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Home Camp
2007 Deer Photos
And Hunt Reports
Note: Home Camp hunts are listed on this page in reverse order with the most recent hunt listed first. The first hunt of the 2007 season can be found at the bottom of this page.
Links to our other camps are listed on the left.
Also note: click on an image to enlarge it to get the details of the photo. |
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| Kyle Ezell |
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Home Camp Manager
Kyle Ezell has acted as both guide and cook at Adobe Lodge for the past several years. Now as full-time manager, Kyle is in charge of the daily details of the Home Camp operation.
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Hunt N January 21-25
Foggy, then cold, windy, damp, and finally freezing weather dominated Hunt N, our final hunt of the 2007 season.
We call it "Hunt N" because John Newsome (who hosted his family and employees here back in early December), likes to return for a late January hunt, too. For this trip, he brought along a few of his good-buddies from Illinois. He has booked this date for the past several seasons. But this year, in addition to the five hunters in the Newsome group, there were others who similarly had to get in one more deer hunt before the final curtain closed on the season. We were glad to see Ronnie Rivers once again who has hunted with us a number of times. Ronnie brought his friend, Chris Hunt, for a first-ever Texas hunt. Both are from Georgia. The final hunter was a Texan, Tim Piland, who booked the hunt only a couple of weeks ago. We've told you we can sometimes take hunters on short notice, and this confirms it. So we had a full compliment of eight hunters to end the season.
And like back on Hunt # 6, there was again a proliferation of law-enforcement types, both active and retired, among the hunters and guides: a game warden, a highway patrolman, two deputy sheriffs, and a border patrolman. Outlaws, beware.
With no more hunts scheduled, a few jobs got switched around. Camp manager Kyle Ezell, a cook if there ever was one, swapped places with Charlie Bowers who has cooked most of the hunts this season. Charlie traded in his apron for some camo apparel and guided on this hunt. Kyle served up some delicious meals, but after three months of seeing Charlie in the kitchen, you couldn't help but ask Charlie what was for supper. And, of course, Charlie kept pestering Kyle, offering tips and unsolicited advice. Neither of which was needed nor accepted. And good natured kidding dominated in the kitchen. Both Kyle and Charlie are what you might call "utility players" - their skills around the hunting camp aren't limited to just one speciality.
Actually, we had even a third cook for one meal. John Newsome had brought some salmon to camp, and folks, the manner in which that fish was prepared made some of the best eating of the entire season. Here's what they did, and you ought to try it sometime: first - be sure to remove all the skin, and soak the salmon fillets in soy sauce for a few minutes. Then spread mayonnaise on the top of the fish, and broil the pieces for about seven minutes. Remove the pan from the oven, turn the fish over, and put on another layer of mayonnaise before cooking that side for another seven minutes in the oven. Mercy, mercy, mercy. You talk about good!
So enough about recipes, the bountiful eating and gossip about the cooks. How was the hunting? Well, with the weather being what it was, it was o.k., but not great. The first afternoon, the weather was windy out of the southwest and chilly. The next morning, hunters found plenty of fog just at daylight. Couldn't see squat. An hour later, a cold front blew in and the temperature dropped like a rock. Hunters reported seeing very few deer for the first half of the hunt. A bit of rain came, and still the deer didn't move much. Finally, the rain turned to ice. Hunters told of more and more deer sightings as the final quarter came. Then, as the hunt concluded, the icicles were melting, and much warmer weather was predicted for the next day. The lesson: Texas hunting requires a variety of clothing. Come prepared.
The eight hunters in camp collected five bucks and fifteen does. Both Ronnie Rivers and Tim Piland, hunting under our "Trophy Option" contract, just didn't see a buck that warranted the trophy fee. Although Tim said he finally saw a bunch of bucks on the later hunts - nine during one sitting and sixteen, if he counted them right, during another. He said it was hard to keep track of all of them. Also, Steve Poe, a retired Illinois highway patrolman, never found one he wanted. Steve has been here numerous times, and such veterans are more likely to hold out for something extra-ordinary.
