
EP 509 | He Shot the Texas State Record… The Strategy That Keeps Working
From The Fall Podcast by Arron Bleise
February 24, 2026 · 1h 35m · Season 8
About this episode
Arron Bleise interviews Texas State Trooper Tarif Alkhatib about his successful bowhunting strategies for mature whitetails in Texas.
In this episode, I sit down with Texas State Trooper and one of the most consistent bowhunters I’ve ever talked to — Tarif Alkhatib. A few years back Tarif punched the Texas State Record buck, but what impressed me most isn’t just one giant… it’s the repeatability. Year after year he’s targeting and killing truly mature, free-range whitetails — many of them 6, 7, even 8+ years old and pushing well into the 150–160” class. We dive deep into Tarif’s system for hunting bow-only counties in Texas, how he uses the Red Moon to time his hunts, and the mindset that keeps him consistently around the oldest deer in the county. If your goal is to stop chasing young bucks and start hunting true mature whitetails, this episode is loaded with real, field-proven insight. In this episode we cover: Tarif’s Texas State Record buck story Hunting bow-only counties in Texas The Red Moon theory and how he applies it Finding and targeting 6–8 year old deer Why consistency matters more than luck Mistakes bowhunters make chasing mature bucks . . . Promo Codes: Latitude Outdoors: thefall Americas Best Bowstrings: TFP Helix Broadheads:TFP Faceoff Ebikes: TFP Asio Gear: FALL20 Kuhle Archery: FALL25…
People in this episode
Host: Arron Bleise
Guest: Tarif Alkhatib
Topics covered
- bowhunting
- whitetail deer
- hunting strategy
- Texas hunting
- mature bucks
- Red Moon theory
Keywords
- Texas State Record
- bowhunting
- mature whitetails
- hunting strategy
- Red Moon
- 6-8 year old deer
- consistency in hunting
Sponsors
Latitude Outdoors, Americas Best Bowstrings, Helix Broadheads, Faceoff Ebikes, Asio Gear, Kuhle Archery
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Jays Sporting Goods, Garmin Bow Sights, Prime Archery
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- EP 517 | From a Car Trunk to an Empire | The Untold Jay’s Sporting Goods Story · May 26, 2026 · 1h 32m
- EP 516 | I don't know what i'm doing with this episode · May 24, 2026 · 42 min
- Film the Fall | The Art of Self Filming Whitetails w/ JJ Dukart · May 19, 2026 · 1h 24m
- EP 515 | One buck and one buck only · May 12, 2026 · 2h 1m
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