On a cold Saturday morning in early December, Jason Cox and I went on an FCS self-guided duck hunt on Lake Belton.  We saw a few flocks of teal that were far away.  After around two hours, Jason went scouting.  Later a lone duck flew by, but by the time I mounted my shotgun, I was presented with a 50+ yard going away shot.  I declined to take the shot, as I likely would’ve wounded it and caused suffering.

On the way back to the boat ramp, Mr. Murphy found us.  After we loaded our gear in my boat, I started to back us out but ran into an underwater bush, so I made a U-turn. Read More→

On a hot Saturday in early June, two friends and I launched my boat on Lake Decker for a morning of bass fishing.  Soon after arriving at the hot water discharge, I caught a 15-inch-long bass on a Rapala Clackin’ Rap lipless crankbait in ‘moss back shiner’ color.  Lipless crankbaits run at variable depths but usually run shallow.

I swung him into my boat with my rod and lipped him (grabbed his lip with my thumb and index finger) with my right hand, which was not my norm, as I usually lip bass with my left hand and use my right hand for lure removal.  I couldn’t unhook him with my left hand, so I reached down and grabbed a pair of pliers and then grasped the hook with the pliers. Read More→

On the evening of August the 13th, I finally became the owner of a genuine bass boat – a 1989 18′ 4″ Champion 184 side-console fiberglass fish and ski boat (old-style) with a 1996 Mercury 150 HP 2-stroke outboard motor, two livewells, two fish finders, and a built-in ice chest.  “Champ” ran on Lake Georgetown at 50 MPH that evening, with the seller, my wife, and I onboard during the test drive. Read More→

My son, Ryan, had a football game on the third Friday night in September, so my father-in-law, the late Ken Brigman, Ryan, and I missed the first day of the FCS south zone dove hunt on the Kanapick day lease near Dilley, about sixty miles south of the San Antonio city limits.

We arrived on Saturday around noon and were surprised to see several dove flying around, especially near the stock tanks (ponds).  We were also amazed at how hot it was – it felt like it was already above 100 degrees.

We set up camp and chilled in the shade until the afternoon hunt.  The ranch owner had a covered storage area with a concrete slab but no walls.  We sat under it to stay out of the blistering sun.

We headed to a large sunflower field around mid-afternoon.  Although there were 25 of us, there was plenty of room to spread out.  The birds started flying and falling in short order.  There were no white-winged dove (aka white-wings), but the sky was black with mourning dove.  Most of us enjoyed seeing the most dove we’d seen on a hunt and got 15-dove limits within a couple of hours. Read More→

FCS was born at the Appletree Ranch, close to Leakey in Southwest Texas and only around 15 miles from Garner State Park.  The area is gorgeous – mountainous with steep ravines, green forests, and the clear Frio River.  (“Frio” is Portuguese for “cold.”)  Many Texans believe the area is the jewel of the state.  Campers often have to wait up to a year to get a Garner State Park campsite reservation when schools aren’t in session. Read More→

Have you ever been called on at a work meeting, training conference, during a class, etc., to lecture on things or demonstrate skills others assumed you knew?  People have stood there stammering many times in such cases because they weren’t prepared or sure of themselves.

On a Saturday in June, I manned an FCS table at a Legacy Outfitters Outdoor Expo at Brushy Creek Lake Park in Austin.  They had demonstrations on setting up campsites, building fires, cooking meals, etc.

All was going well.  Then their leader came over and asked me to give a no more than 30-minute-long lecture and demonstration on bass fishing with lures.  (I’d brought one of my rod and reel combo’s and a small tackle box in case I had an opportunity to fish.)  I said “sure” but then learned I would be on in five minutes!  I hemmed and hawed through my presentation because I didn’t have adequate preparation time. Read More→

On a Saturday morning deer hunt, I sat in my pop-up blind on a small property near Round Rock, listening to a commotion behind me.  I couldn’t see what was causing the uproar, as my blind didn’t have a rear window, but it appeared not to care if other creatures knew it was there.  Its lack of stealth meant it had to be a buck chasing a doe or a hog.

