2021-2022 hunting thread

[deadshank 24653]

10 minutes ago, CHIEF said:

CHIEF Jr. was going to go to the deer lease this weekend but forgot that he is supposed to go to a buddie's bachelor party. The bachelor party is a dove hunt in De Leon. Ten drunk guys in their early 20's with guns. What could go wrong?

CHIEF

Are there any open spots?

[CHIEF 5102]

10 minutes ago, deadshank said:

Are there any open spots?

Will probably be a couple after this weekend.

CHIEF

[ROFL BOX 6650]

17 hours ago, fluff said:

ROFLBOX, I am sure I will scare some your direction from Driftwood.

Are you allowed to shoot off your back yard?

[ROFL BOX 6650]

14 hours ago, deadshank said:

Somehow, I have become the go-to-guy at our place for taking on those guests that are new to hunting, be it dove, deer, pigs or what have you.  I've shot plenty of stuff over the years and don't have to prove anything to other hunters.   

I quite enjoy helping out those just starting their adventure.  It is fun and rewarding when a new hunter gets to enjoy a hunt, experience how it is done, blind and firearms etiquette, has success in the field and gets a little blood on their cheeks.

I'll be sure to check my text messages for the address; see you down South this weekend?  I'll bring the steaks.

[ROFL BOX 6650]

14 hours ago, BHMCruiser said:

FWIW I hate the 11-87. The 1100 was a great dove gun but the 11-87 is clunky trash. I can't imagine how awful the newer ones must be given the decline in the 870 quality. 

I've had this gun for prob. 24 years.

[ROFL BOX 6650]

14 hours ago, deadshank said:

Are there any open spots?

You wantin' to get married again?

[BHMCruiser 1818]

8 hours ago, ROFL BOX said:

I've had this gun for prob. 24 years.

You've had it for a quarter of a century and didn't know it needed high brass to cycle reliably?

[Jerry Callo 8836]

Anyone else seeing a significant drop off in doves this season?  I been hunting the same lease for nearly a decade and have never had an issue getting a limit opening day.  Yesterday, I wouldn't have gotten a limit if I'd killed every bird I saw.  Nothing has changed on the lease.  Wondering if the February freeze wiped out a large part of the native population.  Northern Williamson County.

[fluff 87]

Definitely a decline from the last few years. I think the freeze played a big part as while there was still snow on the ground at my place I found 2 dead dove in about 5 minutes walking around…

[deadshank 24653]

2 hours ago, BHMCruiser said:

You've had it for a quarter of a century and didn't know it needed high brass to cycle reliably?

 

[Teebox 89]

4 hours ago, Jerry Callo said:

Anyone else seeing a significant drop off in doves this season?  I been hunting the same lease for nearly a decade and have never had an issue getting a limit opening day.  Yesterday, I wouldn't have gotten a limit if I'd killed every bird I saw.  Nothing has changed on the lease.  Wondering if the February freeze wiped out a large part of the native population.  Northern Williamson County.

Yesterday was the slowest I've ever seen it - fired the gun once at the only bird we saw on the property.  Didn't see any other birds around the broader area either.  We were in Palo Pinto county.  The working theory is that the domestic population got hammered by the freeze and we need the first front of the fall to push migratory birds down.  At least that's what I'm hoping on.

[texashorne 1180]

I was outside Wichita Falls yesterday AM.. My first shot was at 7AM, I hit my limit by 7:45.. It was the best dove hunt I think I've ever had. 

 

 

 

 

[davidg 4040]

^^^ Old school Rem 1100 for the win!

[Jerry Callo 8836]

1 hour ago, Teebox said:

Yesterday was the slowest I've ever seen it - fired the gun once at the only bird we saw on the property.  Didn't see any other birds around the broader area either.  We were in Palo Pinto county.  The working theory is that the domestic population got hammered by the freeze and we need the first front of the fall to push migratory birds down.  At least that's what I'm hoping on.

That's my hope as well.  I have talked to several people in the area with similar results - both mourning and white-wings.

[Both Tacos 1825]

Wichita Falls rarely disappoints.