So the season ended for us, and you can't help but call it a good one. There will be lots of memories to carry us along. That picture book there, with all the photos of all the hunters, all the tally boards of all the hunts, all the photos of all the bucks - wow - what a season it was.
But still, when it's over, the old camp, with no one around, will be mighty lonely until the spring turkey hunters come in late March. The fire pit won't be consuming any more wood for a while. You won't be able to find any hot coffee in the kitchen. And it will be quiet - really quiet - without all the laughter and conversations, and accounts of the big'uns seen that day. But isn't it amazing how fast time seems to go these days? Before we turn around a few times, it will all begin again. We can hardly wait.
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| Hunt N - Five from IL; two from GA; one from TX |
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| Staff, Hunt N |
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| 15 1/2" 8 pt. |
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| 17 1/2" 9 pt. |
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| 17 3/8" 8 pt. |
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| 17" 8 pt. |
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| 17" 10 pt. |
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| Another picture of the staff - - - |
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| Now Kyle, here's the way you ought to be cooking - - - |
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| The third cook on the hunt - John Newsome. |
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| Proof that the salmon was good - - - |
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| The ice was already melting - - - |
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| No only will ice make twigs larger - - - |
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| Just before this photo was taken - - - |
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Hunt F January 16-20
Way back in October, the Sub-Sea 7 group was here for our first hunt of the season. Now, on our next-to-last hunt, they returned for another go-round of Adobe Lodge hunting. There were nine hunters in the group but only two familiar faces. The rest were new, and what an interesting bunch of men they are. All are involved in the off-shore drilling and most have worked in oil patches around the world. In fact, this was almost an international group with a couple of the hunters having re-located to Texas from Norway and England. But all in camp were good deer hunters, and we don't begrudge them a little time off from their work just so long as they keep finding plenty of that oil under the bottom of the ocean. Hey - bring up lots more of that stuff, guys and get the price down a bit.
It was bitterly cold during the mornings with temperatures down in the teens. Daytime weather was pretty chilly, too, when the wind was blowing. You'd think that deer movement would have been super, but it was only moderate with hunters reporting seeing decent, but not extra-ordinary deer numbers.
Dry weather is taking its toll on the body condition of the deer, especially the bucks. Their backbones are protruding sharply and none of them weighed over 150 lbs. A few antlers are being shedded, and hunters have to look closely to be sure the antler-less deer are, in fact, females. Remembering the buck who shedded an antler when John Rohrer's bullet put him down hard a couple of weeks ago, we were expecially careful in handing the bucks as they were brought into camp. Mercy - it's embarassing to pull the antler off a buck right before your hunting client's eyes. Been there; done that. So our rule is to avoid this fiasco at all costs. (Thankfully, in the event this tragedy happens, a clever taxidermist can fix it up so you'd never know. But still, "mucho quidado, amigo.")
With the hunt scheduled to begin at noon on Wednesday, it was Thursday night before everyone had finally arrived in camp. But even with less than a full team on the field for the entire game, nevertheless the hunters did a good job. Seven of the nine took bucks, and there were fifteen does taken. Plus a big bobcat. Taylor Thibodeaux got her as his luck continues to rock and roll this season. He had taken that nineteen point buck (our best-ever) on an earlier hunt this season with us . His cat had those very distinct spots, almost as sharp as a Dalmatian dog. Beautiful. Check out the photo below. And she was a big'un, too.
We have one final hunt to go before we call it a season about a week from now. We are working on an e-mail newsletter summary of the season. If you would like to receive it, and if you are fairly certain we do not have your e-mail address, let us know what it is by shooting us an e-mail. We'll get you clicked into our address list. Then, we'll get the thing headed your way through cyber-space around the first of February.
