12/27/11 Self-Guided Freshwater Duck Hunt

One officer and two members (three total participants) had a good but frustrating time at the 12/27/11 Self-Guided Freshwater Duck Hunt on Lake Stillhouse Hollow near Harker Heights.  It was a cool morning but was bright.  We actually planned to hunt Granger Lake.  We showed up at Granger at 4:45 AM and then found out that we couldn’t get into Taylor Park (the only boat ramp still open) until 6:00 AM.  We tried to find a walk in spot but were stymied by a locked gate.  We then drove to Stillhouse but by the time that we got the dekes out the morning flight was over.  Only one shot was fired.

12/11/11 – 12/13/11 Self-Guided Saltwater Duck Hunt

One officer, three members, and one guest (five total participants) had a great time at the 12/11/11 – 12/13/11 Self-Guided Saltwater Duck Hunt near Corpus Christi/Port Aransas.  We hunted off of Wilson’s Cut in the marsh.  We couldn’t get Roy Brigman’s boat started on Sunday (but resolved the problem after a trip to Academy in Corpus).   Monday was rainy and overcast.  I, Randy Rowley, had my limit of redheads by 6:55 AM and the other hunters got theirs in short order.  We then waited around for two hours in the hopes that other ducks would come in but it was Redheads-R-Us and one teal that we didn’t get a shot at.  Tuesday was also overcast and sprinkled on us some but there were not nearly as many redheads in the air.  We ended up two short of a limit (eight) but also shot two common mergansers.  On Monday afternoon we scouted some spots in Aransas Pass.  A Game Warden and a hunting guide told us that Aransas Pass has more species of ducks than Wilson’s Cut and we pinpointed where to hunt for future hunts.  I led us in a devotional on Monday night on The Importance of Scouting.  We camped at the IB Magee Campgrounds in Port Aransas.

12/9/11 – 12/10/11 Guided Saltwater Duck Hunt

One officer, one member, and one guest (three total participants; Bruce Crockett along with Ft. Worth residents Roy Brigman and Jeff Dickson)  traveled to Port O’Connor on 12/9/11 to experience some coastal duck hunting on Matagorda Bay.  We met our guide Kenneth Gregory at 5:30am on 12/10/11 and headed out for a 30 minute boat ride to our hunting spot, which was a small island about two miles south of Grass island.  While Kenneth was setting our the decoys, we pick our spots in the mangrove shrubs.  Legal hunting began at 6:47am, and almost immediately, the redheads appeared.  Redheads were the predominate species that day, and at times we saw thousands of redheads take off from Grass islands that looked like a a swarm of bees.  If the limits on redheads had been six, we would have had no problem getting our limit.   However, since other duck species were sparse, we didn’t limit out as a group on any other species.  Jeff got two redheads, two pintails, and a widgeon.  Bruce got two redheads and a pintail.  Roy got two redheads.  We enjoyed our hunt though, and the time of fellowship.

11/26/11 Self-Guided Freshwater Duck Hunt

Two officers and two members (four total participants) had a good time on the Saturday, 11/26/11, Self-Guided Freshwater Duck Hunt on Lake Stillhouse Hollow near Harker Heights.  It was a cool morning that started out with a steady rain.  I, Randy Rowley, shot one hen spoonbill.  We had three other ducks come in at different times but we didn’t kill any.  We saw several more ducks but they wouldn’t commit.  We experienced a trial in that my boat’s motor lost all but minimum power about half way to the island and on the return trip.

9/30/11 – 10/2/11 Fall Dove Retreat (Trickham)

Three officers, seven members, one first time guest, and six children (17 total participants) had a great time at the 19th Annual Fall Dove Retreat on 9/30/11 – 10/2/11 on Frank Hamilton’s land near Trickham.  Jim Gault led the way with two birds on Friday afternoon.  Tim Price and Ron Burgi led the way with five birds on Saturday morning.  Ron Denison and I, Randy Rowley, led the way with two birds each on Saturday evening.  Darryl and Caleb Swann led the way with two birds each on Sunday morning.  A group of us got several shots off at a medium sized hog on Friday night but none of us hit it (it was running across a field after dark).  We had our usual fun clay target shoot on Saturday and dinner at Humphrey Pete’s on Saturday night, where we watched the UT – Iowa State game.  Darryl Swann led us in a devotional on avoiding temptation and I led us on a Bible study called The Moment of Truth.  We would like to thank Frank for his continued generosity.

9/22/11 – 9/25/11 Fall Dove Hunt (Dilley) – Report by Jim Mcgee

Friday Mr. Ewald’s ranch in Dilley, Jim McGee, Greg Moerbe, his son Matthew from A&M  and Mark a friend from church drove down from Austin early that morning.  We hunted by the windmill and mesquites.  The Dove were really flying till almost 11am.  We went for lunch and fellowship at a mexican food place in Pearsall.  We came back and hunted till about 6pm.  We all 4 got our limit of doves.  Greg headed back to Austin, and I camped out and got up bright and early Saturday morning and went out by myself  to hunt again.  I got my limit by 10:30am.  I cleaned the birds and headed home.  The night I camped out I got eaten up by bugs don’t know what bit me but they are just red spots and they don’t itch.  Next time I will use bug spray.

Sunday at Mr. Ewald’s ranch in Dilley,  Art Barrera invited his cousin and her husband to come hunt with me and they brought their 2 boys along.  The boys didn’t hunt, only the adults did.  They had never been dove hunting before and they had a blast doing it. We got a late start Sunday morning and the birds weren’t flying that much all day.  We were still able to harvest six between us.  My cousin’s name is Dalia Rivas; her husband’s name is Luis.  Their older boy is Louie and the younger is Alex.  They live in San Antonio .  Dalia is learning to hunt so that she can in turn teach her boys (admirable).  I taught Louie how to clean the doves…at first he was a bit squeamish, but he got over it and got the hang of it very quickly.  I told him about Genesis 9 and how we are to respect the animals the Lord provides us for food; I also explained that we should always try our best to minimize their suffering.  It was a great moment as I saw his whole attitude change about what he was doing.  By the time he finished he was not only covered with feathers, but was wearing a huge smile on his face, too.

