP tags and harvest recommendations will be issued to individual tracts of land within the WMA and tags are valid only on the tract of land for which they are issued. The WMA is required to complete 3 habitat management practices as directed in the wildlife management plan.

Conservation Option Tags

As in the past, participating private landowners will be issued MLDP tags for both buck and antlerless deer. Wildlife Management Associations and Cooperatives enrolled in the Conservation Option may choose to receive MLDP tag issuance for:

Only antlerless deer or,
Buck and antlerless deer.

Under the Conservation Option, MLDP tag issuance will be customized for enrolled property and determined utilizing deer population data collected on the property. Deer survey methods used to collect and determine deer population estimates must consists of TPWD-approved methods applicable to the property and ecoregion, and identified in the wildlife management plan specific to that property.

Conservation Option Season Dates

White-tailed Deer

Antlerless and buck white-tailed deer may be harvested by any lawful means, including modern firearm, from the Saturday closest to September 30 through the last day of February.

Mule Deer

Antlerless and buck mule deer may be harvested by only lawful archery equipment from the Saturday closest to September 30 for 35 consecutive days.
Antlerless and buck mule deer may be harvested by any lawful means, including modern firearm, from the first Saturday in November through the last Sunday in January.
General Requirements of MLDP

Reporting Requirements

Participating property owners in either the Harvest or Conservation Option will be required to report the number of buck and antlerless deer harvested each season. In addition, participants in the Conservation Option will be required to report the habitat management practices conducted on the property each year.

All reporting of required information is to be completed electronically in TWIMS and is the responsibility of the landowner or landowner’s designated agent to insure data is reported by the deadline. Deadline for reporting required deer harvest and habitat management information is April 1.

Conservation Option Tags

The new options under the MLDP Program will both offer a “print your own tag” system. This will allow landowners/hunters to print their own tags as needed. Once a property-specific harvest recommendation is made, a PDF file of the permits will be emailed to participant.

Harvest Logs

Program participants are required to maintain a TPWD-approved daily harvest log on the property enrolled in MLDP because of the new “print your own tag” system.
The harvest log must be maintained for the property through the end of MLDP hunting season.

A hunter harvesting and tagging a deer under the authority of MLDP must enter appropriate information, such as date of kill, species, sex, MLDP tag number, hunter name, and hunting or driver’s license number of hunter, into the harvest log on the same day of harvest.

Additionally, the harvest log may satisfy the cold storage and processing facility record book provided certain information is include in the log and is retained on the MLDP property for 1 year following date of the last harvest entry.

Summary of the Conservation Option

Again, the Conservation Option of the new MLDP Program will essentially be the old Level 3. It appears that there will be mandatory reporting online using TWIMS under the new system, but from my understanding most property owners involved in the MLDP Program are already doing this. The enrollment deadline for properties new to the program being moved up to July 15 from August 15.

For property owners currently participating in the MLDP Program, the Conservation Option will function very similar to what you are familiar with. TPWD has stated that, “As 2017 approaches a more detailed document explaining the application process in TWIMS and specific program rules will be available to program participants.” Will let you know when that happens.

Learn more about the Harvest Option in Texas.

Deer Eating Ashes?

Deer in My Burn Pile

Question: “I have a few burn piles on my property in Hardin County – Lumberton, Texas. I have 12 whitetail does and bucks coming on my property to feed every day and night. Sometimes after I burn a pile of brush the deer will eat the ash and graze on burned limbs. It happens all year round. Why is that?”

Deer Diet

A deer’s diet varies from place to place. We generally know what white-tailed deer eat, but deer must use the resources at their disposal to meet their dietary needs. It will help to add context to the environment where these deer are found, and help address the question about deer eating ashes, if we look a little closer at deep Southeast Texas.

The property is located in what is referred to as the Flatwoods area of the state. This area includes about 2.5 million acres of woodland in humid Southeast Texas just north of the Coast Prairie and extending into Louisiana. The landscape is level to gently undulating. Surface drainage is slow. It’s actually fairly similar to the woodlands that can be found all the way to the east coast of the US.

Upland soils are mostly deep, light-colored, acid loams with gray, loamy, or clayey subsoils. Bottomland soils are deep, dark-colored, acid clays and loams. The water table is near the surface at least part of the year. Plenty of rainfall.

White-tailed deer in this environment should have a diversity of foods in their diet, but they likely are coming up short on micro-nutrients. High annual precipitation and acidic soils leads to leaching and low levels of micro-nutrients, minerals in the soil. The deer are eating ash to supplement this deficiency in diet. So what might they be looking for?

Composition of Wood Ash

Let’s first take a closer look at wood ash. Identifying what makes up wood ash will help determine what deer in the area, as well as the southeastern part of the whitetail’s range, are seeking when deer eat ashes from a burn pile. Let’s assume these burn piles contain both ash powder as well as charcoal chunks.

Source: “Much wood ash contains calcium carbonate as its major component, representing 25 or even 45 percent. Less than 10 percent is potash, and less than 1 percent phosphate; there are trace elements of iron, manganese, zinc, copper and some heavy metals. However, these numbers vary, as combustion temperature is an important variable in determining wood ash composition. All of these are, primarily, in the form of oxides.”

