Adobe Lodge Hunting Camp, Whitetail Deer Hunting, Texas Deer Hunting Camp; Turkey Hunting Camp, Deer hunting in Texas, Texas deer hunting, hunting texas, hunting deer texas

               2006 Summary
             Top Twelve Bucks

18 1/4" 14 pt. 162+" Home Camp

22" 10 pt. 142+" Bar H Camp

23 1/2" 11 pt. 137+" Home Camp

19" 11 pt. 137+" McManus Camp

16 1/2" 12 pt. 133+" Home Camp

19" 12 pt. 131+" Mustang Ranch

20" 10 pt. 130+" Home Camp

18" 8 pt. 130+" Hatfield Camp

18" 10 pt. 130+" Hatfield Camp

16" 8 pt. 130" Home Camp

18" 11 pt. 130" Mustang Ranch

14 3/4" 10 pt. 130" Home Camp

Please Note: Here's the percentage of hunters at each of our camps:
                  Home Camp                      73.6%
                  McManus Camp                9.6%
                  Mustang Ranch Camp      7.3%
                  Hatfield Camp                   5.6%

                          Harvest Success By Camp

           Home Camp
                   Regular Price                         89.5%
                   Trophy Option                        71.0%
           McManus Camp                           100.0%
           Mustang Ranch                              92.3%
           Hatfield Camp                               100.0%
           Bar H Camp                                  100.0%
           All Regular Price Combined            91.7%

Home Camp

2006 Deer Photos

And Hunt Reports

Note: Home Camp hunts are listed in reverse order with the most recent hunt listed first.
Also note: click on an image to enlarge it to get the details of the photo.

                            Hunt "N"     Jan. 24-28

1-24-07    When the Newsome group of three hunters left this morning, the 2006 Adobe Lodge season officially closed. We had a truly enjoyable time with John Newsome, Myron Woomer and Bill Scott, all of whom were here back in mid-December on Hunt # 7.  These Illinois hunters had asked if they could return for a January hunt and of course we said yes.

With only three hunters in camp, the pace was a little slower and we had plenty of time conversation. It's pretty easy to get a good story from John because he has hunted all over the world during his long career. He has hunted with us, as best we can count from a study of our annual photo books, at least eighteen times since we first met him back in 1994. Myron and Bill have been here maybe ten times each. So they know our hunting almost as well as we do. John is the only hunter we've ever had who brings his own game warden, the profession that Bill retired from. Mercy. We gotta play'er straight when Bill's here.

The weather was decent and typical for January - around 25 at daybreak and in the high 40's during the day. Deer movement was sporadic: the three hunters reported seeing a dozen or more bucks at a blind one day only to find but one or two the next hunt. One day when the wind was dead calm, John saw zero deer.

Of course we were after both the drop-tine buck seen a couple of weeks ago and another monster found by guide Charlie Fleming last week.  Doggone the luck anyway - neither made an appearance. Surely either deer would have made our Dandy Dozen list above.  Oh well, maybe we'll get them next season. And, sadly, our contest to guess the drop-tine's total inches will now close.  We had about 20 entries with the guess-range being 130-169. But now we'll never know. Unless we can find his sheds. Fat chance.

Four bucks and one doe were taken by the group. As he almost always does, John elected to take a second buck and planned his shot to collect the doe, as well, with only one shot. Yep, he did it. And he's done it here before.  With John Newsome, such things are never an accident - he is more interested in the shot than the size of the deer. And after having taken probably thirty bucks with us over the years, we have seen some powerful fancy shooting done by John and his arsenal of weapons.

Now that our season is completed, we will be getting our annual newsletter to the printer tomorrow. If you are not on our mailing list but would like to receive our 2/3 times/ year mailouts, send us an e-mail with your regular mailing address and we'll get you included.

Hunt "N", named after John Newsome

Hunt N Staff

17" 8 pt.

18" 8 pt.

16" 13 pt.

15 1/2" 9 pt.

