Hunting 24/25: big bucks and a lot of ducks!

[Dignan 361]

17 hours ago, Storm the Field said:

Welp, putting in work at the lease in East TX over the past 2 years finally paid off on Friday morning.

First buck I've shot since I was in high school. Just started deer hunting again last year.

Kinda funny story. I shot him right under the feeder and he took off running. Went down there and all I saw was a tiny little splatter of blood under the feeder. I trudged off in the direction of where I assumed he had run and couldn't pick up any trail whatsoever other than a few tufts of hair. No blood trail at all. After about 20 minutes of looking around, I got convinced that I had whiffed a rather easy shot and just grazed him. Bout that time my Dad pulled up to help me search. Within about a minute of getting out of his truck, he pointed out a shape underneath a bush 90 degrees to the right of where I was walking. Deer had collapsed not more than 40 yards from the feeder. I guess I had tunnel vision of where I thought he had run and just never even glanced in that direction. Rather than a graze, it was pretty much a textbook shot right behind the shoulder. Surprised he was able to go any distance at all seeing the damage it did to his heart when we were cleaning him.

Had my Dad drop off the head with a guy in his neighborhood to prep the skull for a Euro mount. Just gonna put it on a basic skull hanger in the cabin at the lease.

Where is your lease? I have a place I can hunt (lady lets me use her land) in Tyler. Very convenient, not the best hunting, but they are there. Nice buck!

[686 3456]

This is GREAT! I have tried for years to get my son out with me but he just won't do it. He has a few times but isn't hooked. I'll keep trying. 

Some things that helped my kids:

I set up a little steel silhouette target “game” and let them shoot 22’s at it - they’ll burn a couple hundred rounds on that. Make it fun.

I shoot the bigger rifles first so they can see what it’s going to be like. Suppressors and tripods help a lot.

Sometimes they are scared to shoot at an animal, so I’ll shoot a deer or armadillo or something to break the ice and then the my are less intimidated.

I let them play on their iPad or Nintendo in the deer blind. I don’t like this, because it’s not at all like what hunting was like for me growing up, but if we make it too boring they just won’t be interested. I actually played one of the last Texas games on my phone in the blind so we could watch while waiting for deer/pigs to come out.

[BabaYaga 15371]

Buddy's kid took a decent 10 at our place over the weekend.  Massive body, well over 130lbs.

[BHMCruiser 1818]

13 hours ago, 686 said:

Some things that helped my kids:

I set up a little steel silhouette target “game” and let them shoot 22’s at it - they’ll burn a couple hundred rounds on that. Make it fun.

I shoot the bigger rifles first so they can see what it’s going to be like. Suppressors and tripods help a lot.

Sometimes they are scared to shoot at an animal, so I’ll shoot a deer or armadillo or something to break the ice and then the my are less intimidated.

I let them play on their iPad or Nintendo in the deer blind. I don’t like this, because it’s not at all like what hunting was like for me growing up, but if we make it too boring they just won’t be interested. I actually played one of the last Texas games on my phone in the blind so we could watch while waiting for deer/pigs to come out.

Agree with all of this. You have to let them come to it at their own speed. My 17 year old wants nothing to do with it. My 10 year old shot his first deer this weekend (first time shooting at any animal so I was nervous for him). But he put it right in the bread basket. 

[BabaYaga 15371]

1 hour ago, BHMCruiser said:

Agree with all of this. You have to let them come to it at their own speed. My 17 year old wants nothing to do with it. My 10 year old shot his first deer this weekend (first time shooting at any animal so I was nervous for him). But he put it right in the bread basket. 

It's all about exposure.  Give them time.  It's about spending time together.  Took my son to the ranch this weekend.  He left with athletic shorts and slides, wound up buying a pair of jeans at the store and now he wants boots (getting repeatedly poked my mesquite will do that to you).  

