routine special section

West Kerr Hunters Guide 2012


WEST KERRCu r r e n t

107-A Hwy. 39 Ingram, Texas 78025

Tel: (830) 367-3501 Fax: (830) 367-3064E-mail: [email protected] www. w k c u r r e n t . c o m

Editor and Publisher Clint Schroeder Advertising Director Phyllis Landin Ad Sales Sheri Baker, Phyllis Landin, Irene Van WinkleContributing writers: Clint Schroeder, Irene Van Winkle, John Wootters Photographers: John Wootters, Irene Van Winkle, Jim Campbell, Clint Schroeder

West Kerr Current Annual Subscription RatesIn county $ 3 0Out-of-county $ 3 5

Any erroneous reflection upon the character or standing of any person or firm appearing in these columns will begladly and promptly corrected upon calling the attention of the management to the article in question. Publisher’sLiability for Error: The publisher’s liability for errors or omissions in connection with an advertisement is strictly limited to publicationof the advertisement in any subsequent issue or the refund of any monies paid for the advertisement.

West Kerr Current 2012Hunters Guide

A publication of the

About the cover:Cover design by Campbell's Art Studio, 367-1308.Exotic and native wildlife can be found throughout West Kerr County. Whitetail andaxis deer regularly visit photographer and graphic designer Jim Campbell at his localart studio.

Welcome to West Kerr County — one of the finest hunting areas in the world— and the West Kerr Current Hunters Guide 2012, published by the West KerrCurrent — a weekly newspaper that serves Ingram, Hunt, Mountain Home andthe Divide.

West Kerr County has world-class hunting all year round, thanks to abundantexotic game on area ranches that augment the native whitetail deer season.

Because wildlife experts this year predict that deer may be slow coming tofeeders early in the season, we direct your attention to articles by whitetailauthority John Wootters about hunting without corn, tracking and antler rattlingfor hunters who are thinking of changing their tactics.

Wootters a nationally known outdoors writer who now resides in West KerrCounty and writes a weekly outdoors column, “Currently Outdoors,” in the We s tKerr Current. He is the author of the all-time best-selling book on deer hunting,“Hunting Trophy Deer,” and has written for Field and Stream and Outdoor Lifemagazines, among many others. Wootters is a true sportsman, and knows the ter-ritory — literally and figuratively.

There also is an article on four taxidermists in the area, for those who wantpermanent memories of exciting hunts.

This publication aims to make your West Kerr hunting experience even moreenjoyable with authoritative stories about hunting and whitetail behavior, photo-graphs, solunar tables, a restaurant and lodging guide, and advertising — somewith discounts and free items — to serve your needs.

Advertisers make the guide possible; please take advantage of the goods andservices they offer— many are specifically for hunters.

And, good hunting!

Clint Schro e d e r,Editor and Publisher

We l c o m e !

5 Points Antiques ...........................A 1 Transmission .............................Bernhards Meat Market.................Books to Share ...............................Broken Arrow Ranch ....................Camp Verde General Store ........Capital Farm Credit ........................Celia’s Closet.....................................Del Norte Restaurant ...................Double L Ranch & Feed ..............Elaine’s Table......................................Five Star Rental.................................Grape & Grain Liquor Store.........Hill Country Arts Foundation ......Hill Country Memorial Hospital.....Heart of the Hills Taxidermy.........Ingram Lake Dam Store ...............JDS Wrecker ....................................Jim Campbell’s Art Studio.............J P Liquor ........................................K & G Plaza Meat Market.............Kerr County Fair...............................Kerrville Main Street ........................Kerrville Hills Winery.........................Kerrville Ranch & Pet Center.......

Key Hill Country Real Estate........Main Street Liquor...........................Mountain Home

Hunting Service.........................Neal Coldwell Taxidermist ...........Queen B’s Tearoom........................Peterson Regional Medical CenRanch Enterprises Ltd...................Ranchers ATV & Tractor................Rhino Linings ...................................Rhodes Bros.Taxidermy.................Secor Equipment

Company.........................................Snowflake Donuts..........................Taco Casa..........................................Texas Etc...........................................Texas Tobacco.................................T J Moore Lumber Yard................West Kerr

Chamber of Commerce .......Wildgoose Gallery Store .............Woodbury Taxidermy ...................YO Ranch...........................................Young’s Jewelers ...........................

Index of Advertisers

19122524192229

626231421

210

97

251228

82227 12

74

195

2141527

2111420

312920252931

213

321315

In wake of rains, deer in good shape

By Clint SchroederWest Kerr Current

Thanks to a change in habitat for thebetter, hunters this season can look for-ward to good, healthy deer with better-than-average antlers. But those goodhabitat conditions may keep deer awayfrom feeders, at least early in the season.

Mike Krueger, Texas Parks & WildlifeDepartment district biologist for theEdwards Plateau, said the start of thisseason could be a repeat of last year,when there was a low deer harvest.

“What happened during the 2011 hunt-ing season last year at this time was thatit was dry, and early in the year deer werereally coming to corn feeders,” Kruegersaid, “but as soon as it started raining andthe habitat started getting better, thosedeer were not as attracted to feeders asthey were when it was still dry.

“We heard that lament from huntersthroughout all last hunting season, ‘What

happened to the deer? I don’t see themanymore.’ ”

Krueger said data collected from deerprocessors confirmed that not a lot ofdeer were brought in.

“Everything that we have, including a

post-season harvest survey that our folksconducted, indicated that the deer harvestlast year during the 2011-12 hunting sea-son was the total lowest harvest thatwe’ve experienced, dating all the wayback to 2000,” he said.

Krueger said 2011 was probably one ofthe worst years on record as far asdrought conditions go.

“We had a real low fawn crop last yearbecause of the poor habitat conditionsand the poor condition of the animalsthemselves,” he said.

Does were bred, he said, but in poorhabitat conditions, a number of thingscan happen.

“The fetus can be resorbed, justabsorbed by the mother if her nutrition-

al condition is poor, or she may go toterm and have the fawn but then the habi-tat conditions are so bad there’s notenough cover there to protect them frompredators,” he said. “Or, mama doesn’thave enough food sources to makeenough milk and therefore the fawns diethrough improper nutrition.”

Those conditions will be reflectedthroughout the life of that group of fawnsthat survived.

“When we expect to have maturebucks in the population that are trophy-quality deer, we’re going to have a dip inthe population just because we had such alow fawn production as a result of the2011 drought,” Krueger said.

Things improved when it started rain-ing in October and rainfall carried intowinter, spring and early summer.

“We had a several-month span startingin October of 2011 going all the way intoJune or so of 2012 when habitat condi-tions were really good,” Krueger said.

“So the deer that survived the droughtof 2011 were able to, in many cases,replenish their body reserves due to the


See Outlook, Page 5

Good habitat couldkeep deer fromfeeders early in season

“Hunters just didn’trespond to the change indeer habits as a result ofthe improvement in habitatconditions last year.”

— Mike Krueger,Kerrville-based TPWD biologist

Photos by Jim Campbell

good winter last year which should trans-late into better-than-average antler pro-duction this year.

“ We’re hoping that the bucks that wereable to live on good groceries throughoutthe fall, winter and spring were able toget enough good nutrition to have aver-age to above-average antler production.

“ We’re hopefully going to see that thisy e a r, and hope that’s going to beexpressed as good antler production com-pared to last year. ”

This year’s rains and improved habitatresulted in good fawn production as doeswere able to recover body reserves.

“ We had real good habitat conditionswhen the fawns started hitting the groundlast spring and summer, so what we’reseeing is average to above-average fawnsurvival rates in the population this year,so those are positive aspects,” Kruegersaid. “When you have lots of fawns beingborn, you just have to kill more deer tokeep the population in balance.”

Good conditions of last year after thedrought should relate to good conditionsfor deer now.

“ We did have some dry periods in latesummer this year when it didn’t rainmuch, but hopefully the animals wereable to survive that well enough andcome through those dry conditions, andhabitat conditions look good now.

“These rains we’ve been getting thisfall again, it’s almost replicated what hap-pened last year at this time,” he said.

The low deer harvest of last year wasnot only bad for hunters, but put addition-al pressure on the habitat.

“ We need to keep deer numbers in con-trol,” Krueger said. “We don’t want toimpact the habitat, but if they’re not put-ting themselves in front of hunters, whichthey didn’t do last year because they did-n ’t come to corn feeders ... that resulted ina low kill.”

On the positive side, Krueger saidthere will be a better proportion of olderbucks this year.

“That should translate into average toabove-average antlers. So things arelooking positive in that regard for huntersthis year. ”

Krueger said most hunters, himselfincluded, are used to hunting around af e e d e r, and last year hunters did notadjust their style of hunting in relation towhat the deer were doing.

“Hunters just didn’t respond to thechange in deer habits as a result of theimprovement in habitat conditions lasty e a r,” he said.

“ T h e r e ’s no way to prove that, but the

best proof we have is that there justw e r e n ’t many deer killed.

“So what happened to them? They just

w e r e n ’t out there. I don’t think it’sbecause of lack of effort, I think thosehunters did show up. We had as manyhunters as ever, deer just didn’t put them-selves in front of the hunters as theywould in a dry year and we could be see-ing the same thing this year. ”

There is a good acorn crop this year,and rains this year have resulted in manycool-season forbs, which are high innutrition and appealing to deer.

“ T h e r e ’s no doubt in many cases that ifa deer has a choice, they’re going to eatthose native foods, those acorns andthose forbs,” Krueger said.

“They’ll come to a corn feeder every

once in a while but they’re not going tobe as addicted to corn as they are duringa dry year or a year when we don’t havea c o r n s . ”

He said good habitat conditions maybe setting up a slow start to the 2012hunting season.

“ I t ’s good for the animals, good for thewildlife world, but maybe not so good forthe hunters,” he said. “We can’t say bads t u ff about good habitat conditionsbecause that’s where it all is, it just makesit tougher for the hunters.

“They may have to adjust their style ofhunting if animals aren’t showing up atfeeders on a regular basis.”


