2019/2020 Hunting Thread

[ROFL BOX 6649]

Where do you go in Old Mexico?  

Probably Boulder, maybe as far S as Pagosa... somewhere S of the wall, I imagine.

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[T’Boo Ted Marshall 2740]

I envy you guys that can plant anything without having swine tear it up.

[williemackgarza 1826]

We cross at Colombia crossing north of Laredo.
Our ranch is about 20 miles in from the border towards Anahuac near the pipeline rd.
Takes 20-25 mins to get to the gate.

[Both Tacos 1806]

Spent the weekend getting the rest of the duck blinds set up for next weekend and checking out the progress on the deer food plots, plus topping off the feeders.
Had a bunch of teal in the wetlands so should be a good kid's hunt next weekend.

[Kennythetiger 9460]

Do you ever have to deal with alligators when you're duck hunting?

[fattyflattie 4638]

@Both Tacos wish I could rep that more. That is picturesque. 

[Both Tacos 1806]

Do you ever have to deal with alligators when you're duck hunting?

Luckily I don't.

[fattyflattie 4638]

2 hours ago, Kennythetiger said:

Do you ever have to deal with alligators when you're duck hunting?

I typically stay along the coast, so yes.  And cottonmouths. 

[Speedtrucker 2079]

Headed out to Vernon tomorrow to do a walk through and check our property.

Not looking forward to sloshing around in the mud but hopefully we’ll be ready for Saturday.

Oh and I still have to dial in my .308... Jesus I’m about 3 weeks behind on everything

[Speedtrucker 2079]

Hah our family property is 600 acres split between my MiL’s/our 300 north half and her cousin’s half. They have the barn and well on that half, we have the 3 stock tanks on ours.

Got out there today and was walking the land marking our best angles against all the deer tracks.

Get to the last watering hole which butts right against the fence line but is 100% on our side and right away I see the fence line has been cut all but the top barbed wire line and 2 deer feeders placed about 75yds within their side...

Sent them a notice, their 2 guns better not be facing north cause I’ll be sitting over that water hole...

[ROFL BOX 6649]

Sent them a notice, their 2 guns better not be facing north cause I’ll be sitting over that water hole...

Are you shitting me?

Your cousins cut the bottom barbed wire to allow deer to cross under the fence?

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[Speedtrucker 2079]

Yes and they aren’t my cousins, it’s my Mother in Laws cousin.

[Reagan1k 3024]

I’d buy a couple of battery operated alarm clocks, set the alarms to go off every 10 minutes starting at 1st light of opening morning and put them on top of both feeder barrels. 

[fattyflattie 4638]

I’d ask the warden to come take a look. Put some heat on it.  And yeah, dump a half dozen bars of Irish Spring out there a few days before opening morning. 

[BabaYaga 15320]

15 hours ago, Speedtrucker said:

Hah our family property is 600 acres split between my MiL’s/our 300 north half and her cousin’s half. They have the barn and well on that half, we have the 3 stock tanks on ours.

Got out there today and was walking the land marking our best angles against all the deer tracks.

Get to the last watering hole which butts right against the fence line but is 100% on our side and right away I see the fence line has been cut all but the top barbed wire line and 2 deer feeders placed about 75yds within their side...

Sent them a notice, their 2 guns better not be facing north cause I’ll be sitting over that water hole...

Ah, here we go.  Shared family land is always a dicey situation.  Especially with family by marriage, etc.  Good luck.  My cousin's husband runs cattle on our place.  Those PITA Mexican corriente cattle that get into everything and are as agile as a deer.  They are knocking down feeders, tearing up fences & water-gaps.  Have to tread carefully.  

[Johnny Sack 8397]

17 hours ago, Speedtrucker said:

Hah our family property is 600 acres split between my MiL’s/our 300 north half and her cousin’s half. They have the barn and well on that half, we have the 3 stock tanks on ours.

Got out there today and was walking the land marking our best angles against all the deer tracks.

Get to the last watering hole which butts right against the fence line but is 100% on our side and right away I see the fence line has been cut all but the top barbed wire line and 2 deer feeders placed about 75yds within their side...

Sent them a notice, their 2 guns better not be facing north cause I’ll be sitting over that water hole...

That sucks.  I have always held the opinion that if they must hunt a fenceline, put the stand next to the fence and shoot into the property.  Much safer.

