Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Colorado Bend SP Success stories...

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

    #46
    Awesome!!!

    Comment


      #47
      Congratulations!

      Comment


        #48
        Fantastic job!


        Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

        Comment


          #49
          This was a hunt we will never forget!

          Hagen, in his second year of eligibility. Drew a GDE tag for youth only at Colorado Bend Sate Park. We were both pretty fired up about the prospects of this hunt. You see, last season. I took Hagen down to Tim Hefner’s 587 Ranch and we had an absolute blast chasing whitetail on his property. We had good shooter bucks at every sit and on the final sit, Hagen shot a really nice 8 point that we were unable to recover. The deer was found at a later date and I had an antler mount done by a close friend of ours to remember our time on the hunt. Tim’s place is surrounded on two sides by Colorado Bend SP and he has a great setup, so I shot him a text to see if he would be interested in allowing us to book his cabin during our hunt dates. Which, lucky for us. He was happy to do. Now, it was time to break the news to Hagen. The wife and I sat him down and told him the news, his reply! Time for redemption! He was dead set on making a good shot this go around…

          But, before our trip to Colorado Bend. Hagen was drawn for a hunt through TYHP at Rancho Tres Hijos just outside of Tilden, Texas. This was an incredible experience in and of itself and on the final morning of our hunt, Hagen successfully put a doe on the ground with his 6.5 Creedmoor. His first South Texas whitetail. During this hunt, I get a text from a former Parker County neighbor inviting Hagen out to his place to chase Doe and Hogs. The Lazy J 7 Bar Ranch is located near the double mountains South of Peacock, Texas. So, after a successful South Texas hunt, we were headed to the rolling plains in the Southern Texas Panhandle region. This kid ended up seeing all sorts of country this season. Hagen ended up getting a green light on a decent 8 point, but missed due to the shakes. Down on his luck, He ended up getting the green light on a funky five point that he successfully dropped in his tracks on our final evening hunt. The next morning, he had an opportunity at his first two hogs we had trapped overnight and so he added a couple more critters to the list. With two awesome hunts in the books and two deer at the processor, it was time to concentrate our efforts and get everything gathered up to head down to Colorado Bend.

          Sunday, December 20th the gentlemen mentioned above and his son joined us on our trek to Colorado Bend. We drove down and got settled in at the 587 Ranch HQ so that we would have an easy shot at getting into the park for Check-in and Orientation on Monday morning. Check-in and Orientation wrapped up at 11:00 am, we drew compartment 3 along with 4 other hunters and their fathers. There were a total of 25 hunters, 5 hunters in each compartment. One of the Park employees was assigned to our group and took us on a quick tour of the compartment along the main road. Once we were done, the five dads discussed where they would like to attack the compartment and off we went. Hagen and I drove back up to a parking area at a trail marked “Cedar Chopper Loop”. I noticed an old panel blind setup that had fairly fresh cedar clippings hung all over it and figured it was there for a good enough reason to scout the area. It didn’t take long for us to find fresh rubs and an old scrape line. There was plenty of sign. We got our popup blind set up in a cluster of Cedars, brushed it in, and put out sweet feed and corn in three different lines of sight hoping to stop any game as they passed through. It was now 2:00 pm. We headed back to the 587 and had some lunch and relaxed for about an hour before heading back out to our setup.

          Hunt number one, Monday evening. There’s not a whole lot to say about this first sit, H and I enjoyed each other’s company and the company of more song birds than you could count as the Cardinals, Blue Jays, etc… were everywhere. In the end, no animals were harmed during our first hunt.

          Hunt number two, Tuesday morning. This sit was much like the first. We stayed in the blind until 9:00 am and then decided to go on a little hike to explore the park within our area. We hiked about a mile towards the cliffs above the river before turning back. The area is extremely thick and nothing really made us want to move our setup. So, we backed out and head to the 587 for a little siesta and some lunch. On our way out, a young man from compartment five was checking in a buck they aged at 8 years old and weighing in at 81 pounds, field dressed. He was a decent little ring hanger 9 point. After shooting the bull with them for a few, it was nap time.

