Location: DoubleM-R Ranch in Senora, Texas, on 20,000 acres of prime Southwest Texas territory.

Dates: 10/17/04- 10/22/04

Hunters: Realtree pro staffer Sam Klement, Michael Waddell and Greg Miller, host of North American Whitetail Television

About the Outfitter: The DoubleM-R Ranch, located in Sutton County, Texas, is a 20,000-plus acre parcel out of the famous T Half-Circle Ranch founded in the late 1800's and early 1900's by west Texas rancher, financier and philanthropist, Sol Mayer. The DoubleM-R Ranch is offering a limited number of all-inclusive, deluxe hunting packages for whitetail deer, Rio Grande turkey and non-native exotics. This is a 4th generation owned and operated working ranch with more than 20,000 acres of prime wildlife habitat located on the western edge of the Edwards Plateau Region, the highest whitetail deer population density area in the state. For more information about the outfitter, call 325-226-0084 or e-mail reservations@deerhuntingintexas.com.

Terrain: The ranch consists of thickly covered, rugged canyons rimmed with rock ledges, mesquite flats, grassy mesas, Live Oak Motts and tree-lined dry creek beds. There are also several varieties of cactus plants. The highest point of elevation on the ranch is approximately 2,550 feet.

Hunting Method: The acorns were just starting to drop. We hunted between deer food sources (the acorns) and bedding areas.

Weather: The conditions were typical Texas. It was pretty hot -- in the 80s during the day and the low 60s at night. The deer weren't moving as much as they would if it were cooler. But we saw plenty of nice deer.

Recap of the Hunt
We were told that the deer had been moving right at dark and right at daybreak with more movement in the evenings. There were tons and tons of acorns on the ground in the hill country so the deer weren't concentrated at all. They were spread out all across the ranch. We knew the hunt was going to be a little bit tougher than normal because we wouldn't be able to pinpoint groups of deer.

When we arrived at the ranch, we only had a few hours until dark, so we had a really quick evening hunt. Right off the bat, Sam Klement had a really nice 130-class, 11-point buck come in to his stand. Surprisingly, he let it walk. He wanted to wait and see if he'd get a chance at a bigger deer. It's hard to know what to do when you're faced with such a tough decision. Do you go ahead and take the buck on the first day of a hunt missing a possible opportunity at a bigger one later, or do you let it walk? Sam ended up making the right choice.

That first evening, I saw one nice eight-point buck, and Greg Miller saw two shooter bucks at about 100 yards out. We just wanted to take inventory of the animals and see how they would be moving, so neither of us tried to get off a shot. But, seeing so many good bucks the first night really got us pumped up about the rest of the hunt.

The luck changed first for Klement and Miller when two fine bow bucks hit the dirt.

The next morning, Greg saw one decent buck at daybreak. Neither Sam nor I saw a buck worth shooting, although we each took a doe for camp meat. That evening, again, none of us saw a buck worth shooting. It was a really dead day. The same story played out again on the second day. No one saw anything they wanted to harvest.

We began to get nervous and wondered if we had passed up our only opportunities at nice bucks on the first night of the hunt. We felt a little discouraged because the deer weren't concentrated in any one location. And we worried that we wouldn't even see any good shooters as the hunt progressed.

The afternoon of the third day, we decided to do some scouting and swap some stand locations. We found some pretty good areas to hunt. On the third night of the hunt, our luck changed, and Sam Klement shot a nice 130-class 8 pointer from the stand I had hunted the first evening (see Klement's account of the hunt below). He had several nice deer come in and had his choice of bucks. His success built up our spirits. I was glad that at least one of us had the opportunity to take a good buck.

One to Go
We were all pumped up. The curse had finally lifted. The next morning, I went out and didn't see anything worth shooting. I didn't even see any does. But, Greg's luck was a little bit better. He ended up harvesting a really nice 140-class 8-point buck. It was left up to me. In all actuality, the pressure had been taken off. Two out of the three of us had deer so far. That's a good solid hunt by anyone's standard. I was just glad that we were able to get some good hunts on film.

The Last Shot
That afternoon, we decided to try and find some good deer on the southern side of the ranch. A helicopter survey had spotted quite a few nice deer in that area. So I decided to give it a try. It took me at least 25 minutes to get to my stand. It's pretty far away from the other stand sites, so not a lot of people hunt that location.

I got to my stand at about 2:30 p.m. The wind was perfect. The first few hours of the hunt, I saw nothing but does and a few small 1 ½-year-old bucks. Again, I was starting to get a little discouraged. Suddenly, I looked up and saw a really nice 18- or 19-inch, 135-class, 10-point buck walking my way. A doe was running in front of him.

