2022-2023 Hunting Thread

[fattyflattie 4640]

39 minutes ago, BabaYaga said:

Yeah, we really need guys to be stewards of the land and watch over the place.  I know we're vastly under the market, but this is not a money play.  I want/wanted good hunters that see and treat the land as their own, through good times and lean ones.  They pay a lot out of pocket for blinds, feeders, and upkeep on the land and do a decent amount of needed brush work.  

Yeah, I've never had experience with a "bad" group, but I'm sure they exist. Definitely more important to have someone manager your land well than to make a few extra bucks shorterm.

[BabaYaga 15623]

1 hour ago, fattyflattie said:

Yeah, I've never had experience with a "bad" group, but I'm sure they exist. Definitely more important to have someone manager your land well than to make a few extra bucks shorterm.

We ran through so many.  Maybe it was just bad luck, but when I took it over that my main concern

Edited January 11, 2023 by BabaYaga

[deadshank 24654]

55 minutes ago, fattyflattie said:

Yeah, I've never had experience with a "bad" group, but I'm sure they exist. Definitely more important to have someone manager your land well than to make a few extra bucks shorterm.

The guys that were on our current place were from SA and Louisiana.  They shot the ever livin' piss out of everything.  Crickets wouldn't even jump.  They had a paid hunt scheme to turn a a profit.  Some dude paid a bunch of money to shoot at 160" 4 year old.  They finally got busted and were told to leave.  They left crap everywhere. A total train wreck. Their going away present to the LO  was shooting over 15 doe and leaving them stacked up like cord wood to rot in the sun.

Needless to say, the LO's were hesitant about a new group of hunters.  As luck would have it, we had mutual friends that vouched for us. I got interviewed by the matriarch of the family that owned it all.  I zipped up my fly and got the snuff out from between my teeth and did my best.

We got the gig and immediately douched the joint out with multiple dump trailer loads out, ran electricity to the camp through Median Co-op, put in a septic system, improved the camp well and cleared out brush for a real compound.

That started 11 years ago and all parties are pleased.

For now.

[BabaYaga 15623]

16 minutes ago, deadshank said:

Crickets wouldn't even jump. 

Dammit, you owe me a new laptop and another cup of coffee

[BabaYaga 15623]

One of a prior group of fuktards shot livestock that was getting too close to a feeder and tried to hide the carcass - had to bring in the warden.

Messed up stuff

[BabaYaga 15623]

24 minutes ago, deadshank said:

We got the gig and immediately douched the joint out with multiple dump trailer loads out, ran electricity to the camp through Median Co-op, put in a septic system, improved the camp well and cleared out brush for a real compound.

That started 11 years ago and all parties are pleased.

That's what these guys did and we're really happy with them and I leave them alone during the main season.  My cousin it out there and they communicate all the time about gaps in the fence, cattle doing stupid cattle stuff, crap like that.  

[CHIEF 5224]

On 1/10/2023 at 11:01 AM, Dignan said:

Do any of you ever use those "hunting lease" sites? I have joined one and am waiting to see what happens. I have also made about 20 bookmarks of the timber company lease sites. I have NEVER had a lease of my own, usually just have friends/family who let me go to their land. I am a little leery about some of these posts/sites I see, but am hoping if I see one I like it will be with no issues. I live in the Tyler area so any leases I have seen around here are EXPENSIVE as hell for very little land. Earlier this year I had a guy say he had a 30 acre lease near Athens for $4500. For me that is ridiculous, but from what I hear, pretty normal for around here. 

I'm always leery of the hunting lease sites. I know of guys that used it, they had a lot of promising game cam pictures before season, and then, no more bucks after the first week of season. The landowner made calling before arriving to the lease as part of the contract. That way, they could be sure to get the day hunters off before the lease holders arrived. There is some real chickenshit landowners out there.

CHIEF

[fattyflattie 4640]

55 minutes ago, deadshank said:

he guys that were on our current place were from SA and Louisiana.

Touché. I had not considered that.  

[deadshank 24654]

Just now, fattyflattie said:

Touché. I had not considered that.  

Those clowns.  The matriarch LO asked me directly, probably the second question, "are any of your group from Louisiana?"

I replied, "oh, hell no!"

She said, "good.  If you would have said 'yes' I'd show you off the property right now."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and she meant it

[fattyflattie 4640]

1 minute ago, deadshank said:

Those clowns.  The matriarch LO asked me directly, probably the second question, "are any of your group from Louisiana?"

I replied, "oh, hell no!"

She said, "good.  If you would have said 'yes' I'd show you off the property right now."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and she meant it

I've told plenty of the stories here, and to be fair, they owned the ranch.  But you shouldn't have to replenish your deer herd via cattle trailer every other year... 

