Texas 2020

Kellendv

Well-Known Member
Dec 26, 2013
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Alright, last hunt of the season... the annual trip to Texas has begun.

On the menu this year:
1) Blackbuck, Fallow, or Sika doe
2) Fallow or Sika buck, or cull Blacbuck buck
3) Any Aoudad
4) Any hog

Conditions are not good. It is warm and windy and according to my friends a very atypical winter for them. There was a massive acorn crop this year and it’s a waste of time to sit on a feeder. The animals don’t come to corn when there’s that much natural feed around. I glassed onto the neighbors place this evening and there was a massive pile of corn under his feeder. Hoping for a Sika or Fallow buck but I’ve been choosy this year and passed on a number of opportunities so the gloves are off and if it’s legal it’s going in the freezer.
 
Day one (yesterday)... lots of action at the chair I sat in the morning. Blacbuck and whitetail. Never had a decent shot at a black buck except for two doe/fawn pairs. Not going to shoot them because wants to get the population up. We sat a box blind in the evening and same story, only whitey and blackbuck way far off on the neighbors. When we got back to the house we found out the rest of the blackbuck were at the corn feeder. Oh well, that’s hunting.

Day two... I sat the same chair I sat yesterday morning and saw some axis does (can’t shoot them this year) and blackbuck that were too far away. At 0805 I spot a deer 60 or 70 yards to my left filtering through some trees. Didn’t look like a whitetail, I see the long tail and then it turns toward me and I see it’s a chocolate fallow spike (if you don’t know what you’re looking at, they can be confused with whitetail). I get my gun up and the deer walks perfectly into a shooting lane and stops quartering to me and I hammer him through the left shoulder. He does a death run for 50 yards and piles up right next to the power line road! I gave him 15 minutes just to be sure and then went and checked he was dead, walked back to the house and jumped in the truck with AJ and we went and collected him. There wasn’t much left of his heart. Got him all taken apart this morning and had him vac-sealed and in the freezer by lunchtime.

Back in the blind tonight, saw a pretty 8 point whitetail come out right behind us at like 10 yards. Hoping for a hog but nothing that’s on the menu came in tonight. Back at it in the morning.
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Yes!! Now we're talking!! I love Texas!
 
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Sloooow morning. Really saw nothing except the neighborhood blackbuck, until 945 when I looked up and saw a really nice Sika stag headed right for me. Unfortunately for me, although the state of Texas does not restrict the take of exotic wildlife, the YO ranch lands does manage numbers and currently numbers are down. The Fallow spike I killed yesterday burned the exotic “buck tag.” It was an either or tag, I could shoot a Blackbuck, Fallow or Sika, but once one of those is killed the tag is used. I don’t pay for any of this and this trip is primarily about getting meat, so I have no regrets. But man it would have been nice to shoot that Sika! He walked down the same trail I killed a really nice Axis deer on last year from the same stand, could have shot him at 80 yards in the exact same spot. That’s hunting... Coincidentally the taxidermist called me while I was walking back to the house to let me know my Axis mount is done! Looking forward to seeing it tomorrow.

Tonight was super slow too. Nothing moving except the blackbuck. I did see my first armadillo... interesting animal. Hunting does and hogs from here on out, back in the stand in the morning.

Here’s a crap photo of the Sika walking away...
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Free Texas...is an even better Texas!! Nice work.
 
Saw a bunch of turkeys and whitetail including a couple nice 8 points this morning. Really foggy with limited visibility. Nothing I could shoot.
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After that we headed down to junction and got Lum’s BBQ for lunch. If you ever pass through Junction Lum’s is a must. Then we went to the taxidermist and picked up my Axis from last year, it looks great! Took some photos of some other mounts including this absurd Whitetail and a cool bobcat/bobwhite mount. Another hour and we’ll head out for the evening sit.

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Stud axis !!! A must when in texas. Taxi did a nice job.
 
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Day one (yesterday)... lots of action at the chair I sat in the morning. Blacbuck and whitetail. Never had a decent shot at a black buck except for two doe/fawn pairs. Not going to shoot them because wants to get the population up. We sat a box blind in the evening and same story, only whitey and blackbuck way far off on the neighbors. When we got back to the house we found out the rest of the blackbuck were at the corn feeder. Oh well, that’s hunting.

Day two... I sat the same chair I sat yesterday morning and saw some axis does (can’t shoot them this year) and blackbuck that were too far away. At 0805 I spot a deer 60 or 70 yards to my left filtering through some trees. Didn’t look like a whitetail, I see the long tail and then it turns toward me and I see it’s a chocolate fallow spike (if you don’t know what you’re looking at, they can be confused with whitetail). I get my gun up and the deer walks perfectly into a shooting lane and stops quartering to me and I hammer him through the left shoulder. He does a death run for 50 yards and piles up right next to the power line road! I gave him 15 minutes just to be sure and then went and checked he was dead, walked back to the house and jumped in the truck with AJ and we went and collected him. There wasn’t much left of his heart. Got him all taken apart this morning and had him vac-sealed and in the freezer by lunchtime.

Back in the blind tonight, saw a pretty 8 point whitetail come out right behind us at like 10 yards. Hoping for a hog but nothing that’s on the menu came in tonight. Back at it in the morning.
View attachment 42659
Glad he wasn't to far away from the truck , some people on this site might frown if you had a long walk.
 
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never a truer statement ..no need to walk..when you can drive. Im certain Kellen gets it!
It surely is nice! Backed the truck right up to a number of animals. Sometimes the wheelbarrow bridges the gap. I’ve done my fair share of misery slogs too though...
 
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That deer is crazy some dude probably paid $50k to shoot that buck down there. Everything is bigger in Texas.

According to the taxidermist it was found dead on the ranch it lived on. But yeah, some dude would have paid a lot of money to kill it. Hunting is big business here in Texas hill country. I saw that zebra you asked me about on a ranch across the highway today lol.
 
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