Written on: 05/14/2001 by: Texas Parks and Wildlife
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May 14, 2001
Texas Big Game Awards Sport Impressive Entries
AUSTIN, Texas -- That Texas boasts premier big game hunting almost goes without saying. Last season offered more proof that the reputation is well deserved with 1,758 entries in the 2000 Texas Big Game Awards program, including a pronghorn antelope that ranks among the biggest ever taken in the state.
Entries in this year's TBGA, a hunting recognition program administered by Texas Parks and Wildlife, included 1,031 white-tailed deer, 68 mule deer and 66 pronghorn. Nine pronghorns and a dozen white-tailed deer netted scores that potentially qualify for the Boone and Crockett record book of North American big game.
Linda McBride's record class pronghorn scored 89 2/8 inches under the Boone and Crockett big game scoring system. "This antelope is not far off the world record and is definitely one of the biggest ever from Texas," said Bryan Richards, TBGA program coordinator with TPW. "Hudspeth County has been producing trophy pronghorn for years, and this year 16 out of the top 20 antelope entered in the program came from there."
The McBride clan illustrated just how good the hunting can be in Texas as three members of their hunting group accomplished "Texas Slams" by qualifying a white-tailed deer, a mule deer and a pronghorn antelope in the TBGA during one hunting season. "We may get one or two a year who take a Texas Slam, but this year we had five overall and three of those came from the same hunting party," Richards noted.
Dan McBride, a veterinarian from Burnet and avid big game hunter, took a 15-point non-typical whitetail in Donley County that scored 185 2/8, a mule deer in Culberson County that netted 162 6/8 and a Hudspeth County pronghorn with 78 4/8 inches. His nephew, Brandon, claimed the third-highest-scoring antelope in the TBGA from last season at 84 4/8 inches and completed his slam with a typically racked mule deer that scored 159 and a typical whitetail that netted 132 6/8 points. Wanda Bazemore, a McBride family friend from Orlando, Fla., also compiled a Texas Slam.
Equaling the feat and representing another Texas family with a strong hunting heritage was 11-year-old Chloe Nunley of Sabinal. Chloe's 9-year-old cousin, Sarah, gave the Nunley family another distinction having taken the top-ranked typical whitetail in this year's TBGA program with an Uvalde County trophy that scored 184 4/8 points.
Although a majority of Texas' whitetails currently in the Boone and Crockett record book have come out of South Texas, other parts of the state produced some impressive trophies last season. The state's second- and third-ranked typical whitetails were taken in adjacent counties in East Texas, including a 10-pointer from Angelina County taken by Jeff Capps. Originally scored at more than 190 points, Capps' entry was re-measured by an official Boone and Crockett scorer and netted 183 7/8. Unless a certified Boone and Crockett scorer originally measured the animal, TBGA officials routinely re-score the top racks in the state to ensure accuracy. While the overall score may be reduced, Richards says there's not much that takes away from this trophy. "For a 10-pointer to score in the 180s is extremely rare," he explained. "It's still one of the biggest 10-pointers ever to come out of Texas. Most deer racks that score 180 and up are on a 12-point frame or larger."
Coincidentally, Region 6 also produced the third-largest typical whitetail in Texas in this year's program, a 178 7/8 buck taken by Rick Rodgers in Nacogdoches County, which adjoins Angelina County.
Chip Lowery of Gatesville bagged a Cottle County buck that netted 211 1/8 to take top honors in the non-typical whitetail category statewide. The 13-point buck had seven abnormal points. Rudy Garcia of Houston killed a buck scoring 204 7/8 in Falls County, more than 30 points higher than any other non-typical in Region 5 and the second largest in the state. Ken Leonard of San Antonio took a Webb County monster that netted 202 3/8 to claim top honors in Region 8 and round out the top three statewide non-typical leaders.
In its 10th year, the TBGA program recognizes not only winners in scoring but also the effects of habitat management on antler development of white-tailed deer, mule deer and pronghorn antelope, and the importance of hunting as a management tool. The awards program will also recognize the 406 hunters who took their first big game animal this past season and 177 hunters in the youth division.
Entry into the program is open to wild-reared native white-tailed deer, mule deer and pronghorn antelope that are legally harvested in Texas during the most recent hunting season. The program is co-sponsored by Texas Parks and Wildlife, the Texas Wildlife Association and Hixon Land and Cattle Co. For more information on the Texas Big Game Awards program, call TPW headquarters at (800) 792-1112 or TWA at (800) 460-5494. Information is also available on the Web (http://www.texasbiggameawards.com/).
Following are the top regional winners for this year's TBGA program.
