Though the sun has yet to peek through the October sky, the foursome is bright-eyed and ready for action. Taking their places in the South Texas Brush Country, each waits patiently for what the morning mist may soon reveal.
It’s a cool fall morning at the Temple Ranch, on the outskirts of Freer, where it’s their time, their weekend.
"It’s an honor because they treat us like big guests," said Cleburne Junior Hannah Hall. "We have nice dinners, but then we also get to go hunt these deer. It’s such a privilege."
Hall is one on a team of girls who competed in the recent Buckskin Brigade competition. Strangers from the start, the five come from every part of the state. They entered the camp outnumbered, 30 guys to just one team of five girls. But it’s the girls who came out on top.
"I definitely didn’t think we had the upper hand, but we tried a lot harder. It was pretty challenging," said Sabinal Junior Caroline Nunley, who followed in her older sister’s footsteps into the brigade. "We had to do a lot of different things to earn points to get to the top. There was a lot of hard competition."
Fittingly, the fab five took the team name of "buck kickers."Although the competition this year was the closest in the history of the program, it didn’t hold the girls back from rubbing it in a little.
"It felt really good to win over all the guys," Nunley said.
The Texas Brigades are intensive leadership development programs based on wildlife. The brigade will take one species such as whitetail deer, bobwhite quail, bass or turkey and plunge teenagers into an extensive course on that species. Participants learn about the biology and ecology of the species, along with developing leadership and communication skills that will make them ambassadors for the subject matter.
"It’s just an amazing program. I’ve never seen another program that uses such a unique teaching style to immerse kids, in-depth intensively, in a particular curriculum," Jenny Sanders said.
Sanders has been involved with the brigade program for 15 years. She started out attending the camps herself and is now on the South Texas committee and state board of directors.
"We ask a lot of them and they produce for us. I think kids these days aren’t challenged enough in school and sometimes even by their parents. This program, it challenges them to the max and in a subject matter that not many programs teach."
A weekend trip to the ranch and the opportunity to harvest a top-notch buck was the reward for winning. Four of the five girls were able to make the trip. While it was a hunt of a lifetime for the girls, their hosts seem to enjoy it equally.
"We’ve had a lot of fun with them," Ellen Temple says. She and her husband, Buddy, are owners of the Temple Ranch. "They’re just nice kids and they just love being outdoors. They love hunting and that’s fun for us to see that and interact with them."
"Getting out here and seeing all this firsthand, it really piques their curiosity," Buddy Temple chimes in. "I think it makes them more interested in the natural world as they become adults. So we like that."
The Temples are big time conservationists, and have created a successful game management program by encouraging native habit. Sharing their Brush Country retreat is a passion. This year is the second time the Temples have hosted the Buckskin Brigade winners and they plan to continue the tradition, hoping to add more youth hunts to their calendar.
Hunting experience among the foursome varied. Nunley has hunted since she was six. On this trip she bags a nine-pointer. Carrizo Springs Junior Karina Chavarria harvested her first deer ever—a seven-point buck. Even with her heart pounding, nerves of steel took over as she took aim.
"He was looking right at us. I was so nervous. But the next thing you know, I just pulled the trigger and he was down," Chavarria recalls. "It felt pretty cool. I was like shaking. I didn’t know what to say. I was amazed."
Local game wardens and wildlife experts were on hand, ready to challenge the girls on their newfound knowledge and guide them through any questions on wildlife responsibilities. The recent experience has Chavarria thinking about taking up a profession in the outdoors. She’s not alone.
"I want to be a wildlife biologist and I thought the brigades would be a really good way to see what it’s like," Burton Junior Karina Engeling said. "It’s really cool, because I’ve never met any other girls who like hunting as much as I do. But we’re like best friends now. We have a lot in common."
Engeling bagged a 10-pointer. Though hunting is a passion, she finds herself in the stands quite often back home, even choosing to take a camera instead of a gun.
Each member of the quartet plans on returning to the brigade camps to serve as leaders. All shared experiences that their program leaders strive for.
"There’s nothing like seeing the light in their eyes when they get to do something they’ve never done before and be rewarded for their hard work. It’s just really neat," Sanders said. "To be able to feel like you’re passing on that outdoor legacy that we cherish so deeply in Texas is a good feeling."
Top row left to right: Buddy and Ellen Temple, Robert and Jenny Sanders. Bottom row left to right: Karina Chavarria, Hannah Hall, Caroline Nunley and Karina Engeling.
Local game wardens stopped by the Temple Ranch to take questions from the "buck kickers" on the responsibilities that come with taking to the great outdoors.