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@fattyflattie I want to get a fixed blade in magnacut, just haven’t pulled the trigger yet. The Montana stuff is nice but pricy. Buck did a special trial magnacut run and I screwed up and thought about it for a day and they sold out.

Knocking doves down with a 410 is impressive! I decided to replace the feeder that coons messed up entirely with a stand & fill. My dad is 73 this year and still gets out and fills feeders standing on the truck bed rail. He fell off a trailer and fell getting out of the bobcat recently. I’ll probably replace all the elevated feeders with stand & fills if this style works out. This is the 600# EZ Feeder from All Seasons, $499. I really like the mechanism design. I pulled some cards, need to take care of a boar and shoot a bunch of does. Have a couple of decent bucks.

Made it out for just a little while tonight. Saw a decent buck for our place. Shot a few birds and checked feeders. Going back with a west Texas Feeder supply unit with the eliminator plate on this feeder ; coons wrecked this plastic mechanism.

Hoping you can connect on one.

@mooseoutfront is that a 60-incher? Looks enormous. I was hoping we’d see some posts from you in this thread, thanks!!

It definitely looks like the accumulation phase could suck from working super hard and living like a pauper, and the RE phase could suck if you still live like a pauper to make the money stretch. Any interesting anecdotes from your journey?

Haha, yeah it was a classic photo composition : ) The iPhone 14 ProMax takes amazing golden hour photos. That is no filters/editing. I have a decent eye for a photograph, and probably took 6-8 pics getting the best light/composition; but it’s an awesome camera. Here’s some from a summer road trip out west: This is actually the full moon rising over White Sands NM:

Teal hunt around Winnie

I haven’t read up on these doves in particular, but any invasive makes things harder for the native competitors by consuming resources the natives could use. I think that is tpwd’s main impetus to keep their numbers down.

@NotActuallyALonghorn that reminds me to preemptively go over calendar stuff with the wife. She always loses her shit in December complaining about hunting time.

I got 293k miles out of my 2014 Ram diesel, but it was time, as things were starting to go out, and I don’t haul for work anymore, and wanted something to fit in the garage so I traded it in on a 1500. This truck has the adjustable air suspension which I really like, the side tool boxes which were also a must, 3.92 rear end, and the 5.7L with the 150hp electric regenerative motor. It’s like driving a go kart compared to my 2500. At highway speed, the suspension lowers down and it drops an air dam in the front, really quiet and aerodynamic. Got it up to 105 on the toll road and it wanted to keep going, it feels like you’re going slower than you are. Heads up display and powerful headlights are a huge upgrade for me. For off road you can raise the suspension up ~2” above normal ride height, worked great filling feeders at the ranch. The suspension auto levels, so it didn’t squat or have any issues with 900lbs of corn and gear in the back. I need to pick out some all terrain tires. Other than that, it’s a great fit for my current life arrangement.

@Buzzrock morning doves predominant in most of the state, white wings more predominant in the southern part. Invasive Eurasian ring necks spotted occasionally and don’t count towards your limit. I had a good evening tonight, but not as good as last night, knocked down 6. Also filled all the corn feeders, put out three cameras, and did some long range work with my elk rifle and spotting scope arrangement. Went 3/3 on the gong at 515yds. Nice having real-time feedback on impacts. Most significant kill was a big black widow under a rocking chair on the porch.

Epic Blast and Cast tonight in Lampasas. Best evening of dove hunting for me ever. Extra level of entertainment trying to help the kid fish simultaneously.

You’ve got a great mechanic @deadshank

Did you end up going one way or the other on this? I have used the Sig BDX rangefinding binoculars and Sierra 3 and Sierra 6 scopes for the last two years. I like the system. It takes some attention to detail to setup, but is pretty nice once you do have it set. Very fast to operate, and you can have a spotter run the rangefinder for the trigger man if you really want to be quick. The illuminated dot is really helpful to me.

Haha - Beretta 686’s are great too, although a buddy (who wasn’t much of a hunter/gun guy) had one that occasionally would hang up after you fired the first barrel. You would pull the trigger a few more times thinking “WTH is going on here?” and then “Boom!” I told him he needed to take it in immediately, hope he did. My username is an homage to my Smith & Wesson 686, a great wheel gun.

My dad bought this gun about 35 years ago. He never cleans guns, but luckily for me he doesn’t use them much either. I’m borrowing this off of him for a skeet shoot, and I may dove hunt with it as well. It was filthy by my standards, but nice and clean and protected now. I’ve always liked the action on this gun, not too tight, not too loose, top locking mechanism is rock solid. Weatherby Orion

Went to check on some things at our place and saw the hen that is bringing up her poults about 300 yards off the front porch of the house. Saw lots of does and fawns, not many doves though.

What a great deer. @CHIEF hope you guys get your hands on him. I need to get some cameras put out. Maybe this weekend.

@deadshank How much is the replacement going to run you? How many hours were on it?

Yes, CWD is going to suck in terms of herd dynamics. The little “golden age” of huge high scoring bucks we’ve been in (both high fence and free range) may start to decline soon as the number of bucks that reach 5+ starts to decline with increasing CWD prevalence. Several high fence ranch owners I know are contemplating removing white tails and other cervids that can carry CWD from their property, because: A) they don’t want to deal with it, and B) speculation that future rules around CWD prone animals will lower the cost/benefit ratio below that of non-CWD species (Bovidae: sheep, goats, bison, antelope, oryx, gazelle, addax, eland, Kudu, impala, etc.)

@Ted Dantzler Driving to your hunting spot and carrying a loaded firearm are vastly more risky endeavors than butchering/eating with a deer with CWD. Have it tested before consuming it and discard the meat if it’s positive if you want to be very careful. Looks like the state is offering some free testing: https://ksoutdoors.com/Hunting/Big-Game-Information/Chronic-Wasting-Disease-CWD

All Seasons are great. I manage 5 corn feeders and 2 protein feeders at our place, and the All Seasons unit I’ve had running year round for almost 10 years hasn’t had a single problem. I think I’ve only replaced the battery once in that time. https://www.allseasonsfeeders.com/collections/broadcast The West Texas Feeder Supply mechanism with The Timer and The Eliminator may be the best stand alone mechanism in my opinion. It has a great timer and a spinner plate that seals up against the feeder funnel to keep raccoon loss to a minimum. https://westtexasfeedersupply.com/product/12-volt-unit-wmotor-the-eliminator-the-timer-solar-panel/

@Brisketexan sorry you lost your hunting spot. A good lease dynamic with a good group of guys is hard to find and a great thing.

@NotActuallyALonghorn do you smoke the rawhide after the brain tan and what wood do you use to smoke it? What do you make with the leather? I’ve always been interested in this. I also have always wondered how people thought, “you know, I’m going to rub some brains on this rawhide and maybe that will soften it up”. It would have never occurred to me.