Heart of Texas
Brady, at the center of the state, hits the bull's-eye with country music, a goat cookoff and some prime hunting.
By John H. Ostdick
Photos by Maegan Lanham
For most of the year, Brady looks much like many of the other small towns that dot Texas roadways.
Located about 130 miles northwest of Austin, near the state's geographic center, this town known as The Heart of Texas houses a little more than 5,000 residents. Several times a year, however, it can swell like a Buc-ee's parking lot on weekends.
In March, for example, the 35th Heart of Texas Country Music Festival sold about 4,000 tickets during its 10-day run.
And in August, the 50th annual World Championship BBQ Cook-off in Richards Park attracted more than 200 cooking teams and thousands of visitors from Texas and beyond. But Brady really wakes up in the fall, during peak rutting season, when this region offers some of the state's finest deer hunting. It was here, after all, that a mystery hunter in the 1800s harvested the famous Brady Buck - a former world-record 78-point buck earning a Boone and Crockett antler score of 284 3/8. As a testament to hunting's place in the town's economy, the southern edge of town is sprinkled with outfitters, deer blinds and hunting towers for sale, along with game processing shops.
Fall deer season proves the busiest time of the year for game warden Zach Moerbe, who has worked in Brady “going on 13 years.” Many hunters have been coming back to leases on the area's large-acreage ranches for 10 to 15 years, he says.
“Traffic in town doubles,” Moerbe says, as hunters arrive on Fridays, fill their gas tanks, eat at local restaurants, and buy groceries and supplies in town before heading to their leases. Sundays again prove hectic as hunters head home.
Whenever visitors roll in, Brady holds charms all its own.
Around Town
My wife and I make our way through a party of pickup trucks into Mac's Bar-B-Q parking lot on a Friday afternoon. Inside, a parade of straw cowboy hats and gimme caps fills the crowded tables. We slide into the last available booth at the back of the restaurant. We appreciate the mesquite-smoked meats (among the sides, the fried okra is a standout) at Mac's, founded in the early 1970s. We don't dawdle, however, moving on to clear the table for other diners.
We venture to D and J's Good Ole Days on the square to investigate what owners DeAnn and Joe Evridge identify as “strange collectibles.” No argument here. The unpredictable stands out (a window sign “On the Road to Weird” offers fair warning).
The couple has gathered eclectic and more mainstream collectibles from glassware and books to vintage clothing for 30 years; everything is served with cheeky humor. On this late afternoon, Joe stands behind a 1950s soda fountain display, eating ice cream. “We have a special today — 50 percent off any dentures you try on,” he says. Indeed, a large display of extremely unappealing dentures lurks just around the corner.
“Too much for you to bite off on today, huh?”
D and J's offers plenty to consider: A doll head and arms mounted on a long metal pole stares at me as he talks. Nearby, full-body mannequins surrounded by old medical paraphernalia re-create the moment of birth. Scarred and burn-tinged plastic baby heads are mounted in a bizarre shelf display, looking like something from a horror flick.
On the Hunt
The sporting outfitters that dot the town piqued my curiosity, so I did a bit of research about McCulloch County's hunting lore, which, as it turns out, goes way back. The Brady Buck, which once held the world record for the largest nontypical buck, was shot about 15 miles out of town, most likely in 1892. The buck is considered nontypical because of its unusual antler growth, which has been compared to the knotted roots of a cedar or a Yosemite forest.
The Brady Buck's intricate antlers are now on display at the Buckhorn Saloon and Museum in San Antonio, where they decorate the mirrored bar back. Hopeful hunters these days probably won't bag a 78-point buck, but there are plenty of ranches and leases where they are all but assured a hefty harvest. Hunters can check out the town's 507 Ranch, known for its trophy bucks and axis deer, or the 4K Land and Cattle Company, which offers whitetail and exotics such as blackbuck, aoudad, sika deer and scimitar-horned oryx. For a less curated hunting experience hunters can find leases of private land. McCulloch County is at the intersection of three ecoregions, the Edwards Plateau, Rolling Plains and Cross Timbers; the terrain is varied and makes for an interesting outing.
Out and About
Saturday morning, we check out the 2,020-acre Brady Creek Reservoir (also called Brady Lake), just a few miles away. A fishing boat skims the lake's surface. Two kayakers ply the shallows offshore. The park campgrounds, which offer RV hookups and 15 tent sites, buzz with activity. A humming generator keeps a large bounce slide alive for a birthday gathering beside one of 13 screened-in cabanas for rent.
After a hearty breakfast at Sandy's on the town's southern edge, we visit perhaps the town's biggest surprise. Country Music Hall of Fame member Jim Reeves' 1956 Big Blue tour bus parked out front signals we've arrived at the Heart of Texas Country Museum.
Local disc jockey Tracy Pitcox (he joined KNEL-FM 95.3 as a teen) began seriously accumulating memorabilia after country fiddle player Rose Maddox donated her last surviving tour dress to him. The persuasive Pitcox has been at the wheel ever since. The museum (open Friday through Sunday) is packed with stage costumes, instruments, autographs and posters associated with more than 125 country music artists. Artifacts range from a piece of the plane from the crash that claimed singer Patsy Cline to several awesome, glittery Hollywood tailor Nudie Cohn jackets.
After getting our country fix, we drive 20 miles northeast to view the state marker noting Texas' geographic center (located on private land behind it) and explaining how the state's General Land Office surveyors decided it is so. Much to neighboring Brownwood's chagrin, Brady is 4.5 miles closer to the point and therefore claims the Heart of Texas moniker. On Sunday morning it's almost time for us to depart the Heart of Texas. Before leaving, I make the short drive to Richards Park. A local man on a mountain bike stops to chat and suggests I explore a trail at the far end of the park. An unkept dirt path through heavy brush reveals a small meadow of prickly pear cactus and wildflowers. A fenced butterfly garden, planted by Central Texas Master Gardeners, bulges at its seams. An excellent paved trail connects under trees along Brady Creek. I walk to its end before doubling back to my car, feeling satisfied with my jaunt.
It's only been a couple of days, but the Heart of Texas has claimed a part of mine.