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[ROFL BOX 6650]

You've had it for a quarter of a century and didn't know it needed high brass to cycle reliably?

Not when I 1st got it, no.

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[ROFL BOX 6650]

Sitting out 20 minutes now, saw a pair (approx. 7 second is apart) but in a bad lane / angle, no shot.


Muffs ARE actually on his ears now.


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[ROFL BOX 6650]

What constitutes a "cold front" for sending the birds down into Texas?

We talking daytime in the 70's? Mid to low 60's overnight?

Should we think Nebraska / Kansas / Iowa for that cold front or if it is cooler there but not further South, will they possibly hang out in the land of Dirt Burglars until a cold front hits Texas' hat?

Here's my current view.



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[Both Tacos 1825]

Well at least you are getting out. I won't be able to until Sunday.

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[crimsonlonghorn 2310]

I spent the first part of the week at my place in Scurry County and saw hardly any birds. Saw so few on Monday and Tuesday that instead of hunting on Wednesday my brother and I built a gate instead. I think I saw a grand total of 12 birds over the entire 4 days I was there. 

Going back in three weeks with my kids and I'm hopeful a good front will have passed through by then and blown some down. 

[Lat22 4053]

I just got back from the ice house with my Coors Light. Temp on the dashboard said 104. And here we go…..

[CHIEF 5102]

On 9/1/2021 at 10:35 AM, CHIEF said:

CHIEF Jr. was going to go to the deer lease this weekend but forgot that he is supposed to go to a buddie's bachelor party. The bachelor party is a dove hunt in De Leon. Ten drunk guys in their early 20's with guns. What could go wrong?

CHIEF

Well, he left with two quarts of moonshine, fifths of tequila and bourbon, a case of beer, Cuban cigars, $13k worth of shotguns, and my AR with the thermal. My last bit of advice was to find which direction the birds are coming from and hunker down behind the tank dam. Gonna be a shit show, but kids are gonna kid. Only saving grace is that they are all rural kids with years of experience with guns in their hands.I'm sure his momma is gonna check on him every 5 minutes.

CHIEF

Edited September 3, 2021 by CHIEF
Momma

[ROFL BOX 6650]

Sitting off West Fitzhugh in the 78620.

Had some shots, missed most of 'em.

Monster keeps going after shots that are well out of range for his .20 youth.

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[deadshank 24653]

1 hour ago, ROFL BOX said:

Sitting off West Fitzhugh in the 78620.

Had some shots, missed most of 'em.

Monster kid keeps going after shots that are well out of range for his .20 youth.

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Let him keep hammering away.  If he’s 3x smarter than you he’ll figure it out. 

[CHIEF 5102]

1 hour ago, ROFL BOX said:

Sitting off West Fitzhugh in the 78620.

Had some shots, missed most of 'em.

Monster kid keeps going after shots that are well out of range for his .20 youth.

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Shit, CHIEF Jr. used his .20 youth on opening day when he was 8. Gave it back to me and picked up my .12. I don't think he was on the North side of 80 lbs. yet. Monster is big enough to swing an 870.

CHIEF

[fattyflattie 4639]

2 hours ago, CHIEF said:

Shit, CHIEF Jr. used his .20 youth on opening day when he was 8. Gave it back to me and picked up my .12. I don't think he was on the North side of 80 lbs. yet. Monster is big enough to swing an 870.

CHIEF

I still take my youth 20 870 out now and again. I like to toy with it.  I’m not a monster but 6’, 210-ish.     Muscle memory from the thousands of shells I put thru it comes back nearly immediately. 

[cknight 184]

Few things better than listening to the horns on the radio; drinking a cold beer and watching a good dog work!

We were both pretty rusty but got back into the swing of things. Proud of my little Boykin; retrieved 23 dove and 2 pigeons

[ROFL BOX 6650]

Few things better than listening to the horns on the radio; drinking a cold beer and watching a good dog work!

We were both pretty rusty but got back into the swing of things. Proud of my little Boykin; retrieved 23 dove and 2 pigeons

Zip code?

