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    We Should Do a Book

    With all the great hunters and stories we have here, Bisch's recent bear hunt, any number of Buff's hunts, etc

    We should put together a book of the best ones, a story or two from each contributer, and then self publish it like Buff did. I think that would be cool.

    We would need someone to be the editor and organizer (not it!) and the population here to help pick which are the best ones.

    Just an idea.

    #2
    I like It!!

    Comment


      #3
      Sounds like a good idea....I just wish I had a hunt that would be worthy of writing. I have some great hunts but they are all compound, still trying for a trad harvest.

      Comment


        #4
        Very cool idea!

        Comment


          #5
          I'll start it Mark.

          RAM WITH A LONGBOW


          I had never hunted any type of exotic animal before and was excited just to be on a ranch that had several different species of exotics. I was on the Crystal Creek Ranch near Del Rio, Texas, to co-host a bow hunting show. I would not be one of the hunters but would get to be involved with them for several weeks of filming. The first day I was on the ranch, the owner drove us around to show us the place. While we were driving around we saw a number of exotics including aoudad, blackbuck, axis, and several different kinds of sheep. When we saw a group of rams running off I commented that I would like to book a hunt for a ram there once we had finished filming the show. Arrangements were made and I ended up hunting there for three days with my Sarrels two-piece takedown longbow.
          I found a low spot in a road where the road crossed a slight draw. The animals seemed to like to cross there so I concentrated on that area and stayed away from the many feeders on the ranch. I put some corn and some “Beast Feast” in the roadway and set up a stool in the brush about 10 yards from the road on the downwind side and cut out one small shooting lane. I was wearing a leafy wear outer garment so I blended in quite well to the surrounding brush. The first evening I had several animals come in and even had a whitetail doe walk within 5 yards of me and she never saw me. I never got a ram in my shooting lane but it was exciting to have animals so close and not know I was there.
          Day two was a repeat of day one except that I did get a ram into position and started to draw on him. At least one of the sheep in that group saw me move and bolted, taking the ram with them. The brush there was only a few feet tall. I thought I was concealed enough in it but realized that they must have been able to see me over the brush when I moved to draw. I decided I had to do something different for my last day.
          Back at camp, I sat on the ground and practiced for a couple hours shooting from that position. It was difficult because I had to hold the longbow sideways, parallel to the ground, to be able to shoot while sitting on the ground. I eventually got comfortable shooting from that position and was ready to hunt again. I went back to the same area on day three and set up with me sitting on the ground instead of on the stool. This time I was only about 5 yards from the edge of the road. The sheep had apparently fallen in love with the “Beast Feast” because they were there like clockwork again on the third day. I had made a basketball sized hole in the brush to shoot through and that’s about all I could see as well. A nice ram came into my shooting hole and was about 7 yards from me. When he turned broadside to me I began to draw. He turned again before I could get a shot off so I had to let down. Another time I started to draw and another sheep got between us. Other times there were other sheep behind him. I was beginning to think he was going to move away before I got a shot at him. Finally, after having started to draw on him several times, he got into position again without any other sheep in the way. I was able to get the shot off and connect. The sheep all scattered at the shot and I raised up enough to see the ram go into some brush across the road. I never saw him exit so I figured he was down there. It took me several minutes to get my feet under me because I had been sitting there without moving for so long that my legs had gone to sleep. I finally got up and went to find my sheep. As I crossed the road, to my amazement, I saw him leave the security of the brush I had seen him enter and walk away. The arrow was still in him and appeared to have hit him in the shoulder instead of behind it. I watched him until he laid down on the edge of a small road. I was downwind and it was going to get dark soon so I started trying to stalk up on him. I got to within about 30 yards when another ram came walking down the road and walked right up to my downed ram. In a couple minutes my ram got up and they both walked away across the road and over the hill. I ran up the hill to see if I could see where they went. By the time I got to the top of the hill, they were at least 100 yards down the other side and still walking. I decided to back out and wait until the next morning to track him. That ended up being a good decision. We were able to recover the ram the following morning.
          That ram is still the only exotic animal I have ever taken. He hangs on the wall in my living room and I am extremely proud of him, not only because he is such a good looking ram, but also because of the way I had to change things up the way I did to be able to harvest him.

          Comment


            #6
            Here's another one I wrote up a few years ago:

            MY BIGGEST BUCK YET!!!!!!