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| First afternoon deer |
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| Eating corn |
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| Dancing - or boxing? |
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| Right here in camp - - - |
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| Hunt F - Texans all. But it is really an international group. |
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| Guides and staff - Hunt F |
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| 21" 8 pt. |
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| A better look at that eyeguard point. |
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| 32 lb. female |
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| 18" 7 pt. |
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| 17 1/2" 8 pt. |
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| It was cold on this hunt, but not as cold as - - - |
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| 17 1/2" 12 pt. |
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| 16" 9 pt. |
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| 18" 8 pt. |
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| 15 3/4" 7 pt. |
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| Put another log on the fire. |
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| New place to cook ribeyes. |
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| Talking oil business after supper. |
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| The skinner and the cook. |
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| Load up that meat - it's time to - - - |
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| We told you there were a lot of trucks - - - |
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| Kyle Ezell works at the lodge computer. |
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Hunt D January 5-9
Hunt D overlapped the end of the regular Texas season and the "Managed Lands" hunts we produce in January. Late-season hunting can prove to be quite productive. Indeed, the largest buck of the season at our Home Camp was taken on this January hunt - not the first time this has happened. But stay tuned. We have two more hunts yet to go. It ain't over till it's over, according to Yogi.
We had seven hunters in camp on Hunt D - five returning veterans and two new faces. We'll introduce all of them as we go along.
Frank and Mike Clara, hunting here with us for the fourth year in a row, this time brought their dad, Achille, to celebrate two big events: his fifty years in America, and his fifty years of hunting. Achille arrived from Italy in 1958 as a twenty-two year old, and that very year took up hunting, which he had never done back home. He has hunted every year since then, and has taken a deer every year. Took his first buck in 1962. And plenty more since. But never one like the buck he took on this hunt. It was Achille who got that big'un we told you about. Is that something special, or what?
Another returning vet was John Rohrer, from Lancaster, PA (or "LANKestr" as John says it. We just never were able to master that trick.) Early in the hunt, John got a brief glimpse at a buck that didn't just melt his butter - it boiled over. In telling about him, you'd have thought John was describing an elk. Later on, John took a liking to a lesser buck and put a bullet right smack in the deer's shoulder. When he hit the ground, guess what? His left antler shedded then and there. (We've seen this happen before in January, and we have to remember to be careful on our final two hunts of the year.) That's the bad news. The good news is that John could measure any kind of spread he desired with that shedded antler. Unlike last year when John was plagued with cattle and turkeys interrupting his deer hunting, this time, ole' John was on a roll and was seeing good bucks on almost every hunt. Since way back in the mid 1990's, John has hunted with us numerous times.
The two remaining Adobe Lodge veterans were a father/son pair - Jim Mousseau Sr.and Jr. Jim Sr. lives in Clarkston, MI and Jr. lives up a canyon west of Denver, CO where the snow can get as deep as his house. Both were hunting under our "Trophy Option" and neither took a buck. But since they re-booked for next season before they left camp, you can only conclude that they were satisfied with their hunt this year. Jim Jr. said the largest buck he saw was a 130 incher - not good enough. John Rohrer kept steering the Mousseaus to the blinds where he'd seen big bucks. This tactic has, over the years, had mixed results for us. This time, it didn't work. Neither Sr. nor Jr. ever found the bucks John had been scouting for them.
The final hunter in camp was Charlie Eifert from Mason, OH. Charlie took an exceptional six point buck, one of two such trophies taken. (The other one was taken by Frank Clara.) Wait till you see the photos below. Both are mighty impressive. Who said a six-pointer can't be a trophy? Sure wasn't us. So the seven hunters took a total of five bucks and ten does.
Every Adobe Lodge hunt seems to have a highlight or two. This one had three. Topping the list of course was Achille taking that Home Camp best-of-the-season-so-far buck. Secondly, his sons Frank and Mike once again treated us to some of the specialities from their restaurants back on Long Island. Here in West Texas, you just can't find authentic Italian soul-food like they brought along - cheeses, sausages, bread, and ziti. That ziti is something to savor, and we almost foundered on it. (A horse will founder when he eats too much. A fever will settle in his hooves, and he will be lame for weeks or months. Gotta pay attention to our feet for a few days, looks like, with those Clara brothers in camp.)
