Well, ended up the latest hunt with UPegger, a new member of this site, with plenty of good hunting time, plenty of interesting conversation, but not a whole lot of killing. Sorry, did not get any pictures, camera swallered its tongue.

Also ended up not getting any pictures of the animals we did kill. My client was an older gentleman from Michigan. He was going to be hunting from Tues. thru Fri. He made it to Olney around Noon on Monday and was able to get in a little free hunting time that afternoon.

As "Hunting Luck" sometimes takes place, we actually saw more hogs that afternoon than we saw the rest of the hunt. We started out with me pulling a dumb azz stunt that kept us from getting a shot at a pretty good sized oinker.

It was the second time in the past 8 months or so I have screwed up on this one spot. We have a pond on one side of one of the pastures, and to see if anything is around it we have to sneak in on it about 100 yards from where we can drive to.

Given the time of day, around 2 p.m. and the temp, upper 90's, I didn't really think about caring guns, simply because it has been a few months since I have seen any pigs at that pond. So we waltzed off down there and flushed what I figure was a lone boar from literally right under our feet, 10 yards or less.

Now that I totally look like some misguided boy scout stumbling around blindly, we go back to the pick up and do a few more scouting runs and I try to figure out how to salvage the day.

Enter POS hog hunting luck #2. I have been working on a method of lighting up our better producing hog feeders and am achieving some decent results. To make an already TFLTR story a little shorter, I had moved one of the lights I have been testing, but with Murphy's help managed to turn the damn thing off. So, instead of the light coming on at dusk and providing the hunter enough light to shoot by, we have about 8 fairly good sized pigs come in about 5 minutes AFTER, enough natural light to shoot by, goes away.

The only saving grace was that this all happened on the hunters free hunting day.

We ended up covering many miles and setting for long periods in hot blinds with no air flow and no pigs, but the hunter did manage to get a 123 pound boar, on a morning hunt of all things, and a pretty mangy coyote on another morning, just minutes before we got rained out.

The hunter headed home about 9 a.m., Saturday morning with pork in his ice chest and pretty tired of north Texas heat and scenery, but seemed pretty happy with the whole experience.

It is hunts like this one that make me face the real reasons as to why I enjoy guiding hunters. The frustration and hours involved make me stop and think about my decision sometimes, but seeing the look on a hunters face when they connect with something makes it all worth it to me.

Glad ya'll were able to get some meat.

Last time I was up was the last weekend in July. We got there on Thursday afternoon. We corned the roads both Thursday evening and Friday evening. I sat out Thursday evening, Friday morning and Friday evening and didn't see anything but one measly jack-rabbit. Seven other guys came in Friday afternoon, and they ran the roads and night hunted Friday and Saturday. Didn't see squat. It was hotter than blue blazes. Friday it was 113 in the direct sun without a wisp of a breeze. Friday night at 10 pm it was 95 degrees and still as death. First time I can remember that I slept in on Saturday and Sunday morning. Ended up, out of nine guys, only 2 hogs were spotted. Nothing was shot other than targets and tannerite. I almost never get skunked. Sometimes its just not in the cards.

Best,

GWB

For someone in my position, and at almost 63 I should have gotten over this, but no matter how great the conversations about hunting and firearms, no matter how excellent the exchange of life experiences, I live to see my clients kill something. Maybe some day before I cash in my chips, that will no longer be so important.

I just do not know that I will ever be that much of an adult.

quote:

Originally posted by Crazyhorseconsulting:


I just do not know that I will ever be that much of an adult.

Who wants to be an adult.

I try to live my life as a "professional small boy".

Best,
GWB

Crazy,
I had to laugh, in a most condoling manner, as I read your stories. I spent a number of years doing the same thing in South FL. Made my mistakes, stalked more than a couple burnt lighter knot stumps, lost hunters, dead calves, etc... but still everything was good when a hunter, especially a young one, connected and appreciated the effort. Great stories.
Best,
Jeff

Crazy, I hope my post sounded respectful as I meant it too. Reading between the lines, I would like to hunt with you due to your ethics. The old "that's why they call it hunting and not killing" line is no more than an excuse used by inferior guides to cover their incompetence. I left the business partially because of the amateurs who only cared about the money and not the clients. Appreciate your candor.
Best, Jeff

Thanks for the kind words Jeff and I do appreciate them. My philosophy in trying to be a guide, is "Sometimes You Are The Windshield, And Sometimes You Are The Bug".

Taking this off topic, at my age and experience level, one of the biggest problems I notice among todays hunters, is an underlying desire for instant gratification, and in what I consider the real world, God is just not going to smile on a person and a kill is just not in the cards at that point in time.

On one hand I really wish that I could have a successful hunt every time I took a client out. If all my clients viewed things the way I do, that would happen simply because my idea of a trophy is fresh meat. That is an unrealistic expectation in my book, and as I have stated elsewhere, it is why I guide.

I enjoy showing my clients the Texas I love. I enjoy listening to them describe the hunts and game they have gone after and/or killed, the firearms they used, the people they have met, the places they have been. There is more to hunting than just killing an animal, whether just an animal for the table or a trophy for the wall, and my plan is to keep hunting, whether on my own or guiding a client for as long as God will let me.

I think both "Crazy" and I had a fun few days. Had not hunted hogs before, and learned a lot. Next time, I believe I will take my Litton Aquilla III, 6X scope mounted on a 25/06 with me; in addition to my 6.5x55SE.

Carl L.

one thing I learned by doing was you can't see it all in just a few trips. AND I very much like to look no matter where I go.
It's the getting out and seeing nature and what happens out there, enjoying the fresh air and other's experiences that makes the hunt imo.
I've hunted a lot of yrs and killed quite a bit of game but, have brought home many an empty tag too. CHC: you've gotta take a break if it's getting down to the point of having to get meat to have a successful hunt.
Glad your man from up north had a good time. That's what counts most.
Wish you well.

George, I think you misunderstand parts of what I am getting at.

I personally travel/work in the pastures the hunts are done in daily, usually from just after sunrise until almost or just after sunset. The shooting my wife and I do is strictly a matter of going out after meat. Because we are both retired and operate on no real time schedule, 7 days a week we or me are out in the field.

It is because of that time out in the field and the philosophy I have toward my own "hunting" that got me interested in guiding others. It is that opportunity to show others the world I live in and the experiences I have on a daily basis that lets me enjoy hunting in a way that unless I am on a guided hunt somewhere out of state, that I normally don't experience.

Not getting on a rant, but there are some observations I have made about other hunters over the years, both individuals I have guided and folks I have shared camps with where I was also a client. None of this is an indictment nor accusations, just observations. Also, these comments do not apply to all hunters.

I do not consider myself a "Trophy" hunter, but like many hunters I have been around, considering the time and funds expended doing a guided hunt, killing something ranks a lot higher than many want to admit to. I get around that somewhat by simply wanting a representative specimen which for me can be a female of the species being hunted.

As a guide it is simply an aspect of doing business, to attract new or more clients or have repeat clients, a certain percentage of ones clients have to be successful. A guide is in business trying to make money while doing something they enjoy, to stay in the business having great hunts but with minimal success, probably is not going to be a good strategy.