The Muy Grande’s of South Texas

grande_0By Ed Snyder/Outdoors
Three Rivers TX.
Traveling I-59/South from Houston, past Victoria, through Goliad, and Beeville then jogging right on I-37 to the small town of Three Rivers, TX. After a quick lunch an eight mile trek on TX-72 took me into what I refer as, “God’s little Acre”. A wilderness patch of mesquite, willows, and cacti known as the Caliham Wildlife Refuge, which is situated on on the convergence of the Atacosa, Frio, and Nueces Rivers that form Choke Canyon Reservoir. I’ve been here before, experiencing enraged charges of rutting bucks and scampering up mesquite trees to dodge the razor sharp tusks of Javelina. But the vista’s were well worth the dangers.

Big 8 came to fight but BIGGER 10 backed him off with a loud GRUFF

Big 8 came to fight but BIGGER 10 backed him off with a loud GRUFF

The rolling hills of south Texas with its native growth of Pin Oak and Mesquite trees along with its scrub of wheat like grasses seem to bend to the rhythms of the Autumn winds. This alone provides a panoramic vista of almost musical and relaxation. But it also provides a wide variety of wildlife, both feathered and furred hidden within its shadows.

My trek here was to, hopefully, get some good images of buck deer in rutt, as well as for some rest and relaxation. Rutting bucks are male deer in full mating passion for doe’s (female deer). Their necks will swell tremendously and they will become keen on nothing but mating. Most will not feed at this time and will lose their normal wariness of dangers. They will also battle other bucks for the rights of mating with doe’s in estrous.

Doe in estreus looking back for BIG FELLA

Doe in estreus looking back for BIG FELLA

When a doe in estrous is ready to mate she’ll pass off this availability in her urine. A tracking buck will continuously run around sniffing her urine and by smurfing her scent through his olfactory sensors located in the roof of his mouth will signal him if she’s ready for mating.

The buck is vulnerable at this time to attacks by other rutting bucks and will protect his chosen doe from being mated by other bucks. These bouts of dominance with other bucks are violent clashes of antlers -vs- antlers, but are seldom lethal. Most battles occur at night and last but minutes with some I’ve witnessed lasting for 15 minutes or more.

Like a Ghost- A Muy Grande suddenly appears from out of the brush

Like a Ghost- A Muy Grande suddenly appears from out of the brush

I had a scary confrontation with a 10-point buck one early morning as he suddenly appeared on the deer trail in front of me. I was in a brush patch only yards from where he was. His neck antler tines were broke off and his neck was swelled with his body battle scarred from over night fights with other bucks. Suddenly he charged me, and let me tell ya folks, I didn’t know this fat boy could move so fast as I barely dodged his antlers by only inches after moving behind a scrub of mesquite. The wildlife refuge has a NO FIRE-ARMS rule and allows you to move in and around the brush at your own risk. And I’ve had my share of risks.

Some of these confrontations do occur at times in daylight and can almost be comical. One time I watched as an eight point buck moved against two 10-pointers who were trying to wrestle his doe harem away. He was a BIGGUN’ and only had to “Gruff” to chase those two inexperienced buck off. Another time I watched as two bucks fought. A 10-point and 12-point, were locked in battle for a very long time. After a few more minutes they both just dropped from exhaustion and just laid there panting with their tongues hanging out. After a few more minutes the 10-point rose and scampered away leaving the 12-point the winner. I also was able to sneak up on a 14-point buck mating with a doe, he saw me but didn’t care, but when she spotted me it was all over, BLEATING her alert by bolting off with the lovelorn buck chasing behind her.

(L) A Big fella looking for another big fella, (R) Battle scarred 10-point

(L) A Big fella looking for another big fella, (R) Battle scarred 10-point

As an avid hunter most of my life I put my bow and rifle down in 1992, picked up a camera and started shooting deer and other wildlife with film. Now that the digital cameras are the rage I’ve found them to be just what we amateur photographers needed to pursue our hobbies. Some diehard film buffs may disagree with me, BUT, digital has released the expense factor from the equation to set our visual capabilities free. For once you’ve been able to get that certain shot you were looking for, it’s like making that first kill from when you were a kid, but the subject is still alive to be hunted again.

Now, I’m NOT an anti hunter like some would say, as I still believe strongly in the legacy in the sport of hunting. Only now I choose to be eyeballing a viewfinder rather than taking aim through a rifle scope. Besides, sitting in a deer stand not 50 yards away with a scoped rifle waiting for a deer to appear to shoot just doesn’t thrill me at all! But, escaping the rutting charge of a love crazed buck does. The only question is, was he trying to mate me or fight me? …Nuff-Said!

Looking for trouble, this big and bossy 10 hunts for love

Looking for trouble, this big and bossy 10 hunts for love

Any-hoo , I was able to collect a few nice shots of these “Muy Grande” buck and hope you’all enjoy them. My trip to Choke Canyon, as always, was great and a very relaxing success.

This Ed Snyder/Outdoors article is sponsored by Miss Nancy’s Bait Camp, CrystalBeachLocalNews.com, The Beach Triton, and FishingWorld.com

(published 12/29/2014)

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2 Responses to “The Muy Grande’s of South Texas”

  1. Donna T says:

    Nice article and photos Ed!

  2. Lanette says:

    Nice shots!

Leave a Reply to Lanette

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