Outdoor Odyssey (Entries tagged as deerhunting)

A Personal Update

jbryan@centex.net (Jon Bryan) — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 08:05:00 -0700

You talk about “cabin fever”! The last day of our State’s special doe/spike season January 17th, one of our Army friends, SFC. Tim Albee shot a nice doe, a fitting end to the season. Things kinda’ went down hill from there.

On January 20th I visited the Fondren Orthopedic Clinic in Houston to see the “El Primo” knee repair doc. Hoping that I could get away with a partial knee replacement, in no uncertain terms he told me that either in 2011 or 2012, I could come back and get a full one. My knee hurt all the way home!

Luckily from the 20th through the 27th I was able to get a lot of things done around the place. Things like spreading fireplace ashes on the garden, trimming the peach trees, tilling the garden, cutting and splitting firewood and finally, getting my onions planted.

Then it rained on Friday, the 28th. It not only rained, it flooded! Four and a half inches of rain left everything in a mess. Then on Saturday I had a relapse of “cedar fever” that left me in bed until this past Monday.

Still not recovered from my malady, late Tuesday afternoon, I got myself ready to go predator hunting. I even blew on my predator call several times, didn’t wheeze or cough and quickly pronounced myself well! That is until I told Layla where she could find me. Promptly, she told me that in five minutes she better find me back in bed! End of hunting adventure!

It started a misty rain Wednesday morning and has continued through Thursday, one and a half inches worth. My malady is better, the chance of rain is diminishing and, if it’s not too wet, on Friday, Mickey Donahoo and I will try to get in some practice time, however, six inches of rain over the past seven days makes this unlikely.

Saturday looks good for some outdoor activities like softball or predator hunting, but, more rain, thirty through sixty percent daily through next Saturday. Wow!

You talk about cabin fever!

Deer Season Ends

jbryan@centex.net (Jon Bryan) — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 08:05:00 -0700

Last Sunday, one of our friends, SFC Tim Albee, put an end to the 2009/10 deer season. This past season’s total was four does and one spike.

Summarizing, Sean, a Grandson, kicked it off with his first deer, a spike, bagged during the youth season.

Mickey Donahoo then shot two does that we gave to a friend. One is pictured here.

Then Wesley, another Grandson, scored his first kill with this doe.

Not to be outdone, I chipped in with this big, bobcat.

Overall, no big bucks, but wait ‘till next year! Next up is varmint hunting, then around April 1st, it’s turkey time!

Wesley Breaks The Ice

jbryan@centex.net (Jon Bryan) — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 08:05:00 -0700

Wesley and his family arrived in Goldthwaite last Wednesday, the 30th, in time for an afternoon hunt. Wesley hadn’t gotten a deer this season and he was primed for success on this one. His Cousin, Sean had nailed a spike during this years youth season.

We headed out, Wesley and his Dad, Paul, went to Ma-Maw’s blind and I chose a hide where two, well used deer trails crossed. Three deer came to the feeder shortly after Wesley and Paul had settled down, but he couldn’t get a shot because the biggest doe kept bobbing her head feeding, so he waited impatiently.

Not long after I had settled into my hide I saw movement crossing one of the trails. It was a cat, a big cat, quartering toward me. My first thought was, Why am I sitting here curled into a big cedar tree when what may be a mountain lion coming toward me? Then I saw the cat’s short tail. Picking out an opening in the thick brush, I centered my cross hairs on where I hoped the cat would cross. He did. I fired and it dropped like a rock.

Stepping out of my hide, I took two steps and heard, craak, from the direction of Ma-Maw’s blind. Sounded like a .223, Wesley had shot and I hoped he had scored. He told me, “Poppy, the deer kept bobbing its head, but when you shot, it raised its head and held it up for several seconds. My Dad told me to take her and I fired, a perfect head shot and down she went!”

Here are both of us with our kills. Notice that Wesley, with the big smile, has followed a family tradition and daubed some of the deer’s blood under his eyes.
A good ending to two good hunts!

Deer Watching, December 30, 2009

jbryan@centex.net (Jon Bryan) — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 08:05:00 -0700

Our deer season, buck harvesting, is slipping away and will end one half hour after sunset, or 6:11 PM, January 3, 2010. Not settling for a young buck, I have held my fire, hoping the big ‘un comes along.

Monday morning, the 28th, just before sunrise, with the outside temperature hanging on twenty-three, too cold for me, I was looking out the kitchen window watching a doe when this young buck, tall rack, eight points with at least an eighteen inch spread, came out. He paid no attention as I dashed out to get some wood for the fire. Calling Layla, she enjoyed watching this fine, young, deer too! He wasn’t the big ‘un I’ve seen twice, but he’ll be pressing him next year.

