It was another trip for the books! I can honestly say that this was one of the best if not the absolute best hunt that Brooks and I have had together!
After pulling Brooks out of school a little early on Thursday, we headed to Fulshear and picked up our gate/skinning hand, Kevin (AKA Texastaxi).
We finally headed west to the 4R and pulled in around 8 or so. After a few White Claws, Kevin had trouble with the combo lock which proved to be a consistent problem throughout the weekend.
Finally at the ranch house, we met up with Jeremy (STGS) and Jason to catch up and calm my nerves with some Rye Whiskey. After a few drinks, we bet Kevin that he couldn’t hit a bulls eye with his bow at 20 yards....he won $60 and made my inner bowhunter proud!
After some talk about our “targets”, they decided that I would be first one in the shooters seat. Brooks’ deer was MIA fir a few days and they wanted to locate him before trying to hunt him.
The first morning sit was immediate action, typical of the 4R! I had hogs from 2-20 yards and deer in the area at first light.
As soon as the sun started coming up, my target was there!!! He is a buck we called the long beam 10 because his beams went straight out instead of turning in.
He fed toward me the entire time, but turned broadside at 26 yards finally! I drew, but he turned and walked away before I even got to full draw. He jumped out of the feed pen and left to never be seen again that morning.
Nap Time!!
Fast forward to the evening hunt. Brooks and I are back in the same blind after the long beam 10, Jason is trying to find Brooks’ 9 point, and the Jeremy/Kevin duo are running around shooting hogs.
The buck come in at the first feeding. He stalls behind the feeder for a while, walks around it, then jumps out and leaves the same way he did in the morning. I was heart broken and figured he was gone again.
After 30 min or so, Brooks and I decide it is time to rally and put on some face paint! (Our tradition is that face paint always turns a hunt around)
At this time, there is still a ton of activity around us. Deer, hogs, bucks pushing does, new bucks jumping in, etc.
Out of the corner of my eye, the LB 10 is coming back in from our right! Game time! He walks around the back of the feed pen and start to turn in to cross between us and the front of the pen. NOPE...something catches his attention and he leaves again!
We figured that was it! After a few minutes though a big 8 jumps in the pen and starts pushing the other deer around. I guess LB 10 didn’t like this at all. He starts coming back from our left and circles behind the pen again. Instead of jumping in, he keeps walking around to the front. He just cleared my shooting window when he postured like he was about to jump in the pen. I drew, grunted, and let the arrow fly in a matter of a second or two!!!
DRILLED HIM!!!!
As he cleared the pen, I could see blood dumping. I knew he was going far, but decided to wait on Jeremy/Kevin to show before tracking.
When they pull up, we start talking about the shot and walking toward where the deer turned off and the spot where I last had eyes on him. As we look down the sendero, we see a hog 100 yards down eating something. Upon closer inspection, she was eating my deer!!! We saw the white belly of the buck moving as she was eating off his balls!!! Jeremy ribs down and shots her before she can mess the deer up or get into the guts!
After pulling Brooks out of school a little early on Thursday, we headed to Fulshear and picked up our gate/skinning hand, Kevin (AKA Texastaxi).
We finally headed west to the 4R and pulled in around 8 or so. After a few White Claws, Kevin had trouble with the combo lock which proved to be a consistent problem throughout the weekend.
Finally at the ranch house, we met up with Jeremy (STGS) and Jason to catch up and calm my nerves with some Rye Whiskey. After a few drinks, we bet Kevin that he couldn’t hit a bulls eye with his bow at 20 yards....he won $60 and made my inner bowhunter proud!
After some talk about our “targets”, they decided that I would be first one in the shooters seat. Brooks’ deer was MIA fir a few days and they wanted to locate him before trying to hunt him.
The first morning sit was immediate action, typical of the 4R! I had hogs from 2-20 yards and deer in the area at first light.
As soon as the sun started coming up, my target was there!!! He is a buck we called the long beam 10 because his beams went straight out instead of turning in.
He fed toward me the entire time, but turned broadside at 26 yards finally! I drew, but he turned and walked away before I even got to full draw. He jumped out of the feed pen and left to never be seen again that morning.
Nap Time!!
Fast forward to the evening hunt. Brooks and I are back in the same blind after the long beam 10, Jason is trying to find Brooks’ 9 point, and the Jeremy/Kevin duo are running around shooting hogs.
The buck come in at the first feeding. He stalls behind the feeder for a while, walks around it, then jumps out and leaves the same way he did in the morning. I was heart broken and figured he was gone again.
After 30 min or so, Brooks and I decide it is time to rally and put on some face paint! (Our tradition is that face paint always turns a hunt around)
At this time, there is still a ton of activity around us. Deer, hogs, bucks pushing does, new bucks jumping in, etc.
Out of the corner of my eye, the LB 10 is coming back in from our right! Game time! He walks around the back of the feed pen and start to turn in to cross between us and the front of the pen. NOPE...something catches his attention and he leaves again!
We figured that was it! After a few minutes though a big 8 jumps in the pen and starts pushing the other deer around. I guess LB 10 didn’t like this at all. He starts coming back from our left and circles behind the pen again. Instead of jumping in, he keeps walking around to the front. He just cleared my shooting window when he postured like he was about to jump in the pen. I drew, grunted, and let the arrow fly in a matter of a second or two!!!
DRILLED HIM!!!!
As he cleared the pen, I could see blood dumping. I knew he was going far, but decided to wait on Jeremy/Kevin to show before tracking.
When they pull up, we start talking about the shot and walking toward where the deer turned off and the spot where I last had eyes on him. As we look down the sendero, we see a hog 100 yards down eating something. Upon closer inspection, she was eating my deer!!! We saw the white belly of the buck moving as she was eating off his balls!!! Jeremy ribs down and shots her before she can mess the deer up or get into the guts!
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