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2019/2020 Hunting Thread


Noogman

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Hah our family property is 600 acres split between my MiL’s/our 300 north half and her cousin’s half. They have the barn and well on that half, we have the 3 stock tanks on ours.

Got out there today and was walking the land marking our best angles against all the deer tracks.

Get to the last watering hole which butts right against the fence line but is 100% on our side and right away I see the fence line has been cut all but the top barbed wire line and 2 deer feeders placed about 75yds within their side...

Sent them a notice, their 2 guns better not be facing north cause I’ll be sitting over that water hole...

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15 hours ago, Speedtrucker said:

Hah our family property is 600 acres split between my MiL’s/our 300 north half and her cousin’s half. They have the barn and well on that half, we have the 3 stock tanks on ours.

Got out there today and was walking the land marking our best angles against all the deer tracks.

Get to the last watering hole which butts right against the fence line but is 100% on our side and right away I see the fence line has been cut all but the top barbed wire line and 2 deer feeders placed about 75yds within their side...

Sent them a notice, their 2 guns better not be facing north cause I’ll be sitting over that water hole...

Ah, here we go.  Shared family land is always a dicey situation.  Especially with family by marriage, etc.  Good luck.  My cousin's husband runs cattle on our place.  Those PITA Mexican corriente cattle that get into everything and are as agile as a deer.  They are knocking down feeders, tearing up fences & water-gaps.  Have to tread carefully.  

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17 hours ago, Speedtrucker said:

Hah our family property is 600 acres split between my MiL’s/our 300 north half and her cousin’s half. They have the barn and well on that half, we have the 3 stock tanks on ours.

Got out there today and was walking the land marking our best angles against all the deer tracks.

Get to the last watering hole which butts right against the fence line but is 100% on our side and right away I see the fence line has been cut all but the top barbed wire line and 2 deer feeders placed about 75yds within their side...

Sent them a notice, their 2 guns better not be facing north cause I’ll be sitting over that water hole...

That sucks.  I have always held the opinion that if they must hunt a fenceline, put the stand next to the fence and shoot into the property.  Much safer.

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There is zero reason for them to mess with the fence.  A barbwire fence simply is no impediment to deer.  It is illegal to shoot across property lines.  I would set up some game cameras pointed in their direction.  And let them see you do it.  Assuming talking to them cordially would not work.

Are they set up where they would be shooting towards your 300 acres?  If so, I would talk to them immediately.  If that does not work, take some pics and video of their setup and send to the game warden.

Edited by Johnny Sack
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So all the tracks I followed were on our side, into and out of the 40 or so acres of thick brush and mesquite trees. The 3 water sources are surrounded by their tracks and the water source that butts the fence I can spot the tracks going from the brush, to the water, under the fence and towards their feeders .

As baba mentioned, it’s family to my MiL. All the land is my grandmother in laws who lives with my MiL. I took plenty of pics and videos of the fence and feeders and sent it to my MiL letting her know.

After last night, I let my MiLs cousin know as well and told him he needs to make sure if his guns are out on the property Saturday morning, they cannot be aiming north. We’d be aiming East at dawn and dusk.

Our property basically favors a West to East hunt, so we will be aiming East but we are hunting the 3 water sources.

Also as mentioned, these are not high fences. They are about 4 - 5 feet at most. So cutting down a hole right at the waterline is weak shit.

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1 hour ago, thestud said:

Game Warden is your friend. TPWD website lists the wardens by County and their cell # as well. Give yours a call and invite him out.

Befriended our local Raccoon Ranger a few years ago and he was instrumental in helping us get our MLD tags. He also has the combination to all of our gates and has caught 11 poachers in 3+ years.

This is great advice.  Those guys have a difficult (and dangerous) job as it is.  They often work alone and cover massive amounts of territory.  Most everyone they come upon is also armed.  It's not easy.  Helping them make their lives easier goes a long way towards them reciprocating.  Ours is great.  Has gate keys, etc.  

"Thin Green Line"

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Anyone that cuts a fence like that is going to have no regard for legal, ethical, or safety considerations when it comes to hunting.

If it weren't for the fact that you would probably be shot, I'd set up a ground blind on the fence-line right where it was cut and hunt facing back into your property, catching the deer as they try to make their way to the feeders behind you.  Then after you shoot, yell back to the inout-laws thanking them for helping you pattern the deer.

