First Bow hunt @ Matt Family Orchard

[Fire&hunt]

Well as you can tell I am new to all of this bow hunting stuff. But I fell in Love this last Thurs. (12-6-07). One of my friends and I went out on a hunt at Matt family orchard and we had a blast. I was the unlucky one but seeing how it is my first time to bow hunt it did not surprise me.
As far as the hunt in the morning when we got there we saw 8 does feeding on the side of the road and then 2 others down in the field bedded down. I was put into Buzz and my friend was put into ultra. He saw a spike before shooting time and did not have enough light to make a good judgment and shot. Later that morning he saw a 5x3 it would have been a 9 pointer but he said that one of the tines was broke off. Unfortunately he could not get a shot off at it. But man it would have been nice to see that one in the ice chest.
I did not see anything that morning in buzz I could see a glimpse of a deer or 2 but nothing would come out of the brush for me to fling an arrow at.
Later that evening I stayed in buzz and he moved to martini. Bad move for him. I could hear them hogs behind me at ultra rooting up all kinds of stuff and same thing at buzz I could hear the hogs out in front but would not come out into the open for a shot.
Over all even though we left with no animals in the ice chest we had a blast and the guy that runs the place is a character in a good way. I am going to go back and take the wife and the camera and....... Well you will see the hog or buck take it in the heart. (hopefully)

[ny bowhunter]

Fire&hunt,

When the bowhunting bug bites, it bites hard!

Did you hunt the morning only, or did you also hunt the late afternoon 'till dark?

Also, what time did you need to arrive to get set up in your spots?

Thanks!

[Fire&hunt]

I can tell it bites hard! I FREAKING LOVE IT!!!!

I hunted both morning and evening. Rick is a super nice guy, there is nothing I have to say bad about him.
He will tell you to be there around 5 and will show you the stands on a large satellite photo and you can pick one or you can ask him. He will try to put you on some animals. But hey you never know. Ultra was hot when we were there but might be a dud when you go ya never know. Also there is some light on the stands for night hog hunts but make sure you have luminated sights. I am going to reset my pins to 10-20-30.

[ny bowhunter]

Thanks for the info!

I actually went last December and couldn't agree more - Rick was a total gentleman and went as far as letting my four year old son feed the Guinea hens! It was his first hog hog with Daddy and Rick also took us on a fun open jeep ride to check out a stand. My boy loved it.

I was just curious about hunting the afternoon until dark as when we were there, we didn't see any action in the afternoon. We didn't hunt the morning because my son is really too young for that to be a pleasant experience.

Rick did warn me that the hogs tend to come after dark, but of course they could always come in earlier as well.

[Fire&hunt]

The hog activity got alot better at night thats for sure.

[henny]

How late did you end up staying? I've hunted there and had a blast even though I did not harvest anything...I did see tons and tons of signs though while being there. When it got darker I could hear the hogs just walking all around but no shot was taken on the hogs. Hopefully I can go back there again to get another chance on a good harvest.

[Fire&hunt]

Well at the time I did not have a light on my sights (got that taken care of today). I think it was only like 30 or so minutes after dark when my light on the feeder did not come on. But I know rick will make sure I am fixed up for next time. And about the hogs you are 100% correct you can hear them every were. I think next time when I take the wife we are going to throw a bag out the night before and the morning of and evening of our hunt if need be to get some good animals.

[Buzz]

Hey Fire&Hunt,
Glad you had a great time. I hunt out there alot, so much that Rick Matt let me setup a couple of feeders and stands. Rick Matt called me and told me that there's something up with my light at Buzz so I'll get it fixed. My other stand is Muzzy, it's got a 15' ladder stand as well as a 10' tripod. Since the place doesn't get much pressure the hogs have been hitting it pretty good. I've taken 3 hog the last three times that I've been out there, in the last month or so. If you want some company or just wanna know more about the place and the setups feel free and give me a call (512)939-5068. It's an Austin area code, but I live in Houston.

[Fire&hunt]

Ok cool, He told me about you. Yeah the light did not come on and like I said before. "I know Rick will take care of it" He is a good guy. I am going to go again on the 23rd with my wife ( trying to get her to hunt more). So I think we are either going to hit up boots or the one between boots and ultra. I can not think of the name. It has to be a 2 person. Going to take the recorder and plan on getting my first deer with a bow on film. Hey if not well there is always hogs. The more the better if you can plan it.

[Tommyh]

ive checked his website out a couple of times, and have considered going out there myself. once things settle down a little and i get moved, i am going to go out there and see what i can get

[Buzz]

Fire&hunt,
That would be Martini. I might be out there, if Rick Matt isn't back from is vacation.

[huntinfool]

I just spoke to Rick and told him I'd be out there on the 22nd I've got something for him and was going to bring it this weekend, but he is leaving for vacation and won't be back until later. He did say that he put some clay down on the road and it is slicker' than owl snot when wet.

[Buzz]

Yep,I've driven on it. Pretty messy.

[huntinfool]

Rick, Your number still the same? Never mind I see it up there, I was going to give you a call tomm.

[Fire&hunt]

I need to call him and set up a hunt for the 23rd taking the ole lady out for her first deer hunt. She went with me on one hunt and we were on foot came up on alot of hogs and it got messy quick and sounded like a war zone after that for some reason she did not want to go. I still have not figured that out . but the lure of a platform stand got her ready to go again.