[Horns99 169]

Good weekend up in N Central TX for us last weekend. Guess, I’m lucky my 11 yr old is obsessed. He wanted a pig in honor of us beating the hogs

[WithoutAClue 15529]

[686 3456]

@Horns99 great buck and nice hog! What does your son shoot? Did he get any buck fever? What county?

[Horns99 169]

[mention=2714]Horns99[/mention] great buck and nice hog! What does your son shoot? Did he get any buck fever? What county?

Buck was mine, he’s working his way up to that level. Last year was his 1st year shooting a animal. He’s got pigs & does so far on his resume. He’s shooting a savage axis youth model .243. He loves it. It’s dropped everything so far. We are up in Young county, north of Graham, moved up there after losing the deer lease by Stonewall.

[Ted Dantzler 156]

On 11/20/2024 at 7:55 AM, BabaYaga said:

Pheasants are hard to hunt without a dog.  I remember my first hunt, Texas panhandle, and I just started chewing Red Man.  I was in my mid-teens maybe, and one of those SOB's flushed straight up a few feet from me.  Made all the racket in the world, and "gulp".  Down the hatch.....giant plug of tobackie.  Spent the rest of the morning in the truck, green and sick as a dog.  

When they get buried down in the grass they don't want to come out especially if the weather is bad. One time it had just snowed a dusting and I was hunting the edge of a corn field and CRP area. I saw some tracks lead into the CRP and followed them about 20 yards until they ended...Nothing, followed them back again and ended up in the same place. The dog didn't pick up anything and was milling around a different area. 

After about 30 seconds of pondering where the bird could be I decided to take a piss and the second I pulled my zipper down a bird flew up from about 1ft away and almost knocked my hat off with it's wings. I missed that one out of shock as well.....

[otisdog 365]

4 hours ago, Ted Dantzler said:

When they get buried down in the grass they don't want to come out especially if the weather is bad. One time it had just snowed a dusting and I was hunting the edge of a corn field and CRP area. I saw some tracks lead into the CRP and followed them about 20 yards until they ended...Nothing, followed them back again and ended up in the same place. The dog didn't pick up anything and was milling around a different area. 

After about 30 seconds of pondering where the bird could be I decided to take a piss and the second I pulled my zipper down a bird flew up from about 1ft away and almost knocked my hat off with it's wings. I missed that one out of shock as well.....

Yeah, they'll do that. I've had at least two bust out when I've stopped to piss - already opened the O/U and laid it down, so just watched them fly away holding my DIH.

[crimsonlonghorn 2310]

Anybody have any ideas? This is one of my cameras near my house in Scurry County. 

My wife told me about a year ago that she saw an "ocelot" out in the pasture and I told her she was full of it because we are a long way from where those are in Mexico... but this sure doesn't look like a house cat. But maybe it is? But I have never seen a house cat anywhere near my place. We don't have one and none of the neighbors do either. 

Maybe it's a bobcat, but that looks like a long tail and it doesn't seem squatty enough. 

Thinking about sending this to the game warden next week after my brother is done hunting there this weekend. 

 

[crimsonlonghorn 2310]

We also got this picture earlier this week of a coyote (left) following something (right) next to the feeder. I thought it was just another coyote and maybe it is.

[Kennythetiger 9494]

Cool pictures. 

[Brisketexan 105546]

Anybody have any ideas? This is one of my cameras near my house in Scurry County. 
My wife told me about a year ago that she saw an "ocelot" out in the pasture and I told her she was full of it because we are a long way from where those are in Mexico... but this sure doesn't look like a house cat. But maybe it is? But I have never seen a house cat anywhere near my place. We don't have one and none of the neighbors do either. 
Maybe it's a bobcat, but that looks like a long tail and it doesn't seem squatty enough. 
Thinking about sending this to the game warden next week after my brother is done hunting there this weekend. 


 

Sure looks like a fat feral house cat. You’re WAY out of Ocelot range. And doesn’t look like a bobcat.