O u t l o o kContinued from Page 4


Outdoors writer John Wo o t t e r san authority on whitetail deer, hunting

You’ll see JohnWootters’ bylineoften in this HuntersGuide. He is anationally known,semi-retired out-doors writer wholives in West KerrCounty and writeshis weekly outdoors column, “CurrentlyOutdoors,” in the West Kerr Current, aweekly newspaper based in Ingram,

He has written the all-time best sell-ing book on deer hunting, “HuntingTrophy Deer” and has more than 30years experience as an outdoors writer.He was editor of Petersen’s Huntingmagazine and author of the monthlycolumn “Buck Sense.” He has writtenfor Outdoor Life, Sports Afield, Field &Stream, American Sportsman,Southern Outdoors, Gray’s SportingJournal, American Rifleman, ShootingTimes, Guns & Ammo and a number ofother magazines. He also has servedon the Board of Directors of theNational Rifle Association.

By John Wo o t t e r s

If you ask a serious Kerr County deerhunter for his definition of a “trophy, ”his answer will most likely be phrased interms of “inches of antler,” “Boone andCrockett score” and “record book.”

Ask a safari hunter the same questionand he’ll begin speaking of “SCI (SafariClub International) score” or “RowlandWard” (the record book for African ani-m a l s ) .

A tournament golfer, trapshooter, ten-nis player or professional athlete maymention a silver cup or belt buckle orengraved statue.

But, according to We b s t e r’s NewInternational Dictionary of the EnglishLanguage, all these are too narrow. Lookit up for yourself; the preferred defini-tion of “trophy” is “a memento of per-sonal accomplishment!”

For big game hunters, that’s perfect;i t ’s exactly what a mounted head on thewall or a bear skin rug is: a memento, am e m o r y - m a k e r. I admire my trophiesevery day, and each one takes me backto a better day, a day when I wasy o u n g e r, stronger, up for any challenge.It might have been climbing a mountainfor a wild sheep or mountain goat, or

walking 20 miles on an elephant trail toget a look at his tusks, and, if one wasbroken, turning around and walking 20miles back to the truck ... and then doingit again next day.

They remind me of obstacles over-come, risks taken, and hard decisionsmade, long crosswind shots pulled off... and sometimes missed. Perhaps,most of all, they remind me of spectac-ular mountain vistas, cloud-wreathedpeaks and misty valleys, snow-meltstreams tumbling down to the riversb e l o w.

Or vast stretches of true wilderness,without a fence or a road for two days’travel in any direction, places where youmay be able to go only afoot or onhorseback. They speak to me of thebrooding mystery of forests and junglesdevoid of human footprints, and savan-nahs where wild antelopes stand andstare in wonder at a hunting vehiclepassing nearby, taking no alarm. Morethan once I’ve told myself, “This mustbe how the Garden of Eden was!”

I recently read a statement by a non-hunter who regularly accompanied ahunting friend on hunts to the mostremote realms, at his own expense.Asked why he did that, he replied

“Because only hunters get to go to themost beautiful and wonderful places onE a r t h ! ”

Reading that, my eyes became moistwith emotion generated by memories ofmy own travels to wild and lovelyplaces I would never have seen but forhunting. Memories and a few photo-graphs are all I have of those adventuresn o w, at age 84, except for my precioust r o p h i e s .

Those memories bring vividly to

What is a trophy?

The author admires the CanadianRockies scenery from the saddle ofhis favorite mountain huntinghorse, Captain. Horseback is theonly practical way to hunt this kindof wilderness.

Responding to anti-hunters’ accusations of damaging gene pools by tak-ing only the finest specimens, Wootters points to whitetail bucks like thisone. Another definition of “trophy” is “a wise old buck that has survivedenough hunting seasons to be as great a challenge to hunters as any witha giant rack.”

See Trophy, Page 7

Photos by John Wootters


mind wild animals and wild peoples, theexcitement of the real world functioningas naturally as it was meant to, the harshand bloody truths of nature at work, aswell as the touching scenes of animalmothers caring for their newborns, andmulti-species panoramas of creaturessharing the sun, air, water and grass ofthat real world.

And, always and forever, Kipling’s“Nature, red in tooth and claw.” Theendless struggle to survive, the mercilessarithmetic of the predators killing theinnocents for protein, and the innocentscheerfully breeding enough new inno-cents to offset their losses. Some mustperish that others survive ... and somewill always survive.

Witnessing these dramas gave me asense of belonging, of being in my natu-ral place in the world, a working part ofthe great plan. My trophies signify that I,like all humans a born predator, am ful-filling my role without blinking, takingmy share but giving back more ... whichthe lion and the crocodile cannot do.

The hunter-haters see mounted tro-phies as cruel emblems of egotism,which only underscores their ignorance

and prejudice. They also accuse us of stripping only

the superior specimens from the herd,thus damaging the gene pool. Anothermisjudgment; most of us tend to cullfreaks, cripples and genetic mistakes ifthe law allows. We simply don’t putthem on the wall.

Finally, the antis charge us withoverkill, decimating populations.Actually, no wildlife species in NorthAmerica has ever been endangered byregulated, legal, sport hunting.Without exception, those creatureswhich have been decimated by shoot-ing — passenger pigeon, plains bison,even whitetail deer in the late 1800s —were not the victims of sportsmen, butof commercial slaughter, market hunt-ing, unrestricted killing for profit. Andwho generated the political pressureand funds to put a stop to these atroci-ties?

Only sportsmen hunters and nobodyelse, despite the acronym-titled organi-zations’ breast-beating!

For a century, hunters have been thegame’s best friends!

TrophyContinued from Page 6

White-tailed DeerArchery Only: Sept. 29-Nov. 2, 2012.

No permit required to hunt antlerlessdeer unless MLD permits have beenissued for the property.

Bag Limit: 5 deer, no more than 2bucks, all seasons combined.

General Season: Nov. 3, 2012-Jan.6, 2013.

Special Late General Season: Jan.7-20, 2013 (antlerless and spike buckdeer only).

Special Youth-Only Season: Earlyopen season: Oct. 27-28, 2012. Lateopen season: Jan. 7-20, 2013.

Bag limits, provision for the take ofantlerless deer, and special require-ments of the county, shall be as spec-ified for the first two days of the gener-al open season.

Licensed hunters 16 years of age oryounger may hunt deer by any lawfulmeans during this season.

Squirrel:No closed season. No bag limit.

Javelina:No closed season. Bag Limit: 2 per

license year.

TurkeyThe annual bag limit for turkey, in the

aggregate for all counties, is four (4),no more than one of which may be anEastern turkey.

Fall: Open season: Nov. 3, 2012-Jan.6, 2013 (either sex).

Archery Only: Sept. 29-Nov. 2, 2012.Special youth-only (general) fall

turkey season: Oct. 27-28, 2012, andJan. 19-20, 2013. Only licensedhunters 16 years of age or youngermay hunt turkey during this season.Bag limit as specified by the general fallturkey season.

Spring:Rio Grande turkey: Open season:

March 16-April 28, 2013 (Gobblersand bearded hens).

Special Youth-Only (Rio Grandeturkey): Open season: Mar. 9-10, 2013and May 4-5, 2013.

Quail:Statewide: Open season: Oct. 27,

2012-Feb. 24, 2013. Daily bag limit: 15Possession limit: 45

Kerr County Hunting Seasons

These tables show when fish and animals are most likely to be active.Longitude 99.20W Latitude 30.04NMajor = 2 hours Minor = 1 hour Accurate within 1 minuteF = Full Moon N = New Moon Q = Quarter > = Peak activityLines marked > indicate best hunting at sunrise or sunset

* Daylight Saving Time

SPORTING TIMES LUNAR TIMESA. M. P. M. SUN TIMES MOON MOON

Minor Major Minor Major Rises Sets Rises Sets Up DownNovember 201201 Thu> 7:48 1:36 8:13 2:00 07:49 06:49 8:56p 10:16a 3:12a 3:36p * 02 Fri 8:42 2:29 9:06 2:54 07:50 06:48 9:45p 11:05a 4:01a 4:25p * 03 Sat 9:35 3:23 9:59 3:47 07:51 06:48 10:36p 11:51a 4:49a 5:13p * 04 Sun 10:27 4:16 10:51 4:39 07:52 06:47 11:29p 12:34p 5:37a 6:00p * 05 Mon 10:18 4:07 10:42 4:30 06:53 05:46 11:24p 12:14p 5:24a 5:47p 06 TueQ 11:07 4:55 11:30 5:18 06:53 05:45 NoMoon 12:52p 6:10a 6:33p 07 Wed 11:53 5:42 ----- 6:05 06:54 05:45 12:20a 1:28p 6:56a 7:20p 08 Thu 12:14 6:26 12:38 6:50 06:55 05:44 1:17a 2:03p 7:43a 8:07p 09 Fri 12:57 7:09 1:21 7:33 06:56 05:43 2:16a 2:39p 8:31a 8:55p 10 Sat 1:40 7:53 2:05 8:18 06:57 05:43 3:17a 3:18p 9:20a 9:46p 11 Sun 2:25 8:38 2:52 9:05 06:58 05:42 4:22a 3:59p 10:13a 10:41p 12 Mon> 3:14 9:28 3:43 9:57 06:58 05:42 5:29a 4:46p 11:09a 11:39p 13 Tue N 4:09 10:24 4:39 10:55 06:59 05:41 6:38a 5:38p 12:10p NoMoon14 Wed> 5:10 11:26 5:42 11:58 07:00 05:40 7:48a 6:35p 1:12p 12:41a