            I shot this buck on Monday evening, Oct. 13th. Bob Sarrels had invited me to hunt with him this week. He took my place on a lease I have been on with Bisch for the past 5 years. Bisch shot a really nice 8 pt. on opening day and had a few more nice bucks on his trail cam pic's.
            I hunted the same stand where Bisch shot his 8 pt. On Sunday evening I saw a decent 9 pt., a decent 10 pt., a cull 6 pt. and a spike/fork (that I missed). On Monday evening I went back to that stand again. I settled in (about 30 feet up) and immediately had what I thought was the spike/fork back in there. (He ended up being a fork on both sides). As soon as he cleared the brush I shot him. He was quartered away and I hit him a bit far back. I heard him crash fairly close, though, so I was confident he was down.
            I decided to sit there and see what else would come in, since the feeder hadn't even gone off yet. The 9 pt. came back in a short time before the feeder went off. A little while after the feeder went off, the cull 6 pt. came in. I decided I would shoot the 6 pt. Before he got into my shooting lane, however, I noticed another deer coming. It was a large 8 pt.
            I had been told that there were no restrictions as to what I could shoot, so I began trying to judge the 8 pt. He looked like a mature deer and was certainly bigger than anything I had ever shot before. After a short time he was standing in almost the exact spot the smaller buck had been when I shot him a little while earlier. I took the shot. Again, I hit him farther back than I wanted, but it did the trick. He went about 100 yards before piling up in a thick area of cactus and underbrush.
            I tracked, found, and field dressed the smaller buck and dragged him about 300 yards before deciding I couldn't wait any longer to go and look for the 8 point. He left a good blood trail and was not terribly hard to find. I dragged him about 30 yards out of the thick stuff and into an opening where I knew I would be able to find him in the dark.
            I went to get Bob and found that he also had shot a buck. He had shot a 2 1/2 year old spike.
            It had been raining all day and I only have a two wheeled drive pickup. We were now trying to decide how long it was going to take us to drag 3 deer the mile back to camp. We ended up calling a friend in Tilden (Scott Shallcross) who graciously came to our rescue with his 4 wheel drive pickup. Scott came out and we loaded the deer in his truck and he let us store them in a walk-in cooler he had in town.
            The 8 point weighed 210 pounds on the hoof. He was later scored at 130" gross, 127 5/8" net......my first to qualify for Pope & Young.
            I was shooting 50# Sarrels Superstition, two-piece take-down longbow, aluminum arrows, and a 140 grain Magnus 2 blade broadhead with a 100 grain steel insert.

            Comment


              #7
              I couldn't figure out how to pull the picture from the previous post and put it on this one

              Comment


                #8
                deer pic

                May have figured out the picture thing
                Attached Files

                Comment


                  #9
                  OK, One more and I'm done:

                  TURKEYS, TURKEYS, TURKEYS!!!

