I rarely post.  Call me old fashioned.   A really good friend of mine who actually introduced big game hunting to me called me up to tell me one heck of a hunting story.   Its was so good that I asked him to send it to me in a word doc.

Case Gatlin owns a ranch outside of three rivers.   He is an excellent hunter and a very good mentor for anyone wanting to learn the trade.   Here is his story.   I will post his email at the bottom.   I also just found out that Texas Trophy Hunters Magazine is also going to publish this as well.   Congrats Little Case jr. and Case senior.    Troy

Patience and Perseverance pays off for one young hunter…

I do not know who was more excited standing there in the middle of that South Texas sendero.  My son Case Gatlin Jr., age nine, who had just shot the biggest buck of his young life or me, his Dad, who was so proud of him.  This was special to us for many reasons.  Not just the harvesting of a spectacular animal, but all the hard work, frustration, and doubt that in the end equated into true success for the both of us.

We have a small family ranch down in Three Rivers, TX.  I have grown up hunting the South Texas brush country and I developed a true love and passion over the years for that rough country.  I have always thought it was one of the most majestic places on earth.  We live out in the Boerne area and most of our Hill Country loving friends think I am crazy.  They like the big deer South Texas produces, but the rest I can have as far as they are concerned.  Let’s face it, with high fences one can grow big deer almost anywhere now.  I love it down there though, all the mesquites, the dirt, the smells, and the diversity of free range wildlife.  The “free range” part being harder and harder to come by as high fences line the South Texas highways.  I completely see the pros of high fencing, don’t misunderstand me.  But what attracted me to South Texas originally, as a boy was never knowing just what might step out into that sendero.  Since I was five, growing up in San Antonio, my Dad started taking me down to Cotulla and another lease in Bandera.  Hands down, the majestic South Texas brush won me over.  What an amazing place! 

My wife and I purchased a ranch on her birthday three years ago (I know, I am a lucky man to have a wife like mine).  What wife would be sitting at a title company in George West TX on their birthday closing on a ranch?  A wife who understands this has been a dream of her husband’s since he was a boy. And so with that the G- (bar) Ranch was born.

I had hunted many places growing up. I had the opportunity to hunt several legendary South Texas ranches, but nothing compared to the memories made at a little piece of property in Kinney County my dad had bought while I was in middle school.  It never produced the deer some of these South Texas leases we had along the way did or some of the “invite hunts” I was fortunate enough to go on while growing up.  But, what it did do was teach me the hard work that goes into developing and managing a piece of property to produce naturally, not artificially, what that area was capable of from a wildlife standpoint.  It did this, not to mention countless life lessons and talks around the campfire with my Dad.  It was where I shot my first buck and turkey.  Where I learned how to give back to this wonderful country and leave the land better than how I found it.  It eventually along with my developing passion for wildlife in general, led me to minor in wildlife management at Texas Tech University. And later, to fulfilling my dream of having a ranch of my own.

Now we have all read some great articles in Texas Trophy Hunters about wildlife management.  I was one of those that was bound and determined to find a piece of property in South Texas with water, THICK brush, convenient to San Antonio, and most of all, LOW fenced with BIG neighbors that had the same intentions as me with regards to deer management.  Good luck right?  Well, after looking for years, and just about giving up, I found a place. 

This ranch had all the groceries to produce big deer, but it had been poorly managed in the past due to an out-of-town land owner and a guy who ran the cattle that totally took advantage and shot everything that walked.  It was going to need some real management.  I began to feed heavy despite corn prices skyrocketing! And, of course, here came the hogs! Range and brush management, protein and food plots, improving water sources were all implemented as well.  The first year we choose to take NO deer and harvested 20+ hogs.  The second season, seeing more deer and hogs of course, I choose to allow my six year-old daughter, Field to harvest her first two deer (mature does), 25+ hogs we hunted and trapped/harvested as well.  The wife and kid’s were getting good at shooting these hogs!  We were also able to allow our family, guests, their children as well, be introduced to the sport of hunting to some of my son’s friends and some of my co workers with the eradication of these hogs.  We used ALL the meat from the hogs taken, nothing was wasted.  Hog hunting is a great hunt for a kid’s introduction hunt in general and is excellent (if prepared correctly) table fair.  I am big believer in NO meat going to waste.  If you are not going to eat it, or give it to someone who needs it, then do not bother shooting it.

