The 2018 Hunting Thread

[jofus 2266]

We are (Houston county), and that buck is a trophy in our area. Pretty heavy hunting pressure. 

We have panels around a pasture feeder, and the cows don’t do any harm. 

[Both Tacos 1806]

4 hours ago, 686 said:

One other item of note - there were over 4000 pictures on the camera that is set close to the timed protein feeder, and there was not a single raccoon photo, and very few nighttime deer photos. That was over a two week duration. When I was feeding free choice, the bucks would be very nocturnal, and I would have hundreds of raccoon photos.

What protein time feeder do you have? I've typically just sling corn because of all the damn racoons. I put on eliminator plates last weekend and filled the hoppers with Buck Ration to try and get some protein going. This is our 3rd year to set up for deer on my place so adding things as we go along. Really want to do more protein but can't do it with all the racoons. Not sure if I have the deer population to keep a timed feeder cleaned out before the night when the coons come out. I had to set my cameras to 3-5 minutes between shots or I would have a thousand picks of those damn things climbing all over everything trying to get to the corn.  I've built several rodent cages with chicken wire but then the corn hits it and falls straight down so the corn piles up right underneath the feeder. 

Going out tomorrow to check on the feeders, pull cards and see how well the eliminator plates helped. 

[NotActuallyALonghorn 4979]

Sounds like you need some subsonic .22s, a suppressor, and a night vision scope.

 

[Izhmash 563]

8 hours ago, jofus said:

You’re gonna want to buy some hog panels and set up pins around your feeders. They work great and the deer just hop over. 

 

Love the slightly curvy browtines on this guy!!  Nice mature buck...something to be proud of!

[686 3456]

What protein time feeder do you have? I've typically just sling corn because of all the damn racoons. I put on eliminator plates last weekend and filled the hoppers with Buck Ration to try and get some protein going. This is our 3rd year to set up for deer on my place so adding things as we go along. Really want to do more protein but can't do it with all the racoons. Not sure if I have the deer population to keep a timed feeder cleaned out before the night when the coons come out. I had to set my cameras to 3-5 minutes between shots or I would have a thousand picks of those damn things climbing all over everything trying to get to the corn.  I've built several rodent cages with chicken wire but then the corn hits it and falls straight down so the corn piles up right underneath the feeder. 
Going out tomorrow to check on the feeders, pull cards and see how well the eliminator plates helped. 

Let us know if the eliminators help. I have exclusion cages on my corn spinners that keep the coons out.

If you see deer on your place, you have enough deer to use the protein. If you only have the mechanism open for 1 minute twice a day, it just fills the feeder head, a total of maybe 5 pounds of feed. Deer really guzzle protein, they’ll finish that off in a day.

I had custom hoppers built and I use the Hammer feeder mechanism, which is basically a timer, a linear actuator, and a gate valve: http:// http://www.thehammerfeeder.com

I posted a few links to other timed protein feeders a few pages back. (All Seasons, Lamco, Krivoman) I’m a huge believer in timed protein. I don’t have the budget/time to feed free choice. I’ve heard guys say “if you don’t feed free choice you might as well not do anything.”, which I file away with a bunch of other nonsense deer management BS I’ve heard over the years. My low fence deer have made big improvements on timed protein.

[Both Tacos 1806]

The longest week has started. Counting down the hours till Friday to set out on dove hunting land and smoke some barrels for a couple of days.

[jofus 2266]

1 hour ago, Both Tacos said:

The longest week has started. Counting down the hours till Friday to set out on dove hunting land and smoke some barrels for a couple of days.

+1. Labor Day weekend is the best weekend of the year (football and dove hunting). It does make for a long week. 

[cabowabo 4520]

Went on another hog operation tonight.  Big group appeared under the feeder with a lot of piglets.  I took out one of the females under the feeder, and the rest ran off.  About 45 seconds later, I hear squealing and remembered to hit the record button this time.  The first shot hit it in the hind legs, and I'm surprised it was able to ambulate as good as it did.  Second shot was to the neck area and dropped him.   I'm just gonna have to put this operation out of my mind or I may not be able to sleep. 

