Shelby County Today

December 22, 2017 - John Idrogo has learned a lot about the dos and don'ts of deer hunting over the years. In hindsight, the 48-year-old hunter from Tyler claims the most valuable - and toughest - of those lessons is one he had much rather forget.

Shift to the 2014 deer season. It was a dreary day during the Thanksgiving holidays and Idrogo was sharing a Henderson County box blind with his young son, J.J. Only eight years old at the time, J.J. had never taken a crack at a deer before and he was anxious to get blood on his hands for the first time.

The woods had been particularly quiet and the two hunters hadn't seen much other than squirrels and songbirds. Idrogo had grown so bored in the blind that he reached for his cell phone to check e-mails while his son peered out the window looking for any signs of movement.

That's when the wake up call came.

"We were just sitting there and J.J. yelled 'look dad, it's a buck!'" Idrogo recalled. "I'm like, yeah, right. When I looked up, there he stood. It was a really nice 10-pointer. He was broadside to us, probably 70 yards away."

What happened next hatched into a nightmare that has haunted J.J.'s father ever since.

Rather than handing the .223 to his son, Idrogo grabbed the rifle and hastily shot at the deer himself. J.J., meanwhile, just sat there and watched as the buck ran away and melted into the brush.

Realizing the crappy deed he had just carried out, Idrogo said he was instantly stricken with guilt and grief.

"I felt terrible about it," he said. "What I did was very selfish. I didn't even hand him the gun. I shot at the deer myself and I felt guilty as heck about it. I told J.J. right then that I was sorry - that I'd never do that to him again."

Indrogo eventually got a little redemption when J.J. shot his first doe, but the shameful feeling of having robbed his son of the opportunity to shoot the buck lived on in the back of his mind until last month. That's when J.J., now 11, finally brought his dad's conscious some serious relief in a really big way.

Hunting on a 1,200-acre low-fence lease in Smith County on opening weekend, the youth hunter shot a whale of a buck that may be the highest scoring open range non-typical whitetail ever shot in the county. It is by far the biggest Smith County non-typical ever reported to the Texas Big Game Awards, a hunter recognition program run jointly by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and the Texas Wildlife Association since 1992.

Idrogo's buck, a massive 17 pointer, was originally scored for TBGA at 190 6/8 gross and 178 net B&C by TPWD wildlife biologist Larry LeBeau of Tyler. LeBeau said he had some questions regarding a few of the measurements on the freak antlers, so he invited fellow biologist and official B&C scorer Billy Lambert of Hearne to do a re-score. The official green gross score before 60 days drying stands at 186, Idrogo said.

The 5 1/2-year-old buck will fall well shy of the 195 net score required for non-typical entry to the B&C all-time record book, but you won't hear J.J. complaining about it. The Brown Elementary 5th grader is much too busy soaking up the attention and learning all he can about his newest passion.

"I used to watch Netflix a lot, but now I watch the Outdoor Channel and hunting videos on You Tube all the time," the youth hunter said. "I'm learning a lot about deer hunting and all the different products out there. It's pretty neat."

One aspect of the game that Idrogo has become particularly obsessed with is horn rattling during the rut.

Understandably so. Witnessing a giant buck coming to the sounds of a buck fight is a rare sight that just about every deer hunter dreams about, but only a handful are fortunate enough to experience in a lifetime of hunting. For an 11-year-old kid to see such a thing can have life-changing implications.

"My dad rattled and next thing we knew there he was, looking for a fight," J.J. said. "I'll never forget it."

Indeed, there was some serious mojo dancing in the air along the Sabine River bottom during opening weekend of the 2017 deer season. To hear John Idrogo tell it, he believes the big buck his son shot on the morning of Nov. 5 was truly a Godsend.

"I remember laying in my cot the night before," he said. "We had just finished eating soup I had warmed over campfire when a friend texted sme an Internet link to a story about a giant typical buck that a guy (Bryan O'Neal of Quitman) had killed in Smith County last year. After I read that story I put my hand on my Bible and thought to myself how great it would be if J.J. could kill a big buck like that. I swear, that was the last thought I had before I went to sleep."

