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3shot

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Posts posted by 3shot

  1. 36 minutes ago, Johnny Sack said:

    I know we have materially influenced genetics at our place.  Probably more has to do with getting deer density and ratios right plus supplementing nutrition with food plots and protein.  But we high fenced 30 years ago.   And we cull bucks based on taking the inferior deer from each class.  You need people who can age deer on the hoof.

    But whatever it is, we have far superior bucks than we did 30 years ago.  I mean it is not even close.  We went from our best deer being in the 150s to now being 190s to 200.  The first 5 years we had the place we never cracked 155.

    The only toying we have done with genetics is netting a nice buck and netting 20 doe or so.  We put them in a 100 acre trap with plenty of cover during the breeding season.  Then turn leave gates open and let them go.  That and one year we fucked up our survey and thought we had a lot more doe than we actually did.  So we killed way too many.  We brought in 40 or so doe netted off another really good ranch down the road.

     

    I am no expert on the subject by any means, but it never made sense to me that you could influence the genetics of a deer herd by harvesting bucks since that is only 1/2 of the genetic makeup of a deer, especially on a low fence place.  Still, we basically do what everyone else does with respect to shooting bucks we think will not reach our "trophy" criteria.  I personally look at it as managing the number of mouths that are competing for nutrition, rather than influencing genetics, but this is just my opinion and few seem to share it, including my fellow lease members.  It does make for a nice discussion over the campfire every now and then though.

    There is a recent paper that was published on this topic that you should take a look at, if you haven't before.  I cannot find an electronic copy of the paper at the moment, but the findings are summarized here: https://www.qdma.com/qdm-works-culling-doesnt/   

    Your ranch sounds awesome, by the way.  Must feel great to see y'alls patience and hard work payoff over the years.    

  2. 38 minutes ago, UTEX90 said:

    I think I would only to get MLD on 1500 acres which is the most populated deer section and can be easily segregated from the rest of the ranch that is primarily used for grazing cattle.  Over the last eight years there have been only 4 deer killed all by my son or myself.   Everyone else just pretty much deer watches and I am the only one in my family that really hunts.  I am concerned about the harvest strategy that goes with MLD.  I assume the penalty for failure to fill tags is fewer tags the next year or a loss of MLD status.  I would love to transition to MLD but I have to get the rest of my non hunting family on board. 

    How many tags do you get for your less than 1000 acres?  Just curious how many deer we may have to harvest.

    We usually get between 12 and 16 and they are split relatively evenly between bucks and does, but again, it's going to depend on your area and deer density per acre.  If you haven't already, look into the Harvest Option MLD program.  The one that requires deer surveys and more information and input is the Conversation Option.  It sounds like the Harvest Option may be exactly what you need because there's no input required from TPWD and I bet the number of tags they give you will be a lot less than what it would otherwise be.  All of this stuff is on TPWD's website and if you have questions, you can call them; once you get to the right person, I have found them to be very helpful.    

    4 deer killed over 8 years on 1,500 acres?  16 bucks observed on opening day, all but 1 under 13 inches wide?  You need to thin that herd!  Get some kids out there pronto and have some fun :).      

    • Like 2
  3. @UTEX90  I hunt in an antler restricted (and doe restricted) county.  We are MLD and we are under 1,000 acres; also, it's a lease.  It has been fantastic for us from a harvest management perspective because it allows us to shoot mature bucks that are less than 13 inches as you describe, plus we don't have to go through the separate process of getting doe tags.  If I were hunting your ranch I can already tell you that the MLD program would be a no brainer.  However, if you are hunting 3,000 acres and not harvesting much, you should start thinking about what your goals for the property are and then decide whether MLD permits will help you achieve that.  

    Not sure what county you are in or the particulars of your ranch, but let's say you have 100 deer per 1,000 acres and your buck-doe ratio is actually 1:1.  You can probably expect to end up with 21 doe permits and 21 buck permits per year (on average).  Now, you don't HAVE to harvest that amount, but you should be pretty close to your tag allotment each year...I don't have actual experience with TPWD being punitive for a ranch not using all of their MLD permits, but it's something everyone thinks about for sure (including us), so maybe it does happen?  From what it sounds like y'all harvest today, the MLD process could be a real shift in mentality for your family.  But the paper work isn't bad at all (in my experience) and the survey stuff are things we would be doing every year on our own anyway.  

