Records Born of South Texas Soil
Written by: Nate Skinner
About 80 miles southwest of San Antonio near Batesville, Texas, lies 1,500 acres of premier hunting grounds, known as the Trinity Ranch. This stretch of South Texas brush country has done its part to sustain the region’s reputation for producing enormous White-tailed deer in one of the toughest climates in the nation. In fact, Trinity Ranch soil is responsible for elusive, record-breaking bucks, thriving wildlife, and a whole lot more.
The ranch’s latest record was harvested in November of 2018 by archery hunter, Kyle Schuler, and the brute scored a whopping 305 1/8” inches. Nicknamed OMG, the buck was recently awarded the SCI second place position for White-tailed deer, non-typical, Texas Estate Division, taken with bow and arrow. Perhaps even more impressive, is the fact that evidence from his jaw bone combined with the wear on his teeth showed that OMG was only approximately five and a half years old at the time he was harvested. The amount of growth he achieved between his third and fifth years of life was nothing short of phenomenal.
According to Trinity Ranch Owner, David Sunderland, OMG was not even on the radar as far as eyebrow-raising bucks were concerned during his early years.
“At ages 1-3, he was basically an average deer,” Sunderland admitted. “Then all of a sudden at age four, he began to just blow up.”
Sunderland indicates that he and Trinity Ranch Managing Partner, Carlos Zapatero, recovered one of OMG’s sheds from the season prior to him being harvested.
“We estimated him to score around 200 inches at that time,” Sunderland confessed. “We had no idea he would end up breaking the 300-inch mark.”
Sunderland attributes OMG’s astonishing growth to prime range conditions.
“The ranch received much-needed rains at the right time several seasons in a row, which promoted optimal nutrition and habitat, ultimately enhancing our whitetail herd,” he elaborated.
Of course, genetics played a major roll in forming this monster buck’s frame. The native, south Texas deer was born and raised on Trinity Ranch soil, and he obtained the perfect genetic components to create his dreamlike appearance straight from the pasture. In today’s deer hunting industry, this is a rare occurrence, and it speaks to the management practices being implemented on the Trinity Ranch.
The uniqueness of the Trinity Ranch management program lies in the fact that when the operations feel the need to add genetics to the pasture, it is done by releasing deer when they are weaned or before they reach the age of one. Therefore, the whitetails grow up in the pasture and become just as wild as any native deer.
Since Trinity Ranch deer are released at such a young age, they are able to develop natural instincts and responses when they see or sense danger, making them no different than whitetails on a low fence piece of property.
“The results are obvious,” says Sunderland. “Whitetails that grow up in the pasture have to forage for food while trying to stay out of the way of coyotes, bobcats, and other predators. They have to compete with all ages of deer and learn how to fight, as well as compete for food, water, and shelter. As they grow and mature both in stature and intelligence, they become downright difficult to hunt.”
The silver bullet equation for growing massive whitetails has long been known as the perfect combination of genetics, quality nutrition, and age. Sunderland and Zapatero have found that age is an extremely important factor within this equation.
“We have seen our deer put on as many as 20-40 inches between ages five and six and ages six to seven,” claimed Zapatero. “The age factor creates some remarkable and rewarding challenges for hunters. Mature, 6-7 year old whitetails can grow into giants, but hunting them is usually a grueling task. This makes for some sweet moments in the field when everything comes together and a trophy is harvested.”
Several of the notable harvests from the Trinity Ranch over the years took some serious thought and planning in order for the hunter to achieve success.
“We’ve had hunters make multiple trips and endure dozens of sits before ever harvesting, or even encountering their target buck,” explained Sunderland. “It is incredible how difficult our mature deer can be to hunt.”
The Trinity Ranch hasn’t always been a trophy-laden piece of earth that whitetail fanatics dream about. When Sunderland acquired the ranch back in 2009, the stretch of 1,500 acres was in poor shape.
“The pasture had been improperly managed and the habitat was suffering as a result,” Sunderland informed. “The first deer census indicated that the deer population was completely out of balance for this size of property.”
Sunderland states that there was not any livestock on the ranch, but that several places looked like a feedlot with no grass or brush, due to a number of factors. During the two to three years prior to Sunderland acquiring the Trinity Ranch, the property experienced below average rainfall and higher than normal temperatures. Combine this with the fact that the terrain was overpopulated with wildlife and it’s no secret as to why its habitat and vegetation had been decimated.
“Our first priority was to maintain a deer population ratio of about one deer with good age structure per 7-8 acres,” he elaborated. “This would allow the pasture and habitat to recover, which would, in turn, improve the fawn production.”
During his first deer season as the Trinity Ranch owner, Sunderland claims they harvested 540 deer. The next deer season they followed that up by harvesting 430 deer.
“From day one, we started working with Chase Clark of Artemis Outdoors, who consults with landowners about the quality and enhancement of their deer herd,” Sunderland indicated. “Clark helped us with a ton of top-level decision making, and we still continue to work with him on improving the Trinity Ranch.”
Clark has been and still continues to be extremely influential with the management of the Trinity Ranch deer herd, by helping to develop bucks with characteristics that all hunters flock to South Texas for, including antlers with width, mass, dark color, and drop tines, that would average 200 inches. Through a collective effort between Sunderland, Zapatero, Clark, numerous friends and family members, and many hunters, the Trinity Ranch is now inhabited by quality deer sporting the aforementioned traits.
Ongoing habitat management efforts and countless amounts of blood, sweat, and tears continue to be poured into the ranch’s south Texas soil every year.
“Our goals have always remained the same,” concluded Sunderland. “We have been enthralled with the idea of developing a high class, top notch, deer herd that would average the magical 200-inch mark. Knowing that we have had several bucks surpass this level of excellence over the years is a very gratifying, yet humbling feeling. The realization that OMG broke the 300-inch mark and is now honored in the SCI record books is almost surreal. Our hope is to continue to provide our hunters with the opportunity to chase world class, pasture born south Texas whitetails, and we will do everything in our power to make it happen.”
The Trinity Ranch boasts a herd of stunning White-tailed deer, but even more remarkable are the behind the scenes efforts that make this piece of brush country truly incredible. Sunderland and Zapatero have made managing the property’s wildlife and habitat their way of life. Their passion for the south Texas soil and every animal that calls it home spills over into the relationships they build with everyone they meet.
OMG’s 305 1/8 inches of headgear was definitely an anomaly and one that may not happen again for a very long time. However, the emotion and determination that went into the development of this record book buck is an everyday occurrence at the Trinity Ranch. It’s no secret why record-breaking, south Texas monarchs are born there.
