some of these hunt specials are just killing me. having a new knee put in next week and can't take advantage of anything

I understand. I am fighting cancer and have the same problem: I am reduced to two trips a week to MD Anderson for a dose of poison!

Alas, I wish it were different: for both of us...

I wish both of you best of health and get well soon. There will be plenty of hunting to do.

Work has forced me to cancel hunting for last 18 months.

Mike

quote:

Originally posted by Beretta682E:
I wish both of you best of health and get well soon. There will be plenty of hunting to do.

Work has forced me to cancel hunting for last 18 months.

Mike

And, rumor has it, the ammunition manufacturers have felt it in loss of sales.

I hope I am moving closer to a hunt. I started shooting again last week. No plans, just enjoy the sound and smell. I have nothing in particular I want to kill, but I would love to be on a mountain or in a stand watching the sun come up.

Reminds me of the time south of Ozona when I found myself in a deer stand staring at a small willow tree that was the brightest yellow; full of leaves. All the surrounding brush and trees were drab browns and greens. The temperature was just below freezing as the sun came up and the feeder went off. No game came in, but it was as if the feeder signaled the leaves. Those yellow leaves immediately began to drop all at once as the temperature rose. In less than five minutes the entire tree was stripped of color, and those bright yellow leaves lay like a circular rug around the trunk. It was a surreal moment. As a hunter, I live for moments like that....It's not always about the killing.

Kensco:

To repeat, pig season is open for you year around on my place. Wait until it cools off a bit if you'd like to sit and enjoy the day without sweating (although it is low 60s this morning). My pigs absolutely decimated a large corn field next to us and they are fat on corn right now. You can shoot them with anything from a pistol or a rifle from .22 on up. Right now, spot and stalk would be best since I don't have any working feeders out. If you use a .22, you better be really accurate if you want pork chops. PM me if interested.

quote:

Originally posted by Gatogordo:

quote:

Originally posted by Beretta682E:
I wish both of you best of health and get well soon. There will be plenty of hunting to do.

Work has forced me to cancel hunting for last 18 months.

Mike

And, rumor has it, the ammunition manufacturers have felt it in loss of sales.

Very true

I have so much ammo in 375 H&H swift a-frame, 375 ruger Barnes tsx and other Barnes tsx (30/06 and 9.3x62) to use but I always buy 3-5x the ammo I use. And unlike biebs I like a safety shot in my game.

I still can't believe I did not load up on Barnes 300 grain monolithic solids from federal that Obama banned as armor piercing ammo.

Mike

quote:

Originally posted by Gatogordo:
Kensco:

To repeat, pig season is open for you year around on my place. Wait until it cools off a bit if you'd like to sit and enjoy the day without sweating (although it is low 60s this morning). My pigs absolutely decimated a large corn field next to us and they are fat on corn right now. You can shoot them with anything from a pistol or a rifle from .22 on up. Right now, spot and stalk would be best since I don't have any working feeders out. If you use a .22, you better be really accurate if you want pork chops. PM me if interested.

+1

I really don't get white tails, doves, quail - all Texas hunting land should be dedicated to hogs and axis deer.

Mike

Several years ago a friend + I hunted on the Steen place outside of Gonzales.Humongous corn fields + those porkers would take down a lot in one night. On my first hunt there we had killed among others a pregnant sow + although Mr . Steen was a staunch baptist when we slit her open + dumped out 16 piglets,he started to dance.

Axis deer to me is as good as the best beef. Different, but great.

quote:

Originally posted by Kensco:

Reminds me of the time south of Ozona when I found myself in a deer stand staring at a small willow tree that was the brightest yellow; full of leaves. All the surrounding brush and trees were drab browns and greens. The temperature was just below freezing as the sun came up and the feeder went off. No game came in, but it was as if the feeder signaled the leaves. Those yellow leaves immediately began to drop all at once as the temperature rose. In less than five minutes the entire tree was stripped of color, and those bright yellow leaves lay like a circular rug around the trunk. It was a surreal moment. As a hunter, I live for moments like that....It's not always about the killing.

Several years ago I sat in a tripod in East Texas one morning, and it was so deathly still it was spooky. I watched an oak leaf float down about 15 feet away, and when it landed I heard it. About half an hour later, another came past my right shoulder spiraling like a broadhead.

Never saw the first head of game but had a fabulous morning. It seems the older I get and maybe the closer to my own mortality, the more soft-hearted I get. I have an elk trip scheduled with my son for just prior to Turkey Day. I am wondering now if I will be able to do the job if the opportunity avails itself.

we'll just offer up a prayer that you get better, and can hit the game trails once more, at least.

Rich

Guys, this is great AND just a few examples of what you will NOT see and experience by sitting on the couch !

Doubless, good luck we're all pulling for you!


Butch, Give it a year and you'll be ready to go. I had my left knee replaced in 2012 and went back to Africa in 2013. I enjoyed it even more than the previous trips as it's great to go hunting and not be in pain all day and night.

Hey, Butch... I had a total knee replacement last October so missed out in that hunting season. Now, 11 months later, I am out trapesing the woods for bear!!! The knee feels great and I'm up and down the mountains with no pain! Best thing I ever did. Don't worry about the operation. DO WHAT THE PHYSICAL THERAPISTS TELL YOU!!! Also, my Doc told me that after 5 weeks start to kneed, with your knuckles, the knee and the scar area really smartly. This inhibits the formation of scar tissue which can keep you from kneeling again and also helps to regain your range of motion. Good luck and keep on smiling.... Larry

Earlier Gatogordo made the mistake of saying, "PM me if you are interested" in hunting a hog.

