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The great plan to hunt Lake Meredith, that wasn't.

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    The great plan to hunt Lake Meredith, that wasn't.

    Well, I will tell you about a great idea, I thought I had. I have hunted Lake Meredith for two seasons, previously. This year was my third season. I have never hunted mule deer before two seasons ago and never hunted mule deer anywhere but Lake Meredith. So I am still trying to figure out mule deer, my deer rooted ideas on how deer move or what they do and why through out the day, are based strongly off of 38 years of hunting whitetails. It has been a dream of mine to hunt mule deer since I was a teenager. I am finally doing so.

    My first year of trying to hunt Lake Meredith, was delayed by work repeatedly. Then when I was finally able to get off of work, it was the Friday, before the season ended. I decided to go anyway. I got up there and hiked probably 12 o 14 miles the first day, saw nothing. I did find a lot of coyote tracks and droppings. Then horse tracks everywhere and two guys on horses, everywhere I went. The second day, I tried a new area, right off, first thing in the morning, I found a mule deer buck chasing three doe. I shot him, loaded him up and went home. Basically learned nothing the first year I hunted up there.

    The second year, last year I hunted up there. Again, I was hiking probably 12 miles a day minimum. I finally started finding deer trails. Saw lots of coyotes, found some scrapes, found a lot of deer beds, found a hell of a rub. Started figuring out where they were moving to and from in one particular area. I saw what I though might have been a large mule deer bedded down, but was not sure enough to do anything, then could not tell if it was a buck or a doe. The next day, that bed was empty, I figured out at that point, it was a mule deer bedded down. I started getting a handle on how the muleys do things. Took me three to four days of hunting over two seasons, but I started to get a better understanding of them, at least in that area. Then I had driveshaft problems with my truck and got stuck in Borger for three days waiting on parts. It really sucked, because less than 8,000 miles earlier, I had two new driveshafts built for the truck. The first two lasted almost 200,000 miles, then the second one, did not make it 8,000 miles. So that brought my hunt to a abrupt end last year. But while I was stuck in Borger, a cold front blew in. Before I got stuck in Borger, I noticed there were no road killed deer anywhere on any of the roads I drove up there. But then the cold front blew threw, I got the truck on the road again, then took off to go home. I saw road killed mule deer about every half mile, between Borger and Amarillo. So the cold air, definitely gets them moving.

    The day I left, was the second Saturday of the season, I decided to hunt the first week of the season last year. So I could have stayed and hunted Saturday and Sunday last year, but was quite irritated by that point and just wanted to get home, which was 10 hours away. So I left and have been trying to plan out this years hunt ever since.

    #2
    So what happened to this year?

    Comment


      #3
      So since last years hunt came to a early end, I decided this year, I was going to make **** sure the truck did not have any more problems and that I was going to come up with a game plan that would allow me to spend time hunting and not dodging other hunters or guys on horse back out to screw up the hunting. This year, there seems to have been some guys out on horses, that were there to hunt, or possibly were there to hunt, I never ran into those guys, but heard they were hunting on horses and saw horse trailer and saw horse tracks. But the first year, the two guys I kept seeing did not have guns on them and they came from a ranch next door, so they were only there to run the deer out of the public hunting area and onto their private ranch.

      So I was hoping this year to avoid the pumpkin patch and the two guys on horseback and get to figure out the deer better. Well my wife and I like to go kayaking and fishing. We fish the Guadalupe River, Cibolo Creek and a few other places. We both enjoy getting out in the kayaks, if there are no boats or few boats on the water. So multiple areas of the Guadalupe and Cibolo Creek are great places to kayak. Last year, I looked at the Canadian River some and thought it looked like a good place to take a kayak. Then after the hurricane hit this summer, I hear the river flow went up and the lake level went way up. I decided that taking the kayak was a go.

      I got up there, hoping that the gate to Mullinaw Crossing, would be open. I figured Mullinaw Crossing was the place to put the kayak in, then head up river a ways, to probably Saddle Horse Canyon. All seems like a good plan from 10 hours away, looking at maps and seeing pictures of the lake.