2000-2001 TEXAS BIG GAME AWARD WINNERS
Region 1 Trans Pecos -- Awards banquet April 28, 2001, in Midland
Species
Type
County
Net Score
Hunter
Hometown
Whitetail
Typical
Pecos
143 6/8
Will Cox
Dallas
Whitetail
Typical
Terrell
129 7/8
Larry Hill
San Antonio
Whitetail
Typical
Terrell
125 4/8
Jerry J. Mitchell
Vidor
Whitetail
Non-Typical
Ector
154 6/8
Jason Bowling
Odessa
Mule Deer
Typical
Winkler
173 1/8
Kevin E. Sailer
Spring
Mule Deer
Typical
Jeff Davis
165 2/8
Edmond Pruski Jr.
Floresville
Mule Deer
Typical
Culberson
162 6/8
Dan E. McBride
Burnet
Mule Deer
Typical
Presidio
159 3/8
Chloe E. Nunley
Sabinal
Mule Deer
Typical
Hudspeth
159 0/8
Brandon D. McBride
Bryan
Mule Deer
Non-Typical
Brewster
190 2/8
Charles M. Davidson
San Antonio
Mule Deer
Non-Typical
Presidio
189 1/8
Regan Stringfellow
San Antonio
Mule Deer
Non-Typical
Jeff Davis
163 5/8
Ross Eckhardt
La Grange
Mule Deer
Non-Typical
Presidio
163 1/8
John Paul Boerschig
Katy
Pronghorn
Hudspeth
89 2/8
Linda J. McBride
Burnet
Pronghorn
Hudspeth
86 0/8
James E. Bush
Baltimore
Pronghorn
Hudspeth
84 4/8
Dan Gildner
Boulder City
Pronghorn
Hudspeth
84 4/8
Brandon D. McBride
Bryan
Pronghorn
Hudspeth
84 2/8
Tim Orton
Walker, Minn.
Region 2 Panhandle -- Awards banquet Sept. 15, 2001, in Plainview at the Fair Theater
Species
Type
County
Net Score
Hunter
Hometown
Whitetail
Typical
Hartley
169 4/8
James Meredith Franklin
Dalhart
Whitetail
Typical
Donley
161 5/8
Richard T. Davis
Bushnell, Fla.
Whitetail
Typical
Motley
159 6/8
Clark Thompson
Allen
Whitetail
Typical
Donley
159 0/8
Chad Hommel
Clarendon
Whitetail
Typical
Sherman
158 5/8
Tim Hudson
Stratford
Whitetail
Non-Typical
Cottle
211 1/8
Chip Lowery
Gatesville
Whitetail
Non-Typical
Donley
185 2/8
Dan E. McBride
Burnet
Whitetail
Non-Typical
Hutchinson
176 3/8
Kenneth E. Brooks Jr.
Fritch
Whitetail
Non-Typical
Armstrong
174 6/8
Duffy Benjamin
Houston
Whitetail
Non-Typical
Ochiltree
172 1/8
Shawn Davis
Arnett, Okla.
Mule Deer
Typical
Yoakum
176 6/8
Pat Beaird
Dallas
Mule Deer
Typical
Cochran
170 0/8
Bill Myatt
Whiteface
Mule Deer
Typical
Moore
169 2/8
Mark Sims
Sunray
Mule Deer
Typical
Armstrong
169 1/8
John David Martin
Lucas
Mule Deer
Typical
Roberts
167 4/8
Robert J. de Lachica
Brownsville
Mule Deer
Non-Typical
Oldham
201 3/8
Allen Bosh
Adrian
Mule Deer
Non-Typical
Yoakum
195 2/8
Marty Berry
Corpus Christi
Mule Deer
Non-Typical
Moore
191 6/8
Jerrod Drinnon
Sunray
Mule Deer
Non-Typical
Hemphill
188 4/8
Mike Voss
Pampa
Mule Deer
Non-Typical
Armstrong
183 0/8
William Coward Jr.
Cleburne
Pronghorn
Hartley
81 0/8
John K. Mikeman
Canyon Lake
Pronghorn
Hartley
79 6/8
James Meredith Franklin
Dalhart
Pronghorn
Roberts
78 2/8
Steven D. Smith
Pampa
Pronghorn
Dallam
77 4/8
James "Jimmy" McDavid
Southlake
Pronghorn
Yoakum
77 0/8
Brandon Ray
Claude
Pronghorn
Yoakum
77 0/8
Mike Hughes
Abernathy
Region 3 Cross Timbers -- Awards banquet July 28, 2001. in Fort Worth at the Will Rogers Memorial Center
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