2021-2022 hunting thread

[CycleTex87 2,981]

On 2/18/2022 at 7:31 PM, deadshank said:

Gato montes tomas taking down a full grown doe right next to blind this afternoon.  (Pic and video by another camp member). 

It seems like the doe is only making a half-ass attempt to get away.  I’ve seen deer move way faster than that across the highway for instance. 

[Kennythetiger 9,462]

1 hour ago, HOOKEM4 said:

I wish I could watch these videos. They never work for me on chrome. Maybe I need to post in the dumb question amnesty thread.

Me three. 

[Spaulding Smails 1,555]

Made a quick trip to the ranch Saturday afternoon after my son's baseball games in Kerrville.  We have just a bit of corn left in the feeders.  Maybe a week's worth at this point, so they're still spinning.  I bought two new boxes of 270 ammo last weekend, but left them at home.  Didn't bring my AR either.  So, I ended up using the old Marlin 30-30 with a 4x Tasco scope that I leave at the ranch.  Climbed in the stand at 5:45, and at 5:57 a sow and three piglets crossed the sendero.  I could see them in the brush behind the feeder looking up at it and waiting patiently for it to go off.  They were under the feeder before it stopped spinning.  I shot this little 30-lb sow through the left eye when she had her head down facing me.  I forgot that I was shooting that 30-30 and not the 223.  Oops.  Serious gut shot on the exit wound.  30 min later, it was butterflied and on the grill.  I just drag the big boars that we shoot off into the brush, but damn that little sow sure was tasty.

[fattyflattie 4,638]

Damn Spaulding, I didn’t think to take any cooking pics. But we were in sync.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[crimsonlonghorn 2,306]

16 hours ago, Spaulding Smails said:

Made a quick trip to the ranch Saturday afternoon after my son's baseball games in Kerrville.  We have just a bit of corn left in the feeders.  Maybe a week's worth at this point, so they're still spinning.  I bought two new boxes of 270 ammo last weekend, but left them at home.  Didn't bring my AR either.  So, I ended up using the old Marlin 30-30 with a 4x Tasco scope that I leave at the ranch.  Climbed in the stand at 5:45, and at 5:57 a sow and three piglets crossed the sendero.  I could see them in the brush behind the feeder looking up at it and waiting patiently for it to go off.  They were under the feeder before it stopped spinning.  I shot this little 30-lb sow through the left eye when she had her head down facing me.  I forgot that I was shooting that 30-30 and not the 223.  Oops.  Serious gut shot on the exit wound.  30 min later, it was butterflied and on the grill.  I just drag the big boars that we shoot off into the brush, but damn that little sow sure was tasty.

I've gotta learn to do that. 

[davidg 4,038]

Lol at the spatchcocked piglet.  Bet it was good.

[BabaYaga 15,320]

Need someone to do this and report back

[Lat22 4,017]

The little ones never show up when I'm prepared to do that.  Ever.

[The Royal We 3,072]

3 hours ago, BabaYaga said:

Need someone to do this and report back

These guys out of Lockhart make a mobile version of this that I'd love to have if I had $5k I wanted to set on fire:

 

https://millscale.co/collections/cookers/products/open-fire-grills

 

[Spaulding Smails 1,555]

@fattyflattie great minds think alike indeed!  I always gravitate towards shooting the tan ones for some reason.  Psychologically, I tell myself they taste better.

@BabaYaga I've done cabrito on the iron cross before but never a pig.  I'm sure it would be excellent.  We wanted to eat it that night, so we threw it straight over oak coals on the grill.  

@Lat22 same here.  I even told my wife that I was gonna bust a piglet if they came out.  First time that plan came together.  Even got to clean it in broad daylight.

@davidg it was outstanding.  Even the hams were tender.  Only downside is how small the tenderloins were.  Pretty much two bites on each side and they were gone!

[Speedtrucker 2,079]

We cannot kill off all the piglets that make the rounds at our place. Think we are going back out this weekend to pick off a few more.