In short, calcium is the most abundant nutrient/mineral in wood ash, averaging almost 20 percent by weight. Wood ash is about 4 percent potassium, and less than 2 percent phosphorus, magnesium, aluminum and sodium. The chart below illustrates the mineral composition of ash from several sites.

Minerals, Deer & Ash

Calcium, potassium, phosphorus, magnesium and sodium are important for deer. Calcium and potassium are most likely what deer are targeting when they eat wood ash, although a case could also be made for sodium. Salt is often used as a deer attractant for one good reason, it works.

Like us, white-tailed deer need calcium. It’s required for contracting muscles, forming and strengthening bones, conducting nerve impulses throughout the body, blood clotting, maintaining a normal heartbeat, and a number of other important processes. Calcium is delivered by lactating does to their fawns, and calcium comprises about 20 percent of a buck’s hardened antlers. Calcium is stored in bones and teeth.

Potassium functions as mineral and an electrolyte in deer and it has many significant functions, such as maintaining a normal water balance between cells and body fluids, contracting muscles, aiding in nerve signals and it’s found in bone material, but potassium is quite available in the environment. Deer should have plenty of uptake in their normal diet.

The phosphorus levels in wood ash are similar to the levels found in pelleted feeds to supplement the diets of deer. Magnesium levels are much higher than commercially available feeds, but minerals do not typically taste good to animals. Mineral block manufacturers add salt to encourage use by animals.

Except for areas adjacent a coastline, most properties are devoid of sodium that is readily available for deer. This is especially true of areas that have high annual rainfall, like the Southeastern US. Wood ash is comprised of only a small amount of sodium, but salt is highly sought by deer and it’s necessary for normal bodily functions. But is there enough salt in wood ash to move the needle? Maybe. All deer need it, and believe it or not, sodium does comprise about one-half of one percent of a buck’s hardened antlers.

So Why do Deer Eat Ashes?

Deer are consuming wood ash because it contains something that they need or like, either minerals or salt or both. The most plausible reasons are deer are seeking calcium and possibly salt, but some of the other minerals found in wood ash are micro-nutrients that are also important for deer. This case is relevant to other parts of the whitetail’s (inland) range where leaching is high and mineral (and salt) availability are low due to acidic soils and abundant rainfall.

Interesting enough, wood ash can also help with indigestion (calcium neutralizes stomach acids) and serve as a laxative in animals. It’s safe to assume that these ailments are not the cause for why deer are eating ashes from a burn pile, but this factoid may come in handy next time you eat your buddy’s cooking at deer camp.

How Many Bucks Greater than 13 Inches?

Buck Harvest and ARs

Question: “I deer hunt in Texas in areas that have antler restriction regulations on whitetail bucks. Am I allowed to take more than one 13 inch or larger (spread) buck in Texas?”

Response: The short answer to your question is, YES. A hunter can shoot more than one whitetail buck with an inside spread greater than 13 inches in Texas. However, there are some stipulations that hunters need to adhere to in order to remain legal. The remainder of this article discusses the details of the antler restrictions and deer hunting regulations in Texas.

Texas Deer Hunting License

A Texas deer hunting license comes with 5 white-tailed deer tags, 3 of which can be used for bucks or does, and the remaining 2 tags are for antlerless deer only. As a result, it’s important to pay attention to which tag a hunter uses when tagging a deer.

A hunter has the option of using all 5 whitetail tags on antlerless deer or harvesting some combination of 5 deer with no more than 3 of them being bucks with a standard deer hunting license. Straight forward.

Texas Antler Restrictions

At the time of writing, there are 112 counties in Texas that have antler restrictions in place that regulate whitetail buck harvest. There are only 2 types of legal bucks in these counties, (1) bucks that have an inside spread between the main beams of 13 inches or greater, and (2) bucks with at least 1 unbranched antler, so most likely spikes or 3 point bucks.

In these counties, the bag limit is 2 (legal) bucks, but no more than 1 may have an inside spread between the main beams of 13 inches or greater. A hunter does have an option to shoot 2 unbranched antlered bucks in these counties, as well. Probably more than many of you needed to know?

Deer Hunting Regulations

The hunter’s question above asks generally about buck harvest in Texas, but I suspect he is specifically asking about buck harvest in within additional antler restriction counties. Fortunately, deer hunting regulations in Texas are established based on county bag limits.

These county-based regs works to the benefit of a hunter that may hunt white-tailed deer in several counties within the state. A hunter can shoot up to 5 whitetail in any number of counties as long as he or she does not exceed the bag limit for any one county.

Basically, a hunter can shoot up to 3 bucks with an inside spread between the main beams of greater than 13 inches in 3 different antler restriction counties within the same hunting season. The fact that this option exists is why there is a harvest log on the back of a deer hunting license in Texas.

The log allows a hunter to record up to 3 harvested bucks and denote whether the deer were taken in antler restriction counties or not, as well as if the bucks were greater than 13 inches. The white-tailed deer log found on the back of a hunting license is also used by Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) game wardens for compliance with county bag limits for white-tailed deer.

Note: If you shoot even a single deer in Texas you DO want to complete the harvest log. If you get checked by a game warden, even while out fishing later in the year and you have deer tags missing, they will refer to that log on the back. If it’s not completed, then you will more than likely receive a citation for the lack of compliance.