12/11/10 Guided Duck Hunt

One officer and four guests (five total participants) had a great time on the 12/11/10 Guided Duck Hunt with Joey Pohl on Flagg Pond, just south of Lake Somerville.  The skies were only partly cloudy and there was virtually no wind.  The hunters shot a total of eight ducks – two pintails, two spoonbills, and four green wing teal.  They saw lots of ducks but they wouldn’t come into their decoys.  They would come in and then flare away, probably due to the lack of wind making the dekes look like statues.

10/15/10 – 10/17/10 Annual Fall Dove Retreat (Trickham)

Four officers,  seven members, three guests (including one first time guest), and seven children (21 total participants) had a great time at the 18th Annual Fall Dove Retreat on 10/15/10 – 10/17/10 on Frank Hamilton’s land near Trickham.  Several of us got two birds each on Friday afternoon.  Tim Price led the way with four birds on Saturday.  Ken Miller and I led the way with four birds each on Sunday morning (I got my four with four shots).  We had our usual fun clay target shoot on Saturday and dinner at Humphrey Pete’s on Saturday night, where we watched football and The Longest Yard as we ate.  Roy Brigman led us in a Bible study on spiritual warfare and putting on the whole armor of God and Ron Burgi led us in a Bible study on our privilege of sharing the Gospel.  We would like to thank Frank for his continued generosity. 

9/16/10 – 9/19/10 Fall Dove Hunt (Dilley)

Three officers, three members, three guests (including three first time guests), and four sons (14 total participants) had a great time at the Annual Fall Dove Hunt (South Zone – Dilley) on 9/16/10 – 9/19/10 on Lee Ewald’s ranches near Dilley.  On Friday, Greg Moerbe and first time guest, Mike  Limacher, limited out and Jim McGee got nine.  Jim got his limit on Saturday morning.  The other hunters did not fair as well.  On Sunday, first time guest, Charles Greene and his son bagged five birds (it was the first dove hunt for both of them).  Art Barrera did a bible study on forgiveness with six of the hunters.  It rained on Friday and Saturday afternoons.

9/11/10 Blast and Cast (Fall Dove Hunt and Bass Fishing Trip – Lometa)

Four officers, five members, two guests, one son, and one youth (13 total participants) had a great time at the 9/11/10 Blast and Cast (Fall Dove Hunt and Bass Fishing Trip) near Lometa on Joel Kirby’s land.  The hunt started as a dove hunt but quickly turned into a hog hunt.  As we were walking to the dove fields, I spotted a hog about 50 yards ahead of us.  It spotted us at the same time and ran away.  As I was trying to get my camera unfogged three other hogs approached us from the right.  They also spotted us and ran about 100 yards and stopped and then joined the first hog about 150 yards from us.  Greg Souther’s dog, Clint, then went after the hogs.  He chased them to the left and then the right.  Three of the hogs escaped but Clint managed to grab hold of the hog’s hind leg and slow it down.  Ken Miller shot it once with his .32 pistol.  Then Roy Brigman’s dog, Hershey, joined Clint in immobilizing the hog.  Roy and I got the dogs off of the hog and Roy finished it off with his .380 pistol.  While all of this was going on, several other hogs ran out of the creek area by the front tanks.  Around 20 hogs were seen.

The dove were spotty.  For the morning hunt Paul Irwin had the hot spot and bagged six birds.  First time guest Jim Irwin I bagged two and several hunters bagged one.  This was Zack Myers first hunt and he bagged his first dove on his first shot!   Zack was one of our youth shooters at the 6/19/10 Father/Child Clay Target Shoot.  He told us that day he wanted to hunt with us when we next went.  He took his hunter safety class and paid for it himself, as well as his hunting license.  Five hunters stayed and hunted during the afternoon.  Paul added two more birds and Tim and Tyler Price added one more each.

Fishing was a different story.  The bass hit top waters, especially plastic “Ribbit” frogs, with abandon.  In the morning Paul led the way with about 10 fat bass, including a six pounder.  I caught eight, including a six pounder that jumped four times and a couple five pounders.  Jim Gault caught six.  For the afternoon Paul added about 10 more.

Greg Souther and land owner Joel Kirby cooked burgers and beans for lunch.  Thanks to Joel for opening his land to us and to Greg and Joel for cooking lunch. 

9/10/10 – 9/11/10 Guided Teal Hunt

Two officers, three member, and one son (six total participants) had a great time at the 9/10/10 – 9/11/10 (opening day) Guided Teal Hunt with Bill Sherrill Waterfowling near Wharton.  The teal started flying a little later than last year but the hunters limited by 8:00 AM.  They then enjoyed a BBQ lunch at Hinze BBQ and were back in Austin by 3:00 PM.