 

Edited August 28, 2018 by cabowabo

[Cosimo de' Medici 121]

You are a horrible horrible person. Came back for mommy and was traumatized before it got slaughtered. Shame, shame

[BabaYaga 15332]

On 8/24/2018 at 10:49 AM, 686 said:

Pulled some trail cam photos yesterday, the few showers that came though over the last week really helped. Loaded the feeders to get us down the road another couple months, watered the saplings.








Also had some pigs on camera for the first time in 3 years, only came through one night though.

That is a great, great group of bachelors! You have a good ten in there, bottom deer pic, far left (08-13-2018 08: 09:10).  He's in the middle pic as well.  Wide beams.  Looks about 3-3.5, maybe?  Look at his neck.  Do you have a lot of pressure from neighboring hunters?  

[686 3456]

That is a great, great group of bachelors! You have a good ten in there, bottom deer pic, far left (08-13-2018 08: 09:10).  He's in the middle pic as well.  Wide beams.  Looks about 3-3.5, maybe?  Look at his neck.  Do you have a lot of pressure from neighboring hunters?  

Thanks! That wide 10 point is older, probably 5-6. He’s probably peaked out, but we have a nice little strain of wide rack genetics that I’ve been hesitant to hinder. Here he is in 2016:



2016 again with his nose in the feeder:



Here he is in 2017:





He ended up breaking off both brow tines last year before rifle season, which probably saved his hide.

We have hunting pressure on about 50% of our perimeter. I really can’t ask for much more, because as you see, legal bucks are surviving. The other ranches don’t feed as well or provide as good of pasture conditions as we do, so we tend to hold deer pretty well on our place during feeding times.

[686 3456]

One other year-over-year, here’s my probable target buck from 2016:

[BabaYaga 15332]

27 minutes ago, 686 said:

 

 

Thanks! That wide 10 point is older, probably 5-6. He’s probably peaked out, but we have a nice little strain of wide rack genetics that I’ve been hesitant to hinder. Here he is in 2016:



2016 again with his nose in the feeder:



Here he is in 2017:





He ended up breaking off both brow tines last year before rifle season, which probably saved his hide.

We have hunting pressure on about 50% of our perimeter. I really can’t ask for much more, because as you see, legal bucks are surviving. The other ranches don’t feed as well or provide as good of pasture conditions as we do, so we tend to hold deer pretty well on our place during feeding times.

 

 

If he's that old, then his days are numbered.  Especially withe the younger generations seemingly doing so well.  I'm going out this weekend to scare doves and pull cards.  Feeders should be about half full.  My hunters are busy and they've been putting cameras everywhere so we're all anxious to see what they year's crop looks like.  

Love those wide beams.  

[686 3456]

If he's that old, then his days are numbered.  Especially withe the younger generations seemingly doing so well.  I'm going out this weekend to scare doves and pull cards.  Feeders should be about half full.  My hunters are busy and they've been putting cameras everywhere so we're all anxious to see what they year's crop looks like.  
Love those wide beams.  

Here’s a progression of the wide 10. I think he was already 3 or 4 in 2016. I’m a little surprised he hasn’t added any points or more tine length over the last two years, he is pretty regular at the protein feeder.

[Izhmash 563]

Interesting that his G2's have progressively gotten smaller since 2016, but the G4's seem to be growing.  Are my eyes deceiving me, or based on his left ear, he has gained another 1/2-1" in inside spread? (think it might be the picture angle).

Between the two, I'm more a fan of the tall rack with strong / masculine G2 / G3's.  That is prettier than width (if I had to chose between the two).  Both are good looking bucks!

[686 3456]

Interesting that his G2's have progressively gotten smaller since 2016, but the G4's seem to be growing.  Are my eyes deceiving me, or based on his left ear, he has gained another 1/2-1" in inside spread? (think it might be the picture angle).