A. M. P. M. SUN TIMES MOON MOONMinor Major Minor Major Rises Sets Rises Sets Up Down

15 Thu> 6:17 12:01 6:48 12:33 07:01 05:40 8:54a 7:38p 2:16p 1:44a 16 Fri> 7:25 1:10 7:56 1:41 07:02 05:39 9:55a 8:43p 3:18p 2:47a 17 Sat 8:33 2:18 9:02 2:48 07:03 05:39 10:50a 9:49p 4:18p 3:48a 18 Sun 9:36 3:23 10:04 3:50 07:04 05:39 11:37a 10:53p 5:13p 4:46a 19 Mon10:34 4:21 11:00 4:47 07:04 05:38 12:19p 11:55p 6:04p 5:39a 20 Tue 11:25 5:13 11:49 5:37 07:05 05:38 12:56p NoMoon 6:52p 6:29a 21 WedQ ---- 6:00 12:11 6:22 07:06 05:38 1:31p 12:53a 7:38p 7:15a 22 Thu 12:31 6:42 12:53 7:04 07:07 05:37 2:04p 1:50a 8:22p 8:00a 23 Fri 1:10 7:21 1:32 7:43 07:08 05:37 2:38p 2:44a 9:05p 8:43a 24 Sat 1:49 8:00 2:11 8:22 07:09 05:37 3:12p 3:38a 9:50p 9:27a 25 Sun 2:28 8:39 2:50 9:01 07:09 05:36 3:48p 4:32a 10:35p 10:12a 26 Mon 3:09 9:20 3:32 9:43 07:10 05:36 4:27p 5:26a 11:21p 10:58a 27 Tue> 3:52 10:04 4:16 10:28 07:11 05:36 5:09p 6:19a NoMoon 11:45a 28 Wed> 4:3810:51 5:03 11:15 07:12 05:36 5:54p 7:11a 12:09a 12:33p29 Thu F 5:28 11:40 5:52 ----- 07:13 05:36 6:42p 8:01a 12:57a 1:21p 30 Fri > 6:19 12:07 6:43 12:31 07:14 05:36 7:32p 8:49a 1:46a 2:10pDecember 201201 Sat> 7:11 12:59 7:35 1:23 07:14 05:36 8:25p 9:33a 2:34a 2:58p 02 Sun 8:03 1:51 8:26 2:15 07:15 05:36 9:18p 10:14a 3:21a 3:44p 03 Mon 8:55 2:43 9:18 3:06 07:16 05:36 10:13p 10:52a 4:07a 4:30p 04 Tue 9:45 3:34 10:08 3:56 07:17 05:36 11:08p 11:27a 4:53a 5:15p 05 Wed 10:34 4:22 10:56 4:45 07:18 05:36 NoMoon 12:02p 5:38a 6:01p


06 ThuQ 11:21 5:09 11:44 5:32 07:18 05:36 12:05a 12:37p 6:24a 6:47p 07 Fri ----- 5:55 12:07 6:19 07:19 05:36 1:03a 1:13p 7:11a 7:35p 08 Sat 12:28 6:41 12:54 7:06 07:20 05:36 2:04a 1:51p 8:00a 8:26p 09 Sun 1:14 7:28 1:41 7:55 07:20 05:36 3:08a 2:34p 8:53a 9:21p 10 Mon 2:03 8:17 2:32 8:47 07:21 05:36 4:14a 3:22p 9:50a 10:20p 11 Tue> 2:55 9:11 3:26 9:42 07:22 05:36 5:23a 4:16p 10:51a 11:22p 12 Wed> 3:53 10:09 4:25 10:41 07:22 05:37 6:31a 5:17p 11:54a NoMoon13 ThuN 4:55 11:11 5:27 11:43 07:23 05:37 7:36a 6:21p 12:58p 12:26a 14 Fri> 6:00 11:41 6:31 12:15 07:24 05:37 8:35a 7:29p 2:00p 1:29a 15 Sat> 7:05 12:51 7:35 1:20 07:24 05:38 9:27a 8:36p 2:59p 2:30a 16 Sun 8:09 1:55 8:36 2:22 07:25 05:38 10:13a 9:41p 3:54p 3:27a 17 Mon 9:08 2:55 9:33 3:21 07:26 05:38 10:53a 10:42p 4:45p 4:20a 18 Tue 10:03 3:51 10:27 4:15 07:26 05:39 11:30a 11:41p 5:33p 5:10a 19 Wed10:52 4:41 11:15 5:04 07:27 05:39 12:05p NoMoon 6:19p 5:56a20 ThuQ 11:38 5:27 ----- 5:49 07:27 05:39 12:39p 12:38a 7:03p 6:41a


21 Fri ----- 6:10 12:21 6:32 07:28 05:40 1:14p 1:33a 7:48p 7:26a 22 Sat 12:40 6:51 1:02 7:14 07:28 05:40 1:49p 2:27a 8:33p 8:10a 23 Sun 1:20 7:32 1:43 7:55 07:29 05:41 2:27p 3:21a 9:19p 8:56a 24 Mon 2:01 8:13 2:24 8:36 07:29 05:41 3:08p 4:14a 10:06p 9:42a 25 Tue 2:43 8:55 3:07 9:19 07:29 05:42 3:52p 5:07a 10:54p 10:30a 26 Wed> 3:27 9:39 3:51 10:03 07:30 05:43 4:39p 5:57a 11:42p 11:18a27 Thu> 4:13 10:25 4:37 10:49 07:30 05:43 5:28p 6:46a NoMoon 12:07p 28 Fri F 5:00 11:12 5:24 11:36 07:31 05:44 6:21p 7:31a 12:31a 12:55p 29 Sat> 5:49 ----- 6:13 12:01 07:31 05:44 7:14p 8:14a 1:19a 1:42p 30 Sun> 6:40 12:28 7:03 12:51 07:31 05:45 8:09p 8:53a 2:06a 2:29p 31 Mon 7:30 1:19 7:53 1:41 07:31 05:46 9:04p 9:29a 2:52a 3:14p January 201301 Tue 8:21 2:09 8:43 2:32 07:32 05:46 10:00p 10:04a 3:37a 3:59p 02 Wed 9:11 3:00 9:34 3:22 07:32 05:47 10:56p 10:39a 4:22a 4:45p03 Thu 10:01 3:50 10:24 4:13 07:32 05:48 11:54p 11:13a 5:07a 5:31p 04 FriQ 10:51 4:39 11:16 5:04 07:32 05:48 NoMoon 11:50a 5:55a 6:19p 05 Sat 11:42 5:29 ---- 5:55 07:32 05:49 12:55a 12:29p 6:45a 7:11p 06 Sun 12:06 6:19 12:33 6:47 07:33 05:50 1:58a 1:13p 7:38a 8:06p 07 Mon 12:56 7:11 1:25 7:40 07:33 05:51 3:04a 2:03p 8:35a 9:05p 08 Tue 1:49 8:04 2:19 8:35 07:33 05:52 4:10a 2:59p 9:35a 10:06p 09 Wed 2:44 8:59 3:15 9:31 07:33 05:52 5:15a 4:00p 10:37a 11:09p 10 Thu > 3:41 9:56 4:12 10:27 07:33 05:53 6:16a 5:05p 11:40a NoMoon11 FriN 4:40 10:55 5:10 11:25 07:33 05:54 7:12a 6:13p 12:41p 12:11a 12 SatN 5:39 11:21 6:08 ----- 07:33 05:55 8:01a 7:20p 1:38p 1:10a 13 Sun> 6:39 12:25 7:05 12:52 07:33 05:56 8:45a 8:24p 2:32p 2:06a 14 Mon> 7:36 1:24 8:02 1:49 07:32 05:56 9:25a 9:26p 3:23p 2:58a 15 Tue 8:32 2:20 8:56 2:44 07:32 05:57 10:02a 10:26p 4:11p 3:47a 16 Wed 9:25 3:13 9:48 3:36 07:32 05:58 10:37a 11:23p 4:57p 4:34a 17 Thu 10:15 4:04 10:38 4:27 07:32 05:59 11:13a NoMoon 5:43p 5:20a 18 Fri 11:03 4:52 11:26 5:14 07:32 06:00 11:49a 12:19a 6:29p 6:06a 19 SatQ 11:49 5:37 ----- 6:00 07:32 06:01 12:26p 1:14a 7:15p 6:52a 20 Sun 12:10 6:21 12:33 6:45 07:31 06:02 1:06p 2:08a 8:02p 7:38a

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Divide ISD Superintendent Bill Bacon dishes up delica-cies at last year’s dinner.

West Kerr Current file photo

Annual Divide Schoolwild game dinner on Friday, Nov. 2

The Divide School will serve up its annual Wild Game Dinner onFriday, Nov. 2, 5-9 p.m., a traditional draw for hunters headed outto West Kerr County and beyond.

The event also features a raffle with some unique items up forgrabs, and a bake sale.

For a $10 donation for adults and $5 for children, the “all youcan eat” meal will include scimitar horned oryx, wild hog, waterbuffalo chili, blackbuck antelope, watusi, spaghetti, chili, meat loafand chicken-fried axis deer, among other delicacies, including, thisyear, bear.

In addition to the exotic meats, side dishes will be plentiful anddesserts also will be served.

In keeping with a longtime tradition, Dutch oven cornbread willbe cooked on site by the Haynie Family.

There also will be a bake sale featuring pies, cakes, fudge, pra-lines and more.

Raffle items include a Yeti ice chest, a week at Laity Lodge camp,an antler ram’s horn hunting knife made by Keith Richard, and atleast one long rifle, among many other items.

Divide School is located on Hwy. 41, about 16 miles west ofHwy. 27 and six miles east of U.S. 83.

Hunters Appreciation Day Nov. 2Double L Ranch and Wildlife Feed, located at

3225 Junction Hwy. in Ingram, will host aHunters Appreciation Day on Friday, Nov. 2, 10a.m. to 5:30 p.m., featuring food, displays andgiveaways.

There will be a live broadcast by REV Radio-94.3 FM and Ingram Tom Moore High SchoolProject Graduation will be doing the concessions,selling hamburgers and sausage wraps, amongother food items.

Double L owner Steve Bauer said the event willfeature specials on hunting equipment and sup-plies, and vendors will have drawings and give-aways.

Vendors include Lamco feeders, LivengoodFeeds, Kyle Ranch, Hi-Pro feeds, In-Sights gameattractants, Ritchie water troughs, Back 40 Supply,Chaffhaye, Kerr County Soil and WaterConservation District and T-Hanger, among oth-ers.


By John Wootters

Anybody who lives almost anywherein Kerr County and has tried to maintaina landscape knows all too well thatwhitetails will eat almost anything thatgrows. The same is true in the wild. Alist of native plants deer won’t eat wouldbe much shorter than one of what theydo eat: the only plants common in theHill Country which I have never seenconsumed by whitetails is mealy bluesage and Ratibida (“Mexican Hat”).

Whitetails are browsers, not grazers;when you see them with heads down,apparently eating grass, remember thatthey’re probably finding forbs. A lay-man’s term for forbs is “weeds,”although not all weeds are forbs.

Also, many forbs are sparsely distrib-uted and often difficult to identify if notin bloom. Beneath oaks in autumn, how-ever, the attraction is probably acorns.Like the Indians (and me), deer prefer

acorns of the white oak group (live oaks,etc.) to those of the red oak clan (locallycalled “Spanish oaks”).

