Texas - Updating as the trip progresses

Well boys, it's nearly time. Several months ago I got invited to a friend's family place in central Texas. (And right out of the gate I'll go ahead and say yes it is free-range, no fence, etc.). It'll be my buddy and his 9 year old son and me and my oldest (7 year old) son. Drive out tomorrow, hunt Friday-Monday, and come back next Tuesday. Supposedly we'll be hitting peak of the rut. Weather looks like it'll be nice and cool. I've never hunted out of state, heck I've never deer hunted anywhere other than our little family place here in Bama, so to say I'm excited is an understatement. Looking forward to making some memories with my son and our friends. We're blessed to get to make this hunt, regardless of outcome. I'll keep y'all posted as best as I can.

------11/17 morning
Not much to report. Left Bama at 1300 and got to Texarkana at 2300. Saw a bunch of deer including a monster TALL buck outside Memphis. Oh yeah, we stopped at the world famous Rendezvous for supper. I'd been there once like 20 years ago but the others had never even heard of it. They're all fans now. We should make it in today early afternoon - hopefully in time to squeeze in a couple hours-hunt and get the lay of the land. Here's a pic of the boys plowing ribs at the Rendezvous. My boy Eli (on the right) is only 7 and made short work of the large rib plate and all the fixins. He gets his eating honestly.

Awesome! Good luck, looking forward to seeing some pics ...

Safe travels brother

Good luck.

Safe travels and good luck!!

Take lots of pictures! Sounds like a trip of a lifetime

Central Texas is great! Post up pics when you get your buck!

Haha if I'm fortunate enough to drop a buck that'll just be icing on the cake. My goals are to have a good time with my son and friend and his son, and for Eli (my boy) to get his first deer.

Good luck. Hope your boy kills one.

That's great man! Looking forward to the updates and pics. Safe travels and good luck!

Thats a great attitude to have! Youll definitely do that...but I also think a couple of you will shoot some good ones.

Where in Texas is it? what town?

From what I understand, this place isn't known for monster racks, but there are a lot of deer there so I'm confident we'll see plenty. Seeing some decent antlers would be nice.

Middle of nowhere family land 3+ hours SW of Dallas, and 2 hours NW of Austin.

In Texas monster racks mean big. In central Texas 120 - 140 are pretty common.

I spent a lot of time in my life in Texas or hunting Texas. Great state. Youll have a blast!

Awesome. Live from Texas thread please

Good luck !!! safe travels.

I hate you.

Good luck.

Good luck making some awesome memories and take a lot of pics. Your son will love them when he's older.

Awesome, good luck to you and Eli. Yall mcninja is a great guy and deserves to bring home a stack of antler.

Good Luck to y’all

He is a good dude and has a big ole heart for helping children.

Aw shucks. Y'all sure know how to make a girl blush.

If you happen upon a javelina and kill it, don't plan on cleaning it. Let an expert do it. If you hit one of the scent glands, you'll lose your lunch. Don't plan on eating it either. I don't think anyone can make them palatable.

Have a good trip!

Update 11/17 evening
Well guys I may have to move to Texas. We haven't spilled any blood yet, but in three hours of hunting here I've seen more deer than I've seen in some entire seasons (albeit really really poor seasons) back home. Could have dropped any number of does, and had a good shooter buck that was bedded down jump and run from 15 yards away, but there was no good shot on him. Saw a second buck but it was through some thick mesquite brush and couldn't tell how good it was. I'm anticipating good action in the morning. The boys elected to hang out at the house this afternoon, so for me it was mostly walking around and getting the lay of the land today. Eli is pumped to get after it in the morning. Wish us luck.

Awesome man! Tuned in to this thread. Good luck!

Hope you get a big un!

Oh man, good luck bud

Waiting on blood!

Update 11/18 evening
Eli was thiiiiiissssss close to getting his first deer today. Doe snuck out right at dawn. He got in position so shoot, got locked in, breathed, I slipped the safety off for him, then when I was waiting to hear the bang, the doe threw her head up, stomped, and ran off. He and I looked at each other like WTH??? - neither of us had made a sound and the wind was perfect. We looked in the direction the doe had alerted to and here they come - about 100 head of cattle - straight for our area. So we left that spot, slipped into another, and within minutes had another doe slip out in front of us. Same deal. Perfect setup, plenty of time to aim, good breathing, safety off......BANG. I fully expected to see a doe dead on the ground but this one just trotted off. I asked Eli if the shot felt good? "Yes sir." Asked him if he was locked in on her behind the shoulder? "Yes sir." Asked him if he just gently squeezed the shot? "Yes sir." So now I'm like WTH? because I know the kid can shoot. Finally I said "Eli did you close your eyes before you shot?" "Yes sir." I'm like dude why did you close your eyes???? He said well I knew I was aiming right but the gun is loud and I knew it would kick so I just closed them right before the shot went off.....So that's the story of the one that got away. I was easy on him but reiterated the importance of keeping your eyes open to shoot. We'll be after it again in the morning. We saw several more deer later in the afternoon, but it was crazy windy so I think that was keeping them hunkered down. I saw a decent buck - basket rack 6 or 8 point but didn't want to shoot it. I did learn that my buddy's brother came out here last week and he and his wife and father in law each killed a nice buck, so I may be scraping the bottom of the barrel, antler-wise. Oh well. We're having a great time and we're seeing a ton of deer, and still lot of time left for Elijah to pop one. Wish us luck!

