Fort Stockton, Texas 2008
This years trip to Stockton started a day earlier than normal. We loaded the jeeps and headed down on Monday afternoon instead of leaving on Tuesday. We spent the night in Odessa and got up Tuesday and headed for the Fort Stockton airport to pick up the rest of the group. We finally made it into camp Tuesday afternoon. We got everything unloaded and hopped in the jeeps for an afternoon run around the ranch. The Porter Ranch is huge we have been hunting 110,000 acres in the past but this year they picked up a little more property that upped the total to 160,000 acres. We all just cruised around the ranch roads not really hunting but scouting the areas we would be hunting the rest of the week. We were all back at camp shortly after dark. At 5:00 am the guy who puts on the hunt made the rounds beating on the sides of the sleeping shacks with a stick then turning on the lights. Breakfast was served at 5:30 and we all headed out for the morning hunt. At this ranch you hunt by driving around up on the ridges and glassing the flats. The ranch has several feeders but the rut was in full swing and the deer were not coming to the feeders. This made all the rifle hunters get out and hunt they couldn’t just go set up on a feeder and wait on a good buck to come in. We had 3 jeeps with 4 people in each jeep and I went off and did my own thing since I was the only one bow hunting in our group. I worked an area of the ranch that is known as the old camp pasture the first morning. Around 9:00 am I found what I thought was a small group of javelina milling around a cedar brush flat. They were about 200 yards from me so I slowly worked my way toward them. When I was 30 yards from the first javi I came to full draw and settled my 30 yard pin tight behind his shoulder and let the Rage tipped arrow fly. It hit him exactly were I was aiming and he ran a tight circle then spun a complete circle before piling up in a cedar bush 10 yards from were I shot him. Like I said I thought it was a small group until the one I shot started running his circle. Javi’s came from everywhere and jumped on him until they realized I was there then they charged me. My rifle was in the jeep 200 yards away and I was pretty sure I couldn’t out run them and there wasn’t anything to climb anywhere close so I stood my ground. I had an arrow nocked so I came to full draw and settled my 20 yard pin on the leaders chest and let the arrow fly. The lead javi dropped and the rest of the group beat feet out of the area. I stood there shaking cause I was pretty sure that I was gonna get eat up by the herd cause I didn’t think they would stop when I shot the one leading the charge. The rest of the morning passed without any more excitement. I saw lots of deer and worked my way into bow range of a few small bucks and a couple of decent ones but I didn’t see anything I wanted to shoot so I headed back to camp about 11:00 am. I headed back out to hunt at around 3:00 pm hoping to find a big mature doe or a good buck to shoot at. I got set up on a trail that the deer were using to go to water and waited for something to come along. I saw a few small bucks and a doe with a young button buck with her then just before dark a herd of sheep moved in to the water and that pretty much ended my evening hunt. Since it was 30 minute drive back to camp I headed back right at dark. Thursday morning started the same way as the day before with the stick being pounded on the shacks. I decided to set up in an area of the old camp pasture between a water hole and a feeder down in the flat hoping that a good buck would come in range. I sat and watched several decent young bucks chasing does around the flat and finally had a nice 8 point buck slip into the area but he stayed on the edges of the flat and wouldn’t come onto range. I watched deer until about 11:00 am then headed back to camp for lunch. I decided to head back to the same area that evening hoping to get a shot at the nice 8 I had seen that morning. The afternoon and evening pretty much went the same as the morning with young bucks chasing does around. I didn’t see the 8 but I finally had a big mature doe come in bow range. I had not seen any bucks chasing her so I decided to shoot her. I came to full draw and settled my 30 yard pin tight behind her shoulder and let the arrow fly. Just about the time I released the arrow a big gust of wind hit and pushed my arrow a little farther back than I wanted it but fortunately the Rage caught the edge of her lungs and her liver. She trotted off about 20 yards then piled up. I got her taken care of loaded her on the jeep and headed back to camp. There were a few bucks brought into camp but nothing great. Friday morning started the same with the stick being beat on the shacks and breakfast at 5:30. I had my Marlin 45-70 Guide rifle with me that I had not killed a deer with so I took it out and left my bow at camp. Just as it was getting light I pulled up to a water hole and I saw a deer milling around the area. I looked at it through my binoculars and saw that it was a decent buck but he moved off into the brush before I could decide if I wanted to shoot him or not. I pulled on through to the gate and got out and opened the gate. As I was walking back to the jeep I saw the buck come back out of the brush following 2 Mule deer doe. I grabbed my rifle and looked at him through the scope and saw the biggest buck I had seen to this point of the trip. He was standing uphill quartering away so I put the cross hairs on the middle of his ribcage and squeezed the trigger. I am pretty sure that he didn’t fall down but that the 325 grain 45-70 bullet knocked him down because he just disappeared from sight instantly. I drove over to him and saw that I had hit him were I wanted and the bullet had exited through his offside shoulder. I took some pictures then field dressed him and loaded him on the jeep. I drove around for awhile then headed on back to the camp. That afternoon I took a group of hunters out that needed to get a buck and 2 does. We headed over to section of the ranch known as the A.C.U. looking for a big buck I had seen in that area during the scouting day. We had only made it a little way into the area when we found a nice 8 point standing at a water hole. The hunter needing the buck smoked him through the shoulder with a 300 mag. And he went down. We took pictures then I field dressed the buck and we headed on into the A.C.U. looking for a couple of does. We didn’t find anything there so we headed for the area of the ranch called the Mansfield. We came up on a couple of doe at a water trough and one of the guys that needed a doe was getting ready to take a shot when I saw a badger take off out from under a cedar bush. I grabbed my 45-70 and shot the badger then we shot the doe and our hunt was over. We took pictures and field dressed the doe then loaded both the doe and badger in the jeep and headed for camp.