                             Hunt F   Jan. 17-21

1-21-07      Bad weather dominated Hunt F. The kickoff was delayed due to the inablity of the hunters to get here for the kickoff of the hunt. Of the eight hunters scheduled to be on hand, only two finally made it here by the first night. Four more trickled in on Thursday, and two others simply never made it at all. With the hunters all coming from the Houston area, there was ice and snow the whole way. Good grief - you'd a-thought we were up north somewhere. When the ice finally melted, our roads turned to soup. So from a mobility standpoint, we had another tough hunt on our hands.

But as they always do, our Adobe Lodge staff rose to the challenge and produced a good hunt, despite the adverse conditions. The hunters did their part and were out hunting in the rain and near-freezing weather for two days. On Saturday afternoon, a clearing sky in the west produced a post card-quality sunset, and Sunday morning found a nice coating of ice on the whole she-bang with the disappearance of the cloud cover.

This group of hunters is headed by Craig Broussard with Sub Sea 7 out of Houston. Craig and co-worker Brennan Roy were back here for a second time this season, on this hunt accompanied by another Sub Sea 7 employee, Taylor Thibodeaux. They were entertaining some of their customers and although only three were able to get here, everyone had a large time. Only one hunter in the group of six failed to take a buck, but another hunter collected two bucks. So our grand total showed six bucks, five does and a DNF doe.

Deer movement was erratic with some hunters seeing multiple bucks and other getting absolutely skunked on several of the hunts.  Muddy roads hampered mobility. Interestingly, on Friday afternoon around about 5:30 p.m., every deer near every feeder overlooked by a hunter scattered almost on cue.  Back in camp rehashing the evening's hunt, all the hunters reported a similar pattern at almost the exact same time time by the deer they were watching. What could have caused such a thing?

The drop-tine buck wasn't seen. So we'll have to wait for our final group of hunters next week. Here's hoping someone gets him on the ground. Our contest is drawing some good guesses, and it's not too late to enter. Scroll below to learn the details on this buck and the contest on guessing his total score.

So the bad news of Hunt F was the rain and ice. And the good news was the rain and ice. This moisture will certainly help our range conditions. It's just too bad our hunters and guides had to endure, but they did mighty good. With this rain at this critical time, better antlers in '07 are almost a cinch.

On a side note: after 15 years of attending the big hunting show at Harrisburg, we will not be there this year. Since we are hunting to the end of January now, it is almost impossible to get there anymore. So we'll miss getting to see all our former clients who always stopped by our booth to say hello. Our annual newsletter ought to be in the mail by the middle of February. If you would like to get on our mailing list, send us an e-mail with your address.

Hunt F - courtsey of Sub Sea 7

Hunt F - Guides and staff.

13" 11 pt.

16 1/2" 8 pt.

19 1/2" 8 pt.

15 1/2" 8 pt.

18" 8 pt.

16 1/2" 8 pt.

                       Weather Delay on Hunt F

1-17-07       Hunt F was supposed to begin at noon today, but the snow and ice have prevented the arrival of the hunters who are all coming from the Houston area. The Interstate north of San Antonio was closed. By mid-afternoon today (Wednesday), the roads are mostly free of ice and snow. Water is dripping off the edge of the house so mabye the worst is over. And we are super-thankful for the moisture.

So as we await the tardy hunters, what could be better than posting the photos of the drop-tine buck mentioned in our report on Hunt D. As he promised to do, Chris Long, Lancaster, PA burned us a CD and it just came in today's mail. Chris ought to get hired as an outdoor photographer. He did an outstanding job in getting several good photos of the buck. Below you can see the original photos taken by Chris. With our photo program, we cropped and zoomed them a bit to see if we could get a better look at this outstanding animal. And remember - this dude ain't behind a high fence somewhere. He's a free-ranging deer for sure.

We'll keep our fingers crossed. Maybe some lucky hunter will get his tag on him when Hunt F can finally begin. Stay tuned.

