2004 Hunting Trips Reports

12/22/04 – 12/23/04 Deer and Hog Hunt

Two members had a great time at the 12/22/04 – 12/23/04 Deer and Hog Hunt at the Siller Ranch near Derby.  The Ranch is about 15 miles as the crow flies from Mr. Ewald’s place and is right next door to the Mesquite Bowhunting Ranch.

As we drove onto the property, we noticed that the Mesquite property looked like a drunk person had taken a tiller to a large section by the fence.  It was the biggest area of hog rooting that I’ve ever seen.  We also saw six Aoudads near there.  Mario Siller has about a 200 acre field that he once farmed.  The field is surrounded by woods and contains five of his seven blinds and nine of his 13 feeders.  His other 50 acres are heavily wooded.

His blinds were the best that I (Randy Rowley) have ever seen.  They were big, carpeted, and insulated.  The one that I hunted from on 12/22/04 had a propane heater in it and a chase lounge pad.  You could easily sleep in them.  They also had little shade ledges over each window.  Most of his blinds overlook two or more feeders.  Most of his feeders worked but one didn’t turn on Thursday morning until 8:30 AM and some didn’t come on at all.

Neither Allen Neumann nor I saw any animals on Mario’s land on our 12/22/04 hunt.  We both saw a lot of quail and dove.  I put corn piles in three spots with Pig Out syrup on it.  Pig Out attracts both deer and hogs.  At dusk an approximately 200 lb. boar on the Mesquite property ran straight to my closest Pig Out pile.  Unfortunately he couldn’t get through their game fence.

Thursday morning was a chilly 30 degrees.  I decided to hunt a blind bordering the open field.  The stand that I chose overlooked two feeders about 80 yards away on opposite sides of the blind and another feeder about 200 yards away.  About 7:25 I saw a doe at the far feeder.  I put my scope on her, but she was presenting her hind end to me.  She suddenly bolted and ran about 2/3 the way across the field.  She was now about 300 yards away.  She stopped and I shot.  I know that I hit her because she started to slowly limp away.  She stopped twice more, and I shot both times.  I lost sight of her near some green mesquites.

After the excitement was over, I realized that I failed to compensate for bullet drop.  My .30-06 is sighted in at 100 yards.  At 300 yards it would drop about a foot.  I aimed for her front shoulder so I’m sure that I hit her front lower leg.  I decided to wait 30 minutes and then go look for her.  About 10 minutes later I saw another doe walking along a fence in the opposite direction.  She was about 250 yards away.  She stopped.  This time I aimed at her upper back.  When I fired, she immediately kicked her back legs high over her head.  She rand a few yards and stopped.  I shot again.  I lost sight of her in the tall grass but marked where I thought that she was.  I decided to also give her 30 minutes.

About 15 minutes later a five point buck came out of the trees that bordered the field.  He was just 80 yards away.  He walked straight at me but only presented a neck shot.  He stopped but I passed on the shot.  I thought that something might be wrong with my scope, even though I shot a hog with it two weeks before at the 11/26/04 – 11/27/04 Deer and Hog Hunt.  He promptly turned around and walked back the way he came.  A few minutes later he popped up about 100 yards on the other side of the blind.  He was walking away, presenting his rear end.  Suddenly he stopped and turned around and started walking back towards me.  He presented a 2/3 broadside but there was very tall grass in front of him.  I put the crosshairs where his shoulder should be and fired.  When I went to look for him, to my surprise, the tall grass was growing up from the earthen dam of a dried up tank.  The dirt was about three feet high.  He was walking behind the dam.  I’m sure that instead of easily blowing through grass my bullet slammed into dirt.

I went to look for the first two deer and couldn’t find either.  While I was looking for the second deer, without my rifle, I saw another doe.  I then went and picked up Allen.  He had missed one of three turkeys in heavy cover and saw one doe that he couldn’t get a shot at.  We looked for the second doe first and, after a long search, Allen found her.  She was about 40 yards closer that I figured her at.  My first bullet had grazed the underside of her torso (see the 12/22/04 – 12/23/04 Deer Hunt pictures).  The second bullet hit her neck.  After a long search we gave up on the first doe.

