DEATH STALKS THE WHITETAIL
As the helicopter banked to begin another transect on the Maverick County ranch I was surveying for deer, I intensively scanned the various openings in the brush for those older, reticent bucks that often remain ensconced in the dense thornscrub, refusing to run from the craft. Thirty feet above the virtually flat, wide open South Texas terrain relinquishes a false sense of visibility, but the brush is always thicker than it appears, which is why I have two additional observers accompany me. Six eyes are better than two, and as we flew over a dense stand of persimmon trees, we spotted a doe lying on its side, thrashing its feet in a futile attempt to run. Once a safe place to land was located, I exited the helicopter to determine the reason why the deer was immobilized.
Initially, I assumed it may have hit a tree in its attempt to escape the