Come to think of it, does anyone want to guess the total inches in this buck's headgear? Send an e-mail to skipper@adobelodge.com with your best guess. Here's a couple of big if's: IF this buck gets taken, and IF your guess is the closest to what he actually measures, we'll send you one of our coveted Adobe Lodge t-shirts. So study the photos closely and let us know your guess.   The contest will remain open only while the buck is alive. Once he's on the ground, the entries are closed. Oh yeah, one other thing:  only one entry per person or per e-mail address.

                       Hunt E    Jan. 11-15

1-15-07   Hunt E was tough. The weather was tough and the hunting was tough. Good thing we had some tough hunters in camp. And tough guides.

It's hard to remember when we first met these hunters, but a search of our photo books found some of their pictures in our 1994 book. The core group, all from Illinois, has returned now to hunt with us many times, and they often bring new friends for us to meet. This year was no different. There were two first-timers on this hunt.

Of the group of eight, five elected to hunt under our "Trophy Option" and three chose the regular price. Surprisingly, the "trophy option" hunters were here to take does, not bucks. Maybe you could call them "meat hunters". They did the same thing last year and we shipped six large coolers of deer meat via UPS back to Illinois for them. Not so this year. The doe hunting continues to be a monumental challenge. Only two in the group collected a limit of three does. One hunter was able to tag a couple of antlerless deer, and three others got one each making a total of only eleven does for the whole group. And there was money at stake. Yep, they were gambling on the total weight of the does to be taken, shocking though that might be. So you can rest assured they are serious about their doe hunting.

Weather was a factor, no doubt. The first day was windy. The second and third days found everyone hunting in a cold drizzle, the temperature right about freezing. The last morning, the temperature was 24 and there was a nice coat of ice on everything. Deer movement under these conditions was sparse, at best. Despite our guide's efforts to scatter corn in likely locations, nothing seemed to work. Deer were hunkered down for the duration of the storm.  Looks like Texas deer don't like cold either.

There were only three serious buck hunters in the group. Of the three, two collected bucks and one did not, having passed on some likely candidates while looking for a better one, as hunters are prone to do. But one of the doe hunters elected to exercise his right to take a buck and did so, thereby making a total of three bucks for the hunt. Such events tend to confuse our statistics-keeper, but here is the only important number to remember: they re-booked the entire camp for their group for the same date next season. And we can't wait to see them all once again. We truly have a great time when these guys are in camp. Looks like we better start right now finding plenty of does for them to hunt. Maybe we could smuggle-in some from out of state. Would such a critter be an illegal alien? Inquiring minds want to know.

Remember that drop-tine buck we mentioned in that last report.  Well, he was seen again on this hunt but the hunter chose to pass him up because he wanted a buck with a more conventional rack. He thought the drop-tines were a distraction. Mercy. Oh well, we still have a couple more hunts to go. We'll see what happens.

As a side note to this report: we are getting lots of inquiries now about open dates for next season. If you would like to come hunt with us, send us an e-mail and we can attach our list of openings. It is changing almost daily now. Remember: the earlier you book, the better your choice of dates. Goodness - we hope one of our open dates might fit your '07 hunting schedule.

Hunt E - seven from Illinois and one from Colorado

Guides, Hunt E

Veteran Adobe Lodge Hunters

16" 6 pt.

20 1/2" 8 pt.

18 3/4" 8 pt.

                           Hunt D - Jan. 6 - 10

1-10-07    Hunt D, our first post-season "Managed-Lands" hunt, concluded today and once again, we had a great time with the hunters in camp. All would agree - it was a ball. The evidence: most everyone in camp re-booked for 2007, and the others have to check their schedule when they get home.

Now that we're getting close to the end of the season, our inventory sheet revealed that we had a couple of spare bucks, so at the kickoff meeting, we told the group that two second-bucks could be taken. Sure enough, two were.

The news hasn't changed much from the last few reports we have posted. Hunters are seeing nothing but bucks everywhere. Indeed only six antlerless deer were taken by the eight hunters. They simply are not seeing the does. Anywhere. It's the darndest thing, especially in light of the harvest recommended by our biologist. We're going to have to double-up on the last three hunts to hit the quotas he suggested.

