West Texas Homecoming (A little long)
I finally got to leave work around 1300 Sunday December 10th for the twelve hour drive from Denver to my buddy's place in Sheffield. After nine hours I had all I cound handle and stopped in Carlsbad NM for the night. I woke up early, hell I really didn't sleep much at all thanks to my noisy neighbors and being so ready to be back in Texas. The 200 mile drive always seems like it takes forever but I always get a kick out of this hill right off the north side of I-10 inbetween Fort Stockton and Sheffield. I got a real surprise when I stopped in Fort Stockton to get my license. The great state of Texas now gives the Sportsmans Combo to all Active Duty Texas residents for FREE!
I finally got to the ranch around 9:30 Monday morning and after saying hello to Herbie and Dian it was off to make sure my bow was still shooting straight. We headed out that first evening to the Cripple Goose pasture. We saw quite a few deer that evening including an eight pointer that should be pretty nice in a few years. It started getting late and Stephen suggested I shoot this seven point cull. I got a complete pass-thru but not much of a blood trail. After finding only a few drops I decided to just start fanning out and concentrating on the large clumps of mesquite. The whole time I was having flash-backs to my first evening hunt the prior year when I shot a doe I never found. After about an hour of searching I finally found him.
We hunted Tuesday but I was holding out for a mature doe or a buck that was better than last years. We saw lots, but nothing that made me want to get my hands dirty.
Wednesday morning was pretty cold and since Stephen had dad duties I decided to hunt a stand right behind the house. I got in the stand a little more than an hour before daylight. I had just pulled my bow up and was putting out a scent bomb when I had a deer come in just to my left. I thought I had been busted but he just milled around waiting on the feeder. It went off around 0650 and instantly there were three bucks and four doe crunching away. It was still a good twenty minutes until good shooting light when a real nice 11 point came in. He walked right under my stand and I noticed that his antlers were almost perfectly heart shaped. He chased every one of the doe around and took off before I had enough light to take a shot. When the deer started to filter out I decided to take a doe. She heard the squeek of my rest as I drew and became fully alert that something was up. She ducked the arrow and I ended up hitting her square in the spine. After a follow-up shot that missed I was finally able to make a good shot and put her down for good.
The middle of the day was filled with chores, it just doesn't get any better than snaking a toilet! We also needed to move some sheep into another pasture. Things have changed quite a bit since my high school days when all the gathering was done horseback, now it's 4-wheelers all around. I got a phone call from work while we were out saying that I was on a short list to go to Iraq for 400 and some odd days. Needless to say it put a damper on the day!
I showered up and went back out around 1500. I was going to hunt that evening from a stand in an old windmill. I made the white knuckle climb and pulled up my gear and again had deer coming in right away. They would walk around the pen sniffing for corn and then duck back into the brush. I thought my afternoon was going to be ruined when about twenty sheep started busting through the brush to my left. Luckily, there was a fence that I didn't know about. Stephens brother Quatro, had told me he had seen a real nice buck at this stand the night before so I really didn't get too worked up when a few pretty nice bucks came in. I wasn't in the stand for an hour when the best deer I had seen the whole trip came in. As soon as I saw him I was getting situated for the shot. After about ten minutes he was finally broadside with nothing behind him. In the heat of the moment I forgot to compensate for him being so close (15 yds) and for the second time in the same day I hit him in the spine. Once again, I had to make a follow-up shot.
I climbed down and went back to my truck to call Stephen for some help. I took a few pics before he got there and got all my gear back in the truck. I didn't think about it until we had my deer hung in the barn but in all the pictures, I was without my bow. This is by far the best buck I have ever taken with gun or bow.
I would like to thank Herbie and Dian Noelke for their hospitality and my long-time friend Stephen Langohr for taking the time off to hunt with me. I got notified Monday the 18th that I had been selected to deploy to Iraq. Lucky for me (sounds kinda crazy) my orders were changed to go to Afgahnistan instead, but I will not return until April 2008. I guess my best deer to date will remain that way for a while.
Thanks for taking the time to read my long winded post.....
I finally got to the ranch around 9:30 Monday morning and after saying hello to Herbie and Dian it was off to make sure my bow was still shooting straight. We headed out that first evening to the Cripple Goose pasture. We saw quite a few deer that evening including an eight pointer that should be pretty nice in a few years. It started getting late and Stephen suggested I shoot this seven point cull. I got a complete pass-thru but not much of a blood trail. After finding only a few drops I decided to just start fanning out and concentrating on the large clumps of mesquite. The whole time I was having flash-backs to my first evening hunt the prior year when I shot a doe I never found. After about an hour of searching I finally found him.
We hunted Tuesday but I was holding out for a mature doe or a buck that was better than last years. We saw lots, but nothing that made me want to get my hands dirty.
Wednesday morning was pretty cold and since Stephen had dad duties I decided to hunt a stand right behind the house. I got in the stand a little more than an hour before daylight. I had just pulled my bow up and was putting out a scent bomb when I had a deer come in just to my left. I thought I had been busted but he just milled around waiting on the feeder. It went off around 0650 and instantly there were three bucks and four doe crunching away. It was still a good twenty minutes until good shooting light when a real nice 11 point came in. He walked right under my stand and I noticed that his antlers were almost perfectly heart shaped. He chased every one of the doe around and took off before I had enough light to take a shot. When the deer started to filter out I decided to take a doe. She heard the squeek of my rest as I drew and became fully alert that something was up. She ducked the arrow and I ended up hitting her square in the spine. After a follow-up shot that missed I was finally able to make a good shot and put her down for good.
The middle of the day was filled with chores, it just doesn't get any better than snaking a toilet! We also needed to move some sheep into another pasture. Things have changed quite a bit since my high school days when all the gathering was done horseback, now it's 4-wheelers all around. I got a phone call from work while we were out saying that I was on a short list to go to Iraq for 400 and some odd days. Needless to say it put a damper on the day!
I showered up and went back out around 1500. I was going to hunt that evening from a stand in an old windmill. I made the white knuckle climb and pulled up my gear and again had deer coming in right away. They would walk around the pen sniffing for corn and then duck back into the brush. I thought my afternoon was going to be ruined when about twenty sheep started busting through the brush to my left. Luckily, there was a fence that I didn't know about. Stephens brother Quatro, had told me he had seen a real nice buck at this stand the night before so I really didn't get too worked up when a few pretty nice bucks came in. I wasn't in the stand for an hour when the best deer I had seen the whole trip came in. As soon as I saw him I was getting situated for the shot. After about ten minutes he was finally broadside with nothing behind him. In the heat of the moment I forgot to compensate for him being so close (15 yds) and for the second time in the same day I hit him in the spine. Once again, I had to make a follow-up shot.
I climbed down and went back to my truck to call Stephen for some help. I took a few pics before he got there and got all my gear back in the truck. I didn't think about it until we had my deer hung in the barn but in all the pictures, I was without my bow. This is by far the best buck I have ever taken with gun or bow.
I would like to thank Herbie and Dian Noelke for their hospitality and my long-time friend Stephen Langohr for taking the time off to hunt with me. I got notified Monday the 18th that I had been selected to deploy to Iraq. Lucky for me (sounds kinda crazy) my orders were changed to go to Afgahnistan instead, but I will not return until April 2008. I guess my best deer to date will remain that way for a while.
Thanks for taking the time to read my long winded post.....
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