A Successful Whitetail Hunt – Texas Style

Do you ever have those days where you wake up feeling great and just have a positive outlook on the year? It was January 2nd, the start of a new year. I just finished packing my gear to head south for my last hunt of the season in the Texas panhandle. I checked in my bags at the airport counter and made my way through security. As I boarded the plane and the wheels lifted off the runway I happily waved goodbye to frigid below zero temperatures and looked forward to landing in warm Texas. After two layovers and getting delayed on my final flight the plane finally touched down in Amarillo. I said hello…..again to freezing cold temperatures. 

Come on Mother Nature, this is the South! It’s supposed to be warm! 
The temperatures in Amarillo were forecasted to be in the 40s. However, when I arrived, I must have brought some Buffalo weather with me because the temperature was 11 degrees. Luckily, coming from a cold climate, I had my winter jacket with me so I pulled my jacket out of my bag, bundled up and made my way to hunt camp. 
I arrived at camp after dark and met up with the entire Winchester Life crew, many of whom were still waiting on bags to arrive as they got misplaced by the airlines. Since some camera gear was missing and I never got a chance to check my gun after being bumped around during travel, we decided to forgo the morning hunt. 
The next morning rolled around, we grabbed our guns and headed to the range. The 6.5 creedmoor traveled well and hit its mark right out of the case. I shot a few more rounds of Deer Season XP and each bullet was right where they needed to be. So with a little pep in my step and confidence in my shooting set up, I grabbed my gun and headed out for the first hunt of the new year. 

The temperatures were cool. The sky was painted gray with slivers of sunshine trying to peak through. Rich (my camera man) and I got set up in a ground blind looking out at the prairie. Deer began to filter into the area about an hour after sitting in the blind. The first to show up was a young 4 point buck. He milled around, but was then joined by a couple of doe, and 2 other young bucks. Rich and I watched them as they grazed and ran around.  
Then from over the hill appeared another deer. I put the binoculars on him and quickly knew that he was one of the bucks we were after. He continued to walk in our direction toward the other deer. I studied him before handing my binoculars over to Rich to have a good look. 

 

I pulled up my shooting sticks and settled my gun. 
There he was in my crosshairs, walking toward me. I was concentrating on keeping a steady hand and controlled breathing when he stopped. He stopped facing toward me and then put his head down and began grazing, not yet giving me a shot. Finally he took a few steps to his right. I kept him in the crosshairs of my Swarovski scope. It was the perfect shot, but there was one problem. Remember the doe I mentioned earlier? They walked right in front of him blocking my clean shot. So the waiting game continued. The doe finally moved. He then turned his body. This time when he stopped he was facing away from me; talk about patience! The sun kept getting lower in the sky and we continued to watch him as we waited for the perfect shot.He then turned and gave me a perfect broadside shot. I drew in a deep breathe, exhaled and pulled the trigger on the bottom of my breath.The shot from the 6.5 creemoor rang out. The handsome buck immediately dropped in his tracks. The Deer Season XP hit its mark on my second whitetail of the season! Excited, I gave Rich a high five and we headed out of the blind to go check him out! He was a beautiful Texas buck with a rack filled with character. I am thrilled to start 2018 off with fresh backstraps and a bang! Be sure to tune into Winchester Life to watch the hunt and stay up to date with all of my Winchester adventures!

 

How’s was your deer hunting season? Comment below.