Spaulding Smails

For reference, I lost my lease of 10 years in 2011. We had 1600 acres in Live Oak County. In 2001, we were paying $5,000/yr total (five guns @ $1,000/ea). In 2011, that had ballooned to $15,000/yr. That included a small cabin with water and power. Low fenced and we furnished all blinds, feeders, corn, etc. We could bring guests, but were allotted one buck, one cull, and two does. No quail, but turkey were good and you could shoot as many hogs as you wanted. Deer population improved as we managed it. We'd take no more than two "trophy" bucks annually. Those were 150+ and had to be 4-1/2 or older. Had a few in the 160+ range over the years. We were somewhat a victim of our own management success, but also a byproduct of demand. They ended up making more money doing day / week leases, so they kicked us to the curb. I'd be shocked if you could get anything decent of that size for less than $10/acre. And, I'd guess that place would go for $20/acre now.

That was our stance as well. Nice to go out there with my kids and my dog and not worry about a pasture jam-packed with folks with zero regard for gun safety. The clients we took Sunday were all folks we'd hunted with before. It's so much more enjoyable when you're not worried about getting peppered.

And that's a fair argument. My business partner and I wanted a place all to ourselves that was within an hour of home / work where we could take employees, guests, etc as we please without having to worry about schedule, logistics, etc. The plus side is we can get a wild hair and head down there whenever we want with up to 20 people in tow. The down side is we probably aren't going to shoot shit this year. It was relatively cheap, so not a huge deal.

I was wondering the same thing. I hunted on a few spots in that area (Yarrington Rd, Zorn, New Braunfels airport) for several years and we ALWAYS slayed them the first few weeks. I haven't hunted in that area for the last 4-5 years. It's bizarre. I wonder if someone can shed some light on why there's been such a dramatic change. Sounds like I won't be renewing the lease. Oh well...

No birds to speak of in Guadalupe County near Geronimo. First time hunting this pasture (big milo field). Killed one bird between morning and afternoon hunts Sunday. Our group of eight killed six birds total. Worst opening day hunt I've ever had by a wide margin.

Wimberley is pretty awesome. Good people. Schools are decent given the size. Our kids started school there until we moved to Drip. I have one kid that's super bright and one that's special needs. We needed more resources from a school perspective and we needed to be closer to doctors / therapy in Bee Cave. But, Wimberley was great while we were there. We lived between Wimberley and Driftwood, so we were a bit out of town. Very tight community that got tighter after the flood. It's an even better place to live if you can be near the river or have access to it. Only drawbacks that we saw were the demographics tended to be older on a per capita basis. So, while there was a decent amount of younger families, it seemed to skew towards retired couples, etc. That's been 4 years ago, however.

When I was on the 40 acres, I had a good buddy who would drop his pants to his ankles and pull his shirt up under his chin every time he took a leak at the urinal at DKR. Like a 6'4" toddler. One of the funniest damn things. Never got old.

This past weekend, I was thinking about my first ever experience wade fishing. I grew up in Corpus Christi, but my family didn't fish much. Just the occasional trip on a friend's boat to soak bait. We were a sports and beach family. After college, I got way into hunting, but still didn't fish much. I had a customer of mine that I had gotten to be pretty good friends with. He had a house in Magnolia Beach and invited me down there with a few other acquaintances for some wade fishing. All artificials. I had zero experience with either, but figured I'd give it a shot. We met Friday after work and headed for the coast. We get to his place around 8:00. It's March, so it's still chilly and the sun had already set. I'm assuming that, like most of my other fishing trips to that point, we'd hang out and drink beer that night and get up when we got up the next morning to fish. Wrong. We climbed in the boat and headed out for some night wade fishing. Having never wade fished before (let alone at night), I apprehensively got in the water and didn't stray more than 50 yds from the boat. I didn't catch shit. They caught a few trout. We fished til around midnight. The next morning, we got up early and hauled ass in some dense ass fog to Keller Bay. In the water as the sun's coming up. By lunch, I had a stringer full of a limit of trout, a few redfish and a few black drum. I even had a dolphin get within a few feet of me. My buddy was yelling "lift up your damn stringer!!!". It was terrifying and exhilarating and so damn much fun. I was hooked. We fished our asses off that weekend. Literally sun up to sun down both days. Got home well after 10 PM Sunday. Those guys were all waaaaay more into fishing than I have ever been. It was a great exposure to folks who truly love fishing. I don't get down to the coast as much as I'd like. And, when I do now, it's usually with my kids, so wade fishing excursions are few and far between. And, I've never come close to replicating that day in terms of success. I didn't realize at the time how special that was for a fishing hack like myself.