[Johnny Sack 8397]

There is zero reason for them to mess with the fence.  A barbwire fence simply is no impediment to deer.  It is illegal to shoot across property lines.  I would set up some game cameras pointed in their direction.  And let them see you do it.  Assuming talking to them cordially would not work.

Are they set up where they would be shooting towards your 300 acres?  If so, I would talk to them immediately.  If that does not work, take some pics and video of their setup and send to the game warden.

Edited October 30, 2019 by Johnny Sack

[Anastasis 23485]

Cutting the fence is some bullshit. 

[Speedtrucker 2079]

So all the tracks I followed were on our side, into and out of the 40 or so acres of thick brush and mesquite trees. The 3 water sources are surrounded by their tracks and the water source that butts the fence I can spot the tracks going from the brush, to the water, under the fence and towards their feeders .

As baba mentioned, it’s family to my MiL. All the land is my grandmother in laws who lives with my MiL. I took plenty of pics and videos of the fence and feeders and sent it to my MiL letting her know.

After last night, I let my MiLs cousin know as well and told him he needs to make sure if his guns are out on the property Saturday morning, they cannot be aiming north. We’d be aiming East at dawn and dusk.

Our property basically favors a West to East hunt, so we will be aiming East but we are hunting the 3 water sources.

Also as mentioned, these are not high fences. They are about 4 - 5 feet at most. So cutting down a hole right at the waterline is weak shit.

[BabaYaga 15320]

1 hour ago, thestud said:

Game Warden is your friend. TPWD website lists the wardens by County and their cell # as well. Give yours a call and invite him out.

Befriended our local Raccoon Ranger a few years ago and he was instrumental in helping us get our MLD tags. He also has the combination to all of our gates and has caught 11 poachers in 3+ years.

This is great advice.  Those guys have a difficult (and dangerous) job as it is.  They often work alone and cover massive amounts of territory.  Most everyone they come upon is also armed.  It's not easy.  Helping them make their lives easier goes a long way towards them reciprocating.  Ours is great.  Has gate keys, etc.  

"Thin Green Line"

[Reagan1k 3024]

Anyone that cuts a fence like that is going to have no regard for legal, ethical, or safety considerations when it comes to hunting.

If it weren't for the fact that you would probably be shot, I'd set up a ground blind on the fence-line right where it was cut and hunt facing back into your property, catching the deer as they try to make their way to the feeders behind you.  Then after you shoot, yell back to the inout-laws thanking them for helping you pattern the deer.

But....getting shot sort of takes the fun away from that revenge play.

[BHMCruiser 1816]

16 minutes ago, Reagan1k said:

Anyone that cuts a fence like that is going to have no regard for legal, ethical, or safety considerations when it comes to hunting.

If it weren't for the fact that you would probably be shot, I'd set up a ground blind on the fence-line right where it was cut and hunt facing back into your property, catching the deer as they try to make their way to the feeders behind you.  Then after you shoot, yell back to the inout-laws thanking them for helping you pattern the deer.

But....getting shot sort of takes the fun away from that revenge play.

Put your MIL in the blind and have them shoot her. Two birds, one stone, etc.

[NotActuallyALonghorn 4977]

Anybody who thinks they need to cut a barbed wire fence so the deer can cross isn't intelligent enough to trust not to shoot across the property line. But what are the chances they cut the fence so they could cross easier? Wear a plate just in case.

[fattyflattie 4638]

Makes it a helluva lot easier to drag the deer they just shot off your place back to theirs as well. 

[686 3451]

We had a really dry summer which afforded the opportunity to get a silted-in pond excavated and improved a few weeks ago, along with brush cleared and ground reseeded adjacent to a seasonal spring and creek upstream of the pond. Looking forward to seeing it this weekend after some rain. This should be a great turkey setup next spring.

[Both Tacos 1806]

Young buck hit on Hwy. 380. Would have been a really nice one.

Tapa isn't letting me load a pic unless I go Pro version.

 

 

[Brisketexan 105334]

Neighborhood buck:

[Brisketexan 105334]

[BabaYaga 15320]

12 hours ago, 686 said:

We had a really dry summer which afforded the opportunity to get a silted-in pond excavated and improved a few weeks ago, along with brush cleared and ground reseeded adjacent to a seasonal spring and creek upstream of the pond. Looking forward to seeing it this weekend after some rain. This should be a great turkey setup next spring.

