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Spaulding Smails

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Posts posted by Spaulding Smails

  1. 10 hours ago, solamente73 said:

    Thanks!  I’m ridiculously excited.  My friend is going to hunt, too, and we are going to do 1 guide 2 hunters.  He’s adamant that I take the first shot / bull-of-choice.  Agree that hunting (and fishing) with good friends reigns supreme.  This is a hunt of a lifetime that needs to be shared.  

    It’s going to be a long journey to figure everything out, but this is what I’ve been able to put together in the last few days:

    • Elevation: entrance is ~6500 feet, ridges up to ~9000 feet
    • Month(s): last few days of August / first few days of September; chose this timeframe based on hunt availability and first choice on bulls; should be bugling
    • Rain Gear: I have basic (read: cheap) rain gear and a nice waterfowling jacket.  Not sure what might be needed for mountains.
    • Shot Range: 150-250 yards.  Wooded areas plus open valleys.  I plan to prepare for up to 300.
    • Transportation: as of now, we’re leaning towards driving.  The hunt dates are bookended by weekends, and the drive DFW-UT would be beautiful.  I have a super crew F-150 with a bed cover that can accept t-bars and cargo baskets, so plenty of room for gear and coolers.
    • Coolers: we have 370 quarts now.  I’ll ask the owner what we’ll need to bring meat back, or ship.
    • Trophy:  TBD.  Ranch can handle it, but I could bring mine back as I’m thinking euro mount.  My buddy is thinking shoulder mount, so we might be running out of room at that point.
    • Bullet:  TBD but looking at Barnes 180 TDX, Barnes 175 LRX, Nosler 200 AccuBond, Hornady 180 GMX, Hornady 200 ELD-X
    • My buddy doesn’t have a rifle for this hunt, so he’s been looking into it and is leaning towards 7mm and Leupold 14x glass, but he’s really only 4 days into making the decision to take an elk on this expedition, so lots of research ahead for him.

    Any and all advice/input from anyone greatly appreciated.  I’ll chronicle the journey in this thread; I’m sure to learn things that might help others.

    This is great info.  I'll be following along.  I received confirmation last week for an October elk hunt (rifle) in Northern New Mexico.  It'll be my first elk hunt, and I have some SERIOUS preparation and gear purchases / upgrades on the horizon.  

    • Hook 'Em 1
    • Like 1
  2. 3 hours ago, deadshank said:

    We’ve thought about building a walk-in cooler to temp store and age deer we take.  The problem with those cotton-picking things is the refrigeration system is always breaking down.  Heck, we even have an HVAC contractor in our camp and he’s non-plussed with the idea. 
     

    Also, keeping the inside of the locker clean.   The ones we’ve had at other camps were always a foul-smelling and bloody mess with blood on the walls, floor, plastic tote bins and everyone expected the other guy to clean it up.  

    There are 5 guys in our camp.  The HVAC contractor and I are very cleanly, the Geologist is no too bad, Mr. Wall Street is clueless and pays for the  help to clean and The Lone aggy is a great guy but a complete pig; therefore, I don’t want to be the guy to clean up after everyone.  

    Check this out.  Probably not a good option for a large walk-in or something that gets used frequently, but we installed this, and it's worked like a champ the last three years.

    https://www.storeitcold.com/

    I got a small walk-in (8' x 6') from a demo job we did at a restaurant years ago.  The remote condenser was shot, but the shell was in good shape.  Before I had an HVAC guy on staff, I couldn't get anyone to come out and help me rig something up.  My dad stumbled on this.  We bought a window unit, cut a hole in the walk in, spray foamed the shit out of the opening, and installed the cool bot.  Basically, it overrides the thermostat in the window unit.  I hung two doe in the cooler over Christmas for three days.  Hot and humid outside, and 38* with low humidity in the cooler.  

    My fear would be leaving them to hang with me not there and having the unit seize up since it is kind of redneck engineered, so I've yet to let anything hang for longer than I'm at the ranch.

    • Hook 'Em 1
  3. My son and I were sitting in the deer stand in Kimble County Sunday evening.  Wind was whipping.  He said, "Holy crap, Dad.  Is that Cedar tree on fire?   Looks like smoke coming off of it!"  I just let out an uncomfortable chuckle as my eyes watered and I continued sneezing in the stand.  It was out of control this weekend.