      So we already had a small two man tent, then I have been wanting to get a good warm sleeping bag, so I bought a sleeping bag, that is rated for 15 degrees and ways 2.9 lbs. There was a post on this site a while back about sleeping bags. It has a lot of info, I never knew or thought about, related to sleeping bags. That post, was posted right about the time I was going to buy a sleeping bag. So the timing was perfect and helped me pick out a sleeping bag. Then we have kayaks, two different style kayaks. So I put some thought into which of the two styles we have, that would probably work best. Then decided the one I normally use would be best, because I can pack a lot of crap down in hull of the kayak and it handles more weight better. Does not sit as low in the water with my 230 lbs. in it. I know the Canadian is shallow right at Mullinaw Crossing, but had no idea what the rest of the river is like. So, knowing I was going to be packing a lot of gear in the kayak, I did not want it sitting lower in the water and dragging bottom often. I also replaced my back pack I have been using for years, because one of the main zippers broke. So I bought a larger nicer back pack, with this trip in mind. This pack has a place to put a rifle or bow. Which I had never seen a back pack that had a place to carry a rifle or bow, but have had lots of problems carrying my rifle on a sling, with a back pack in the past. So it seemed like a good idea. I can tell you the pack with a place to hold a rifle worked very well. But because every time I picked it up to put it on my back to put it on, the barrel was pointing close to my head. Once you have the back pack on, the rifle muzzle is above your head pointing up, so it's not a problem, but putting the pack on or taking it off, could be dangerous. Then the only way I could use the lower strap was to run it through the trigger guard. Because of those two things, I never carried the rifle in the pack, with a round in the chamber. I had five in the magazine, but none in the chamber. I definitely had a lot less problems with carrying the rifle and a back pack, with the rifle strapped to the pack.


      Ok, I know this has turned into a book, but trying to give some info on the planning.

      So I knew that there was a good chance that the gate to Mullinaw Crosssing would be locked. So I have a hunting tripod I built a few years ago. It can be put together into a medium height tripod, or a short tripod, that is about bar stool height, it can be used as a cart to carry things. It can also be used as a hoist to pick things up. It works pretty good. I tested the hoist, by picking up a 302 engine with it, after I built it, did not take much effort. The first mule deer I shot, I used the hoist to load the deer and also to hang it to skin and quarter the deer. So I took the hunting tripod with me. In case I needed a cart to carry the kayak. Sure enough the gate to Mullinaw Crossing was closed. I walked to the river to see what it looked like, it looked kayakable.


      So I got up Tuesday morning, put the cart together, loaded the kayak on the cart. All of my planning, I never thought to put the cart together and see how the kayak fit on it. It actually looked like the cart was built to carry the kayak, it fit very well. So that had things looking good. I drug the cart and kayak the 3/4 of mile or whatever it is down to the river, unloaded the kayak, then took the cart back to the truck. Then put the rifle in the back pack and hiked back to the river again. I also took my rubber boots, I learned you need rubber boots if you are going in or near the river. So once down a the river, I put the rubber boots on and my good hunting boots in the kayak. Got the kayak in the water, got in the yak and tried to take off up river. That's where the fun began. That river is flowing a bit faster than it looks and it turns out it is not very deep in most of the river. The depth varies from about 4" to 2' at the deepest I saw. Most of it, is about 10" deep to 14" deep.

      So I tried to paddle up stream, I have done so many times in the Guadalupe River, even during a flash food we got caught in. But the water speed of the Canadian River right now, is definitely faster than the flow of the Guadalupe most of the time and much more shallow. I could not put the whole oar in the water most of the time or I would hit bottom. So paddling up river turned out to be a lot harder than I expected. You had to paddle constantly to keep the kayak headed up river or else you would stop going forward and either head towards the bank or turn sideways, very quickly. Normally when in stronger currents, I use deep powerful strokes, but because of the water depth, I could not. I had to keep the oar more horizontal. Then paddle constantly. All of this mess, resulted in a lot of splashing, which soaked everything in the kayak, such as the back pack, I had tied down between my legs and the rifle. Luckily my good boots were down in hull of the boat, along with my sleeping bag.

      So I paddled like hell or splashed like hell for a while, heading up river. I had no cell phone service, by the time I got down to the river, so none on the river. Then what you quickly figure out, is you can not see much around you, once you are on the river, because the banks are typically 4' to 6' higher than the river, with steep banks. Then there are reeds, weeds, cattails and brush along the top of the bank that vary from 4' to 6' high. So you can not see much of anything on the banks on most of the river, just the bank and the crap growing on the banks. So figuring out where you are is not easy. I don't know how long I paddled up river, but I eventually saw some nice looking hills on the right or west side of the river, that looked like a good place to stop. I found a area to get out and beach the kayak. That went pretty smooth. I found a sand bar, right where the bank was lower and had much less angle to it. I got up on the bank and decided, the area, did not look like what I was looking for, that I should head up river another 1/4 mile to 1/2 mile. So I did so. Sometime before this point the wind started blowing pretty strong, there was a cold front blowing in. Well I found another sand bar along the bank, but the bank was very steep where the sand bar was. So I tried to wade up river with the kayak to a area, where the bank was not so steep. Well I found the bottom does drop off quickly in some areas and stepped off into about 2' of water. I filled both boots with nice cold water, so my socks were soaked along with my pants.