A couple of bobcats were seen by Paul Hess, but they never gave him time to pull the trigger. Paul, moreover, was one of the two hunters who failed to take a buck, having passed a pretty good shooter on the second day. Then, on the third day, Paul was lucky enough to see that same buck, but wouldn't you know it - a larger buck had now appeared, making the first one look small. But like those cats, Paul just could not get the shot he wanted at that buck, and was now unwilling to consider that first shooter that he could probably have taken. So, as they say, that's hunting.

Jim Mousseau, hunting under our "Trophy Option Contract", did not find the buck he wanted, but from listening to his reports of what he passed up, clearly he was looking for a candidate for our Buck of the Year. And that, too, is hunting. Jim re-booked for '07, so maybe next year he'll get him. Our final tally then was this: eight hunters took eight bucks (two were second-bucks) and six does, five of which weighed 110 or better.

The big news of the hunt was young Chris Long and his trusty camera. Chris collected his first-ever buck, and a good'un he was, but the photo of a buck he found afterwards would make any hunter's mouth water. Chris promises to send us a CD of the photo, and we will surely get him posted on this web site. Get this: the buck is not too wide, but tall - very tall - and he has two dandy drop-tines. Chris got several photos of the great buck, and he is a heart-stopper for sure. Maybe someone can nail him on one of our concluding hunts of the year.

Once again this season, we had John Rohrer in camp. John was here earlier on Hunt # 3 and he is the catalyst for a good time for everyone.  His shenanigans with cook Charlie Bowers will be in the book we'll write someday. We'll let the photos below tell the story.

As a matter of interest, what with all the re-bookings we are getting, we are about 65% booked at the Home Camp for 2007. If you want to find out what our open dates for next season look like, send us an e-mail and we can attach our schedule to the reply.

Hunt D - five from PA, two from MI, and one from CO.

Hunt D staff

17 3/4" 8 pt.

18 3/4" 7 pt.

14" 6 pt.

14 1/4" 7 pt.

18" 8 pt. FIRST BUCK

A pair of bandits

16 1/2" 10 pt.

17 1/2" 9 pt.

A birthday cake for Jamie Hess.

Jamie and his cake.

Creative decoration for a hunter's cake.

14 1/2" 8 pt.

Charlie prepared a special meal for John Rohrer

Especially prepared for John Rohrer

The presentation

But John is a good sport.

Yep - he's eating it.

Dutch oven cobbler on ribeye night

Relaxing around the fire pit on ribeye night.

Hunt 11 Dec. 27-31

1-2-07 Please forgive our delay in getting Hunt 11 posted. Does this excuse work? We were moving our office to a new location. Unfortunately, both our computer cable and our office telephone have yet to be hooked up so we have been knocked back to the stone age. Out of touch except by cell phone. Moving is grim. Moving an office is double grim.

So with that out of the way, how did Hunt # 11 go? Well, since all nine hunters in camp rebooked the same date for next season, it appears that the hunt went very well indeed, as you will see from the photos below. It rained a bit about mid-way during the hunt, but not much and surely not enough to suit a Texas rancher. Who could know if the weather was affecting the hunting? Maybe it was. Deer movement was sporatic. Following a couple of the half-day outings, we heard some of the hunters report seeing zero deer. Highly, highly unusual. But on those strange days, some reported seeing numerous bucks. When it comes to predicting a deer's movements, we give up. We lose. They win.

But from the photos, you'd never know. This group of hunters collected some mighty fine bucks. For example: Kathy Kinsey's buck is about the third largest of the '06 season so far. And Austin Tibbott, ten years-old, collected a buck and a bobcat with some powerful fancy shooting for someone so young. And Robbie Booth took heck of a buck, plus a bobcat, too. So we got a pair of kittys on this hunt. It's about time the cats re-appeared.