Mario doesn’t have a lot of deer on his property but if you consider that you have the potential to fill all your tags in one day, he has a very good deal.  If I had remembered to aim higher on the first doe, I’m sure that I would have killed her also.  If luck had been with me, I also would have tagged the buck.  Up to four deer plus turkeys and hogs for $150 dollars is a very good deal.

I’ve spent many hours searching http://www.texashuntinglease.com/ and dozens of other sites on my lunch hours.  Most places charge $100 for just one doe.  Bucks are frequently charged by the points or B&C score.  Mario also charges just $50 for hog only hunts (after deer season) for unlimited hogs.  Although we didn’t see any hogs on Mario’s land, we sure saw a lot of evidence of them.  They’re probably completely nocturnal and we would probably be much more successful at night (he doesn’t allow night hunting during deer season).  Mario also doesn’t have a bunkhouse but allows camping.  He has a game cleaning station with running water.  Mario can be reached at 830-334-3761.

One thing is for sure – I learned some valuable lesions today.  The farthest shot that I took and made prior to this was about 145 yards.  I plan on spending time at the Hill Country Rifle Range’s (on Hamilton Pool Road) 200 yard range and on memorizing my .30-06 ballistic tables.  My 180 grain Federal Premium Nosler Partition’s drop 14.6 inches at 300 yards and drift 7.3 inches with a 10 MPH crosswind (it was windy when I shot) by the way.  I probably will also be looking for a decent laser range finder.

12/19/04 – 12/23/04 Pheasant Hunt

One member and one youth member had a great time at the 12/19/04 – 12/23/04 Pheasant Hunt near Hart.  Tim Price shot a Pheasant, Isaac Price shot a Canadian Goose, and together they shot three ducks.  Tim said that they saw as many pheasants as they did last year, and the geese were swarming like bats, but they couldn’t get within shotgun range of them.

11/26/04 – 11/27/04 Deer and Hog Hunt

Seven people (two officers, three members, and two sons) had a great time on the 11/26/04 – 11/27/04 Deer and Hog Hunt on the Haun Ranch near Victoria.  Kelvin Cheung shot his first big game animal – a 100 lb. whitetail doe.  I, Randy Rowley, shot a 95 lb. sow.  Interestingly this was a “does by permit county.”  Ryan Rowley saw at least 12 does and I and Kelvin saw at least six.  As we were driving back to camp to clean Kelvin’s doe we saw 23 deer – 21 of them does.  Go figure.  Kelvin, Ryan, and I hunted all night long.  Tim, Isaac, and Tyler Price hunted until about 1:30 AM and then hit it again about 4:30 AM.

Pros: The bunk house was very nice, although we hardly used it.  There were real beds with mattresses, a working stove, refrigerator, and microwave.

Cons: Terry Haun, the owner, did not tell us that does were by permit only and there would be a drawing for the three remaining permits, until after we had paid him.  He said that he had 12 feeders but many of them were just the barrels with holes in them on the ground that hogs and deer could nudge to get corn out.

Final analysis: I saw three hogs.  Tim and his boys saw a few on the way in, as did Kelvin.  Three of us staying out all night should have resulted in more hogs killed.  Add that with Terry’s deception and we will not return.

11/12/04 – 11/13/04 Guided Duck Hunt

Seven hunters (two groups) had varied hunts at the 11/12/04 – 11/13/04 Guided Duck Hunt (one of our two 6th Annual Guided Waterfowl Hunts) with Waterfowl Outfitters Unlimited near Eagle Lake.  Mark Dillow’s group of three hunters shot eight ducks.  Ron Denison’s group of four hunters did not fire a shot.  The weather was overcast and chilly (perfect duck hunting weather) but the ducks were few and far between.  Thanks to Ron Denison for leading this event.