The Hunt of a Lifetime

Opening weekend turned off unseasonably warm and muggy across eastern Texas but the Idrogos decided to head to the lease anyway. They made it to their stand well before sunrise on Sunday morning and saw the first signs of activity about 7 a.m.

Their stand is positioned between several blinds on a woodline at the edge of a long pipeline, providing a clear view for several hundred yards to the left and right.

"The first deer we saw was a pretty nice buck," John Idrogo said. "I looked at him through my binoculars but he was way too far to shoot, probably close to 400 yards. He disappeared and we never saw him again."

Nearly an hour passed with no action and Idrogo could tell his son was beginning to get antsy. That's when he decided to reach for the rattle bag in his pack.

The Magic of Rattling

A rattle bag contains several hard plastic cylinders that are bound in a loose cluster. Placed between two hands and rubbed side-to-side the cylinders create clashing, tickling noises intended to emulate the sounds of two bucks in a sparring match. The idea is to stir the curiosity of other bucks and bring them closer. The trick doesn't always work, but when it does it can be like magic.

"I've been hunting for 32 years and fooled around with rattling off and on," Idrogo said. "I've never had much luck doing it, but I've always been intrigued by it. I'd been seeing quite a bit of buck activity driving to work that week. I thought they might be chasing does, so I thought what the heck and gave it a try."

Idrogo said he placed the rattle bag outside the stand window and rubbed it vigorously for about 30 seconds.

"J.J. sort of perked up after that," he said. "We were both watching the pipeline when all of the sudden this buck stepped out, probably 150 yards away. I had no idea how big he was at first, but when I looked at him through the binoculars I could tell he was really thick and tall. He had something hanging off on one side that looked like a drop tine, but it turned out to be a vine from tearing up the brush."

J.J. is convinced the sounds from his dad's rattle bag had put the buck in the mood to brawl.

"He was walking across the pipeline, sort of looking back and forth like he was looking for a fight," he said. "He slowed down a little bit and that's when I took the shot. At first I thought I'd missed because he didn't do much. His tail didn't twitch or anything. He just kept walking for about 20 yards. Then he just fell over."

John Indrogo said it wasn't until they walked up close to the buck that he realized the true majesty of the animal his son had taken.

"He was huge," he said. "The grass on the pipeline was pretty tall, but we could see antlers sticking up everywhere. He was giant body-wise, too. I'm guessing he weighed at least 225 pounds. J.J. was jumping up and down like he'd just won the lottery."

In reality, he had.

Bucks like this one don't come along on open range very often. And when they do, it sometimes comes a total surprise to everyone involved.

According to Idrogo, the buck his son shot came as a complete shock to everyone else on the lease.

"There are eight members on our club and four of them hunt pretty seriously," he said. "Nobody had ever seen this deer before. No game camera pictures or anything. He just showed out of nowhere and I'm so glad he did. I handed J.J. the gun instantly. I don't care if he had 100 points. I'd do it all over again."

Matt Williams is a freelance writer based in Nacogdoches. He can be reached by e-mail, mattwillwrite4u@yahoo.com.

Center Roughriders’ Gymnasium. December 19, 2017 –

The Center Roughriders Varsity Basketball team defeated last year’s state champion Silsbee High School by a narrow 76-74 score. Center is currently ranked #5 and Silsbee #1 in the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches Poll for December 18, 2017. This will likely change after Center’s win.

The Roughriders held a narrow 18-13 lead at the end of the first quarter led by Kaleb Parks and Jaterious Evans who each had six points during the opening frame. The second period saw the Silsbee Tigers claw their way back into the contest and tie the score at 35-35 by the halftime intermission.

Three scores by Jaterious Evans in the third period saw the Roughriders edge out a 49-43 lead by midway through the quarter. By the end of the third quarter, Center’s lead was cut to just three points and the Roughriders led 56-53 going into the final period.

Silsbee tied the game at the beginning of the fourth frame when Braelon Bush hit a 3-pointer early to tie the game at 56-56. Silsbee would gain a five point lead but Center’s Kaleb Parks hit a half-hook shot which tied the game at 66-66 with 4:25 remaining. Parks later scored on a fast-break assist from Evans and gave Center a 74-72 lead with 1:30 left in the contest. Silsbee later tied the game at 74-74 and got the basketball back after an offensive foul was called on the ‘Riders.