[deadshank 24,653]

3 hours ago, Spaulding Smails said:

@fattyflattie great minds think alike indeed!  I always gravitate towards shooting the tan ones for some reason.  Psychologically, I tell myself they taste better 

How do you feel about gingers?

[deadshank 24,653]

One last cull buck. Deer season is over. 

[deadshank 24,653]

Now it’s REALLY over. 

[crimsonlonghorn 2,306]

Looks like at least one lone boar has finally found my new feeder at the Scurry County ranch. I baited a hole earlier this week with nasty strawberry shit and the Sawaiian Crush and he stayed there for over an hour last night. We are going to eventually replace this old barrel feeder with an EZ-Fill.

Also got a call earlier this week that my tank blind is ready for pickup. It's going to go on a hill overlooking this spot. Hopefully we can get the pigs coming regularly now if we keep the bait hole filled. Might make for some fun summer nights. 

[crimsonlonghorn 2,306]

Check out the size of this fat MFer. Leave some corn for the others!

 

[JCHIL 414]

Last Sunday night carnage....it was our final push for the hog contest - nothing over 225 lbs but it was fun 

[Herbie Hancock 7,376]

Dead pasture rats are the best pasture rats. Nicely done.

[Speedtrucker 2,079]

One looked pregnant.

[williemackgarza 1,826]

Nasty mfers

[hookemATL 11,896]

15 hours ago, Speedtrucker said:

One looked pregnant.

You monster!!!

[JCHIL 414]

25 minutes ago, hookemATL said:

You monster!!!

Feral fetus' are a delicacy.  Melt in your mouth tender...

[crimsonlonghorn 2,306]

When I was a kid 40 years ago I remember there being jackrabbits and cottontails all over Scurry County.

My dad made a comment the other day that the coyotes have to work harder for food now that the rabbits are gone. That made me realize that I hadn't seen a rabbit on our place in years. 

Saw this last night at the feeder. 

[hookemATL 11,896]

That’s actually a jackalope that has recently shed its antlers. Common mistake 

[crimsonlonghorn 2,306]

I just freed a skunk from a dogproof raccoon trap without getting sprayed. Someone give me a merit badge. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[deadshank 24,653]

1 hour ago, crimsonlonghorn said:

I just freed a skunk from a dogproof raccoon trap without getting sprayed. Someone give me a merit badge. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nice film clip there.   A real masterpiece your have.  Martin Scorsese gonna go back to his studio to figure out what he’s doing wrong.  

[crimsonlonghorn 2,306]

30 minutes ago, deadshank said:

Nice film clip there.   A real masterpiece your have.  Martin Scorsese gonna go back to his studio to figure out what he’s doing wrong.  

That sucker was fast!

[Spaulding Smails 1,555]

I freed a skunk from a Have-A-Heart trap once.  It was after dispatching a .22 to his head, but I removed him from the trap, nonetheless.  

@crimsonlonghorn why on earth did you even tempt fate by trying to let him out?  Nice job, but damn.  I wouldn't have thought twice about perforating a skunk.  

[crimsonlonghorn 2,306]

17 minutes ago, Spaulding Smails said:

I freed a skunk from a Have-A-Heart trap once.  It was after dispatching a .22 to his head, but I removed him from the trap, nonetheless.  

@crimsonlonghorn why on earth did you even tempt fate by trying to let him out?  Nice job, but damn.  I wouldn't have thought twice about perforating a skunk.  

Spaulding, that wheel behind the skunk is one of my coops that has 20 six week old pullets inside. A week ago it had 24 five week old pullets. 

I thought it was a raccoon that had done the deed, so I set a trap. But instead I caught a much bigger skunk on Friday and I didn't even think twice about popping him with the 22 and throwing his nasty stinky ass over the fence. I'm pretty sure this guy was the chick killer. 

 

But this coop is in my wife's vegetable garden and skunks are beneficial. They eat insects and grubs and snails. This one today was tiny and I felt guilty about killing it considering that I had already made some improvements to the coop and I seriously doubted that it could bother the chicks at this point. It was probably more attracted to the cat food in the trap and not the chicks, honestly. 

