As August starts to wane, lots of hunters are turning their attention to the big buck opportunities that await local bowhunters this fall. But in addition to looking ahead--including to the rapidly approaching Sept. 1, 2022 application deadline for fall bowhunts at Hagerman NWR--there's also plenty of big buck news from last fall, some of it local. Photo courtesy of Doug Rodgers

When it comes to white-tailed deer, there’s never an off-season. And that’s certainly true when it comes to big antlers, the kind that drew sizable crowds of onlookers last weekend at the Texas Trophy Hunters Association and its annual gathering in the DFW Metroplex known as the Hunters Extravaganza.

My longtime turkey hunting pal and well-known local Ducks Unlimited auctioneer Doug Rodgers of Whitesboro attended the event, and was quickly drawn to the deer contest put on by the TTHA. In his mind, it was the best part of the show, and the spot that drew some of the biggest crowds.

With fall quickly approaching, Rodgers and plenty of other Texomaland hunting enthusiasts are hurriedly getting ready for the upcoming seasons, punching arrows into 3-D foam targets every evening, shopping for new gear, and reviewing game camera photos of bucks that might make the fall’s final big buck hit-list.

Such dreams are not only fueled by the calendar pages falling away and the first hints of autumn brought on by this week’s spotty rainfall and a cool front, but also by the ongoing news and social media cycles that keep big buck dreams alive 24/7/365.

One example of that is the news that has come about in recent days from North American Whitetail magazine, which has a reputation as the go-to authority for all things related to deer hunting and big bucks. A part of Outdoor Sportsman Group, NAW has underscored that reputation this month with the breaking news story of a potential world record.

In the magazine’s current issue for September, the cover story tells how Ohio bowhunter Nicole Miller apparently tagged the largest typical whitetail buck ever taken by a woman bowhunter. Coming from a family of enthusiastic bowhunters, the buck — nicknamed “Woody” after legendary Ohio State football coach Woody Hayes — had been an ongoing bow buck target over the last several years.

Last October, Miller finally got her chance, arrowing the massive whitetail and putting the multi-year chase to an end. Now that initial scoring is complete, the typical buck has a gross score of 204 3/8 inches and a net score of 191 0/8 inches.

If the rack’s score is confirmed by the Pope and Young Club (www.pope-young.org) in a few months, then the Miller buck will in effect become a world record by virtue of being the highest scoring whitetail ever taken by a female bowhunter.

NAW magazine editor and television show personality Haynes Shelton says that as of now, there appears to be a good chance that the Miller buck will reside in that No. 1 spot.

“I spoke with P&Y officials regarding the overall ranking of Nicole’s buck in their book,” wrote Shelton in a story detailing the huge whitetail. “Thrilling news was reported back that Nicole’s entry score, which has been accepted by the club, surpasses that of the current top women’s typical whitetail — Paula Wiggers’ 188 6/8 Kansas buck.

“As of this writing, this makes Nicole’s deer a potential Women’s World Record typical whitetail by vertical bow. Why can’t we say now with certainty that this Ohio deer will claim the throne?

“Well, we won’t know for sure until P&Y convenes for the club’s 33rd Biennial Convention on April 12-15, 2023, in Reno, Nevada.”

To see the photos of this huge buck and to read the full story, check out the September issue of the magazine on area newsstands. You can also read about the buck at https://www.northamericanwhitetail.com/editorial/potential-womens-world-record-typical/463476 .

While Ohio has certainly produced some giant whitetails down through the years — the Boone and Crockett No. 3 non-typical “Hole in the Horn” buck comes to mind — Texomaland can certainly hold its own with big bucks carrying around huge head bones.

Case in point was last December’s Grayson County record typical buck, a huge 12-point monster dubbed “Shredder” and a deer that was taken by DPS State Trooper and local bowhunter Tarif Alkhatib. As you might recall, after the 60-day drying period, veteran measurer Ken Witt put a tape to the monster local buck and found that it had a gross score of 199 5/8-inches and a net score of 182 0/8 inches.

Incidentally, the mount of Alkhatib’s buck was quite a hit last week at the Dallas version of the 2022 Hunters Extravaganza show. And word has it that it’s also going to be quite a hit at the Buckmaster’s gathering in Alabama where it will receive a high honor — more on that in a future issue of the Herald Democrat Outdoors.

If the chance to tag your own trophy buck fuels your outdoors dreams this fall, then keep one thing in mind as fall starts to subtly approach. And that’s the fact that while the Alkhatib buck came from private land a good number of miles away from Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge, the backyard refuge is a well-known hotspot for producing big bow bucks.

This year, the 11,320-acre refuge established in 1946 will hold three bowhunts for whitetails in three different hunt segments (Nov. 4-6, Nov. 18-20, and Nov. 30-Dec. 2).

As noted here a few weeks ago, all three hunt segments this year will be for the Sandy, Godwin, and Goode units, smaller units at Hagerman NWR that are included in this year’s run through the refuge’s annual rotation of compartments.

According to information on the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s Drawn Hunt web page (Editor’s Note: While Hagerman NWR staff run the actual hunts, TPWD administers the drawing process as a part of the Austin-based agency’s annual public hunting opportunities), in 2021 there were 1,755 applicants for the 202 hunt permits that ended up being drawn.

While antler quality could be down a little bit this year due to the drought and hot weather we’ve seen in recent months, expect similar numbers of applicants to apply for a much smaller supply of permits in 2022.

According to the TPWD website (www.tpwd.texas.gov), the available permit numbers are down to 139 this year, one of the lowest numbers since the hunts began back in the 1980s, at least recently, that is.

Beyond the reduction in permit numbers, the rest of the refuge’s 2022 hunt details remain familiar to local bowhunters. Those include choosing their hunting site within the three open compartments, no baiting being allowed, and proof of completion of Bowhunter Education being required.

With the Sept. 1 deadline to apply now less than two weeks away, the application fee is $3 per adult and from 1-4 people can apply together on each application. If drawn, the hunt fee for adults (ages 17 and up) is $80 while the hunt fee for youth (ages 9-16, with a supervising adult present that is at least 18-years of age) is zero dollars.

The bag limit for this year’s Hagerman bowhunts is a limit of two antlerless white-tailed deer and two bucks. Per state regulations, any bucks taken by bowhunters at Hagerman this fall must have an inside spread of 13 inches or greater or have at least one unbranched antler. For bucks possessing an inside spread of 13 inches or greater, the limit is one such whitetail.

If you dream of big bucks, and maybe even taking a monster whitetail this fall that will grace the pages of the Herald Democrat or North American Whitetail magazine, then make sure that you’ve got Sept. 1, 2022 marked on your calendar.

Because if you go to sleep dreaming of big antlers bobbing through the woods on a chilly morning as autumn leaves fall gently to the ground, that’s an important deadline approaching and you don’t want to be late for this year’s big buck bowhunting party.

For more information on the Hagerman NWR bowhunts, visit the TPWD Drawn Hunts page at the agency’s website (https://tpwd.texas.gov/huntwild/hunt/public/public_hunt_drawing/hunt-category-details.phtml?OCat=NA).

You can also take a look online at the PDF version of the Hagerman 2022-23 Hunting Brochure (https://www.fws.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2022-2023%20Hagerman%20Limited%20Permit%20Hunts.pdf).

And finally, to contact Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge directly, please call 903-786-2826 during business hours.