It was cool to see massive deer at every sit, though.  Anyhow, they don't own dat no mo toup. 

[MalibuSheriff 1095]

5 hours ago, deadshank said:

The guys that were on our current place were from SA and Louisiana.  They shot the ever livin' piss out of everything.  Crickets wouldn't even jump.  They had a paid hunt scheme to turn a a profit.  Some dude paid a bunch of money to shoot at 160" 4 year old.  They finally got busted and were told to leave.  They left crap everywhere. A total train wreck. Their going away present to the LO  was shooting over 15 doe and leaving them stacked up like cord wood to rot in the sun.

What a bunch of fucking douche bags.  

Edited January 12, 2023 by MalibuSheriff

[deadshank 24654]

20 minutes ago, MalibuSheriff said:

What a bunch of fucking douche bags.  

I could go on. 

[Al Czervik 1261]

11 hours ago, Alex Karev said:

Decoys set up for Sandhill cranes

Well?

[DalTxHornFan 3130]

I've been doing the hunting lease game since 1985.  Our first lease had previously been leased to a bunch of Louisiana hunters.  They would come out opening weekend and shoot everything in sight for around 5 days and haul the carcasses back in a iced-down trailer.

Our lease group, being conservation-minded hunters, tried to only take mature deer.  The lease owner hounded the shit out of us, coming by after every morning and evening hunt to find out if we had tagged out yet.  He was quite pissed that we ended up using the lease for the entire hunting season!  We were not invited back, but have been able to assemble way better hunting ranches since then. Of course, it was $600 per gun way back then and more like $10,000 per gun now.

[deadshank 24654]

I take it most of you have year round access to your places.  I could not fathom being one of those groups that have to pack up and haul everything at the end of deer season and re-install right before it’s starts again.  Deal breaker.  Probably works against LO, as well.   

[BabaYaga 15623]

So many of these horror stories.  Most from the side of the hunter towards myopic and greedy landowners.  As stated, we've had our share of bad hunters as well.  It's just people.  How you treat them.  How they treat you.  It's a partnership that both sides have to recognize and respect.  

I found and vetted them on a forum such as this.  Outdoors/hunting.  Word of mouth is always best for finding a lease.  Talking to landowners.  Local feed stores.  Even game processing places.  A forum like this can be a multiplier - now you have all of us with it planted in our minds that if we hear of something, we'll report back.  Rural RE agents often have good insight as well.  

What worked "on me" so to speak was the understanding that I'm not looking for trophy hunters.  I want guys that see this land as their own and treat it as such.  They bring their kids out to fish.  Build up and manage the land as if was their own.  Help me with issues.  Work with my cousin that runs his cattle out there.  I can't promise I won't ever raise the lease, but I was transparent that if so, it will be offset costs to keep it (taxes, etc)

I know it sounds a little hippy-dippy, but to @deadshanks point, work "with" the land, not against it.  

[BabaYaga 15623]

1 hour ago, deadshank said:

I take it most of you have year round access to your places.  I could not fathom being one of those groups that have to pack up and haul everything at the end of deer season and re-install right before it’s starts again.  Deal breaker.  Probably works against LO, as well.   

You take what you can get, but that seems a big, red flag to me - knowing its much easier to be booted at any time and the LO doesn't have to mess with left hunting gear and pissed off hunters let back on the property to get their stuff.

[RMac5 1557]

On 1/11/2023 at 11:11 AM, Alex Karev said:

Decoys set up for Sandhill cranes

What is that you are shooting with?

[Alex Karev 1062]

It's a 12 gauge Benelli Magnum 

Actually I was scouting and only set up Decoys to see how many would come in to see what their fake friends were having for dinner.

There were about a dozen that stopped and I de-featherd a couple and that was it. 

I have friends coming tomorrow to hunt this weekend and hope to have better luck.

We have late wheat that hasn't came up yet and down the road the neighbors have a pretty good stand, so lots of Cranes there. 

[Alex Karev 1062]

21 hours ago, BabaYaga said:

One of a prior group of fuktards shot livestock that was getting too close to a feeder and tried to hide the carcass - had to bring in the warden.

Messed up stuff

 

[RMac5 1557]

Ribeye from the sky? Never had it but hear it’s damn good eatin.

[Alex Karev 1062]

Ribeyes from the sky last year.

 

 

Edited January 13, 2023 by Alex Karev

[BabaYaga 15623]

19 hours ago, Alex Karev said:

 

 

The struggle is real.....

[fattyflattie 4640]

Yep. They don’t get my corn but always slamming into my blind and general bovine bullshit.

Cowsaround.corblund.mp3

[RMac5 1557]

Yeah them SOB’s can damn sure tear some shit up, no telling how many of my double bull blinds they have thrashed.

