Much of the water used by local wildlife, livestock and humans alike comes from these windmills. So too does the name of the Allreds' property. A "mill iron" is a piece of metal at the base of a windmill, and its shape is featured on the old Mill Iron cattle brand. The ranch, along with other acreage in the area, was once owned by William Hughes, who developed it as part of a vast cattle and land empire in the 1880s. As a holdover from those historic days, the Mill Iron name remains legendary in Texas ranching circles, and since buying the land several years ago, the Allreds have worked hard to document and preserve as much of its early history as possible.

Bison herds long ago roamed this area, a fact borne out by their crumbling bones and old wallows. But as is the case in much of the rest of the Panhandle, Collingsworth County's rangeland today serves as habitat for cattle, deer, coyotes and feral hogs, along with impressive numbers of bobwhite quail. Mule deer are still present in good numbers in some other parts of the county and elsewhere in the Panhandle.

Although Don kept apologizing for the fact that the "big" bucks had suddenly made themselves scarce, as we glassed mile after mile of Mill Iron habitat over the next couple of days, we still spotted some good ones. Most were paired up with does in isolated pockets of low brush. Jim and I attempted stalks on several of these bedded pairs, but in each case something kept me from squeezing the trigger. Such is the reality of hunting with a TV camera along, particularly when trying to take a free-ranging mature buck.

By the third afternoon, we figured it was time to slip back into the area in which we'd seen that distinctive buck on opening morning. Mill Iron guide Rex Wilson led Jim and me to within glassing distance of a winter wheat plot that was the closest major food source to where we'd spotted the buck with the down-turned antler. With any luck, he or another good buck would visit the wheat before video light faded.

It turned out to be a perfect plan. We were a long way from the plot when Rex's binoculars picked up movement in it. "Our" buck was already out there grabbing a bite. Unfortunately, he was hardly alone; there were a number of does and smaller bucks on the plot as well, along with a flock of Rio Grande turkeys. We needed to get almost to the plot's edge to have a shot at the big buck, and doing that meant slipping past dozens of wary eyes with little cover to hide our progress.

With the sun slipping toward the horizon, the three of us hunched over and in quiet cadence stepped down the dirt road that wound toward the plot. Every few feet we had to stop and reassess the plan, lest we spook something and blow our cover. Fortunately, each time we looked up the deer in the wheat were feeding away from us, and the turkeys were largely occupied with harassing each other. Each time we put our heads down and went back to creeping.

As we neared the field's edge, I took the lead and motioned Jim in behind me with his tripod-mounted video camera. Through the leafless brush we soon found a lane that afforded us a clear view for filming and shooting. As Jim focused on the feeding buck, I crouched behind a thin mesquite, using its crooked trunk for support of my Thompson/Center .280. When the crosshairs of my Swarovski scope settled on the buck's left shoulder, I squeezed off the 175-yard shot.

A resounding "whump" confirmed that the deer was hit hard. But such evidence wasn't needed; we'd already seen him collapse in his tracks. The 160-grain Federal Vita-Shock round had taken out both shoulders.

On this hunt I never saw any bucks resembling the giant young Hunt Allred shot at Mill Iron Ranches in 2004. For that matter, I didn't see any to match the better ones hanging at Sportsman Taxidermy or A&K Meat Processing in the nearby town of Wellington. But as I walked up to my beautiful 10-pointer lying in the golden light of a December afternoon, I honestly didn't care. I've now tasted the little-known trophy potential of the Texas Panhandle, and you can bet I'll be back as soon as I can for another bite.

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