Between the two, I'm more a fan of the tall rack with strong / masculine G2 / G3's.  That is prettier than width (if I had to chose between the two).  Both are good looking bucks!

 

I think he might have gained a little spread since 2017 and added some mass all over. His G2s started leaning further back over time so they look shorter. Here’s side views from last year and this year:

 

 

[BabaYaga 15332]

17 hours ago, 686 said:

 

 

Here’s a progression of the wide 10. I think he was already 3 or 4 in 2016. I’m a little surprised he hasn’t added any points or more tine length over the last two years, he is pretty regular at the protein feeder.

 

 

I think a lot of that is just genetics.  All over the Hill Country deer are being overfed, just to produce skinny 8's.  Which is why many ranches bring in South Texas and Midwest genetics to add size and mass.  To me, tracking the yearly progression of a deer outweighs his B&C score.  Makes it personal.  I have a decent ten and a big 8 on my wall at home.  Management deer at many adjacent, managed ranches.  But each has it's own story that stays with you.  

[Revolution512 1495]

We’ve been feeding cotton seed the last few years. Takes some getting used to and then the deer are hooked. Cheaper than most other protein and it’ll help grow some monsters. Takes about 3 years.

[Spaulding Smails 1566]

17 hours ago, Izhmash said:

Interesting that his G2's have progressively gotten smaller since 2016, but the G4's seem to be growing.  Are my eyes deceiving me, or based on his left ear, he has gained another 1/2-1" in inside spread? (think it might be the picture angle).

Between the two, I'm more a fan of the tall rack with strong / masculine G2 / G3's.  That is prettier than width (if I had to chose between the two).  Both are good looking bucks!

It's pretty amazing how you can identify specific antler traits and almost develop a lineage within a herd.  I hunted on the same low-fence 1400 acres lease for 7 years in South Texas between 99-06.  The majority of the deer had G3s longer than G2s.  That was an almost universal trait throughout the herd.  But, we noticed two basic sub-lineages throughout the herd.  We had a ton of deer with forked right G3s.  Another group had split left brow tines.  It was pretty predictable, and you could almost discern the genealogical history of each buck based on the antler development.

[686 3456]

27 minutes ago, Revolution512 said:

We’ve been feeding cotton seed the last few years. Takes some getting used to and then the deer are hooked. Cheaper than most other protein and it’ll help grow some monsters. Takes about 3 years.

I've been going back and forth on whether to feed cotton seed at our place, but to be honest, I've just reached my limit of shit I want to mess with. Maybe when we get done with the major improvements (cedar clearing, fence building, house renovations, tank building, road work, etc.) I'll have time for it.

[BabaYaga 15332]

35 minutes ago, Revolution512 said:

We’ve been feeding cotton seed the last few years. Takes some getting used to and then the deer are hooked. Cheaper than most other protein and it’ll help grow some monsters. Takes about 3 years.

We've dabbled as well.  It's not as "clean" as bags of protein and corn.  In that you can't buy and store bags of the stuff.  But it works!

I'm going all-in best I can:  Corn/protein feeders.  Mineral blocks.  Winter wheat fields, and small food plots.  100 times more fun than pulling a trigger.  I only take does anyway.  

[BabaYaga 15332]

15 minutes ago, 686 said:

cedar clearing, fence building, house renovations, tank building, road work, etc.

It never ends.  My friends day-dream about the Powerball and boats and cars.  I dream of tractors, quads, and a bulldozer.....

[Storm the Field 5304]

Gotta swing by Academy on my lunch break today and get my yearly Super Combo. Getting in 2 dove hunts this weekend outside SA. 7th annual trip with dad and brother. 

Should be fun if I don't die of heat stroke. High chance I'll be hunting in shorts and a fishing shirt.

[686 3456]

12 minutes ago, Storm the Field said:

 Getting in 2 dove hunts this weekend outside SA. 7th annual trip with dad and brother. 