As seconds ticked by it appeared to be getting closer, and the closer it came, the louder it got.  I shouldered my Browning Gold 12 gauge, stuffed with 00 buckshot.  If it took just a few more steps, I’d see it and be able to take it if I wanted to. Read More→

On the last Saturday in August, I worked an FCS booth at a sportsmen’s expo held at a church in Liberty Hill.  As dove season was fast-approaching, I tried to engage those who stopped by asking questions about their dove hunting plans.

A man who stopped by told me about a dove hunt at the Balcones Canyonlands Federal Wildlife Refuge near Liberty Hill, where he worked as the deputy director.  The hunt was held each September the 1st through the 4th.  He said a four-day permit was only $15.00, and the hunting was great on the first day, good on the second, fair on the third, and poor on the fourth.  Burl Fulenwider and I decided we’d give it a try.

Read More→

I love to hunt game birds, especially ducks and dove.  I also love to fish, especially for largemouth bass.  But it’s exceedingly rare when I get to do all three on the same morning.  So, when I have an opportunity to go on a ‘blast and cast,’ I jump at it.  In mid-September, I had such a chance at Joel Kirby’s A-OK Ranch near Lometa.

It was cool when we arrived, but my eight friends and I knew it wouldn’t stay that way for long.  We gathered our guns, shell bags, buckets, and Mojo’s (motorized decoys) and headed over to the mesquites and stock tanks (ponds).  I also brought along a dozen teal decoys, as it was the opening day of teal season.  I put them on the largest stock tank, set out my Mojo, and then sat under a big solitary mesquite tree, which was the only cover I could find. Read More→

As most boys grow up, they long for the approval and blessing of their fathers.  The approval of my father mainly came second-hand.  He didn’t praise me to my face often; instead, he would sing my praises to others.

When I killed my first deer, an average-sized doe, at age 16 on a ranch near Lampasas with a borrowed bolt-action .243, there was nothing special about her.  But the way my dad bragged about what I’d done to anyone who would listen, you would’ve thought I’d shot a 12-point buck!  My dad wasn’t a hunter, but he took me hunting from when I first expressed interest at age 15 until around age 17.  Although we were rarely successful and didn’t know much about deer, dove, or duck hunting, I fondly remember those hunts.
Read More→

On the first Saturday in December, two friends and I went on an FCS self-guided duck hunt on Lake Granger in a small cove in the San Gabriel Wildlife Management Area.  It was overcast, so we were somewhat optimistic.

Ducks started flying almost precisely at legal shooting time – 30 minutes before sunrise.  A duck came in low over my dekes from right to left, and I nailed it with a load of Winchester Xpert 2 shot from my 12 gauge Browning Gold Hunter.  A flock of teal came in as I went to get my duck.  Tim Price and Ken Miller shot at them, which encouraged me to get back into my boat blind quickly, with my drake gadwall.  A high-flyer flew by, and Tim nailed it.  It hit the water about 35 yards behind us in the flooded 20-foot trees.  (The trees were flooded because the lake was high.)  Tim eventually found it – a hen gadwall. Read More→

On a chilly Saturday in mid-March, five friends, two relatives, and I headed to the CZC Ranch near Mercury for an FCS weekend self-guided hog hunt.  We set up camp, baited the stands we planned to hunt, cooked, ate dinner, and headed to the stands.

Tim Price hunted his stands with his two sons – Isaac and Tyler.  Jesse Price and Jim Gault hunted solo in different stands, and I hunted solo in my stand.  My brother-in-law, Roy Brigman, and his son, Leroy, hunted an elevated stand in a hayfield overlooking a feeder at the edge of the woods.  As the stand was only made for one, Roy sat in it while Leroy sat in a chair underneath it.  But when it got dark, Roy joined Leroy underneath it. Read More→

Texas is a rare state because we’re blessed with, among other things, hunting year-round.  Dove season starts the first day of each September, followed briefly by a two-week-long teal season.  In late September or early October, hunters can begin to chase deer with sticks and strings.  Quail season starts up in late October.  Turkeys, ducks, and geese join the hunting menu in early November.  In addition, hunters can finally hunt deer with guns.  Spring turkey hunting starts in March.  Hunters can hunt rabbits, squirrels (for most of the state), and non-game animals such as hogs and exotics year-round.

