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Spaulding Smails

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Posts posted by Spaulding Smails

  1. 2 hours ago, fattyflattie said:

    I’d rather have the access and maybe not the birds, myself.  ALOT to be said for having your own place. 

    That was our stance as well.  Nice to go out there with my kids and my dog and not worry about a pasture jam-packed with folks with zero regard for gun safety.  The clients we took Sunday were all folks we'd hunted with before.  It's so much more enjoyable when you're not worried about getting peppered.  

  2. 4 minutes ago, deadshank said:

    Why lease a place that can be passed up by the doves when you can get with a good outfitter that will scout the region and put you on birds for great day hunts. They go where the birds are 

    And that's a fair argument.  My business partner and I wanted a place all to ourselves that was within an hour of home / work where we could take employees, guests, etc as we please without having to worry about schedule, logistics, etc.  The plus side is we can get a wild hair and head down there whenever we want with up to 20 people in tow.  The down side is we probably aren't going to shoot shit this year.  It was relatively cheap, so not a huge deal.  

  3. 8 minutes ago, 4th and 5 said:

    The dove hunting in the whole area has gone to shit. My lease outside of San Marcos has gone from passing on all MDs and shooting a limit of WWs in 10 minutes while sitting on the tailgate to hardly any birds at all over the last 4 years. Neighbors don't shoot either, it used to be like a war zone out there. The game warden don't even come out any more. I used to have clouds of them in my backyard, now I rarely even see them.

    I can't figure out what happened.

     

    I was wondering the same thing.  I hunted on a few spots in that area (Yarrington Rd, Zorn, New Braunfels airport) for several years and we ALWAYS slayed them the first few weeks.  I haven't hunted in that area for the last 4-5 years.  It's bizarre.  I wonder if someone can shed some light on why there's been such a dramatic change.  Sounds like I won't be renewing the lease.  Oh well...

  4. No birds to speak of in Guadalupe County near Geronimo.  First time hunting this pasture (big milo field).  Killed one bird between morning and afternoon hunts Sunday.  Our group of eight killed six birds total.  Worst opening day hunt I've ever had by a wide margin.

  5. On 8/31/2019 at 3:44 PM, 3adays said:

    Any additional thoughts on Wimberley? We’re in Austin (78757), but the wife and I have been looking out that way. Both of us grew up here, but we’re getting tired of it. We have a 2 yr old, so schools will soon be important. 

    Wimberley is pretty awesome.  Good people.  Schools are decent given the size.  Our kids started school there until we moved to Drip.  I have one kid that's super bright and one that's special needs.  We needed more resources from a school perspective and we needed to be closer to doctors / therapy in Bee Cave.  

    But, Wimberley was great while we were there.  We lived between Wimberley and Driftwood, so we were a bit out of town.  Very tight community that got tighter after the flood.  It's an even better place to live if you can be near the river or have access to it.  Only drawbacks that we saw were the demographics tended to be older on a per capita basis.  So, while there was a decent amount of younger families, it seemed to skew towards retired couples, etc.  That's been 4 years ago, however.

  6. 42 minutes ago, crash_davis said:

    imagine walking into the urinal and being greeted by some dude's ass because he dropped his pants and boxers down to his knees so that if he sharted, it would fly uninterrupted on your shoes.  

    When I was on the 40 acres, I had a good buddy who would drop his pants to his ankles and pull his shirt up under his chin every time he took a leak at the urinal at DKR.  Like a 6'4" toddler.  One of the funniest damn things.  Never got old.  

    • Like 1
  7. This past weekend, I was thinking about my first ever experience wade fishing.  I grew up in Corpus Christi, but my family didn't fish much.  Just the occasional trip on a friend's boat to soak bait.  We were a sports and beach family.  

