The Elk Hunt

So, this was what I was so excited about yesterday.  My dad and I were given the opportunity to hunt some Elk on a property near here.  My dad has always wanted a nice Elk bull and I really wanted to get my hands on some good Elk meat, so I wanted to shoot a cow.  Well, this turned into quite the hunt.  Unfortunately, the bulls were having none of it.  We were able to locate a small group and I got a very nice cow out of that one.  My dad ended up spending the night on the ranch and will try again in the morning.  I really hope it is successful.  Here are some pics from today:

It was a truly beautiful animal.  Very healthy and very LARGE.  Handling this size animal is an entirely different experience.  In my past I've been involved in hunts with a lot of large game, but never really the processing all that much.  I've handled literally hundreds of Whitetail and Axis deer, so I have that size game down pat.  It's somewhat the same, but then not really.  From there, we went here:

Now it is quartered from here and hanging in a cooler getting some age on it.  We're still trying to plan out how we're going to tackle this one.  We take pride in processing all of our own game, so we're trying to figure out some facilities and get some time lined up to do it.  I really cannot wait to get some of these steaks into the kitchen.

Some things need killin'

This guy is one of them.

First weekend of hunting season was this last weekend.  I culled an older buck with just forks.  He needed to go, too.  Unfortunately, the nasty bugger above isn't the only one coming to the blind.  I'd love nothing more than to get hold of a night vision scope, but those aren't cheap.  I guess we're going to have to go old fashioned and use lights.  Otherwise, this will be lurking out there tearing stuff up...

...and we can't have that, now can we?

As you can tell by the time stamp, it also means staying up all night to shoot some nasty pigs.  That doesn't send the thrill through me like it used to in my youth.

Weekend o' Fun

So, That Guy arrived Friday evening and we caught up, watched some firearm related shows and had a few beers.  This was the line-up.

That Guy brought the Snowmageddon and a pretty serious IPA (not pictured) that he talks a little about over at his place.  I brought out the Timmermans Lambic and the Boulevard Quadruple.  These were all fantastic in their own way.  We enjoyed ourselves a nice run of great beer.  Thankfully, Mrs. 45er helped with the tasting.  Some of these came close to or broke the 10% ABV mark and you could tell.

I'm not going to do a review here for these, but I'll throw a blanket over them all and say they were really good.  Lambics are their own deal, however, and they are a sour beer.  You should wade into those before you go in the deep end.

So, next day was to be spent out prepping for the upcoming hunting season.  We checked some things, cleaned out blinds and at the end decided to sit on a hillside on a beautiful day and call Coyotes.  No action, but who cares when you're enjoying a beautiful view.  That Guy did a great job of posting about it over at his place, complete with pics of the hunt.

Want to see something cool?

This was fun.

I can't wait to see how it works.  That Guy and I spent a few hours on the lease this weekend and he installed this set up.  The possibilities are endless...

Texas legalizes hunting game animals... with suppressors

Omigosh, omigosh, I'm so excited.  This will be so cool.  <----- Clicky, Clicky.

Today, after hearing your support for this NRA-backed common sense hunting reform, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission voted unanimously to legalize suppressor use while hunting.

I'm so excited.  Now, the thing is that suppressors are legal in Texas and hunting "non-game" animals with them has not been illegal.  Game animals are defined specifically in the law and include Whitetail Deer and Turkey, but not wild pigs or exotics.  Yes, they are technically game, but in the legal sense exotics are classified as livestock since they are non-indigenous and pigs are just a freaking invasive, destructive mess.  Why this is so cool is that you generally don't want to be hunting for something like Axis Deer with a suppressor during Whitetail hunting season.  Is it legal?  Sure.  Would you have to explain to Mr. Game Warden that you really were just hunting Axis (I swear, officer).  Probably.  It's just a dumb hassle.  Now, no worries.  It will also make the hunting much more pleasant for everyone involved and make taking younger kids hunting a lot more enjoyable.  Anyways, I'm excited, but a little nervous.

I'm excited because I'm going to do this in the near future.  I'm nervous because now I need to figure out how to get authorization to buy a suppressor for my next new gun.  I had plans and was working towards getting an AR chambered in .308 that I was going to use for a standard caliber hunting rifle.  Now, I need to set up a trust and figure out how to fit a rifle-grade suppressor into the budget...   $$$$

On hunting and the spoils gained

Hear, hear.

Hunting Stories: How do you stop a charging boar?

Take away his credit card?

Funny, but it doesn't work when 250 pounds of angry, hairy, razor-sharp anger is bearing down on you.

