Bobby,

per your request............


ya!

GWB



I purchased a Polaris Sportsman 500 HO back in 2006. I have run the tee-waddle dog-schitt out of it, tearing out wiring harness and rear A-Arms along with breaking off the front lid cover twice along with replacing CV joints and brake pads and wheel bearings. Never once have I had a problem with the motor or auto-trans or fuel injection system in the 12 years I've owned it, but about two months ago I went up to my lease and it would not start. Hoping to have it ready to go early next week. It sure cramps my style as I can't get to places that I normally go to perforate hoglets.

Anywho, I have a buddy on my Reagan Wells lease that got flooded during Harvey. He lives out at Atascocita on Lake Houston, and has for 30 years or so. He did not have flood insurance and lost both cars and had water up near the first story ceiling. So this has been an expensive year for him. I made a deal with him that I would keep his and his son’s feeders going all year if he would let me shoot hogs off of them during the off season. I can walk from camp about ¾ mile to his, and drive to his son Kyles’ blind and feeder. I got to camp Thursday the 30 about 5 PM and got the generator out and unloaded a few items, then took off for Kyles blind. I got there about 6:45 PM. I’ve set the feeder to go off at 7 PM and this one had not been hunted in two months IIRC. It is way to the back of the lease about ½ mile off the road and gets very little human traffic. I was pretty sure something would show up. Several months ago I had the opportunity to acquire a pair of red-pad Ruger #1’s. One is chambered for the 300 H&H. The other the 375 H&H. I am much more of a 1885 High Wall Fan than of Ruger #1”s, but these two came as a set, with handloads and already scoped and zero’d @ 200 yds.



As an aside, these got lost for about two weeks at the place to where they were shipped. But that’s another story!

Anywho, the 300 H&H is a favorite of mine, and 200 gr. Nosler Accubonds are no slouch. So it was the first to get blooded.

This from last month………



Nailed him at about 125 yds. at my bud’s stand. Normally I would have loaded him up and took him back to camp but since I was on foot, I went back and borrowed my buds ATV. It is not set up for an old fart like me to lift a boar that weighs more than I do and put on the rear rack, and I did not want to drag him back as that would bust up the tushes for sure, so I did the next best thing.







I took the head!

Anywho, back to last Thursday.

If you recall, September 1st was opening day of dove season in the Texas Central Zone. I figured if I got there Thursday evening, I’d be primed for opening Morning Saturday!

As I mentioned earlier, I got to Kyle’s blind about 6:45 PM, grabbed my binocs, camera, a couple lenses, shooting stix and liquid refreshment. It took about 10 minutes to get set up and settled in. Feeder went off about 5 minutes after 7 PM.

Well it was about 7:15 when a sounder came in.



I normally don’t take the time to shoot with a camera before I shoot with a rifle, but I figured that these guys had not been hunted in a while and there should be enough corn on the ground. I snapped a few images then put the camera down and set up on the bag and stix. I was hoping for a large boar, but there was not one in this sounder. It has been my experience that the bigger boars tend to be solitary. I chose the biggest sow and followed her with the crosshairs. I don’t know how it is where you shoot, but here it seems they never stop moving for more than a second or two, always pushing and shoving and acting like pigs. I waited till I got a good broadside presentation.

I’ve mentioned before, that my favorite shot is to draw an imaginary line between the ear and shoulder, and place a bullet about two inches below the ear on than line. If done correctly, the hoglet drops and paddles, no tracking. I’ve got to where I very seldom track in the brush for hogs at night. Just an “odds” type of thing.

It is about a 125 yd. shot at this stand.




Well you can see what I’m talking about from the point of impact. I had purposed to make the shot described above, but from the time my brain said “squeeze” to the time my trigger finger did and the bullet traveling some 2,600+ fps. Impacted the sow she’d moved almost six inches, or I pulled the shot. Nice thing about a 250 gr., .375 cal. Barnes TTSX, it will do a number on a critter this size.

Anywho, I hear the bullet “whop” on impact, but when I regained the sight picture in the scope, from where I was sitting, I could not see whether she was down or not. Well the rest of the sounder had skeedaddled. So I grab my camera, binocs, pistola and rifle and climbed in my car to drive to the feeder.
There she was, dead as a hammer. The Impact flipped her on her side, but other than that she was DRT.



Well normally I would have poked a hole in the leaders of the hind legs and ran a strap through and looped it, positioned my 4 wheeler where I could climb up on the seat of my Polaris and use my weight to “hike out” on the back part of the rear platform to load. But no 4-wheeler and I had a 160 qt. ice chest on the basked mounted in the trailer hitch. So I I did the next best thing.

I took the backstraps right there. I had ice and I always carry a 2.5 gallon and a couple 1 gallon zip-lock freezer bags for just such an occasion.




Well I zipped her open and got to work. Now this hoglet had been dead less than 15 minutes when I got out my knife. After I got the hide peeled back and started cutting along the spine I got a start. I could feel the muscles along the spine twitch through the blade. First time it happened I straightened up and put my hand on my sidearm. Last thing I needed was a sow come back to life…. Anywho, she didn’t and I went back to work. Dang muscles one either side twitched as I cut along the backbone. I don’t recall that ever happening before.

Well I was jazzed. So I headed back toward camp. Along the way I stopped and set up two foot hold traps hoping that I might score a coyote, and stopped in and set the trap door on a pen that I have set up to trap hogs. Two or three months ago I got 10 in the trap…..




And nailed this guy as he was coming over the pen fence!

.

Friday didn’t do much, walked down to Pat’s blind before daylight, but nothing came in. Did not hunt Friday evening, went to bed early!

Saturday morning was the dove season opener. I

I ‘m much more of a rifle guy than a shotgun guy, but I do have a few.

I set up Saturday morning with my dad’s old Browning Sweet Sixteen. I went with him to pick it up in 1958 to Baytown Texas. I’ve been shooting it since I was 11 yrs old in ‘61. I break it out every year and blast a few doves with it. I plan to do so again next Friday, the South Zone opener!

Last year Harvey blew out all the doves. I had heard that this year the dove numbers were way up, but they musta’ had better pickin’s elsewhere as they were few and far between Saturday morning. IIRC I took 5 dove between day-break and 11 AM.





For a guy who goes afield quite often, old age is kikkin’ my azz. I luv wearing “crocks”. I’ve gotten in the habit of when I get back to camp, taking off my hunting boots and slipping into a pair of crocks. Also when it’s muddy out, I slip into my crocs in my camper to keep from dragging mud and muck in all over the place. Well like a dumb-azz, I forgot to put on my boots Saturday morning and instead, when I got to where I was going to set up, all I had with me was the crocks I was wearing. If you know anything about this type of country, you know that knocking around the brush, rocks and cactus, crocks are not the footwear of choice. I nailed five birds and recovered three.

But what the hey! I set in the shade, watched the sun rise.



The moon was in evidence all morning!





Shut it down about 11 AM and went to check the hog trap. Nothing doing there.

Breasted the doves.




My bud and left camp and went to Uvalde and made a stop for a Live Oak Gordita! Carne Guisada Gorditas with pico de gallo and Guacamole, chase with a Bush Natty’ light and lime is hard to beat.

Got back, took a 3 hour nap and back out for the evening hunt.

Shot 11 birds that evening and recovered 8. I did have on shoes this time!

A couple years ago I picked up a CZ Ringneck S x S in 28 gauge, cheap. It is a sweetie-pie.




I had some high brass 6’s and 7-1/2”. Screwed in a full choke on the right with the sixes, and modified on the left with 7-1/2’s. The lil’ CZ has a selectable trigger so I set up the 7.5’s for the first barrel and the 6’s for the second.
Kick AZZ!




Nothing in the trap Saturday eve.

Sunday morning the doves were not there, but had a ball with my camera!



Doodle bug, doodle bug, come get your coffee!












Anywho, I shut it down at 9:30 AM and went to check out my trap.

Yowsir.

Six hoglets in the trap. So I grab my Glock G20 SF, 10 MM. I have it loaded with 200 Gr. Hornady XTPs, and my Armalite 3GN 18, loaded with the Nosler 64 gr. Solid Base in 223. And proceed to have my very own private rodeo!





Well after the smoke cleared and I went back to get some help loading the dead, I could not help thinking of a country-western song, but I substituted a couple words…….

I fired one last round and got a “six pack to go”

Awesome, Geedubya. Thanks for sharing all the great photos and the details. Made me feel like I was there. There's been rain around us for days, but it finally hit here tonight and rained for nearly an hour. Still drizzling outside. Sure did need it, too.

By the way, NICE new toys...

Keep the photos and stories coming, guys.

GDub:

Enjoyed your story and the pictures are exceptional.
Thanks for sharing,

George

You are living the life my friend!

.

Excellent read

Great report and pictures.

You did Texas a favor taking out those pigs. You did it with style!!!! Great Photos!

Too bad they don't have the bounty system down there, neat way to make some beer money.

I enjoyed the story, thanks!

Makes me remember the days I was on the lease between Fowlerton and Los Angeles--fun times.

That was a great lLabor Fay Weekend.

Way to "exercise dominion" Geedubya. I love my Crocs, too, but have to take 'em off and pull goatheads whenever I have been "off trail" in them.

quote:

Originally posted by Bill/Oregon:
Way to "exercise dominion" Geedubya. I love my Crocs, too, but have to take 'em off and pull goatheads whenever I have been "off trail" in them.

Crocs and the Dominon Covenant.







Yowsir!



I do luv to exercise dominion!



26 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over [a]all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. 28 Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that [b]moves on the earth.” Genesis 1:26-28 New King James Version (NKJV)


Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things. Genesis 9:3

Enjoy!


GWB

Geedubya...thanks for the story and the great pics! You sure know how to have a good time!

And yes Crocs! Gotta love them...I don't leave home without mine either!

Zee

Really a great post. Enjoyed being with you!

Thanks for posting. Great read.

I love that knife.

Who made it? What type/style is it?

quote:

Originally posted by LHeym500:
I love that knife.

Who made it? What type/style is it?

Not sure which one to which you are referencing, if the small knife with the dove breasts, that is a "bird and trout" style knife by Joel Clark. I had one on order for about three years but IIRC due to personal reasons he stopped making knives for an extended period. I saw that one elsewhere and purchased it.
If you are referring to the large knife, that is an Randall Model 2 Fighting Stiletto, the 8" version.

ya!


GWB

I was referring to the large one. Thank you. Like the small one as well.

Thanks for sharing. Very nice read.

Gents,

Thanks for the kind words.

Its not a dove hunt in Argentina, or packing into the Bob Marshall wilderness for a week on horse-back or hunting Tahr in New Zealand.

However, I learned long ago to take pleasure in the moment, and I do very much enjoy the ability to come to this forum and participate.

Truth be known, Bobby deserves the credit, as I had not thought about posting prior to his request!

Best,

GWB

Awesome story and pictures as always. Every time I see one of your posts like this I always kick myself for not taking more pictures.