Whitetails also browse many treesand shrubs, eating the leaves, buds andnon-woody stems. In South Texas, gua-jillo and kidneywood are two favoritesthat most hunters know or can learn toidentify. But, again, hungry deer will tryto eat nearly anything, no matter howunappetizing it may appear to us —even the tough, fibrous, prickly leaves ofsotol! I have camcorder footage of a bigbuck gnawing away at the semi-woodytrunk of a prickly pear cactus!

Deer diets vary by region. What deerrelish in the Piney Woods, they may nottouch in the Brush Country, and a HillCountry buck might not even recognizedeer favorites in Georgia or Minnesota.The best way to learn what plants drawdeer in your area is to stop feeding cornand watch foraging deer with binoculars,noticing the foliage characteristics of

what they’re munching.Whitetails also love fruits. In the wild,

they go for wild persimmons, pricklypear “tunas,” muscadine grapes and

other berries, mushrooms, and hauntabandoned apple, pear or citrus trees.

Whitetails are browsers, not grazers, eating mostly foliage of shrubs andtrees and a variety of forbs.

Hunting without corn

See Hunting, Page 11


A rare picture of a whitetail buck in his bed. Known bed grounds shouldbe treated as sacred and never entered by hunters; a buck spooked onhis bed ground may not return for weeks.


Bucky, our free-ranging pet ranch buckin Webb County would follow my wifearound the yard like a puppy dogbecause she was the one that gave himcantaloupe rinds, grapes, bananas,oranges. etc. (Puzzle: How did a SouthTexas-bred buck ever discover that heliked bananas?)Deer trails

Whitetails make and use trails that are

pretty obvious, even to the untrainedeye. They usually follow the easiestroute, and, doing that, also use trailsmade by cattle and other livestock andexotics, and sometimes even vehiculartwo-tracks through woods or pastures.

These trails, of course, are identifiedby the deer tracks in them, but one mustlearn to distinguish between the tracks ofdeer (including exotic species), sheep,goats and javelinas. Many hunters don’tknow that bucks during the rut may notfollow obvious trails, but use obscureroutes downwind from and parallelingmain trails. Scrapes and buck rubs fre-quently appear along these secondarytraces.

If trails penetrate thigh-high frost-weeds or other similar growth, in ashady area, you can easily divert deerusing it to a more convenient (for you)route with an hour’s work with a gaso-line-powered wed-eater. Deer will readi-ly follow your new route, especially ifyou partially block their original onewith debris. But make sure in advancethat you aren’t leading them downwindof your intended hunting location.Deer crossings

Points at which deer cross linear barri-ers, such as fences, roads, and creeks areeasily found with a little exploring, andare well worth finding since they concen-trate whitetail traffic in specific places.

Crossings on ranch roads will almostinvariably occur where brush lines pinchin close to the right-of-way on bothsides, commonly at a minor drainage,narrowing the space deer must beexposed while crossing.

Fence crossings very often will be atholes in the fence, or where there is adip in the ground under the bottom wire.Creek crossings will always be at a nar-rows, and clearly marked by the deertrail on each bank. Spots where thewater is wide enough to force deer tojump will show deeper landing zoneson each bank.

Deer and other wildlife regularlycross Johnson Creek on my private low-water bridge, as shown by conspicuoustrails on both sides. All these trail fea-tures will be plainly visible, even to aninexperienced eye.

Whitetail movements are never ran-dom; there’s always a reason why a deertrail is where it is, and a little detectivework will reveal it. Generally, trails tendto be along protected routes connectingbed grounds, food sources and/or water.Food sources might be agricultural cropsor hunters’ food plots, a particularly pro-ductive acorn tree or grove, wildgrapevines in fruit, a new mushroom ringafter a rain, or something else, but it willbe found at one end of the trail or theother.

HuntingContinued from Page 10

Deer frequently use trails createdby livestock or exotic game. Here,the author follows one obviouslymade by cattle but also used bydeer enroute to a stock tank.

This is a heavily-used crossingpoint on a fenceline and road,where the trail dips below the bot-tom wire. Such crossings are alsoused by javelinas, coyotes, bob-cats and other small game.

.


Hunting deerwithout (much)corn, Part IIBy John Wootters

So many of today’s hunters havegrown up shooting whitetails from per-manent blinds over automatic corn feed-ers, that they may be a little lost thisyear with corn so expensive, and maybescarce.

All is not lost. During your scouting,as described in this column for the lasttwo weeks, you will have discoveredseveral promising locations, but you’renot sure enough to invest the cost andeffort in a permanent blind at all — orany — of these unproven locations with-out feeders.

The answer: temporary blinds whichcan easily and quickly be moved around.There are three kinds: ground blinds,ladder stands and tripods. These are

inexpensive and common in sportinggoods catalogs and stores.

Ground blinds come in many styles,but most feature a camouflage fabriccover over a collapsible metal frame.

I’ve shot bucks from two or threetypes, and have no favorite. Properlyplaced, with a good route for entering itwithout spooking the area, any of themwill produce shots for you.

Most benefit from some natural leafymaterial added to blend in and break upthe silhouette.

A cheaper but more permanentground blind can be fabricated as shownin the photo with four T-posts and about12 feet of net wire, covered with naturaldebris gathered in the immediate vicini-ty. The blind pictured lasted several sea-sons on the author’s Webb County

ranch, needing only a little brush addedoccasionally.

Over-hunting kills any blind. Huntingthe same location more often than aboutone day every other week, reduces

sightings noticeably. Positioning any kind of ground blind

requires more attention to wind direction

All ladder stands and some tripods are easily moved around, even by alone hunter. The “Texas Hunter” tripod above is mostly aluminum, height-adjustable, and stable and safe if properly used.

Upcoming Events

701 Main Street, Kerrville, TX Mon. - Fri. 8-5 (830) 258-1113www.kerrvilletx.gov

Main Street Moonlight DriveScott Schreiner Golf CourseSaturday, October 27, 2012Shotgun Start at 4:00 PM

Contact: (830) 258-1113 for infowww.mainstreetmoonlightdrive.com

Holiday Lighted ParadeDowntown Kerrville

Saturday, November 17, 2012Parade Kick off - 6:00 PM

Wells Fargo Courthouse Lighting - 7:15 PMContact (830) 258-1113 for info

http://kerrville.org/HolidayLightedParade

Mardi Gras on Main Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Y.O. Ranch Hotel and Conference Centerhttp://www.kerrvilletx.gov/MGOM

2012-2013

Holiday StrollFriday, November 30, 2012

Downtown KerrvilleShopping, strolling, caroling, holiday contests,

hot chocolate sipping, and more!Lighting of 30 foot tree @ Courthouse 7:00 PM

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than with elevated stands, but tripodsmay offer better visibility in more thanone direction.

Several models are available in thesame stores and catalogs that sellportable ground blinds. A little naturalfoliage to break up the outline of the tri-pod won’t hurt, but the overriding con-sideration is that you must be able tosee and shoot where you need to, evenif that puts the tripod out in the baldopen.

Ladder stands are a favorite of mine,provided the location has a sturdy treein the right place. They’re more usefularound stock tanks than ground blindsbecause the direction of approach bygame there is less predictable than ontrails.

Ladder stands and tripods can bemoved by hand by one and are thereforeamong the most flexible of all types.

But the most versatile of all is a cam-ouflage suit and the ability to sit verystill. This converts any tree, stump orrock into a hunting place. This was myonly way of hunting for the first 10 or15 years of my deer hunting career, andI shot bucks as close as seven yardswith this technique.

I recommend it to anyone who canremain virtually motionless for severalhours at a stretch, but I can no longer doit. My old joints stiffen up if the buckdoesn’t come along fairly quickly.

One more point: this is the last of athree-part series on deer hunting, as

opposed to sniping, whether or not youcan afford to buy corn this season.

If you do the scouting, it’srespectable, in my opinion, to scatter alittle corn by hand around your chosenhunting location, on the day you huntthere. This is not the same as using anautomatic feeder to train the animals toparade before your blind at a certainhour every day.

Hunting IIContinued from Page 12

This is a covered tripod, of whichthe author used half a dozen on hisSouth Texas ranch with satisfaction.

This is the inexpensive, made-on-the-spot, semi-permanent blinddescribed in the text.


Wildlife officials encourage big deer harvestBy Clint SchroederWest Kerr Current

Wildlife officials are encouraginghunters to harvest all the deer they’reallowed to, so the population is kept incheck to assure good habitat.

Mike Krueger, Texas Parks & WildlifeDepartment district biologist for theEdwards Plateau, said TP&WD promotesthe need for a good deer harvest everyyear.

“We feel like probably in most of

Central Texas, we don’t kill enough deer,in regard to the habitat conditions. Welike to see fewer animals so the habitatisn’t impacted negatively by having toomany mouths on the range,” he said.

“That’s pretty much a standard mantrafrom Parks and Wildlife in this part of theworld: Don’t ever let up on killing deerbecause we want to try to maintain num-bers appropriate for the habitat out there.

He said the deer harvest last year wasthe lowest in the past dozen years.

“The fact that we had that apparent

carryover of deer last year combined withthe good fawn crop this year is a prettystrong indication we don’t want to let upon killing deer. Let’s keep those numbersat a good level, so get out there and fulfillyour tag use,” he said.

Krueger noted that for hunters withdeer leases, the number of deer to be har-vested is always up to the landowner.

“It all comes down to landowner pre-rogative,” he said. “A landowner can seta limit on animals killed that’s more con-servative than what the state says canhappen.”

But in general, TP&WD encouragesshooting plenty of deer to maintain theirhabitat.

“And that also includes exotics as well.In this part of the world we have prettystrong populations of free-rangingexotics such as axis, and fallow and sikaand blackbuck, and we always encour-age harvesting them as well, to maintainthe sizes of those populations in additionto harvesting whitetail deer.”

Krueger said in terms of food competi-tion, exotics can out-compete whitetial inmost cases.

“Axis, in particular, and fallow have abroader range of foods that they can uti-

lize, plants they can utilize, and thereforethey have a competitive advantage overwhitetail deer, who have more narrowfood preferences.

“Exotics always fare better than thewhitetails do in head-to-head competi-tion.”

Krueger said hunters who are limitedby freezer space in what they can harvest,can donate venison to Hunters for theHungry (please see related story on nextpage).

This year’s good fawn crop con-tributes to the need to reduce thedeer population.