Our old buddy Jamie Kinsey who had lost a good buck way back at the beginning of the season was here again with his beautiful wife, Kathy. Jamie's luck was no better this time. He never found one he wanted to shoot, so the final tally on the board showed nine hunters taking eight bucks, seven does, and two bobcats. As you can see, the doe hunting remains a large challenge. They are here, but you couldn't prove it by our track record.

Hunt 11 - Seven vets and two new-comers. States represented are DE, PA, FL, and TX

Hunt 11 guides and cook

20" 8 pt.

18.9 lb bobcat

22.85 lb bobcat

18 1/4" 8 pt.

15" 10 pt. FIRST BUCK

Father and son take bucks on the same night.

14 3/4" 8 pt.

19 1/4" 8 pt.

16 1/2" 12 pt.

15 1/4" 8 pt.

18" 8 pt.

                        Hunt # 10        Dec. 19-23

12-23    Finally. We got some rain. Thank you, Jesus. It was wet the whole first day of the hunt, and although muddy roads hampered our mobility somewhat for the first day-and-a-half, there were no complaints from anyone.

There was supposed to be eight hunters on Hunt # 10, but two of them never came, so we were left with six. No problem. It turned out to be a great hunt anyway. When the storm passed, the weather turned downright delightful with chilly mornings but shirt-sleeve weather in the afternoons. And there wasn't much wind. Great weather for hunting.

The six hunters in camp collected five bucks. But only four does. This doe hunting is getting hard.  Few does are being seen anywhere, especially at the corn feeders. But plenty of bucks are. H. B. Lantz saw a multitude of antlers everywhere he hunted. On the trip back to the airport, H. B. guessed he's seen 60-80 bucks during the four days he hunted. But the does have virtually disappeared. The speculation is that they have gone nocturnal on us, but who could know for sure. The blessed rain will certainly aid the weed crop and will be a boost to the nutrition for the bucks now that the rut is winding down. But as with so many things, it is a "good news / bad news" type deal. The renewed weed crop will make those pesky does even more elusive.

None of our hunters saw a bobcat, but our neighbor came by the camp to show off a monster bobcat he had taken by calling at night.  Indeed, on his 1700 acre ranch, he has seventeen kittys to his credit now. If one could extrapolate some figures and apply those numbers to the 40,000 acres we hunt out of the Home Camp, it becomes abundantly clear that there are plenty of cats still in the country. To date, if memory serves, our hunters have taken ten of the felines. So there ought to be at least 390 more out there somewhere.

Two special things happened on Hunt # 10: Brennan Roy harvested his first-ever buck, and a good'un he was.  And then there was H.B. Lantz who rattled-up, all by himself, the buck he took. Excitement? You bet. That's what Adobe Lodge hunting is all about.

Hunt # 10 - five of the six hunters are on hand for the kick-off meeting.

Hunt # 10 - guides and cook.

15 1/4" 10 pt. and the rattle-bag

Battle scar or bullet hole?

A rattled-in buck is always the source of a good story.

16 1/4" 11 pt.

15 lb. Rio with a 10" beard

20" 8 pt.

39 lb. bobcat

Another photo of the same cat.

15" 11 pt.

16 3/4" 8 pt. FIRST BUCK

Ross Sommers congratulates Brennan.

When a telephoto lens won't work.

David and Kyle install our new first-aid cabinet.

                                Hunt # 9     Dec. 14-18

12-18     For the fourth year in a row, the "Donovan / Koepp" group from the Cleveland, OH area was here hunting. After that many successive years, you would think that everything would be kind of routine with few surprises. Not so. There were several "first-ever's" that are worth mentioning.

Ron Billings from Elyria got his first-ever buck. That is always a memorable event in any hunter's career, and we are tickled when it happens with us.

Secondly, Marc Koepp, Litchfield, OH collected a doe that put 132 lbs. on our camp scale. That is the heaviest doe of the year, and might just be the largest one ever, if memory serves. What is remarkable is that she was taken after mid-December during this kind-of-dry fall following a super-dry summer. Where did all her weight come from? A "large" doe in a good year will weigh around 120 lbs. This was one big sister. Mercy. She must have found a sack of corn in the barn.

