Spaulding Smails

@RPM I agree. Guineas and peacocks are fine if you have 10+ acres and they mingle and roost far enough away from your house (and your neighbor's house). My wife's aunt has both, and they of minimal nuisance. My next door neighbor at work, however, has several peacocks. Fuck them. They're constantly on our property, roosting on people's cars, etc. And noisy.

This is the correct answer. Way before my time, but my dad got to know George a bit. He played drums in a different band in San Marcos and had some interaction with him back then. Would be awesome to see him in that type of environment. I'd say it would never happen, but if Paul McCartney can drop into a dive bar and perform, then maybe there's hope with George (yeah right).

Based on the updated feedback from @tigol and your comment, Jobell may be worth a shot. As would Tillie's. I'd suggest a reservation at either of those if you choose that route.

Interesting. I guess we need to give it another shot. The experience that time was literally so bad, it seemed to be indicative of a fundamental shift. I guess I shouldn't have been so judgmental.

Leaning Pear is always solid. If you don't mind a bit of a drive, head to Tillie's at Camp Lucy in Dripping Springs. Awesome venue and unique food. Service is still working out the kinks, but is getting better every time we go there. Two years ago, I would've said Jobell Cafe & Bistro on RR12 just north of town. We loved that place. Not sure if it was new ownership, change in management or what, but we went a few months ago and it was literally one of the worst all-around dining experiences I've ever had. Flippant service, cold food, shitty music. I felt like we were eating re-heated Sysco at a shitty Chili's.

I agree with you for the most part. The peripheral school districts in the Coastal Bend (GP, Calallen, Tuloso-Midway) are decent, but CCISD is abysmal. I was there through middle-school. Even at that age, I knew it was bad. And according to most of my family that still lives there, it's gotten worse. My cousins all went to King or Incarnate Word, so they were spared the worst of it. Based on the stories I've heard, I can't fathom going to Miller or Moody. One interesting contradiction to your theory, however, is Austin. I believe AISD has declining enrollment, and although I wouldn't consider it a shitty school district, it's certainly not a banner system. I don't want to derail the thread, but that generalization seems to be more aligned with small to mid-sized cities where the anchor school district for that geographic area constitutes the majority of the enrolled students.

This is the correct answer. That school board and city council are beyond laughable and have been since my parents were kids in CC. That city should be overflowing with financial success stories based on it's proximity to natural resources, location on the gulf / major waterways, military presence, tourist potential, affordable housing and affordable labor. Instead, both the city and school district are perpetually teetering on the brink of bankruptcy due to corruption and bad decisions.

That is bad ass. Only thing that would have put icing on the cake would be to pan to a frightened elderly white woman in the corner of the subway clutching her purse.

@Anton Chigurh @Biff Tannen thank you for the recs. I haven't even ventured online or to REI yet. I figured I would check here first. I'll be traveling with my 11 year old son. Just the two of us. I wish we could bring our lab, but it seems like Big Bend frowns upon that. Regardless, I like the idea of a larger pack and larger tent. Especially when my daughter gets older and is able to join us. My son will just have his daypack and hydration pack, so I'll be carrying the tent, sleeping pads, food, jet boil, etc. I'll probably put some stuff in his pack, but I'd rather him be light and nimble to enjoy the trip. Keep the recs coming.

Planning a three-day hiking trip with primitive camping over Spring Break with my son (11 years old). At first glance, I'm thinking of doing the outer loop. Any recommendations on that or other trails? We can stretch it to a four day trip if needed. What are priorities to see / do? Go for one loop, or break it up into other individual trips?

Starting to get set up for our primitive camping / hiking trip to Big Bend over Spring Break. Looking for a recommendations on a good multi-day backpacking pack and 2-man backpack tent. I should have everything else for the trip, but need to upgrade both of those. Our hiking has been limited to day hikes thus far. I have an inexpensive dome tent and day pack, but both are due for upgrades, so this is as good of an opportunity as any. Budget is $600 or so for both together. We're planning on doing a three day trip around the outer loop. I'll ask for more details about the trip specifically in the Big Bend thread, but if anyone has any recommendations on gear lists for a three-day hike, it wouldn't hurt to double check my inventory.

That's the exact question I'd expect from your avatar.

Agreed. I think he was trying to save meat, but that doesn't do any good when you don't find the animal.

Damn. I never thought about that. We have a kiddie pool, and I just empty it once a week down the back hill. Never dawned on me to put it in the garden. Thanks for the idea.

That's well said. And thanks for the illustration. I agree on neck shots as well. I'm fine with them, and to your point, it's an easier target than the head. I guess my stance is there's a justification for heart / lungs, front shoulder, neck, and head. And each depends on the weapon, the shot and the shooter. I shot a nice 10 point 15 or so years ago and HAD to shoot him in the neck because I couldn't get him to stop as he meandered through the brush. Then, I HAD to shoot the largest buck I've ever shot (11 point, scored in the low 150s) in the chest because I had to shoot him right handed and didn't trust myself on a smaller target.

