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It’s time for my annual deer hunting in Texas Hill Country trip! I look forward to this trip, all year long.
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2019 Hunting in Texas Hill Country
The 2019 Texas hunting trip started off pretty chilly with temps down in the 30s. We hunt on a lease that’s really out in the middle of nowhere, so I’m not just being a cagey hunter when I say it’s hard to explain where it is. The address is Mason, Texas, but we’re an hour away from Mason proper.
The best part of 2019 was that we got to stay in a brand new “barndo” or barn condo that the landowner built. Our old hunt shack incurred some damage in a Hill Country storm and rather than rebuild, he decided to build his dream barndo on the highest point of the property. Spectacular would be the word I’d use to describe it.
Compare that to our old hunting shack.
It’s like hunting with an actual outfitter, but on our own lease! I can actually sit on the front porch and watch deer come into the feeder at one of our stands. It was a complete surprise and all the owner told us was that “there was going to be some changes to the accommodations, this year.” Understatement of the year!
I’ve been using the HuntStand app for all my hunting adventures for years. I love that I can see the boundaries to the properties I’m hunting and create waypoints with hunting icons for stands, feeder, trail cameras, rubs, scrapes, and more! You can also check the wind direction and see a safe wind graphic for your stands! This is great for picking the right stand for the wind. Click on the image to learn more.
Trail Cams
Alright, enough about the hunting “shack.” You came here to hear about the hunting.
As usual, I get out to the lease about a week early and start setting up trail cameras and making sure all the feeders are working. Mid-week, my hunting partners come in and we pull trail cameras before opening day.
The deer sign I found while setting up trail cameras was unbelievable. In 8 years hunting in Texas Hill Country, I’ve never seen so much deer sign.
Triple Beam
As we were checking the trail cameras, we found the buck that was making all these rubs.
We named him Triple Beam, well, because he has 3 main beams. Literally, a one-in-a-million buck! We couldn’t believe our eyes.
Also on the trail cams was a very old 6 point buck that I almost shot in 2018. He’s an old bruiser that apparently will never get beyond a 6 point, so I made him my target buck. I don’t typically do that, but he’s a perfect buck for me. Old and not a trophy rack that I would feel obligated to shoulder mount.
The trail cams and all the deer sign also told us that we were clearly at the beginning of the rut and opening day was supposed to get COLD! It was perfect!
Opening Day Hunting in Texas Hill Country
We were all excited for opening day and in the stands, early. Just like in 2018, I started opening day in a stand we call Rat’s Nest. It’s a 104 yard shot to the feeder and it’s generally teeming with deer. It’s also where we got pictures of the old 6 point.
Sure enough, just after daybreak, Ol’ Sixer comes walking out from behind the woods to the right of the feeder. He moved around a bit, but he mostly stood facing me and not presenting a shot. Then, he proceeded behind the feeder and off to the left, behind a doe. I thought he’d left the area and I’d missed my shot at him.
Shortly thereafter, I see him curling back around towards the feeder and then straight towards me! He stopped at an annual scrape to freshen it up.
Needless to say, he didn’t get to finish freshening up the scrape. POW! He was DRT (dead right there).
Both the processor and the taxidermist (I had him European mounted on a mesquite board) said he was the biggest 6 point they’d ever seen. He was magnificent. I guessed his age at 6.5 years old. His bases were both over 5 inches (huge for Hill Country deer) and a 16.5 inch inside spread.
I was on top of the world and I don’t think it was even official sunrise, yet on opening day!
Hunting Triple Beam
My two hunting buddies continued to hunt the rest of the day while I dressed Ol’ Sixer and put him on ice before we could take him into town for the processor and taxidermist. Neither of them saw Triple Beam, so no other deer were shot on opening day. The chase was on!
My friend Joe got a beautiful Hill Country buck on day 2 in the morning. He and I took the deer into town to the processor while Mike did an all day sit in the Dam Stand, hoping to get a shot at Triple Beam.
Sure enough, shortly before sunset, Triple Beam walked out into the field and Mike took a shot. Down goes Triple Beam!
It was a great night…..until we got a visit from the local game warden. Whomp, whomp, whaa. After Joe and I learned a bit about filling out our harvest logs and tags, we celebrated Mike’s quarry and headed off to bed.
Finishing off the Hunting Week
After the two target bucks had been taken, it was a hunt for doe and hogs, mostly. We hadn’t seen any hogs on camera, this year, so really just does or another trophy buck, if we saw one.
Joe took a great shot at a buck that expired after fighting harder to stay alive than any buck I’ve ever seen! Watch the video of his second buck and you’ll see blood pouring out of this deer while he fights to stay standing. Incredible!
On the last day, Joe and I teamed up with Joe on the camera and me on the gun to take a doe. She smelled us before we saw her and she began blowing like crazy. I thought she’d bolt before we even saw her. Fortunately, she peaked around a mesquite bush just enough for me to get a shot.
It was an extremely successful year hunting in Texas Hill Country and the new hunting “shack” was amazing. We’re all counting down the days to our 2020 Texas hunt.
Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you click on these links and make a qualifying purchase, I will receive a small commission from those purchases.