Photo by Jim Campbell

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Hunters for the Hungryis a statewide hunger reliefprogram dedicated to provid-ing a healthy source of protein toneedy Texans.

Its mission is to alleviate hunger andmalnutrition in Texas by distributingdonated venison to those in need, to pro-vide a meaningful outlet for hunters tohelp their communities, and to promoteenvironmental stewardship throughwildlife management.

In Texas, one in five people struggle toafford food. In fact, Texas has the secondhighest rate of food insecurity in thenation. But hunger in Texas affectseveryone, not just those in need – foodinsecurity costs the state $9 billion peryear.

To donate deer to Hunters for theHungry, bring your legally tagged, fielddressed deer to a participating meatprocessor. Pay the reduced processingfee. Hunters will receive a receipt foryour donation. The fee is typically about$40, which pays for the processor’slabor. The processing fee may be tax-deductible; consult a tax advisor fordetails.

There is nothing else hunters need todo; the meat processor will prepare themeat and provide it to a local food assis-tance provider.

Participating Hunters for the Hungryprocessors in this area are:

Woodbury Taxidermy &Wildgame Processing, 3286

Junction Hwy., Ingram, (830)367-5855; and

Bernhard MeatProcessing & Market,2920 Junction Hwy.,Kerrville, (830) 367-2995.

Due to state regulations,other wild game is not accept-

ed through the program.Hunters for the Hungry cannot

accept meat that has already beenprocessed, but the program can helphunters find a food assistance providerwho may be able to accept it directly.Contact Hunters for the Hungry for help.

The Texas Association of CommunityAction Agencies, Inc., administers theHunters for the Hungry program, coordi-nating with meat processors, food assis-tance providers, landowners, hunters andstate agencies.

During the 2010-2011 hunting season,96 meat processors donated 178,662pounds of meat to 101 agencies throughHunters for the Hungry. Since the pro-gram’s inception over 20 years ago, it hasprovided over two million pounds ofmeat – nearly nine million servings – tohungry Texans.

With the number of Americans wholack dependable access to adequatefood on the rise, food assistanceproviders need the program’s help morethan ever. More than 62 percent of foodassistance providers reported needingmore protein sources (meat, poultry,fish, beans, eggs, nuts) to serve theirclients.

To learn more about Hunters for theHungry, call 1-800-992-9767, ext. 506, oremail [email protected].


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Taxidermists aimfor life-like lookBy Irene Van WinkleWest Kerr Current

While hunting in the Hill Country is abig part of local life, another aspect of thesport — taxidermy — takes place once atrophy is taken.

Not everyone who hunts necessarilywants or needs an animal mounted abovetheir fireplace, but when they do, theyturn to the professionals. Taxidermy busi-nesses in Kerr County have their owns p e c i a l t y, approach and technique.

Who to choose for that special mountdepends on trust, craftsmanship and pro-fessionalism — as well as a certain intan-gible rapport.

The local consensus is that Wo o d b u r yTa x i d e r m y, located in the heart of down-town Ingram on Junction Highway, is thel a rgest operation around. In fact, it is like-ly in the top tier in the United States.

It is owned and operated by theDieringer family, who pride themselves

on the scope of the geography they coverand the output they produce.

Derek Dieringer is production manag-er of the taxidermy and runs most of theoperation in the office.

“ We are nationally renowned, andhave clients all over the country, ” D e r e ksaid. “About 70 percent of our work isfrom Africa, and we get big shipments.We get work from Europe, New Zealand,and Asia, too. We also do a lot of work forhunters who come in with one deer theygot around here.”

Derek works for his father, Jimmy,who is president. Jimmy’s brother,Darrell Dieringer, is plant manager, inc h a rge of the game processing, develop-ment and shipping.

“I run the business up front, so my dadcan do the taxidermy, which he lovesd o i n g , ” Derek said. “Nothing leaves herewithout him having put his hands on it.He always adds the last touch.”

The only step in the process they don’t

do is the tanning, and that is true of mostlocal taxidermists.

After Jimmy began working at thecompany in the early 1970s, theDieringers bought it in 1976. It hadpassed from Lloyd Wo o d b u r y, whoestablished Wo o d b u r y ’s in the 1950s.Then it was taken over by the Schreinerf a m i l y, who used it for much of their Y ORanch game processing, Derek said,adding that the Schreiners still have aninterest in it. Through the years, it hasserved as a training ground for many taxi-dermists now in business.

Due to its size, Wo o d b u r y, whichemploys more than 30 people, can do all

the work in one place, Derek said, and hesaid he believes they are probably the topproducer of goods in the county.

While his father is a perfectionist andtries to keep all the trophy pieces consis-tent, Derek said that he himself has alsobeen out on hunts, and therefore can“speak the language” when clients comein to discuss what they want.

Farther east along Junction Highway istaxidermist Neal Coldwell, whose familygoes back four generations in the HillC o u n t r y. Coldwell recently set up shop atthe Town and Country Center, but his

Neal Coldwell, here showing a salted hide, has worked as a taxidermistsince he was a freshman in high school. His business recently movedinto West Kerr County.

West Kerr Current photos/Irene Van Winkle

Woodbury Taxidermy in Ingram heads the list of taxidermy companies,not only in Kerr County, but in the United States. The staff mounts andprocesses trophy animals from all around the world, with the largest por-tion coming from Africa. Derek Dieringer, office and business manager,runs the office for his father, Jimmy, who is company president. Hestands with a gemsbok, with a South American tapir at his right, and awild dog in a gallery above.

See Taxidermy, Page 17


first taxidermy job was with LloydWoodbury when he brought his businessto Center Point. Woodbury had comefrom Wyoming, and Coldwell was still afreshman in high school.

“The shop sat where the MesaFoundry is now, next to the post off i c e , ”he said. “It was Aug. 1, 1972. I remem-b e r, because I was getting the mail andhelped Mr. Woodbury unload his truckthat day. ”

Coldwell later worked for 17 years forRhodes Brothers Ta x i d e r m y. Eventually,he set up shop with a partner onBroadway in Kerrville, and then finallyedged his way closer to West KerrC o u n t y.

“The meat processors I use are overhere and most of the big hunting andranches are out here, too,” he said.

He said his stock in trade is to cater toclients.

“I’ve got the best prices in town, and Iwork the fastest,” he said.

Of course, he added, early in the sea-son means mounts are produced moreq u i c k l y. Later, the sheer volume means

that the work piles up and the productstake longer to finish.

His workers begin by removing thehides first and then salting them, whichdoes not take long. The salt removes themoisture from the hides, and the rolled-up hide must usually sit for about threedays. Coldwell said they do not do thetanning either.

“Back in the old days, there were onlya few tanners around, like in Houston, orCalifornia. Now, there are tanners every-where,” he said. Ty p i c a l l y, then, it takesabout 40 days to get the hides back fromthe tanners.

Next, the hides go onto the mounts.“Then we put in the eyes, work the

c l a y, and do the nose work,” Coldwells a i d .

“I take care of my people, in ways thatmean I don’t even charge,” he said. “Istay busy year-round, and don’t get manydays off . ”

Just down the road is Gary Broach andhis brother, Mark, who own and operateRhodes Brothers Ta x i d e r m y. Gary saidthey got the business from their father,the elder Gary, who retired 23 years afterstarting the business. The father, whodied while hunting elk in Colorado in2006, had acquired the company from

Ray and John, the original RhodesBrothers, who started in 1978.

Gary Broach, who operates and man-ages the business, said that in order tokeep running profitably and eff i c i e n t l y, he

uses modern technology to his advantage,staying in touch constantly by e-mail, onFacebook and on the company’s website.

Ta x i d e r m yContinued from Page 16

Gary Broach, owner of Rhodes Brothers Taxidermy and GameProcessing, stands with a 120-lb. mountain lion he retrieved that wa sfound in Bandera County. Broach is able to maximize his customer inter-action through the use of the internet.

Kevin Kurz of Heart O’ the Hills Taxidermy (established in 1937) inKerrville enjoys the artistry of trophy mounts, and pays careful attentionto the smallest details.

Derek Dieringer of Woodbury Taxidermy here stands with a zebramount, and a fighting bull is at right.


See Taxidermy, Page 18


“I get instructions from my clients andam in communication with them all thetime,” he said. “I don’t want to be road-kill on the information highway. ”

In his freezer recently was a 120-pound mountain lion that was found outin Bandera. He has posted on hisFacebook page a photo of himself hold-ing up the animal.

Like Coldwell, Broach said they donot do the tanning there. His crew doesthe mounts, and they also sell the meat, aswell as hides.

Broach said he also will grade hunters’trophies if they bring them in, and he canscore them using various systems, includ-ing the EWA (Exotic Wi l d l i f eAssociation) records.

“ We’re not the biggest, we’re not thecheapest, but we are the one-stop shop asfar as your meat or your mount goes,” hesaid. “We offer a value, quality, and aprompt turnaround.”

In Kerrville is Kevin Kurz, who hasowned Heart ’O the Hills Taxidermy forseven years, after purchasing it fromSparky and Sandra Murray. The Murrayshad worked for Ira Norris, and the busi-ness itself was established in 1937.

The building still sits in the originallocation at the corner of Earl Garrett andNorth streets in downtown Kerrville.

Kurz, however, is no stranger to theart, or science, of taxidermy, and knowsmost of the people in the business.

“I worked for everybody around herefor 20 years in wholesale taxidermy, ”Kurz said.

While he isn’t the biggest or the fastesttaxidermist in the area, Kurz prides him-self on getting all the smallest detailsr i g h t .

“I put a lot of effort and work into eachmount,” he said. “Whenever I see amount someone has done, I always thinkof how I could make one better than thatone. Everyone wants to raise the bar. It’sthe artistic challenge to make somethinglook life-like.”

G e n e r a l l y, the forms over which hidesare mounted are mass produced now,made from styrofoam, so they are light.

“The forms used to be made fromburlap and (papier) mache, and then theywould put a wood block for the antlers,they would attach with screws. T h e nthere is the clay modeling.”

N o w, with forms light and easy towork, he said it gives him more time topay attention to the details. On deermounts, he said he has gone so far as tocreate the nictitating membrane in theeye, and recreated the caruncle in the cor-n e r. He also takes care to make each nosemore lifelike, recreating the shape, tex-ture and color.