Many years ago in my previous life, I was a professional hunting guide on a very large ranch with a large number of exotic animals.  On this particular hunt, the client and I were stalking a trophy wild boar.

Stalking is not the best way to hunt for the best or biggest boar when you're a guide.  Hunting from a blind is really the way to go.  It allows the guide to inspect the pigs and make sure you were getting A. a boar and B. one with nice tusks.  Tusks, after all are a big part of the package.  Judging pigs is one of the more difficult things you have to do as a guide.  What is visible is only a few inches and the rest of the tusk is hidden in the jaw.  You have to hope that you get a look at both tusks from a fair distance in failing light and pray that one isn't chipped or broken.

In the below picture; note the upper (smaller) and lower boar tusks.  You can see where they match up perfectly.  This is where they constantly rub together, keeping the lower tusk nice and sharp.  These are about 7 inches long, a little less than 3 of those pointed inches will be protruding from the gums.

Pointy. 

Back to the hunt.  I was always flexible as a hunting guide.  The customer isn't always right, but the customer should be happy.  Keeping a customer happy means the salesperson (me) must explain the downsides and risks of certain decisions.  After getting that out of the way, the hunt is on.  I will say that some of my most memorable hunts were ones where we broke from the norm and did something different. This hunt was definitely memorable, but not in a great way.

We were stalking through an area that was cut through the "white brush."  The ranch maintained the hunting areas by cutting down the thick brush to help with visibility and the new growth from the cut areas provided great forage for the animals.  The "white-brush" in that part of Texas was unbelievably thick and thorny.  These cuts were usually done in long, straight sections.  In Texas, we call a long, straight clear section a "sendero."  Senderos can be man-made or natural, but you know them when you see them and they offer great places to see game.

Something like this

In this particular hunting area we only had pigs and Aoudad.  Neither of these animals are all that tall and the trails and paths they leave through thick brush are more like tunnels.  During the day, the pigs like to lay in the thick brush and keep cool.  It usually takes something to push them out and when you do they are running, of course.  We walked along one of the cuts at the edge of the brush and could hear pigs ahead and to the right of us snorting and moving away.  We had a good view for a fair distance down the sendero, so we decided to move slowly down toward the pigs and hope they started crossing in front of us.  In a few minutes, they started doing just that.  At first, it was a few small ones.  I told the hunter to wait a bit, the larger boars usually followed at the very back of the pack - called a sounder (if they were even with the sounder).  Sure enough, a big one came trotting out.  I had about 30 yards while the pig trotted to determine it was a boar, decide if it was a good one and tell the hunter it was a "go."  Then he had to make the shot.  It all went quick and I could tell by the sound that the shot was a hit.

The downside is that the hit was too far back and low which meant a serious track.  The trail led right into the brush and I got down on my hands and knees to crawl (yes, crawl) after this wounded pig.  I sent the hunter around the side of the brush to the next clear cut.  I told him to be prepared if I pushed this one out and if it was the wounded one, he should take it.   I had my rifle (Remington 700 in 7mm STW with a very LOUD muzzle brake)  laid across my arms in the crooks of my elbows.  As I crawled along I heard something to my right.  I rolled and saw a large boar approaching quickly, apparently spooked by the hunter.  Luckily, he saw me and stopped, then turned and trotted off.  So much fun already.

The STW

When I saw the wounded pig, it was in a strange position.  It was quartered toward me with the right shoulder facing my direction, but laying behind a cluster of thick brush.  I could see the head and snout (BIG sharp-looking tusks) and the front of the right shoulder.  I brought the rifle up, resting on my elbows and looked through the scope.  Flipping the safety off, I pressed the trigger and the rifle roared in the close brush.  I usually wore hearing protection, but had not brought any on the stalk.  It was in the days before the great electronic plugs that I wear now and we usually kept them in the jeep or blind, not with us on stalks.  The first shot started the bells ringing.  It also got the boar up on its feet.  Yay for me.  I had nowhere to run and nothing to climb.  Honestly, in this thick stuff I couldn't even stand.  It was best to lay here and keep shooting.  The pig began charging me.  As it turned it faced me directly.  I had cycled the bolt and put another round directly in the center of its chest.  It didn't slow down.  I cycled the bolt again and the crosshairs rested on the left shoulder as the boar turned a slight corner.  The rifle barked a third time and the boar fell and rolled toward me coming to rest about 15 yards away.  Dust was everywhere and I had pieces of dirt and bits of brush all over me that had been blown up by the muzzle brake.  My ears were not ringing - they were playing a stunning rendition of "Ride of the Valkyries."

