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 3,456]

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 15,331]

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

[BHMCruiser 1,819]

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 15,331]

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 168]

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 15,472]

[686 3,456]

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

[Horns99 168]

[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 2,308]

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 2,308]

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 9,483]

Cool pictures. 

[Brisketexan 105,457]

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 1,556]

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.