Went to my deer lease last Thursday. Got back late Sunday evening.

It’s rained so much and everything is so green, plus a bumper crop of acorns. Deer don’t even have to move. Just lay down in an oak mott and reach over and eat their fill.

Sat out morning and evening since Thursday only saw three deer, a doe and twin yearlings @ 250 yds or so.



Did get the chance to blood the 243 Win. on a hoglet. Perfect size “eater” for smoking whole.



Set out snares. All three got tripped but the score was, Hogs 3, Gdub 0.



Saturday night I set out late enjoying the moonrise when a sounder came in to the feeder about 8:30. I was sitting in a ground blind about 90 yds from the feeder and I guess the kill light spooked them from the low angle. They scattered and flung a bullet, but later found no blood.

Had a picture of this ol boy on the game cam.



Makes me think my decision to quit going after wounded hoglets in a ceder thicket, crawling on my hands and knees with a flashlight in one hand and a pistol in the other after fifty years of shooting and tracking might be a good decision. One of these days, my luck might just run out.

Left my good camera on the 4 wheeler Sunday morning and didn't want to do the walk back down half the mountain and back up. So this pix was taken with the phone on my camera . Beautiful hill country sunrise…..



Sure do enjoy being “up top” and watching the birth of a new day.

Some folks just don't understand when I tell them that "huntin" is so much more than "killing"

Opening weekend of rifle season is only two weeks away, but I’m ready to go back tomorrow.

Best,
GWB

A little slice of heaven.
Some fine lines on the 243 and looks
like it handled the "task" easily.
Thanks for the photo's

Nice looking R93...welcome to the blaser club. Been shooting them since '99 and are accurate and dependable...enjoy.

Ed

Looks like you had a great time Geedubya.

Love seeing your pictures! Kill a big one in a coule weeks!!
Josh

My place is covered up with acorns too.

Hill COuntry sunrises and sunsets ARE grand though ain't they.

.

GDub,

I'm looking at your snare setup, I used to set mine that way, but found that wiring it inside the loop reduces the chance of catching the critter. I wire one just outside the loop and set it up just like yours, against the wire (Or put two sticks in the ground a few inches before the snare and lean the loop against the two sticks).

I also set two snares on each set. One on each side of the fence. Sometimes a yote will dig before he goes through. if they dig one side, they will disturb the snare, but the one on the other side will sometimes stay put and catch him. Often, he will get snared by only one of the snares. The other one will be moved or tripped. So when you come back, you just replace the one snare and you still have two.

Occasionally, I will get something in both snares, but, snares are cheap. Diesel is expensive.

Thanks for the pictures. I suspect we will see more as the year goes on?

Yes sir, it is great fun.

I'd love to live in the country, but, such is not the case.

I basically quit at 50 and for the last 13 years I head to the Texas hill country at least once a month for four or five days. More during Turkey season and rifle season.

My son took a cow elk and a black bear on a hunt earlier this month in New Mexico. Most of that meat is now in my two freezers. I don't have room to freeze a 16 oz. bottle of water at present.

So the pressure is off to kill.

I'll be going to my lease next Thursday for the Saturday opener of our deer season. Most of the guys will roll in Friday morning and afternoon. We'll have a rip-roarin' hootenanny almost like a rondezvous, as some of the guys I've not seen since closing weekend last January.



I plan to sit out and watch the sun rise each morning,



watch the woods come alive, eat egg taquitos when I get back to camp.


Take naps, hunt at night till I decide I can't take the grandeur any longer,




then come back and eat tenders, and steaks and pork chops cooked over mesquqite coals, sit around the campfire and listen to Marty Robbins and Ian Tyson.



Have a few toddies then curl up in my bunk with only my nose sticking out of the covers, get up at 4:30 AM and do it all over again. Whether I kill or not, well, we'll just have to wait and see.
This is my time of year.

Hope all ya'll have a good one too.

Best,

GWB

Even with a "stuffed" freezer, I bet your trigger finger is itchy.
Enjoy Gdub