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solamente73

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Everything posted by solamente73

  1. First pot of 2023. Sooooooo good when the cold and wet hit DFW this week. Used elk from the culmination my 37 year quest to take a bull elk with my dad’s Weatherby. Got to say, elk makes awesome chili. Modified my venison chili a tad, trying to create more depth. Complete with three roasted hot Hatch chilis added for flavor and heat. Add onion and a mix of Mexican cheeses. Only wish I had been eating it beside a campfire on the mountainside.
  2. I'm literally right there with you. I hunted deer a few times, but with an elk in the freezer, I just prioritized other things. Not worrying about deer, I was able to introduce some folks to shooting sports... and to eradicating pigs, of which I have no shortage. So, no deer this year, but it's a priority for 2023, if for nothing more than "managing" the local herd for meat in the freezer. Tons of fun working the farm and getting a good understanding of the deer population and its movement via cameras. I plan to build a new blind, and I hope to also hunt archery next season. Like you, I'm concerned about the coyotes, and I plan to get into predator hunting this year. I already have the nightvision rig I use for hogs, a thermal scanner, and a general knowledge of where they move thanks to cameras. I plan to use some sort of electronic predator call. Youtube has helped as @BabaYaga mentioned. Just need to get to it. In the mean time, need to find somewhere for spring turkey, 'cause we have none where I am in NE Texas.
  3. One of my favorite things to make for family gatherings is rack of pork. Roasted over hickory. Served with wife’s “Fleming’s Potatoes” and grilled asparagus. Not pictured: smoked au ju. Highly recommend. I can usually only find them around the holidays at Costco. Buy a few for the holidays, throw a few in the freezer for the rest of the year.
  4. Add to it spent shells and empty dip cans. Let’s just say that it was easy leaving the blind cleaner than we found it.
  5. Re-opening morning in Port O’Connor. Ain’t. Shit. Flying. Still better than being back home. Guys who hunted this blind last didn’t clean up. We were greeted this morning by a bunch of empties that they were proud to leave behind: Hope the fishing is better here in about 1.5 hours.
  6. @Spaulding Smails man, that’s a tough go. Looking forward to the recap and forensics. Still excited for you and your adventure, though. New experiences and new learnings. ———— I was fortunate last weekend to bring another into the fold. A long-time friend had gotten into shooting the last few years, but he had never had the opportunity to actually go hunting. He recently moved back to Texas, so I invited him up to the farm to help with hogs. Armed with his brand new Ruger Precision Rifle chambered in 6.5 Creed and a Sitemark Wraith, he made the trip. I guided him through three long hunts. The first night, we were down scope on a sounder when, literally about to take the shot, drunk neighbors unleashed the Second Tet Offensive on their gun range. Pigs fled. Nothing the rest of the long night. The next morning came early, but the hogs didn’t show up until late morning, and when they did, they just barreled through the kill zone - no shot. That night, for hours we heard pigs but they wouldn’t show. Finally, a boar poked his head out from a tree line. 99 yards at night, one shot to put him down. I really like what @NotActuallyALonghorn posted about above - hunting can provide a pace that allows the hunter to immerse himself in nature… and therefore grow to appreciate it so much. My friend got to experience that, and he’s now hooked.
  7. With Tom Thumb, Albertson's, Market Street, and Kroger together, it should have a big impact on the DFW market. DMN covers it here. Looks like the merger would capture just over 28% of the DFW market, making it #1 ahead of Walmart. From the DMN article: My neighborhood stores are Tom Thumb and Albertson's about a mile apart from each other. Albertson's is shit, and Tom Thumb is just a more expensive Albertson's. I expect one of those to close as a result of the merger. HEB owns a large undeveloped tract a mile or two down the road from them, but no public plans yet for that property. HEB can't get here fast enough.
  8. Got some work done last weekend. Check out the wound on the second one’s snout. Makes me wonder if it was collateral from about two months ago when I took out another hog that was feeding in a tight group.