Jaterious Evans later sank two free-throws with 15 seconds left and gave CHS a 76-74 lead after Center stole the ball back with just nine seconds left in the contest. Evans soon after stole the ball back and Silsbee was not able to regain possession before time expired.

High scorers for Center were Kaleb Parks with 32 points, Jaterious Evans 24, Reggie Daniels 12, Kameron Elmer 10. Jakavian Calhoun and Jaydon Hicks each had three points apiece.

Silsbee’s record now stands at 9-6 for the pre-district season. Center has improved their season mark to 14-1. They are currently on a seven game winning streak.

The Varsity Roughriders are scheduled to host the Hudson Hornets on Thursday, December 21, 2017 at Center Roughriders Gymnasium at 1:30 p.m.

December 15, 2017 - Center Riders will play the Defending 4A Boys State Basketball Champions Silsbee Tigers on Tuesday, December 19th. The Tigers are coached by Center native Joe Sigler, a 1973 graduate of Center High School. Two separate polls show the Riders ranked as #1 & #5 and the Tigers ranked as #6 & #1. Needless to say, this is going to be a game for the history books at CHS. Come out on Tuesday and support your Center Roughriders coached by Hiram Harrison. Games start at 4:30pm featuring all teams; 9th, JV and Varsity.

Rusk High School. Friday, December 1, 2017 –

The Timpson Bears only trailed for just over a minute in Friday’s Area/Regional Semifinal football game with the Grapeland Sandies. The Bears eventually took a 67-28 win which earned them a Region III Class 2A Championship birth, and a rematch with the District 11 Champions,  Tenaha High School. The Tigers are the state’s #1 Class 2A Division II team and they defeated Iola High School by a 35-14 score to earn their spot. Timpson (10-2) and Tenaha (12-0) will face off at Carthage High School on Thursday, December 7, 2017, at 7 p.m. for the Region III/ State Quarterfinal title. Timpson fell to Tenaha by a 40-6 score in Week11 of the regular season. This was the Bears only conference loss.

During Timpson’s win Jordan Osby ran for 287 yards and six touchdowns. He also converted five two-point conversions. He scored the first touchdown on a 16-yard run with 9:32 left in the first quarter which helped Timpson take an 8-0 lead early.

Brannon Bedre's got Grapeland on the board with five minutes left in the opening period to pull the Sandies to cut Timpson’s lead to 8-6.

Osby scored on counter handoff for a 27-yard touchdown with 3:33 left in the first period. He added his second 2-point conversion run to put Timpson up by a 16-6 score.

Grapeland’s Bedre broke free for a 30-yard touchdown run which cut the Bears lead to 16-12 with seconds left in the first period. The Sandies gained their only lead when Rick Frauenberger found Josh Ackley uncovered in the corner of the endzone with 9:21 left in the first half. A 2-point conversion gave GHS a 20-16 lead.

Osby scored moments later on a 13-yard touchdown and put Timpson back on top, by a 22-20 score, with a 2-point conversion.

Timpson extended their lead to 30-20 after Shane Peveto scooped-and-scored a Sandie’s fumble and ran it 47-yards for a Bears touchdown with 6:15 left in the first half. Bears quarterback Jon Grogan added a 1-yard score for Timpson which gave them a 38-20 lead at the half.

A sixty and a nine yard touchdown by Osby gave THS a 54-20 lead with 7:08 left in the third stanza.

Ackley scored Grapeland’s final touchdown with just 24 seconds left in the third period on a reception from 13 yards out. GHS had pulled to within 54-28.

Osby scored from 60-yards away just seconds before the third period was over. The 2-point conversion failed and THS took a 60-28 advantage into the fourth and final quarter of play.

Grogan broke loose on a 47-yard quarterback keeper run for a score with 8:41 left in the game. Timpson’s extra point kick sailed through the uprights despite being partially blocked. This gave the Bears the final 67-28 margin of victory.