[Spaulding Smails 1567]

Agree with @Brisketexan.  100% a house cat.  Looks just like our big fat house cat named Willie.  

My BIL sent me this pic from his lease in Lampasas County.  He was thoroughly convinced it was a juvenile mountain lion.  He said it was "obviously way too big to be a house cat".  They next weekend he saw it in person.  At least he ate crow and fessed up that he was wrong.  With no perspective on size, it's easy to think they're something else.  But, it seems like if there's ever a doubt, it's most likely just a regular old house cat.  

[Al Czervik 1240]

On 11/4/2024 at 9:52 AM, Al Czervik said:

The Sunday afternoon sweat in Blanco County lead to this guy showing up at 5:00pm. Thankful to have a friends with ranches that don’t hunt and just need someone to check on the place once in a while. Solid mass and healthy body. 
Property is low fenced but backs up to the river and another several thousand acre ranch that wasn’t hunted the pass few years until this weekend. Several shots were heard in that direction Saturday. 
Going to give Klein’s Smokehouse a try at their new location in Johnson City. 

The departed has arrived to its final destination via Klein’s Smokehouse in Johnson City and Hard Times Taxidermy in Blanco. 

[HOOKEM4 5066]

I have been waiting to shoot something all season. Too damn hot. I came home for the inlaws Tday and decided to stay home till tomorrow. Well, I finally got something besides the 20 doe at the feeder.

Heading out first thing tomorrow. We will see. Big dude for my low fence spot.

 

Edited Friday at 02:55 AM by HOOKEM4
ousux

[Frank Drebin 5670]

Thanksgiving morning buck my son (15) killed in deep East Texas while hunting with his grandfather.  He has killed quite a few deer before at our place in south Texas. This is the smallest by far.  But none as special as this one.  Since he was two, he has hunted on my wife’s family’s land that his grandfather grew up on and that had been in their family for generations.  He was hunting with his granddad, who is 87 years young, thanksgiving morning when he shot this buck.  He ran about 100 yards despite a perfectly placed shot.  He followed the blood trail and recovered the deer.  

My son and my father in law have hunted together countless times for over a decade — yesterday was the day it finally paid off after numerous close calls, passing on deer who weren’t wide enough to be lawful, and plenty of hunts without seeing much.  Typical East Texas hunting  

I’m so proud he was able to get a deer with his grandfather.  It reminds me of hunting with my granddad, which are some of my best memories I think about often. So this makes me smile.  Hunting isn’t about the harvest.  It’s about everything else.  But this is a great bonus and will be a core memory for him.  

At 87 I’m not sure how many hunts my father in law has left.  So in my book it’s a special deer.  16 inch inside spread.  Broken g2 on right side.  Young deer. 2.5.  But I’m going to euro mount it for him any way.  

Edited Friday at 02:07 PM by Frank Drebin

[Spaulding Smails 1567]

Passed on this fella this morning.  Pic is from a few weeks ago, but this was the first time I laid eyes on him in person.  Had my son in a blind on the other side of the ranch chasing a cull whitetail that he saw last night running a doe and couldn't get him to stop broadside long enough to get a shot.  Texted him and he high tailed it over to where I was hunting.  He stalked his way in and got there about 90 seconds after this guy walked back into the brush.  

Unfortunately, he had to head back home to get to work, so I'm here solo tonight and tomorrow.  Gonna be hard to let him walk again if he shows up tonight, but I'd sure rather my son or my dad take him.  I have zero experience aging axis on the hoof, but he looks pretty old.  

[USCATX 1085]

I’m in Mexico and this guy is modeling at lunch time in front of my camera.  

[Storm the Field 5304]

On 11/25/2024 at 7:50 AM, Dignan said:

Where is your lease? I have a place I can hunt (lady lets me use her land) in Tyler. Very convenient, not the best hunting, but they are there. Nice buck!

Tyler County, just south of Lake Rayburn. Closest "town" is a little shithole called Colmesneil.