  9. Why not? Gotta do something (other than drink) while waiting for the game to start and for @deadshank to post his epic adventure. Spoilered: From my freezer, not yet. I’ve been on-the-go nonstop since we got back and haven’t had a chance to break out recipes. At my friend’s place we’ve had ribeyes off his Blackstone and some elk roast. I will definitely try your method on my BGE.
  10. Lost a big limb off an oak thanks to a storm a couple of weeks ago. After some research, I was still unsure exactly where to trim the limb back to the trunk and didn’t want to take too much off and/or cut into tissue that would help healing. Any thoughts on how or if I should modify the original cut to help the tree heal? Pics spoilered below: TIA
  11. Our final cooler tally: 1x120qt Igloo 3x60qt Igloo 1x60qt Coleman (in-cab) 1x45qt Yeti (Plus 1x30qt softside for emergency overflow, used for drinks) I have a 5.5 bed with a Retrax cover, so it was a tight fit, but we had some room left over for boots, small bags, tools, etc. The 120 had to be centered for the tonneau to close. With your 100s and 120, you might be able to get another 100-120 or equivalent straight in there without the extender, taking you to ~400+. How much volume do you think you'll need? Also, it's hard to imagine a 250 Yeti anywhere other than on an offshore boat - that's a monster of a cooler, hard to maneuver.
  12. My buddy was originally just along for the ride, but my journey inspired him and early on decided to hunt as well. He’s a waterfowler who hadn’t even hunted deer before, but he put in the time and when the opportunity presented itself, he connected on a nice bull, too. It was awesome. Even better for him (but perhaps worse for his pocketbook), he’s been bitten by the Big Game Bug and is planning an African Safari for himself and his wife, and his wife wants to hunt Alaskan brown bear. We’ve talked Nilgai down in South Texas. I’ve created two monsters, so to speak. We were fortunate to have local processors nearby, so we had processing done there with a turnaround less than 24 hours. Steaks (ribeyes, sirloin, tenderloin), roasts, ground cut with beef, stew meat. Dry ice and 7 coolers for the trip home. We played cooler Tetris and ended up with 345 quarts in the bed and another 60 in the cab. My elk alone did a decent job of filling up my new 19.5cf upright freezer: Sorry, no pics of truck bed antlers. We had a local Utah taxidermist take care of the trophies - familiarity with elk plus no need for awkward transport over 1250 miles. My friend is doing a full shoulder mount, straight / no bugle. I’m doing a euro mount and a full cape. As much as I wanted a shoulder mount to capture the animal’s beauty, my house just isn’t suited for it, and euros are really more my taste. Plus, I think the full cape given his gorgeous champagne color was worth it. I kept the ivories in the skull for the euro, my friend might have jewelry made for his wife. I’ll also make a plaque to accompany the euro - it will have a pic of me, rifle, and bull; the shell casing; and pertinent details (date, location, range…). I might have my euro by EOY, my friend should have his by May 2023.
  13. Thanks! Even though I just returned from my hunt, I envy the journey upon which you embark tomorrow. It’s a high I can too easily see chasing again and again. I’ll post later more pics and tidbits, but to your ask about the moment of truth… (spoilered for longcat) TL/DR After a couple of days of chasing a few elk around, we patterned the elk and set-up on an area where we figured they'd be feeding. When they appeared, it was a holy shit moment. Then once I had a clear shot on the one I wanted to take, shit got real really fast and I thought my heart would explode. Somehow I got control of myself and got to work. All business. One shot, double lung, essentially a DRT. Excitement, relief... so many emotions came flooding in. I practiced a ton with that rifle, so some kind of muscle memory just took over when the time for the shot came. Had it not, I probably would have been paralyzed by my brain saying "don't fuck this up." So, don't fuck it up. Good luck to you, sir! Have a great time, and hope to get periodic updates, though cell service in the mountains SUUUUUCKKKKSSSS.
