HUNTING GUIDES AND HUNTING OUTFITTERS
I scheduled my 2002 Texas Whitetail hunt in late summer. As I worked with Jody to update the photo gallery on his website he indicated that his bookings for the upcoming season were pretty slow. The combination of a poor economy couple with the events of 09/11, has caused many outfitters to struggle with booking out their hunting season. As I talked with Jody a number of things impressed me. The large amount of trophy managed acres coupled with the personal treatment he ensured on his hunts definitely made me look forward to my hunting trip.
My hunt with Jody Starr Outfitting began with an easy flight from Harrisburg, PA to San Antonio Texas. Once arriving in San Antonio I rented a car and made the one hour and thirty minute drive to Fowlerton. The detailed map that Jody provided made finding his place very easy. About 45 minutes into the drive I came to the town of Pleasanton. A 24-hour Wal Mart made obtaining a hunting license very easy. The cost for a big game hunting license for nonresidents is $250.00. I arrived at Jody’s house late afternoon 12/19.
Since we still had a few hours of daylight left Jody gave me a quick tour of the parcel of land that we would be hunting. As we drove around in his jeep we saw a few bucks and some large wild hogs that we estimated in the 250 – 300 pound class. We pulled up near the stand that we planned to hunt in the next day. We were encouraged to see a young ten-point buck and a more mature eleven-point buck feeding within 100 yards of the stand. Due to the low hunting pressure they were not at all alarmed with our presence. As we left the ranch and headed back to Jody’s house you can imagine my excitement for the upcoming hunt.
That night Jody treated me to a local Mexican restaurant that served authentic Mexican cuisine. We ended up sitting near some of the other outfitters in the area who run “high fence” whitetail hunting operations. Even though there are several high fence operations close to the Fowlerton area, Jody’s business remains the only fair chase hunting operation. The accommodations for your hunt with Jody will include lodging at his spacious and comfortable camp house, home cooked meals, field dressing, caping of your animal and plenty of southern hospitality.
As we arrived back at his house I was able to gather a good deal of information from Jody. The private land that Jody has rights to hunt totals nearly 12,000 acres. These 12,000 acres is broken up into 3 different parcels of land. The overall ranch where this 12,000 acres is located exceeds 100,000 acres. What makes this property so unique is the entire 100,000-acre ranch (including Jody’s lease) has been under strict trophy management practices for the past 8 years. Hunting is done out of comfortable and spacious tower blinds. Deer season always begins on the first Saturday of November and runs through the third Saturday of January. The rut typically takes place in mid to late December. For those hunters looking for extra venison to take home, doe can be harvested and are included in the package price of your deer hunt.
Other animals available to hunt are wild hogs, wild turkeys, and javelina. Wild hogs are very plentiful on Jody’s lease. Each day of my hunt I saw between 10 and 20 wild hogs. Most of the hogs were in the 90 to 120 lb range. I was able to spot a few much larger boar hogs that would have easily tipped the scales between 250 and 300 lbs. Deer hunting packages include wild hog hunting at no additional price. Individual hog hunting packages are very reasonably priced and can be booked year round. Another feature that sets Jody’s operation apart from his competitors is that you are allowed to take as many hogs as you wish. Obviously, the only requirement is that you take with you the meat of all the animals that you harvest. Jody also has a separate lease where hunts for various exotics can be scheduled.
Finally the first morning of the hunt arrived. Jody and I climbed into the blind as day light started to break. It didn’t take long for the action to begin. Within a few minutes deer started to appear from the dense Texas scrub brush. After the first hour in the stand the large population of whitetails on this property was made very apparent. We glassed several whitetail bucks as they fed on the corn that is spread daily. The deer on Jody’s lease are on a year round feeding program. This was very apparent by the amount of rack buck that we were able to watch. I was not accustomed to seeing so many deer constantly through out a hunt. From 7:00 am until 10:00 am we saw 25 deer, 15 of which were buck. Of these the majority were between eight and ten points. These were healthy young buck, between 100 and 115 lbs., at an age of 2 ½ years. As I climbed out of the stand I realized that this was one of the most enjoyable three hours that I had ever spent hunting whitetails in a tree stand. One “shooter buck”, a heavy beamed and very high eight point appeared briefly around 9:30 am. He slipped back in the dense under brush before I was able to position my rifle and get off a good shot.
After lunch and a brief rest back at Jody’s house we were back in the stand by 3:30 pm. Once again within a few minutes of getting settled in deer started to appear. The closer we got to sunset the more the deer activity increased. After glassing several young bucks, a “border line” shooter buck appeared. He had nine points, about a 17 – 18 inch spread and was a more mature buck than those we had seen so far. We looked him over very closely. I clicked off the safety and had the crosshairs centered on the buck. We whispered back and forth contemplating whether or not to take this buck. Since it was the first day of the hunt I decided to hold off. We watched as the deer quietly slipped into the brush. Deer remained by the stand until dark. In addition to the deer, a group of 12 – 15 wild hogs fed the entire evening within 75 yards of the stand. Taking one of those would have been very easy but we didn’t want to disturb this area since we knew we probably be hunting this stand again.
