West Texas -

The West Texas economy is largely defined by oil, but it's the deer industry that may surprise you with its resilience. The deer-hunting season kicked-off last Saturday, and although West Texas doesn't have the reputation of the Hill-Country and central Texas, it still maintains a strong hunting industry that affects many local businesses.

The terrain of West Texas is dry, flat and windy and you'd be surprised to hear that an animal like this...

"It's my first Texas deer."

...can thrive on land like this.

"Deer hunting is big business in West Texas for sure, lots of deer hunters here," said the owner of Brosig’s Western Taxidermists, Karl Brosig.

But they do, in fact the deer-hunting season is an economy in itself.

"It's an industry. It's called eco-tourism," Camilla Blain said. Blain and her husband own and run K-Bar Ranch Hunting Lodge.

This eco-tourism is a big part of keeping some of our local businesses afloat.

"Not only taxidermists as myself, but meat cutters and sporting good stores. All a big part of our income comes from deer hunters," Brosig said.

A trickle down effect that has created specialty stores like Karl Brosig's Western Taxidermists and even the K-Bar Hunting Lodge. It's a surprising industry for West Texas, and it's doing quite well.

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