  14. Mission accomplished: Near Helper, UT 7x7 w/ a kicker 397 B&C score Dad’s Weatherby Mark V chambered in .300 Weatherby Magnum 211 yards 200gr Accubond This was a journey 37 years in the making, and he was the most majestic animal I had ever seen. Dad was with me every step of the way. He would have turned 94 the day before I took the shot. Thanks again for all the help and inspiration over the past year as I set out on this adventure of a lifetime. And @686 was right - I’m already planning the next elk hunt. I hope all y’all going after elk this fall have great success and an even greater time achieving it!
  15. Posting here before going to the 2022-2023 thread just to say thanks y’all for all the advice and insight on elk hunting y’all have given since last December. Our elk hunt begins tomorrow. We’re here and ready to get to it!
  16. Eating through our frozen food stocks to make room for hunting season. Found a section of pork loin from when Costco had them on a mad sale. Pork loin stuffed with roasted hatch chilis and cream cheese with some Bolner Uncle Chris’ gourmet steak seasoning. Quick and easy, family devoured it.
  17. That is beautiful. Two weeks from today for me. Finally had a chance to try out my dad’s 300WbyMag Mark V on a live target at distance (206 yards). Should work ok on elk vitals.
  18. 19.31lbs before trimming. Costco Prime. Really liked the shape. Nice, thick flat. Oak lump with hickory chunks. About 18 hours at 235*. No wrap. Flavor was exceptional - that was one tasty cow.
  19. This one ran on three legs into the thicket, about 50 yards. Shame on me. Really interesting blueish-gray hue to its coat. Starting to collect some decent cutters this year. So many pigs, so little blind time.
  20. Noticed this one while at Sam’s. It was select, but I really liked the shape for my BGE, so I ran with it. Really nice, thick flat. It turned out really well. ~13lbs at 235* for about ~13 hours until “done,” which is a faster cook than usual for my pit. No butcher wrap. Over hickory.
  21. Checked the cameras, was like whoa. A lot of work to do, so I had to get to it. Time to establish a better vantage point to allow for multiple shots on multiple pigs.
  22. fuck waf-fle \fuhk' - wah - full\ n. (coined by @BabaYaga ) (origin) (2022) 1. a person of extreme moral turpitude and the lowest order who scavenges truck beds for, and steals, game meat and/or trophies that have resulted from other people's successful hunts while hunters are taking a piss inside a DQ or are otherwise away from their truck. 2. a worthless sack of shit who should be shot on sight and left strung up as an example to others. @deadshank you already have the gist of the above, though I wouldn't give two shits about hauling heads into my room at that point. FYI we're thinking about just rolling straight through on the way back to minimize stops, but that seems exhausting and a waste of beautiful scenery. Both your scopes are sweet, and I think it's a good call on the illuminated reticle if your eyes are like mine in low-light conditions. It's the one thing that keeps me drifting back to illuminated on the Swaro, but they are backordered and I'm running out of time. @Spaulding Smails I haven't had to pay much attention to clothing since my hunt won't require technical clothing or planning for mid-to-late season weather. I've looked at Sitka and it's quality stuff, but talk about sticker shock. I have had zero exposure to Kuiu. I've found Red Head / Cabela's and Game Winner (Academy) to be durable enough for what I do in Texas and for what I expect in Utah. If the camo pattern is important to you, I like Truetimber Strata and Kryptek Highlander for both Utah and Texas, depending on time of year and specific terrain. I like the Optifade subalpine for Sitka. I subscribe to what @RMac5 said - cotton kills, so I go synthetic when I can. I thought about hauling my 14' trailer, but I really don't want to unless I have to. If it came down to it, I'd rather have a third party handle the trophies than take the trailer. I'm leaning heavily towards installing a Rhino Rack t-bar system on my RetraxPRO XR tonneau cover and topping it with a Rhino Rack Pioneer Platform to provide a second level for cargo. Having talked with Retrax and Rhino Rack, if I use 4 t-bars, the system should be able to onroad about 500 lbs of cargo. I like this system because I will also use it a lot going to and from my farm. At this point, the cargo weight capacity of the F150 might become the limiting factor, so I need to crunch some numbers before pulling the trigger.