  4. On 12/3/2021 at 8:43 PM, bigshark88 said:

    . a93553ee3f2e87cfcb8eba76e51f8031.jpg

    Great lookin' boat!  I fished on damn near the same setup (without the T-top) with a guide out of St Augustine two years ago.  Perfect for the intracoastal and back bays.  

    • Like 1
  5. 6 hours ago, Gooby said:

    I'll be visiting my folks in New Braunfels on the 26th.  You can bet your ass we're taking a Christmas pic in the river.

    Yep.  We'll be at the ranch in Kimble County where the forecasted high is 89 on Saturday.  That means this year's Christmas pic will be in shorts, t-shirts and snake boots.  

  6. 4 hours ago, phdhorn said:

    Maybe it's age, but man although A-B is my go-to CO resort, the last 2 times I had attacks of altitude sickness (which has only happened to me there). I guess because it's so damn high.  Fortunately both happened on "get to" slopes, not on the steeps.  But I spent something like 5 hours one day in the Ski Patrol clinic, barfing and wanting my life to end it hurt so bad.  Got to the hotel, laid down for a few mins. and it was gone.

    Not sure I want to go to A-B again, at least unless I've been at altitude for awhile.

    NB:  Getting old sucks.

    I had my first bout of altitude sickness in Telluride last year.  I was OK the first few days but always felt a bit short of breath.  Night four, I was up all night just feeling "off".  Puked a bit that next morning and sat the next day out in prep for a HeliSki trip.  Just chilled on the couch while the others skied and caught up on work.  I nutted up and got after it Heliskiing, but damn, it hurt.  It was all I could do to walk back to my truck after the helicopter dropped us off.  My wife was finishing up a spa treatment at The Peaks and watched my sorry ass stop a half dozen times to catch my breath on the 100 yd walk back.  Never been so tired in my entire life.  Not sure why the altitude sickness got me that time.  I was in as good of shape as ever, drank plenty of water, avoided alcohol and did all the right things, but it hit me like a ton of bricks.  

  7. @T’Boo Ted Marshall sorry to hear about your issues.  Never a dull moment, I suppose.

    Do you think you need to stabilize the balance sheet and produce some consistent profitability before pulling the trigger on the PE decision?  I'm curious if you think a year or two of solid results is A) achievable and B) can put you in a spot of added leverage when that time comes. 

    Update on our end.  We're six months in to the HVAC side and just over a year into the MEP endeavor as a whole.  Definitely slower to achieve consistent profitability than I had hoped and costing WAY more on the front end than I had budgeted.  Part of that is a byproduct of rapid growth (26 field guys now) and part is the fact that we're investing heavily in the infrastructure (full call center and three managers) to make it more scalable.  We were optimistic that we could cash flow the expansion with our legacy business units, but that hasn't been the case.  We signed a five year lease on a 15,000 SF space, so we should see some operational efficiency increases.  Migrated to Service Titan for service dispatch.  Just kicked off a big marketing / advertising initiative.  But, all that being said, we're starting to achieve critical mass on the labor side and starting to achieve consistent margins that have put the MEP operation in the black the last two months.  The trend is definitely in the right direction.  

    As such, we're close to pushing out a mezzanine debt raise.  After some pretty exhaustive conversations, it fits the bill the best for our business at this stage.  More flexibility than institutional debt without sacrificing equity.  We don't need a ton of cash, so this seems to be the logical next step.

    Then the question becomes the long-term goals.  I have two silent partners, and my end game is dramatically different than theirs.  So, that's a whole different conversation that keeps becoming more integral in the overall strategy.

  8. 13 hours ago, HOOKEM4 said:

    @Spaulding Smails did you go up this past weekend? Was the rut in full swing on your place if so? I left thursday and it seemed it was just popping off. None of the bigger deer were going crazy. I am thinking this weekend i need to slip out to try my luck.

    I sure didn't.  Had an expected event occur that altered our entire Thanksgiving weekend.  My old man was up there Thanksgiving day and said he saw a few new faces and a little tussle between two youngins one evening, but nothing too hot and heavy.  I'm out again this weekend, but will be there come hell of high water the weekend of the 11th.  Hoping we don't miss the peak of the rut.  I have a ton of craziness at work, plus building my house plus some stuff going on with family.  Ranch time has been minimal and sorely missed.  Send pics if you make it out there!