“I try to make the animal look likethe individual he was,” he said. “Insteadof making the skin fit into the form, I

make the form fit the skin. On the olderdeer, I even make the dewlap under thechin.”

Kurz said he also loves doing fish andbirds. Two large-mouthed bass mountedside by side are so close in appearance

that it is hard to distinguish the real onefrom one he made completely froms c r a t c h .

“I painted each scale, and even madeeach bump, so it would look like the realthing,” he said.

Ta x i d e r m yContinued from Page 17

Neal Coldwell, at left, works with employee Jose Gonzalez, helping takethe hide off an animal, which will eventually become a trophy mount.

At center, a mount is placed on a form, which nowadays is made fromstyrofoam, shown here with antlers secured at the top at the work areain Heart O’ the Hills Taxidermy on Earl Garrett St. in Kerrville.

Rhodes Bros. Taxidermy and Game Processing near Ingram offers a nicevariety of trophy mounts, and has been in business since the 1970s.



Where Have All The Hunters Gone?

By Jimmy Counts

Huntin’ time in West Kerr CountyAll the hunters have come rollin’ inThere are a big bunch of ’em here

And I like to visit ’em now and then

I went out to visit with ’emBut there isn’t a hunter in sightI’ve been by all their feeders

And to their camps in the night

Where have all the hunters gone?When they got here there were many

But I’ve searched far and wideAnd can’t find hide nor hair of any

Where have all the hunters gone?Into some deep chasm did they slip

Or did the aliens fly down hereAnd beam ’em up to their ship

Where have all the hunters gone?Did goblins get ’em at last

Or maybe they have all been takenBy the ghosts of Whitetails past

I thought they came to kill a deerBut man was I ever wrong by farCause when I finally found ’em

They were killin’ beers at the local bar

Jimmy Counts grew up on a ranch in Coke County, Texas where his ownexperiences were fodder for many of his poems. He moved to the TexasHill Country in 2000, where his talents as a cowboy poet were quickly dis-covered.

300 Junction HighwayKerrville, Texas 78028

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Wayne O’BryantProprietor



There is something eerily fascinatingabout the footprint of a wild animal.

I remember feeling the hair stir on thenape of my neck when my eye first fellupon the track in the snow of a hugeAlaskan grizzly. It was the same sensa-tion I felt as I stared at the pug marks of awounded African lion that I was about tofollow up.

But it doesn’t have to be big and dan-gerous; the print of a large whitetail buckis just as exciting in a different way.

First, there is the knowledge that theanimal once stood exactly here, that Icould have reached out and touched himif we’d both been standing in our tracks atthe same moment. The imprint provesthat the buck is a real, solid, flesh-and-blood creature, substantial enough toleave a mark on the planet, howeverunreal he may seem when you hunt him.

Metaphysics aside, however, there’smore information to be read from that

track. Most obvious is size and weight.Any experienced deer hunter knows the

size of tracks made by the best bucks inhis hunting area, but there are other fac-tors.

The depth of the track depends on thesoftness of the soil surface and the track-

m a k e r’s rate of travel, as well as them a k e r’s weight. A running deer’s toessplay out and often slide forward in the

The t r a c k

No two deer tracks look exactly alike. Minor (and sometimes major) dif-ferences will appear to distinguish one set of prints from all others.Deformities on the hooves of this deer made her tracks unmistakable.

Exciting sign: the track of a largewhitetail buck, walking in soft sandand very fresh.

John Wootters photos

See Track, Page 21

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print, making it deceptively wider andlonger. Running buck tracks always makeme curious — was he fleeing or chasing?If chasing, it must have been a doe; iffleeing … from what?

The tracker now looks for a section oftrail, knowing that a big-bodied buckshows a wider “straddle” — more spacebetween the tracks of his right and lefthooves. When walking, the hind hoovesoften fail to register in the front-hooftracks like those of lesser deer, and thebigger the buck, the farther short they’llfall.

A walking buck usually drags thetips of his hooves into each track, amark that’s easy to see in mud, lightsnow or sand, but that can be detectedby close inspection of tracks in almostany medium soft enough to show awhole track.

There are other ways to “sex” deertracks, although size alone is not one ofthem. True, an exceptionally large buckleaves a bigger track than any female, butsuch bucks are rare anywhere.Otherwise, there’s much overlap in tracksize between big, old does and average-sized bucks.

Urine marks from does registerbetween or slightly behind the hind-hoofmarks, whereas those of bucks, for obvi-ous anatomical reasons, fall well aheadof a line drawn through the two reartracks.

By the same token, deer beds can beidentified as to gender: when a buck getsup at leisure (not jumped) he will urinatesomewhere within the outlines of thebed, whereas a doe usually makes hermark outside the bed. (I estimate theaccuracy of this deduction at 60 to 70percent.)

Judging the age of tracks is a bit of anart, and requires study and practice, butthe information gained is well worth thetrouble. Sometimes it’s simple; if rain felllast night, any sharp, clean prints foundthis morning can be aged almost to thehour.

Under most hunting-season condi-tions, however, it won’t be so easy.Consideration must be given to the con-sistency of the soil, and to recent weath-er, especially temperature, humidity andwind. Temperature and humidity controlhow fast the track dries out and thus theapparent age, and wind can blur thetrack prematurely and deposit leaves andother debris in it. Is the track in deepshade, or has it been exposed to direct

sun? The shadier, the longer it will lookfresh.

Experience is the best teacher of thesethings, but you can accelerate the accu-mulation of experience by systematical-ly studying tracks you actually sawbeing made, at intervals over a 24-hourperiod, noting how they change withage.


TrackContinued from Page 20



I t ’s a mystery to me that so many peo-ple, men and women alike, seem aston-ished to learn that my small, blue-eyed,very feminine wife is an enthusiastich u n t e r. Nationwide, only about six per-cent of hunting licenses are sold towomen, but that adds up to 1-3/4 millionfemale hunters.

For more than 35 years, every deerlease of which I’ve been a member hasbeen family-style, where wives (and kids)were welcome and hunted just as hard,regularly and successfully as the men.

It may be that the only reason moreladies don’t hunt is that they never had achance to find out whether they like it,and have not been invited or instructed inthe necessary skills and traditions.

Take my wife, Jeannie. She grew up ina family in which the brothers were fish-ermen but not hunters. After 10 years ofbeing married to me, she began to insiston being included on some deer hunts,especially since she was part owner of the

property on which I was hunting.I wasn’t sure how serious a hunter she

would be but enjoyed having her along.She shot a whitetail buck just 15 minutesafter I deposited her on her first deer standand drove away. Since then (1964), shehas hunted whitetails every season andhas hunted with me twice in Africa, whereshe came to be respectfully addressed bythe safari crew as “Madam One-Shot.”

In 1991, a huge buck appeared on ourlittle ranch in Webb County. He was hus-tling does around a feeder in the ranchhouse yard, which we’d declared a sanc-t u a r y. We would not shoot the deer insidethe house-trap fence, and we couldn’tcatch him outside that fence. I scouted the50-acre house trap and could find no signthat the buck was actually living insidethe fence.

Our ranch had no high fences, noplanted food plots, no feeders (except theone at the house, where no shooting wasallowed), and few permanent stands orblinds at that time. Hunting at “LosCuernos,” as we’d named it back in 1979,

was about as fair-chase as you can get.You already know, from the adjacent

picture, that she got the big buck, andh e r e ’s how she went about it. She walkedthe house-trap fence (about a mile), check-ing out every game crossing. Where shefound big deer tracks she back-trailedthem, and soon discovered that all thetrails originated in a thicket along a creekbottom 500 yards from the fence. T h ethornbrush there was so dense that she hadto crawl into some of its trails on handsand knees. It was worth the trouble whenshe discovered the heart of a big buck’sbreeding territory, so active she couldactually smell him, with rubs, scrapes,fight scenes and tracks everywhere.

She could, however, find no placefrom which the hot area could be hunted.More exploration located two senderospassing through the thicket that crossedeach other a quarter-mile from the creek.Jeannie asked me to erect a tripod stand

where they crossed so she could seedown both senderos.

At first light next morning she spottedthe target buck chasing a doe on the farside of the creek, much too far to shoot.A couple of agonizing hours later, HisMajesty followed his girlfriend acrossone of her senderos within range of her.308, and Madam One-Shot dumped himon his royal nose.

His 14-point rack remains the besthead taken on Los Cuernos during our22-year ownership, gross-scoring about163 B-&-C. At 6-1/2 years of age, thebuck was a proud product of our wildlifemanagement program. He was honestlyhunted and fairly taken, on open range,done in by the patience, skill and experi-ence of a lady hunter. Frankly, I haveknown very few male hunters who couldhave killed that buck.

He was, however, no match forMadam One-Shot.

The author’s wife, Jeannie Wootters, exults over the best set of antlersever collected on their ranch near Laredo – which had no high fences, noplanted food plots, no automatic feeders and few permanent blinds. Hewas her solo project, taken in strict fair chase without even a word ofadvice from her husband

John Wootters photo

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Archery hunting stamp sales way upFew will hear the whisper soft “string

music” of archery-only deer season. But,that doesn’t mean there aren’t a lot ofhunters making bowstring music; archeryhunting stamp sales are up substantiallythis year, according to the Texas Parksand Wildlife Department.

Entering the “soft” opener of deer sea-son, the archery-only season Sept. 29-Nov. 2, archery endorsements are up 15.2percent at 13,231 statewide. The endorse-ment is required of anyone hunting dur-ing the archery-only season. Theendorsement is included in the depart-ment’s Super Combo hunting and fishing

license package, sales of which are alsoup 11.75 percent at 292,670.

Wildlife officials point to reboundingrange conditions this year that helpedbolster deer populations as a contributingfactor to the jump in hunting participationthis fall.

A bright outlook for deer season maynot be the only reason more archers aretaking to the woods. TPWD is takingsteps to introduce archery to potentialnew hunters through the NationalArchery in the Schools Program, now inits eighth year in Texas.

NASP is being offered in all 50 states

and six countries. To date worldwide,more than 9.5 million school childrenfrom more than 10,300 schools in grades4-12 have received archery instructionfrom their NASP teachers.

Toyota is the primary sponsor ofTexas-NASP and the program is part ofthe state’s hunter and bowhunter educa-tion efforts, programs that are supportedfrom the sales of archery equipmentthrough the federal Sport Fish andWildlife Restoration Program efforts.