This exact topic came up this past weekend. My dad and I own the property (my dad owns majority), and he pretty much asked for two rules to be followed. 1) Don't drive off the existing dirt roads. 2) Shoot your deer in the shoulder. I didn't give the second rule much thought, and honestly I'd shoot a doe or spike in the head without pause. My BIL was out at our place this weekend. He's shot a few pigs there this year (we just bought it in January), but hadn't harvested a deer yet. He's very cognizant and respectful towards my dad. He had a big axis doe come out Saturday morning. I was texting with him from another stand and gave him the green light to shoot it. He shoots an AR platform 6.5 Creedmoor. Nice Vortex scope. Great rifle. Shoots straight and fast. Well, he shoots her right behind the shoulder. He said she dropped a bit then ran off. We let her sit for an hour. Got down. Found bright red blood, so we're thinking lung shot. We followed it for 100 yds, saw where she probably stopped for a second (pool of blood the size of a coaster), then nothing. We searched the area for a few more hours and couldn't find where the trail picked back up. The stand he was in is probably 400 yds from the back fence line and the blood trail was heading that way, so there's a chance she hopped the fence onto the neighbor's property. We have his number and tried to call but no answer (older guy, lives in San Angelo). The best we can figure, the shot went straight through. My BIL was kicking himself for not shooting her in the head (<100 yd shot). After a few beers, my dad started ribbing him for not shooting a "man's rifle". He shoots a 30/30 or a 30-06. It was all in good fun, but it sucks to lose an animal for sure. I'm of the opinion that every shot is different, and as a shooter, you should take the shot that makes the most sense and can take the animal down quickly and efficiently. If you're comfortable with a head shot, then take it. If not, aim for the front shoulders and live with a little less meat. I think the loss of an animal like that did give my dad pause and understand that a shoulder shot isn't always the right shot.

Dude. That is very nice. You went all out. R panel roof and masonry flatwork? Seriously. Nice job.

That's damn near the exact same one I built earlier this year for my sister and then a second for my mom. Same finish and everything. Yours looks great. Nice job.

So, we officially cancelled our goose trip that was scheduled for next week. I talked to our guide, and he hasn't seen a goose from El Campo to Port Lavaca in the last two weeks. He said this has been the worst goose season he's ever seen (been hunting there for 30+ years).

@crimsonlonghorn I like that setup. Especially if you're moving it around. How much does it weigh?

I did build it myself. And I thought I could get it done in one weekend. WRONG. Three weekends later and several trips to the hardware store, and I finally finished. I spent about double what I was planning too. It was actually a lot of fun, though. I did access panels in the back so you don't need to go into the coop to get the eggs. All cedar with a screw-down galvanized metal roof. Should be good to go for many moons.

Check out Hal Higdon's programs if you haven't already. Great for race prep, but also nice if you just want some variety in your routine while maintaining a consistent program. I'm not training for anything in particular right now (which is why I need to lose about 15 lbs and I'm slower than I've been in 10 years), but I still mix in tempo runs, hill work and intervals. I've found that the variety helps a ton mentally and keeps me at a respectable pace even though I'm only running 3-4 times/week. https://www.halhigdon.com

I believe the dark brown egg is from the maran. I'll have to check with my son. He's the one that checks for eggs and seems to know who's laying what and where. She seems to be our most consistent layer. The americanas were slow to lay, but I love the blue eggs. Those lights were some cheap battery-powered LED lights. Three strands at like $15/ea. Perfect ambiance. They have a little remote, so when you walk out to the coop at night, you just take the remote with you from the house and hit it as you're walking up. Makes counting chickens much easier.

Here's our setup. It was our first go-round with chickens, but my wife and kids absolutely love it. For the most part, ours stay put, and they head back to the coop after dusk. Really low maintenance. The coop is varmint-tight. Buried metal flashing 12" below grade to keep critters from digging under. Our only real threat is something during the day while they browse or if we forget to close the door to the coop. We started with a dozen pullets and two straight-run ducks this spring. The ten chickens and two ducks came from Callahan's, and they were great. We lost one chick to pasty butt early on. The other two chickens we got from Triple S Feed here in Dripping. They were in the pullet cage, but seeing that we ended up with two roosters, they were obviously straight run. They were our two favorites (Brahma and blue laced red wyandotte), but we had to give them away. No roosters allowed in our neighborhood. Kept both ducks though we ended up with one hen and one drake. My lab got two more chickens (one buff orpington, one maran). So, we're down to seven chickens and two ducks. Duck eggs are awesome, BTW. Other than the ducks, we still have two salmon faverolles, one Jersey giant, one maran, one buff orpington, and two americanas). it's interesting to watch their personalities. Some are passive. Others aggressive. Heck, the buff orpington will jump in your lap if you feed her dried mealworms. We'll be getting 6-8 more this spring. The eggs are so damn good. Hard to go back to store bought after having fresh eggs in the backyard.

Where in South Texas? I hunted down there for 10+ years and shot a few like this. But, this one is more straight-up than I've seen. Very strange. My uncle still hunts in that area (Live Oak / Duval border). He shot this guy earlier this year. They aged him at 5.5. Nickname was "Super Freak".