This rifle holds two rounds in the magazine and one in the chamber without forcing things.  That means I was  empty.  For this very reason, I keep an elastic ammunition holder on the stock.  With the bolt open, I pulled one out, tossed it in the breech and closed the bolt just to be safe.  I watched the pig for many tense minutes before making a move.  When I was sure that I wasn't going to have a repeat of any of the previous excitement, I backed out.  We retrieved the big guy from the other side after I had a chance to meet up with the client and relax a bit.

I have had many an exciting pig hunt, but this one by far takes the cake.  At the time, Mrs. 45er and I were recently dating and I spoke with her on the phone almost every night.  Needless to say, she was not pleased when I told her this story.  I was excited and still running on adrenalin, I'm sure.  I specifically remember her being less than thrilled.  I think I was still invincible at that age.

Hunting Stories

So, here is a little heads-up.  I've been doing a little family research and looking at old pictures.  I absolutely love looking back and seeing snapshots in time.  Things that may have seemed inconsequential at the time can mean everything to your kids and grandkids while they are trying to piece together the story of your life.  Maybe this blog can serve as something of a history for later.  I will do all of the sitting and story-telling I can with the kids, but either through loss of memory (me) or lack of interest at a certain age (the kids), I'm sure a lot of it will be lost.  So, on occasion, I'm going to write a story about what I thought was an interesting time.  I have quite a few pictures and will do my best to dig them out and pair them with some of the stories  I hope these yarns are as interesting as I remember them to have been.

I'm finding that as I construct my first story, it is quite a long one.  I am trying to make it as interesting as possible.  I'm sure my followers will be doing some skimming on some of these.  :)

An open letter to hunters

Please, take your rifle to the range.
Learn how to shoot.  Practice shooting (this isn't just the once-a-year sighting in). 
Contrary to what I've heard people say, a "pie-plate" group at 100 yards is not good enough.  Practice until your groups are inside an inch, two at the most.  You owe it to the animals you are hunting.  If you can't cut it, don't go out.
Posted from the field where I have had to dispose of/put down a wounded deer for the second week in a row.

Unfortunately, the people reading this aren't my target audience.

Pig Bustin' Fun

Well, That Guy and I trudged out in the rain this afternoon intent on making a hunt happen.  We saw some deer this morning, but nothing worth taking.  Same this evening on the deer front.  Just a few yearlings.  But then, the couple of deer milling around bolted and in charged a pig.  Nothing makes a Texas hunter snap up their rifle faster.  He was pretty jittery and I knew I wasn't going to get the perfect shot, so I took the first one as soon as he paused.  It ended up really doing the job.  He was a boar and weighed in at about 80 pounds, the perfect eating size.  I ran out and dragged him back behind the blind and 15 minutes later I had a few deer back in front of me.  Still, just young bucks and yearlings.  Then...  they all looked up.  I glassed with binoculars in the direction where their attention was focused and I saw a flash of black and white in the brush.  Back up came the rifle, but this time the pig was moving across the hill in front of me at about 125 yards.  I snap-shot him in the neck and he went down.  Here's where I made the mistake I always warn people about.  I cycled the bolt out of habit, but then set the rifle back down on the bag.  I was just too sure of myself.  I saw the pig start to move a bit more than normal.  I got the rifle up just in time to see him get up and run up the hill.  The distances were ticking in my head as he ran through the brush.  135... 140  I saw a small opening through the brush and broke a shot.  A miss.  I scolded myself for trying to hit him in the head.  165... 170  No shot through the brush.  180... 185  and he finally broke into an opening.  It was my last chance before he reached the top of the hill so I broke the shot and he fell.  Out of sight.  Great.

Well, after trudging up the hill in the rain, I found him close to the top and I had to drag him down in the mud.  It turns out I hit the neck in the perfect spot, but just about 1/4 inch high.  The bullet didn't connect with the spine itself.  This is how tough a pig is, that it gets up after that kind of hit and runs up a hill.  There were two unfortunate things.  #1 it was a boar and weighed about 150 pounds and stank to high heaven.  #2, the third shot as the pig ran up the hill was a quartering away running shot and entered too far back.  Unfortunately, this one wasn't going to be good for much and I didn't keep it.

It's still raining.  It rained the rest of the night.  I had to stretch a tarp over me to quarter out the smaller boar.  Everything I had with me is completely soaked, muddy and hanging in the garage.  Luckily, my mom had hot venison stew, homemade cornbread and hot chocolate waiting in the house.

All this miserable cold and wet and you know what?  It was a blast.