For information about the Texas-National Archery in the SchoolsProgram, contact Burnie Kessner with

Texas Parks and Wildlife Department [email protected] or (979)862-7341. Or, see the TPWD archery inthe schools Web page.

An archery shop has opened inthe Dam Center across fromIngram Dam.

By John Wootters

Are you getting bored sitting in thesame blind every day, watching thesame deer come to the same feeder, andnever seeing the wallhanger buck you’relooking for?

Boy, have I got a hot tip for you! It’s called horn-rattling. Actually, it’s

antler-rattling, but we’ll settle for eithername.

Until you’ve seen a buck chargingyour rattling with fire in his eyes and allthe hair on the back of his neck standingon end, taking a wicked swipe at everybush he passes, you haven’t lived. I’verattled up the first buck many peoplehave seen come to the horns, and theirreactions have ranged from beingspeechless to terrified to paralysis.

Of course, not all bucks responding torattling come in like that, but you willremember each one that does for the restof your days! Most approach at a briskwalk or trot, stopping now and then tosurvey the situation. They give a hunterplenty of opportunity to size up their tro-phy potential, and almost always pro-vide a short, easy shot.

And most of the biggest bucks I’vetaken have been rattled up. Antler-rat-tling is a great way to change your luckand put some real anticipation andexcitement back into deer hunting.

There is no great secret to rattling,and there really is no wrong way to doit. On the first morning I ever tried it,with a pair of borrowed antlers, I rattledup eight bucks, ranging from a spike upto a big 10-pointer, and I was hooked forlife!

And don’t let anybody tell you itwon’t work; in the right season, it worksanywhere there are whitetail deer. It

works best where there’s a high ratio ofbucks to does in the herd, but I’ve madeit produce all the way from southernMexico to Canada, and in most states inbetween. Where it fails is where thereare so many does per buck that bucksdon’t need to compete for breedingrights, because that competition is whatmakes rattling work ... and what makesthe bigger bucks respond.

Where the female segment of the herdexceeds the males by more than three-to-one, horn-rattling will still produceonce in a while, but may not be the mostproductive tactic. But when the rationears one-to-one, the response can bealmost scary!

Rattles are not hard to come by. I’veeven used year-old shed antlers I pickedup in the woods to pull bucks in, butthey were sound and solid, not chalky ordried out. If you don’t have an old set ofdeer horns out in the garage, you may beable to buy a set from a local taxider-mist. I prefer 10-point racks, but otherexperienced rattlers like eight-pointers.Either works, but opt for the thickest,heaviest antler beams available.

I rattled up my biggest whitetail buckwith a set of mule-deer antlers fromNew Mexico, but axis-deer antlers arenot well-suited to rattling.

Preparation of rattles is easy. Just sawoff the brow-tines and smooth the areawith a coarse file. Drill a quarter-inchhole through the butt of each antler for a


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Rattles

Multiple simultaneous responses to antler-rattling are common.Sometimes the rattled-up bucks will challenge each other.


Note here that the tips of the points on the right antler have been blunt-ed. Wootters thinks this removes some of the tinny overtones, especiallyin smaller antlers. It also protects the hands while rattling.

See Rattles, Page 25


cord with which to hang them over yours h o u l d e r, and you’re done.

Now you can play with your new rat-tles to see how they work best. Most rat-tlers strike them outside to outside,engaging the tines first.

I prefer to strike them inside to outsideto get better contact between the beamsfor louder clashes, but any style thatworks for you with your antlers is correct.

Resist the temptation to soak your rat-tles in water or rub them with linseedoil, or anything else.

If they’re dried out, soaking in waterwill temporarily restore a good sound,but the more you soak them, the moreyou will have to soak them, and theywill rot out. Soaking in linseed oilmakes them brittle and they may shatterwhen struck hard together. The best wayto take care of a good set of rattles inthe off-season is simply to keep them inan air-conditioned house where the tem-

perature is fairly even year-round. T h e ywill last for many years.

In the following article, learn how touse your new rattles, and when, andwhere.

Opening day of deer season is fastapproaching!

R a t t l e sContinued from Page 24

Left, a pair of shed whitetail antlers picked up in the woods before theydried out. (Wootters rattled up four bucks in one morning with these rat-tles); center, a pair of mule deer antlers with which he rattled-up hisbiggest-ever whitetail and, right, his favorite whitetail antlers, from a bucktaken in Mexico.

Each notch on this antler repre-sents a buck rattled up with it overtwo seasons.

By John Wootters

Antler rattling is limited to the periodof the whitetail rut, or about two to fouror five weeks each year.

You must read the sign in the woodsto know when to begin your rattlingcampaign. A sudden proliferation ofbuck rubs and scrapes is a good indica-tor. Others are the appearance of lone-some fawns, and, of course, bucks withswollen necks and messy hocks follow-ing or chasing does or fighting.

Early morning and late evening aregood times to rattle. I’ve drawn morebucks in the morning, but most of my big-ger bucks have come in late evening.However, I don’t hesitate to use the hornsat any time of day if the rut’s going strong.

Avoid excessive rattling. Any timeyou rattle, any buck that hears it maycome to investigate, but you may not see

him when he gets your wind and quietlydeparts. He then knows that the soundcan mean danger, and may not come tothe horns again that season. I never rat-tle until I’m convinced that the rut is infull swing.Where

Obviously, wherever you think a buckmay hear. It’s important to remain inplace for at least 20 minutes after youbegin rattling, to give distant bucks timeto approach. I’ve seen a buck come run-ning from at least 600 yards out.

I’ve also decided to get up and leavetoo soon, only to spook a buck that hadcome in close without showing himself.That’s another one that won’t answer thehorns again anytime soon.

For the same reason, I won’t start arattling routine before the light is goodenough in the morning for me to posi-tively see and judge an incoming buck.

As to rattling location, the paramountrequirement is good visibility down-wind, which is where you will shootmost of your rattled-up bucks.Otherwise, a little cover and conceal-ment never hurts, even wearing fullcamouflage (including on face andhands). Remember, his hearing is goodenough to pinpoint the source of thesounds exactly, and he comes in expect-ing to see another deer. If he sees a maninstead, it’s “Goodbye Charlie!”

Admittedly, some bucks can becomefoolishly unwary during the peak of therut, but don’t count on it; be quiet andstill until it’s time to raise the rifle andshoot.How

There’s no wrong way to rattle,because no two buck fights sound exact-ly the same. I always assume thatthere’s a buck closer than I know, and tobegin very softly. It’s surprising howoften there is one close that I hadn’t seenuntil I tickled the horns and he poppedup in my face.


Antler-rattling tactics

This buck is coming to the rattlingcautiously but confidently,because he thinks he can whip anyother buck that shows up.


Camouflage is especially valuable when the hunter must make move-ments and sounds, as in antler rattling, which can alert an incoming buck.

See Tactics, Page 27


If that doesn’t happen, I wait a minute and thenhaul off and whack the horns together with all theforce I can muster and immediately proceed torattle them furiously for a minute or less, keepinga sharp lookout in all directions.

Note: it’s impossible for a man to make asmuch noise with two antlers as two bucks canmake with four!

If nothing appears, I put the antlers down andwait a full five minutes, scanning diligently 360degrees.

This routine can be repeated as long as you’rehopeful at that spot. You’ll work out variations onthis routine of your own, add elements such asscratching a sapling’s bark with an antler, rakinggravel, thumping the ground with the horns, usinga grunt tube (sparingly), or whatever inspirationstrikes you. You’re putting on a performance,broadcasting a message. The message is thatthere’s a hot doe around here somewhere and acouple of bucks are fighting over her. Anythingthat seems to you to help convey that message isOK. But don’t overdo it. Real buck fights tend topause and restart, with the combatants takingbreaks to bash bushes, paw the dirt, and glare ateach other ... and rest. Use your imagination, lis-ten to the sounds you’re producing critically.Never let your guard down for even a second.Scan constantly using as little movement as possi-

ble, and keep your rifle close at hand.If a buck comes in that you don’t want, watch

him closely but don’t spook him; he will “point”any other deer in the vicinity, usually long beforeyou’d notice it. You might even start a fightbetween two evenly matched animals.

And take a camera along; if all goes well, youmay rattle up bucks you don’t want to kill, butyou can still possess their images to show yourbuddies or to compare to their development nextyear.

Antler-rattling time is the most fun I know howto have in the woods. I often do it even if I don’tintend to shoot anything, just for the excitement!

TacticsContinued from Page 26

Wootters’ rattling style — striking the outsideof one antler against the inside of the other —is shown here but different antlers require dif-ferent styles, and whatever works is correct.

By John Wootters

That title is no misprint; that’s the fullscientific name, in Latin — genus,species, and sub-species — of what wecall “axis deer.” This animal’s name inthe language of its native land (India) is“chital” (“chee-tal”), which is where wegot the name Chital Ridge for our street,when the 911 commission forced us togive up our old address on Hoot OwlHollow but let us name our own street.

The axis is by far the most successfulof the Hill Country “exotics;” in fact, itthreatens to drive out the native whitetaildeer entirely.

Two characteristics, besides the beau-tiful spotted coat that axis retain for life,make the axis very different from ourmore familiar deer. One is that the axisis a herd animal, whereas the native deeris largely solitary except when fawns arewith their mother or during breedingseason.

The other is that axis eat mostly grasswhile whitetails are browsers, subsistingon leaves, forbs (weeds), and buds andtwigs of shrubbery. They may nip a biteof new, tender grass shoots occasionally.

This difference gives the axis a com-petitive edge over the natives when con-ditions get hard; while there is grass,they compete very little with whitetails,but when the grass is gone in winter ordrought, axis can switch to browse.Then they compete heavily with thesmaller, less aggressive natives. Theherding habit causes the axis to congre-gate on scarce forage sources, almost tothe exclusion of the whitetails.

Axis can breed year-around; there isno distinct “breeding season” like thewhitetail rut. The species evolved in thetropics where there are no seasons as weknow them, so females may be receptivein any month. However, the axis, whichfirst arrived in Texas in 1935, seem to beslowly developing an annual matingperiod in late July and August, with asubsequent fawning surge in Februaryand March.

Still, pregnant does and newbornfawns can be seen at any time of year, ascan males with antlers in any growthstage.