So I did a little reading and decided I could try and let it go. The advice was to hold a blanket or a towel in front of you and slowly walk towards it from the front, then throw the towel over it and be sure to cover its tail so it couldn't hop up and turn around and spray. So I did that and it calmly lied under the towel while I reached down and pulled back on the spring and freed its front foot from the trap. It stayed there for a few seconds after it was free and then it took off for the drainage ditch before I could get a good video. 

I actually feel good that I didn't kill it. 

 

[baboso 6,057]

13 hours ago, crimsonlonghorn said:

But this coop is in my wife's vegetable garden and skunks are beneficial. They eat insects and grubs and snails. This one today was tiny and I felt guilty about killing it considering that I had already made some improvements to the coop and I seriously doubted that it could bother the chicks at this point. It was probably more attracted to the cat food in the trap and not the chicks, honestly. 

So I did a little reading and decided I could try and let it go. The advice was to hold a blanket or a towel in front of you and slowly walk towards it from the front, then throw the towel over it and be sure to cover its tail so it couldn't hop up and turn around and spray. So I did that and it calmly lied under the towel while I reached down and pulled back on the spring and freed its front foot from the trap. It stayed there for a few seconds after it was free and then it took off for the drainage ditch before I could get a good video. 

I actually feel good that I didn't kill it. 

Nits become lice.  It will be back for a chicken dinner when it gets older.

[Herbie Hancock 7,376]

Just ran down the road to the dollar store to get a couple things. Wasn’t gone ten minutes. Pulling back up to the house there’s 10 deer at my front gate and 3 still have antlers. Crazy

[Speedtrucker 2,079]

Put some extra bait down this past weekend since I’m going back out tomorrow with my 10yo.

Wanted to get the hogs moving a little bit.

Looks like I attracted everyone:

[deadshank 24,653]

14 hours ago, Speedtrucker said:

Put some extra bait down this past weekend since I’m going back out tomorrow with my 10yo.

Wanted to get the hogs moving a little bit.

Looks like I attracted everyone:

Whose dogs?  Yours?

[Armybrat 40,912]

A little something for that extra large hog....

 

[fattyflattie 4,638]

On 2/23/2022 at 1:46 PM, The Royal We said:

These guys out of Lockhart make a mobile version of this that I'd love to have if I had $5k I wanted to set on fire:

 

https://millscale.co/collections/cookers/products/open-fire-grills

 

So I'm just about fresh out of projects at the house.  Thinking this might be perfect for drinking beer in the garage at night, while stacking dimes. 

[The Royal We 3,072]

2 hours ago, fattyflattie said:

So I'm just about fresh out of projects at the house.  Thinking this might be perfect for drinking beer in the garage at night, while stacking dimes. 

And post pictures of your progress too. 

There's a lot of different ways to cook on that bad boy.

[mooseoutfront 3,643]

I have a buddy who is out caribou hunting close to Tolovana.  If he finds the herd and catches one I'll post pics.

Beautiful day where he is.

[Speedtrucker 2,079]

Whose dogs?  Yours?

Nope, dunno where they came from. None of the farms around have dogs like that. One a few lots over has 2 germans but that’s about it.

[deadshank 24,653]

5 hours ago, Speedtrucker said:

Nope, dunno where they came from. None of the farms around have dogs like that. One a few lots over has 2 germans but that’s about it.

Someone’s dogs running aloosed on your property is not good.  Gets worse when they associate corn feeders and the smell of deer then become repeat visitors.   

[crimsonlonghorn 2,306]

Picked up the new tank blind and a new EZ feeder yesterday. Very pleased with both. 

 

 

[CHIEF 5,095]

On 3/15/2022 at 7:55 AM, crimsonlonghorn said:

Picked up the new tank blind and a new EZ feeder yesterday. Very pleased with both. 

 

 

Love ours. It's "cadillac'ed" out with gunracks, insulation, and a shooting table aka the buffet table.