    To your other points, as mentioned above, you can't materially influence genetics by harvesting bucks. "Trophy" bucks produce "trash" buck offspring and vise versa.  But the MLD program will dang sure allow you to fill your freezer with mature bucks who are not ever going to meet your ranch's criteria of a "trophy."  With respect to the deer with antlers on only 1 side, if I were convinced this was genetic and they hadn't broken them off, I would shoot those every day.  I would also shoot the 1.5 year old with an injury because the coyotes would likely get him on the place we hunt.  I would shoot these deer because if I have to harvest 21 bucks, these are easy one's to add to the harvest list.

    Shameless plug for your friends and potentially the Surly kingdom:  If you decide to go MLD and need help harvesting, you won't have a problem putting together a group to hunt, whether it be by lease or invitation.   

            

  4. The Pig Pen is great with kids; has a good playground.  You can either order food from the bbq trailer on site (limited menu) or order to-go from the Smoke Shack and eat it at the Pig Pen (they are next door to each and owned by the same couple). 

    The Cove has a good playground and pretty good food.  

    Tycoon Flats is another option, though I might choose something else if you are eating Chris Madrid's on the same trip.  The playground is geared for younger children there.  

    As mentioned above, Los Barrios is great if you are in that area.

    • Like 1
  5. I am very sorry your son was assaulted like that, and now has to have surgery.  That sucks so bad.  I get ragey when another kid calls one of my kids a name...can't imagine a rock to the face.  

    Just my opinion, but if a 10 year old hit my child in the face with a rock, unprovoked, and this particular kid had a reputation for violence, I would feel compelled to go to the police.  I think you have to do that for your community, if not to achieve some amount of "justice" for your son.  And yes, I know very well that the legal system rarely provides any actual justice, but it's the only system we have and unfortunately, vigilantism is frowned upon, especially these days. I know the assailant is "only" 10, but that's old enough to know that he could cause serious injury to someone by throwing a rock at someone's face...and if he doesn't understand this, he needs other kinds of help, and the parents apparently aren't getting it for him voluntarily.  What a shitty situation for all of you.  

    With respect to a civil suit, I would think about the criminal and the civil matters separately.  In other words, I personally would not leverage my attempts to collect money from the family with my threats to go to the police.  Not judging you if that's the route you take.  However, if you are contemplating filing a civil lawsuit, you should talk to a plaintiff's attorney first about whether to get the police involved and if so, at what stage.  And you should do that in the next couple days, if possible.  As you've no doubt gathered by the responses above, whether a plaintiff's attorney will be interested in your case depends on the perceived financial status of the parents...if they own a home, that's good, if they rent, not so good.       

      

    • Like 1
  6. 3 hours ago, Johnny Sack said:

    I got invited last minute to go to Nooner to hunt tomorrow night and Saturday morning.  Hope the birds are good. 

    Good luck and please report back! 

    I can’t hunt for the next 2 weekends but will be looking for outfitters with birds somewhere within 90 miles of SA for the remainder of the season.  

  7. I have been hunting Paloma Pachonga for about the same amount of time as you jofus, but never on the opener or 2nd day.  Usually I hunt there somewhere between the 3rd and 7th day of the season, and I've hunted it towards the end of September a couple of times as well.  I've never got a limit there, although I've come close, and I had one day where I didn't fire a shot.  I'm not claiming I'm the worlds best shot, but I don't suck.  Out of 14 or so hunts, I think I've only had one double digit day and I have never, ever seen doves out there like what is in your picture...nothing even remotely close.  However, I saw them like that on every single hunt I ever had at Nooners. 

    Conversely, I hunted Nooners multiple times per year starting in 2006 (prior to Paloma Pachonga existing) up until he sold in 2016/2017 I guess?  Always somewhere in the same date range as my Paloma hunts, and out to October.  The difference in the hunting was staggering.  As you know, the properties abutted one another, and on all of my hunts, the Paloma guys hardly fired any shots while we would have waves of birds by the thousands, similar to your picture above.  