Should be fun if I don't die of heat stroke. High chance I'll be hunting in shorts and a fishing shirt.

Nice!  I always think its going to suck sitting out in the blazing heat, but if I bring a bucket of ice cold drinks to my spot its never as bad as I think. 

[Spaulding Smails 1566]

Same as above.  My son and I are going to meet my dad at the ranch in Kimble Co Saturday after the Horns game to try to catch an evening hunt.  Our cisterns are under construction, and we don't have anything really to draw them in, but we've seen some decent flights in the past few weeks around evening time.  Hoping to see a few birds.

But, it will be fun regardless.  Bringing the new skeet thrower, some .22 targets for the boy and a big box of .45 shells for me and the old man.  We'll stay busy even if the birds don't fly.  Can't wait.  Just wish the cabin was done so we had some A/C so we could stay overnight.  Too damn hot to camp out there right now.  

[Both Tacos 1806]

Went this afternoon to my place to get the last feeder set with the spintech spin plate because I could get the damn thing to work when getting it set up this past weekend. Ends up that the motor was spinning the wrong way so the plate wasn't able to come down. After figuring that out, it works like a champ. I now have eliminator or spintech plates on my 3 feeders. F-U racoons.
Also, caught a nice surprise in the wetlands. A group of about 20 blue wing teal were just hanging out, enjoying the hot weather. Didn't want to get too close and scare them up so took some pics through binoculars I had in the Rhino.

[HOOKEM4 5049]

18 hours ago, Spaulding Smails said:

Same as above.  My son and I are going to meet my dad at the ranch in Kimble Co Saturday after the Horns game to try to catch an evening hunt.  Our cisterns are under construction, and we don't have anything really to draw them in, but we've seen some decent flights in the past few weeks around evening time.  Hoping to see a few birds.

But, it will be fun regardless.  Bringing the new skeet thrower, some .22 targets for the boy and a big box of .45 shells for me and the old man.  We'll stay busy even if the birds don't fly.  Can't wait.  Just wish the cabin was done so we had some A/C so we could stay overnight.  Too damn hot to camp out there right now.  

Kimble County checking in as well. I haven't been out in 3 weeks but my Mom was out last weekend with her friends and claimed to have seen some solid numbers. The rain filled our "tank" and they also have the 3 water troughs to hit. Last year we saw them right up till opening and then they were essentially gone till late in the year. It was odd. Fingers crossed. 

Hunt, watch Texas, hunt some more. So much fun.

[686 3456]

...Last year we saw them right up till opening and then they were essentially gone till late in the year. It was odd...

We had the same experience in Lampasas last year. I theorize the barometric pressure changes, etc associated with Harvey moved the birds North for awhile and the then they migrated later.

[BabaYaga 15332]

6 minutes ago, 686 said:

 

We had the same experience in Lampasas last year. I theorize the barometric pressure changes, etc associated with Harvey moved the birds North for awhile and the then they migrated later.

 

Yep, and there are a couple of weather cells nearing the Gulf.  No idea if that's going to push the birds, but with my luck, it will....

[Art Vandelay 1712]

4 hours ago, HOOKEM4 said:

Hunt, watch Texas, hunt some more. So much fun.

My plans exactly. We're heading out to my buddies' lease in Concho County tomorrow. Can't wait.

[Brisketexan 105479]

My plans exactly. We're heading out to my buddies' lease in Concho County tomorrow. Can't wait.

Same here, same county. Bringing the boy, a weekend of pointless leisure.

[Art Vandelay 1712]

10 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

Same here, same county. Bringing the boy, a weekend of pointless leisure.

Awesome. We'll try and send any birds we miss your way. Have fun!

[T’Boo Ted Marshall 2741]

Making my way to Vernon this weekend.
It’s time!!!

[Storm the Field 5304]

Last year was the first time hunting with this particular outfitter in SA that we didn't just slaughter birds every evening. We still shot a decent amount of birds but there were definitely longer gaps between runs and the birds seemed to be flying higher and faster than previous. 

