A helicopter wasn’t needed to know the 2016-17 hunting season was going to be special.
Story and Photography by Bob Zaiglin

Each year I am privileged to conduct aerial deer surveys on some of the most intensively managed ranches in the state, particularly those located in the buck-rich brush country of South Texas. While doing so, I get to observe a significant number of bucks, some of which are simply beyond what I once thought was really big. More importantly I get to see how both the deer population and the habitat respond to management, and if necessary, make the required management decisions beneficial to deer, especially when it comes to antler size.
But I didn’t need a helicopter to know that the 2016-17 hunting season was going to be special. Throughout the summer and particularly early on in the fall, quail were ubiquitous, and I utilize quail populations as a yardstick measurement of not only antler size, but fawn survival as well. The abundance of birds verified the fact that adequate precipitation occurred during the spring when the birds perform most of their breeding, and more importantly it’s the time of the year that bucks enter the early stages of antlerogenesis—developing those calcified appendages. More importantly I have learned from years of experience that successive wet years, particularly in spring, jumpstart antler growth, especially on well-managed properties.
Well, we not only enjoyed two, but three wet years in portions of Texas, making this season one possibly for the books.

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