As I entered the 2008 deer season my wife and I were blessed November 4^th with our newest addition to the family, Maverick “Cash” Gatlin, our third child.  He was at the ranch that very next weekend (again, that is that understanding wife of mine).  My son invited a close friend down to shoot a hog, and we all loaded up and headed down South Friday afternoon.  Saturday morning Monte Cluck (a good friend of my son’s), my daughter Field, age seven, and myself were all sitting in a deer blind trying to get Monte his first hog.  The hunt was a success, he shot two hogs, dropped them both under the feeder with one shot at 100 yards, WOW!  You talk about an excited little boy!

That evening we headed over to a blind near the house where I had placed a new feeder on a newly made sendero just two weeks prior.  I have two feeders set up on two opposite senderos at this blind and the hogs were already out and laying under one as we climbed up into the blind.  But we were deer hunting.  At about 5:30p.m. a spike followed by a young promising 8pt. made their way to the new feeder.  Monte spotted a BIG buck out in the brush.  It was so big to Monte, he asked if we had mule deer on our ranch.  I had to laugh.  Picture three kids sitting in a deer blind, trying to keep quite, with a seven year old girl that has a case of the giggles, and me trying to video.  So much for video, I am now trying to calm everyone down in the blind and get a look at this buck.

I guided a bit in college and my boss used to tell me, “When your first instinct when seeing a large buck is to reach for your gun first, before the bino’s, you know it’s a shooter.”  I agree.  Not very scientific, but a lot of truth to that for the “old school” guide.  Now days, hunters record a deer’s life history, record a video and game cam biography, and get permission form everyone on the ranch or lease before pulling the trigger.  In my opinion, you kind of loose that excitement in all that mix.  I grabbed his gun, moved him to my seat, gave him control of his Browning 25.06 and said, “Take your time”, he is not going anywhere.  My son, up to this point, had harvested several does, a couple bucks (8pt first buck and a cull at other ranches) and a few hogs on the G- since he had started hunting with me at the age of four (I was taking him dove hunting at the age of two.  Same goes for my daughter, and my other son, Cash, is not far behind them).  I see him click off the safety and then it hit him, BUCK FEVER!  He started shaking I was shaking by this point.  He told me he could not keep the gun on him he was shaking so badly.  I had him relax a bit, put it back on safety, look away from the buck, and told him he could do this.  He got lined up again.  The buck was broad side at 120 yards, the safety went back to fire, and Boom!  The two other bucks scattered the big buck when straight up in the air and into the brush.  We were high fiving, bouncing off the walls of this deer blind. It was a hit.  I calmed my son Case, Monte, and daughter Field I said, “Let’s give it some time.”  About fifteen minutes later, the two younger bucks came back to the feeder, but no sign of the big 10 point.  That was a good sign.  After about thirty minutes or so, which seemed like an eternity to those three kids, we climbed down and went to look. 

As we approached the feeder, I was disappointed to see no blood, and it was almost dark.  I quickly dove into the South Texas brush to looked as much as I could before dark nothing.  I decided to take the kids back to the house, and I would come back with some lights.  As I was walking back to the jeep, I found a small spatter of blood.  This made things worse.  I have tracked enough animals to know this was not a good sign.  I went back out with my dog and some lights and no more blood was found.  You talk about going from a high to a low real fast.  I quickly called Jim McNeil, a guide with Southzone Hunting in the area, to get me someone with tracking dogs.  I went back to the house to give my wife and kids a report and told them I was going to get some help and look some more.  The last thing my son said as he was falling asleep was, “I know you will find my buck, Dad”.  OUCH, no pressure!  Those words echoed in my head the entire time that brush sliced and diced me as I plowed through it thinking around every thicket, every cactus needle to the kneecap, every mesquite limb whap to the face, there that buck would be laying there.  I could see it in my mind.  I meet the guys with the dogs at the gate an hour or so later.  We looked until about midnight, and nothing.  Best we could tell, and the best I could come up replaying it over and over again in my mind, was he must have grazed the brisket.

