Mo's boyfriend, Taylor, and I joined Mark on Sunday evening at our Webb County ranch. Taylor was off work the first part of the week so I invited him to come to the ranch for a few days.
Taylor had hunted once when he was 10, some 15 years ago, and had never shot a deer. It was a last minute invite, so I outfitted Taylor with clothes, boots and a gun. We ended up not hunting Monday morning as we had some work to do around camp. We hunted Monday evening and Taylor missed a doe. He got his redemption early Tuesday morning when he shot an OLD buck with my 30-06!
I talked Taylor through field dressing the buck and then he skinned and quartered it, breaking in my brand new Hitch Hoist that I picked up from the ForEverlast "deal of the week" on Friday!
Mark had to head home after lunch. He called me shortly after he left and said a lady in a car had gotten stuck in the mud on the County Road a mile or so from our camp. Taylor and I pulled her out. Later, I ended up getting my pickup stuck while driving around the ranch. Fortunately, we were relatively close to camp and I was able to pull it out with the tractor.
Court and Kyle arrived Tuesday afternoon in our Suburban, and Taylor drove it back to his home in Richardson. We ended up making a trip to Laredo Tuesday evening at the expense of the afternoon hunt. (That is a long story of UPS incompetence, itself, that's better suited for another time!)
Wednesday morning, Court set up in my stand at Killin Tree while I sat concealed in a chair at the base of the mesquite to film. We had hogs on hand corn on the sendero before daylight, and waited for a shot op. Court got my attention and told me she could hear music playing off to the south. In short order, the hogs scattered and then a lone illegal walked right down the road, 25 yards from us! We sat quietly, unsure of whether there were more following behind. We opted to sit still and continue hunting to allow him to clear. As we sat contemplating what had just happened, I realized that he was heading directly toward my pickup, which was unlocked and had several firearms inside!
Courtney was rattled, and frankly I was a little concerned, as well. We climbed down and eased our way to the pickup - with my STI Duty One readied. Fortunately, the man had likely ducked into the brush to avoid the pickup. We returned to camp to regroup and cook breakfast. Kyle and Courtney each successfully stalked javelinas in the clearing behind our camp.
Wednesday afternoon and Thursday morning hunts were uneventful, as deer movement seemed to slow with the warmer weather. After Thursday morning's hunt, we decided to ride around the ranch and check things out. There were three border patrol agents on horseback inspecting the west fence line. They were in a muddy area and we cut off before we got to them and continued driving around the ranch. We set up a ground blind to hunt later in the afternoon.
We decided to head back to camp for lunch and to rest before heading back out to hunt. As we arrived at the entrance to the back yard of the cabin, I looked up to unexpectedly see a red Ford Raptor coming around the cabin from the front gate, heading directly toward us. I stopped right in the gate entrance. Upon seeing us, the Raptor accelerated toward us, then veered left and blasted through the fence next to us, narrowly avoiding the batwing shredder, and across the clearing before disappearing into the THICK brush at a high rate of speed!
We were stunned and bewildered by what we had just witnessed. I decided to head toward the front cabin gate and back east, thinking maybe I could intercept them if they somehow managed to make it through the brush and back to a road. As we got to the gate, three unmarked vehicles drove past us heading west. I realized they were unmarked BP units. I called the BP phone number I have stored in my phone to report what we had just witnessed. The agent said they had agents and a helicopter in the area and had been looking for the Raptor (actually, they were apparently looking for multiple Raptors because he asked me to clarify that it "was the red one?" Within minutes a young agent arrived, and shortly after the chopper came buzzing by. The agent parked at our camp and then went in on foot where the Raptor had disappeared.
The chopper circled the area for a bit, then seemingly landed on the caliche hill before elevating and heading north. Another agent, our ranch liaison, arrived and we chatted for a moment. The ranch manager from across the road came up and said the Raptor had driven across that ranch and busted through the high fence before heading through our camp. While I was talking to the agent, a report came across the radio that they had located the abandoned red Raptor a couple ranches northeast of us near the highway. It had to be at least 15 miles from us.
We decided to go investigate to see where the vehicle had exited the brush. I'm AMAZED that the Raptor made it through the thick brush and multiple rocky berms in that area.
This is where it exited onto one of the ranch roads.
We followed the tracks north past Killin Tree and to the north fence, where the Raptor had busted through the high fence and onto the neighboring ranch.
After the excitement and adrenaline subsided, we realized it was time to hunt. I was set up at KT when I received a call from our agent asking if we were hunting. The lone agent that had followed into the brush on foot was unaccounted for, and he needed to patch the fence, but offered to wait until we were through hunting. I insisted that he proceed hoping he could locate his agent and so we didn't have to herd the neighbor's cows later in the night. He texted me shortly after that the agent had been located (I'm thinking he likely jumped in the chopper when it landed).
As should probably have been expected with all the activity, we didn't see any deer yesterday evening.