The third big event was finally getting some deer-weighing scales installed. Back on Hunt 2, Craig and Justin Boehler, who sell scales for a living back in up-state New York, took note of the primitive cotton scales we've always used to weigh all the bucks and does. So they took it upon themselves to furnish us with a space-age weighing device that gets a deer's weight to a tenth of a pound. Indeed, John Rohrer's buck gained an additional two pounds when John insisted on adding that shedded antler. Our skinner, David Gonzales, is one happy camper. And so are we. Our thanks go to the Boehlers. Photos of the device can be seen below.
Our final two hunts of the season are Jan. 16-20 and Jan. 21-25. Stay tuned. |
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| Hunt D - Three from NY; one each from CO, MI, OH, and PA |
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| Hunt D - Guides and cook |
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| Photo safari |
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| John blocks the escape route. |
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| The escape |
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| Uh oh - he's headed right for camp. |
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| Safe at last. |
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| Meanwhile, back in the lodge - |
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| 20 1/4" 10 pt. |
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| 16" 11 pt. |
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| 19 1/4" 6 pt. |
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| 17 1/2" 6 pt. |
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| What's this? |
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| 19 1/2" 11 pt. |
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| Another big game hunter. |
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| The skinner is cooking? |
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| The new scale. |
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| One happy skinner. |
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| Jeri Duncan inspects the new scale. |
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| More high-tech equipment. |
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Hunt 12 December 31 - January 4
Every hunter on Hunt 12 had been here before - several of them numerous times. While reminiscing about our years together, we checked our picture books, and sure enough, the first time Ralph Gitz, Howard Seigfreid, and Dave Schalles hunted with us was way back in 1996. Mercy - one of life's treats is to see old friends. These three don't get here every year but there's no telling how many times we have hosted them over the past eleven years.
The others in this group of nine hunters from the Bloomsburg and Berwick areas of Pennsylvania have been here almost as often - Jim Knorr and his three sons, plus Kenny Seigfreid (Howard's son). Their amigo, Keith Jones, was the only one in the group who now lives elsewhere - Robbinsville, NJ.
So you might suspect that all these Yankees from the cold and frozen north country picked our late-season Texas hunt in order to escape the brutal weather back home. Didn't work. We had a couple of mornings during Hunt 12 that found the temperature in the low teens. It was way, way beyond chilly. Texans always marvel at a northerner's tolerance to cold. You'll see one of these guys wearing a t-shirt when we natives are wrapped up in a parka. But on this hunt we finally heard a few complaints about the cold. Of course frigid weather didn't keep them holed up in the lodge. They were out hunting deer like they were supposed to do and did a darn good job of it.
When we host a group of multi-year Adobe Lodge veterans like this bunch, they know to be patient and to wait until they finally find a buck they really like. They know the drill and that's what happened. Most of the bucks weren't taken until the third and fourth day. Except for Dave Schalles. He has a long tradition here of shooting almost the first buck he sees. Just can't keep his finger off the trigger you might say. We've even thought of hiding his bullets for a day or so. Thankfully we didn't because on the very first afternoon of the hunt, Bro. Dave brought in a high-horned and handsome buck - one of the best he's ever taken here. He also collected the hunt's largest doe - a 130 lb. whopper.
The nine hunters took seven bucks. Neither Kenny Seigfreid nor Josh Knorr was able to put their tag on one. Kenny, hunting under our "Trophy Option", said the largest buck he could find was a small ten point - not good enough to warrant the trophy fee. Josh said he saw a monster 12 point, but doggone the luck, the rascal was across a fence and out of bounds to our hunters. Josh finally found a good nine-pointer later, but after seeing that exceptional buck earlier, his ambitions had been raised considerable. Josh took three good females as compensation. There was a total of eighteen does taken by the entire group.
