Hunting Report

[Scott Hartman]

Pack Rat, awesome pics and tales of hunting...it just doesn't get any better than when it's a family event, thanks!

 

[Tin Sue]

According to the old Chinese (I think) proverb, stating that one should be careful in what he wishes for certainly applies to the presence of hogs on ones's property. As has been noted previously, they are tremendously damaging, almost beyond belief to both property and other wildlife, and have a very high reproductive rate. Texas A&M University is working on a "birth control pill" for hogs; will apparently be spread out in areas frequented and consumed orally; sure hope it works!! PackRat, I'm not surprised that the hog you all shot with a 22 Mag got up and ran away, hopefully to die later. I once shot an adult with a 38 special right between the eyes at almost point blank range, and I swear that bullet just ricocheted right off his skull. I agree with one of earlier posts that a 223 is a really good caliber for hogs.

 

[Pack Rat]

That is a seriously nice deer Tony. Any idea what it field dressed?

We can still legally use rimfire ammo here for turkey. We started with 22 mag's and now have a couple of .17's that are a little hotter. I had evolved away from the rinfires to a .22 Hornet, and then a few weeks back ran across a pretty good deal on a Remington 700 in .204 Ruger that already had a nice scope and sling mounted, but had never been fired.

Four rounds and the son in law had it shooting dead center. Then I fired a couple that touched each other in dead center. So now that is the fun turkey shooter at the moment, and it will be great for the hogs, and I will use it on a doe when time to gather Mom some freezer meat for the next year.

I was hoping one of us would take a deer this morning so I could try the
newly profiled 470 as a skinner. But no luck. Still have a lot of season left to try out the different Buck knives I have with me. And one of them is an 805SS. I say I am going to use it,,,,but.... ....we will see..

Hunting may be over now for a few weeks. :grumpy:

 

[Pack Rat]

Thanks Scott!! We do have a great family thing going for us.


TS, the daughter was using the 22mag and yeah, doing a head shot. So next time out she had her moms .223 Win 70 Featherweight. I hesitated about letting her use that one. Somehow she becomes "attached" to the really nice shooters. and not even letting her get her hands on this new .204.

That Win 70 is every bit as accurate as this new .204 is. With the chance of hogs, these and the mini's, will be a standard fixture in the stands. The mini's aren't as accurate tho as what I like for the turkey.

 

[2TONYB]

Pack Rat, field dressed it was 210 lbs. I'm going to try my 17 on bobcats next week. Plan on it for the wooded areas with shorter shots. I'll take my .22-250 when calling open areas (reclaimed hill tops)

 

[Pack Rat]

Pack Rat, field dressed it was 210 lbs. I'm going to try my 17 on bobcats next week. Plan on it for the wooded areas with shorter shots. I'll take my .22-250 when calling open areas (reclaimed hill tops)

210lb....geeeze.... they don't come that large here. 125 is a little above average here. If ours got that large, I would have to have a lift winch installed on my truck and build a lot heavier duty skinning rack. Don't think this double 2x6 between a couple tree limbs would cut it.

I am impressed with the .17 as the daughter nailed that turkey out around 100 yards with mine. Her Hubby has taken three with his .17.

Anxious to hear how you do with yours hunting cats.

 

[2TONYB]

Now my oldest son knows why I don't have a lift kit on my truck. The 17 has impressed me. Of course shot placement is key, but my son downed a coyote at 125 yds. He quickly dropped into the kick'n chick'n position.

 

[Scott Hartman]

Pack Rat, I'd gladly trade a day in the Blue Ridge for a day in Texas. I'm not sure if the hills here are getting steeper, or if I'm just gettin old. My youngest son Christopher finally got his 1st buck yesterday morning, 1 shot w/ .270. Then I got 1 w/ a broken rack a few hours later. Used a BG42 on the sons, an 1 of my own blades on mine.

 

[300Bucks]

All,
Anyone else notice - Buck knives are a family business, Buck knife interest follows family lines a lot, almost all of the hunting portrayed here is family orriented ? !!!!!!!!!! ~:-}

Anyone who paints a picture of evil, blood-lusting, knife collectors or murderous gun owning and using hunters must live on a different planet than all of us........I am Thankful this Holiday season that all of you out there let me live on your planet.
Thanks 300Bucks

 

[Pack Rat]

Pack Rat, I'd gladly trade a day in the Blue Ridge for a day in Texas. I'm not sure if the hills here are getting steeper, or if I'm just gettin old. My youngest son Christopher finally got his 1st buck yesterday morning, 1 shot w/ .270. Then I got 1 w/ a broken rack a few hours later. Used a BG42 on the sons, an 1 of my own blades on mine.

Tell Christopher congrats on his first deer!!! I still remember mine! Congrats on yours also.