Monday afternoon I was snuggled down into a cedar tree along a well used, trail when a spike ambled by. Passing on it because starting Thursday, we’ll have hunters (Grandkids), I didn’t see a big one, but maybe tomorrow?

Tuesday dawned cloudy and snowing! Our forecast was for rain all day, clouds, little wind, with the temp hovering around thirty-four. A nasty day! This was our third snow in a month and the deer will sit this out probably until Wednesday.

About this snow, this is central Texas, not Iowa. Am I going to have to get me a snow shovel?

Deer Watching, December 25, 2009

jbryan@centex.net (Jon Bryan) — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 08:05:00 -0700

Not hunting on Christmas Day, sure enough at dusk/dark, with the wind calmed, out popped the does and yearlings. It was one of those times that I knew the deer would be moving and feeding. Thursday’s snow had almost all melted, the high winds had ended, temperatures were up to around forty and the deer were hungry.

This picture shows fourteen of the eighteen deer that were feeding in my field. There were four more to the left, but I couldn’t get them in. The closest ones were about a hundred yards beyond the fence, a real easy shot.

Logic says that, based on twenty-eight day cycles, all of these does haven’t been in estrus, so, where the does are, the bucks will be close by and that includes me on Saturday at dusk/dark!

No good, “shootable” buck was seen on Saturday PM!

More Outdoors Pictures, December 22, 2009

jbryan@centex.net (Jon Bryan) — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 08:05:00 -0700

My new PC runs on Windows 7 and my old one ran on XP and supported HP Image Zone. However, Windows 7, very clean for a new operating system, does not support Image Zone that I used to scan and file pictures that others sent to me. Yes, I could use a feature of Windows, but why worry with that? All I did was replace my new PC with my old one running, tried and true, XP and now I can scan pictures. All of this is a long way of saying that I haven’t been able to scan pictures for the last four weeks.

During this time folks still have been sending some very good outdoors pictures to me.

David Buck, a Nephew, on the right, bagged this nice one on his lease in Burnet County, the week before Thanksgiving!

Randy Pfaff woke up one morning and looked out of his kitchen window, and lo and behold, there stood a mountain lion! He got this “shot” of it.

Randy also sent me this picture of some “good” rattlers.

Deer Sighting, December 8, 2009

jbryan@centex.net (Jon Bryan) — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 08:05:00 -0700

Tuesday morning, waking up at 5:00AM, it was raining, so I crawled back under the covers. One hour later, the same story, so back under the covers. Finally getting up at 6:40 AM and slipping into my lined, house shoes, I ventured outside to replenish the firewood.

There was still a misty, foggy drip, not rain or drizzle, just a drip as I looked out over my hay field. There, not noticing me, on the far side, two hundred yards away, loping down the fence line, was a buck, probably on the trail of a hot, doe. Cupping my hands, I issued a low grunt. As expected, the buck stopped in his tracks and turned toward the sound.

Horns were wide, probably twenty inches and tall, over twenty, a big, big, buck! This was the second time I’ve seen him along this track, the last being five days ago. The buck doesn’t know it but I have a hide right along his path and will be waiting for him next Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

No, the hide isn't on my back porch.

The Party

jbryan@centex.net (Jon Bryan) — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 08:05:00 -0700

We had been on the Brady Lease, for four years and the membership had been reduced (by choice) to four other hunters and their families. During the deer season of 1991, our rancher said that because he liked us and knew we wouldn’t abuse the property, he was throwing in another six hundred acres, at no increase in the price. The only catch was that it was on two sides of Highway 190 and bordered the city limits of Rochelle. The south side of the property had one big “L” shaped field bordered with very, thick brush and this area was the deer magnet.

The rancher and I went to visit the acreage, and to say the least, I was impressed because as we bumped along the rutted, dirt, track, the first animal I saw, less than one hundred yards away, was a massive buck, tall rack, heavy horned, with at least a twenty inch spread! The rancher said, “I’ve named that buck,’ Big Boy’. I see him all the time and I believe it’s time to shoot him.” Of course, not expecting to see any deer in the middle of the warm day, so close to the highway, I wasn’t armed, so I just looked on in awe!

There is nothing that could have prepared me and the other hunters for the great number of deer that we would see on that property, right in town, although not a big town, and bisected by 190, a busy east west highway. But one hunt stands out in my memory.

Brad and I were out to get “Big Boy” and by 3:00 PM we were in our “hides”, mine was nestled into a brush pile overlooking the short side of the “L” field and his was on one end of the long side, in a twisty, four foot, deep, dry creek bed.

Approaching 5:00 PM, we hadn’t seen anything but a few crows, and then, all of a sudden, coming out of the thick, brush, deer were everywhere. Brad was masked from my view but we both could see the far brush line, and there, looking out from behind a mesquite was “Big Boy”!