                  --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

                  I finally got to go turkey hunting this past week. We usually have quite a few turkeys on the place, but my hunting partner, Bisch, has been and wasn't seeing nearly as many as usual.
                  I was not expecting to see much, but I just wanted to spend a few days at the camp to get away from the routine at work and such.
                  I arrived at camp around 9:00 pm on Monday night and got things ready to go hunting the following morning. I went out to the "Astro Blind", a homemade blind made from a cattle panel, indoor/outdoor carpet, some pvc pipe, and a tarp to cover the top (with shoot-through netting over the windows). This blind sits in close proximity to a feeder and I figured that was my best chance this late in the season. I did set out one hen decoy about 15 yards from the feeder (looking out a different window). Fairly early in the morning I had two hens come in to the feeder, followed closely by three pretty good gobblers. The first gobbler came straight in to the feeder and offered me a shot right away. I drew my 58" Sarrels take down longbow (Superstition model), anchored and let the Magnus 2 blade tipped Axis arrow fly. Oops! I forgot to pick a spot and creased the tom's back. The arrow buried in the mud under the feeder and the guy just jumped out of the way and went back to eating. I watched for a few minutes, hoping for another opportunity and one of the gobblers starting strutting his stuff. He eventually "deflated" and got to eating. He worked his way into my shooting lane and, once again, I drew, anchored, and let fly. He was facing to my left and the arrow hit a little to the right, going through him somewhere in his back half. He flew off, carrying my arrow. It seemed that I could hear him flying forever. At this point, I was getting a bit upset at myself for not shooting better, but thankful for the shot opportunities. I figured I had blown it for the morning, but gobbler #3 was still in the area, along with the hens. He never would give me a shot at him near the feeder, but there is a very small window in the blind, also covered with netting, that we put there just to be able to see a little in that direction. Gobbler #3 decided to leave in that direction and there was just enough room through the brush to get an arrow through there. I got up out of my seat, knelt down to where I could shoot out that window, and waited for him to get to the small "shooting lane". He obliged and once again the arrow sailed a bit high, clipping a few feathers off his back. Needless to say, I was beside myself! Three shots in less than 15 minutes and nothing to show for it yet.
                  After I was sure all the birds were gone, I got out of the blind to pick up arrows and to see if I could find any sign of the one I hit. I hadn't been out of the blind more than a couple minutes when 6 hogs came out of the brush and toward the feeder. They saw me, standing in the wide open, but two of them came on in to the feeder. I was about 20 yards away, nocked up and ready, but decided not to take a shot. I was about half a mile from camp and the place was really muddy. I can't drive my truck in there when it's like that and I really didn't want to have to drag a hog all the way back to camp....so I just watched them for a couple minutes until they decided they didn't like me standing there and they left. I continued my search for arrows/bird for a while, unable to find any sign of the gobbler I had hit, but I did recover the other two arrows.
                  Since it was still early, I got back into the blind to see if anything else would come in. I worked the slate call a bit from time to time and got a few answers, but they seemed very far away. After about an hour of calling every 20 minutes or so, I got a gobble from somewhere behind me, fairly close. A few minutes later two hens came in to the feeder. Within a minute two gobblers came running past my shooting window, at about 5 yards, and straight to the hen decoy. I didn't have time to move my camera, but did get another shot. The shot looked a bit low and I thought I had missed again. The two gobblers moved to my right to where I couldn't see them any more. After a few minutes the two hens went the same direction, out into an open area about 50 yards from my blind. I saw one of the gobblers come back to the hens, then another one joined him. They were strutting beautifully. I got out the slate again and began making very light sounds with it. Almost every time I made some noise with the slate, one of the gobblers would give me a good gobble......but they wouldn't come back to the decoy. I filmed this show for at least 10 minutes, until the hens worked their way too far behind me to see. The gobblers followed. About a half hour later I got out of the blind to go and get my fourth arrow. I found it easily and noticed that it had feathers and a little blood on it. I began looking on the ground in the area where the gobblers had gone when I shot and found quite a bit of blood on the ground. I have never blood trailed a turkey, but I did this time. I was able to follow the blood trail for about 50 yards. I was having a hard time finding anything else until I heard something in a small thicket near the edge of the open area. When I looked, I saw the turkey moving through the brush. I got to the other side and the turkey took off out the side I had been on. I took a fleeting shot at him, but missed (imagine that!). I watched him cross a sendero and enter the brush on the other side. I decided not to chase him and went back to the blind. I spent about 20 minutes or so gathering up all my gear, puting my camera up, etc. I then went back to where I had seen the gobbler enter the brush to see what I could find. I found one large spot of blood about 5 yards inside the brush, then nothing else. There were two trails leading from there and I followed both of them for a ways, never finding any more blood. I was feeling very down at this point. I went back to where I had seen the last blood to start over. While standing there, trying to decide which way he might have gone, I saw him lying a few yards off.....DEAD! Now I was all happy again. He weighed 17 lbs, had a 9 1/2" beard, and about 1" spurs.
                  After getting him cleaned and in the freezer (and taking a nap - you have to do that sometimes when you get old), I went back out to another location where we had set up an older model Double Bull pop-up and had placed a 5 gallon feeder, filled with milo a few yards away. I set up two decoys this time, a hen and a jake, and settled in. When I went to set up my camera, I realized that I had left it on since that morning and the battery was just about dead. With no back-up battery with me, I opted not to try to use the camera.
                  I sat there for an hour or so, burning up in there, and decided to open up one of the windows to my back so I could catch what little breeze there was. I hadn't had the window open for 5 minutes when I saw a reallly nice gobbler coming in from behind me. I hadn't heard anything, just got lucky and saw him coming in. He got about 20 yards from the decoys and stopped, apparently studying them for a few minutes, then made a left turn and headed off. It was about 4:30 pm. After I was sure he wasn't coming back in, I got out and took down the decoys, thinking that he might come on in if he decided to return later. Nothing at all came through that area (not even a squirrel) and I was getting restless and felt like I was cooking inside that blind. Finally, about 6:30pm, I saw another good gobbler (I think it may have been the same one) coming in from the exact place the first one came from. Again I watched as he slowly made his way to the front of my blind. Without the decoys, he came in and started eating the milo. He was only about 10 yards in front of me and was facing away from me when I drew. He turned slightly and I released. The shot looked good and he took off, trying to run but looked more like a duck waddling away. I watched him as far as I could see him and I knew he was hurt bad. As soon as he got out of sight, I got out of the blind and went to look for my arrow. I hadn't seen it in the gobbler when he left, but didn't find it past where he had been standing either. I went to the area he had walked through and started seeing quite a bit of blood. I found my arrow along that route and it was covered in blood. I continued following the blood trail as I had that morning until it ran out. I walked about 15 or 20 more yards up the trail and, once again, heard some noise. I looked up to see my gobbler trying to run away. I didn't want to chase him, but stayed with him, moving slowly trying to keep him in sight. I lost sight of him after a bit and moved forward, slowly, looking for any sign of him. Again I heard something and saw him under some brush about 10 yards from me. He wasn't dead yet, but it was obvious that he wasn't going anywhere else. I put a follow-up shot into him to speed up the process. I was so excited. Two birds in one day! Even though I had the opportunity to "tag out" in one day, I was still happy with the results of the day. The second bird weighed 19 lbs, also had spurs that were about 1" long, and had an 11 1/2" beard which was really thick. He was my biggest bearded turkey ever.
                  I don't know if I'll ever have another turkey hunting day as exciting and active as that one, but I do know I'll always remember that one whenever I go out chasing those birds again.