[RMac5 1557]

13 hours ago, Alex Karev said:

Ribeyes from the sky last year.

 

 

Damn, those look incredible!

[Alex Karev 1062]

Yep. They can always find a trail camera and scratch their butt on it until it is straight up or down.

I guess they don't like their picture taken. 

[Lazarus Bocanegra 312]

fuq cows.  that is all

 

[Armybrat 41395]

Siap

[BabaYaga 15623]

4 hours ago, fattyflattie said:

Yep. They don’t get my corn but always slamming into my blind and general bovine bullshit.

Cowsaround.corblund.mp3

We'd built "scratching posts" at friends place for hogs.  Cement in railroad ties upright.  Pigs like the ones covered in creosote.  You can also set up a corn-pipe, attached at the top with a chain like a tetherball, with dime-sized holes to allow corn to trickle out when they flip it around. 

Wonder if the cows would like it also?  They scratch on all kinds of crap  

[fattyflattie 4640]

3 minutes ago, BabaYaga said:

We'd built "scratching posts" at friends place for hogs.  Cement in railroad ties upright.  Pigs like the ones covered in creosote.  You can also set up a corn-pipe, attached at the top with a chain like a tetherball, with dime-sized holes to allow corn to trickle out when they flip it around. 

Wonder if the cows would like it also?  They scratch on all kinds of crap  

I’ve done the same for hogs, works well.  Don’t think anything will scratch the itch like the 2x2x.25 angle under the floor of my blind. It’s going up on its stand this spring (12’).   Not going to lie, nervous what that’s going to feel like when they start leaning on it like they do now.  

[RMac5 1557]

I used to keep a sling shot and marbles in my pack when I would go sit in a blind, I’m always bow hunting and am close enough to them that I can pop em with a marble.  They don’t give a crap about a marble and just keep doing what they do.

[Kennythetiger 9622]

2 hours ago, BabaYaga said:

Wonder if the cows would like it also?  They scratch on all kinds of crap  

Yes, they would. I often feel more like a fucking hippie than a rancher. I do a lot with regenerative farming, rotational grazing, and animal comfort. I have purposely set posts in the ground and covered them with wire so the cows can scratch themselves. We have about one tree per section up here. 

[fattyflattie 4640]

6 hours ago, RMac5 said:

I used to keep a sling shot and marbles in my pack when I would go sit in a blind, I’m always bow hunting and am close enough to them that I can pop em with a marble.  They don’t give a crap about a marble and just keep doing what they do.

Been putting a 30 yo red rider to use all season.   

[686 3461]

I’m looking to get another skid steer (compact track loader) for the ranch this year. Probably going with a lightly used (less than 1000 hrs and not abused) Kubota SVL95. The Kubota is simple and I really want the roll up door to talk with my kids when they’re operating it or vice versa.

My dad is a bobcat lever and foot controls operator, and honestly I really don’t like driving those machines anymore. He’s got a pretty new 75hp bobcat. They’ve made the levers so much stiffer than they used to be so you’re shoulders start to ache at the end of the day and kids have a hard time with the foot pedals. The non-roll up door is a big nuisance and the tires put too much pressure on the ground and rut it up.

Probably selling my boat to help fund the new machine, which is a little bit of a bummer, but we’re at the ranch much more than we’re at the lake the last few years.

[686 3461]

Also, my oldest (12) said she really likes working at the ranch and wants to learn more about ranch management, so I’m putting together a curriculum to work on with her over the next several years. So we can basically have this conversation:







Hopefully she’ll inherit the place from me many years from now and keep it going.

[Herbie Hancock 7489]

I’m looking to get another skid steer (compact track loader) for the ranch this year. Probably going with a lightly used (less than 1000 hrs and not abused) Kubota SVL95. The Kubota is simple and I really want the roll up door to talk with my kids when they’re operating it or vice versa.

My dad is a bobcat lever and foot controls operator, and honestly I really don’t like driving those machines anymore. He’s got a pretty new 75hp bobcat. They’ve made the levers so much stiffer than they used to be so you’re shoulders start to ache at the end of the day and kids have a hard time with the foot pedals. The non-roll up door is a big nuisance and the tires put too much pressure on the ground and rut it up.

Probably selling my boat to help fund the new machine, which is a little bit of a bummer, but we’re at the ranch much more than we’re at the lake the last few years.

We have the SVL75 and 95. 95 is a fucking beast but when you insure it they classify it as a goddamned bulldozer. Also, the front glass is not mesquite limb-proof….and it’s tempered so when you whack it with one it will go boom

[686 3461]

We have the SVL75 and 95. 95 is a fucking beast but when you insure it they classify it as a goddamned bulldozer. Also, the front glass is not mesquite limb-proof….and it’s tempered so when you whack it with one it will go boom

Yeah my dad has blown out two bobcat glass doors, and a ranch hand blew out our dozer door years ago. Dad sold the dozer last year, wish we still had it.

