Bowhunt at Double G Outfitting in West Texas
With Garrett George & Larry Reese

Arrival Day | Day #1 | Day #2 | Day #3 | Day #4 | Equipment Tests | To Double G Outfitting

DAY 3 

Wyatt McBride with Garrett George and Larry Reese with their bucks.

Wyatt McBride of Kaikiora, New Zealand (single and looking)

In Wyatt's Own Words
"I woke up this morning with the  deer Lords talking to me. The head guide Rick Woods came back last night after siting in a stand while his hunters were out at other stands. He said he saw an 8 point buck with a nice spread.  Since no one wanted to sit in that stand they asked me if I would. I said since the deer lords were telling me last night that today was my day I didn't care were I went."

"At 530 am Rick dropped me off at the stand over a feeder at 20 yards. As the sun started to come over the horizon at my back I saw 8 does coming in but down wind. They took a whiff of me and away went the other way."

"As they ran off here comes a buck straight on. As he got to the feeder the wind was swirling and he was getting nervous. I knew I had to make something happen if I was going to get a shot."

"He was 20 yards and looking over his shoulder at me. Then he took 3 steps stopped and looked over his left shoulder at me one more time.  By this time I was at full draw and ready to rock and roll.  I had a tuff shot all I could see was just a little bit of his shoulder and his butt.  I let it the arrow fly and went in at the rear and came out of his front shoulder."

"He took off like lighting. I did not see a drop of blood but he only went 50 yards.  I tell you what that Hoit eXtec with 80 pound limbs has been a great bow. I've now killed over 10 animals with it from plains game in Africa to Water Buffalo in Australia to Texas white tail with Double G Outfitting. Two nice bucks in two days. I don't know too many places you can go to hunt whitetail and see so many bucks and good bucks at that."

Wyatt McBride with his second west Texas 8 pointer.

Wyatt McBride with Garrett George with Wyatt's west Texas 8 pointer.

Mike Glanden
After every hunt Mike brought in video of the deer he has seen. So far he has hunted the same site since Day 1. Every time he hunts there he has seen from 12 to 25 deer. At least half of them were always bucks. Plus several flocks of wild turkey have come through. Mike has video of 5 different 8 pointers that are regulars and at least 5 of them are mature with nice racks. 

One particular 8 point from the first day looks good on video, he is big bodies with long tines (10 inches or better), and good mass. Garrett estimated it as 5 1/2 years old. It was definitely the dominant buck there at that time and it chased all the younger bucks around. Mike drew on him but elected not to shoot because the buck seemed so comfortable Mike thought it would be back. As daylight faded Mike saw an even bigger buck but it got dark before it got close enough for a shot. 

The bucks have kept coming and so has Mike. But the 8 point and larger buck have not showed up so far.

The video of the bucks Mike has seen will be on his web web site www.goodoleboysoutdoors.com. Mike lives in Maryland's Eastern shore area in the town of Preston. He has always wanted to make a living in the outdoor industry and is finally there. Mike is part owner of the web site and the owner of www.gobocountrystore.com online store for hunting products. 

Larry Reese 
I met Larry Reese back in 1996 when the Bowhunting.net chat was a big thing. After a few time of talking to him I asked if he could do a Taxidermy column for the web site. He took me up on it and since then has written a bunch of articles on Taxidermy and other topics. We have become friends via email and this is the first time I have actually seen him in person. 

Every time he was in his stand Larry saw a minimum of 6 deer and a maximum of 25. He always saw a lot of nice bucks and passed on several bucks holding off for that "once in a lifetime" buck, which I know are on this ranch because I found a very massive 10 point shed and he saw several huge buckskin the helicopter survey pictures.

Today's Hunt
At 5:00 this afternoon Larry began his hunt. (He went to the stand I hunted this morning.) Shortly after settling in 3 does came through. Deer continuously filtered out of the cover. A nice 8 point with a spread outside its ears cam up and fed until dark. At one time there were 6 bucks. Approximately 30 minutes before sunset two larger bucks came up. ONe was a 10 pointer that was wide and had shorter tines. The other was a high 8 point with real long antler tines, exactly the Texas style rack Larry was looking for. 

Larry waited a while longer and the 8 pointer moved into position for a clean shot and Larry decided this was it. But Larry heard footsteps behind him. Out of the corner of his eye Larry saw a doe coming. It stopped and all the deer looked toward her. She snorted an alert and all the deer scattered and ran out of sight.

Larry's heart was broken. The deer he had been waiting for all week had presented a shot and he hadn't been able to take it. Soon deer began returning. The large 8 pointer with the long tines was with them. He stopped 20 yards away in the shooting window.

Larry came to full draw, anchored his 20 yard pin behind the front shoulder and squeezed off the shot. Larry uses TRACER NOCKS and he saw the path of the arrow and saw the impact of the arrow his exactly where he was aiming. The Tracer Nock glowed bright red as the deer ran 40 yards and turned left into the thick brush and collapsed. 

Larry was certain the buck was down for good but waited ten minutes started tracking the blood trail. Garret pulled up and they followed the trail. When the trail turned left they saw the Tracer Nock glowing a few yards into the brush.


 
"I've been quite impressed with the buck to doe ratio on Garrett's ranch.", Larry told me, "Not a day has gone by that I didn't have a chance at a buck would be a shootable buck in any bowhunter's eyes. Garrett and I have been talking over a year about this hunt and some other hunts we are going to do. Garrett set up his ranch with stands that are suitable for bowhunters ranging between 15 and 25 yards. Now that I have seen the quantity and the quality of whitetails at Double G Outfitting I will now be booking bowhunts . Anyone interested can contact me at larry@wildlifeartistry.com or call 410-758-2000."

Larry's business Wildlife Artistry Taxidermy began in 1991 in Centerville, Maryland. It is a full time taxidermy operation. The studio is 1,600 square feet specializing in North American as well as African game. (When he returns home he is putting the finishing touches on an article for us that explains and shows the steps involved in mounting a Nyala that he just finished), it covers the project from receiving the hide from Africa through the finished product. 

Arrival Day | Day #1 | Day #2 | Day #3 | Day #4 | Equipment Tests | To Double G Outfitting