But hunting usually is impractical during the summer due to the heat.  Meat spoils quickly in the Texas sun, and it’s just not much fun roasting in a deer stand or stalking through the woods in the hotter months.  So, after spring turkey season, hunters usually wait four months before they can again answer the call of the wild.  This four-month hiatus can only partially be assuaged by fishing trips, shooting clays shoots, hunting and gathering trips, etc.

As each opening day gets closer, we become more and more excited.  We begin to relive successful trips in our minds, daydream about upcoming hunting trips, and track game whenever we see it with imaginary shotguns, rifles, or bows.  We promise ourselves that nothing will keep us from hunting on our opening days. Read More→

Do you have a favorite gun you show to your friends more often than others?  Mine is a Remington Model 700 BDL chambered in .25-06 that my dad gave me on my 16^th birthday.  It has the old-style floor plate with a quick-release button, a bolt-release button, a 24-inch-long barrel, and a Monte Carlo cheek comb high gloss walnut stock.

A Vortex Crossfire II 3-9x50mm matte finish scope with a V-Brite (illuminated) reticle with Butler Creek flip-up scope mounts is presently mounted on Leupold see-through rings (which enables me to shoot with the rifle’s iron sights).  Other after-market additions include a safari sling, a Kane gun chap (which protects the stock), and a nine-shell bullet band surrounding the stock.  I also add a Harris Bipod to the stock sometimes when hunting from my pop-up blinds – it’s designed to use when sitting and detaches easily.

I had a gunsmith adjust the 7-lb.-pull factory trigger to 3 lbs. and free-float the barrel when the rifle was about 20 years old. Read More→

Comedian Jeff Foxworthy, best known for his “You might be a Redneck” skits, created a routine a few years ago where he pretended to scold his off-stage wife for not being appreciative when he brought her the world’s most expensive meat.  He said he incurred the following expenses:

“$500 – lease

$800 – new rifle and scope

$150 – camo clothes

$50 – magazines

$200 – bullets

$6,000 – 4 wheeler

$500 – food for the lease

$8,200 – total”

(I realize the price for the lease is considerably off now.) Read More→

On a warm November morning, I crept to my ground box blind on my deer lease near Georgetown.  I’d spent a couple of hours in my tree stand, but nothing was moving, so I decided to try my ground blind a few hundred yards away.

As I approached the blind, I came upon a small herd of deer in a clearing.  We saw each other at the same time.  A doe snorted and then high-tailed it away, and the rest of the herd quickly followed her.  Most of them ran until they were out of sight.  But a spike only ran about 50 yards and then stopped, turned 90 degrees, and looked back. Read More→

On a frigid and windy Friday in late March, four friends and I journeyed to the CZC Ranch near Mercury for an FCS weekend self-guided hog hunt.

Grady Van Heuverswyn’s glasses were knocked off his face on Friday night as he took off his facemask, so we went to look for them on Saturday morning in my truck.  On the way to Grady’s stand, Jim McGee spotted a hog, and we went after it.  About 20 yards away, the three-foot grass swayed.  I looked beyond it and saw a medium-sized pig, partially concealed by the grass.  I shot her in the head with my Remington Model 7400 in .30-06, using my iron sights (looking through my Weaver See-Thru scope rings).  When I shot, around seven to eight piglets ran in all directions.  Two stopped in front of me, and I shot one.  The piglets were the cause of the swaying grass.

On Sunday morning, we conducted a group stalk.  We wore blaze orange caps as we walked alongside each other in a line about 30 yards apart.

