Deer season in the Lone Star State is a monumental activity and pastime. During this magical time, hunters in virtually every part of the Texas landscape hit the deer camps, leases, and lodges with a vengeance. Like everything in Texas, whitetail hunting is big; big in antlers and tradition. Texas boasts an enormous amount of private land hunting prospects and with that comes many opportunities for not only hunting but habitat and wild game management.
Deer are taken in almost all of Texas’ 254 counties and Tompall Glaser has seen a lot of them. In 2012, Glaser established the Texas Buck Registry – a web portal that serves as a central hub for hunters to share photos, data, and measurables about the deer they harvest. I’ve yet to meet a hunter that doesn’t enjoy seeing images of whitetail bucks and this unique community allows them to view deer taken from all over the state. It’s more than that though. The site is easy to navigate, requiring a simple and free registration process. Harvested bucks can be recorded and viewed, as well as filtered by both county and Texas region. Perhaps the best feature of this tool is that beyond the immense whitetail eye-candy lies a seamless tool for landowners, game managers, and management co-ops.
The Hunting Tradition
Not to be confused with (or related to) one of the original outlaw country music legends, this Tompall Glaser carved a much different path. This one started hunting around age 8 and, like many of us whitetail enthusiasts, is still eaten up with it. Growing up
in Fayette County Texas, Glaser spent a lot of time in the woods. At that time, deer weren’t nearly as plentiful as they are now. It didn’t matter though, because he simply enjoyed being in the outdoors. Plus, in addition to that region, his family was blessed with ranching and hunting property in the deer-rich Texas Hill Country. In fact, this Kimble County property has been in the family for almost a century. Talk about tradition.
Having logged many quality hours in the deer woods with his dad and grandpa, Glaser was hooked. It’s no wonder he also developed an early appreciation for the outdoor lifestyle and culture; time spent in the blind, deer camp and with family. In fact, before age 10, he once killed a doe and when his father returned to pick him up, he found a boy with blood up to his elbows. Having no knife, it eventually became apparent that young Tompall had already field-dressed the deer; with a piece of sharpened chert, no less. I love this story.
Whitetail Management
Today, Glaser vehemently promotes management practices aimed at maximizing buck potential. Says, Glaser, “I do try to educate myself, as well as my hunters on aging and rough scoring deer on the hoof and monitoring deer per acre and buck to doe ratios”. In addition to these practices, he actively engages in habitat management practices, such as providing watering locations and supplemental feed for whitetails and other wildlife. “If you want bigger deer, you need a consistent management plan and I’m hoping TBR can ultimately aid in this”, Glaser says.
Deer and Deer Hunting Philosophy
Deer hunting has come a long way since the deer camps of old. Still, Glaser maintains a healthy appreciation of early hunting in Texas and around the country; Plaid flannel shirts, deer-laden buck poles, and the like. The nostalgia around the original “if it’s brown, it’s down” age isn’t lost on him. However, Glaser’s accumulated knowledge of whitetails and habitat management has drawn him not only toward maximizing buck potential but fair chase low-fence hunting. After all, it’s what he cut his teeth on. That’s not to say he’s against high-fence hunting. To Glaser, the debate centers more around wild vs. imported and pen-raised deer. Still, he understands the pitfalls of such arguments and spends less time contributing to divisiveness and more to promoting his philosophy; A positive approach. Glaser believes that it has a lot more to do with promoting well-managed properties with an emphasis placed on maintaining herds to be as wild as possible; regardless of fence height.
The Birth and Current Operation of TBR
In Glaser’s mind, the concept of TBR began to take shape due to a couple of events. First, a few years back, he took notice of the increase in deer quality in Fayette County after the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department instituted antler restrictions. However, he had no effective way to see the results of these practices in totality; that is, short of checking the county newspaper for photos. Secondly, he had started managing the family’s hill country ranch and finding photos and information of past deer harvests was tenuous at best. The blood and coffee-stained harvest records and handwritten notes left a lot to be desired. Finally, the idea of TBR was conceived one night while driving home from the ranch.
Once the concept was born, it became clear that there would be two primary applications. One, it could serve as a resource for folks
around the state to see the deer being shot, and two, it could serve as a harvest record-keeping tool for ranches, replacing the antiquated pen and paper system that had been used for so long. Perhaps the best part was that all the while, history would be made – and in a cumulative fashion as the number of records grew. “Right now, I’m focused on growing the number of deer on the Registry and social media has been a great conduit for that, particularly Facebook and Instagram. It’s really been fun to meet and converse with many of our users. It’s enabled me to learn from people in different parts of the deer management spectrum. I can then try to pass that information on to others who may find it useful”, Glaser says.
Looking Ahead
Glaser is blessed with a beautiful wife and son; and a baby on the way. Despite his devotion to TBR, his family and finance career in the power industry take up a lot of his time. As such, TBR is a side project. “I pretty much have to work on it between meetings, early in the morning and late at night.”
As far as Glaser’s current hunting regimen, he continues to spend a lot of time in the field, but less as a shooter. “It’s somewhat rare for me to actually harvest an animal these days. I think my role has shifted from a hunter to a wildlife manager; more of an observational role. Though I usually have my rifle, I always have my camera”.
Today, Glaser encourages hunters to grow the best deer they can in the areas they hunt. He knows that It takes work and time, as does anything worthwhile. Further, he knows that concentrating on consistency, flexibility, age-management, and nutrition will eventually pay dividends regarding big buck success. “Like everywhere in life, there are shortcuts to take, but I think success is so much sweeter when the proper time and effort are given”, says Glaser. He also knows that TBR can be part of this success and hopes deer hunters and management groups in Texas will utilize it.
One thing is for sure, the sky is the limit for the Texas Buck Registry, as it will not only grow in photos and data but functionality and utility. Oh, and don’t forget history.