In addition to the cold weather, the big news of the hunt was our off-duty guide Jerry Watts finding a buck that was lost on the prior hunt. Jerry had been guiding Scott Crawford and his son, Chase on Hunt 11. Jerry took it upon himself, on his time off, to go for one more look and sure enough, about 300 yards from the "scene of the crime", a good 8 point was found. No doubt about it - it had to be Scott's buck. Watts has a strongly held opinion that when a hunter reports missing a shot, chances are he didn't. In this instance, there was zip, zero, nada blood found, and a clean miss was the conclusion at the time. Hind sight being twenty-twenty, Jerry thinks that had they undertaken an extensive search at the time, they might very well have pushed the wounded buck into going much, much farther. And you have to wonder if the super-cold weather could have been a contributing factor in his demise. As a matter of interest, the shot was way-low in the buck's chest and behind the front leg.
This much is certain: in the past week, Jerry Watts has been responsible for finding three "lost" bucks. Is this pure-dee luck? Maybe we ought to beg him to buy our next lottery ticket. He's on a roll. |
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| Hunt 12 - One from NJ, 8 from PA |
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| Hunt 12 - guides and cook |
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| Schalles has a new toy |
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| 17" 9 pt. |
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| 20 1/4" 9 pt. |
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| 18 1/2" 10 pt. |
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| 20 1/2" 9 pt. |
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| 17" 8 pt. |
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| 16 1/4" 11 pt. |
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| 15 7/8" 8 pt. |
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| 18" 8 pt. |
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| Dave Schalles - photography expert. |
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| Ribs and skirts????? |
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| The war room. |
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Hunt 11 December 26-30
For those of you who are counting, we cancelled Hunt # 10 when we got no one booked. So we move on to Hunt Eleven.
The only bad weather on Hunt 11 occurred before the hunt began. Now just how can that be, you ask. Here's the deal: the hunt was to officially begin on the day after Christmas. Some of the hunters elected to fly into San Angelo on Christmas day. We would pick them up at the motel on the morning of the 26th and then get four more - a couple of father/son pairs - at the airport. But oops. The weather was bad in Dallas, and planes were getting cancelled and travelers bumped off of flights. Both dads called to say they had just rented cars and would make the five hour drive. Sadly, we were unable to get them connected up at DFW - they could have rented only one car for the four of them. But the real trouble was their luggage - it was already checked through to San Angelo, and who knew when it would get here. Long story short - finally by noon the next day, all was well. Such events happen from time to time and when they do, we deal with them.
To heck with that Dallas weather. Ours could not have been more perfect. It is getting really cold in the mornings now - down to around 20 or so, but the afternoons are warming to the 50-60's. And despite the burden of the full moon, the hunters did mighty good. Indeed, we saw the widest buck of the season taken on Hunt Eleven.
Hunts between Christmas and Jan. 1 usually find families in our camps when the kids are out of school, and this one was no different. We had nine hunters: three father/son pairs and a couple of father/son-in-laws. If you're doing the math here, this adds up to more than nine hunters, but Bob Booth gets counted twice as he was here with both his son and father-in-law. Of the nine hunters, seven were returning veterans. Every single hunter re-booked for 2008, and the new hunters - Scott and Chase Crawford - promise to bring even a couple more hunters from back home in Georgia to experience Adobe Lodge-style hunting. Scott has hunted several places in Texas, but he said he really liked the way we do things.
The nine hunters put seven bucks on our tally board. Pat McMahon, from Sugar Land, TX and hunting under our "Trophy Option", never saw the buck he judged to be worth the the trophy fee. And doggone the luck, Scott Crawford missed a good'un. But at least he found one worth shooting at. As long as there will be deer hunting, there will be missed shots. Anyone who claims to never have missed one has already lied to you and don't believe anything else you're told. Several of the bucks weren't taken until the last day. When hunters are focused on finding exceptional bucks, there won't be many does taken. Indeed, there were only seven does taken by the whole group during the four days.