But....getting shot sort of takes the fun away from that revenge play.

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16 minutes ago, Reagan1k said:

Anyone that cuts a fence like that is going to have no regard for legal, ethical, or safety considerations when it comes to hunting.

If it weren't for the fact that you would probably be shot, I'd set up a ground blind on the fence-line right where it was cut and hunt facing back into your property, catching the deer as they try to make their way to the feeders behind you.  Then after you shoot, yell back to the inout-laws thanking them for helping you pattern the deer.

But....getting shot sort of takes the fun away from that revenge play.

Put your MIL in the blind and have them shoot her. Two birds, one stone, etc.

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We had a really dry summer which afforded the opportunity to get a silted-in pond excavated and improved a few weeks ago, along with brush cleared and ground reseeded adjacent to a seasonal spring and creek upstream of the pond. Looking forward to seeing it this weekend after some rain. This should be a great turkey setup next spring.

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12 hours ago, 686 said:

We had a really dry summer which afforded the opportunity to get a silted-in pond excavated and improved a few weeks ago, along with brush cleared and ground reseeded adjacent to a seasonal spring and creek upstream of the pond. Looking forward to seeing it this weekend after some rain. This should be a great turkey setup next spring.

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Your own dozer or rented?  Curious about this as we have some serious brush removal projects coming up.

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Your own dozer or rented?  Curious about this as we have some serious brush removal projects coming up.

 

Own. Bought used about three years ago. Only issue was an electrical gremlin that took about a grand to find and fix. It’s really really nice to have equipment at your disposal and convenience; I only run it about a day or so a month on the weekend and we have ranch hand types that will run it for us occasionally during the week on projects. I know we’ve cleared over 10,000 cedars in the last few years; probably closer to 20,000. On a good day in easy terrain I can clear and stack over 500 medium size cedars with the dozer.

 

We will probably sell it in another year when we have all the big cedar clearing done and we can maintain the place going forward with skid steers.

 

Pretty gratifying to turn a cedar brake monoculture almost devoid of wildlife into an grass savanna with intermittent oaks, or a nice food plot.

 

68e0a24e21d1c1f94282f3b30e8dd168.jpg

 

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2 hours ago, 686 said:

 

Own. Bought used about three years ago. Only issue was an electrical gremlin that took about a grand to find and fix. It’s really really nice to have equipment at your disposal and convenience; I only run it about a day or so a month on the weekend and we have ranch hand types that will run it for us occasionally during the week on projects. I know we’ve cleared over 10,000 cedars in the last few years; probably closer to 20,000. On a good day in easy terrain I can clear and stack over 500 medium size cedars with the dozer.

 

We will probably sell it in another year when we have all the big cedar clearing done and we can maintain the place going forward with skid steers.

 

Pretty gratifying to turn a cedar brake monoculture almost devoid of wildlife into an grass savanna with intermittent oaks, or a nice food plot.

 

68e0a24e21d1c1f94282f3b30e8dd168.jpg

 

16051d763cba36db7523997cc51310da.jpg

I have two uncles that bought a an old D3 and cleaned their place up. Paid $12k for it, and sold it for $12k, thought that was a pretty smart idea.

CHIEF

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19 hours ago, 686 said:

 

Own. Bought used about three years ago. Only issue was an electrical gremlin that took about a grand to find and fix. It’s really really nice to have equipment at your disposal and convenience; I only run it about a day or so a month on the weekend and we have ranch hand types that will run it for us occasionally during the week on projects. I know we’ve cleared over 10,000 cedars in the last few years; probably closer to 20,000. On a good day in easy terrain I can clear and stack over 500 medium size cedars with the dozer.

 

We will probably sell it in another year when we have all the big cedar clearing done and we can maintain the place going forward with skid steers.

 

Pretty gratifying to turn a cedar brake monoculture almost devoid of wildlife into an grass savanna with intermittent oaks, or a nice food plot.

 

68e0a24e21d1c1f94282f3b30e8dd168.jpg

 

16051d763cba36db7523997cc51310da.jpg

That's the perfect setup right there.  Love the enclosed cab Bobcat.  Do you have a brush hog for it?  Grapple is worth its weight in gold when clearing brush.