As I walked down a trail in a heavily wooded area, I came across a large pile of hog scat.  Beyond that pile was another, and beyond it were many more.  I counted at least 15 piles, many of which were fresh, and radioed, “I found the hog outhouse.”  My announcement resulted in movement in the heavy brush to the right of the trail.  I softly radioed, “Hogs!” and then headed to my left, hoping to find a way to them. Read More→

Galatians 6:2 (NASB) says, “Bear one another’s burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ.”  Paul painted the picture of a person wilting under a heavy load.  His emphasis wasn’t “Expect others to bear your burdens” because that’s self-focused.  Such a focus will usually result in frustration and disappointment, as most people won’t meet our needs as we think they should.  Instead, Paul directed the Galatians to others-focus, especially those waning under a heavy load.   We should overlook a brother’s or sister’s shortcomings, as readily as we ignore our own, and look for ways to bear their burdens.

Jesus also commanded us to others-focus in John 13:34-35.  He said, “A new command I give you: Love one another.  As I have loved you, so you must love one another.  By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” Read More→

Early on the first Saturday in February, Jim McGee and I headed to the Spanish Oaks upland game bird (quail, chukars, and pheasants) preserve near Thrall.  We were dressed and outfitted poorly for upland game birds.  Both of us were in full camo, and instead of bringing shotguns, we had brought scoped semi-automatic deer rifles.  No, we hadn’t lost our minds – you see, our quarry wasn’t upland game birds – it was hogs.

The preserve had a bit of a hog problem.  The pigs liked to come to the meandering stock tank (pond) to drink water and wallow in the mud.  They also enjoyed rooting in the fields.  As is typical with pigs, the rooting caused havoc to the preserve’s landscape.  The preserve’s owner told us to shoot as many pigs as we saw. Read More→

On the second Friday in April, five friends and I headed to a ranch near Mercury for a weekend FCS self-guided hog hunt.  The hogs on that ranch only moved in the evening and after dark, so we spent Saturday afternoon bass fishing on the ranch’s largest stock tank (pond).

After catching a few largemouth bass with a Rapala Rattlin’ Rapala lipless crankbait (that runs at variable depth, but usually shallow) in Tennessee shad color, I switched to a Rapala Jointed Shad Rap (a round bill crankbait that runs at a medium depth) in dark perch-color.  As I was reeling in my lure, I felt a strong tug on my line.  The bass fought hard for about a minute before I got it to shore.  We didn’t have a ruler or scale but agreed it exceeded 20” in length and four pounds.  After taking a couple of pictures, I returned it to the water. Read More→

On a Friday in late March, eight friends and I headed to the Walters Ranch near Jarrell for an FCS self-guided hog hunt.  Ken Miller and I hunted the tallest stand and, despite putting out a 5-gallon bucket of hog bait and a sack of corn, the only animals we saw during our five hunts were deer and a hen turkey.

On the second night, we hunted until around 10:45 PM.  As nothing was moving, we checked the feeders the other hunters weren’t hunting at.  We left shells in our rifle magazines but not in their chambers and got in my truck.  Nothing was at the first feeder, but the next one had some animals under it.  It took my tired brain a couple of seconds to realize they were pigs and not deer, and they had their backs to us!

Read More→

I’ve always admired well-trained bird dogs, especially upland bird dogs.  Their noses, concentration, and desire to succeed are amazing, such as a lab that whines because there are no ducks or dove in the air – it’s more disappointed than its master is!

But I’ve also noticed another trait common to bird dogs – they don’t listen well!  If anyone other than their masters gives them a command, they completely ignore it and look at the one who issued it with the unvoiced question on their faces, “Are you stupid, or what?” Read More→

Around the first of every February, many men start to get a panicked “deer in the headlights” look.  What causes such widespread alarm?  The end of deer and duck seasons?  Christmas bills?  Income taxes?  No, it’s the “What am I going to get her for Valentine’s Day this year dilemma.” Read More→