    After college, I got way into hunting, but still didn't fish much.  I had a customer of mine that I had gotten to be pretty good friends with.  He had a house in Magnolia Beach and invited me down there with a few other acquaintances for some wade fishing.  All artificials.  I had zero experience with either, but figured I'd give it a shot.  We met Friday after work and headed for the coast.  We get to his place around 8:00.  It's March, so it's still chilly and the sun had already set.  I'm assuming that, like most of my other fishing trips to that point, we'd hang out and drink beer that night and get up when we got up the next morning to fish.  Wrong.  We climbed in the boat and headed out for some night wade fishing.  Having never wade fished before (let alone at night), I apprehensively got in the water and didn't stray more than 50 yds from the boat.  I didn't catch shit.  They caught a few trout.  We fished til around midnight.

    The next morning, we got up early and hauled ass in some dense ass fog to Keller Bay.  In the water as the sun's coming up.  By lunch, I had a stringer full of a limit of trout, a few redfish and a few black drum.  I even had a dolphin get within a few feet of me.  My buddy was yelling "lift up your damn stringer!!!".  It was terrifying and exhilarating and so damn much fun.  I was hooked.  We fished our asses off that weekend.  Literally sun up to sun down both days.  Got home well after 10 PM Sunday.  Those guys were all waaaaay more into fishing than I have ever been.  It was a great exposure to folks who truly love fishing.

    I don't get down to the coast as much as I'd like.  And, when I do now, it's usually with my kids, so wade fishing excursions are few and far between.  And, I've never come close to replicating that day in terms of success.  I didn't realize at the time how special that was for a fishing hack like myself.  

    • Hook 'Em 2
    • Like 1
  8. We got on the reds yesterday morning in Aransas Bay.  Three man limit within an hour.  All over 23".  The boy couldn't stop smiling the whole way home yesterday afternoon.  He's caught reds before, but this one was by far the biggest he's ever caught, and he's never been on them that thick.  

    IMG-1846.jpg

    • Like 8
  9. Great advice.  Thanks for the feedback.  You can see from the entry wound in the picture just how much he's was quartering away.  I think that shot would have been god for a true broadside, but should have been 3-4" further back given how much he was quartering away.  I'm learning how different Axis are from whitetail.  Definitely need to consider a different round, different shot location, etc.  I may go back to the Noslers I was shooting before the ballistic tips.  With whitetail and pigs, I've had a ton of luck with the ballistic tips.  Haven't had a deer or hog do anything other than drop in their tracks in 5+ years.   I'll head / neck shoot a doe or pig all day long.  I was thinking of a mount for this guy which is why I went for the shoulder shot.  Appreciate the insight here.  

    IMG-1815.jpg

  10. Had a bittersweet day yesterday / this morning.  I went out to the ranch solo to top off feeders and make sure the pump floats were working in the cisterns.  Neither my dad nor I will be out there for a month or so, and I wanted to make sure things were tight.  Got everything done yesterday afternoon and set a two string bale of fresh alfalfa in our alfalfa feeder in front of the house.  Took another out to a blind and spread it around.  Climbed in the blind to see what I could see about 7:00.

    Lots of whitetail.  All doe and one yearling buck.  With about 5 min of shooting light left, two nice whitetail bucks came out.  My shitty Nikon binoculars are screwed up again, so I was glassing them through my scope on my rifle.  I saw another big bodied deer come out to the alfalfa.  Scanned over and I'll be damned... one of the nice axis bucks that we've been seeing on the cameras.  Not the big boy, but a decent one.  Problem is, he's facing directly away from me.  All I see is ass and antlers.  Time is literally ticking away and I can barely see him with the naked eye, but the scope draws in enough light to still feel confident with a shot.  He finally quarters just enough and I squeeze the trigger.  I see him drop a bit, then run south.  Shit.  

    I hop out of the blind to where I saw him drop.  No blood.  Nothing.  Not a drop.  I look around the immediate area for blood, and nothing.  I felt confident with the shot, but it's now pitch dark.  I decide to let him lay.  I go back to the cabin.  Grab my dog and my spotlight.  We searched east, south and west for 2 hours.  Nothing.  Now, I'm wondering if I missed.  If my scope got bumped in the Polaris.  At 10:30, I gave up.  Dejected and back to the cabin.