We usually hunt Opening Weekend every Labor Day but had to push back 2 weeks last year since we were all basically stuck in Houston following Harvey, so we all pretty much chalked it up as a one-off. Hoping for a return to easy limits by 5:30 and nothing left to do but chug beer this year.

[BabaYaga 15332]

1 hour ago, Art Vandelay said:

My plans exactly. We're heading out to my buddies' lease in Concho County tomorrow. Can't wait.

We're just north of you near Coleman and Talpa.  They'll be flying.

[Brisketexan 105479]

We're just north of you near Coleman and Talpa.  They'll be flying.

I sure as shit hope so. Really want to put the boy on some hot shooting. He’s been hunting three seasons now, and they’ve ranged from ok to lousy.

[BabaYaga 15332]

Just now, Brisketexan said:

I sure as shit hope so. Really want to put the boy on some hot shooting. He’s been hunting three seasons now, and they’ve ranged from ok to lousy.

Bring a box of clays and a hand thrower.  Helps pass the time and practice is practice.  As long as there is water, you should be ok.  

[Brisketexan 105479]

23 minutes ago, BabaYaga said:

Bring a box of clays and a hand thrower.  Helps pass the time and practice is practice.  As long as there is water, you should be ok.  

We've got plenty of clays, and a nice electric thrower there.  We don't have a lot of water, but there's some good food plots.

[BabaYaga 15332]

18 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

We've got plenty of clays, and a nice electric thrower there.  We don't have a lot of water, but there's some good food plots.

Mojos?  They look hokey, but they work.

[Art Vandelay 1712]

40 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

I sure as shit hope so. Really want to put the boy on some hot shooting. He’s been hunting three seasons now, and they’ve ranged from ok to lousy.

Yeah, we've been hunting this lease/ranch in Concho Co. for about five years or so. The first couple years were great. The past three not so much. We'll have fun regardless (always do), but it would be nice to see a few more birds this year.

[Art Vandelay 1712]

10 minutes ago, BabaYaga said:

Mojos?  They look hokey, but they work.

Those things really do work well. We've got a bunch of 'em.

[Lat22 4030]

They work great on mourning doves. Not so much on white wings. Added bonus is that you might witness a hawk dive bomb and attack them. Pretty cool to watch. The last time I saw a hawk hit one, it just landed on the ground and stared at it like WTF?

[Brisketexan 105479]

On 8/30/2018 at 3:06 PM, BabaYaga said:

Mojos?  They look hokey, but they work.

Gonna have a good bunch of mojos.  And yeah, I've seen them work.  I've also seen a hawk flat-out hit one, then leave confused as shit.  Good times.

[BabaYaga 15332]

There are an ass-load of them in North Dallas/Frisco.  I could walk outside and pick them off the power lines with a pellet rifle.  Everywhere.  Sky rats.  Then this weekend.  They'll be scarce.

[NotActuallyALonghorn 4979]

Yeah, I see them everywhere in town and places that grown on you shooting them here in East Texas, but there won't be any where I can actually hunt them. At least not until October when the goat weed starts dropping seed.

[markstanco 12640]

Tractor on the trailer, 600 pounds of corn, feeders with new batteries, etc. Mowing a few new lanes and then discing some plots. Got my bluetooth speaker for some craig way football call.

Then going to the WRP ponds and planting some brown top and jap millet for the ducks. Little late for the red river area but better than not doing it at all. Planning on a evening roost hunt near the tanks for dove.

Love this time of year.

[Brisketexan 105479]

Did a fair morning hunt next to some sunflowers. 14 between 2 of us....but the boy didn’t carry his weight. Needs some practice time on the clays today.

Now, for breakfast....

[T’Boo Ted Marshall 2741]

Beer for breakfast there TwoBit?

[Brisketexan 105479]

Beer for breakfast there TwoBit?

A little coffee and Irish cream. Then grub.

[Brisketexan 105479]

Got the boy cutting firewood.