Now as a hunter, I know that one of our most important goals when harvesting any animal is a clean, humane kill.  I also know this is where our critics tend to beat us up the most, especially my fellow bow hunters.  This is also a challenging sport by many aspects, and no matter how long you have been doing this, or how good of a shot you are, and even when shots are sometimes placed perfectly, when you have a wild animal flushed with adrenaline and thick thick brush placed over sandy dry soil, you are hard pressed at times to find your kill.  I called the Game Warden and asked his advice as well.  He said, “Hunt that blind again in the a.m. and looked some more.”  Still no more sign.  I was doing all I could do to find and recover this amazing animal.  I left the ranch that weekend hiding my disappointment.  At this point, I just wanted that deer to be alive and not laying in some creek bottom, undiscovered except by the coyotes to eat the meat and squirrels to nibble away at that beautiful rack.  I did not want my son to worry and feel bad in any way, so I hid my emotions the best way I could.  We talked about what I think had happened , but I also told him I had notified Mr. Roy, a local in town that watches over our place, to be on the lookout for buzzards as well.  My dad, after hearing all the details, agreed with me that the deer was still alive and out there on the G Bar.  We could hope for the best.

Now, I fast forward a bit…  December the 12^th I get my wife, the kids, and he head down pulling into the ranch just in time for an evening hunt.  Case and I head back over to the same blind.  This same blind we had hunted ever since the first shot and encounter with the big buck. As we climbed up, the feeders are about to go off and here comes a pack of hogs.  They were followed by a very large red boar.  He wanted to take the boar.  I explained that we are deer hunting for “Johnny Big Buck” (that is what we had named him over the past couple weeks).  Try explaining that to a nine year old, that itching to shoot a boar that in his eyes is as big as an Alaskan Grizzly, is challenging to say the least.  He said, “Dad, that buck is never going to come back.”  I said, “Ya never know.”  Quickly, I redirected him to his reading and writing in his journal his “Uncle Scotty” had equipped him with and encouraged him to write down all his hunting expeditions to look back on later in life.  This is a great idea for all you parents with young ones hunting I might add.  And he was now waiting for a coyote that may come in at dark when I saw a buck about 200 yards away walking straight at us.  Could it be?  I grabbed the bino’s and had to take a double take.  It was, it was him!  I quickly got my son into position.  It was all happening so quickly.  Not much more time to shoot.  It was going to get dark on us.  I thought of some last minute coaching, thought about grabbing the video camera, but I was shaking so badly, I just watched in disbelief, and at about 60 yards BANG!  And the buck crashed, falling at the brush line.  I could not believe it.  We were so excited.  We knew he was down, and we could not wait to see him. So jumping out of the blind, we ran down the sendero to see him up close.  I did capture that part on tape.  I do not know who was more excited, lots of high fives, many hugs, and just a lot of thanks to the Man upstairs! 

As we rolled the buck over, we saw the scar on the brisket and wound through the front leg.  He had hit it the first time exactly where we thought.  He did not want to leave the buck for fear coyotes would get it and drag it off, so I went back to get the jeep and drove down to get him. We loaded up the buck to take him back and show his Mom, his sister, and five week-old brother, Cash.  Man, we were all so excited and still in shock.  His patience had truly paid off.  What a lesson for a nine-year-old boy.  I still cannot believe we got another shot at this buck.  I know he is no “Booner”, no records set in any books, except mine and his.  That is what is important.  I am flooded with emailed monster buck pics harvested every year form surrounding ranches.  They get bigger and bigger every year.  However, I will look back on that memory in life and smile.  I would hope someday my son is hunting with one of his kids and uses lessons he learned from that hunt and challenging situation just as I have done when thinking of some of my early hunting adventures.  If you think about it, what happened and what was learned can be potentially used in many of his future life endeavors.  So scores do not matter to me.  As far as I am concerned, he scores 1000!