I have more video and pics that I'll upload later. We're finishing up our hunt today before we head north for Christmas. It has been a strange week, to be sure!
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Taylor had hunted once when he was 10, some 15 years ago, and had never shot a deer. It was a last minute invite, so I outfitted Taylor with clothes, boots and a gun. We ended up not hunting Monday morning as we had some work to do around camp. We hunted Monday evening and Taylor missed a doe. He got his redemption early Tuesday morning when he shot an OLD buck with my 30-06!
I talked Taylor through field dressing the buck and then he skinned and quartered it, breaking in my brand new Hitch Hoist that I picked up from the ForEverlast "deal of the week" on Friday!
Mark had to head home after lunch. He called me shortly after he left and said a lady in a car had gotten stuck in the mud on the County Road a mile or so from our camp. Taylor and I pulled her out. Later, I ended up getting my pickup stuck while driving around the ranch. Fortunately, we were relatively close to camp and I was able to pull it out with the tractor.
Court and Kyle arrived Tuesday afternoon in our Suburban, and Taylor drove it back to his home in Richardson. We ended up making a trip to Laredo Tuesday evening at the expense of the afternoon hunt. (That is a long story of UPS incompetence, itself, that's better suited for another time!)
Wednesday morning, Court set up in my stand at Killin Tree while I sat concealed in a chair at the base of the mesquite to film. We had hogs on hand corn on the sendero before daylight, and waited for a shot op. Court got my attention and told me she could hear music playing off to the south. In short order, the hogs scattered and then a lone illegal walked right down the road, 25 yards from us! We sat quietly, unsure of whether there were more following behind. We opted to sit still and continue hunting to allow him to clear. As we sat contemplating what had just happened, I realized that he was heading directly toward my pickup, which was unlocked and had several firearms inside!
Courtney was rattled, and frankly I was a little concerned, as well. We climbed down and eased our way to the pickup - with my STI Duty One readied. Fortunately, the man had likely ducked into the brush to avoid the pickup. We returned to camp to regroup and cook breakfast. Kyle and Courtney each successfully stalked javelinas in the clearing behind our camp.
Wednesday afternoon and Thursday morning hunts were uneventful, as deer movement seemed to slow with the warmer weather. After Thursday morning's hunt, we decided to ride around the ranch and check things out. There were three border patrol agents on horseback inspecting the west fence line. They were in a muddy area and we cut off before we got to them and continued driving around the ranch. We set up a ground blind to hunt later in the afternoon.
We decided to head back to camp for lunch and to rest before heading back out to hunt. As we arrived at the entrance to the back yard of the cabin, I looked up to unexpectedly see a red Ford Raptor coming around the cabin from the front gate, heading directly toward us. I stopped right in the gate entrance. Upon seeing us, the Raptor accelerated toward us, then veered left and blasted through the fence next to us, narrowly avoiding the batwing shredder, and across the clearing before disappearing into the THICK brush at a high rate of speed!
We were stunned and bewildered by what we had just witnessed. I decided to head toward the front cabin gate and back east, thinking maybe I could intercept them if they somehow managed to make it through the brush and back to a road. As we got to the gate, three unmarked vehicles drove past us heading west. I realized they were unmarked BP units. I called the BP phone number I have stored in my phone to report what we had just witnessed. The agent said they had agents and a helicopter in the area and had been looking for the Raptor (actually, they were apparently looking for multiple Raptors because he asked me to clarify that it "was the red one?" Within minutes a young agent arrived, and shortly after the chopper came buzzing by. The agent parked at our camp and then went in on foot where the Raptor had disappeared.
The chopper circled the area for a bit, then seemingly landed on the caliche hill before elevating and heading north. Another agent, our ranch liaison, arrived and we chatted for a moment. The ranch manager from across the road came up and said the Raptor had driven across that ranch and busted through the high fence before heading through our camp. While I was talking to the agent, a report came across the radio that they had located the abandoned red Raptor a couple ranches northeast of us near the highway. It had to be at least 15 miles from us.
We decided to go investigate to see where the vehicle had exited the brush. I'm AMAZED that the Raptor made it through the thick brush and multiple rocky berms in that area.
This is where it exited onto one of the ranch roads.
We followed the tracks north past Killin Tree and to the north fence, where the Raptor had busted through the high fence and onto the neighboring ranch.
After the excitement and adrenaline subsided, we realized it was time to hunt. I was set up at KT when I received a call from our agent asking if we were hunting. The lone agent that had followed into the brush on foot was unaccounted for, and he needed to patch the fence, but offered to wait until we were through hunting. I insisted that he proceed hoping he could locate his agent and so we didn't have to herd the neighbor's cows later in the night. He texted me shortly after that the agent had been located (I'm thinking he likely jumped in the chopper when it landed).
As should probably have been expected with all the activity, we didn't see any deer yesterday evening.
I have more video and pics that I'll upload later. We're finishing up our hunt today before we head north for Christmas. It has been a strange week, to be sure!
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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