Almost dusk, the big deer moved to our right, two hundred yards away he was joined by another buck almost his twin and they moved down a fence line, passing from my view. Brad’s M1A roared. And in his words, “Dad, the two deer were side by side and I hit the one closest to me. He hopped once and took off, jumping the fence. He’s down somewhere over the fence! Let’s go find him.”

It was almost dark, our flashlights showed blood spattered on the ground where the buck was hit and climbing over the fence, more blood. One problem however, not three hundred yards east of us in a nice, ranch house, a party was just getting started. Cars driving up were casting their headlights out across the field where we were looking for the deer. Here come headlights, drop down, get back up, follow the blood trail, more headlights, drop down and finally, deer horns reflected in the headlights.

Not a hundred yards from the house, we found the deer, it was a nice one! We each grabbed a leg and ran (slowly) back to the fence. Somehow, we ‘rasseled the hundred-twenty pounder over the fence and finally, could admire the buck, not “Big Boy”, but a real trophy, a perfect eight pointer, good mass and we guessed a eighteen to nineteen inch spread! At the party no one noticed us, and they partied on without a hitch.

We loaded the deer in the Jeep and headed for the closest processor, Richland Springs, twenty miles away. Brad decided not to have the head mounted, (big mistake), told the attendant to just cut the horns off and (bigger mistake), he’d pick them up with the meat. The next week when we stopped at the processors, the fine set of horns had disappeared!

Two weeks later, the best deer hunter of our group shot “Big Boy”, knocked him down, he jumped up, ran off, the blood trail petered out, the hunter never found him and “Big Boy” was never seen again!

Thanksgiving

jbryan@centex.net (Jon Bryan) — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 08:05:00 -0700

Our sick friend and his wife asked us to get them another doe, so this past Tuesday, Mickey Donahoo went out on my ranch and complied with their request. This one was another nice, mature, white tail.

For the first time since last week, I hunted Wednesday evening, but didn’t see a big one. This chilly morning, thirty degrees, Paul and Wesley are out trying to Get Wesley his first deer. Who knows?

Today, Layla and I will have a house full of folks. The count, currently, is twenty-one with two more coming tomorrow. Anyway, family and friends, that’s one of the things that Thanksgiving is all about! The most important thing is thanking God every day for his blessings; His Grace, our family, our jobs our health, our friends and our wonderful Country!

We wish everyone a very, happy and safe Thanksgiving!

A Good Deed

jbryan@centex.net (Jon Bryan) — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 08:05:00 -0700

Mickey Donahoo, my softball buddy, and I have a mutual friend who is recovering from surgery that resulted in a terrible, staph infection and he requested that Mickey shoot him a doe. We were at batting practice this past Tuesday and I mentioned to Mickey that he should come over on Saturday afternoon and comply with the request.

Mickey arrived at 3:00 PM and we drove out, then walked to a tree stand on the backside of my ranch. Within one hour he nailed a real nice doe. Nailed it to say the least, at sixty-five yards, he placed one shot from his rifle, right between the deer’s eyes!

Getting into a nearby ground blind. I was waiting to hear Mickey's shot. My wait was a short one. Hearing his shot, I went back to the house, got the tractor, then went back out and picked up the deer and Mickey. The deer had fallen right in its tracks, right beside the feeder, so Spike, the wonder dog, wasn’t needed to track it down.

However Spike did take charge and guard it once we brought it back to the house.

A Dual Scaring

jbryan@centex.net (Jon Bryan) — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 08:05:00 -0700

The mountain lion pictured below, was shot on opening morning of Texas’ deer season just outside of Junction in Kimble County. The big, male was in prime condition.

Seeing the picture reminded me of a story that also took place in Kimble County, told to me by O.H. Buck, better known as “Pa-Paw” or “Buck”. In 1971, he was on a deer lease with a group of his friends. The lease was outside of Junction and was located in extremely rough, canyon country. His blind overlooked a canyon and the trail to it wound around the edge.

This particular afternoon he saw several nice bucks, but not the one he wanted. As he told me, “About dark thirty, I rounded up my gear and slipped out of the blind. The moon was half full giving me enough light to safely walk back to the camp house. Rounding a sharp curve in the trail, I came face to face with a mountain lion!”

“Wow, a cougar”, I exclaimed and he continued, “It scared the hell out of both of us! The cat jumped straight up and beat a hasty retreat and I turned around and ran back to the blind. After composing myself, I got out my flashlight and made a lot of noise going back to the camp house.”

Buck, a tough guy, later told me the cat had scared him so bad that he quit deer hunting for the rest of that season.

