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@Horns99 great buck and nice hog! What does your son shoot? Did he get any buck fever? What county?

Some things that helped my kids: I set up a little steel silhouette target “game” and let them shoot 22’s at it - they’ll burn a couple hundred rounds on that. Make it fun. I shoot the bigger rifles first so they can see what it’s going to be like. Suppressors and tripods help a lot. Sometimes they are scared to shoot at an animal, so I’ll shoot a deer or armadillo or something to break the ice and then the my are less intimidated. I let them play on their iPad or Nintendo in the deer blind. I don’t like this, because it’s not at all like what hunting was like for me growing up, but if we make it too boring they just won’t be interested. I actually played one of the last Texas games on my phone in the blind so we could watch while waiting for deer/pigs to come out.

And what is the wind direction forecasted? I would setup taking the wind into account.

Rifle hunting from the blind?

Yeah that is fucking rough. For those without the stomach: Aggy hires a fucking quack professor who turns out to additionally be a sadistic bitch that tortures horses to death while also running bullshit quack treatments on hundreds of horses. Finally she was convicted on animal cruelty charges and had her license revoked, but only after footage was leaked showing her shock a slung horse with a cattle prod over 1000 times in the most vile and disturbing manner imaginable. Hopefully she spends eternity in hell being trampled and bitten by horses.

@hornmpa96 which broadheads were you using? Any pics of the first in his ribs?

Decently consistent moisture content from the spring fed creek, but we also water trees when needed. We setup a 300 gallon tote with a solenoid valve you can operate without getting out of the bobcat.

@hornmpa96 I’ve been in that situation and it is rough - really great that the buck lived and you got another opportunity. Those are both awesome deer! What county?

Yeah we have pretty great spring turkey hunting every year. I took the balance of the day today and dug about 40 yards of dirt out of a pond that’s been dry this fall. Another 40 yards will have it in better shape and we can use the top soil to dress some bare areas in the pastures. Dad cleared a bunch of cedar in this seasonal creek area that runs to this pond and we’re planning to plant some pecans (Caddo and Choctaw) and some Apples (Anna to go with some Ein Shemer I planted a few years ago); and maybe some pears as well. I thought this area would be a great little spring turkey spot and I was able to get one this spring in there. If we can get the fruit trees going, they will be great wildlife (and people) food sources.

Those two rifles my daughters are shooting are as follows: 1. In the foreground the 12 yr old is shooting a Ruger American Ranch in 300 BO topped with an Sig BDX in 3.5-10 with an aftermarket throw lever. Suppressor is an Sig QDX with a silicone cover. I cut the stock down for kid LOP and fabricated a soft little recoil pad. The buttstock shell holder has some foam in it to raise the cheek weld and provide some cushioning. Shoots subs and supers very well. Bogpod deathgrip infinite carbon tripod. 2. In the background the 14 yr old a Tikka T3 action that I swapped the factory .270 barrel down to a second hand factory Tikka 6.5CM threaded, fluted, and ceracoated barrel. Suppressor is my titanium AB Raptor that I run on my elk rifle, but in a short arrangement without the “reflex” mount. Scope is an older Nikon 4-12 x 50. Stock is a Boyd’s AtOne (nice because they adjust down to about 11.75” or so, and then quickly back out as needed). I added a Salmon River Solutions Arca rail to the foreend to allow more secure tripod mounting. Tripod is another Bogpod Deathgrip Infinite with the saddle removed to use the Arca mount. (Saves about a pound and is much more secure) With the suppressors, tripods, and ear pro on, the kids were shooting full factory loads in these gun like they were .22’s. They wanted me to shoot the rifles first and afterwords they said “oh it’s not loud!” And then they proceeded to empty the mags twice in about 90 seconds. This pattern occurs every fall. They must have heard me shoot an unsuppressed rifle years ago and immediately think shooting any rifle is going to be really loud. We literally don’t even talk about recoil, the sound is what they worry about. 14yr old has a bino harness on, which looks like suspenders. Suspenders are cool; so are coveralls. Here she is two years ago with her first doe wearing my dad’s coveralls from the 70’s:

Yeah a cold front would be much appreciated.

Turkeys and fog so far this morning.

A lot of that going around today

Had a peaceful sit after the horns finally put Arky away. Does and yearlings, no pigs or shooter bucks, but a nice sunset.

Some pics through the spotting scope from inside the house this AM. Mid-range year for us buck-wise. Decent numbers but the quality is down some from years past. Young 8 point with little splits on his G2s is kinda interesting:

Had a good day today.

It definitely looks like a domestic that broke loose, and like it would be good eating.

Got some time with the 14yr old in the blind today, looking for does or pigs but none showed. Did see a big flock of hen turkeys, including what I think is a bearded hen. New target showed up on the cell cam just a few minutes ago:

Haha I thought it was a dead rat initially

The Howa Mini Action and Super Lite are interesting little guns. Under 5 lbs, Stocky’s carbon fiber stocks, precision action with no superfluous length. IMO they would be perfect youth or women’s guns if the length of pull could be adjusted. As they are, probably the handiest little bolt guns I’ve fondled at a gun shop. There is a good video review from Randy Newberg on their site: https://www.howausa.com/howa-super-lite/

@huge was the scimitar from last year? How is the meat? On my bucket list, just haven’t made it happen.

@Ragde what range did you shoot the buck with the 357? I always thought a 357 lever gun would be really handy.

Three years ago, my elk hunting partner was shaking so bad when a shooter bull walked out (at 600 yards) that he couldn’t hold his phone still enough to read his dope chart. He could barely hold his phone. He hands the phone to me and asks what the holdover is, and I’m trying to calmly explain to him, “if you can’t hold still enough to read your phone there’s no way in hell you’re making a 600 yard shot..”; and he says “just give me the holdover”; ok.. and I watch through the binos as he airballs 4 shots at this bull. There was high grass between us and the bull, and all around the bull, so I can’t see any splash of his shots. He’s getting pissed at me because I’m not giving him the splash. He starts reloading and Im asking him “how far have you shot that rifle at paper?”, which he bristles at; Finally the bull wanders off, never having picked up his head from feeding during these shenanigans. The only thing additional we needed was some Benny Hill /Yakety Sax.

Great buck @hornmpa96 I would propose “Tumbleweed” if someone hasn’t already named him.

@ABZ I’m shooting a Ruger American in 7PRC this year; up to now I’ve shot 300 Weatherby’s. I also shoot suppressed with an AB Raptor. What range was the bull, what ammo were you shooting, and how was the bullet performance?