Croaker. Caught a few trout on shrimp, but the reds were hammering the croaker.

We got on the reds yesterday morning in Aransas Bay. Three man limit within an hour. All over 23". The boy couldn't stop smiling the whole way home yesterday afternoon. He's caught reds before, but this one was by far the biggest he's ever caught, and he's never been on them that thick.

Great advice. Thanks for the feedback. You can see from the entry wound in the picture just how much he's was quartering away. I think that shot would have been god for a true broadside, but should have been 3-4" further back given how much he was quartering away. I'm learning how different Axis are from whitetail. Definitely need to consider a different round, different shot location, etc. I may go back to the Noslers I was shooting before the ballistic tips. With whitetail and pigs, I've had a ton of luck with the ballistic tips. Haven't had a deer or hog do anything other than drop in their tracks in 5+ years. I'll head / neck shoot a doe or pig all day long. I was thinking of a mount for this guy which is why I went for the shoulder shot. Appreciate the insight here.

Had a bittersweet day yesterday / this morning. I went out to the ranch solo to top off feeders and make sure the pump floats were working in the cisterns. Neither my dad nor I will be out there for a month or so, and I wanted to make sure things were tight. Got everything done yesterday afternoon and set a two string bale of fresh alfalfa in our alfalfa feeder in front of the house. Took another out to a blind and spread it around. Climbed in the blind to see what I could see about 7:00. Lots of whitetail. All doe and one yearling buck. With about 5 min of shooting light left, two nice whitetail bucks came out. My shitty Nikon binoculars are screwed up again, so I was glassing them through my scope on my rifle. I saw another big bodied deer come out to the alfalfa. Scanned over and I'll be damned... one of the nice axis bucks that we've been seeing on the cameras. Not the big boy, but a decent one. Problem is, he's facing directly away from me. All I see is ass and antlers. Time is literally ticking away and I can barely see him with the naked eye, but the scope draws in enough light to still feel confident with a shot. He finally quarters just enough and I squeeze the trigger. I see him drop a bit, then run south. Shit. I hop out of the blind to where I saw him drop. No blood. Nothing. Not a drop. I look around the immediate area for blood, and nothing. I felt confident with the shot, but it's now pitch dark. I decide to let him lay. I go back to the cabin. Grab my dog and my spotlight. We searched east, south and west for 2 hours. Nothing. Now, I'm wondering if I missed. If my scope got bumped in the Polaris. At 10:30, I gave up. Dejected and back to the cabin. I woke up around 5:00, got some stuff cleaned up around the cabin, loaded up the truck, and went back to where I shot around 6:30. Light was decent by 7:00, and I walked the entire back quarter of the ranch. Finally called it quits around 9:00 under the assumption that I plain missed. I was walking back to the Polaris with the intent of checking my rifle. There he was. 20 yds off the road. Not 60 yds from where I shot him. NORTH. He was literally 100 yds from the blind. He must have run a big circle and came back around. I feel dejected. Just an absolute gut punch. Bittersweet to find him, but so mad at myself for not finding him last night. Wasted some beautiful meat. The only blood I found was from his mouth. Entry wound from the 130 grain ballistic tip 270. No exit wound. Never found any blood trail, even working backwards. I made the cardinal mistake of not adjusting my shot when he was quartered away. I should have aimed further back. The entry wound was dead center of the shoulder where I was aiming. I missed the vitals and he had enough adrenaline to run despite the broken scapula. Shoulder was toast. I would have done so many things differently if I could do it again. It's a strange, strange feeling. Just an absolute gut punch. Good news is, there's plenty more out there. And I'll get a decent mount out of it. Not a huge trophy axis, but good enough for our first one taken on the ranch. Dropped him off today to get the hide tanned and a Euro mount.