That night Jody cooked up some very tasty rib eye steaks on the grill. We looked through the photos of some nice bucks taken on previous hunts and discussed our next days hunting strategy. We decided to check out a different stand. It was a little more open allowing us a much larger view of the terrain. Since the rut was on we thought the more ground we could see the better. The second morning we arrived in the stand by 6:45 am. The first hour and a half was slow by “Texas Standards”. We saw 2 buck, 4 doe and 8 wild turkeys. As 8:00 am approached Jody thought it would be best to get back to the stand that we hunted the previous day. We moved and settled in by 8:30. Soon after we were organized deer started to appear. Several young buck appeared along with several doe, deer moved constantly the next two hours. Once again we saw the nine-point buck that we passed on the previous night along with several wild hogs.
After lunch and a quick trip back to town we were again repositioned in our tower stand by 3:00. Within minutes of being in the stand two young 10 pointers appeared within 60 yards of the stand. Once again deer movement picked up as the sun began to set. Again we glassed several bucks, only a few of which were the same deer we had seen earlier in the hunt. Also the same group of wild hogs appeared and fed through out the evening. Another shooting opportunity presented itself as the light faded. A heavy horned buck with a much heavier body appeared in the twilight about 100 yards from the stand. As Jody squinted through the spotting scope he told me to get ready for a possible shot. As we tried to study the buck a little closer in the dim light suddenly a large boar hog appeared close by. He immediately left out a loud squeal that sent all the deer and younger hogs scurrying into the brush. About 10 minutes later the deer began to reappear but by this time rack identification was impossible in the low light conditions. As we drove back to Jody’s house for dinner I realized how special this place truly was. In 2 days of hunting I had sighted over 75 deer, more than half of which were buck. While on stand these 2 days I had never gone more than fifteen minutes without seeing a deer. For those hunters who love watching deer as much as harvesting one, this place is definitely for you.
As the third and final day of my hunt approached we decided to position ourselves in the same tower blind a little earlier in the morning. We thought some larger buck might be crossing through the area earlier in the morning. Also we were hoping that the nice buck that was spooked by the boar hog the night before might make an early appearance. By 6:15 we were positioned in our tower stand. After the first two days I didn’t think the hunting could get much better but I was wrong. As the daylight slowly started to brighten the area around our stand we were able to make out the images of several deer already feeding. The cloud cover of the morning kept visibility at a minimum. As it got bright enough to better see the deer, I was amazed to see that were nine different bucks in four different directions all feeding at the same time. As the daylight increased we were able to clearly view all of these bucks. Again, many healthy 2 ½ year old buck that varied in rack size between eight and ten points. For over one hour we watched deer feed and eventually vanish into the brush. Then suddenly without warning a much larger buck appeared within 100 yards of the stand. Without even lifting the spotting scope Jody whispered the 3 words I was very anxious to hear: “There’s your buck”. I quietly maneuvered into position, sighted in the buck and fired. The buck buckled as the bullet from my 300 Weatherby made a solid hit. What followed though turned out to be much more of an ordeal than either of us would have ever imagined.
We gave the buck 30 minutes and then began to track him. We found first blood and started to follow it through the dense Texas under brush. The farther we tracked the buck the more blood we found. In the middle of tracking him we waited an additional hour, we didn’t want to keep pushing him. As the morning turned to early afternoon we couldn’t believe the buck wasn’t down yet. We had tracked him almost 300 yards and crossed two small creeks. As mid-afternoon approached we decided a brief break and few more sets of eyes would be a good approach. At 2:30 pm, with two of Jody’s friends we were back at the spot where we earlier lost the bucks trail. My heart quickly began to sink, as we were only able to locate about another 30 yards of the blood trail before losing it again. We all spread out and searched the dense under brush. Many places you literally had to crawl through because it was so thick. By 5:30 and with darkness approaching we knew there was nothing else that could be done.
That night I experienced that constant “knot in the pit of your stomach” feeling that comes with severely wounding an animal. I am 43 years old and have never hit a buck with a rifle that I was not able to retrieve. Because of all of the blood that we found both Jody and I knew the shot would eventually be lethal to that deer. Later in the evening the phone rang and we explained what had happened to the landowner. He gave us the number of a professional tracker who retrieves wounded deer with the use of dogs. At this point I knew I had to nothing to lose and I really wanted to do everything possible to retrieve that buck.
By 7:30 am the next morning we were at the site where I originally shot the buck. It was truly amazing to see these 2 dogs work. Within a short time they were on the trail of the buck. What I found truly amazing was their ability to stay on the scent of the wounded deer and not stray to the scent of numerous other deer that were constantly moving through the area. By 9:30 am the dogs located the deer. Jody caped out the deer and prepared it for the local taxidermist. He was a nice 9-point buck, with a 17½-inch spread and 21-inch main beams. Jody estimated the deer would score in the low 130’s and that he was at least a 4 ½ years old.
My hunt with Jody was truly an enjoyable experience. Of all the places I have hunted whitetails in the United States, I have never seen so many deer in such a short time. Jody is a hard working, full service outfitter who will do whatever he can to make sure your hunt goes well. When you combine the accommodations, the quality of the hunting property and the personalized service of your hunt, Jody Starr Outfitting is without question one of the best value hunts you will find anywhere in Texas.
For more detailed information on hunting with Jody Starr Outfitting you
can call him at 830-373-4426 or visit his website at http://www.jodystarroutfitting.com
Denny Latsha
HuntGuide.Com ProStaff
