Adjam5 Posted March 18, 2008 Report Share Posted March 18, 2008 My son Joe and I just got back from The Lone Star state for 4 days hunting on 3 ranchs. The SW hill country, Kerrville and the Trans Pecos area, Iraan; a 40,000 acre ranch! See map pic. This was a lease that we had permission to hunt on. So very different than the hardwoods I hunt here back home. Enjoying every minute, even the smell of the air. I saw real live oil wells too:p. For a Yankee like myself I was lovin' it! I thought about the movie City Slickers:D We were chasing Rios, Javelina and free ranging Axis was a possibility also. What a time we had with a great friend who showed us awesome hospitality. We stopped off at the San Antonio Bass Pro shop after leaving the airport and was amazed at that store. We also stopped at the Texas Exotics Museum. Saw some incredible mounts there see pics. We also stopped at our friends Taxidermist buddy, Gary Rhodes Taxidermy in Kerrville. Boy does he do some nice work. See pics. My buddy has a 16 acre high fence property that he is stocking with animals. He just got a nice Tatonka female a few weeks ago and will have black buck and axis soon too. See pic. In between hunting Joe and I found many arrowheads, javelina, whitetail, muley skulls, antler sheds and meteorite rocks from showers they have there often. I felt a sense of hunting in the right place finding all these obsidian arrow heads. One rack we found was a 5pt muley's whose rear leg got caught on a fence line. Dead battery in digital camera prevented pics, we got pics later at camp of the head. We collected so many sheds and skulls I had to ship them back home. The minimum for a muley on this ranch in Iraan was 24" so you can imagine how big some of the sheds are that are found there we did OK. To see such barren land one would think there would be little life. But that desert was crawling with it. The deer, rabbits, turkey, fox, snakes, vultures, scorpions OHH MY! We used a Polaris ranger to get around the ranch and it took like 30-40 minutes to get close to some spots to hunt. There is a lot of land to cover. I think a quiet Badboy buggie would have been a stealthier approach, but with the amount of ground to cover the battery might go dead. Rios were the primary reason for our Texas trip. Joe hunted Axis in Kerrville Friday afternoon and did not see any. Saturday and Sunday we hunted Rios. I saw nothing Saturday but does and Joe called in a lone hen. We kicked up many birds driving around but could not close the deal I did get a shot off, I missed:( at a trotting fox that ran across our path as we were driving down the road. Being from NY, it was a funny feeling to be able to have loaded firearms in the vehicle during hunting season. That miss did cost me a shirt tail piece:D. Sunday Joe and hunted together and again did not see any birds until the afternoon. We sat at a watering trough and at least a dozen or so doe come in to water. The muleys were much much larger than the whitetails and did not interact at the hole. We were sitting in a cedar ground blind and were well concealed with our new Realtree HD Green camo:D. Then the turkeys came... about 25 hens. All hens:( every stinking one of 'em:mad:. They gave us a good show as did the deer and we shot some video too. The birds were roosting on the windmills and whatever trees were available. We did not harvest any birds, but spent some great times with a friend down there and again I got to hunt with one of my sons. I found Texas to be full of pride and friendly people. Lone Star flags flying everywhere. We cannot wait to get back down there and have another go at it. Maybe even retire there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beagleboy Posted March 18, 2008 Report Share Posted March 18, 2008 That must have been awesome hunting another state with your son. I can't wait for my little one to join me. Looks like you guys had a great time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoyt03 Posted March 18, 2008 Report Share Posted March 18, 2008 sounds like you had a great trip and made some great memories. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhino Posted March 19, 2008 Report Share Posted March 19, 2008 Glad to hear you had a good time. Sorry you didn't bag any rios. Hard to imagine 25 hens coming in with no boy friends hanging around. Nice pics. It sure looks like it's been dry around that part of Texas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toddyboman Posted March 19, 2008 Report Share Posted March 19, 2008 Cool pics!! Sounds like you guys had a great trip.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scotman Posted March 19, 2008 Report Share Posted March 19, 2008 Sounds like you guys primed the pump for our ny turkey season may 1st and a new set of memories. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leo Posted March 19, 2008 Report Share Posted March 19, 2008 Rio's aren't a slam dunk hunt. Neither are Axis deer on many of those Texas ranches. Big axis go nocturnal just like whitetails. In my opinion they are just as tough to hunt as whitetails. An Axis that has grown to trophy size surviving hunting pressure is a real trophy. Now that you've hunted them, you know. They are different and that makes them even more challenging. Axis are essentially completely immune to the pile of corn method used so often in Texas. In my experience, they don't eat corn unless they are starving. They actually prefer grass to corn! Baiting them though legal in Texas won't help you. Rio's are turkeys and they will go where they are going to go. Because the flocks are typically quite large you are either in the birds or you aren't. I agree with Rhino a big flock of hens without boyfriends in tow is unusual. Sounds like the gobblers were still in bachelor groups and not into breeding mode yet. This is a tough time to hunt turkeys anywhere. You're either in the birds or draw a blank. You still had a great time and a future return is already in the works, I'm sure. Success will be that much sweeter because of this hunt. The experience is worth a repeat try, I'm certain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest HoppeMan Posted March 19, 2008 Report Share Posted March 19, 2008 Sounds like an awesome trip! Those pictures were cool Take care, Nathan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HuntnMa Posted March 19, 2008 Report Share Posted March 19, 2008 i really enjoy keeping up with y'alls hunting adventures... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adjam5 Posted March 20, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 20, 2008 Thanks everyone..we are still on a Texas high. I just took apart that Mossberg 835 my son is holding in the picture and DANG! was that thing full of junk! It was so dry and dusty, the dirt just got everywhere. Leo you are soo right about Rios not being a slam dunk. There were roosts there of 200 and better birds. We saw recent pics of the roosts covered with birds and were all psyched up about it. No plant was higher than 2' and boy would those plants put a hurtin' on you. Cacti of all kind. we were introduced to the Horse crippler cactus. These spines were so hard they can cripple a horse...AND I am told, they are protected plants too! So the rancher cannot eliminate them. As far as the hens with no toms, I too have never seen so many hens with no boys in the group. Not even jakes! We were very close to these birds and there was no mistake about those ugly gray heads putting and clucking around the water hole. But with that many birds it also presented a problem of that many eyes to fool and hitting other birds with the shot. You'd think lots of birds easy kill...right? WRONG! It really ups the game a bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doubleA Posted March 20, 2008 Report Share Posted March 20, 2008 I live here in South Texas and this year the season opened up nearly 2 weeks earlier than normal. On my place I have a couple of different flocks and I have been roosting them regularly. The toms are indeed breeding hens as I have seen several do so. The gobblers are very much "henned " as far as I can see. They are still running as a groups and are staying with the hens. The gobblers are not responding to any calls I have been throwing other than some shock or courtesy gobbling. The weather hasnt been all that great for turkey hunting as it was very windy this past weekend and the rain came in Sunday. I think I am going to lay low for the next week or so and give the birds some time. I am sure as the hens get bred and seperate from the others the gobblers are going to start getting lonely. As of right now, they have everything they need. I did dispatch a tom that was injured with a broken leg and his other one was slightly deformed.It looked as if it was in a fight with a coyote or something as it was pretty beaten up. Saturday I had and missed a great chance at bagging a nice gobbler or 2 but was caught in a position where I could not do anything but watch 10 long beards and countless hens walk away. I actually could have put salt on their tails as my father would say with some only 2-3 yards from me, I was dissapointed with myself making that mistake but being there and being surrounded by turkeys was a nice experience. The season is young and I am sure will get better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RangerClay Posted March 20, 2008 Report Share Posted March 20, 2008 Great story & pics Anthony!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhunt Posted March 20, 2008 Report Share Posted March 20, 2008 Too bad you did not tag any birds, but sounds like it was a great trip. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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