Axis antlers are very large in propor-tion to body size and typically form along beam with a brow tine near thebase and a top point, or “caudal tine”higher. Extra tines are rare. Very occa-sionally a stag will produce more thanthe standard six points, up to 10 or evenmore.

Stags rub small trees, sometimes todeath, but do not make scrapes, likewhitetail bucks. They may demonstratesize and rank by standing on hind legsand reaching as high as possible intothe outer branches of trees, chewing anddepositing scent from well-developedpre-orbital glands on twigs and leaves,and antler-bashing them, possibly to“perfume” the antlers like Whitetailbucks. This activity is called “preach-ing.” The soil trampled under the stags’hind hooves may bear some resem-blance to whitetail scrapes but there isno known similarity of motive or mes-sage, other than advertising the size andvirility of the maker.

Normally, mature stags are not perma-nently attached to a doe herd, but travel


AxisAxisAxis

The axis stag we named Hercules, center, presents a frontal view of his amazing antlers. This many axis stagsare rarely seen peacefully together because they tend to be solitary except with an estrous doe — and thenthey tend to fight.


See Axis, Page 29

a great deal, going from one group ofdoes to the next, constantly prospectingfor females in or near estrous. When oneis discovered, the stag will remain withher until she cycles out of heat, duringwhich time the male strenuously defendsher from the attentions of other bucks.He may also issue challenges to rivalstags in the form of a series of hoarsebellows or screams, usually in series offour or five, sometimes more. This per-formance appears to serve a similar pur-pose to that of bull elk bugling, toannounce dominance and reduce breed-ing competition.

In late summer and early fall, the hillsalong Johnson Creek often ring withthese challenges, especially at night.

Or at least they did before somebodydownstream began a massive program oftrapping axis for commercial purposesand reduced the historic Johnson Creekherd exponentially. All through thedrought, my wife and I supported theherd at considerable effort and expense,feeding corn, protein and alfalfa.

Now I’m told someone is making

good money off our investment andinterest in the animals. State law pro-vides no protection for non-native gameand the trapping is legal. But the trapperis exploiting for profit a resource thatprovides pleasure to many citizens alongthe creek, including the Wootters. Wherewe once fed 100 axis deer each evening,now we may see a dozen, or none at allfor several days in a row.


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Turkey outlook goodBy Clint SchroederWest Kerr Current

The hunting outlook for turkeys shouldbe excellent for the next several years,thanks to a very good turkey hatch,wildlife officials say.

“The habitat conditions were so goodinto the turkey nesting and brood-rearingperiod that everything that we see lookslike that we have an outstanding turkeyhatch,” said Mike Krueger, EdwardsPlateau district biologist for the TexasParks & Wildlife Department.

Krueger said that will translate out

over time, as this year’s cohort of turkeyswill live two, three and four years.

“Hunters can take advantage of thosegood turkey hatches this year for severalsuccessive years,” he said.

Turkeys nest in early spring and reartheir broods in May and June.

“By the time hot summer conditions gethere, hopefully they’ve survived andthey’re to a size that they can withstand thedryness that occurs in late summer,” hesaid. “So it looks like that’s what happened.

“We had what looks like some verygood poult production, good youngturkey production this year.”

Axis males fight violent and pro-longed battles for breeding rights.A well-matched pair may fight allday, with occasional breaks to rest.

AxisContinued from Page 28

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3287 Junction Highway, Ingram, 830-370-0773.

100% Angus beef hot dogs, servedsteamed or bacon-wrapped and deep fried.Choice of toppings. Also, appetizers, sidesand beverages. Open Tuesday throughSaturday.Whataburger

3215 Junction Hwy., Ingram, (830) 367-3557

Serving burgers and more just the wayyou like them.Taqueria Altos de Jalisco MexicanRestaurant

422 Junction Hwy., Ingram, (830) 367-7820

Breakfast, lunch and dinner featuring all ofyour favorite Mexican food, including crispytacos, hot cheese, beef or chicken enchi-ladas, warm tortillas, fajitas, salads, beans;seafood, more. Chips and salsa are broughtto your table to begin your meal. Beer andwine available, along with fresh Mexican pas-tries for desserts. Open 7 days a week, 6a.m.-10 p.m.Rita’s Famous Tacos II

3106 Junction Highway, 830-367-3088Authentic Mexican cuisine, serving break-

fast and lunch like the restaurant in down-town Kerrville. Open 7 days a week, 6 a.m.-2p.m.

West Kerrville RestaurantsRio Ranch Cafe

2590 B-7 Junction Hwy., (830) 367-1850

Offering a wide selection of breakfast,lunch and dinner items. Loads of lunch anddinner entrees including burgers, sand-wiches, salads, Mexican plates, steaks,pork chops, chicken and salmon. Open 7days a week. Tuesday-Saturday, 7 a.m.-9p.m., Sunday-Monday, 7 a.m.-2 p.m.Taqueria Jalisco Mexican Restaurant

2190 Junction Hwy. South Texas fine Jalisco style Mexican

food. Daily lunch specials. Open 7 days aweek, 6 a.m.-10 p.m.Bill’s BBQ

1909 Junction Hwy. , (830) 895-5733Famous barbecue brisket, sausage, pork

loin, ribs, chicken, turkey, cole slaw, potatosalad, beans all the Texas trimmings hasbeen served from this location for over 35years. Open Tuesday-Saturday, 11 a.m.-7p.m.Billy Gene’s Restaurant

1489 Junction Hwy, (830) 895-7377By the Guadalupe River, specializing in

Angus steaks, seafood, chicken and salads.Hours are 11 a.m.-9 p.m., 7 days a week.

LODGINGAl Lado del Rio

P. O. Box 658, Ingram, TX 78025, Nancy

Fridell. (830) 367-5853Atypical Cottage

P. O. Box 345, Ingram, TX 78025, Evelyn &Eddie Miller.Armadillo Junction RV Park

P. O. Box 31, Hwy. 27, Ingram, TX 78025.(830) 367-3200, 1-800-288-2848.Bluff Trails

P. O. Box 690. Ingram, TX 78025, R. E. &Sandra Warren, (830) 367-5656.Bumblebee Lodge

117 Easy St. W., Ingram, TX 78025,Johnny McAshan, (830) 238-3482.Cabin By The Lake

P. O. Box 185, Ingram, TX 78025, DeborahSimpson, (830) 367-4953.Casa del Rio

1929 Hwy. 39, Hunt, TX 78024 (830) 238-4424, Buster & Betty Matteson,[email protected], wkcc.com/casadelrio. htm.Cuv'ee Cottage

302 Scenic Hills Kerrville TX 78028. Peterand Cynthia Beeman, 830.895.2868;www.thecuveecottage.comElm Cottage B&B

1985 Bear Creek Rd., Kerrville, TX 78028.Willie & Lana McDaniel, (830) 367-4783, onthe web at: wkcc.com/ Elmcottage.htm.Hallelujah Hut B&B

2955 Hwy. 39, Hunt, TX 78024, BonnieSpillers, (830) 238-3496.


Continued on page 31

West Kerr Visitors Guide: Restaurants & LodgingWest Kerr Visitors Guide: Restaurants & Lodging


Hunter House Inn and Suites 314 Hwy 39 W., Ingram, TX 78025, (830)

367-2377, (800) 655-2377.Mo Ranch

2229 FM 1340, Hunt, TX 78024 (830)238-4455, 1-800-460-4401, Fax: (830) 238-4531, and on the web at:s a l e s m o r a n c h . c o m .Riverside RV Park

211 Old Ingram Loop, Ingram, TX 78025.Spend the night or a month in your RV on thebanks of the Guadalupe River. Full Hook-ups.R e s e r vations recommended, but notrequired. (830) 367-4843.P r i c e ’s Joy Spring Ranch

B&B 361 Rock Bottom Rd., Hunt, TX78024 Don & June Price, (830) 238-4531,Fax: (830) 238-4531.River Inn Resort

2960 Hwy. 39, Hunt, TX 78024, (830) 238-4226, Fax: (830) 238-3015, [email protected], riverinnresort. com.River Lodging

1120 Hwy 39, Ingram, TX 78025, (830)3 6 7 - 5 2 1 6 .River Oaks Lodge B&B

1120 Hwy 39, Ingram, TX78025, (830) 367-4214, stay@riveroak-

slodge.com, riveroakslodge.com.Riverhouse Cottage

H w y. 39, Hunt, TX 78024, (817) 735-1059.River Road B&B

P. O. Box 498, Hunt, TX 78024, LacyGilbert, (830) 238-4244.Roddy Tree Ranch

P. O Box 820, Hunt, TX 78024, Keith &Gretchen Asbury, (830) 367-2871,(800)309-9868, [email protected],r o d d y t r e e . c o m .Stowers Ranch

Rt. 1 Box 175, Hunt, TX 78024. JimmyHarrell, (830) 238-4346.Sundown Carriage House B&B

Rt. 2 Box 263 A, Hunt, TX 78024, (830) 238-4169. 1-800-878-1670, thesundown. com.Sunset Inn

Sunset Studio/Jane Gay,124 Oehler Rd,Mountain Home, TX 78058, (830) 866- 3336,(877) 739-1214, www.sunsetinnstudio. com.The Brush and Pallette

200 Hwy. 39, Ingram, Texas, (830) 367-4 1 5 5 .The Getaway Cottage

P. O. Box 379, Hunt, TX 78024, Danny &Lana Edwards, (830) 238-3401.The Little House/The Tree House

166 Dowling Rd., Ingram, TX 78025, Dee &Joe Marino, (830) 367-4624.Top of the Hills B&B

200 Hilltop, Ingram, TX 78028, Bill & CarolTiff, (830) 367-2818, [email protected],t o p o f t h e h i l l . c o m .Waltonia Lodges

120 Waltonia Dr., Ingram, TX 78025,Thornton Secor, (830) 367-5613. wa l t o-n i a l o d g e s . c o m .YO Ranch

Mt. Home, TX 78025, Gus Schreiner, (830)640-3222 or (830) 640-3227.

More than just lumberat Moore’s

T.J. Moore Lumber Ya rd112 Highway 39, Ingram, TX 78025 — (830) 367-4900 — Fax (830) 367-2976

Established 1892 • Located at the “Y” in Ingram • www. t j m o o r re l u m b e r. c o m

• Quality Lumber• Hardware• Ranch Supplies• Doors/Wi n d o w s• Plumbing Supplies

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