We Got Him

jbryan@centex.net (Jon Bryan) — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 08:05:00 -0700

On November 6th, in my post “More Outdoor Pictures, November 6, 2009”, there were two pictures sent to me by one of my softball teammates, Everett Sims, of a ten point, buck. In July the buck was still in velvet.

The other picture showed the ten pointer with another nice buck, an eight pointer.

Last month while we were playing softball in Phoenix, he told me about this buck and that he and his son were going to get it when the season opened and, sure enough, his boast became a true statement this past weekend. When I received the pictures of the deer, I e-mailed him for confirmation that this was the ten pointer and his reply was, “We got him!”

Ev’s Son poses with his very nice, buck. A definite high fiver!

Deer Watching

jbryan@centex.net (Jon Bryan) — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 08:05:00 -0700

Deciding to pass on the Veterans Day festivities, I got up early on Wednesday the eleventh and was getting ready to go to Georgetown and play softball when I walked to the picture window in our kitchen and looked out over the cut, hay field.

To my surprise, in the before sun up, haze, there walking down the fence row, obviously looking for a doe, was a nice eight point buck! He was a young one, three and a half years old with horns well outside his ears and a tall rack. Not much mass, but a real pretty animal!

The deer continued on his way and against the heavy brush two hundred yards across the field, I saw movement and a closer look with the binocs, proved it to be a big, buck, much larger than the “fence walker”. The big boy sensed I was looking at him and broke into a trot, never giving me a look at the size of his rack, only it looked to be half again as tall and much heavier that the first one.

Both my camera and rifle were in our old, ranch house. Such is life! Someone said, “The best blind is your back porch!”

Getting home Wednesday afternoon in time for the PM hunt, with a pulled ham string, thanks to softball, I hurried out to an unused blind on the backside of my property that overlooked a well used deer trail. Taking along a freezer pack, I sat that under my pulled “hammy” for the two hours of my hunt.

Just before dusk, along came a most unusual deer, only six points, but with tall horns that were at least six inches outside his ear. Needing to be in Killeen at 8:30 PM to pick Layla up at the airport, she was returning from a softball executives meeting, I passed on the buck and couldn’t even get my camera up for a “shot”.

All I got was a cold leg!

Like Father, Like Sons

jbryan@centex.net (Jon Bryan) — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 08:05:00 -0700

Randy shot his first deer when he was twelve years old. In 1978, in a drawing held by the Georgia Game and Fish Department, he and I were chosen by the state to participate in a special youth hunt on Georgia’s, Sapelo Island.

After the drawing, we hied ourselves off to Oshman’s, Dunwoody store and including two boxes of ammunition, I bought him a Remington, Mohawk 660 rifle in .243 caliber, with a 3X9, Weaver Scope, all for under $250.00. The next afternoon we sighted the rifle and scope in on the range at the River Bend Gun Club and it shot right on the money.

On Sapelo Island, one shot, bagged the nice, spike, shown below.

Twenty-five years later, Randy’s oldest Son, Austin, at the time age eight, shot this spike, with one shot, on his first hunt using his Dad’s rifle. The deer was shot out of The Scaffold Blind on our ranch.

This year, taking advantage of our State’s Special Youth Hunt, Randy and his middle Son, Sean, were in Maw-Maw’s Blind on the ranch and he shot this spike. One shot was all it took!

The same Remington, 660, with the same 3X9 Weaver scope, over a thirty-one year period, bagged all three deer, all with one shot! This little rifle is amazing, no recoil, deadly accurate and has dispatched over thirty deer!

I’m sure that in five or six more years, Randy’s youngest Son, Jeremy, will duplicate this feat and with another one shot kill!

Deer Season Opener, 2009

jbryan@centex.net (Jon Bryan) — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 08:05:00 -0700

Because Layla told me Friday night that I should try her blind, Maw-Maw’s Blind, for my brief opening morning hunt, like a good husband, I did what I was told. After an hour and only seeing a yearling, deer, I called it quits. Then I was off to watch Grandkids and their athletic adventures.

Getting back in time for the afternoon hunt, I didn’t see any horns, but I got some nice, “shots” of deer gathered around the feeder close to a tree stand. Seeing probably a dozen does and yearlings this just whetted my appetite.

Sunday morning Sara, Brad’s Daughter, and her boyfriend, J.T. came over from Copperas Cove and went to Church with me. After a good lunch at Peabody’s, a local café, recognized around our fine State for their cakes, pies and good food, we went back to the ranch and spent the afternoon shooting, so no hunting Sunday.

This morning Layla will fly out of Killeen to attend a softball executives meeting, so no hunting then. However, this afternoon I’ll be back in the tree stand and maybe I’ll get a real shot!