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Good stories thanks for posting them

                    Comment


                      #11
                      2010 Longbow Weekend

                        Ive traditionally been a recurve shooter. But I had a Horne Longbow built for me earlier this year for the Texas Longbow Shoot. I really enjoy shooting it but I have never taken an animal with a Longbow. I set out this weekend to get blood on my Longbow. I was very optimistic with the weather getting down into the 20's for lows but I didn't realize the wind was going to blow Mach 3.

                        I got to one of my favorite blinds Saturday morning around 5:45am and got tied down as the wind was already howling. I sat till almost 12 pm and didn't see anything not even a corn stealing crow. I got out of the stand and went to the truck to refuel on water and some cheese and crackers. After resting for an hour and a half I decided to hunt another stand I have next to a old barn that has been on our place since my great great grandparents lived there in the late 1800s. I got in the double bull around 2pm and kicked back relaxing just trying to rest up from lack of sleep over the last couple of days. I was sitting their almost asleep when I heard the crunching of some hand thrown corn. I sat up and saw a little button buck and a doe fawn hard at work on the corn. The little button buck kept trying his best to keep her and the dove off the corn. As I was watching them a doe and a little 6 point buck came in and joined in the feast. Then after 30 minutes of them eating corn they all looked up and the 6 point bristled up until the bigger 8 point got nose to nose with him. It didn't take long for the six to give ground.

                       By this time I had 2 does, 6 fawns, 6pt, and the 8pt all within 15 yards of me but I had already decided I wasn't going to shoot anything but a good buck, cull buck or a hog with my longbow. Well as I was watching the deer when all of the sudden a doe came running in like she was on fire and all the other deer spooked a little. She stopped at 18 yards and squatted, that's when I saw HIM walk into view. (I have game camera picks of this buck for the past two years and each year he has only produced a fork on his left side. He was one of the cull bucks I wanted.) The 4 x 2 walked up towards the doe, peeing all over his self and slightly quartered away from me. I came to full draw with the Longbow and picked a spot back on his ribs angling towards his off side shoulder and released the arrow. It was perfect! He immediately high kicked and started the death run with my arrow buried up the feathers. I heard him crash within seconds; I got out of the blind shaking to death and followed a blood trail that even I could stay on. I found the arrow about 10 yards from where I shot him and he was laying about 40 yards up the trail. He's not the best buck or even a trophy to most but being my first kill with a Longbow I couldn't be happier.

