Looking Back - Whitetail Deer Buck

by Renny Spencer

Title

Looking Back - Whitetail Deer Buck

Artist

Renny Spencer

Medium

Photograph - Photography

Description

A west Texas whitetail deer buck looking back from where he came.
In life, we often look back. Perhaps we long for times gone by. Perhaps we remember the past with fondness. At times we may feel pain and regret things we did or maybe didn't do. We can't go back. We can't live in the past. Time to turn and face the future. Learn from the past and not fear the future.

Deer, both mule deer, and whitetail roam the mountains of west Texas. The Davis Mountains host a wide variety of flora and fauna. Located near Fort Davis, Marfa, McDonald Observatory, and the Hobby Eberly Telescope there is much to see and do in the area.

https://www.westernwhitetail.com/whitetail/texas-whitetail/

"Texas can largely be credited with starting the present quality deer management program, as the state is comprised almost entirely of private lands and landowners long ago realized white-tailed deer represented a valuable commodity. Such management began as early as the late 1960s. In many instances, deer hunting generates as much money as livestock ranching. Most Texas ranches are carefully managed for trophy quality, including encouraging doe harvest and aggressively removing bucks with inferior genetics. Even in regions such as the Edwards Plateau, where genetics and nutrition are generally inferior to other Texas regions due to drier conditions, careful game management has resulted in a marked improvement to antler quality. Texas is decidedly a pay-to-play hunting destination, with deer-lease, semi-guided and outfitted hunts available, and price dependent on proven trophy quality, accommodations and property size.

Outside Texas, this subspecies appears in true mountain habitats of New Mexico, the open plains and dry-land farms of Colorado’s Eastern Plains and western Kansas, and western Oklahoma where habitat mirrors drier parts of northwestern Texas. This is a testament to how adaptable this subspecies is. Public-accessible lands are more common outside Texas, particularly New Mexico.

Hunting approaches are normally dictated by where Texas whitetails are pursued. In Texas, the nearly universal approach is guarding timer-equipped corn feeders, or “corning roads.” This institution began in South Texas where nasty-thick, thorn-cursed mesquite and prickly-pear flats make hunting difficult at best. The solution is to create sendaros (swaths carved through especially thronged brush) and lace them with corn to coax the appearance of whitetails (and collared peccary and hogs). The practice has spread throughout the state and is a favorite bowhunting approach. Texas also brought us antler rattling, which is effective anywhere buck-to-doe ratios and herd dynamics prove ideal."

---Renny Spencer
https://rennyspencerphotography.com

Uploaded

January 24th, 2021

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