& I'm still hoping for info on where a cold front needs to be for us to see some movement down here in Central Texas.

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[Both Tacos 1825]

If you want to hunt ducks and deer, you got to put in the work. Had my helper this weekend. Only came across 3 moccasins this time.

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[Johnny Sack 8397]

Couldn’t go to south Texas as had something come up.  So my cousin and I booked a last minute day hunt in El Campo.  We both were shooting good.  And nearly scratched out a limit.  It was a grind but a lot of fun.  
 

 

[Enchubben 5563]

1 hour ago, Johnny Sack said:

Couldn’t go to south Texas as had something come up.  So my cousin and I booked a last minute day hunt in El Campo.  We both were shooting good.  And nearly scratched out a limit.  It was a grind but a lot of fun.  
 

 

Well look at you. I was in el campo Saturday and probably saw 4 dove the entire day though everyone for miles around was shooting all day.

[Johnny Sack 8397]

15 minutes ago, Enchubben said:

Well look at you. I was in el campo Saturday and probably saw 4 dove the entire day though everyone for miles around was shooting all day.

We got 27.  14 for him and 13 for me.  We were both on pretty good and missed only a handful of shots we should’ve made.  
 

I used to just use my Benelli SBE 12 for waterfowl and my over and under 20 for dove. I kill a lot more birds with my 12.  So when I’m unsure of how many birds are flying, I’m using the 12 these days. It makes a difference.  I had some longish shots that my 20 would not have reached.   

[Enchubben 5563]

Just now, Johnny Sack said:

We got 27.  14 for him and 13 for me.  We were both on pretty good and missed only a handful of shots we should’ve made.  
 

I used to just use my Benelli SBE 12 for waterfowl and my over and under 20 for dove. I kill a lot more birds with my 12.  So when I’m unsure of how many birds are flying, I’m using the 12 these days. It makes a difference.  I had some longish shots that my 20 would not have reached.   

Nice. Yea I had my 20 o/u. Didn’t miss anything though because there was nothing to miss. Not a great way to go first time dove hunting.

[T’Boo Ted Marshall 2741]

Hit Abilene over the weekend an came back with 0 birds.  2 total out of a group of 8 shooters.  3 hunts.  

 

[CHIEF 5102]

CHIEF Jr. and his buddies racked them up. Everyone limited out both days, but had the place pretty well shot out when they left. All birds were kinda on the small size. Gotta go buy bacon and japs.

CHIEF

Edited September 6, 2021 by CHIEF

[cknight 184]

On 9/5/2021 at 2:42 PM, ROFL BOX said:

Zip code?

& I'm still hoping for info on where a cold front needs to be for us to see some movement down here in Central Texas.

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 That was outside Lufkin on a buddies family place; all local birds but pretty shot out by the time we left.

[BabaYaga 15399]

Ton of them in Frisco - hanging out on GD the telephone lines.  Taunting everyone.

Big fields in the middle of the city, covered with guys in trucks (Legacy/Cotton Gin area, next to Main).  Didn't hear many shots, but I was also passing through.  Back when I frequented The Tribute, we'd hear a cacophony of shots this time of year.  

[ROFL BOX 6650]

13 hours ago, BabaYaga said:

Ton of them in Frisco - hanging out on GD the telephone lines.  Taunting everyone.

Big fields in the middle of the city, covered with guys in trucks (Legacy/Cotton Gin area, next to Main).  Didn't hear many shots, but I was also passing through.  Back when I frequented The Tribute, we'd hear a cacophony of shots this time of year.  

On the drive home today, I must have spotted over 40 on various power lines in the area.  No opportunity to shoot this PM, however.  Not feeling 100%,  Wasn't able to look around outside after 1800 to see if any of 'em were actually moving.

[NotActuallyALonghorn 4980]

How long do y'all figure on it taking for deer to discover a feeder and start frequenting it? We put out a couple last week in East Texas on our family property that hasn't really been hunted much for ten years or so other than me or my grandfather who passed away at the end of last August. We put the feeders out not so much where I knew the deer like to hang out, but more in areas that would be convenient to hunt based on possible shooting lanes and stuff like that. There is kin running cattle on the place, so we put cattle panels up around the feeders. After a week there is no sign of any wildlife taking advantage of it. No acorn crop that I can see in the limited area, so it's more of a wait until they discover it type thing. Should i toss out some doe in estrus scent to get some action, or just sit back and wait?