11/5/04 – 11/6/04 Goose Hunt

Five hunters (four men and one woman) had a frustrating hunt on the 11/5/04 – 11/6/04 Goose Hunt (one of our two 6th Annual Waterfowl Hunts) with the Blue Goose Hunting Club near Altair.  It was a bright sunny day with no wind and there weren’t many geese and those that were there would not come down to the decoy spread.  Only three geese were taken.  Thanks to Ken Hamilton for leading this event.

9/23/04 – 9/26/04 Fall Dove Retreat

Fifty seven people (30 men including 10 first time guests, five women, and 22 children) had a good time at the 13th Annual Fall Dove Retreat on 9/23/04 – 9/26/04 at Lee Ewald’s ranches near Dilley.  Thirty six hunters participated.  This was the most ladies and the most children that we have had at a Dove Retreat and our fifth best attendance overall (it was our second best attendance at Mr. Ewald’s ranches).

The hunting was good is some spots and poor in others.  For example I, Randy Rowley, did not fire a shot on Friday morning at the windmill property but bagged 10 birds there on Friday afternoon.  The property with several tanks on it was poor during both morning and afternoon hunts.  The tank and the four corners spots on the main property were fair to good on Friday and Saturday mornings but not good in the afternoons.  Ken Hamilton and I shot doubles, and I shot my best ever bagging 10 birds in 22 shots on Friday and then besting it with 8 birds in 12 shots on Saturday.  Ron Denison shot 8 birds in 16 shots on Friday and Ronnie Ross was also shooting quite well on Saturday (from my observations) but he did not keep score.  Randy Gordon, Adam Koch, and Zach Corbin killed rattlesnakes.

Clay targets were shot by the tank by the Ewald’s house and rifles, handguns, and a .50 muzzleloader were shot into the banks of the tank.  We had our usual big breakfast’s on Friday and Saturday cooked on our FCS Cooker and Eddy Chance’s cooker.  Eddy, Derrich Pollock, Steve Watkins, and I were the chefs.  For the first time ever we had as many RV’s on the camp grounds as we had tents.  Mr. Ewald put in a shower and sink in the restroom in the barn and finished it on Saturday.  Ken Hamilton led us in a Bible study on Friday morning and new member Brian Devany led us in a Bible study on Saturday morning.  We also had prayer before each morning hunt.

9/11/04 – 9/12/04 Fall Dove Hunt (north zone)

Two hunters had a good time at the 9/11/04 – 9/12/04 Fall Dove Hunt (north zone) near Woodson although the birds were few and far between.  Wilson Peters and Rusty Prince got three birds between them over two days, however, they got their limit in mosquitos!

8/31/04 – 9/3/04 Fall Dove Hunt (north zone)

Twenty one participants (including eight first time guests) had a good time at the 8/31/04 – 9/3/04 Fall Dove Hunt (north zone) near Woodson.  Eddy Chance, Larry Dowden, and Ron Denison limited out on the first day.  The second day was much tougher.  The 10 birds that Randy Rowley killed were the most.  The third morning was better than the second.  Randy got seven birds and Ron shot six.  The weather was good (high – 88, low – 61) with scattered clouds.  Eddy and Ron both killed rattlesnakes.  There were not nearly as many birds as anticipated due to a recent cold front.

8/31/04 – 9/2/04 Fall Dove Hunt (central zone)

Six hunters had a good time at the 8/31/04 – 9/2/04 Fall Dove Hunt (central zone) at a ranch near Mason.  The first day was great but the second was much tougher.

2/20/04 – 2/22/04 Hog and Predator Hunt

Nine people (three officers, three members, two sons, and one daughter) had a great time at the 6th Annual Hog Hunt on 2/20/04 – 2/22/04 at the Reed Ranch near Corsicana.  We also hunted predators and fished.  David Chalmers shot a 205 pound boar (the second largest boar taken at an FCS hog hunt).  Jim Gault shot a 140 pound blonde boar.  Warren Hoke shot a 118 pound boar with a deformed rear leg.  Isaac Price shot two hogs, but they were not found until the next day.  Jim Gault also killed two coyotes that he called in to his stand on the second night.  Ryan Rowley and I, Randy Rowley, saw a hog that went by our feeder after dark, but we couldn’t get a shot.  All hunting was done at an hour before dark and during the night.  The Reed Ranch is located on the Trinity River.  Much of the hunting areas were very swampy so only four wheelers were used to transport hunters and gear.  We either gave the Reed’s a time when we wanted to be picked up or called them on our cell phones and let them know that we were ready to go back to the bunk house.  We fished one of the Reed’s tanks but were skunked.