      So I just went back to where the sand bar was and put a lot of effort into getting the kayak up the steep bank. I got up there, took off the rubber boots, changed socks, put on the hunting boots and went looking for a place to set up the tent.

      Right off, I stepped off into red clay mud, that looked mostly dry, but I sunk up to my knees. The whole length of the banks on both sides the best I could tell are the same. Which consists of soft white blow sand, like dune sand, for about the first 20 feet from the water's edge. Then the white sand ends and the red clay begins. The whole area is very dense with reeds, weeds, cattails and brush. This stuff is about 4' tall to 6' tall and a pain to walk through to begin with, but then add in mud that looks near dry or dry on the surface, but you sink 3" to about 18" in quickly. So that crap will wear you down quickly. But if you keep walking the bank and looking, you should find some areas, that you don't sink very deep in. So my pants and good hunting boots were covered in red clay, that quickly dried and was not easy to get off. I found a place to set up my tent, in some cotton wood trees. I found the grass was much shorter under the cotton wood trees. But either side of those trees the grass was typically 6' tall. So I could be 30 yards from the tent and could not see it. So I had to put some marker ribbon as high up in a cotton wood tree as possible, so I could find the tent.

      Then I took off to look at the area, I did not get far and found a fence. The fence does not look like a government fence line. But looking at the surrounding hills, river and the map. It sure looked like I had gone all the way down to Chicken Creek area. Which the boundry fence on the west side of the river, is not far from the river and at the base of some hills. Which is basically seeing with this fence line. I found a lot of deer tracks, very large deer tracks, most were very fresh tracks. They all went up into the nice looking hills on the other side of that fence. I followed the fence for aways, it is a old barb wire fence, with old cedar posts, that many are leaning over, the barb wire has come loose from the posts in many places, so it droops. Then I found a gap in the fence, that was open, the gap was laying on the ground. So much about the fence, told me that was not a Park Service boundry fence, but so many things I saw, told me, that it very likely was. I was not going to take a chance and find out it was the boundry fence line and did not cross it.

      So I hunted the area as best I could, where I found all of the deer trails, coming down from the hills, that evening. The wind picked up and started to blow pretty hard, but not any worse than what I have seen before up there. I got red sand in everything, my rifle and mag were full of red sand, my eyes and ears, ect. I finally called it quits and went back to the tent, exhausted. took my boots and pants off, crawled in the sleeping bag and went to sleep. The wind blew very hard most of the night. Then sometime early in the morning, the wind started to calm down and it started to get very cold. That 15 degree rated sleeping bag, was not warm enough. The wind completely died sometime around 4:00 to 5:00 in the morning and it got even colder. By the time I got up there was ice all over the tent, inside and out. I got up took off, went hunting, same area, saw nothing. Then about 9:30, I went back to the tent to pack everything up and head back. My hands went completely numb, trying to get the ice off of the tent, to pack it up. My phone, which I had been keeping turned off, to save battery life, would boot up, give me a message of battery critically low and shut off. I realized the phone was too cold, obviously the battery was too cold to produce electricity. So I put it inside my shirt and stood in the sun to warm up, then went back and packed up the tent, sleeping bag and other gear. Then tried the phone again. At that point, it would come one and show 37% battery left.

      So I got the kayak packed up, in the river and headed back down stream.

      At that point, was the first time on this trip that it was enjoyable. The water was slick as glass and the current was flowing very fast still. I was able to move down river very fast, without hardly paddling. I only needed to paddle to steer the kayak in the middle of the river. It was a very enjoyable smooth 30 to 45 minute trip back to Mullinaw Crossing. I would guess, I spent about 2 hours to maybe 3 hours getting up river, probably 2 to 2 1/2 hours, the day before.

      Then I had to hike the 3/4 of a mile or so back to the truck with the back pack and rifle, put them up. Pull the cart pieces out, put it together, hike back to the river with the cart, load up the kayak and then hike back to the truck again.

      By that point, I was fairly sore and tired. I went back over to where I had hunted last year and saw some good signs. But right off, found two trucks parked where I wanted to go. So I turned around and tried a different area. I got out and walked a short distance to the top of a deep canyon and sat on the top and started looking the canyon over. I did not see anything but a couple of hunters, that came up behind me wanting to either do the same thing I was doing or take off down in the canyon, don't know, they left.

      Later when I left to head back into town, I saw there was a truck parked on the other side of the road, where I wanted to hunt the next day. So I waited a good while for those guys to come back out, to ask what their plans were for the next day. I finally got tired of waiting and left.