                       Now with blood on my Longbow I went back to my favorite blind where I had sat the morning before and saw nothing. But I know hogs usually will hit this area in the morning. I got in the blind around 6 am with the wind STILL blowing hard and the temps hit the teens. As the sun began to break I had two does and two fawns crunching on corn and acting very nervous. They stayed for about 45 minutes then they left, I decided to set up my video camera in case I got a shot at something. I am a novice when it comes to videoing anything, much less trying to work the camera and hunt. I always forget to turn it on, zoom, hit record, etc etc etc. I sat back and stretched out to rest when I thought to myself look out one more time before you get settled. I looked out the window and there he was coming. I thought wow that hog is pretty big. It wasn't until he got to the corn that I realized how big he was. I quickly turned the camera on, got my bow up and ready then the shakes began. I steadied my bow and came to full draw with the boar at 12 yards; I picked a spot right behind the shoulder and released the arrow. It hit where I was looking and buried in half way up the shaft. The boar grunted loud and crow hopped a little, then he ran about 5 yards and fell, got back up and stumbled, fell again and let out a big death grunt about 10 yards from where I had shot him. I got it all on video! I was thrilled with my second Longbow kill. This is one of the biggest boars I've ever killed.


                      Comment


                        #12
                        2011 First Buck
                         MY WIFE, I'M SO PROUD OF HER!!!! Well the story really starts last year when Tanya harvested her first ever animal; she took a very nice doe with her recurve. I sat with Tanya all last year so she could get the feel of what hunting was all about and give what little knowledge if have to her. We had a great 10 point buck come in last year but just as she came to full draw he bolted. I believe that buck has haunted her since that encounter. Tanya wanted so badly to take a buck but it just wasn't in the cards last year but that was Last Year.

                         Now we move to this year, we had decided after all the hunting we did together last year and earlier this year that Tanya was ready to sit in the blind by herself and experience this hunting thing one on one. Well we went out on opening day and Tanya saw several does, young bucks, javis and turkey but nothing worth messing up her hunt for a buck. I saw several young bucks, does and javi. We communicated through out the hunt by text (isn't technology great) so I could make sure she felt comfortable. When we got back to the truck we discussed what we had all seen (Tanya, me and Creig) during the morning and evening hunts. I could tell Tanya was really enjoying seeing all of God's creations.

                         The next morning we all got to our stands a little before 6am and waited for daylight. I was sitting in my blind watching some young bucks when they took off like they we're on fire. I heard something running towards my blind when all the sudden I had 8 coyotes pass by at mach 3. I finally got my heart rate back down when I received a text from Tanya at 8:10am stating she had just shot a nice 8 pt buck. I began texting questions back like how far, how big, when, where was your hit, etc. She tried to answer as well as she could but I could tell she was shook up. I told Tanya to stay in the blind and that I would be there around 9:30am and we would begin the search. I arrived at her blind around 9:45am and she got out and I gave her the biggest hug and kiss to congratulate her but she was ready to find her buck. Tanya stated she thought she heard a crash but she said she didn't know what a deer crashing sounded like. I told her you know it when you hear it. She showed me where the buck was standing when she shot him. The buck was about 18 yards from the blind. We immediately found blood (good blood), we followed the blood trail. We found Tanya's arrow about 20 yards from where she shot him. We walked about 10 yard farther and I saw a big white belly. I told Tanya come get your buck. She was almost in tears as we hugged and kissed. She walked up to her buck and was smiling ear to ear. As I looked at that buck I couldn't have been more proud, I have waited a long time to have someone in my life that enjoys this stuff as much as I do and what a blessing. She had harvested a great 8 pt buck. The buck has an inside spread of 16 inches. I inspected the shot and it couldn't have been better. The shot clipped the top of the heart and destroyed the lungs. The buck only went about 60 yards before he crashed. Tanya made a great shot with her Flanagan Recurve 44lbs@26". After Creig arrived and congratulated Tanya, we got the buck cleaned up and the pictures began. I am so thankful I got to experience another first for Tanya in her hunting career. Sorry for the long read but nothing in my hunting career has meant as much as her getting her buck.

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                          #13
                          Good stories, thanks for posting

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                            #14
                            Cant wait to be able to get in on this

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                              #15
                              tagged for later.

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