We are in the Western edge of the Texas hill country and I know what you mean about the hills, altho I am sure yours are much steeper. But is one reason I have a 4x4 ... too old for much of this hiking stuff.

 

[Pack Rat]

This hunting thing has definitely been a family thing for us 300$. The youngest Granddaughter was riding in with me yesterday evening and she automatically popped out and opened and closed the gates. Got back in the truck and I told her that she had been doing the gate thing all her life. She just grinned and said yeah. But her older sister has been right there with her, as well as the grandson, when he has been able to be here.

To wrap up an already great holiday weekend, we went to the wild game dinner tonight, that the local chamber of commerce puts on every year as a fund raiser for the Senior center, meals on wheels, and the fire dept.

The Kids won a new Savage .243 and a custom knife made by one of the locals. Talk about excited. When I left them a few minutes ago, Daughter and Hubby were going at it as to whose raffle ticket it was... hers or his... So this little blond was trying to convince him it was his ticket for the knife and hers for the .243. Naturally she had the granddaughters rooting for her.

Guns, knives, and family. Gotta love it.

Oh,,,went to get the rubber vanguard out of the kitchen to compare it to the newly won custom. Finally found it in the dishwasher. Will be interesting to see how that comes out.

 

[Evil Eye Earl]

These two Bucks were shot from the same stand 3 weeks apart.
Our campfire....takes the chill off on cold evenings.

 

[Flatlander1963]

I just caught up on this thread. A week with the in-laws and some things just get overlooked. Really great stories.

RP, I'm hoping the best for your grandson. I hope that good luck on the raffle rifle and knife keeps coming your way.

So, the daughter has a new hog rifle...243 should do nicely with good shot placement.

 

[Pack Rat]

These two Bucks were shot from the same stand 3 weeks apart.
Our campfire....takes the chill off on cold evenings.

Woah.....Those are some seriously nice racks EEE. I wish they came that large out our way. Just not enough rain out there for good browse, and not enough $$$ for the amount of supplemental feed it would take. Average yearly rainfall out there is around 15 inches.

 

[Pack Rat]

I just caught up on this thread. A week with the in-laws and some things just get overlooked. Really great stories.

RP, I'm hoping the best for your grandson. I hope that good luck on the raffle rifle and knife keeps coming your way.

So, the daughter has a new hog rifle...243 should do nicely with good shot placement.

The Dr's are going slow on the Grandson's problems. The tumor hasn't grown any and the spinal tap has come back negative for any causes. Will have more reports in on Wed. Just a wait and see right now.

We spent the day with them yesterday and I put a scope on his .22. He liked that and fired some good patterns.

Yes, the .243 will be a good gun for them. Easier to shoot than that .06 and will still do a good job on the deer and hogs. We have 4 other .243's in the family that have all taken deer.

They are anxious to get it scoped and sighted in. They will be back out there after the 20th so maybe more stories then.

 

[2TONYB]

Some good lookin' bucks there EEE. I came up dry on my attempt for bobcats. Hitting the eastern KY hills was a lot of fun though. The day after I got back from there, my 8 year old and I called in and eliminated a coyote. I love to shoot coyotes. I'll add a pic when I can.

 

[Hawkeye5]

Howdy EEE, Nice Bucks.Did those come from behind the You know what?
Jeff

 

[Evil Eye Earl]

Howdy EEE, Nice Bucks.Did those come from behind the You know what?
Jeff

You bet they did 500 yards from the river and 1/2 mile from the highway.
Going back after ole' mossy horns this friday.
Plenty of hogs and wood ducks in the sloughs this year.

 

[Pack Rat]

We have been at it again the last couple of weeks or so. The other son in law found time to come out and bring the grandson. Son in law took a nice 8pt, that I didn't get pics of.

Then we worked with the grandson and one of the .243s. He took his first deer. A nice 8pt that was just slightly larger in body and rack size than his Dad's.

Needless to say he was quite proud, as we all were. He used a little Remington Mohawk 600 that I had custom fitted for my wife back in the 70's. Now he is bugging grandma to give it to him... His Dad told him that his mother (our youngest daughter) has been trying to steal it from Mom for years, so he may as well forget it...

Now the cool thing is that 10 minutes after he shot, his cousin, our youngest (14) granddaughter shot an 8pt as well.

She shot hers with the .308 that belonged to her great grandfather. A Winchester 88 lever, that is quite valuable in todays market.


Naturally they had to pose for pics and hers was slightly larger than his. She was doing her sassy dead deer imitation.

There is another pic of her and a 110 helping skin hers out. Will get it posted when they send it to me. She wanted to dissect the heart on her deer, but it started getting a little late in the evening.

The family fun continues

 

[Tin Sue]

Larry, congrats on another successful family hunt; you gotta be a proud grandpa!!