This years trip to Stockton started a day earlier than normal. We loaded the jeeps and headed down on Monday afternoon instead of leaving on Tuesday. We spent the night in Odessa and got up Tuesday and headed for the Fort Stockton airport to pick up the rest of the group. We finally made it into camp Tuesday afternoon. We got everything unloaded and hopped in the jeeps for an afternoon run around the ranch. The Porter Ranch is huge we have been hunting 110,000 acres in the past but this year they picked up a little more property that upped the total to 160,000 acres. We all just cruised around the ranch roads not really hunting but scouting the areas we would be hunting the rest of the week. We were all back at camp shortly after dark. At 5:00 am the guy who puts on the hunt made the rounds beating on the sides of the sleeping shacks with a stick then turning on the lights. Breakfast was served at 5:30 and we all headed out for the morning hunt. At this ranch you hunt by driving around up on the ridges and glassing the flats. The ranch has several feeders but the rut was in full swing and the deer were not coming to the feeders. This made all the rifle hunters get out and hunt they couldn’t just go set up on a feeder and wait on a good buck to come in. We had 3 jeeps with 4 people in each jeep and I went off and did my own thing since I was the only one bow hunting in our group. I worked an area of the ranch that is known as the old camp pasture the first morning. Around 9:00 am I found what I thought was a small group of javelina milling around a cedar brush flat. They were about 200 yards from me so I slowly worked my way toward them. When I was 30 yards from the first javi I came to full draw and settled my 30 yard pin tight behind his shoulder and let the Rage tipped arrow fly. It hit him exactly were I was aiming and he ran a tight circle then spun a complete circle before piling up in a cedar bush 10 yards from were I shot him. Like I said I thought it was a small group until the one I shot started running his circle. Javi’s came from everywhere and jumped on him until they realized I was there then they charged me. My rifle was in the jeep 200 yards away and I was pretty sure I couldn’t out run them and there wasn’t anything to climb anywhere close so I stood my ground. I had an arrow nocked so I came to full draw and settled my 20 yard pin on the leaders chest and let the arrow fly. The lead javi dropped and the rest of the group beat feet out of the area. I stood there shaking cause I was pretty sure that I was gonna get eat up by the herd cause I didn’t think they would stop when I shot the one leading the charge. The rest of the morning passed without any more excitement. I saw lots of deer and worked my way into bow range of a few small bucks and a couple of decent ones but I didn’t see anything I wanted to shoot so I headed back to camp about 11:00 am. I headed back out to hunt at around 3:00 pm hoping to find a big mature doe or a good buck to shoot at. I got set up on a trail that the deer were using to go to water and waited for something to come along. I saw a few small bucks and a doe with a young button buck with her then just before dark a herd of sheep moved in to the water and that pretty much ended my evening hunt. Since it was 30 minute drive back to camp I headed back right at dark. Thursday morning started the same way as the day before with the stick being pounded on the shacks. I decided to set up in an area of the old camp pasture between a water hole and a feeder down in the flat hoping that a good buck would come in range. I sat and watched several decent young bucks chasing does around the flat and finally had a nice 8 point buck slip into the area but he stayed on the edges of the flat and wouldn’t come onto range. I watched deer until about 11:00 am then headed back to camp for lunch. I decided to head back to the same area that evening hoping to get a shot at the nice 8 I had seen that morning. The afternoon and evening pretty much went the same as the morning with young bucks chasing does around. I didn’t see the 8 but I finally had a big mature doe come in bow range. I had not seen any bucks chasing her so I decided to shoot her. I came to full draw and settled my 30 yard pin tight behind her shoulder and let the arrow fly. Just about the time I released the arrow a big gust of wind hit and pushed my arrow a little farther back than I wanted it but fortunately the Rage caught the edge of her lungs and her liver. She trotted off about 20 yards then piled up. I got her taken care of loaded her on the jeep and headed back to camp. There were a few bucks brought into camp but nothing great. Friday morning started the same with the stick being beat on the shacks and breakfast at 5:30. I had my Marlin 45-70 Guide rifle with me that I had not killed a deer with so I took it out and left my bow at camp. Just as it was getting light I pulled up to a water hole and I saw a deer milling around the area. I looked at it through my binoculars and saw that it was a decent buck but he moved off into the brush before I could decide if I wanted to shoot him or not. I pulled on through to the gate and got out and opened the gate. As I was walking back to the jeep I saw the buck come back out of the brush following 2 Mule deer doe. I grabbed my rifle and looked at him through the scope and saw the biggest buck I had seen to this point of the trip. He was standing uphill quartering away so I put the cross hairs on the middle of his ribcage and squeezed the trigger. I am pretty sure that he didn’t fall down but that the 325 grain 45-70 bullet knocked him down because he just disappeared from sight instantly. I drove over to him and saw that I had hit him were I wanted and the bullet had exited through his offside shoulder. I took some pictures then field dressed him and loaded him on the jeep. I drove around for awhile then headed on back to the camp. That afternoon I took a group of hunters out that needed to get a buck and 2 does. We headed over to section of the ranch known as the A.C.U. looking for a big buck I had seen in that area during the scouting day. We had only made it a little way into the area when we found a nice 8 point standing at a water hole. The hunter needing the buck smoked him through the shoulder with a 300 mag. And he went down. We took pictures then I field dressed the buck and we headed on into the A.C.U. looking for a couple of does. We didn’t find anything there so we headed for the area of the ranch called the Mansfield. We came up on a couple of doe at a water trough and one of the guys that needed a doe was getting ready to take a shot when I saw a badger take off out from under a cedar bush. I grabbed my 45-70 and shot the badger then we shot the doe and our hunt was over. We took pictures and field dressed the doe then loaded both the doe and badger in the jeep and headed for camp.
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