I ended up taking that deer right before dark. It really got down to the wire. Taking a deer at the last minute makes the experience really special. A last-minute buck is the sweetest experience you can have on a hunt. When you get down to the last few minutes of a hunt, you begin to accept that you may not get the opportunity to take one. So, when the opportunity presents itself at the very end, it really lifts your spirits. You can also know that when you take a buck after days of hard hunting, you earned it. You didn't just walk right in and kill something. Often, if you take a deer on the last day, it's because you've done your homework, scouted, switched stand locations and took what the deer gave you. You were able to put a plan together that made you successful.

Sweet Success
All three of us ended up getting really nice deer. That's pretty good odds. I would have considered it a good hunt if only two of us had taken deer. But since all three of us got nice bucks, it was a phenomenal hunt. Not only were we all successful, but we had a lot of fun on that hunt as well. Texas hunts are somewhat relaxing because you don't hunt all day long like you do in many other states. In Texas, you usually hunt two hours in the morning and 2 1/2 hours at night because it's too hot to hunt during the mid afternoon.

Waddell brought up the rear with his fine bow kill. He might have been last to score but his buck is certainly not least. In the middle of the day, the deer don't move much. They just go back into the cool areas and bed down. They move early in the morning and late at night. If you hunt the middle of the day in Texas during October, you're just wasting your time.

So, after our morning hunts, we'd return to camp and just hang out and goof off. We enjoyed the camaraderie. One afternoon, we enjoyed a skeet shoot competition. I was part of the losing team, but it didn't matter. I had had a blast shooting with those guys and just relaxing at camp. We also had a good time around the campfire at night. The weather was nice and mild. We spent the evenings drinking adult beverages and catching up on each other's lives.

A Cut Above the Rest
Lodge manager Steve Anderson has been managing the deer at the DoubleM-R ranch for 10 years. In that part of the country, he's got one of the best ranches as far as age structure and genetics goes. You can expect to see between 130- and 160-class deer there. You can't say that for most parts of Texas. That part of the country is known for plenty of deer, but not large deer. But because of Steve's management practices, his ranch is in tip-top shape. With 17,000 acres to graze, those open range whitetails can reach massive sizes.

Sam Klement's Account
What a dream. Realtree pro staffer Sam Klement didn't think it could get any better after he harvested his first Pope & Young deer of the season in Morgan County, Georgia, on October 2. The hefty eight-point, 240-pound bruiser grossed 132 3/8 points making the record books. Just as Klement started to come down from Cloud 9, he did it again less than two weeks later on a hunt with Realtree in Senora, Texas.

Klement's luck didn't run out after busting this very respectable Georgia buck on October 2, 2004.

A Big Mistake?
We arrived at the airport Sunday afternoon. We drove 45 minutes to the ranch, showered, got scent-free, shot our arrows, got a little pre-hunt footage and went out for a flash hunt. We got out to the stand at approximately 5:30 p.m. and planned to hunt for one hour. About 45 minutes into our hunt, I heard the popping of scab rocks beneath a deer's hooves as it moved in toward us. Then I spotted him - a very nice 1l-point buck had stopped to work a scrape 45 yards from us. We got some great footage of him as he fed right up to us presenting me with the perfect shot at 17 yards.

That's when I looked back to Phillip and said, "My friends in Alabama would probably shoot me if they saw me passing on this deer, but since it's the first night and the first time I've hunted whitetail in Texas, I'm going to pass."

Klement with his Georgia buck from another angle.

When we got back to camp and reviewed the footage of the deer, everyone agreed that it was a solid mid 130 Pope & Young deer. So needless to say, I was a little disappointed that I didn't shoot it. But, it was the first night of the hunt, and I didn't know what to expect. At the time I thought, if it's this good on the first night, who knows how good it will be.

Has Luck Run Out?
Monday morning, I returned to the stand just at daylight with the hopes of seeing that same 11-point buck. In the fog, we could hear some bucks fighting off in the distance perhaps 100-yards away, but we couldn't see them. As the fog rolled out, we were greeted with a couple of small bucks -- most likely not the ones fighting earlier. We saw some four and six pointers that morning, but no 11-pointer. We didn't' see any shooters by Vato's standards. (We call him 'Vato' because he's a crazy, fun guy.) We also saw some does and turkeys. In fact, I shot a doe on that hunt because Michael said we needed some camp meat. At around 9 a.m., just before we were to be picked up, I shot a doe at 30 yards to nock the dust off the bow, to christen the hunt and to get some meat. Michael also shot a doe that morning.

