Went out to my brother in law's lease in central Texas for 3 days of hunting. There was 5 of us total in the camp, we ended the trip together with 3 Whitetail bucks 1 Black Buck and ~30 ducks (Only 3 of us went after deer).
My priority was to get my first deer and absorb as much knowledge from this group of hunters that I could, then everything after that was a bonus. First afternoon we saw some deer but largest rack we saw was a 4pts so we passed on everything. Next morning I went out by myself as 3 people went for ducks and one other person went to a different blind. Got out well before first light spent the morning watching a group of 6 does and a spike running around and eating, after about an hour I saw all the does leave and the spike stayed so I knew some buck was about to roll into view. It was still fairly foggy at this point and I saw him step out from behind some cactus and oak, Through the fog I was watching him I thought he was a 4 pts at first and over the course of 20min as the fog lifted I was able to make out 4 more pts. This being the first morning hunt I didn't want it to end right away but I remembered the line 'Don't pass on something that on the last day of the hunt you wish you had' (Or something along those lines). So I was working myself up to shooting him and then the spike would step in right in front of his vitals. This happened 3 times. Finally I was ready to shoot and the spike was a good 5 feet away to the right so I took the shot, ~110 yrds. After I shot I felt I pulled slightly right (which ended up being the case) but still ended with double lung I believe. He was slightly quartering towards though so the bullet ended up nicking the stomach which ruined some of the organs I wanted to keep. (Photos bellow are exit wound side, entrance hole was much better placement, I need to better about thinking where the bullet will come out ). He made it ~25yrds away and expired.
That afternoon went out with the brother in law looking for black buck and pigs but, only saw a single doe though. So ended up just being a nice time getting to know my brother in law. Following morning I went out for ducks with two others and ended up getting 16 ducks I believe. We got Gadwall, 1 Ring Neck and 5 Mallards. The Mallards were lost on me but I guess for central TX they are pretty rare, the other two guys were stoked though, I was just happy to be getting ducks. Fairly happy with how I did on the duck hunting, 4 of them I know were my shots and a couple more either follow ups from me or someone followed my shots up. Duck hunting is a rush and something that I will be getting more into.
Now for the PICS
Brother in law is going to at home euro the skull the for me so will have something to put up in the house.
(The mojo wasn't placed next to the blind for hunting we put it there while cleaning up )
The others at the camp helped a lot and I learned a lot from them, but want to shout out to this forum too and everyone at the monthly nwtf meetings for the tips and advice as I have been slowly learning to hunt!
My priority was to get my first deer and absorb as much knowledge from this group of hunters that I could, then everything after that was a bonus. First afternoon we saw some deer but largest rack we saw was a 4pts so we passed on everything. Next morning I went out by myself as 3 people went for ducks and one other person went to a different blind. Got out well before first light spent the morning watching a group of 6 does and a spike running around and eating, after about an hour I saw all the does leave and the spike stayed so I knew some buck was about to roll into view. It was still fairly foggy at this point and I saw him step out from behind some cactus and oak, Through the fog I was watching him I thought he was a 4 pts at first and over the course of 20min as the fog lifted I was able to make out 4 more pts. This being the first morning hunt I didn't want it to end right away but I remembered the line 'Don't pass on something that on the last day of the hunt you wish you had' (Or something along those lines). So I was working myself up to shooting him and then the spike would step in right in front of his vitals. This happened 3 times. Finally I was ready to shoot and the spike was a good 5 feet away to the right so I took the shot, ~110 yrds. After I shot I felt I pulled slightly right (which ended up being the case) but still ended with double lung I believe. He was slightly quartering towards though so the bullet ended up nicking the stomach which ruined some of the organs I wanted to keep. (Photos bellow are exit wound side, entrance hole was much better placement, I need to better about thinking where the bullet will come out ). He made it ~25yrds away and expired.
That afternoon went out with the brother in law looking for black buck and pigs but, only saw a single doe though. So ended up just being a nice time getting to know my brother in law. Following morning I went out for ducks with two others and ended up getting 16 ducks I believe. We got Gadwall, 1 Ring Neck and 5 Mallards. The Mallards were lost on me but I guess for central TX they are pretty rare, the other two guys were stoked though, I was just happy to be getting ducks. Fairly happy with how I did on the duck hunting, 4 of them I know were my shots and a couple more either follow ups from me or someone followed my shots up. Duck hunting is a rush and something that I will be getting more into.
Now for the PICS
Brother in law is going to at home euro the skull the for me so will have something to put up in the house.
(The mojo wasn't placed next to the blind for hunting we put it there while cleaning up )
The others at the camp helped a lot and I learned a lot from them, but want to shout out to this forum too and everyone at the monthly nwtf meetings for the tips and advice as I have been slowly learning to hunt!
Last edited: