TBGA honors Fort Cavazos hunter, landowner

SAN ANTONIO — Fort Cavazos produced another giant public land buck last deer season, which was recognized during the annual Texas Big Game Awards Saturday at the Natural Bridge Caverns.

The deer, a buck, finished second in its award category for Region 4, Edwards Plateau (low fence, non-typical), according to Texas officials. It carried 162 7/8 gross and 158 2/8 net inches of antler and was harvested by Tony Love, who was hunting at Fort Cavazos last fall. He was recognized at the annual Texas Big Game Awards deer hunter and landowner recognition banquet.

“It’s the cheapest deer lease in Texas,” Love said jokingly, referring to Fort Cavazos, which is not a deer lease, but rather an affordable public land hunting ground. “My son and I were hunting in same training area (different temporary setups) that morning, and a doe showed up and I did not get a shot because she kept moving.”

Love climbed out of his ladder tripod after the doe had left. That’s when he heard the buck, who crashed through the brush, trailing after the doe, Love said. Bucks trail with their keen sense of smell and have adapted to smell the fresh tracks of another. The buck went to where the doe had held her head down, he said.

“I resituated, and he came out in the same place she was at last,” Love recalled. “It happened so fast. I shot, and then he ran, but I kept him in my scope until he stopped and fell over. When I went up to him, I called my son and told him I may have shot the biggest deer of my life.”

Turns out, he did.

Nathan Grigsby, a biologist with the Directorate of Public Works-Natural and Cultural Resources Management Branch’s Wildlife Management Team, attended to accept the landowner award on behalf of Fort Cavazos.

“It’s great to be able to recognize this quality harvest and highlight the excellent hunting opportunities offered at Fort Cavazos,” Grigsby said.

The Wildlife Management Team at Fort Cavazos helps maintain landscape health by ensuring healthy numbers of game animals. Deer management is a big part of this effort.

Fort Cavazos biologists run the public deer hunting program by maintaining annual deer population estimates, establishing deer harvest limits, executing the recreation program through i-Sportsman (online tool) and staffing the game check station for harvest reporting.

“Collecting the biological data from each deer harvested provides some individual health indicators and the age structure of the herd, as well as simultaneously tracking and ensuring the harvest limits are not exceeded,” said Kevin Cagle, DPW-NCRMB senior game biologist.

Cagle is a veteran NCRMB biologist, having served as the installation’s coordinator for deer management since 2002.

“In our situation, consistent harvest over time of larger-antlered, older-aged bucks may be a better indicator of a balanced population structure with adequate nutrition and habitat,” Cagle said. He added appropriately limiting the harvest of a population can allow some bucks to reach older age classes, when large antlers are more likely to develop.

Though Fort Cavazos typically has a few bucks that meet the TBGA minimum antler standards each year, a top three Regional TBGA finish is an achievement not usually realized.

Like all the TBGA honored bucks, this one’s size was measured in the antler growth. Love’s buck antlers were scored 162 7/8 gross and 158 2/8 net inches in the measuring formula which took into account several factors including length, width and circumference.

Each year TBGA honors all that score over 130 net antler inches, which they deem large, often a reflection of good wildlife management, in Region 4.

In addition to large bucks that score the minimum antler inches, the TBGA also recognizes and encourages first-time hunter harvests and youth hunter harvests.

Both Love and Grigsby proudly received their certificates of achievement. The event also featured a banquet meal, raffle prizes and a trophy wall showcasing all the biggest deer submitted from Region 4 and Region 8, South Texas. The event ended with a conservation documentary shown inside the Natural Bridge Caverns cave amphitheater.

TBGA is a partnership between the Texas Wildlife Association, a statewide landowner advocacy group, and the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, regulatory law agency.

TBGA encourages landowners to manage properties for both quality wildlife and habitat because it helps ensure all species remain an enduring part of native ecosystems for generations to come. TBGA values reflect Fort Cavazos’ because an Army training landscape with healthy ecosystem is a NCRMB priority.

NCRMB programs were developed with consideration for the interrelationships between the individual components of the ecosystem including deer, requirements of the military mission and other land-use activities. The focus is on maintaining structure, diversity and integrity of biological communities, while recognizing Soldiers and military missions are vital components to this landscape. This strategy helps preserve and enhance natural resources, while providing optimum environmental conditions required to sustain military missions and realistic training conditions at Fort Cavazos.

For opportunities for outdoor recreation at Fort Cavazos, visit cavazos.isportsman.net.