Pomegranate tree

This is 100% accurate. Compare, in the event that they were to continue functionally without power: -5000 SF modern design with high ceilings and a flat roof, floor-to-ceiling windows that maximize views regardless of direction built with air-tight construction reliant on mechanical systems for humidity and temperature control -1200 SF slab on grade with solid stone walls, minimal windows, built and oriented to maximize prevailing winds with a dog run down the middle, long overhanging eaves and a big covered porch

Nothing fancy, but a welcome addition on both fronts. Knocked the paint off the bucket moving some caliche around to some low spots and mowed a few roads this week. Also popped the cherry of the Polaris with a nice little sow that we shot this morning. Did a poacher's cut for the backstraps.

Oh nice. You're much closer than us. I sometimes cut across 479 to Segovia. That's a beautiful stretch. We're northwest of Junction near Roosevelt. Off 1674 headed towards Ft McKavett. We put our camp at the high point on the ranch as well. Nice to get that breeze, but doesn't do much good when it's 105.

Finally remembered to snag a picture of the shadow box of the shell we found at the ranch. Pretty cool stuff. From the late 1860s.

I'm stoked as well! Secured a dove lease between Seguin and Geronimo. Currently planted in milo and the farmer is harvesting in two weeks, so timing should be really good. We're headed up to our ranch tomorrow to check game cameras, etc. My mom got some pictures with her telephoto lens of a decent axis at the alfalfa feeder last weekend. We'll see if he's still hanging around while we're up there.

Finally got around to picking up a few toys for the ranch over the past few weeks. Been slammed at work and haven't been out there as much as I would like this summer. Also, it's hot as balls out there. Ended up going smaller than I wanted on the tractor with a JD 300E. I'm 50/50 with my old man on everything and he was adamant that he didn't want anything bigger. I wanted to splurge and get the Kubota LA1065 and he wanted a smaller Mahindra. The JD300E was a good compromise. Also picking up a Polaris this week. We had my dad's jeep up there, but it was tough for kids and older folks to climb in and out. The Polaris should be a nice addition. We put up a little shade structure to park everything under. Polaris will stay in the shop. Headed up there this week and will post pics of some of the recent work.

Yes! Love it when a plan comes together. My boy is 11 now, and just has the knack for fishing. Last year, he really started getting more independent fishing. Tying his own lures, making decisions on what to throw based on conditions, better casting, etc. We were fishing out of our kayaks at our local honey hole and he had missed a few fish on a wacky-rigged Senko. I asked him what adjustment he was going to make, and he said, "I guess I'll let them take the lure a bit more". Next cast, I see a twitch at the end of his rod. He waits a bit longer and WHAM. 4+ lb largemouth. I enjoy watching him catch fish more than I do catching them myself.

Daddy long legs video reminds me of my first deer lease south of George West. The water shut-off valve was an absolute haven for daddy long legs until the first freeze. No matter how much I prepared for it, it was a creepy feeling sticking my hand in that box to turn on the valve. And I'm not an arachnaphobe. That's a damn weird phenomenon when they all start moving together.