    I think the difference must be how it is managed for hunting.  I am sure that Paloma Pachanga is lights out for the first day or two, as they have the same black oil sunflowers that Nooners had and their fields backed up to one another...but when you run as many hunters as they do and hunt mornings/afternoons, well, the birds must get smart.  To my knowledge, Sammy never let people hunt in the mornings on his place, and he only ran one group at a time, again, to my knowledge.  That's the only explanation that I have.  Whatever is going on, it is more than just the weather, more than just birds being birds...it's their management practices.  It just has to be.

    That being said, the facilities at Paloma Pachonga are outstanding, and I appreciate all of the hunts I get to go on out there, even though it may not sound like it from my bitching.  I'm just saying, the hunting at Nooners was totally amazing, and the hunting at Paloma is pretty meh in comparison to that, in my experience.  I'll still go to Paloma every time I'm invited and will be very grateful to my hosts for including me.   

    Last note about this: the day that I zeroed at Paloma Pachonga (and heard/watched Nooners' hunter crushing them), I hunted the next day at Nooners and we saw thousands of birds and had very quick limits, with no shooting at Paloma.  No changes in weather, no different conditions at all.  I actually drove down to the fence line because I was curious about what was so different.  The birds avoided the Paloma property like the plague; they didn't even fly over their fields high.  I was convinced for a long time Sammy must have been baiting, but there's just no way he could get away with that (saw game wardens out there on the regular)...maybe it was just the proximity to Mumme's?  Whatever it was, I miss Sammy's hunts and his stewardship of his property.   

    Jofus, great seeing the kids out with you.  I take mine every chance I get as well. I'm eternally grateful to my father for introducing me to hunting and fishing.     

     

       

    • Like 1
  8. 1 hour ago, Both Tacos said:
    1 hour ago, deadshank said:
    Perhaps I should have said part of “good” is made up of “honest.”   The 2 outfitters I use in the Uvalde area will flat out tell you when there are and aren’t birds and tell you not to come if there are no birds and won’t take your money.  

    Unfortunately most dove outfitters depend on the first few weekends for 80% of their revenue and don't call off hunts.

    Deadshank, do you mind sharing the names of the "good" outfitters you use?  I used to hunt with Steve Rambie and I felt like he always was straight with me...really liked him, but I stopped because it was a further drive than I wanted to make.  Maybe I should head back that way.  I think I've hunted with most of the outfitters in the uvalde/sabinal/hondo area and most of annoyed me or down right pissed me off at one point or another, with the exception of Steve Rambie and Steve Wilson.  I've also had great hunts with all of them at one point or another as well...    

    I also agree 100% with Both Tacos that most outfitters won't call off a hunt at the beginning of the season, and I understand why.  They have a big lease payment (or payments) to pay, plus other expenses, but I would much rather an outfitter have a policy that there are no refunds, but you can come back and hunt another time, rather than waste my time in a dead field or dead part of a field.  At least give me the option of travelling knowing the hunting might not be great or rescheduling if I think I can get back out there another time; that would go a long way for me.  

    And for the record, what the "new" owners of Nooners (the Paloma Pachonga guys, or "new" Paloma Pachonga after Rad Weaver's group sold it) have done to that property from a hunting perspective is a damn shame.  It's not even close to what it used to be; I'm irrationally angry about it.   

  9. I have been to many of the bars listed in this thread, including the St. Walburg Inn in Saskatchewan, oddly enough.  I didn't find that place to be sketchy in the least, but I guess I could see how it might get that way on the right night.  That is true for many of the places listed.  If you only went one night, and you caught it on the "right" (or wrong) night, it might seem pretty terrible.  For example, I see some love for Shipps on Lower Greenville, but that place is in my top 5 of bars that creeped me out.  This would have been late 90s/early 2000s...lots of sad alcoholics in there and I also had bar patrons ask me for money or to buy them drinks.  I probably went 3 times over 8 years and each time I was grossed out by the people in there.  

