Night in the sticks (Pics)

H

Halberdier

Joined
Apr 3, 2010
Messages
317
Me and a buddy did an overnighter in central Texas to practice and test our gear. We started about an hour and a half before dark, found a good spot, put up a quick shelter and collected firewood. All the wood on the ground was soaked from recent heavy rains, especially the day before. Dead branches hanging off trees provided good wood. We were all wrapped up before dark. We drank a cold beer and listened to the coyotes howling up a storm.

All the pics are from the next day.


Early the next morning. With only a light freeze we were nice & warm until we ran out of good logs in the middle of the night. After that it was colder.

DSC_5621b.jpg




After a little looking and fussing, we spotted a well protected hillside area with a firewall already in place.

DSC_5644b.jpg




A little bush engineering, lots of paracord and a simple tarp made up the shelter.

DSC_5641b.jpg




Tyvek kept us off the damp ground. The pistols are not for the coyotes btw. There's mountain lion and lots of feral hogs in the area.

DSC_5642b.jpg




Gear corner.

DSC_5640b.jpg




The next day was sunny and in the 50's. This pond was right below us.

DSC_5655b.jpg




Overall, the gear worked well and we did a pretty good job with it. We actually chopped and piled up enough firewood, but some of it didn't burn well. Next time we'll make sure we have extra.
 
a machine gun for an overnighter:confused:;) That's probably a good idea cuz most pistols wouldn't do much to a pissed off 300lb hog. Thanks for sharing.
 
DSC_5640b.jpg




Nice spread! Here you can't hunt with a suppressor or mag w/more then 5rnds. The club? thats sticking out of your bag...... is that a baton?

Thanks for sharing,

Eli
 
We weren't there hunting. This was all about making a quick shelter and keeping warm on a cold night. But there would be no problem using this rifle. Texas doesn't classify hogs as game animals, so you can hunt them with any firearm, even a pistol. You can also use dogs, knives, anything you want. You do need a hunting license.

My friend built this suppressed SBR Whisper. It's a really nice piece, decent load with barely the sound of a 22. He also brought some night vision along. Some other friends were hunting nearby and we didn't want to disturb the wildlife with gunfire. We might have taken down a coyote, but they kept their distance as usual. Most wildlife fears us and stays well away. The chance of anything disturbing you in camp is very low.

The club looking thing is a douglas fir baton I made in Colorado. It's strong and light. I take it with me sometimes just because I like it, but really any strong branch would do. I didn't use it this time. In fact the only piece of gear we gave a good workout to was the large chopping axe. I often see our northern members recommend taking the largest axe you can carry for winter outings. They're 100% right.

I'm in Houston Dr. Bill. Thanks for the friendship request.

I forgot to mention that four aluminum stakes were used to anchor the low side of the shelter and the Y stick down. These might weigh 3 ounces total. Between the paracord, tarp, Tyvec and stakes there might be 3 pounds. Easy to pack and very versatile. Also the Tyvec is great ground cover, but is slippery on sloped terrains. So I'm replacing my self inflating pad with a foam pad to address that.
 
Sure looks green for a bad drought going on! I'm headed down next week to visit family in the DFW area and then up to north of Abilene for some hog hunting on private land. The hogs have really taken over in the 26 yrs that I''ve been gone from Tx and I've never hunted them before.:eek:--What part of the hill country were you in? Looks nice.--KV
 
Halberdier said:
We weren't there hunting. This was all about making a quick shelter and keeping warm on a cold night. But there would be no problem using this rifle. Texas doesn't classify hogs as game animals, so you can hunt them with any firearm, even a pistol. You can also use dogs, knives, anything you want. You do need a hunting license.

My friend built this suppressed SBR Whisper. It's a really nice piece, decent load with barely the sound of a 22. He also brought some night vision along. Some other friends were hunting nearby and we didn't want to disturb the wildlife with gunfire. We might have taken down a coyote, but they kept their distance as usual. Most wildlife fears us and stays well away. The chance of anything disturbing you in camp is very low.

The club looking thing is a douglas fir baton I made in Colorado. It's strong and light. I take it with me sometimes just because I like it, but really any strong branch would do. I didn't use it this time. In fact the only piece of gear we gave a good workout to was the large chopping axe. I often see our northern members recommend taking the largest axe you can carry for winter outings. They're 100% right.

I'm in Houston Dr. Bill. Thanks for the friendship request.

I forgot to mention that four aluminum stakes were used to anchor the low side of the shelter and the Y stick down. These might weigh 3 ounces total. Between the paracord, tarp, Tyvec and stakes there might be 3 pounds. Easy to pack and very versatile. Also the Tyvec is great ground cover, but is slippery on sloped terrains. So I'm replacing my self inflating pad with a foam pad to address that.
Click to expand...

If you come to Abilene--let me know and we can go chopping

:)
 
that's an awesome looking camp & fire! i'm loving that fred flintstone-style club too :D
 
kvaughn said:
Sure looks green for a bad drought going on! I'm headed down next week to visit family in the DFW area and then up to north of Abilene for some hog hunting on private land. The hogs have really taken over in the 26 yrs that I''ve been gone from Tx and I've never hunted them before.:eek:--What part of the hill country were you in? Looks nice.--KV
Click to expand...


Drought's been over for some weeks now. The hogs are out of control down here. Ranchers actually pay a bounty for them at this point. This is south of Hondo, which is not Hill Country. The Texas Hill Country is much purttier. I hike there as much as I can.


300_1467b.jpg



300_4724b.jpg



DSC_4247b.jpg



DSC_4241bbb.jpg
 
Halberdier,
How are you neighbor? Love your pics and you know that area is great. I try to go out hiking in the National forest here as much as possible. You ever get the urge to try out our local areas hit me up. We have a place in Camp Wood and I thought that area looked familiar.
Daniel Combs
 
We go to Double Lake sometimes. I like to take a campsite there so we can make a fire and roast us a lunch. The only problem in the national forest there is this no-fire policy. They also don't allow overnight camping outside of campsites. Not much fun!

From the big lake.

301_3173b.jpg
 
Great looking campsight. That fallen tree looks handy as a table and bench in addition to gear corner. Thanks for sharing.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top