9/1/10 – 9/2/10 Fall Dove Hunt (San Angelo)

Two officers, four members, and two sons (eight total participants) had a great time on the 9/1/10 – 9/2/10 Fall Dove Hunt near San Angelo with Steve Hoelscher of “White-Wings Galore Dove Hunts.”  As promised, Steve limited the number of people per field and the hunters hunted over a wheat field.  All hunters limited out on Wednesday afternoon and Thursday morning.  Three Eurasian collard doves were also killed.  Larry Dowden reports that at one point you could throw a rock in the air and get two or three birds.  Below are the first ever FCS hunting videos that we have the ability to post on this website:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yDHbn4MbZcM (with music)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljk6z3Xda1U (it’s hard to see the birds because they are high)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNXuWA1FSm4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohTuE9zWZ-s

3/6/10 Guided Upland Bird Hunt

Three members, two guests (including one first time guest), and one son (six total participants) had a great time at the 3/6/10 Guided Upland Bird Hunt with Joe Schram at the Spanish Oak Hunting Club near Thrall.  The group killed 10 quail and 6 chukar.  Dick Matteson reported that his son, Rich, shot well and 12-year-old Harrison DeShazo did well too with a .410!  Dick saw three go down to Harrison’s gun and he is sure that there were more that he didn’t see.

1/29/10 – 1/31/10 Non-Guided Hog Hunt 

Two officers and three members (five total participants) had a great time at the 1/29/10 – 1/31/10 Non-Guided Hog Hunt at the CZC Ranch.  For the second time at the CZC Ranch we did not bag or see any hogs (and very few deer).  This was strange because one of the seven feeders had been hit heavily by hogs.  The cold weather was probably the reason.  It was 26 degrees when we got up on Saturday morning and 27 degrees when we got up on Sunday morning.  Fortunately Daryl and Mike Shipper brought their travel trailer so we slept in the warm trailer instead of a cold tent.  On Sunday we did a group stalk.  We ate like Kings, including fajitas and New York Strip steaks.  We also ate at Humphrey Pete’s in Brownwood on Friday night.  I, Randy Rowley, led us in a Bible Study called A Second Chance.

1/22/10 – 1/24/10 Coastal Non-Guided/Non-Chartered “Blast and Cast” (Duck Hunt and Fishing Trip) Report by Cade Roberson

Two members, one first time guest, and three sons (six total participants) had a great time at the annual 1/22/10 – 1/24/10 Coastal Non-Guided/Non-Chartered “Blast and Cast” (Duck hunt and Fishing trip) near Corpus Christi.

We hunted in the baling out in the middle of the area west of the gas plant.  It was extremely foggy and windy in the AM.  We could only see about 20 feet outside of the decoys.  We had a group of about 300 ducks swim almost right up into our decoys about 20 minutes after shooting light.  I had just racked a shell into the receiver and we were managing the boys, so we scared them.  So the group swam a couple hundred yards away and we watched ducks fly to them all day.  We missed some opportunities to capitalize, had several ducks do fly bys and missed the shot opportunity.  We could not compete with what grew to be several thousand ducks nearby.  We did take a Pintail and a Redhead.  The boys had a blast. We waded the bay with six dozen decoys, two boys, and a four month old pup… and had fun.  I definitely know how to better prepare for the hunt next time.

Don and his neighbor were great to be with, they helped me a lot packing up.  This was a good father son time! We did have a scripture reading and small devotion time on Saturday afternoon.

It was too windy to hunt on Sunday.  The group was skunked fishing.  They saw trout jumping and redfish fining but they weren’t interested in any of their lures or shrimp.

1/1/10 – 1/3/10 Winter Dove Hunt (report by Art Barrera)

Five members, two guests, and two sons (nine total participants) had a blast at the 1/1/10 – 1/3/10 Winter Dove Hunt at Lee Ewald’s ranches near Dilley.  The hunters hunted early Saturday morning, barbecued at lunchtime, held a short Bible study on Romans 12, and hunted again on Saturday evening until sunset.  Don Jordan and his son, Bayler, and Ron Burgi and his son, Will, had great father/son adventures.

The birds were sporadic, but they were flying and kept us fairly busy for both the morning and afternoon hunts.  One just had to be patient.  No one got their limit, but a few birds were killed.  During the morning hunt, we hunted over by the east field and tanks.  We also hunted near the old vineyard and it was a good spot.

The best part of all was the fellowship nine Christians got to share with one another.  It was awesome to see two father/son teams sharing in the hunting experience.  Both Will and Bayler are fine young gentlemen whose fathers are doing a great job raising them.