    One place I haven't seen mentioned yet that I would like to add to the list is Dream Street (think that was the name, or something close to that), a super sketchy titter east of 35 somewhere over by the Travis County Exposition Center.  I thought that place was considerably worse in every way than The Crazy Lady or The Landing Strip.  It was open during the mid-90s, not sure when it closed down, but it was terrible.  Multiple strippers with track marks, etc.   

    Also, I think the closest I ever came to getting murdered was at Shorty's.  I was there on a night someone had just gotten out of prison and they were having a welcome home party for him.  Someone threatened to stab me for not letting the guest of honor cut in line at the bathroom, and then it got worse from there, as it was widely circulated that I had "disrespected" the felon.  This was on a very busy summer night in 2003 or 2004.  I get that it's not really a sketchy bar, but on that particular night 15 or 16 years ago, it sure as shit seemed sketchy to me.   

    Great thread, by the way.

  10. On 6/4/2019 at 10:04 AM, BabaYaga said:

    Brine bird.  Spatchcock.  Separate skin and stuff with butter/herb/garlic.  Rub outside down with more butter/herbs/garlic.  Cook until the tediousness gets to you.  Go to HEB.  Buy rotisserie yard-bird and a case of beer.  Profit.  

    Seriously, brine your bird.  I've had plenty of great chickens that weren't brined, and I don't brine mine all that often these days due to time constraints, but if you are really searching for a perfect method, you should at least try brining your bird a couple times.  

  11. 23 minutes ago, Dahobbs said:

    Paintball guns sound nothing like real guns. And where in this story are yall seeing the group was there to cause serious injury to the kid? They came with fucking paintball guns; it sounds like a stupid prank at night. I understand the dad's reaction. Hell, even if the dad knew they were paintball guns I still would understand that reaction. But that doesn't mean it wouldn't also be a severe over reaction. 

    From the article:  According to authorities, about 15 teenagers with paintball guns went to a home on Force Street. Police believe the teens went to the home "to fight" a 17-year-old who lives there.

    Do you really think a mob of 15 "kids" showing up at your home at night to "to fight" your 17 year old son can somehow NOT be considered a threat to do serious injury?  I mean, none of us have the facts, but it seems weird to me that you seem to come down on the side that the father overreacted given the reported circumstances.  To each there own, but given the reported circumstances, I wouldn't think it was an overreaction even if he shot all 15 of them.        

    • Like 3
  12. 7 hours ago, Judge Roybeanbag said:

    If it were me I'd just go fish the jetties or make a quick drive down to Packery Channel.  

    This.  Although to be more specific, I would be on the first ferry of the morning heading to the Port A North Jetty.  It's going to be pretty windy this weekend, but since the wind should be out of the south east all week, the water should be fine on the gulf side of the North Jetty.  The trout will be there.  Caveat: I heard that Fisherman's Wharf was sold recently so you should check the schedule and make sure the jetty boat is still running.     

    • Like 1
  13. I have gigged a lot of flounder over the last 30 years.  Not over a 1,000, but certainly over 500.  I've caught less than 100 keeper flounder on rod and reel, but I don't specifically target them either.  To me, gigging is more of a cultural thing than anything else.  I like to drink beer and walk around with a coleman lantern (old school) or pvc pipe with a bulb at the end (current setup).  You see a lot more out there than just flounder.  In my opinion, it is a fantastic way to spend a couple hours on a summer or fall night on the Texas coast and my actual gigging success is secondary to just being out there and experiencing the bay in a different way than most people do.  I've also caught a whole bunch of reds and trout during these "flounder gigging trips" when I've stumbled across a bunch of bait and feeding fish...always keep some rods rigged back at the boat while out gigging.

    Is gigging "cheating?"  I don't think so, but then again, I shoot deer under a feeder, ducks and turkeys that come to my calls/decoys, etc.  I don't think gigging flounder is hard, but I don't think the taking or catching of any fish or animals by any other method is particularly difficult either.  I love to fly fish in rivers and streams from Alaska to Texas, and in our bays and behind shrimp boats in the Gulf.  I also love to crappie fish with a minnow under a cork.  And sometimes in the spring, I even drift various Texas bays with a cork and live shrimp.  

    DCA, I feel sorry for you that you apparently have some interest in the outdoors, but have never been flounder gigging or watched a cork go under, but feel the need to denigrate that kind of outdoors experience that many others enjoy.  It kind of seems like you suck.  Go.  