          Hunt number three, Tuesday evening. Hagen and I headed back out to the blind at about 2:45 pm for this hunt. We parked well back of the parking area near our setup along the main road and hiked in. The wind had picked up, so we went out a little early to be sure we didn’t need to repair the blind. When we got to the blind, all was well. We climbed in and within a few minutes Hagen was back to sleep. Around 4:45 we heard a young lady shoot that wasn’t too terribly far from our setup which definitely helped our morale. Last shooting light was 6:06 pm, we had time. As the sun began to set behind us with the shadows being cast across our view of this magnificent park. I looked over at Hagen and I thought he was mediating or something. Ha. I asked what he was doing and he replied. Dad, “I was talking to God, PaPa, and MiMi in heaven and prayed that they’d watch over us, keep us safe and healthy, and maybe, just maybe send a deer our way.” I kid you not. Less than 10 minutes go by and Hagen says…..Deer, buck. I could not see the deer as he was coming down a game trail within 10 yards of the side of the blind I was sitting. We had Hagen’s RAR .300 Blackout, loaded with 110 Barned Tac-Tx ammunition, sitting in a BOG fieldpod. The deer cleared the brush to my right and I told him to get in position. The buck was moving at an angle across the meadow we were viewing. I asked if he was on the deer, he replied yes. The buck was at 25 yards and perfectly broadside on a slow walk. I told Hagen I was going to stop him and to be ready to shoot. I reached over and took the gun off safety while doing a little grunt at the same time. The deer stopped, turned and looked directly at us for what seemed like an eternity. Suddenly Hagen says, can I shoot? My reply, shoot him! What an intense moment. Hagen let one fly and you could tell the deer was hit really well. The buck took off on a downhill tear and crashed after a 40 yard sprint into a cedar. BBD! About that time, Hagen hollers… “Booyah Baby, Redemption buck”. I was beyond ecstatic and just as fired up as he was.

          The prize. Once we gathered ourselves and our gear. We hoped out of the blind so Hagen could lay his hands on his prize and we could get some pics. After lots of hugs and high fives we headed back to the truck and drove over back up into the location to get to work. His volume level was so high, I’m sure everyone in the County could hear him. After a few more pics, H helped me out, we got him field dressed, loaded up, and headed to HQ for check-in. They aged the buck at 3.5 and he weighed 75 pounds field dressed. The deer has a beautiful cape and a really pretty and typical hill country rack with bladed tines. So, based on the uniqueness of the hunt, the difficulty we had seeing anything, as well as everything else that went into this awesome opportunity, decided to shoulder mount this deer as Hagen’s first. Once we were done with check-in, we headed back up to the 587 where Tim has everything needed for us to cape and quarter this fine animal. We made quick work of the deed and it was time to celebrate with chili dogs and soda pop, ok….dad may have had a whiskey! The day was long and exhausting for all so we hit the hay fairly early. Hagen decided not to hunt Wednesday morning so we took that time while Jay and Oakley were back at the park to get the cabin cleaned up and our gear loaded. We drove back to our location around 8:30 to load up our setup and headed home.

          What a hunt! We only saw one deer while hunting, but that’s all it took!
          Last edited by Chad C; 12-24-2020, 10:24 AM.

          Comment


            #50
            Great buck and write up. Congrats to your son.

            Comment


              #51
              That's awesome, congratulations!

              Comment


                #52
                Colorado Bend SP Success stories...

                A few pics of H discovering deer sign just before we setup, our setup, and location in the park.


                Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
                Last edited by Chad C; 12-24-2020, 01:57 PM.

                Comment


                  #53
                  The kid put three deer in the freezer this year! Not bad for a 9 year old. We’re pretty proud of this last one though! But, we’re gonna have one hell of a tab at Cinnamon Creek!




                  Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

                  Comment


                    #54


                    The lil dude is going to be fired up when his 2020 Colorado Bend buck comes home.


                    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

                    Comment


                      #55
                      Yes sir your boy will be excited. That's a good looking deer.

                      Believe it or not my kids and me were just talking a couple days ago about the hunt we drew at Mason Mountain (as did y'all of course). Your boy was excited about his deer he got that trip. I still remember that night that he was telling us all about his hunt and deer. Fun times and lots of memories!!!

                      Comment


                        #56
                        Originally posted by BradBryant1000 View Post
                        Yes sir your boy will be excited. That's a good looking deer.



                        Believe it or not my kids and me were just talking a couple days ago about the hunt we drew at Mason Mountain (as did y'all of course). Your boy was excited about his deer he got that trip. I still remember that night that he was telling us all about his hunt and deer. Fun times and lots of memories!!!


                        That was a great trip!


                        Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

                        Comment


                          #57
                          How in the world is that deer not done and hanging in his room yet?

                          Comment


                            #58
                            Originally posted by Etxbuckman View Post
                            How in the world is that deer not done and hanging in his room yet?


                            I was a little late getting it dropped off.


                            Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

                            Comment


                              #59



                              Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

                              Comment


                                #60
                                He's gonna be pretty excited when he sees that!

                                Comment

                                Working...
                                X