Damn. I forgot about this thread until it got resurrected by Slorch. My wife's grandfather passed away 10+ years ago. My in-laws inherited his "fish camp". Double-wide trailer on Toledo Bend. They've done a great job fixing it up, built a nice metal barn with a 1-bedroom apartment above, new pier and floating dock, etc, but it's still an East Texas double-wide trailer. In-laws are both retired now, so they spend damn near half their time there. They love it. For the last 5+ years, we've spent the 4th of July there. We'd probably go there more often, but it's a 5-1/2 hr drive and tough to justify for a long weekend. Plus, accommodations are tight, even when it's just our family of five. It's usually a nice getaway and something different for our kids. My oldest loves to fish, so he's in heaven. In-laws love having us up there and usually cook some fantastic meals. I have a BIL as well, and he's typically come up there for a day or so over that timeframe. Only downside is that the place has had somewhat of a black cloud over it. Four years ago, my middle son tripped and cut his head open on the floor vent of the double wide trailer. 9 stitches at the Jasper ER. Two years ago, my oldest son almost lost his pinky finger when the tow rope of the tube my FIL was pulling got wrapped around his finger. Fileted it to the bone. 27 stitches but avoided surgery. It was nasty. So, again, this place is a good / bad place for us. Chalk this year up to a bad experience. I guess we're in a biennial cycle. Within the past three months, BIL has gotten engaged. He's 33. She's 30. She has two kids that are 16 and 13. You do the math. Two different daddies (obviously). They're getting engaged, and my wife volunteered to host the wedding and volunteered me to cater it and officiate it. This was a result of them "not having any money" even though he makes $80K+/yr and she has a decent job as a phlebotomist. That's a little back story for what went down over the 4th. All four of them are coming up the day after us. My family is now cramming in the 3-bedroom double wide with the in-laws, and BIL and his family has the 1-BR apartment. They have the better set-up, but we're fine on our end. I have a special needs son who needs his own room, so my wife and I are in another small bedroom, our daughter is on a pallet at the foot of our bed and my oldest is going to sleep on the couch in the living room. All good. Upon arrival, soon-to-be SIL walks up and first words out of her mouth to me are, "did your brother-in-law tell you that he knocked me up?". Awesome. Let's break out the champagne. Their two shit-head boxers come barreling around the corner and immediately start fucking with my lab who's one of the most laid-back chill dogs ever. They instantly start growling and biting at him and we have to separate them. And they bring their cat. Who the fuck travels with a cat? Shit (kind of) settles down, and they want to do their cake tasting in preparation for the wedding. My wife made six different mini cakes for them to try so they could choose which ones they wanted for the bride & groom cake. This was a logistical feat just to transport them to the lake. BIL takes his first bite, spits it out, and says "this tastes like ass, it has carrots in it". Well, no shit. It's a fucking carrot cake. My wife bites her tongue, but you can see it starting to fester. Later that evening, my son and the 13 YO soon-to-be cousin are out fishing on the dock. We see my son walking back at a brisk pace. He comes walking up with tears welling up in his eyes. He's shirtless, and he turns around. He has a topwater lure with BOTH treble hooks firmly embedded in his back. Dipshit cousin thinks he can out-fish / out-cast my son and is trying to show off and snags the shit out of him even though he was on the opposite side of the dock. I still don't know how it happened. Somehow, my FIL and I were able to get the treble hooks out. It required cutting off barbs and pushing them through the skin. He was brused and bleeding, but we avoided an ER visit. So, that was a small victory. It's been an eventful day, so about 11 PM, my family is ready for bed. My oldest (treble hook victim) wants to go to sleep. We're shutting it down for the night. BIL throws a hissy fit because he can't stay up late and watch TV on the only TV in the joint (living room where my son is sleeping). He storms off to the barndominium cussing like a sailor. He tells me that he, "can't believe I'm raising such a pussy for a son." WHAT?!?!? I follow him up the hill and we exchange words. It didn't come to fisticuffs, but it's the closest I've come to slugging him. Next day, things seem to have calmed down. After lunch, his boys want to go tubing. My son joins. BIL is nowhere to be found. I drag them around the lake for 2+ hours. We have a great time. We come back and I'm ready for a cold beer. I come in and BIL is asleep on the couch in the middle of the living room. I'm trying to be the bigger man and I try to be quiet, but somehow I wake him and he says, "can you make any more noise?" It's fucking on. I go out on the patio and crank up some Willie Nelson. I turn it up to 11 ten feet from where he's sleeping. FUCK. HIM. My wife is helping my MIL to prep for the evening's fish fry. My wife is making dip. Now roused from his slumber, BIL comes to take a bite while she's still prepping it and proceeds to tell her how fucking disgusting it is. My wife (who is an incredible cook) loses her shit. She drags him outside. I miss the start of this b/c I'm pitching washers and enjoying Willie. All I catch is him calling her a "ThunderCunt". While that's an awesome insult, it's not so awesome when it's directed to your wife. I drop my washers and set down my beer, but by the time I get over there, my wife is on him like a spider monkey. She is lambasting this poor, pathetic dipshit with the full fury of 33 years of pent up anger. I just sat back and watched. Soon-to-be SIL comes out and gets caught in the crossfire from my wife. She gets an ear full as well. It was a thing of beauty. BIL and SIL head up the hill to the barndominium. Thank goodness, all of our kids are out on the dock with FIL and missed the shit storm. BIL comes back down, tail between his legs, a few hours later and apologizes profusely. Says he's off his meds, stressed out by the new kid on the way and the wedding and SIL just lost her job. Whatever. Doesn't give you an excuse to act like an asshole. They leave the next morning. The rest of the stay was peaceful and quiet and we caught fish and swam and did all the normal lake things. So, as it stands now, we're still hosting the wedding. Invites have been sent and my wife didn't want it to seem like she was the bitch that caused the shit storm. Also, my MIL is the consummate enabler and basically guilted my wife into keeping it on the calendar. BUT, we're not catering for them. And I'm not officiating. And neither of us want anything to do with him for the foreseeable future other than the wedding. And, I booked them a room at the JW Marriott for the night of the wedding using my points. And that's been cancelled. The end.