  9. All this kid gun talk (which I love) reminds me of a customer of mine who did probably the coolest thing imaginable for his two boys.  I was late to the game when I learned about it, otherwise I would've followed suit.  From their birth until their 18th birthday, he had a complete list of guns that he vowed (and fulfilled) to buy his kids.  1911 pistol at birth, Henry Golden Boy 22, youth single action 410... all the way up to a nice O/U 12 gauge (can't remember what brand) and a 300 Win Mag with a nice scope.  Significant birthdays were matched with significant guns, but ultimately, they had 19 guns including rifles, pistols and shotguns of all shapes and sizes that they could call their own when they were an adult with the intent that some were youth models that they could then pass down to their kids.   Maybe I can get my shit together and make this happen for my grandkids in the next decade or so.

    • Hook 'Em 4
    • Like 2
  10. 3 hours ago, hookemATL said:

    I have taken on the responsibility of helping my very good Australian buddy learn the ropes on deer hunting.  It really is very rewarding and fun to be a guide to someone that is so new to something that I enjoy so much.  Was able to do some target shooting this weekend and we did some more prep work at the stand.  It was his first time shooting anything other than an air rifle, and he did great.  I know sometimes you get a greenhorn with a rifle and they just get the yips but I am fully confident in his ability to put the shot where it needs to be when the moment arises.  It is extremely rewarding to watch someone fall in love with hunting, and I am just hopefully I can put him on to a decent buck.

    Congrats to all the surly folks who got it done this weekend.

    This is so bad ass.  To this day, I remember from my hunter's safety class the progression of a hunter / conservationist.  I have a good friend who I've put on his first deer then put his son on his first pig.  May do the same with another friend this winter.  Both times, I had way more fun than shooting myself.  And, I love drinking a few beers while watching them gut and skin their first animal.  That "Sportsman" stage is definitely where I am right now.  But, I kind of skipped the "Method" stage.  

    On that note, my son (almost 14) is showing lots of interest in learning to shoot a bow.  We stopped at Los Cazadores this weekend, and I'm thinking about an entry level Elite  Ember for him to start with as a Christmas / birthday present this year.  Anyone have experience with this one?  The biggest factor for me (other than not dropping $2K on a kid's Chirstmas gift) is the turnkey nature and wide range of adjustability in draw length and weight as he matures.  I have zero bow hunting experience but may snag one for myself so we can learn together.  If I do pull the trigger for myself, I was thinking of a Hoyt RX-5.  I need to go shoot what they have at LC I guess to see what I'm most comfortable with, but I really liked the way that one looks and the reviews were solid. 

    https://archerycountry.com/elite-ember/

    https://hoyt.com/compound-bows/rx-5/carbon-rx-5

    • Hook 'Em 2
  11. Got the group text last night at 6:30 that the fields were too wet for my son's baseball tourney this weekend.  Best news all week!  So, we loaded up the kids and headed west.  Got to the ranch by 9:30.  Glorious morning sipping coffee with my oldest by my side.  Covered up with deer, but nothing worth shooting.  Saw a little 8 pointer with his nose to the ground and starting to chase a doe.  Rut is close.  I doubt we'll sling lead this weekend, but love being out in the stand opening weekend.

    • Hook 'Em 3
    • Like 1
  12. On 11/5/2021 at 12:09 PM, deadshank said:

    I’ve never had a bad GW contact.  They’ve always been professional, cordial and easy to work with.  
     

    One stopped in on us right when the WWs started flying to check our licenses.   He checked mine and said I can go ahead and start shooting again.  I pointed out that he and his truck were in the way.  He said to not worry about it and start blasting but don’t shoot him.  
     

    Well, OK!  I moved over about 10 yards and kept my shotgun at 45 degrees up.   The next WW that flew over got smoked, spiraled out and landed at his feet.   He said “nice shot” and stooped over, picked it up and tossed it to me.  
     

    I asked  him if I needed to tip the bird boy.  He grinned and said “no, have fun.”  

    That one incident was really the only head scratching encounter I've seen.  And, it wasn't me.  Most of the other times have been awesome.  Including when a GW showed up when the dove were THICK and said, "Fellas, I'm terribly sorry, I'm sure y'all are good, but I gotta do my job, I promise to be quick so y'all can knock out your limits."

  13. 25 minutes ago, Reagan1k said:

    There can be a lot of variations depending on the county you are in.  Number of total deer, number of bucks, size of bucks, and number of doe all vary.

    You have to know the rule by county when you're hunting to avoid a costly mistake.