      My conclusion on the whole kayaking idea, is it could work very well. If you had at least two people, mainly if you had a ride to drop you off and pick you up. If you got dropped off, down near 87, then went down stream and got out at Mullinaw Crossing. Then it would be a good idea to have GPS and some GPS coordinates, so you truly know where you are along the river. The whole kayaking idea, could work very well. But blindly paddling up river, with only the maps supplied by the park service, it is very hard to tell where you are along the river, at least in some areas.

      If you want one hell of a hard hunt or just a good workout, following the way I went about the whole kayaking trip, you will get a good workout.

      Comment


        #4
        So the first days of this years hunt, were mostly a waste of time and energy. So for Thursday, I decided to go back to a area, that I hunted one day last year, I saw some interesting stuff, tracks, lots of coyotes, multiple deer beds, lots of places for deer to hide, would be very hard to see them in most of the potential beds.

        So I got up around sun up and took off hiking, in my second choice. Since my other choice of places to hunt, seemed to have two or three groups of hunters in that area. So I hiked and looked over a couple of canyons fairly well, but truly, I could not look them over well, because I really needed to be on the west side of the canyons, looking east. In the morning, you are looking into the sun, which puts a nice glare on the binoculars. So I found a tall hill, climbed it, started looking around. I saw some other areas, that looked like very good possibilities for areas that deer might bed down. I got out my spotting scope, started looking those areas over. I did not see anything, I still wanted to look in the canyons to my east, but the sun was still too low to the east, to really be able to seen down in those canyons. So I was just going to sit, till the sun was high enough in the sky to see down in those canyons.

        After a while I sitting I found two old empty 30-06 cases, on the ground next to me. That was a good sign. So I am mainly looking with my eyes, then every once in a while, find some area, that looks like a good place to search over, with the spotting scope. I had just been looking over another area with the spotting scope, then went to look back to my left at the two canyons behind me. As I did, I really thought there was a **** mule deer on the hill below me and to the left, about 100 yards away. I had gunk in my eyes from all of the dust the day before. I got the gunk out of my eyes and looked again. Sure enough, there is a mule deer down below me, looking back up at me. He is on a hill, that I would not have thought he could have been hiding on. Or at least I would have thought he could not have been on, without me being able to see him.

        So I watched him for a while, he slowly started working his way towards me and grazing. He got within about 80 yards. My first thought, was I am going to watch him, to try and learn what I can about how they hide so well. Then after a while, I realized this hunt was just about done and I did not get any deer last year and the freezer is almost empty. So I laid on my back, reached over, grabbed the back pack, unstrapped the rifle. Then chambered a round and got ready to sit back up. I knew that the deer was going to know something was up. I had to be very well silhouetted when sitting up, then out of sight, when laying down. So I flicked the safety off and got ready to sit up and shoot quickly. Sure enough, I sat up and the buck had walked over to a ridge and was about to go over it. So I through the rifle up and quickly realized I last had it on 20X. At that range, my scope was completely full of mule deer. I knew I was shooting **** near straight down. I had never done that before. I remember I had read to hold low on down hill or up hill shots. So I held a little low, had the vertical crosshair on his neck. He was facing away, but stopped right before he went over the ridge line, to look back at me. That is when I shot. I got him in the neck, he went straight to the ground, then tumbled down the hill, till he wrapped around a large rock.

        That's when the fun began. I got down to the deer, gutted him quickly. Then tried to decide how to get him back out of there. I had two smaller canyons to cross and a mild hill to cross, to get back to my truck. Probably a 3/4 mile hike. So I got back to the truck and decided to skin and quarter the deer where he was and pack him out in the back pack. So I emptied the back pack, except for two knives, a rope for just incase, a rag and two bags to put the deer in. Then took off back to the deer. I tried to find a shorter route back to the deer, but my shorter routes, turned into longer routes.

        I got back to the deer, skinned and quartered it, was not easy on that steep hill. I almost tumbled down the hill a couple of times and the deer kept sliding down the hill. I kept having to pull it back up above the rock that originally stopped him from going down hill. I got him cut up and in the bags, then the back pack. As soon as I got the back pack on, I knew it was going to be a fun hike out. It was not easy, but it worked.

        I can say hunting out there by yourself, is not easy at all, but it can be done. **** sure not anything like sitting in a insulated tower blind on a 100 ac., high fence ranch, hunting whitetail that are coming in to a 300 lb. protein feeder. I have never hunted like that, just read too many stories. I have hunted one high fence ranch, many years ago. I did not like it much, other than they had a huge group of pigs. I have done a lot of tower blind hunting many years ago, but have not done so in a long time. Mostly been on a tripod, up in a oak tree, ground blinds I have made, or hiking and sitting.

