Adjam5 Posted January 31, 2016 Report Share Posted January 31, 2016 Ok...Had to wait until I got home to post. Back in this commy state I was born in , but will NOT retire in. Dodged a HUGE snow storm while I was in Texas also. Poor wife had to shovel herself out. My boys took care of the 15" of snow. I spent 10 days improving my property in Harper, Tx filling feeders, hunting Axis and hogs and playing with some of the toys we have on our trust. I have incredible friends in the area that grant me permission to hunt incredible areas filled with free ranging game. It helps that I'm an electrician and they need electrical work done. Always when I show up for some reason All of the game I have hunted in Texas the last 8 years has been free(no cost) and free range animals. My cousin has this special Axis honey hole in Kerrville and it is almost like a super market to go get meat whenever we want. Just have to keep the feeders full and foliage trimmed. Got in on Jan 18th to Houston. Got off plane and we headed to Radical Firearms. Got some goodies there and found out they sold over 11,000 AR uppers in the last 12 weeks! Talk about a popular product! We were finished there and headed out to the ranch in Harper. My cousin has a small high fence ranch(16acs) cross the road from my place where he raises whitetail and exotics. No hunting on his place. They are strictly investments for him to sell at auction when they are mature. I have helped him dart and capture some in the past. What a experience! The 19th, we were on stand in Kerrville and the feeder goes off at 7am and 25-30 axis and whitetail show up. The only shootable buck was the one I shot. Not a giant, but the largest Axis buck of the bunch. Bang. The buck drops and the herd takes off, except one lone doe. I load another 25-06 shell in the Encore and shoot her also. It looked like she dropped right over a berm. When we went to recover her she flipped over and into the Guadalupe river. Guess who went swimming? We got her up and out of the drink and the buck up to the processor(Rhodes Taxidermy in Kerrville). Free range and free baby! 30" plus Axis have been taken from this spot, so it is just a matter of timing of when you are there with a weapon. Now it was time to concentrate on a hog(s). We put out a few calls and was invited to help out a ranch owner off of 27 in Mountain Home who has been getting his fences broken and his black buck feed eaten up daily by a big boar he has been getting on cam. I was stoked! Boar was coming in between 11pm and 1am. I sat 3 nights in two different stands from 9pm to 2;30am with nothing but deer coming to feeder. Was starting to get discouraged. Light by feeder was put in all wrong and was facing the blind. Which when looking through scope all you saw was a star burst effect. I told ranch owner and he adjusted it and I stayed away for 2 nights. Got back in stand weds the 27th at 7pm. Light was right by feeder, but it wasn't needed. My cousin wanted to sit with me. We are there 10 mins and he starts eating peanuts with a loud crackling bag. I look over and say ...."really?" He puts peanuts away. 30 mins later his phone starts quacking and the light going off. Really? He silences phone and says sorry. I'm feeling like he is trying to sabotage this hunt, but I'm trying to stay cool because all I have here in Texas is due to his kindness and generosity. But I'm still breathing heavy like I'm mad. He noticed and apologized again. Not 30 minutes later...His other phone (business line) goes off. Quack! Quack! Quack! with strobe light. He silences phone and says he NEVER gets calls on that phone at night. Can't say that anymore. I'm feeling like all is lost now and just was not feeling it to be a good night. 20 mins later we are both tapping each other about the hog in the shadows. It trotted past the feeder stopped for a second. Moved another 20 yards and stopped. The Ziess Conquest 3x9x50 lit up the sight picture even though the hog was no where near the feeder light. Grabbing all of the light from the Texas sky. The 25-06 barked and it took off. We gave it 15 minutes and started looking. It died about 30 yards into the brush and I found him laying under a cedar. High fives! My pissy mood just went out the window and I was loving on my cousin again The ranch owner was tickled silly I shot the big boar and would have been happy with me shooting any hog on his ranch. But this one was eating a deer block a night on him. He said it was one of the biggest boars he has ever seen taken in the Harper/Ingram area. As a thank you for letting me hunt his land several nights I bought him 10 bags of corn for his feeders. We brought he boar to Rhodes Taxidermy in Kerrville. Took some pics and had him weighed. 205 dressed.. I took a pic next to it for size comparison. I am 5'10" 230lbs.. Those are 2x8's on the deck pig is laying on. I was surprised myself of its weight. Great cutters on this bad boy. I am doing a shoulder mount. The view from the stand. Hog in carrier. Then we started having some fun playing with the toys(surpressed rifles and pistols) on the trust. Now that meat was in the freezer My best trip to Texas yet! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhunt Posted January 31, 2016 Report Share Posted January 31, 2016 Looks like a good and productive trip. Congratulations Anthony. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fly Posted February 1, 2016 Report Share Posted February 1, 2016 Love the antler configuration on a mature axis. Looks like a fun trip. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MUDRUNNER Posted February 1, 2016 Report Share Posted February 1, 2016 Man, you did it all on that trip. Congrats! That axis buck is beautiful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adjam5 Posted February 1, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 1, 2016 Thanks guys. I am still grinning from ear to ear. Axis is great eating. A bit sweeter than whitetail and the meat is more pinkish red than the red purple that whitetail is. I know many states have great hunting opportunities. But out of the states I have hunted. NY, S.Carolina, Georgia and Texas. So far Texas has stole my heart. In Kerrville, the main town close to my property there in Harper. The Police cars have buck deer heads on them! The local high school football team is called the Antlers. Just about every gas station sells and rents towable walk in coolers for game storage. Butcher shops sell ammo, and everyone is hunter/gun friendly in the Hill Country. It may be different in Austin. That city is like Texas' San Francisco. But the Hill country is a very amazing place and I cannot wait to retire there and build on my property I bought 3 years ago and cannot wait to get out of this commy/nanny state of NY. Where else is there such a plethora of game that can be hunted day or night, with out limit with any weapon? To make hunts affordable for for hunters hunting invasive species like hogs and Axis. The Texas Parks and Wildlife keeps the non resident tag 5 day license for exotics to $48. That my friends is a steal. Resident deer hunters get 10 tags for whitetail and Muleys. Texas is the state with the largest whitetail population in the USA. Estimated at over 4,000,000. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colorado bob Posted February 1, 2016 Report Share Posted February 1, 2016 How many acres do you have there? I like the Kerrville area. I'm headed to TX for a hog hunt in March. South TX is nice this time of year-----just wait till summer. There is a reason they all come up to Colorado for the summer vacation Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adjam5 Posted February 2, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 2, 2016 How many acres do you have there? I like the Kerrville area. I'm headed to TX for a hog hunt in March. South TX is nice this time of year-----just wait till summer. There is a reason they all come up to Colorado for the summer vacation Hey Bob...I have 6.5 acres in Harper. Right on the border of Kerr and Gillespie county. I am in the middle of huge low fence ranches that have 100's of acres. My cousin cross the road has a high fence in which he raises whitetail and exotics for auction. No hunting on his land. His deer bring in wild deer and loads of free ranging exotics. One of my good friends shot the #1 SCI Reeves Muntjac in North America on my property. He is in the book. A few months later I shot another Muntjac buck there also. Not a record book one, but it was free range and I have never taken a Muntjac before. I Have not hunted whitetails on my land yet. But I let a few neighbors hunt it while I am not there. They have taken a few good ones. I also had my cousin day lease it and make me a few $ . Covered my monsterous tax bill of $148 . I was there Last April and felt some of that heat you were talking about. But I have come to this determination about the weather there. Here in NY when it is cold, where am I? In the heat. In NY when it is hot...Where am I? In the AC. The same will apply in the Hill country. Plus electricity is MUCH cheaper there in a Co-op. I'll be retired and will not have much to do anyway. So it works for me. Plus access to special spots where hogs and Axis are free and free range. Does it get better than that? I am down there at least 2X a year and have developed friendships that will carry on. I feel like I belong there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ravin R10 man Posted February 2, 2016 Report Share Posted February 2, 2016 Great story adam and pics!! Only thing I would not care for is the snakes and Africaized bees Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevebeilgard Posted February 2, 2016 Report Share Posted February 2, 2016 very nice harvest there, anthony. way to go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adjam5 Posted February 2, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 2, 2016 Great story adam and pics!! Only thing I would not care for is the snakes and Africaized bees Thank you. My screen name is ADjam5 is a acronym for Anthony,Dawn,joseph,anthony,michael. 5 of us. I have not seen any snakes and I went looking for them but I did manage to find a colony of these bad boys flipping rocks and stuff on my land. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adjam5 Posted February 2, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 2, 2016 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adjam5 Posted February 2, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 2, 2016 That is a 22 shell next to it.Killed them all before I left. Ill be hunting for Rios down there in the spring. I don't want to sit on ANY scorpions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colorado bob Posted February 2, 2016 Report Share Posted February 2, 2016 Have you had any of that hog yet? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ravin R10 man Posted February 3, 2016 Report Share Posted February 3, 2016 Ok Anthony I'll try to remember..you dont go by Tony? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adjam5 Posted February 3, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 3, 2016 Have you had any of that hog yet? No sir. That boar stunk to high heaven. Had testes the size of avocados. Mature males are not good eating. Hormone loaded and smelly. Meat is tough and has a odor that few can handle while consuming. I let the meat cutters who processed my Axis and boar have it. But I have eaten some of my Axis. Much sweeter than whitetail venison. Axis on left ,Whitetail on right. Both back straps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adjam5 Posted February 3, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 3, 2016 Ok Anthony I'll try to remember..you dont go by Tony? Sure you can call me Tony. I was always Anthony and my Dad was Tony and my son Anthony 3rd, we call AJ. Yes Tony is fine. Dad is in the next life, so I moved up to Tony Just don't call me late for dinner. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Bug House Posted February 4, 2016 Report Share Posted February 4, 2016 "Back in this commy state" .. Got that right!! Love my families Camp in the ADK's but hate that it's under the thumb of NYS Government. Been a decade since I left, Looks like a great trip .... and a great retirement plan! I'm only 24 years out! lol 2040 is my year. With any luck I'll be in a similiar boat .. probably Florida however, lots of family connections etc. I got a ~90lb Boar Hog in Fl a couple years ago .. he was good eating I thought..... Congrats on a great trip! BTW: didn't get one flake of that snowstorm here in Vermont! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RangerClay Posted February 4, 2016 Report Share Posted February 4, 2016 Thanks Pigman for texting me the pictures I cannot see them on my school computer. Great story! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhino Posted February 5, 2016 Report Share Posted February 5, 2016 Congratulations Anthony...looks like you filled up the freezer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adjam5 Posted February 13, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 13, 2016 I came back to read this story about those hunts. Man am I missing the mild weather. It got cold at night when the sun went down, but it was short sleeve weather during the day. We are expecting wicked winds and crazy low temps here and I am asking myself and MY wife...'What the heck are we still doing in NY when it is 74 and sunny in The Hill Country? " She said..."You have 2 in college silly, shut up and go back on your computer" Gotta love her. BTW going with a straight forward facing shoulder mount with the boar. My cousin will be driving up this November to hunt up here. He will bring it with him then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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