     

    • Like 3
  14. 7 minutes ago, Armybrat said:

    Nephew just outside Liberty Hill has seen a lot of cougar tracks around his place.

    Three months ago this coyote & his mate ambled through my back yard in the middle of the day here in Brushy Creek....

    8-FD23-BF1-8610-4617-9083-38-BD216-B59-D

    You sure that's not a gray fox?  

    • Like 1
  15. This same judge, Ralph Strother, sentenced a female teacher to 10 consecutive 10 year sentences for having sex with a 14 year old boy.  She did a full 10 years, I believe.  

    I am unaware of any other women in Texas doing hard time for having sex with their students, let alone 10 years.  And in the above case, there were multiple mitigating factors that the judge ignored in his sentencing.  

    So accepting this plea deal seems odd for a such a righteous law and order dude.  Especially if the victim was against the plea and wanted the case to be tried in front of a jury.  

    Caveat to the above: (i) I'm not saying that the women shouldn't have done time or been punished; she clearly broke the law, even if she didn't intend to break the law initially; (ii) we don't know what facts or evidence lead to the prosecution not wanting to try the case.    

  16. 7 minutes ago, Helobious said:

    Don't know who or if ztejas & Zavala were on the old site, but they're the Mario & Luigi of completely idiotic opinions on here. It's incredible how stupid they are. 

    This.  Has to be the same person.  

  17. 9 minutes ago, jinx said:

    I go to NOLA all of the time.  I have coworkers that live there.  They let me know which areas are safe to be in after dark.  

    You are full of shit or a total fucking dumb ass if you go there all the time and need someone to tell you which areas are safe after dark.  JFC.  Why don't you ask your husband next time where you should go?

     

    • Like 4
    • Haha 2
  18. 21 minutes ago, kevwun said:

    You can do a complete restore on an iphone in an hour even if you have to download a backup from the cloud.  Not sure how it takes 4 hours to clone a phone.  On the other hand, wiping something so that no data can be recovered is a time consuming process.

    My understanding is that he had a week's head start before they actually came and got his phone.  

  19. 2 hours ago, Parliament said:

    OK. I spent a half hour on the phone with my liberal, Democrat, feminist, college professor sister. (No pics.) She has followed the Urban Meyer saga closely. And she knows Title IX, as she is subject to it as well.

    Shocking to me, she says Urban Meyer should not have been fired and she's happy with the outcome. No objective person sets the #metoo bar as high as my liberal, Democrat, feminist, college professor sister, if she's satisfied, maybe I can be as well.

    A point she makes (and I won't argue it) is Title IX is built to protect victims, not punish offenders, and the UM/ZS saga is in a HUGE gray area. If CS were a university employee as well, this woulda gone much differently. You can bet that gray are will get fixed soon.

    I am a guest on this board and I won't poop on it with any kind of an opinion of my own. Rather I will continue to do what I have tried to do; convey objective facts as best I can, and then keep my mouth shut.

    Carry on. God Bless Surly Horns.

    So your liberal sister thinks it is perfectly fine for an institution of higher learning to keep a wife beater and drug addict on staff to coach young men for multiple years after they knew he was a total piece of shit, all because his wife beating and other generally shitty behavior wasn't a technical violation and of Title IX (and more importantly, because his grandfather used to be the coach at OSU)?  Does she also know that Meyer could have fired Smith for no reason at all, as he has dozens of coaches over his career?  It fucking kills me that people act like there was some reason Meyer COULDN'T fire Smith whenever the fuck he wanted to.  Like, oh, Urban found out that Smith beat his wife...AGAIN...so he couldn't fire him because it wasn't a Title IX violation and he told the AD, s his hands were tied.  Are you fucking kidding me???

    I mean, Jesus Fuck Christ dude!  This is the worst argument I have heard yet or not firing Meyer.  And fuck you for even spitting that shit out here.   Holy shit, you people are repugnant in the worst way possible.  It's so fucking disgusting that I don't even have the curse words to fully express how fucking disgusted I am at anyone that would stick up for Ohio State or Urban Meyer.  

    • Like 9
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