        I only got to hunt part of three days this year, probably only about two days. but I did learn some more about mule deer. I know next year, I will keep things much more simple, no kayaking. I will stick to hiking and finding a place to sit and watch as much possible. I know better what to look for now.

        Comment


          #5
          Pics or it didn't happen. Quite the adventure.

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            #6
            Yea, it was an adventure. I think if I had a been a bit better prepared, such as a better map and GPS. Then had I had someone to drop me off where the river goes under 87, then pick me up a couple days later at Mullinaw Crossing, it actually could have been a nice hunt.

            I had many guys telling me to take a second kayak, to carry a deer in, if I got one. We have three, so I could have taken a second kayak, but I knew getting on to the river and back was going to be enough fun. I came up with a good solution to that problem. We have a inflatable raft, I packed that in the hull of the kayak along with plenty of rope. I am sure it would have worked out pretty good, but I did not get to test whole idea.

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              #7
              Here are some pictures of the Lake Meredith, the Canadian River, Then the area I went to and the trip back down the river. Then the mule deer and the area where I shot it.
              Last edited by RifleBowPistol; 01-07-2018, 09:05 PM.

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                #8
                On the way up there I saw two groups of speed goats, off of 136, north of Amarillo, south of the main entrance into Lake Meredith. The first group, had probably five to maybe seven goats. The second group, had to have twenty five goats in it. I have not seen a group of speed goats that large since I was in Wyoming many years ago. I have seen speed goats out in west Texas outside of Alpine, both south of Alpine and then west towards Marfa. Those groups of goats only had one to maybe seven goats in them. So I was very surprised to see such a large group up in that area. I have been to the panhandle multiple times now, this is the first time I have seen speed goats up there.

                On the way home, I saw a group of four mule deer on a ledge on the side of the canyon wall, right next to the ****, on the lake side of the ****. They were hanging out grazing at 12:30 in the middle of the day. Then south of Amarillo, I saw three mule deer right along I 27, at least one in that group was a decent buck, the other two in that group and the four in the group on the side of the ****, I was not able to see very well.

                I got pictures of the speed goats.
                Last edited by RifleBowPistol; 01-07-2018, 09:04 PM.

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                  #9
                  great writeup.. meredith is a good time

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Originally posted by gumbl3 View Post
                    great writeup.. meredith is a good time
                    Yes, it is. I like the place, I just need to come up with a good game plan for next year and stick to it. Then spend as much time out hunting and looking as possible.

                    There are definitely places that have higher mule deer populations around the state, but there is a decent population of deer at Meredith. I just need to spend more time learning them. That's hard to do, when I am so far away.

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Awesome story and even better adventure!! Thanks for sharing... I am planning to make a trip to Meredith in the near future. Sounds like a great place for an adventure.

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Originally posted by Pedernal View Post
                        Awesome story and even better adventure!! Thanks for sharing... I am planning to make a trip to Meredith in the near future. Sounds like a great place for an adventure.
                        It's not a bad place, just takes a while to learn it, then you can have someone else walk or ride right through the area you are hunting. But I am sure you know that well.

                        It takes a while to figure out where to go. There are a couple of areas, where people have seen some large bucks. When word gets out of about a large buck, there will be guys all over that area. The area where I killed the first buck up there, there were a bunch of guys chasing some big buck. I found out after I killed the buck I got. They were all worried that I got the big buck.

                        Then last year I am sure I found a big buck, I know I found multiple signs of a large buck in the same area. I planned to hunt the same area again this year. But it seems others have figured out the deer is there. There were guys all over that area.

                        I wish I could spend the whole mule deer season up there. Would be nice to kill both a nice whitetail and mule deer buck up there. Then shoot some quail.

                        So far, I have not seen a single whitetail. I have seen many coveys of quail. Then I saw one large group of turkey, saw lots of coyotes last year.

                        Good luck on your trip. I am sure you will like it. It will take a little time to figure it, it's not hard.
                        Last edited by RifleBowPistol; 12-03-2017, 08:05 PM.

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                          #13
                          I enjoyed this thread. Thanks for the write up!

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                            #14
                            Originally posted by Shinesintx View Post
                            I enjoyed this thread. Thanks for the write up!
                            Thank you, I was quite tired when I wrote it.

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                              #15
                              Great read, thanks for posting. This was my 3rd year at Meredith, I hunt it hard because I only live 20 miles away. and at this point I am nearly ready to give it up. Lake Meredith is tough and has so much hunting pressure every where.

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