Your own dozer or rented?  Curious about this as we have some serious brush removal projects coming up.

[Johnny Sack 8397]

48 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

I like that one.  Would make a beautiful Euro mount.  I killed one very similar to that 15 years ago.  Went about 130.  The G2s almost touched.

[686 3451]

Your own dozer or rented?  Curious about this as we have some serious brush removal projects coming up.

 

Own. Bought used about three years ago. Only issue was an electrical gremlin that took about a grand to find and fix. It’s really really nice to have equipment at your disposal and convenience; I only run it about a day or so a month on the weekend and we have ranch hand types that will run it for us occasionally during the week on projects. I know we’ve cleared over 10,000 cedars in the last few years; probably closer to 20,000. On a good day in easy terrain I can clear and stack over 500 medium size cedars with the dozer.

 

We will probably sell it in another year when we have all the big cedar clearing done and we can maintain the place going forward with skid steers.

 

Pretty gratifying to turn a cedar brake monoculture almost devoid of wildlife into an grass savanna with intermittent oaks, or a nice food plot.

 

 

[CHIEF 5095]

2 hours ago, thestud said:

One of these two better still be around on Sunday or I’m going to go apeshit.

That tine length is gonna net a pretty good B&C.

CHIEF

[CHIEF 5095]

2 hours ago, 686 said:

 

Own. Bought used about three years ago. Only issue was an electrical gremlin that took about a grand to find and fix. It’s really really nice to have equipment at your disposal and convenience; I only run it about a day or so a month on the weekend and we have ranch hand types that will run it for us occasionally during the week on projects. I know we’ve cleared over 10,000 cedars in the last few years; probably closer to 20,000. On a good day in easy terrain I can clear and stack over 500 medium size cedars with the dozer.

 

We will probably sell it in another year when we have all the big cedar clearing done and we can maintain the place going forward with skid steers.

 

Pretty gratifying to turn a cedar brake monoculture almost devoid of wildlife into an grass savanna with intermittent oaks, or a nice food plot.

 

 

I have two uncles that bought a an old D3 and cleaned their place up. Paid $12k for it, and sold it for $12k, thought that was a pretty smart idea.

CHIEF

[DonnyKerabatsos 86]

thats the same buck. Just 1.

[BabaYaga 15320]

10 minutes ago, DonnyKerabatsos said:

thats the same buck. Just 1.

Ok, I thought I was the only one thinking that.  

[Spaulding Smails 1555]

19 hours ago, 686 said:

 

Own. Bought used about three years ago. Only issue was an electrical gremlin that took about a grand to find and fix. It’s really really nice to have equipment at your disposal and convenience; I only run it about a day or so a month on the weekend and we have ranch hand types that will run it for us occasionally during the week on projects. I know we’ve cleared over 10,000 cedars in the last few years; probably closer to 20,000. On a good day in easy terrain I can clear and stack over 500 medium size cedars with the dozer.

 

We will probably sell it in another year when we have all the big cedar clearing done and we can maintain the place going forward with skid steers.

 

Pretty gratifying to turn a cedar brake monoculture almost devoid of wildlife into an grass savanna with intermittent oaks, or a nice food plot.

 

 

That's the perfect setup right there.  Love the enclosed cab Bobcat.  Do you have a brush hog for it?  Grapple is worth its weight in gold when clearing brush.

Nothing better than owning equipment for a ranch.  We haven't gotten to the dozer point yet, but will probably pull that trigger in a few years when we try to add a food plot.  We rented a brush chipper a few times last winter when we bought the place and said "fuck it" and bought one this spring.  We went from busting ass for two days straight every time we rented one to banging out a few hours here and there when needed.  Much more satisfying and way easier on the back to work for a few hours at a time.  

[Spaulding Smails 1555]

Rut is in full effect in Dripping Springs.  I've seen more bucks coming out of the woodwork in the last week than I have all year.  Saw six different mature bucks on my way home Wednesday night.  Hadn't seen a single mature buck in that area in weeks.

I went for a run yesterday evening with my son in his jogging stroller and my yellow lab.  We had two decent bucks chasing a hot doe through one of our neighbor's pasture.  They couldn't have cared less that me, my son and my dog were watching.  Probably 120 yds from the road.  Nose to the ground, right on her tail.  

