by John Jefferson
I received a message last week conveying “memories” from past August photographs.
The first one was the attached (herein) image of a running buck deer, shadowed on the ground to his right as he evaded the helicopter in which I was working. That was on my first aerial photo assignment involving white-tailed deer. It was a life-changing experience. I subsequently flew more such missions and enjoyed them all.
Oh, there was an early morning flight in Terrell County that unnerved me. As the chopper ascended, I noticed multiple power lines in the area — frequent causes of helicopter crashes. We flew some narrow canyons along the Rio Grande, hoping to roust out buck deer from their secluded hideouts. I hoped the canyons were wide enough for the helicopter’s rotors!
Between dodging high wires and rocky canyon walls, I was a little nervous. But when we kicked out our first buck, I remembered what we had come for and settled into getting the best images possible. And I realized how fortunate I was to see this untamed canyon country that most Texans don’t even know exists.
Thoughts of friends like Al Brothers and Larry Weishuhn who had gone down in helicopter crashes darted in and out of my mind, but the scenery and excitement of the chase kept me on point.
Later when my friend, TPWD veterinarian, Dr. Bob Ditmar went down in a fatal ’copter crash, thinking of the men who had gone down haunted me. Dr. Bob had guided my grandson, Carter Brown, on a deer hunt during the previous season. Al and Larry survived their crashes, but not without lingering handicaps from the unplanned, hard landings. Charlie Winkler, a TPWD big game biologist warned me about it, saying, “Almost everybody goes down eventually.”
My first aerial adventure was in Webb County off the Old Mines Road. Larry was by the window counting deer and recording their genders. I was in the middle, leaning over him with a telephoto lens. He finally tired of my intrusions and moved to the middle, giving me the window seat. By mid-afternoon, the deer and temperature heated up, so we called it day. But I had discovered a new way of life.
Ranchers will employ aerial deer counts in their management plans this fall. Many hunters will head to their leases over Labor Day weekend to check and fill feeders and chase wasps from deer blinds.
Those of us without leases will be applying for TPWD public drawn hunts or buying $48 Public Hunting Permits on public and private lands. And I’ll be counting the days until the mid-September arrival of the first cool spell of fall!
We can all be thankful that we live in Texas with bountiful game and generous hunting seasons and bag limits.
Think about that as you look forward to fall.
JJ
