Texan_Til_I_Die

I'll have to get a new hunting license. They go on sale next week. :toot:

Today is the 22nd consecutive day of 100+ and the 31st day of the year with 100+. Why oh why did I have to leave Alaska and come back to Texas?

I've been on several really fun (i.e. chatty) teams and a couple of boring ones. The fun teams make it all worthwhile for me. I totally enjoy following the other team members' seasons, especially the ones that get to hunt a lot. I also find it interesting to hear about the different styles and techniques of hunting that go on in different parts of the country. And hopefully my teammates don't find me too boring. And I'll 2nd the idea of NO PRIZES for winning. That's not why I play and I'm not interested in attracting the types of people who think they need some sort of prize.

I've done quite a bit of whitewater stuff in both kayaks and open deck canoes. My best advice for a tandem canoe is to have the person in the front put down their paddle, get off the seat and kneel down in the bottom of the boat and lock their arms on the sides to keep their weight exactly centered. Then the person in the back does all of the maneuvering. That way there's no indecision or fighting between the front and the back about which way to go. And yep, I've been under a few rivers. Just keep your feet pointed downstream and don't let go of your paddle.

I've used both the cattle type blocks and the Trophy Rock, and the deer would hit both. But since I've started feeding free choice protein, which contains a lot of trace minerals, the deer have really backed off on the mineral blocks. I guess their bodies know what they need and if they're getting it.

Loves me some outdoor fireplaces. Did you put a rear clean out on it? They're super handy!

One other question - Can you enter the property on the road from either direction? Looks like the prevailing south wind will be a problem if you enter from the south side. Every deer on the place will know exactly when someone shows up. I try to plan my stand locations AND my approaches around the wind direction. I have some stands that only get hunted in a south wind, and others that only get hunted in a north wind.

Watch for the signs. Sometimes they're there and easy to spot and sometimes not. If you do suspect someone is having trouble, make sure they get help.

Golf humor. Someone hit a bad shot that was going way off course, but it hit one of the spectators instead.

Dogs or maybe yotes. Nice job on the enhancing Dawg.

Oct 1 here, so it won't be me. Plus its still warm in early Oct so I won't be slinging any arrows unless it's a really good buck. I hate to mess with cleaning deer in warm weather.

92xj - while not illegal in Texas, placing stands directly on or in very close proximity to property lines is generally considered rude and un-neighborly. That's why you see Dawg's current positioning like it is. Dawg - what's the total acreage?

Read LCD, LED, Plasma HDTV Buying Guide - CNET Reviews - CNET Reviews it will help a lot.

I won't shoot a 1.5 (or 2.5 or 3.5) year old buck because I want my season to last longer than 30 minutes. If it's legal, then someone has the right to shoot whatever they want. But folks need to realize the potential impact of their choices if they're interested in improving overall herd quality or trophy potential.

Actually, its more like a balanced population of bucks and does that reaches, but doesn't exceed, the carrying capacity of the land. But you're right about one thing, people often confuse Quality Deer Management with Trophy Deer Management, and they are absolutely NOT the same thing. Under a successful QDM plan, there will be more and bigger bucks, mostly because there will be more bucks and they will be a year or two older than what normally gets killed. But to really grow a significant number of trophy bucks, you need a different plan. As to the original question, I've found that landowners and hunters tend to listen to the professionals more than to each other. Get a professional biologist with some good credentials involved and set up some face to face meetings where your prospective QDM folks can hear what he has to say and can in turn ask questions. Here in Texas, there is a regional biologist who's an employee of the state who will meet and help local farmers and ranchers develop a QDM plan for free.

I can tell you where Jeffery Foiles of Fallin' Skies fame is.......................IN JAIL!

Caught a prime example of media bias this morning while watching the CBS morning news program. They were discussing the shutdown of the state government in Minnesota due to the budget impasse, and the news person said something to the effect of "Democrats, including Governor Mark Dayton, blame the shutdown on the refusal of Republicans in the state's congress to raise taxes on the wealthy." That's not an exact quote, but it's very close. They then cut to a video of the governor saying basically the same thing. Then they ended the coverage of the item. I guess they couldn't find any Minnesota Republicans who were willing to go on camera and present their side? ......................NOT!

Note to self - Start thread in March of 2012 asking when the deer contest signup will start.

Of course there's media bias. The media is comprised of people and all people have opinions. Some may be better at controlling it than others, but it's virtually impossible to eliminate all bias from media. You usually see bias take three forms - What gets reported, what doesn't get reported, and how a report is delivered. If you want to see some examples, just go to youtube and look up Michele Bachmann or Sarah Palin. There are dozens and dozens of examples on there of those two giving excellent speeches and engaging in some very lively Q&A sessions with reporters. There are also a few examples of them making some colossal blunders. Now depending on the reporting party's desires, they can choose to emphasize the great interviews, or the blunders. And the exact same thing holds true for President Obama. He has his share of stirring speeches and also his share of idiotic statements. Watch the media outlets and see which gets the most play and you can easily determine who that particular media outlet supports. Its not difficult at all.

We've got several free choice protein feeders that we don't hunt, and also some corn feeders that we do. About the only time you see any mature bucks around the corn feeders is during the rut if they happen to cruise by looking for does. They don't come to the corn feeders to eat. The protein feeders get hit hard by both bucks and does, but we don't hunt them because we want the deer to feel comfortable and safe and hit them as often as possible. Those protein feeders can really help the herd's nutrition, especially during extreme drought conditions like we're seeing now.

Well, it's not a hunting trip, but I'm leaving next Monday for Alaska. Got a friend that keeps a boat up there in Petersburg and we're going to stay out on one of the islands and try to catch some halibut, ling cod, crabs and maybe some salmon if they're running. Really looking forward to a break from the 100+ degree temps we've been having all month!

Long guns around 6 or 7. Handguns around 10.

No such thing as the perfect rifle for all situations. What if I hunt (and I do) fields that are a mile from one end to the other? For that, I need a real long range launcher like a 300 RUM with a huge scope. But I also hunt some tight areas where 100 yards is about the maximum distance I'll ever shoot. I also like to spot and stalk, so I may be spending a lot of time on my feet traversing rugged terrain. I don't want to lug around some 12 pound rifle/scope when I'm doing this. And all of this is happening on just one of the three ranches I hunt. The other two provide even more, different opportunities. Here's what I've settled on. It's a compromise that will work in all of the above scenarios, but it's not really ideal for any of them. Savage 116 Weather Warrior Stainless Synthetic in 7mm Rem Mag topped with a Leupold VX-L 4.5x14x56 scope. This is an all weather rifle that's very rugged, fairly light weight, and still capable of shooting accurately out to 400 yards. Actually, it will probably shoot accurately father than that, but 400 is about my limit.

Oh yeah, I know where Spofford is. Watch out for southern visitors. If you have any nice box blinds, you may have to padlock them to keep the illegals from sleeping in them.

Let me look around on some of the fishing sites I use. I see good clean units for sale all the time. I'll let you know if I find something that looks like a good deal.