@Anastasis is the wood rotten or just discolored? If it's rotten, then it will indeed suck. If it's just discolored, you can spray it with a bleach / water mixture (or a mold / mildew treatment from Lowe's / HD) and cover it back up. Do you think water is just getting in around the door itself, or do you see evidence of water intrusion around the jamb or under the threshold? Also, what kind of exterior is around that door (siding / brick / stone / stucco) and does it have trim? When there are thresholds involved or water appears to be getting in from areas other than the weatherstripping, I'm a big fan of removing a door completely and re-setting on a proper sill pan with a silicone back dam if exterior conditions allow it. Even if you don't opt for an aluminum sill pan, a soft pan using a high-grade water barrier system (Dupont Flex Wrap is great) will provide a much better barrier than a threshold sitting on a foundation of plywood subfloor. The ideal situation is exterior trim that can be removed and reinstalled which would allow you to remove the door completely, install a sill pan, the re-set the door and properly waterproof the sides and top. If you have brick / stucco / stone it gets more complicated. And, I agree with the above that, for retrofit applications, PVC trim is great for exterior use. Also, make sure you use a very high grade 100% silicone (NP1, Dap Dynaflex) at the transitions, and pre-fill any screw holes with the same silicone before fastening.

This was going to be my suggestion. If you want it to be a FISHING trip, this is a great choice. Great time of year to sight cast from a skiff in Florida Bay one day then head offshore the next. Plenty of variety. Short flight from Texas to MIA or FLL. Drive is manageable. Plenty of lodging options in Key Largo and Islamorada. Good restaurant choices as well. Would be an awesome father-son trip.

They still suck. I went out there last night for the first time swinging a club in three months. Guy at the desk gave me a weird look when I asked to get on Kizer. At least he warned me. I kept my putter in the bag all day. They have pins in the best spot on each green, but it's all relative. Still really, really bad. Never seen Kizer look like that. I was playing solo and hit 2-3 balls on every shot and really worked on chipping around the green. Only time I pulled out the putter was on 14 when I got on in two. No way I was going to not at least try to roll in an eagle.