Pros: The Reed’s are very nice people.  They went out of their way to take care of us.  Ms. Judy had chili waiting for us when we returned from the first night of hunting.  She made biscuits for us the next morning.  The stands were in good shape as were most of the feeders.  One of the feeders had an LCD light.  Four of the six hunters got hogs (66% success ratio) which is very good.  The Reeds have a good cooking area with a oven, sink, and barbecue grill.  They also had a real bathroom and a nice fire pit.  They have a stocked catfish pond and a stocked bass lake.

Cons: There did not seem to be very many hogs on the ranch.  We saw no herds.  None of the hogs stopped at the feeders or were interested in regular corn or my sweet/sour corn.  Only Tim saw a hog on the second night (he and his kids stayed out all night).  We were very limited in the times that we could hunt (we were told not to bother in the morning or early afternoon).  Because of the swampy roads we were totally dependent on the Reed’s.  The accommodations were not the best that we have experienced (some of the beds did not have mattresses).

Final analysis: Hunting hogs in the afternoon has yielded good results at all of the other six ranches that we have hunted on.  One hog was taken in the morning last year at the Arrowhead Ranch.  The problem with hunting only at night is it’s very hard to see anything with a red lantern except in cleared areas, such as around feeders.  This is fine if the hogs are coming to the feeders.  If they don’t come to the feeders, you’re looking at a shot in the dark at a moving target.  We have not found Hog Heaven yet.

Warren and David donated some of the meat from their hogs to Farmers and Hunters Feeding the Hungry.

1/23/04 – 1/24/04 Conservation Season Goose Hunt

Ten hunters (one officer, eight members, and one guest) had a good time at the 1/23/04 – 1/24/04 Conservation Season Goose Hunt with W.S. Sherrill near Wharton.  It rained throughout the hunt, there was two inches of water on the ground, and the geese were very hard to decoy.  Twenty eight were killed.  Thanks to Ken Hamilton for leading this event.

12/31/03 – 1/3/04 Winter Dove Retreat

Twenty nine people (three officers, 11 members, two guests, six sons, three daughters, two youth guests, and one wife) had a great time at the 11th Annual Winter Dove Retreat on 12/31/03 – 1/3/04 at Lee Ewald’s properties near Dilley.  The hunting was good is some spots and poor in others.  I, Randy Rowley, my son Ryan, and Kelvin Cheung hunted Mr. Ewald’s windmill property on Thursday morning and bagged ten birds among us, but didn’t see a bird there on Thursday night.  The tank on the main property was slow on Thursday night and then turned on for about thirty minutes.  Derrich Pollock got seven.  Friday morning was very slow on the windmill property.  We quit about 9:15 AM and headed back to camp and were greeted by what sounded like WW III down at the tank.  We hustled to the tank, and I bagged five birds in about five minutes!  Friday night was very slow except for about the last 15 minutes.  At least one limit was shot on Friday (by Ron Denison).  Saturday morning was very slow at first, but birds finally started to fly at about 8:30 AM.  There was heavy cloud cover on each morning of the retreat.  Most of us wore short sleeved shirts all weekend.  We had our usual group breakfasts and had more food than we could eat.  We burned up several boxes of shells at clay targets at the tank by the house.  Dennis Koch shared his Ak-47, Derrich Pollock shared his Ruger Model 77, and Tim Price shared his .50 muzzleloader with other members.  We were able to shoot rifles and handguns safely into the dry tank by the Ewald’s home.  Thanks to Jim McGee for teaching a Bible study on Friday night.