Jerry Tibbott and his son, Austin had perhaps the best hunting adventure of their lives. Seems that their guide, Jeff Branon, had rattled-up a buck, but the old boy stayed way-yonder too far out there. Then the lazy rascal just laid down with a couple of does. Now what? A clever decision was made: Jeff was to stay there rattling to divert the buck's attention while Jerry and Austin would attempt to sneak way-round and up-on the buck. Worked just like they planned, but Jerry and Austin had to belly-crawl for one heck of a long way - never a safe thing to do in this thorn-infested country. Last year, Austin made a couple of spectacular shots at his buck and a bobcat. Did the same thing this year with that buck. Folks, this boy is already a darn good hunter, and it will be several more years before he is old enough to drive. Austin even collected a fox. See what we're saying. And Jerry got the best trophy of all - a feral cat (a quail-eating machine if there ever was one.)
The second big story of Hunt 11 was finding a buck which had been lost back on Hunt 6. Faithful readers will remember that Steve Burns from Lapeer, MI had a good buck rattled up for him by his guide Rob Parry. The buck happened to be across a river. Steve's shot put the buck down, but not for good. The day turned out to be a real ordeal for all involved, and despite the talents of Charlie Bowers' Wonder Dog, Harley, the buck was not recovered. But he is now. Jerry Watts was guiding on Hunt 11 and while in the general area where the deer was lost, Jerry noted the tell-tale smell of a dead animal. Sure enough, it was a good ten-pointer who showed all the evidence of being Steve's buck. We've already called Steve with the good news. See there - sometimes there are story-book endings after all. |
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| Hunt 11: Three from Deleware; two from PA; two from GA; two from TX. |
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| Hunt 11 - Guides and staff |
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| 23 1/4" 8 pt. |
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| 20" 9 pt. |
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| Austin and his fox. |
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| 19" 11 pt. Rattled/stalked |
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| Proud father. Successful son. |
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| 15" 10 pt. |
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| 16" 10 pt. |
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| 15 1/2" 9 pt. |
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| 18 1/4" 10 pt. |
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| Jerry Watts finds Steve Burns' buck. |
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| Kyle is cooking on ribeye night. |
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| Ribeye night continues. |
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| Dig in. |
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| There ain't a real cowboy in the bunch. |
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| How to make fine wine - - - |
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| Mary Witt - super cook |
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Hunt 9 December 13-17
The last Home Camp hunt before the Christmas break turned out to be a great time for all. Oh sure, the weather, which was beautiful the first afternoon, turned damp for a while then finally blustery and cold when a front blew through on the third day of the hunt. It even got down to 16 degrees on the following morning. But the adverse conditions didn't seem to affect the hunters or the hunting.
In camp was a lively group of four from North Carolina. These hunters have been to Texas numerous times, but this was their first-ever trip to our Adobe Lodge Home Camp. And it won't be the last either. They all re-booked for 2008 before leaving. There were two more first-timers - from Louisana. We'll get to the newcomer's names in just a minute.
The final two hunters - Warren Widmyer and H.B. Lantz, from Virginia have been here each of the past several years. Regulars you might call them, and it's always great to see them. They, too, rebooked for next year. Indeed, the entire group of eight hunters re-booked for next season. We told you we all had a great time, and this confirms it.
The Louisana hunters, from Shreveport, were Rick Pierce and Matt Vienne. They both took nice bucks. Actually, Rick has extensive experience hunting Texas - down in South Texas and somewhere in the Hill Country. So we are flattered to know they'll be back next year. Gosh - out of all the places in Texas, they picked us again. When hunters re-book, (and there have been a bunch of them so far this seaon), we know we are doing something right.
The NC hunters were a father/son pair - Carroll Lineberger Sr. and Jr. Carroll the elder brought along all kind of goodies to eat - pretzels, peanuts, bubblegum - but he also brought some homemade wine. There were several flavors and even us beer-drinker types thought that apple wine was a mighty fine drink, and healthy too. Wonder if a glass of apple wine every day will keep that doctor away? The other two Carolinians were Keith Bost and Brian Robbins.