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

Two officers, five members, and two guests (nine total participants) had the best time ever at the 9/10/11 Blast and Cast (Dove and Teal Hunt and Bass Fishing Trip) on Joel Kirby’s land near Lometa.  It started out as a cool morning but turned warm quickly.

Jim Gault, Paul Irwin, Tim Price, and I, Randy Rowley, limited out with 15 birds each.  Ken Miller was one bird shy of a limit.  Thomas Palmer got 10 (but had to leave early) and Jim Irwin got four.  There was a good mix of mourning dove and whitewings.

Jim, Tim, and I also caught around 10 – 15 bass each and took home a limit of five each.  Paul and Jim also caught several bass.

I shot at three teal (yes, I was using steel shot for both teal and dove) but didn’t bag any.

Joel and Greg Souther fed us a great lunch of burgers, chips, and drinks.  Thanks Joel and Greg!

Thanks also to Joel for making his land available for this event!

Here are some videos:

Dove Hunt Part 1 – http://youtu.be/fIby6RjQA7Q
Dove Hunt Part 2 – http://youtu.be/WQDd4KvQ1zE
Fish Stringer – http://youtu.be/1-y_BjaX3nU

8/31/11 – 9/2/11 Fall Dove Hunt (Central Zone – San Angelo)

Three officers, two members, two guests (including one first time guest), and one son (eight total participants) had a great time at the 8/31/11 – 9/2/11 Fall Dove Hunt (Central Zone – San Angelo).  Alex Denison limited out and most of the other hunters came very close.  There was no problem with overcrowding.  However, only one ring neck dove was killed this year.

3/25/11 – 3/27/11 Self-Guided Hog Hunt

Two officers, six members, and one youth guest (nine total participants) had a great time at the 3/25/11 – 3/27/11 Self-Guided Hog Hunt on the Walters Ranch near Jarrell.  The hogs were predominantly nocturnal.  Paul Irwin killed about a 150 lb. sow.  Tim Price seriously wounded a hog but Tim and Paul lost its blood trail after about 50 yards.  Either Ken Miller or I hit a pig (we shot at a herd under a feeder at 11:45 PM) that ran away squealing.  Ken also got a couple of shots off at running pigs that were under a feeder about 45 minutes earlier and Jeff Reece’s guest, Hunter, missed a hog on Saturday morning.

Several bass and crappie were caught with Paul leading the way with around eight.

We had our usual great meals of steaks, corn on the cob, and Texas toast; fajitas and all the trimmings; and chorizo, eggs, and tater tacos for brunch.

I lead us in a devotional on Hearing His Voice.

2/5/11 Guided Upland Bird Hunt

Two members and three guests (five total participants) had a great time at the FCS Guided Upland Bird Hunt on 2/5/11 with guide and FCS supporting member Joe Schram of Wing and Clay Shooting Sports at the Spanish Oaks Hunting Club near Thrall.  Dick Matteson, Rich Matteson, Jerome LeBlanc, and Matthew LeBlanc harvested five pheasants and eight quail.  Dick reported that the birds were especially strong fliers for pen-raised stock.  The group and enjoyed Barbecue at Meyers on the way home.

1/14/11 – 1/16/11 Self-Guided Saltwater Duck Hunt

Three officers, two members, and one son (six total participants) had a great time at the 1/14/11 – 1/16/11 Self-Guided Saltwater Duck Hunt near Port Aransas, despite the fact that it rained most of the weekend.  A record 34 ducks were killed.

On Friday afternoon Ken Miller, Ron Denison, Roy Brigman and I, Randy Rowley, got our limit of eight redheads.  Hunting started slow and we wasted a lot of shells on high flyers.  However, it picked up and was crazy, with ducks coming from all directions, just before shooting time ended.

On Saturday morning we were joined by Tim and Tyler Price.  We limited out with 12 redheads.  We also shot two lesser scaup and a green wing teal (a record 15 ducks for one hunt).  The scaups and teal were firsts for our coastal duck hunts.  I got a redhead double on two shots.

It rained all Saturday night and the ducks must have spent the night elsewhere as the hunting on Sunday was much slower.  Tim and Tyler decided not to hunt, but Ken, Ron, Roy, and I still got out limit of eight redheads and shot three lesser scaup (for a total of 11 ducks).

For the first time we didn’t fish on what had been known as our Coastal Blast and Cast (the fishing has always been slow in January, so we concentrated on hunting instead of fishing).

On Friday night we had a great meal at the Trout Street Bar and Grill in Port Aransas, because Castaways was closed.  We liked Trout Street better, so from now on we’ll go there.  On Saturday night we cooked beef and chicken fajitas.  We also cooked great brunches on Saturday and Sunday.

I did not lead a Bible study due to the weather.

Thanks to Tim for bringing his boat.  I also brought my boat and pop-up camper.

1/7/11 – 1/9/11  Father/Child Deer Hunt

One officer, six members, one guest, four sons, and one youth (14 total participants) had a great time at the 1/7/11 – 1/9/11 Father/Child Deer and Hog Hunt at Frank Hamilton’s land near Trickham.  Tim Price killed a small pig.  Two does were missed.  Roy Brigman and Darryl Swann led devotionals.  The participants would like to thank Frank for his incredible generosity.