Tuesday, June 20, 2017
One Of Dudley's Favorite Texas Deer Hunting Stories ...
W.A. (Will) Brown
Travis County 1922
Boone and Crockett 170 3/8 pts.
Will Brown stood over his buck, looking down at the high, beautifully symmetrical rack, then the three 30/30 holes in the shoulder, and thought back on how strategy and luck had helped in collecting his trophy.
The area he had chosen to hunt, known as the Devil's Hollow, was about 4 or 5 miles north of the Colorado River. It was dotted with large outcroppings of limestone, thick headers and canyons, and was known for producing big bucks with oversized racks. Will was well familiar with the headers, canyons and bucks of this area.
He had been told that cowboys were going to be working the area, and knew their activities would shake out some deer. He also knew of an excellent spot to be situated when the cowboys began their work, a spot where three thickly grown over headers came together. He drug out the Winchester and waited for morning.
The sun had barely begun to crack that cold, mid-winter darkness as Will, huddled beside a fallen cedar, heard the cowboys in the distance.
At first, their yells were only faint, then louder as they headed in his direction. The octagonal barreled Winchester was cold and crisp to the touch. Will's breath floated in a slow fog and the air was sharp in his lungs. Then another sound. Not the cowboys, but the tinkling of hooves on limestone, deer hooves. Will eased the cold Winchester to his shoulder, then out they came.
A doe and buck were running from the cover of the header and making tracks for the safety of another canyon some three hundred yards away. Looking down the old buckhorn sights, Will saw the front bead dancing on, then off, the buck's front shoulder. Grey forms, sprinting for cover, safety was closer at every bound. Flashing hooves, glistening rack, then the Winchester spoke. and still the deer kept on. Again, another shot and, still, the animals were making their frantic run. Then once more Will fired. This time, the huge buck went down.
Another fifty yards and Will Brown's deer would have made it to the thicket. Another fifty yards, and Will Brown would not have had a Boone and Crockett record.
From Big Rack: Texas All-Time Largest Whitetails From 1892-1975, by Robert Rogers.
Dudley was curious as to where this buck was killed. Dudley knew Mr Brown was buried in the Bee Cave Baptist Cemetery just outside of Austin when he passed away in 1966. Dudley found an old map online of Travis County and started at Bee Cave and then looked at the nearby Colorado River. Dudley quickly found the canyon called Devils Hollow marked on the old map. This area is now under 20 plus feet of water from Lake Travis. They built the Lake twenty years after Will Brown killed his B&C buck.
This is what the Devils Hollow Canyon looks like now on the weekends during the Summer. Devils Cove is a well known Party Spot on Lake Travis.
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