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Glenn, Don and I arrived
Victoria around 12:00. Michael wasn't expected in
until around 7:00 in the evening. After checking
to the luxurious Linden Hill Motel, we headed for Coleto
Creek Park.
At the park, we stopped at the Ranger's Station to
get our permits and any final instructions for the
hunt. We were notified that we would be allowed to
hunt Area B, which is the unit furthest from the
lake. We were told that the population density for
the lake was around 1 deer for every 3 acres.
Given we are allowed to hunt approximately 500 acres,
this means we should have nearly 167 deer in our
area. That's extremely dense as far as deer
populations go. For this hunt, we are allowed two
does each with unlimited hogs. After hearing about
the density of deer in the park, our spirits soared.
Our first impression of the property was that the
area had been cleared in the past. There are no
oak trees of any size other than those along the
fenceline borders, on the private side of the
fence. Being on the ground would probably be our
best bet for attacking these whitetails.
We quickly ventured down the main road, stopping
about 300 yards from the dead end. We began
walking down the road towards its end, contemplating
where to begin our scouting efforts. After walking
about 100 yards, we swung right off of the embanked road
and wandered into the brush. In most places, the
standing water was at least three inches deep and the
deer trails were everywhere. Tracks in the mud and
standing pools made deciding on stand locations
tricky. We followed what appeared to be a main
trail until it dead ended into a mowed road at the
property's east border. Once stepping into the
road, we decided we had found a hot spot. Fresh
tracks ran up and down the road at the point where the
trail met the road. We decided to place Don's ICE
Blind 20 yards off of the road where he could shoot
towards the north/south road and the east/west main
trail.
While Don retrieved his blind, Glenn and I kept
searching. We located a nice funnel area at
a corner in the fence on the property border. With
a nice sized mesquite to offer concealment, we placed
Michael's ICE Blind approximately 15 yards from the
corner of the fence.
Once we had Don and Michael's stands placed, we only
needed to get stands set for Glenn and I. We
trecked further south on the property along the east
border. Noticing an awesome amount of trails
crossing the border fence, we decided to follow the
trails to determine some decent ambush spots. We
immediately decided to place Glenn's ICE Blind on an
embankment overlooking a pipeline clearing. We
worked our way back towards the truck. About 100
yards from Glenn's spot, I found a nice sized mesquite
tree that would allow me to place my swivel limb in a
spot twenty yards from the same pipeline. Once the
stand was placed as well as a ladder stand near a tee in
some park roads, the scouting was over.
While waiting for Glenn and I to return to the truck,
Don watched close to a dozen deer cross the road where
his stand was located. He also watched as two hogs
made their way across the sendero. We saw plenty
of sign and several deer. This place holds
promise. Tomorrow morning is expected to be cold,
and wet. We're hoping the rains will not come, but
we'll give it our best regardless. |