I’m pretty good not blowing out windows, but I’ll probably replace the Kubota door with the aftermarket lexan door they recommend for mulching. How much are we talking for insurance? I hadn’t considered that.

[fattyflattie 4640]

20 minutes ago, Herbie Hancock said:

Also, the front glass is not mesquite limb-proof….and it’s tempered so when you whack it with one it will go boom

That’s most of them now. I replace about one a month on my sites, it seems. Just a bit too much tilt on the bucket, and a small rock will flip out and now we’re open air. 
 

eta: @686 keep your eyes open for a high flow model as preference, just in case you ever want to add a hydroaxe down the line.  

Edited January 14, 2023 by fattyflattie

[686 3461]

That’s most of them now. I replace about one a month on my sites, it seems. Just a bit too much tilt on the bucket, and a small rock will flip out and now we’re open air. 
 
eta: [mention=2146]686[/mention] keep your eyes open for a high flow model as preference, just in case you ever want to add a hydroaxe down the line.  

Yeah High flow is a mandatory for me, thx. I definitely want to do some hydroaxe work. Dad likes to burn brush, but in some areas we could really use the little bit of additional top soil the mulch would create over a decade or so. Also shuttling brush from a tight fence line to an open area for burning can be really time consuming, and I wouldn’t mind having the mulch along the fence lines.

We have a shear and a grapple, so having the two machines will speed up operations when we’re shearing/shuttling/stacking/burning if we work together. (One machine cut the other shuttle and stack)

[Armybrat 41395]

Family has been doing a lot of dove hunting on my 25 acre place just SE of the Austin airport close to the F1 race track, but am wondering how this construction of a big 500,000 sq.ft. Industrial distribution center abutting my western fence is gonna affect that? 
(my place in last photo)

 

[686 3461]

We also do highly unadvisable shit, like my dad raises me up into trees while I’m standing in the grapple so I can trim with a chainsaw. He can’t hear me with the bobcat door closed, it’s lucky we haven’t had an accident. I have almost been pinched a few times. Would be much better with the door open doing that stuff so he can hear me.

[MalibuSheriff 1095]

Saw this posted a couple of weeks ago here in Oklahoma and forgot to post.  Sighted near McAlester:

[Kennythetiger 9622]

15 hours ago, Armybrat said:

Family has been doing a lot of dove hunting on my 25 acre place just SE of the Austin airport close to the F1 race track, but am wondering how this construction of a big 500,000 sq.ft. Industrial distribution center abutting my western fence is gonna affect that? 
(my place in last photo)

 

Dove hunting near a line of shitters would be an unexpected convenience. 

[BabaYaga 15623]

19 hours ago, 686 said:

We also do highly unadvisable shit, like my dad raises me up into trees while I’m standing in the grapple so I can trim with a chainsaw. He can’t hear me with the bobcat door closed, it’s lucky we haven’t had an accident. I have almost been pinched a few times. Would be much better with the door open doing that stuff so he can hear me.

Example if why we live shorter livers than our wives....;)

[deadshank 24654]

8 hours ago, Kennythetiger said:

Dove hunting near a line of shitters would be an unexpected convenience. 

If that happened to align, you would for sure be constipated.  
 

That is how the universe works, amigo.  

[RMac5 1557]

Went through Coleman this afternoon, stopped in at Rancho Pizza and got an Italian sausage. Looks like the owners are putting in a bbq place on the corner, just down from the pizza joint and steakhouse. Rancho Q appears to be the name. I’m sure it will be good, everything they put out is incredible.

[BabaYaga 15623]

12 hours ago, RMac5 said:

Went through Coleman this afternoon, stopped in at Rancho Pizza and got an Italian sausage. Looks like the owners are putting in a bbq place on the corner, just down from the pizza joint and steakhouse. Rancho Q appears to be the name. I’m sure it will be good, everything they put out is incredible.

Such a great place and the owners are really nice people - met them when we toured their B&B near Valera.  Love how much life they have infused into that town.  They're from DFW.  Worked at Texas Monthly.  Apparently good friends with the Goree family out off Midland that own that massive "T-Bone" ranch outside Valera and donated for the build of the Goree Expo center near the rodeo grounds.  

Edited January 16, 2023 by BabaYaga

[BabaYaga 15623]

Look at this gem tucked away in the middle of nowhere

Rancho Loma

[JCHIL 414]

Classic fuzzy photo but I keep thinking it’s awful large to be a yote?