    The Tag isn't the only thing that has to identify the county, but the log does as well.

    • after a deer is harvested, but before the deer is field-dressed immediately before moving carcass, complete the log, in ink, on the back of the hunting license. Asterisks in the log indicate bucks with an inside main beam spread of at least 13 inches.

    Completion of the log is not required for mule deer, or for white-tailed deer or mule deer harvested under a MLDP tag, TPWD Special Drawn Public Hunt permit, or on a Big Time Texas Hunt.

    Some GWs take that shit super seriously.  I saw a GW in Llano go off on a buddy for not filling his tag out properly.  He hadn't completed the log on the license and he had marked the date with pen instead of cutting out out with a knife.  

    • Like 1
  14. 1 hour ago, Reagan1k said:

     

    Wow.  I had no clue about this either.  So, is that being driven by TPWD based on doe/buck ratio and overall count or is it on a county basis?

    And, my son has baseball for the second weekend in a row.  Last week was a reschedule, so we missed the youth opener on top of the regular opener.  Hoping we still have some decent weather next weekend because it'll be the first weekend for us to hunt.  

  15. 9 hours ago, markstanco said:


    Also, and I bet you know, but there is a cool app called FarmLogs. It’s great for a specific area you want to track. It uses geomapping and obviously an estimate. But really cool. The full pay version is super expensive.

    FarmLogs is what I use out at the ranch.  Technically, the LCRA map covers it, but there isn't a gauge within 30 miles or so.  It's a guesstimate at best.  I was out there two weeks ago and had 2.5" in the rain gauge off the patio, but the FarmLogs showed 1/2".  

    To your point, it's kind of interesting that there's not a single site or entity that tracks rainfall.

  16. 46 minutes ago, hookemATL said:

    Is there a typically day/time they restock at academy?  I have two rather close to me so I’m wondering if I can get lucky if I time it right. 

    I had decent luck Tuesday right when they opened a few weeks ago.  I hit the one in Sunset Valley to snag some baseball pants for my son and picked up a few boxes of .223 varmint rounds that I hadn't been able to track down along with a big box of .45 rounds that had been elusive.  They do have quantity limits though, so hard to really stock up on target rounds, but good for finding hunting rounds.  

    • Hook 'Em 1
  17. If you're headed west for some reason, I've been able to get damn near every caliber I need over the last two months at the new Los Cazadores location on 290 in Stonewall.  McBrides had a decent supply last week as well when I was in there.  

    • Hook 'Em 1
  18. 2 hours ago, hookemATL said:

    Thanks all for the tips.  Just want the fucker out of my yard, and would rather not have to capture/kill.  

    On another note...This year will be the first deer season I have been able to really jump in and get after it in like...7 years?  Anywho...I am ignorant to the issue of Ammo acquisition.  From perusing the other thread, it seems like there are varying opinions about what the best way to get what I need.

    I am primarily looking for the following:

    30/30

    .243

    .300 Savage

    Any advice is appreciated on the best way to acquire.  I am not looking for a ton of ammo, just enough to do some minimal target shooting and then the few rounds i need (hopefully) for the season.

    Where are you located and where are you hunting?  There's several online options.  I've had decent luck with Abel's Ammo.  I know of a few gun stores that have had better inventory in the last few months depending on your location.

    • Hook 'Em 1
  19. 6 hours ago, USCATX said:

    I built a wood jig to support it on the flat bed, then cut six steel pipe rollers and jacked up the blind with a floor jack and inserted the rollers.  I tied the blind off to another truck and then moved the flatbed forward.  Then I installed two legs on the blind and kept moving on the rollers. Finally I flipped the jig around and had my boys stand on it to lever it while installed the other two legs.  My stand is 3 miles down a tough to access road, but even then I can’t recommend this unless you absolutely have to do it. 

    Nicely done.  Seems like you thought it out ahead of time.  I can remember building a big, heavy wooden blind out of treated lumber and plywood that I intended on mounting on some old scaffolding I had.  Engineering marvel to get that thing upright.  

    I share the ranch with my old man who is super OCD about stuff like a blind tipping over.  I was cracking up when he pulled out the 8' level and a bag of gravel to make sure the legs were all even.  Then, each leg gets anchored with a steel form stake and a bunch of tie wire, and we put a mobile home anchor in the middle with guy wires and a 1/4" cable with a turnbuckle for good measure.  Driving those stakes sucks regardless, but it really sucks in the Hill Country.  

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