I did the best I could to get some pictures in the rain and make them blog-worthy (as little gore as possible).  This is the best I could do.  The rest showed the pigs better, but were just a little much for a blog post.

This is perfect for starting to make some sausage.  It's just about time to make the first batch.  I can't wait.

First Real Mobile Post: From the Blind

I wondered why I would ever need to post from a mobile device.  I think this is why.  Nice, cold sunny day.  It's perfectly quiet.  I love being out here where it is calm.

Success!

Well, this morning was my first Whitetail of the season.  I took a very long spike that I passed on earlier and regretted.  He needed to go.  Sorry, no pictures.  I was going to, but a 7mm STW to the neck is not very conducive for a blog post picture.  Anyway, meat in the refrigerator!  When I opened our deer fridge (yes, we have one for deer in the garage) I saw quite the assortment of deer quarters in there from my dad and brother.  It looks like we have a bit of work ahead of us in the next few days.

The Taj-MaBlinds paid for themselves just on today's hunt.  We (That Guy and I) headed out this morning after a full night of rain.  After some slipping and sliding in the truck to get to the back of the lease and then some slipping and sliding on foot to walk to the blinds, we settled in.  About 30 minutes later the rain came pouring down again.  There's nothing like that warm, dry feeling when it's cold and raining just outside.  I commented about how bad it sounded to complain about a little wet and cold, but That Guy said he wasn't ashamed to be comfortable.  I have to say I agreed.

Deer, It's what's for dinner

Yum.  My dad got another Axis Deer.  It's the second he's gotten this season and my brother has gotten one as well.  There have been a few Whitetail fall as well (nothing by me, yet), but if you've ever eaten Axis it's just unmistakably better.  I haven't been able to spend the time in the field and, in all honesty, tend to be extremely (too) picky early in the season.

Anyway, where was I?  Oh, yes.  Axis Deer.  They are a beautiful animal.  Also known as the chital (or cheetal) and pronounced as the latter is spelled.  They originate in India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal.  They have adapted insanely well to Central and South Texas.  The climate is perfect for them.  They do not have a "breeding season" as Whitetail Deer do.  Breeding is year round and a doe can have multiple fawnings in a couple of years.  There is something of a love/hate relationship with these deer in Texas (mostly love).  You see, they are free-ranging now.  They escaped from game ranches decades ago and have set up shop and taken over.  The love portion is the great meat and beautiful hides.  They travel in large herds and I've been known to pick more than one (much more) out of a single herd.  The "hate" portion of the relationship is the direct competition with indigenous deer and (not indigenous) livestock.  The incredible table-fare they provide pretty much outweighs any negative view people have.

and the presentation is fabulous

On the other hand, we have the much maligned (and rightly so) wild pig.

 This one was taken by my brother on Thanksgiving night.  Sorry for the small picture, but it was emailed.  Then, there is this...

Sharply dressed

Nasty little buggers.  Well, this one wasn't little.  It weighed in at 245 pounds.  Also, those tusks are serious.  I've seen what they can do and it isn't pretty.  It looks like between this and the deer that have been taken so far, we are looking at our first batch of sausage.  I'll post when we do that, you can count on it.

Game cameras, the full monty and such...

Parental guidance suggested...

It's not all that bad, just a funny picture from a game camera that I think one of the guys on my lease (That Guy) has taken it as a personal slight from said young buck.  We're also talking big, nasty pigs here so if you can't take the sight of a bunch of swine eating up a bunch of free food, go no further.  (No, I'm not talking about another "Occupy: Your City Name Here").  Porkers first:

OCCUPY 45er's lease

Note: the laying around living off of things that aren't intended for you.  The similarities are striking.

Anyway, we have plans for these guys.  Serious plans.  The logisticis simply amount to getting a few people in the blind and doing some pig taking out.  It shouldn't be a problem, you saw the pictures of the blind, right?  :)  We can get three people in there very comfortably.  The plan is that I'm going to use my AR and That Guy is going to bring his Saiga.  We have a third person and I'm working out what we may want in his hands.  It isn't going to be pretty.  Then, after that we may put out traps to catch what is left.  These things are just starting to move into our area and I'd like to get a jump on them before they get out of control.  Wild pigs can be as irritating as a taint-pimple.

If it's not too late, which I fear it is

So, yeah, on to the questionable content of the post.  Game cameras are fun things.  You get great shots of nutty things (future pun not really intended, but I'll take it), like acrobatic raccoons.

I've named him Coondini

And the deer are thinking, "Dinner and a show!"  From the mischief he is inflicting, I think That Guy feels he has a date with 55 grains.

