BIG BOYS

Internet hunting forums have been abuzz for more than a month now with photos and intel linked to whopper bucks taken by lucky Texas hunters this fall.

Not surprisingly, several of the outstanding deer have surfaced east of I-35, where mandatory antler restrictions continue to work their magic across much of the Pineywoods and Post Oak Savannah regions of the state.

The restriction currently applies to 117 counties statewide. It was introduced several years ago to help improve the age structure of deer herds and to ultimately encourage hunters to lay off young bucks and allow deer to reach at least 3 1/2-years old before harvest. The regulation has worked really well and is widely accepted in plenty of areas.

High quality bucks have shown up in a number of East Texas counties this season — Cass, Red River, Wood, Trinity, Bowie, Hopkins, Houston, Grayson, Angelina, Polk, Rusk, Cherokee, Nacogdoches, Smith, Jasper, Newton and Shelby, just to name a few.

Anderson County has had a really hot hand for super- sized whitetails this year. To date, the county has produced lifetime bucks for at least three hunters — Joe Parker of Jacksonville, Luke Johnson of Elkhart and Brody Chapin, also of Elkhart.

There is a great story behind each deer, but Chapin’s tale is particularly noteworthy.

Small Tract Bruiser

For starters, the remarkable buck was taken on a tract of property so small you could probably see from one side to the other if not for the dense woods that cover it. The low-fence property spans a meager five acres, according to the 25-year-old archer.

It’s hardly the kind of place where you might not expect a record book whitetail to come calling, but that’s exactly what happened on the morning of Nov. 8 shortly after Chapin settled into his tree saddle 15 feet above ground in a post oak tree.

Interestingly, Chapin secured rights to hunt the land the old fashioned way.

“I never saw anybody around there, so I found out who owned it and went and did a little door knockin,’” he said. “I was initially hoping to buy the land. That didn’t work out, but the landowner did give me permission to hunt out there beginning in 2023. It didn’t cost me a dime. I definitely owe her a nice dinner after this buck.”

The monster whitetail Chapin arrowed on the property was indeed the deer of a lifetime, but it wasn’t a total surprise. The hunter first saw on the buck on game camera soon after he gained access to the land during August 2023. He believes the deer was 3 1/2 years old at the time. It was plain to see the buck had a wealth of potential if he lived long enough .

“I got a few several pictures of him in 2023-24, but actually saw him the alive on the hoof only once before I shot him,” he said. “It seems like he’d always show up around Halloween, usually at night, and then he’d disappear. I got one daylight picture of him on Nov. 1 this year and that’s it. But I could tell he was big — way bigger than last year. I was pretty excited.”

Chapin said he hunted the property twice with no luck during first week of the general season. He hunted opening morning and never saw a single deer.

“I always tried to be careful about going in there,” he said. “It’s really hard getting in there in the dark, because the brush is so so thick. You can’t hardly do it without a light. Every time I tried, there was deer in there and they would blow out on me. I was pretty sure he was hanging around the area and I didn’t want to pressure him too much.”

Rattled to 1 Yard

The November’s Beaver Moon was shining bright that fateful Saturday morning, so Chapin chose to make the short hike unassisted without the aid of his red light. He said it was about 6 a.m. when he made it to his tree and took a seat in his saddle. A lone doe showed up not long after he got set.

Chapin said the doe was acting skittish, but stuck around for about 30 minutes before trotting off into in a yaupon thicket.

“By the way to she was acting I thought something was up,” he said. “About 10 minutes later a young buck ran past my tree, scented the doe and took off the same direction she did.”

Thinking the doe might be in estrus, Chapin reached for his rattling’ horns and grunt call in an attempt a to make something happen. The idea was to simulate the sounds of a buck fight and cause another buck within earshot to think others had infringed on its turf.

Chapin said it wasn’t long after he completed the first sequence that he heard the sound of a distant grunt call that wasn’t his.

“I’d been hearing a corn feeder going off on the property next to me for quite a while, so I honestly thought the grunt I heard was coming from another hunter who may have heard mine, ” Chapin said. “I grunted back, thinking I was just messing with them.”

Moments later, the unexpected happened. Chapin’s target buck came barreling through the nearby brush with hair bristled and in a fit of rage.

“Just about the time I put my grunt call down there he was, raking through the yaupons,” he said. “I could tell I had teed him off pretty bad.”

Chapin said the deer made a beeline straight to the tree he was in and stopped just a few feet away.

“He was right below me, a yard or less from the base of the tree,” he said. “He was so close that I had to lean as far back as I could in my saddle to get any kind of angle on him. The last thing I wanted to do was make a bad shot on that deer. He was a giant. I’d never seen anything like that before.”

World Class Whopper

Neither have most hunters. The buck was world class in every respect.

The rack carried 19 scoreable points, an inside spread of 25 1/8 inches, main beams longer than 24 inches and more than 40 inches in mass measurements including bases greater than 6 inches, plus a 7 7/8 inch drop tine.

Chapin said the buck was green scored for Texas Big Game Awards at 221 4/8 gross and 213 7/8 Boone and Crockett inches by Texas Parks and Wildlife Department Wildlife biologist Jeff Gunnels of Streetman.

Gunnels, an official B&C scorer, will rescore the enormous non-typical rack after it dries for a mandatory 60 days. It is sure to make the 195 minimum required for non-typical entry to the B&C All-Time record book. It will also be among the top free ranging whitetails taken by archery gear or firearm statewide this season.

A Neighborly Act

Chapin’s story gets even better.

The archer’s initial shot was a good one. The arrow passed through the lungs and buried up 10 inches in the ground. He said the deer ran about 40 yards and stopped.

“There was lots of blood,” Chapin said. “I could see him through a little opening, so I nocked another arrow and shot him again.”

Chapin said the second shot was a tad high and spooked the buck onto an adjacent tract of property. The hunter played it smart and contacted the landowner before attempting to retrieve the deer.

“It was just the right thing to do,” Chapin said. “I wasn’t about to go in there without permission, so I contacted the local game warden for some advice. He told me there wasn’t much he could do — that I needed to find out who the landowner was and get permission before I could legally access the property.”

Chapin said he spent about 30 minutes researching on the internet before locating the owner the 30-acre tract by phone. Luckily, he lived just across the road. Turns out the landowner was equally familiar with the whopper whitetail.

“When I told him what had happened, the first thing he asked was if it was a that big drop tine buck,” said Chapin. “I told him yes and he was nice as can be about it. He said he would be more than happy to help me retrieve him. He had pictures of the deer, too, and he had been feeding protein all year long.”

Chapin said the landowner brought his golf cart over the assist in the recovery. They located the buck about about 30 yards inside the fenceline.

“It’s definitely a buck of a lifetime,” Chapin said. “I’ll have a hard time ever topping this one.”

Matt Williams is a freelance writer based in Nacogdoches. He can be reached by email, mattwillwrite4u@yahoo. com.