CHIEF

[T’Boo Ted Marshall 2,740]

Turkeys!

[BabaYaga 15,320]

On 3/16/2022 at 10:23 AM, CHIEF said:

Love ours. It's "cadillac'ed" out with gunracks, insulation, and a shooting table aka the buffet table.

CHIEF

Big enough to sleep in?  As I become more and more of a lazy old turd, I just crash in the blind and set my alarm on the cell.  Easier than waking, dressing, and driving out to the spot.  I'm getting soft....;)

[DalTxHornFan 3,117]

2 minutes ago, BabaYaga said:

Big enough to sleep in?  As I become more and more of a lazy old turd, I just crash in the blind and set my alarm on the cell.  Easier than waking, dressing, and driving out to the spot.  I'm getting soft....;)

That has been my approach to hunting for many years.  I hate getting up at dark-thirty and scaring off errything when I climb into the blind.

[crimsonlonghorn 2,306]

On 3/16/2022 at 10:23 AM, CHIEF said:

Love ours. It's "cadillac'ed" out with gunracks, insulation, and a shooting table aka the buffet table.

CHIEF

 

On 3/22/2022 at 5:44 PM, DalTxHornFan said:

That has been my approach to hunting for many years.  I hate getting up at dark-thirty and scaring off errything when I climb into the blind.

 

On 3/22/2022 at 3:48 PM, BabaYaga said:

Big enough to sleep in?  As I become more and more of a lazy old turd, I just crash in the blind and set my alarm on the cell.  Easier than waking, dressing, and driving out to the spot.  I'm getting soft....;)

 

I intend to try and sleep in mine. It's freaking HUGE on the inside. I've been in deer blinds that are barely big enough for two chairs. This one has enough room for a card table and 4 chairs. Plenty of room to stretch out on the floor and sleep. 

[crimsonlonghorn 2,306]

Hello? Anybody there? I wanted to let you know that you're out of corn.

 

[CHIEF 5,095]

2 hours ago, crimsonlonghorn said:

 

 

 

I intend to try and sleep in mine. It's freaking HUGE on the inside. I've been in deer blinds that are barely big enough for two chairs. This one has enough room for a card table and 4 chairs. Plenty of room to stretch out on the floor and sleep. 

 

Here is CHIEF Jr. sleeping in ours, behind the office chairs. There is plenty of room. He is 6' and 220 lbs.

CHIEF

Edited March 24, 2022 by CHIEF

[Speedtrucker 2,079]

Hello? Anybody there? I wanted to let you know that you're out of corn.
 

Lol I had that before… had the action shots of the coon spotting the IR flash, next shot he’s headed got he cam and the next couple are of him chewing on my cam…

[BabaYaga 15,320]

Posted in the neighborhood.  Looks big AF

[deadshank 24,653]

Had a little incident a few weeks ago.  The rancher next door to us called to say some foreign exchange students crashed through a fence several miles to the west of us to avoid the nice fellows on the white and green vehicles.   The runners were in a RAM dually and stayed off the highway only to bust through multiple fences on three different ranches as they headed back east to avoid detection.  
 

The BP won’t give chase in their vehicles onto the ranches.  The coyote driving and his charges kept going at it.  The rancher called me to say they were on our place and the he had forgotten the lock code on the little used gate along the river that allows us to go back and forth between our two adjoining properties.   I gave him the code and he went in to investigate and then lost sight of the fine folks in the truck. 
 

Three weeks later, the very same rancher has people in from NJ to shoot pigs out of a helicopter over his place. They sweep over our southeast corner of our place as they are turning around while flying their grid and they spot the stolen truck on our side.   We go over to investigate yesterday and find the truck, locate some papers and track down the owner living in Bonham.  He was at the SA rodeo and his truck got boosted from the motel parking lot.  
 

His insurance carrier already wrote off the truck and paid him out.  The Uvalde Counter Sheriff’s department sent out a deputy to verify it was the truck and then a tow truck showed up to pull the RAM out of the brush,‘take it to impound and eventually sell it.  
 

What a mess.