You get nice shots of the young bucks and get to have a jump start on your game management.

Not a bad, young buck

Then, there are just the things you get on camera that catch you completely off guard.  Last warning, this is the full monty (deer) edition. 

So, you can see it in his face here:

No one's watching

So, imagine flipping through your pictures, looking at antlers, judging age and deciding how you're going to annihilate pigs when this pops on your screen:

Come on, get a ROOM!



 Wait, what?

The funny thing is that there were three great shots preceding this, and I was too busy looking at antlers to notice.

Mrs. 45er:  "What the, is that...?"

Me: "What?  He's pretty young, still small but..."

Mrs. 45er:  "No, what he's doing.."

Me: "Huh? Oh, Bwahahahaha"

Yes, it was juvenile, but it caught me so off-guard that it kicked over the giggle box in my inner 12 year-old.  So, now I'm sharing this (most likely inappropriate content) with you.

EDIT: I just decided not to be totally classless and get all censorship-happy.

Building the Taj MaBlind

I have had a lease for a few years with a couple of friends of mine.  The first year we just hunted in chairs in the open which really is enjoyable, but after a while it's nice to at least have a place to take cover (and sleep).  A couple of years ago one of the guys was able to get his hands on some huge shipping containers.  That first year two of us put ours together and they are quite spectacular.  His has been stored in the barn unfinished due to time and travel constraints and we figured it was finally time to get it finished out and ready to hunt in.  If you can find a place that has these, they are really easy to re-model with some spare 2x4 and other lumber and maybe that scrap shelf board and brackets you pulled out of the old closet.  We spent very little on these, just screws, time and some "oops" paint from Wal-Mart to protect it from the elements. 

In the beginning...

We had actually been working on this one previously and had finished the roof.  We removed the existing top and framed it with 2x4.  We put it back on with a slight elevation in the front to run rainwater off the back of the blind.  We had spare tar paper and tin for the roof.

We had each owner sit in their blind to get a good idea for window height.  My theory is a little low is ok since you can put another sandbag under the rifle, but you can't push a shelf down if it is too high.

Time for shelves.  This one had less shelving that our previous ones and the hunter using it it wanted a window cut on the end for how the blind would be placed.

After the paint job.  Five gallons of "oops" paint at Wal-Mart in a reasonable color isn't that expensive and it needed about 3 gallons. 

The plan is to get some spray cans of brown and green and spray it just to break up the pattern.  It really isn't all that necessary since deer don't care, so it's mostly for the hunters.  His plan is to put plexi-glass windows in while he is sitting and hunting.  Not a bad way to pass the time, I guess.  It was raining the day we finished this one (thank goodness) so we built it in the barn.  We weren't able to move it out because of the mud, but we did run out and pull some pictures from the game cameras.  I'll have to post those later.  Some were hilarious and one in particular may not be suitable for a family post, so I'll have to post a warning.  Stay tuned...



And it's about time

Texas finally got serious about feral pig control.  There's only one way to make something effective.  Let the free market take control.  Up until now, the farmers/ranchers had to pay companies to do serious pig eradication like this.  Now, I know there are nigh thousands of hunters that say they would gladly hunt pigs for FREE on someone's property, but that just isn't efficient.  These things are rampantly out of control and you need to be killing dozens a day (if not hundreds) on one property to make a dent.  Problem is, not many ranchers/farmers have the money to pay someone to do this.  Now, with the ability to let others pay that will enjoy themselves, the financial burden can be lifted from the property owner and we can do some serious pig killing.  $475/hour is pretty steep for the average Joe, but I'm hoping the price will drop as more companies come on-line to take advantage of this.  Just for fun, imagine this:

http://youtu.be/kLejlibClio

It is a little cheesy, but it's a promo video and they tend to be that way.

All this being said, here is the downside of this.  I'm sure the meat is not all harvested.  I know from some of the vids I've seen using shotgun, you wouldn't want it anyway.  I'm first and foremost a meat hunter.  I understand taking every possible scrap you can because it's how I was raised.  However, at some point it becomes a matter of management.  Maybe some of the hunters will find a way to get the carcasses, but you can only eat so much pig at a time.  I would imagine FDA rules and regs when it comes to harvesting game for public consumption are impossible to navigate when you're dealing with this kind of operation.  Ultimately, control the population and use what you can.

Sweeeeeeeeeeet!

I pull up to my parents' house today and this is what I see in the driveway..

Hey, baby, how about a ride?

Well, this wasn't here before.  This hunting season is going to be a blast.