    I woke up around 5:00, got some stuff cleaned up around the cabin, loaded up the truck, and went back to where I shot around 6:30.  Light was decent by 7:00, and I walked the entire back quarter of the ranch.  Finally called it quits around 9:00 under the assumption that I plain missed.  I was walking back to the Polaris with the intent of checking my rifle.  There he was.  20 yds off the road.  Not 60 yds from where I shot him.  NORTH.  He was literally 100 yds from the blind.  He must have run a big circle and came back around.  I feel dejected.  Just an absolute gut punch.  Bittersweet to find him, but so mad at myself for not finding him last night.  Wasted some beautiful meat.

    The only blood I found was from his mouth.  Entry wound from the 130 grain ballistic tip 270.  No exit wound.  Never found any blood trail, even working backwards.  I made the cardinal mistake of not adjusting my shot when he was quartered away.  I should have aimed further back.  The entry wound was dead center of the shoulder where I was aiming.  I missed the vitals and he had enough adrenaline to run despite the broken scapula.  Shoulder was toast.  I would have done so many things differently if I could do it again.  

    It's a strange, strange feeling.  Just an absolute gut punch.  Good news is, there's plenty more out there.  And I'll get a decent mount out of it.  Not a huge trophy axis, but good enough for our first one taken on the ranch.  Dropped him off today to get the hide tanned and a Euro mount.  

    IMG-1827.jpg

    • Like 2
  11. 14 hours ago, elfenix said:

    keep in mind that houses nowadays are built with air conditioning in mind and are generally completely horrible for passive or other mechanical cooling. 

    This is 100% accurate.  Compare, in the event that they were to continue functionally without power:

    -5000 SF modern design with high ceilings and a flat roof, floor-to-ceiling windows that maximize views regardless of direction built with air-tight construction reliant on mechanical systems for humidity and temperature control 

    -1200 SF slab on grade with solid stone walls, minimal windows, built and oriented to maximize prevailing winds with a dog run down the middle, long overhanging eaves and a big covered porch

    • Like 1
  12. IMG-1739.jpg

    IMG-1732-1.jpg

    Nothing fancy, but a welcome addition on both fronts.  Knocked the paint off the bucket moving some caliche around to some low spots and mowed a few roads this week.  Also popped the cherry of the Polaris with a nice little sow that we shot this morning.  Did a poacher's cut for the backstraps. 

    • Like 3
  13. 18 hours ago, HOOKEM4 said:

    We are over off 479. Luckily on top of a ridge at camp so it is usually windy but fuck it is hot. You north of Junction? @Spaulding Smails

    Oh nice.  You're much closer than us.  I sometimes cut across 479 to Segovia.  That's a beautiful stretch.  We're northwest of Junction near Roosevelt.  Off 1674 headed towards Ft McKavett.  We put our camp at the high point on the ranch as well.  Nice to get that breeze, but doesn't do much good when it's 105.

  14. I'm stoked as well!  Secured a dove lease between Seguin and Geronimo.  Currently planted in milo and the farmer is harvesting in two weeks, so timing should be really good.

    We're headed up to our ranch tomorrow to check game cameras, etc.  My mom got some pictures with her telephoto lens of a decent axis at the alfalfa feeder last weekend.  We'll see if he's still hanging around while we're up there.  

    IMG-1698-1.jpg

    • Like 4
  15. Finally got around to picking up a few toys for the ranch over the past few weeks.  Been slammed at work and haven't been out there as much as I would like this summer.  Also, it's hot as balls out there.  

    Ended up going smaller than I wanted on the tractor with a JD 300E.  I'm 50/50 with my old man on everything and he was adamant that he didn't want anything bigger.  I wanted to splurge and get the Kubota LA1065 and he wanted a smaller Mahindra.  The JD300E was a good compromise.  Also picking up a Polaris this week.  We had my dad's jeep up there, but it was tough for kids and older folks to climb in and out.  The Polaris should be a nice addition.  We put up a little shade structure to park everything under.  Polaris will stay in the shop.  Headed up there this week and will post pics of some of the recent work.