Put hearing protection on that kid, every time. That scares a lot of youngins. May help take the edge off. Hang in there. He will get one. Target rich environment.

Quick update for mcninja (bad reception where he is). They put 3 on the ground this morning. Eli scored his first deer ever! And it's pretty exciting (special for multiple reasons)! Don't want to spoil anything though. Josh will update with pics and story as soon as he can.

Awesome! Congrats bud

PIX PLZ!

X2!

Congrats!!!

Can't wait to see it!

Congrats

Congrats x3 on pics

Well guys we flat out slayed them this morning. My buddy missed a giant early in the morning (he said it's the biggest buck he's ever seen , and he's been hunting his family's land here his whole life), but then his son quickly dropped a spike - his first solo deer. Then my buddy popped the doe that was with the spike. Eli and I were on the opposite corner of the property sitting under a huge oak tree back to back, with some old barn wood propped up on two sides of us for cover. I'd let him bring his Nintendo game thingy with him to keep him from fidgeting. I knew he was locked in on his game and paying no attention to his side to watch, and was starting to get a little aggravated tapping on his side and whispering at him to look up and pay attention every few minutes. Around 0845 we were starting to get stiff and bored and tempted to get up, but it was a beautiful chilly morning and I just knew that the critters were moving. I was glued in on watching my side, still a little irritated that deer may be moving on Elijah's side and we wouldn't even know it, when he whispered "Daddy, deer, deer, DEER!" I turned and saw three deer, the last one being a racked buck. We both raised our guns and shot, and the racked buck dropped right there. (I know everyone says this, but I really and truly thought my buck was bigger. I just saw a decent size rack and didn't look at the horns again and shot, thinking it was either a decent basket rack 6 or 8...turned out to be a 4). The one that he shot at stumbled but ran off, leaving the 3rd deer (a doe) trotting back and forth, not knowing where the shooting was coming from. I shot and dropped her. He and I just stared at each other in disbelief, trying to stop shaking. All this had gone down in less than a minute, after 3 hours of sitting still. We walked out to where the doe and buck were laying, and got close to them when we saw Eli's deer jump up from the dry creek bed that it had run down into. I knew it was hit so we followed it. Walked through the creek bed and coming up the other side out of the trees, saw that it had jumped a fence and got its leg twisted and stuck in the fence. The back leg had been hit hard and was bleeding and pretty messy. Elijah took his time and dispatched it quickly. Turned out to be a spike, in velvet. I told him that any velvet buck is a trophy, but even more so it being his first one. We went back to the house and had breakfast, then after breakfast while collecting the first two deer (my friend's and his son's) jumped up another doe and managed to drop it where it stood. Then found a beautiful big shed laying 2 feet from where that one dropped. This place is absolutely incredible. Beautiful land of course but the number of deer is mind blowing. We've seen multiple deer every single time we move, hunting or not. Both boys got their first buck, and we have plenty of meat now - my friend got a doe last night as well - so these last couple of sits are purely horn hunting. We've had an absolute ball here. Truly blessed. I'm doing my best to post pics but it may have to be later this evening. Service is spotty.

Watching a smallish 9 point in front of me right now.

Lots of daylight left so I'm going to let it ride for a bit and see if something bigger steps out.

He started to run off and it's our last afternoon here so I dropped him. 8/9 pointer. Beautiful symmetrical rack. Both sides have a point busted off so he would be a 10 but is an 8, possibly a 9 but I didn't take the time to see if it measured exactly an inch. Once my buddy saw him on the ground he said he would have been sad with me if I'd ended up passing on him. Man what a place. I'm done.

Sounds like a trip neither of you will ever forget.

Posting five pics bear with me

Awesome man! Ya'll laid them down. Congrats on a great hunt!

Thanks brother.

Congrats man. Texas will flat out ruin ya!

Get a couple big uns tomorrow and congrats on what sounds like one of the best family hunting trips!

That looks like a ton of fun

You're not lying! I'm still trying to wrap my head around the deer density.

Great job to all involved. Glad you were all able to connect and thanks for taking us along.

Hunting over feeders spoils you pretty quick!

I'm heading to Texas this weekend. One of my ex-neighbors called me yesterday. He hunts in a one buck county, so no one will shoot a cull. He said that the club just changed the rules that guests can hunt free, if they take a cull buck. He wanted to know if I had time to hunt this coming weekend. The Boss quickly ruled it out. Oh well, Tennessee is in two weeks.

Bummer. And yes, you're correct on hunting over feeders.

Congrats to all of you!

Great deal.
You can enjoy this trip for a long, long time.

Congrats to all!!

Glad you guys had a good time and were fortunate enough to put some meat in the freezer! Proud brother and proud uncle!

Thanks bro. Now we just gotta get you to get some horns on the ground.