STRANGE ENCOUNTERS

One of the really cool things about fooling around with trail cameras is the anticipation. You just never know what might show up in front of a viewfinder from one day to the next.

Just ask Haelee Modisett. Modisett, 28, is all-around outdoors chick from Huntington who is just as happy in a deer stand as she is running trotlines or trailing a game hog dog through a river bottom thicket.

Like most serious deer hunters, Modisett has an small army of trail cameras in her stash. She keeps several powered up around her hunting areas yearround. She loves it when her cell phone goes “ping” to signal another critter has tripped the camera shutter.

“I’ve been messing around with them since I was just a kid,” she said. “I love ‘em. Game cameras are great tools and they can really help you pattern the deer and give you a good idea of what’s hanging around out there. I’ve got 15 cameras on private and public land.”

Modisett has logged an extensive library of trail cam photos over the years. Interestingly, not a single hunting season has gone by since 2021 that she hasn’t captured a few images of a peculiar looking buck. The deer shows up like clockwork each fall on a small, 40-acre tract of family land that she hunts in San Augustine County.

The lady hunter was quick to point out the buck’s spindly rack is hardly anything to write home about. What makes the deer unique is its physique — he’s only got three legs. She affectionately refers to him as “Three Legged Craig.”

“I started out calling him “Tripod,” but then somebody on one of the hunting forums named him Three Legged Craig and it stuck,” she said. “We’ve been calling him that ever since.”

Modisett suspects the deer was only 1 1/2 years old when he first showed up on her game camera in November 2021. It was a pitiful sight, too. The deer was missing its right front leg at the shoulder. He was pretty much skin and bones by mid-winter.

“I don’t know if he got hit by a truck, got shot or what,” she said. “But he looked really bad. I thought there was no way he would ever survive the winter, but he did. He showed up again in 2022 and he was all healed up. You could see the scar, but other than that he looked healthy. I’ve been babying him ever since. He’s at the top of our don’t shoot list.”

Modisett believes the deer turned 5 1/2 this year season. She claims he is far from being a legal shooter under the 13-inch minimum antler restriction, but wouldn’t shoot him if he was.

“If he can live through something like that, for a long as he has, he’s a strong creature and deserves to live,” she said. “He’s got one funky set of antlers, is butterball fat and gets around amazingly well. He’s not scared of a fight, either. I’ve got photos of him scrapping with other bucks.”

“Three Feet Pete” hasn’t been near as predictable as Three Legged Craig.

‘Pete is the nickname Modisett pinned on a handicapped feral hog that showed up on one of her game cameras back in June in Houston County. The boar was missing it right rear leg. She estimates the dapple- colored hog weighed close to 300 pounds, but its size and colorful coat weren’t the only things that grabbed her attention.

“He had some really big cutters, too,” she said. “I hung a bucket feeder in there after I got the first picture and he pretty much homesteaded it — he lived there. He slept under it waiting for the feeder to go off. He wouldn’t let any other hogs anywhere close.”

Modisett said she collected close to 3,000 pictures of the heavyweight boar between June and August. Her original plan was to try to take the hog with her bow this fall, but Three Feet Pete had other ideas.

The pig disappeared before Labor Day and she hasn’t seen any sign of him since.

“He would have made a great shoulder mount, but I was afraid the hide might slip before I could get to the taxidermist if I shot him during the summer heat,” she said. “I waited and waited before I went in there, and I guess I just waited too long. It makes me sick, but that’s the way goes.”

It’s sort of strange, but Modisett’s three-legged encounters don’t end there. She said her dogs woke her up one night last spring and she discovered a threelegged coyote hunkered down beneath her bass boat. The dogs momentarily stopped the coyote in her yard, but it got away before she could get off a shot.

Modisett says she doesn’t quite understand the three-legged connection.

“It’s really kind of odd,” she said. “I’m not sure why they always gravitate to me. Some of my friends are calling me the three-legged queen.”

Outdoors Briefs

Texas bass pro Clark Wendlandt of Leander took to social media in early November, announcing that he is retiring from professional bass fishing after 33 years.

Wendlandt, 58, is one of the sport’s most decorated and consummate anglers with three Angler of the Year titles on the FLW Tour and one AOY title on the Bassmaster Elite Series tour in 2020.

He’s one of only six pros to win AOY titles on both circuits and one of few to have their likeness on the face of a cereal box. He banked more than $3.1 million in earnings since 1991.

“I’ve got grandkids and I’m looking forward to spending more time with them,” Wendlandt said. “I’m still going to fish a lot, hunt a lot and spend more time working at our ranch.”

Wendlandt expressed thanks to his wife, Patti, sponsors, close friends, fishing fans and pro bass fishing organizations like BASS and FLW for making his more than three decades on the road a memorable journey.

“I couldn’t have done it without them,” he said. “This career has been a blessing to me and my thanks go out to everyone who has been a part of it. I’ll still be around a good bit.”

Belt Fishing nixes tournament circuit

Brandon Belt Fishing recently announced the cancellation “The Show” Team Series bass tournaments for 2025.

Launched in 2023, the circuit was widely regarded as one of the richest team tournament trails in the country because of its high stakes entry fees and lucrative payouts down the line. Teams anted up $1,200 for a shot at a $50,000 first place (plus contingency money) in multiple qualifying events held across Texas leading up to year-end championship that paid more than $100,000 to the first-place team. The circuit also donated thousands of dollars to in support of children’s orphanages.

BBF’s flagship derby was the “The Grand Slam” that started in 2022. In March 2024, Grand Slam winners Colby Miller and Cole Moore won $152,725.

Tournament officials announced the cancellation of the circuit in a November 4 Facebook post.

“After much consideration, we are announcing the cancellation of THE SHOW TEAM SERIES 2025,” the post said. “Although we had hopes at the close of last year for an exciting third year, some unexpected events and unforeseen circumstances have changed our plans. On behalf of Brandon and all of the BBF Crew, we want to express our sincere appreciation to all of the anglers and sponsors who were part of THE SHOW over the last couple of years. It was an incredible ride filled with great memories that we will never forget.”

Parker nets Top 10 in Toyota Championship Zane Parker of Kingwood was the top finishing Texan in the 2024 MLF Toyota Series Championship held Nov. 7-9 on Wheeler Lake in Alabama. Parker notched a ninth-place finish out of a field of 202 pro anglers representing six divisions around the nation. He won $11,000. Chad Mrazek of Montgomery finished 17th in the pro division. Tournament winner Hayden Marbut, 21, of Birmingham, Ala., won the event with 57-12. He banked $235,000.

Texas anglers dominated the co-angler division with three spots among the Top 10. Dave Bozarth of Montgomery won it with a three-day total of 29-04. He won a 518 Phoenix bass boat valued at $33,000. Keith Honeycutt of Temple took second with 29-3, $12,000; Joe Lee of Midlothian finished 10th, $2,000.

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