  16. 10 hours ago, El Diablo said:

    First time I ever taught the boy how to work a topwater lure. I was explaining what I was doing as he watched. Lure hit the water, I told him I'd let it set a couple seconds until the ripples kinda dissipated and then give it a twitch. I gave it a twitch and a bass inhaled it in a glorious explosion. Fish was hooked and so was the boy. 

    Yes!  Love it when a plan comes together.  My boy is 11 now, and just has the knack for fishing.  Last year, he really started getting more independent fishing.  Tying his own lures, making decisions on what to throw based on conditions, better casting, etc.  We were fishing out of our kayaks at our local honey hole and he had missed a few fish on a wacky-rigged Senko.  I asked him what adjustment he was going to make, and he said, "I guess I'll let them take the lure a bit more".  Next cast, I see a twitch at the end of his rod.  He waits a bit longer and WHAM.  4+ lb largemouth.  I enjoy watching him catch fish more than I do catching them myself.

    • Like 2
  17. Daddy long legs video reminds me of my first deer lease south of George West.  The water shut-off valve was an absolute haven for daddy long legs until the first freeze.  No matter how much I prepared for it, it was a creepy feeling sticking my hand in that box to turn on the valve.  And I'm not an arachnaphobe.  That's a damn weird phenomenon when they all start moving together.

  18. @Anastasis is the wood rotten or just discolored?  If it's rotten, then it will indeed suck.  If it's just discolored, you can spray it with a bleach / water mixture (or a mold / mildew treatment from Lowe's / HD) and cover it back up.  Do you think water is just getting in around the door itself, or do you see evidence of water intrusion around the jamb or under the threshold?

    Also, what kind of exterior is around that door (siding / brick / stone / stucco) and does it have trim?  When there are thresholds involved or water appears to be getting in from areas other than the weatherstripping, I'm a big fan of removing a door completely and re-setting on a proper sill pan with a silicone back dam if exterior conditions allow it.  Even if you don't opt for an aluminum sill pan, a soft pan using a high-grade water barrier system (Dupont Flex Wrap is great) will provide a much better barrier than a threshold sitting on a foundation of plywood subfloor.  The ideal situation is exterior trim that can be removed and reinstalled which would allow you to remove the door completely, install a sill pan, the re-set the door and properly waterproof the sides and top.  If you have brick / stucco / stone it gets more complicated.

    And, I agree with the above that, for retrofit applications, PVC trim is great for exterior use.  Also, make sure you use a very high grade 100% silicone (NP1, Dap Dynaflex) at the transitions, and pre-fill any screw holes with the same silicone before fastening. 

    • Like 1
  19. 12 hours ago, Brew said:

    SW coast of FL around to the Keys that time of year if you want to stay in the US. Decent day time temps, okay water temp, plenty of fish to be had.

    This was going to be my suggestion.  If you want it to be a FISHING trip, this is a great choice.  Great time of year to sight cast from a skiff in Florida Bay one day then head offshore the next.  Plenty of variety.  Short flight from Texas to MIA or FLL.  Drive is manageable.  Plenty of lodging options in Key Largo and Islamorada.  Good restaurant choices as well.  Would be an awesome father-son trip.

  20. 10 minutes ago, Horn21 said:

     


    Wear a condom. Kizer greens had full-blown aids a few weeks ago.

     

    They still suck.  I went out there last night for the first time swinging a club in three months.  Guy at the desk gave me a weird look when I asked to get on Kizer.  At least he warned me.  I kept my putter in the bag all day.  They have pins in the best spot on each green, but it's all relative.  Still really, really bad.  Never seen Kizer look like that.

    I was playing solo and hit 2-3 balls on every shot and really worked on chipping around the green.  Only time I pulled out the putter was on 14 when I got on in two.  No way I was going to not at least try to roll in an eagle.  

  21. I'm also a big fan of Cruzan for more of a well drink.  Their aged light rum with Topo Chico and lime is my favorite drink while at the beach.  I also keep a bottle of Pussers on hand for painkillers.  They're awesome by the pool but holy shit, they're like 2000 calories each.  Only rum I don't care for is Myers.  

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