[DalTxHornFan 3123]

It won't take long.  We were out working on and filling feeders out in West Hill Country this weekend and were joking (kinda) about hunting with a call that sounded like a feeder going off and wondering how quickly the deer would come to it!

[Reagan1k 3026]

8 hours ago, NotActuallyALonghorn said:

How long do y'all figure on it taking for deer to discover a feeder and start frequenting it? We put out a couple last week in East Texas on our family property that hasn't really been hunted much for ten years or so other than me or my grandfather who passed away at the end of last August. We put the feeders out not so much where I knew the deer like to hang out, but more in areas that would be convenient to hunt based on possible shooting lanes and stuff like that. There is kin running cattle on the place, so we put cattle panels up around the feeders. After a week there is no sign of any wildlife taking advantage of it. No acorn crop that I can see in the limited area, so it's more of a wait until they discover it type thing. Should i toss out some doe in estrus scent to get some action, or just sit back and wait?

That's a pretty complex equation that factors in deer density, pressure, normal movement, and other food sources (natural and man-provided).  If there haven't been feeders running on the place in some long time period, and if they aren't located in area where the deer move through daily, it may take a few weeks - especially in East Texas.

In areas where the sound of feeders is ingrained in their memory - it's usually a day or two at the most.

They'll find it soon enough.

[BabaYaga 15399]

25 minutes ago, Reagan1k said:

That's a pretty complex equation that factors in deer density, pressure, normal movement, and other food sources (natural and man-provided).  If there haven't been feeders running on the place in some long time period, and if they aren't located in area where the deer move through daily, it may take a few weeks - especially in East Texas.

In areas where the sound of feeders is ingrained in their memory - it's usually a day or two at the most.

They'll find it soon enough.

Yep.  You can also supplement other forms of bait like cut apples, mineral licks, etc.  

[NotActuallyALonghorn 4980]

That's kinda what I figured. We could easily put them closer to where I usually see them move, but those spots aren't quite as convenient from a hunting perspective.

[texastough 1132]

All of you wondering where the doves are (and deer for that matter) it has nothing to do with the freeze. A cold front is also not going to help. It has everything to do with the rain year we've had. It spreads the birds out and changes their pattern because there is food everywhere, whereas normally everything is brown and dead by now and they key on ag fields etc. Same with deer, on years with lots of natural groceries to eat, you'll see a lot less activity at feeders. Good for the critters, bad for the hunting.  

[BabaYaga 15399]

4 hours ago, texastough said:

Good for the critters, bad for the hunting.  

[686 3456]

My 8yr old daughter has been in my ear about getting her a bow. She’s seen me shoot mine some, and I think has seen some female comic book characters with them or something. Anyway, I took her to an indoor range this weekend where they had some toy bows, and she had a good time, wants to do it more. I’m looking at getting her a quality bow that they use in the National Archery in Schools Program; maybe she’ll compete one day. More importantly, maybe I’ll have a bowhunting buddy one day:

[Publiushorn 113]

Shot 5 rice rockets Saturday morning. 

[NotActuallyALonghorn 4980]

Well, the cows at least know where it is now. But if I wanted to hunt them all I need is a bag of cubes and a fat wallet.

Edited September 14, 2021 by NotActuallyALonghorn

[BabaYaga 15399]

19 hours ago, Publiushorn said:

Shot 5 rice rockets Saturday morning. 

IF Ed Asner was a dog....;)

[crimsonlonghorn 2310]

2 hours ago, NotActuallyALonghorn said:

Well, the cows at least know where it is now. But if I wanted to hunt them all I need is a bag of cubes and a fat wallet.

Don't even need a gun. They'll just follow you home of you have a bag of cubes and leave the gate open. Or at least the ones on my place will. LOL