The third first-ever event is a bit delicate, but here goes: Mike Donovan shot his buck right smack in the act of making a fawn for next year. After twenty-plus years in this business, we can't ever remember this happening before. But a hunter must be opportunistic. You shoot when you have the shot. Mike did, and collected a mighty fine buck.

The weather on Hunt # 9 was plumb balmy. You hardly even needed a coat even at daybreak.  It got to pert-near 80 degrees on a couple of days.  This group of hunters would have taken their limit of three does, but they simply couldn't find them. Does, for some reason, aren't coming to the corn feeders. Everyone sees a multitude of bucks of all sizes, but few, if any, does.  Trail camera photos agree. Out of 165 recent images, we collected no more than a half-dozen does.  They are here, no doubt. But doggoned if we can put the hunters on them.

Terry Donovan and Kevin Koepp were admittedly hunting for top-trophy bucks. Guide Snake Allen had seen a big'un and tried to get Terry on him but never did, despite four dedicated days of good effort. Kevin finally saw the one he would have taken on the final morning of the hunt, but a snorting, blowing doe winded him and scattered the gathered group of deer as effectively as we can scatter a group of music lovers with our banjo playing. So the final count for Hunt # 9 was six bucks for the eight hunters, and they took a total of twelve does. Jared Koepp reported a possible sighting of a mountain lion, but bobcats were neither seen nor taken.

Hunt # 9 Cleveland, OH hunter all, except one who was transplanted to Montana.

Hunt # 9 Guides and Cook

14" 9 pt. FIRST BUCK

20" 8 pt.

19" 8 pt.

16" 10 pt.

17 1/2" 10 pt.

17" 8 pt.

Marc Koepp shows his doe's weight.

Hunt # 8 Dec. 9-13

12-11-06 For the first time this season, every hunter in our Home Camp on this hunt is a first-timer. Well - kinda/sorta. Alan McKeithen has hunted the McManus Camp, but this is his first-ever hunt at the Home Camp. He's not giving up his place at the McManus Camp, however. When this Home Camp hunt concludes on Wednesday, he'll move his gear over to the McManus Camp for another hunt with Beaver. Does this guy have an Adobe Lodge hunting addiction, or what?

The weather is decent now but kind of chilly when the wind blows. It is still dry and we are praying for rain (an ongoing activity in West Texas). But the deer coming into camp are fat and healthy. You'll see mostly bucks at the feeders, so the hunters tell us. And our guides say the rattling is still working at times, but we ought to be late in the rut by now.

We have some new trail camera photos posted. Go to "Latest News" and up at the top of that page, click on "Trail Camera". You'll see many bucks that are typical of this 2006 season.

12-13-06 Under bright blue, sunny (doggone-it, we need some RAIN) skies (with no wind), Hunt # 8 ended at noon today with these results: nine hunters put eight bucks on the board, plus 10 antlerless deer. A couple of javelinas were taken, also. What's happened to the bobcats? Guide Roy McFadin was the only one in camp to see one of the felines during the four days. Surely we haven't found every last bobcat in the country. A neighbor went varmint calling on an adjacent 1600 acres and took fourteen bobcats. So there's still plenty in the country. Maybe next hunt we can show some more kitty photos.

What a great group this Hunt # 8 turned out to be. We had a ball with all these first-timers and got to know some great new hunters. We got four new bookings for '07 from them, too. So looks like we'll get to see some of them again next year. Alan McKeithen, of course, insists that we keep him booked forever at the McManus Camp, but he's trying to find a way to bring his daughter to the Home Camp.

Mark Winkelman took a bunch of photos during his time here and generously make us a copy. You can see some of the sights he captured with his trusty digital. Just go to "Latest News". He even stepped the resolution down to make it easier to post to the web. What a guy. Thanks, Mark.