Killing a hog wasn't as important as meeting the man, and having the opportunity to share a beer, and get back into the field with a weapon in my hands. I've gone hunting once in the past five years. That's too long. Whether I killed anything, or just spent a day or so trying to was immaterial.

Sunday/Monday of this week I had the privilege of standing on a piece of Gato's ground with a rifle in my hand and evil intent on my mind when it came to hogs.

We certainly shared some beer; Bud Light Lime to be exact. (There was a late night comedian that made a joke about Bud Light Lime a few months ago. A joke from a Brit about beer!?! That's pretty rich considering they don't even have enough sense to but beer in the fridge before they drink it.)

Once we got the beer drinking out of the way, Gato and his friend, Randy, tried to put me onto some hogs from a stand as the afternoon sun got low.

Nada! A doe and two fawns came out of the tree line, but no hogs came my way before it was darker than the inside of a cow.

We kicked around a plan, and decided I needed to get back out before shooting light Monday morning and walk the road from the dam at least to the corrals. We called it a night and I followed Randy towards New Boston.

At 5:00am I was up and got ready to head back towards Gato's place. If you aren't a morning person, you should be. To me it's magic, whether you are on a land rig listening to the sound of the motors, or leaning on the handrail on an offshore rig, watching the sun come up. That's when the world comes alive. The deer start moving, or maybe a whale or shark becomes visible.

I pulled up at the gate at around 6:00am; dark-thirty for all practical purposes, and my "low tire pressure" light came on. Not a good sign. I drove on down by the dam and eased-out with my .25-06 Rem., and just took it all in. Hogs were squabbling down in the creek bed I had walked-out the previous afternoon. Coyotes were raising Hell farther to the north. The weather was perfect; low 60s, no wind. The ground-fog was thick. When I get to heaven I hope things are not too different.

I waited for the sky to lighten, and as it did, the Canadian geese started flying over honking. It was better than a rooster crowing any day. If I'd had a shotgun, I feel sure I could have dropped a few.

It was tempting to start down the road, or move towards the hogs grunting, but luckily I grew out of that impatient phase many years ago.

The ground fog started thinning. I watched a rabbit move out of the brush. (I thought it was a piglet initially.) I went on-point.

By 7:00am I thought it was time to move-out. Four 100gr. Federal Nosler Ballistic Tips in the magazine, and one down the throat.

I haven't enjoyed myself like that in a long time. I moved past barns 1 and 2 jumping a few doe and fawn as I took my time. Caught a buck and two doe "napping", and watched the fourpoint for a few minutes before moving on, and spooking them.

As I got to the corrals I spotted hogs in an open field at about 75 yards. I slipped behind a tree, and took a rest. They were moving and feeding slowly. When one put his snout down I cross-haired his head, and pulled-off a round. He was done, with a new eye on the right side of his head. All Hell broke loose of course. Hogs were going everywhere. When all movement stopped, I started easing towards the downed hog. I hadn't travelled fifteen yards when a hog ran across an opening to my left at about 50 yards out. The third hog through took one in the butt (not one of my prouder running shots).

I drug her about forty yards when Gato came on the scene. (I think he was sitting back watching to see how far I could drag a hog I guess.)

We loaded the two. The sow was maybe 90, and the boar maybe 60, took them to where Gato and Randy do their skinning and butchering. I don't think Gato was very impressed with my butchering; although I swear to God that's exactly what I saw on the YouTube videos under the heading of Jack The Ripper. The best excuse I could offer was that I was out of practice, and I'm sticking to that story.

I must have done OK, because Gato had me remove the backstrap from a large sow that he'd nailed earlier before he had even left his house. He probably shot it out the window before he even got out of bed; truth be told. And there I was wearing out boot leather.

If I had missed both shots, I would have been no poorer for the experience, and time spent. Like I say, it was a privilege, and I'm very grateful for the opportunity granted.

Sounds likea great time. Any pictures?

It was a pleasure to have you visit, particularly since you brought beer.

I know now what bait to use if I'm trying to trap you or Randy.

If I was younger and less happily married, I'd suggest women, but they want more, more, more, and I've got less, less, less. Randy is in the same situation with less real world experience. His idea of a foreign date is dancing with an Oklahoma girl with an open pocket knife in his hand....true story BTW.

More years ago than I thought, My Grandson and I were guest at Gato's fine ranch. Josh was in a tree blind and I in a ground blind. I think we were in the blinds about 4:30 in the afternoon. Couldn't have been much over 30 minutes and at least 15 deer came over the hill and toward me. It was the day after Thanksgiving. I saw a nice buck and took it. About 10 minutes later Josh fired.He shot his.
I regret a couple things about this hunt. My wife was ill and we had to leave the next morning, we may have waited and seen better deer, and we could have thinned a few of Charlie's does. Charlie's wife is a wonderful cook. Josh really chowed down on the chicken fried steaks. Charlie's Son and Daughters were a joy. Understand they are Texas University students now.
We really had a great time and appreciated Gato's hospitality.