Back from South Texas !!

[bighog]

My son and I have gone on this hunting trip to Texas over Christmas break the last 4 years now. It is the only time he's not active in sports and school. We have a great time together and always see lot's of game.

We got delayed at the airport because they lost my son's luggage, but we had our guns and upon arrival we sighted in and were quickly taken to an elevated blind with about an hour of daylight left. Not 10 minutes went by and my son spotted a black form moving thru the creekbed. The hog popped out about 170 yards out. My son aimed for the vitals and I backed him up by aiming for the head. My son fired and I immediately fired after him. Both shots hit the mark and the hog went down where he was......

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[bighog]

Here is a pic of the tusks and the next day after the the hog was dressed and cleaned up a bit.


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[bighog]

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[bighog]

On the second day we didn't see much. A few Javelina visited us.......

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[bighog]

On the evening of the second day we got this small 7 point whitetail in the free roam.

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[bighog]

The next full day was spent hunting for a second hog. We saw lots of deer and many Javalina, but no hogs. We awoke on the last day of our hunt and my son shot a whitetail doe and we also got a Javelina.
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[bighog]

Another pose.....

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[bighog]

We regretted pulling the trigger on the small buck because on the last morning in the freeroam a huge 10 point buck stopped not 50 yards from our blind. I didn't get a picture of him, but he made this one look tiny...

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[bighog]

Well thats all the pics I resized for posting. We took four animals in 3 days of hunting. The hogs were scarce do to the year long drought. The number of deer in the free roam was significantly down from previous years and with the exception of the big 10 point we saw the racks on these bucks were smaller.

Upon trying to return home our flight was cancelled due to bad weather and tornado's. We ended up having to rebook a flight for the next day. We rented a car and hotel room near the Alamo and walked around downtown San Antonio. The river walk is very pretty and I would recommend it if your ever there. We finally flew into S.F. late last night. All of our luggage was missing, but they managed to find our guns so I was relieved to say the least.

Happy New Year to ya'all...see you next year.....

 

[BirdDawg]

congrats bud...........looks like you and jacob had a heck of a hunt........still haven't figured out why you guys don't spend an extra day and get an axis buck.........but then that would make me more envious.......so how you going to mount that hog with a big ol hole in it's head? .......LOL.......

 

[bighog]

Well hello there birddawg,

You know I would have been emailing you on Tuesday when I got back to work. The ranch we hunt doesn't have any Axis deer, but I say next year we plan a hunt together a go get us a couple of 'em.

We had a great time and Jacob did get his first boar hog, but it is still not a California hog, so your not off the hook on that fully guided, all expense paid, Coalinga hog hunt you promised him.

Now as far as the mount goes. Yes I am having him mounted and no there is no problem with damage to his head. I was not sure I could pull it off because it was a long shot, but I managed to place my shot with such accurracy as to travel through both ear canals. How's that for shooting!!!! oh...did I mention he was running at full tilt too..LOL

Thanks for your reply. It's a nice welcome home to talk with a buddy. I'll shoot ya an email on Tuesday from work.

 

[BirdDawg]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div>

I'll shoot ya an email on Tuesday from work.[/b]

last I heard gooberment folks get tuesday off......us regulars have to work.........as soon as the hogs start comming back in I'll shoot you an email.......but that doesn't mean we can't set up a weekend at the club.........also there is still the pheasants at guns and roosters..I need to get my dogs out and since I've been busy with the place I haven't even ad time to take them out quail hunting........well I'm sneakin out early and going up to weld on the corals.......talk atcha later.

 

[Rancho Loco]

Good hunting...

 

[DEERSLAM]

Great hunt! Congrats to you and your boy.

I took my oldest son to Texas when he was 7. He had a blast. The amount of critters you can see on any given day is amazing. He took a Corsican ram on our hunt.

 

[dw33]

Congratulations. It must be special to take your son on such a great hunt. Is it a fenced property? Do you buy tags? Good stuff.

 

[bighog]

dw33,
The ranch is called Edmund Tom after the owner. He has 6,500 acres, most of it is high fenced and you pay a lot more money to take a deer there. I always hunt deer in the free roam section which has maybe 3 or 4 blinds located outside the high fenced areas. The animals there come and go as they please and you never know whats going to walk out. I pay the rancher one thousand dollars and can take one buck. one doe and a hog. He will also let you take a javelina free of charge, if you agree to mount it in some fashion ie...european, shoulder etc.....I guess in the past hunters have shot them and just thrown them in the bushes to rot or get eaten by coyotes. The rancher and nice folks there do not eat them, but I do know folks can and do eat them. They really smell bad though.....kinda musty. If you want to shoot extra hogs it's $25 per animal. Lodging, meals, a guide to take you out to the blind and pick you up, game care, is all extra money. He has a website, if you do a search you should find it easy enough.

You can purchase an adult license and all the tags you'll need for deer and turkey over the Texas parks and wildlife website for $300. The license and tags are together part and parcel. A junior license with tags is only $6 and has just as many tags with it as an adult license.

I hope this info answers your questions. If not the websites will. You are right, it is very special to be able to take a few days vacation and hunt with my son. You said it well "good stuff". Whether your behind the fence or not, you see a ton of game in Texas and every time we go he gets more and more hooked on it. The adventures we share in and out of the field on our trips forges a bond between us that will last a lifetime. Having a strong relationship with him and providing him with positive experiences in his life is part of my job as a father. I posted this story and pictures to show this and for no other reason. What I am afraid of though is this post becoming a means to argue the pro's and con's of hunting a high fence property. Please do not let this age old debate wage here as there are more appropriate forums for it on this site.

 

[dw33]

Thanks for getting back to me. I am not interested a debate, but a possible place to take my son for some interesting hunting. Sounds like a great place. Thanks again for the info, best, dw

 

[bighog]

Yes indeed dw, it is a great place to take your son hunting and I could tell from your comments you were not looking for a debate. The first two paragraphs I wrote for you. The last one was written, albiet to you, but mainly to ward off any emphasis on the words "high fenced". I have seen many posts throughout the numerous forums on this site start out with nothing but good intentions. Members who are just trying to share their experiences and their love of hunting. But they turn sour over the most simple words or phrases. I'm sure you have seen this as well. I really do appreciate you responding to my post and hope you found the info useful. Good luck hunting with your son. You need anything else, feel free to shoot me an email.

 

[el_vaquero]

Congrats on the hunt and the time spent with your son. I can't wait till mine is old enough to start going out with me....

 

[THE ROMAN ARCHER]

congrats to you and your sons successful hunting adventures in texas, thanks for sharing the story and photo's Bighog.............tra