Seven of the eight hunters took bucks, and the season's first bobcat finally was taken. We had almost given up on collecting a kitty this year. H.B. Lantz got him. And Carroll Jr. took a javelina. So when you add all this to the twelve does, it was a busy hunt. The hunters reported seeing numerous bucks, and there were several captured on film to prove it. They were showing photos at a rate that would compete with any grandparent. Maybe we can get some of these images posted, either still or video, when they send them to us. If they send them to us. We welcome any footage taken by one of our hunters at any camp.
It was only Brian Robbins who failed to collect a buck out of the entire group. Brian admitted he was looking for a 150 class buck or he wasn't going to take one. He didn't find him, but he said he was satisfied with his hunt. And with Brian hunting under our "Trophy Option" program, we are reminded this is the very reason we instituted the choice several years ago. For that hunter who wants to hunt for only the "best of the best", sometimes we can put one in front of him, but more often we simply cannot. That's why such bucks are called "exceptional". We have no doubt they are here, and our trail cameras can prove it. But they don't "grow on trees", (although they might rub the bark off a big one here and there).
This will be our last hunt posting for about two weeks. We don't complete another hunt until almost the first of January. So Merry Christmas to all. After Christmas, we still have five more hunts to go before we call it a year in late January. Stay tuned.
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| During the kickoff meeting - - - |
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| And Kyle was just telling the group - - - |
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| Hunt 9: Four from NC; two from VA; two from LA. |
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| Hunt 9 - guides and cook |
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| H.B. - here's a hunting tip - - - |
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| Necessary evil - paperwork. |
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| 16 1/2" 8 pt. |
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| First one this year. |
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| 17 1/4" 8 pt. |
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| 17" 10 pt. |
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| 67 lb. javelina |
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| 18 1/2" 10 pt. |
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| 16" 8 pt. |
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| 17" 8 pt. |
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| 15" 10 pt. |
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| 17 1/2" 8 pt. FIRST BUCK |
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Hunt 8 December 8-12
Before coming here to hunt on # 8, David Charles from Millersville, PA said he had hunted several days back home and it had rained every single day he was in the woods. Looks like he brought all that rain with him to Texas. Except for the first afternoon of the hunt, every day of Hunt # 8 saw mostly drizzle and finally a bit of rain. But it didn't seem to affect the hunting - all eight hunters in camp collected good bucks. And several javelinas, as well. The temperatures were mostly in the 30's.
David was on his third hunt with us, as was son Randy Charles and their buddy Scott Bradbury from Lancaster, a live-wire if there ever was one. Wait till you see his t-shirt below. The fourth member of this party was a new face for us - Mike Black, as were all the remaining hunters in camp.
Two of them, Chris Schultz from Pottsville, PA and Eric Besthoff from Massapequa, NY have formed a hunting-buddy friendship over their years in pursuing whitetails on the eastern shore of Maryland. This was their first-ever Texas hunt. The final two hunters in camp were Gary Dove from Elk Ridge, MD and John Wright from Alvin, TX (down near Houston). So we had a party of four, a party of two and a couple of singles. Despite the continual precipitation, this group of hunters had one heck of a time, the evidence of which is that they all re-booked for either '08 or '09 and will be bringing even more hunters on their next visit. Can't do much better than that.
It is always a big event for us when a hunter takes his first-ever buck hunting here. John Wright is a passionate duck hunter, but deer hunters in Southeast Texas don't find many decent bucks. John had taken a number of does over the past few years but elected to pass on the young, small bucks he had encountered back home. He thought he'd have a better chance at a good buck hunting with us. On the first evening of the hunt, and before the rain started the next day, indeed John did put a bullet in a buck. But having learned our lesson about contaminating a trail before Wonder Dog Harley has a chance at tracking the blood, John's guide Mike Thoms | |
