When I started deer hunting in 1961, I hunted in East Texas on a ranch owned by Johnny Vanecek near Trinity, Texas. At that time, a "Book" deer was defined at 160 points (later changed to 170). This excellent buck, shown by G. Barnes, was taken in 1964 by Johnny's son Joe Wayne while he was working cattle on horseback in a Trinity River bottom field. As I remember the story, Joe Wayne was alerted by dogs chasing a deer and when this buck ran into the field, Joe shot him while still on horseback with a 30-30 that he usually carried. This buck scored just short of the 160 minimum, but was the benchmark deer that I would dream about for years!

A lot that I learned about deer hunting came as a result of the help that Joe Wayne provided this "city" boy! Learning to hunt where there were relatively few deer made one really treasure the opportunities that came later in life and realize that everyone doesn't have the deer hunting opportunity provided by proper land management as provided by people like the Vanecek family.

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