  23. Update: Bull Elk Mission (Late Aug 2022 in Utah with Dad's Weatherby Mark V chambered in 300 Weatherby Magnum) First, ongoing thanks to all those who post here and on the Gun Owner's Thread - tons of great information, leads, and insights shared that have helped directly and indirectly. Second, here's what's going on with gear (sorry for longcat): Tried to balance between 1) Elk mission, 2) utility in Texas, and 3) potential future western hunts New Rifle Scope: After a ton of research, it seems @686 nailed it from the get-go. I'm likely going with the Swaro Z5 3.5-18x44 as it seems to have great glass for my shitty eyes and is versatile enough for Elk and anything else I might need it for in the future (looking at you, Muley). @williemackgarza and others seem to be Swaro fans, too. I'm still mulling reticles - illuminated or not, go plex with ballistic turret or go BRH. Anyone have thoughts on reticles and/or BTs? Leupold VX-5HD 3-15x44 CDS-ZL2 Side Focus and Zeiss Conquest V4 4-16x44 rounded out my top three. Ammo: @Gladeite provided some great insight, and agree with those who say it comes down to shot placement. Decided to go with the Weatherby Select Plus 200gr Accubond - go big or go home. Sling: @686 nailed it again with the Slogan sling - got the long magnum version. Will really help when traversing uneven terrain. Binocs: My old Vortex Diamondback HD 10x42. Work great for Texas deer and hog, but might be a weak link for Elk. Outfitter has spotting scopes (and sticks). Bino pack TBD. Clothing/Camo: Layers made of synthetic materials. Lightweight but rugged. Boots: Won't need serious mountain boots as this is an early season hunt maxing at 9500 feet and I wanted something suitable for Texas, too. Danner Pronghorn uninsulated fit the bill. Break-in was quick and comfort impressive. Rain Gear: Redhead Squaltex parka and pants; also provides extra protection in case of unexpected cold weather. Celebratory Libations: My dad liked to drink either Wild Turkey 101 or Chivas. Since this trip is in his honor, I'm bringing both. Third, the prize: A lot of this we're still learning about. Butcher: Local place called Jerry's Meats will "cut, wrap, freeze the meat." I do not yet know if they will process the meat entirely or if we'll just bring back iced meat for processing in Texas. Trophy: The ranch can set us up with Accurate Services, whoever they are. I'm looking around DFW for someone to do a Euro. No word on cape - seems a lot of elk hunters leave it to nature rather than keep it for themselves. Bringing it all home: Getting everything in the F150 will be a challenge. Ranch recommends three to four 40qt coolers per animal. Plus two racks and two capes. That's A LOT to keep on ice and not much space in which to do it. Working on an upper deck solution for the truck bed to hold a few coolers. We'll keep an eye out for "fuck waffles" as we make stops on the way home. I'll update as more is known and as we plan things out further. Oh, and this will be the only orange I'll be wearing on this hunt (yay private land): @Spaulding Smails how is your elk trip shaping up? @deadshank, now that you have the 7mm worked out, any other issues in planning your elk hunt? I miss anyone else?
  24. This guy came by to say “hi.” I said “hi” back.
  25. Shit I cooked for the family - shells stuffed with grilled chicken fajita; sautéed onion, bell pepper, jalapeños; cream cheese; Mexican cheese mix; Bolner’s southwest fajita seasoning. Topped with roasted hatch green chili sauce (roasted Hatch chilis, chicken stock, onion, garlic, dash cumin) and more cheese. Baked. Decadent.
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