[CHIEF 5095]

They are on the does in my neighborhood as well. Gonna take the Ranger and the binoculars out tonight and see what we have running around. A neighbor has a picture of a 9 point that will probably go 140 B&C, which is pretty decent in our area. We had one over 170 that someone poached last year, warden found it in a shed in Abilene. Someone recognized the buck from a picture off of Facebook, guy got the book thrown at him. That's what he gets for having a Facebook account, dumb fucker.

CHIEF

[fattyflattie 4638]

10 minutes ago, thestud said:

https://www.kxii.com/content/news/Whitesboro-man-convicted-of-poaching-deer-to-serve-unique-sentence-465777923.html

Scored 202 B&C. Fucking douche

$89.50/inch.  Good. Fuck em. 

[BabaYaga 15320]

12 minutes ago, fattyflattie said:

$89.50/inch.  Good. Fuck em. 

I remember that.  Man, what a beautiful animal taken by such a POS.  

[Both Tacos 1806]

Here's the buck that was hit on Hwy. 380 yesterday.

[fattyflattie 4638]

Damn. That’s a nice buck 

[Coyote 269]

The social media comment reminded me of these geniuses:

"The conviction followed a social media post by an accomplice to the crime with a photo showing the blurred-out subject with the mule deer with a distinctive, spiraled drop tine. The subject, although the photo was blurred, was tagged in the post."

https://www.lsonews.com/taxidermist-mounts-mule-deer-killed-by-poacher/

[fattyflattie 4638]

1 hour ago, Coyote said:

The social media comment reminded me of these geniuses:

"The conviction followed a social media post by an accomplice to the crime with a photo showing the blurred-out subject with the mule deer with a distinctive, spiraled drop tine. The subject, although the photo was blurred, was tagged in the post."

https://www.lsonews.com/taxidermist-mounts-mule-deer-killed-by-poacher/

God.  Would give my left nut for a mulie like that. 

[Johnny Sack 8397]

Mark Talasek, a fishing guide in Matagorda, got caught poaching a 180 class buck on our family ranch in Frio County in the early 00s.  Fucker had been poaching for years with his buddies.  We knew it and so did game warden.  He lost his job as an operator at the plant and can't be around firearms any more as it was a felony.  He begged my granddad to drop charges.  No fucking way.

[fattyflattie 4638]

36 minutes ago, Johnny Sack said:

Mark Talasek, a fishing guide in Matagorda, got caught poaching a 180 class buck on our family ranch in Frio County in the early 00s.  Fucker had been poaching for years with his buddies.  We knew it and so did game warden.  He lost his job as an operator at the plant and can't be around firearms any more as it was a felony.  He begged my granddad to drop charges.  No fucking way.

I laugh every time you tell that story. Not because he shot yalls deer, just doesn’t surprise me. I was invited on an AM trout then PM gig trip with him once. Someone had backed out but paid so I went.  I might be able to count on one hand the laws he skirted that day. During the gig he made a comment, “I can get you into a position to gig that gator, but it’s your baby if you do”.   Just no respect for game laws.  Kind of soured me on guides tbh (had never been on a guided trip at that point).  He was on the fish, I can tell you that. 

[Speedtrucker 2079]

Quick question, what does this look like it came from?

It was the only scat I couldn’t figure out.

I’m thinking raccoon or coyote?

[Kennythetiger 9460]

Nope- that's Briscoe's poop.  

[fattyflattie 4638]

2 hours ago, thestud said:

Father in law just sent me this pic from his stand. We have a new player in the game.

 

I

 

Very nice. 

[686 3451]

That's the perfect setup right there.  Love the enclosed cab Bobcat.  Do you have a brush hog for it?  Grapple is worth its weight in gold when clearing brush.  

Yes, a dozer and a skid steer with grapple are an amazing combination for getting brush removal done post haste. We ran open cab machines for 30 years and finally went to glass cabs. We can work longer and more effectively in the a/c without all the smoke, dust, and noise. Plus I’m not so worn out at the end of the day and can enjoy a family evening more. Saved me from a beehive inside a dead tree I pushed as well.

We shred with the farm tractor, and we don’t shred brush. My dad is a stump nazi - anything that will leave a stump gets pulled out with the dozer or the bobcat. He built a great grubber for the skid steer:



We used to do brush removal 20 years ago with just a bucket on a bobcat and I honestly looking back I can’t believe we got anything done without the grapple - it’s ridiculously more efficient at shuttling/stacking compared to a bucket.