I can tell you that I grew up in this area Atkinson talks about, and know several of those ranches very well. I even hunted the Boyd ranch growing up. Deer of B&C proportions do in fact live there, but don't let the book be your sole source of information, as any avid mule deer hunter knows, many of the biggest mule deer bucks do not make the book, the the "book" can be (and is, IMO) overated. There are bucks killed in the 190"+ class every year in these areas I(we killed 2 190" class bucks last year here). It is a sleeper area for sure, with tightly controlled access, huge ranches, and many ranchers do not need the money here (oil royalties fill the bill nicely for them). Like he said, the deer are thinly dispersed over vast areas, much like Sonora. The big bucks are there, and the hunting can be brutal, but worth it.
Here's one from the area, Nov '09, a 230" class buck:
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http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t32/JGrimes_2007/GainesHammeheadbuck.jpg[/img][/img]
I think its a stretch to compare the hunting in the county where that deer was taken in the photo to the area where ole Ray is trying to book his hunts. That county was just opened to hunting this year and there were sure to be some giant deer killed. Look at what happened in Yoakum and Cochran counties when they were opened to hunting back in 97-98, they killed the state record in Yoakum that year, a 221 2/8" giant killed by Pat Beaird. It was the state record for 6 years until that freak in Reeves County was killed(283"). Yoakum and Cochran never produced like they did in the first couple years and while a couple good deer get killed every now and again the cream of the crop was skimmed off the top early.
I am kind of surprised that Ray is still trying to book mule deer hunts, he and I have gone round and round on another forum as to his advertising practices. He advertises a deer that a friend of mine killed many years ago, its on his website being held by the landowners wife, and he advertises it as a 234+ deer. The deer is a slob, but its not 234+, its a 207" deer and he killed it on an unguided hunt and its the best deer he's killed in that country and he was born and raised there. Ray claims it was killed 4 years ago but it was shot over a decade ago
There are only a handful of deer killed in Texas that qualify for the Boone and Crockett Record Book and while I completely agree with JGRaider that the "book" overrated, I have a problem with the claim that they kill 2-3 a year. Its simply not true.
All this being said, I have to give credit where credit is due, Ray and I had a fairly hated debate a couple of years ago when he claimed that the new "state record" was killed at the gate of one of the ranches he was booking for and I corrected him. He was talking about a deer that was killed in a closed county(same county that just opened this year) I know this because I wrote the article that was in Muley Crazy Magazine as well as Kings Hunting Illustrated. It wasnt close to that ranch. I am happy to see that he is not advertising with that deer anymore as it was poached. The article I wrote was called "Forbidden Fruit" and I will be more than happy to find the issue numbers if anybody is interested.
If your looking to hunt this area of Texas you need to go in with realistic expectations. Ray says that "I have 3 ranches in Texas owned by the same people and they shoot 3 bucks each year and all are over 200 B&C but your not allowed to shoot lesser bucks." If your not allowed to shoot deer less that 200" then I think you'd have almost as much luck on a Unicorn hunt on the same ranch. The country has produced them but a 200" deer anywhere is tough, much less desert country where the densities are low
This area has,in the past,produced the kind of deer you couldnt expect in several lifetimes of hunting, the odds of finding that kind of deer would be similar to winning the Lotto somewhere. To place an expectation on a 200" deer anywhere other than the Arizona Strip or maybe the Henry Mountains with the very best guides available is simply irresponsible, even in those areas 200" can be a tough expectation to meet and exceed
With all due respect to Ray, I am not trying to get into an arguement with anybody, merely expressing an opinion based on many years of chasing the biggest mule deer in the best country available.
Drummond Lindsey