Nothing better than owning equipment for a ranch.  We haven't gotten to the dozer point yet, but will probably pull that trigger in a few years when we try to add a food plot.  We rented a brush chipper a few times last winter when we bought the place and said "fuck it" and bought one this spring.  We went from busting ass for two days straight every time we rented one to banging out a few hours here and there when needed.  Much more satisfying and way easier on the back to work for a few hours at a time.  

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Rut is in full effect in Dripping Springs.  I've seen more bucks coming out of the woodwork in the last week than I have all year.  Saw six different mature bucks on my way home Wednesday night.  Hadn't seen a single mature buck in that area in weeks.

I went for a run yesterday evening with my son in his jogging stroller and my yellow lab.  We had two decent bucks chasing a hot doe through one of our neighbor's pasture.  They couldn't have cared less that me, my son and my dog were watching.  Probably 120 yds from the road.  Nose to the ground, right on her tail.  

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They are on the does in my neighborhood as well. Gonna take the Ranger and the binoculars out tonight and see what we have running around. A neighbor has a picture of a 9 point that will probably go 140 B&C, which is pretty decent in our area. We had one over 170 that someone poached last year, warden found it in a shed in Abilene. Someone recognized the buck from a picture off of Facebook, guy got the book thrown at him. That's what he gets for having a Facebook account, dumb fucker.

CHIEF

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The social media comment reminded me of these geniuses:

"The conviction followed a social media post by an accomplice to the crime with a photo showing the blurred-out subject with the mule deer with a distinctive, spiraled drop tine. The subject, although the photo was blurred, was tagged in the post."

65092946_2426344120757294_394574664048836608_n.jpg

https://www.lsonews.com/taxidermist-mounts-mule-deer-killed-by-poacher/

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1 hour ago, Coyote said:

The social media comment reminded me of these geniuses:

"The conviction followed a social media post by an accomplice to the crime with a photo showing the blurred-out subject with the mule deer with a distinctive, spiraled drop tine. The subject, although the photo was blurred, was tagged in the post."

65092946_2426344120757294_394574664048836608_n.jpg

https://www.lsonews.com/taxidermist-mounts-mule-deer-killed-by-poacher/

God.  Would give my left nut for a mulie like that. 

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Mark Talasek, a fishing guide in Matagorda, got caught poaching a 180 class buck on our family ranch in Frio County in the early 00s.  Fucker had been poaching for years with his buddies.  We knew it and so did game warden.  He lost his job as an operator at the plant and can't be around firearms any more as it was a felony.  He begged my granddad to drop charges.  No fucking way.

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36 minutes ago, Johnny Sack said:

Mark Talasek, a fishing guide in Matagorda, got caught poaching a 180 class buck on our family ranch in Frio County in the early 00s.  Fucker had been poaching for years with his buddies.  We knew it and so did game warden.  He lost his job as an operator at the plant and can't be around firearms any more as it was a felony.  He begged my granddad to drop charges.  No fucking way.

I laugh every time you tell that story. Not because he shot yalls deer, just doesn’t surprise me. I was invited on an AM trout then PM gig trip with him once. Someone had backed out but paid so I went.  I might be able to count on one hand the laws he skirted that day. During the gig he made a comment, “I can get you into a position to gig that gator, but it’s your baby if you do”.   Just no respect for game laws.  Kind of soured me on guides tbh (had never been on a guided trip at that point).  He was on the fish, I can tell you that. 

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That's the perfect setup right there.  Love the enclosed cab Bobcat.  Do you have a brush hog for it?  Grapple is worth its weight in gold when clearing brush.  


Yes, a dozer and a skid steer with grapple are an amazing combination for getting brush removal done post haste. We ran open cab machines for 30 years and finally went to glass cabs. We can work longer and more effectively in the a/c without all the smoke, dust, and noise. Plus I’m not so worn out at the end of the day and can enjoy a family evening more. Saved me from a beehive inside a dead tree I pushed as well.

We shred with the farm tractor, and we don’t shred brush. My dad is a stump nazi - anything that will leave a stump gets pulled out with the dozer or the bobcat. He built a great grubber for the skid steer:

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We used to do brush removal 20 years ago with just a bucket on a bobcat and I honestly looking back I can’t believe we got anything done without the grapple - it’s ridiculously more efficient at shuttling/stacking compared to a bucket.
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