After taking this Texas giant, Klement stopped second guessing his passing the good buck on the first day of hunting.

After that morning's hunt, I felt a little uneasy about passing on the buck I saw the previous night. I started to think I had made a big mistake. Monday evening, I returned to the same stand and saw a couple of small eight pointers, a spike and a couple of does, but again, no shooter buck.

Tuesday morning, we hunted a different stand and saw a couple of does and one good buck off under another oak hammock, but it wasn't close enough to shoot. Tuesday night, we returned to the first stand, but we saw only does.

Wednesday morning, we hunted that same stand and saw a couple of does and some bigger bucks off in the distance cruising through at 80 or 90 yards. But I never got a shot. At this point, I was really beginning to regret passing up that nice 11-pointer.

The Waiting Game Pays
Wednesday evening, we hunted from a stand that Michael had been hunting earlier that week in an effort to kill a buck he had passed on the previous year from that same stand. Within 10 minutes after setting up, we had three different eights come in to 35 yards. One of the deer was Pope & Young status probably scoring 125 minimum. Debating on whether I should shoot him, we looked 150 yards to another oak line and saw another buck working a scrape. He saw the bucks in front of my stand and began to run in to them.

I told Phillip to get the camera on him. I could clearly tell the eight-pointer was a 4 ½- to five-year-old deer. He came in really fast, and I didn't have a chance to stand up. I remember having to move my leg around the stand to keep the bow limb from hitting my leg. Phillip said, "Whenever you're ready." So when the buck got to within 25 yards of me, I took the shot, and my Muzzy broadhead found its mark penetrating both lungs. The deer kicked straight up in the air, ran 75 yards, stopped and fell over.

Put a Tape on Him
The buck had a 20-inch spread with seven- or eight-inch G2s and six- to seven-inch G3s, and it scored in the mid-130s. The 160-pound eight-point buck was the perfect Texas deer. I am very proud of this deer, and I'm glad I waited on him. Since the eight-point deer scored what that 11-point deer would have scored, but with fewer points, it was a better deer than the 11-pointer. My decision to pass on the 11 pointer paid off. It was nice to be the first guy to bring a buck into camp. My Muzzy 'heads and Hoyt XTEC did a great job.

After the bucks were down, the camera work began.

The moral of the story is, enjoy every hunt and remember that every deer taken with a bow is a trophy, but sometimes patience does pay off. And when you're on a hunt with Michael, Realtree and Vato, you're going to see quality deer if you're patient.

Case in point, the next night, after passing on some marginal bucks, Greg Miller shot an 8 pointer almost identical to mine but with a little taller rack. His deer was probably 5 ½ years old. And, the last night of the hunt, Michael killed a great 10 pointer, which scored in the low 150s P&Y. Everyone had a successful hunt and a great time.

Pressure Gone
During the remainder of the hunt, we shot dove, skeet and sporting clays, and we observed some incredible deer footage from our earlier hunts. We also scouted deer for Vato and for Michael.

A Testimonial
Without a doubt, Vato and his guides run the best outfitting operation that I've been to so far. Vato has an incredible management plan. There aren't too many does, and there are plenty of bucks. His property is set up for bowhunters. He's done his homework and has placed his stands in the right spots. We saw plenty of mature deer, we were entertained in camp, and we enjoyed the delicious food. Our cook Bernie made some incredible dishes including a wonderful Texas barbecue brisket and jalapeno cream cheese-stuffed backstrap. The accommodations were first class as well. I couldn't have asked for a better experience. For more information about the DoubleM-R Ranch, call 832-515-8874, or check out www.deerhuntingintexas.com.

Afterthoughts
It was great to hunt whitetail deer with Michael. I've had the opportunity to hunt turkeys with him at the annual Country Goes Hunting event in Blakely, Georgia, and I knew he was a terror in the turkey woods. But, during this trip, I had the opportunity to see how professional he was in deer woods and behind the camera.

Editor's Note: Sam Klement, owner of Spectrum Outdoors, a company specializing in over-the-shoulder free-roaming video hunts, has hunted everything from wild boars in the South to elk in the West and moose and bear in several Canadian provinces. Sam currently holds several US patents on some of today's most popular hunting products, such as the Gun Rest and Turkey Topper manufactured by Hunter's Specialties. Sam holds seminars on topics ranging from scent control and vocalization of deer to choosing the perfect treestand, and he's also a member of Muzzy's and Hunter's Specialties' pro staffs.

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