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We spent the midday hours riding around the Stovall farm to see some of the
spots that Ben has talked about in his posts on TexasBowhunter.com.
What an awesome place! It's no wonder Ben spends so much time moving
treestands and trying to figure out the best place to hunt. Each tree
looks more promising than the last! Keith was right when he told Ben that
not many people have the money to afford a hunting place like this, but Chuck
said it best when he retorted "Not many people that have the money to hunt
a place like this are able to hunt a place like this."
Casey set up his homemade trail camera near the feeder close to the area he
and Keith had hunted this morning.
We decided, while we were out, to set up one of the two remaining tent
blinds. We set up Glenn's PT200 ICE Blind in a wooded area along the fence
in an area where Ben has heard birds before. Setting up an additional
blind would allow Keith and Casey to split up, providing us with additional
coverage to increase our odds of seeing birds. Just as we finished setting
up, it began to rain, so we quickly made our way back to the house, and then to
town for a bite to eat.
Casey headed back out earlier than the rest of us. He was hunting in
Keith's Lucky's Texas Special blind near a feeder, and Ben said that the birds
are normally at the feeder in the early afternoon. Shortly after his
arrival, he had a lone hen that came in to, presumably, pal around with the
decoy.
After awhile, she left, deciding that these gals were a little to snobbish
for her!
Keith hunted the new setup that we had put up earlier in the day, while Chuck
returned to his morning location, with a slight modification made by putting the
blind away from the edge of the woods toward the middle of the open
field.
Ben and I decided that, due to our close encounter this morning, our best bet
would be to return to my ICE Blind and attempt to redeem my earlier snafu that
prevented Ben from arrowing his first ever bird!
Fortunately, the breeze, though still blowing, had died down considerably
since this morning. However, the mosquitos were thick, and searched for
any possible location where we might have missed spraying with the Cactus Juice
that Larry Hill had overnighted to Ben the previous day! This trophy
skeeter, which will rival any at the 6B Ranch in South Texas, found an opening
in Ben's armor!
A quick application of Cactus Juice sealed it right up, however.
Unfortunately, save for a distant gobble at 6:45, this was about the only
flying variety critter we encountered the entire evening.
Keith and Chuck experienced similar fortune, except that Chuck actually saw a
bird walking down the road at a distance. I'm surprised he wasn't covered
up with birds, having forgotten Ben's camera at the house!
We returned to the Stovall home, where Ben's dad had fixed up some homemade
burgers! I asked the Stovalls if, when Jessica, Ben's older sister, moved
away for college, I could have her room. I think they actually thought I
was joking!
We're going to give it one more shot tomorrow morning, and I have a great
feeling that the birds will be upon us. Be sure to check back for details
around mid-morning!
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