Fire and Fauna

Date:  February 16-17, 2013

Report By:  Tommy

Team Members:  Tommy, Chris, Craig, Justin, Josh, Chad

Weather Conditions:  Clear and cool

I stepped off of one of the longest helicopter flights I’d ever been on, on Thursday around 2 pm.  The rest of the day was a blur, from getting off of the rig to my wife picking me up at the airport. I was filled with anticipation for the upcoming weekend trip to the deer camp to celebrate Craig’s birthday.  Friday could not have been any different; the work day dragged on while all I could think about was getting up to camp and hanging out with my best friends.  Josh swung by the house around 5:30 pm to pick me up.  I kissed Brit and Baby Reagan goodbye and loaded the truck.  The long drive to camp was full of Josh and I pumping each other up, preparing ourselves for how much fun this weekend would be.

As soon as we arrived, we hopped out of the truck, greeted Chris and Craig, and each took a draw on the bottle of “Crown Maple” that Chris offered-up.  Craig had the fire raging, and we all had our spots around the campfire discussing the fate of the world and life’s bigger problems (like what color sharks are most attracted too).  We got straight to work spreading corn, sugar, and Hog Wild underneath the feeders that we planned on hunting, all the while keeping a keen eye out for hogs and rabbits.  After an hour or so of driving around the woods, with no luck, we decided to retire to the campfire again.

Inside our “cabin”

Chris and Justin fixin supper

As the night went on, Craig got the fire burning even larger and hotter.  We were all beginning to feel the effects of too much whiskey and wine.  Josh dragged a large piece of plywood out from the side of the bunk-house and set us up a beer-pong table.  Craig dragged another piece of plywood out from the side of the bunk-house and threw it on the fire.  We joked around and played beer-pong through the night and into morning until about 3 am, when Craig tried to play “flaming beer pong” by lighting the ping-pong balls on fire.  With two hours until we were supposed to wake up for the morning hunt we packed it in and called it a night.

Flaming Beer Pong

Tommy and Justin in Deep conversation…

I woke up groggy, and slightly disoriented.  I stumbled outside to relieve myself and heard the rest of the guys stirring around inside the bunk-house.  It was way too late for the morning hunt, we had missed it, so we agreed to go into town and gorge on some jalapeno boudin for breakfast.  As it turns out, we slept in so late that the donut shop was closed and we had to go eat at the local café.  In case you don’t know about the local café, it accounts for one third of the restaurants in town and serves food that can be bought at your local grocery store freezer section.  The nasty, greasy, garbage food from the café is exactly what we needed to get us back on our feet for the day.

We killed some time in the afternoon setting some anthills on fire

Back at the camp we decided to follow the guidance of some wives and friends and get crazy with a “Harlem Shake” video.  We knew that Justin and Tom would be joining us later in the day and thought that this would be the best way to kill some time before their arrival.  While filming one of the videos Justin was incessantly calling us telling us that we needed to head out to the stands, and that critters were stirring all over Trinity.  We were just having way too much fun acting like kids to heed his advice.  After we reviewed the footage and laughed at each other for a good spell, Justin had finally arrived.

We suited-up in camo and talked about who would hunt which stand.  I would be hunting with Justin, and was excited because I had never hunted with Justin before.  We started down the road to the stand in Justin’s truck and realized he needed his jacket, so Justin used his expert driving skills to reverse all the way back to camp and grab a jacket.  Off we went, again, when we realized that we should bring a video camera in case we encounter any action, so Justin put his driving skills to test one more time and reversed back to camp one more time.  No camera was at the camp so we set-off, finally, to go play in the woods.

We parked deep in the pines and began our trek through the muddy trails towards the stand.  Justin and I were being so careless; I forget what we were talking about, but was probably something about how insulated coveralls make the back of your knees sweaty when you walk, pretty insignificant, un-muted, conversation.  Justin was looking back towards me when I froze and smacked his arm.  We were just inside the tree-line, walking towards the pipeline clearing when I spotted a few hogs rooting around the clearing.

We both, instantly, went silent and hunter instincts took over.  Justin laid out his jacket and crouched down.  I got into prone position and trained the rifle on a hog that appeared to be about 60 lbs.  Justin was spotting others and told me that there were about 5 hogs, one of which was massive.  The hog that I had in the crosshairs must’ve been only 20 yards away.  They were very active and moving quickly.  I felt rushed.  Justin was whispering quietly, “take it, take the shot”, so I took a deep breath and squeezed the trigger as I exhaled.  I couldn’t believe it, but I had shot just under the belly of that hog.  They ran off into the woods and left the both of us with a bit of a care-free feeling, the feeling that we may have ruined the rest of the hunt.

Justin and I marched over to the stand, climbed in, and got settled.  It was a bit different than usual because we knew we had just made a ruckus taking a shot at that hog.  The best thing about missing that hog was that I was with Justin.  You may remember the post “Redemption is a Dish Best Served Cold” when Justin had missed a shot at a deer they called Thud-Butt and was able to harvest Thud-Butt the next day.  Justin’s experience on his hunt for Thud-Butt was invaluable to me at this time.  As the dust settled in my head, and my nerves calmed down, Justin finally turned this hunt around by saying, “I’m just glad it wasn’t me that missed this time”.  We laughed and joked for the next 3 hours, talking about dream exotic hunts, our travel experiences, and crazy ex-flames (Justin has got some serious crazies after him).  We were being so loud, but having so much fun it didn’t matter.

I think we were just about to call the hunt quits when Justin spotted a group of doe off in the distance to the west.  They must have been over 500 yards away.  The two of us got serious about the hunt.  We shut-up and concentrated our focus on the doe, as if we could bring them closer with our thoughts.  After about 45 minutes, Justin asked if I wanted to sit and wait for them to work their way towards us or if I wanted to try and get closer.  There was no way I could go back to camp after missing that hog, so I told Justin that I wanted to get closer.

Fate is a curious thing, because Justin had just finished telling me that one of his dream hunts would be a “spot & stalk”.  We got out of the stand as quietly as possible and crept out of the brush, onto the edge of the pipeline, to gauge how far we would have to go and what path we would take.  We would have to choose between sneaking down the edge of the pipeline risking being seen, or taking cover in the woods and risk being heard.  We both agreed that we would walk the first 200 yards on the edge of the pipeline and reassess the situation.

Map of the hunting area

In a low crouch, we slowly stepped closer to the doe.  My excitement grew with each step.  When we reached our way-point we took a look at the terrain and saw that the ground cover in the woods was a bit damp, which would soften our noise, and the wind-blown grass would crunch under our steps on the edge of the pipeline.  We cut back into the woods and made our way downhill towards a small creek bed.  We were able to use the soft sand and elevated sides to shield our scent and noise.  Justin and I were closing in on the doe.  We peeked over the creek bank and saw that the doe were about 175 yards away.  I crawled on my belly the rest of the way to the elevated edge of a second, larger, creek.  The doe were about 75 to 100 yards past the second creek.  My heart was pounding so hard that I couldn’t hear my movement.  Every time I stuck my head up to see if the doe had moved I would see a flicker of the white tails.  Justin was hanging back, so as not to double our noise, but in a position where he could see both the doe and me.  I had to cut back to the south and aim northwest so that I could be certain that I wasn’t shooting towards any other stands in the area.  I situated myself on the up-sloping creek bank and trained my rifle on the doe.  She was completely oblivious to my existence.  I looked back one last time at Justin, as if to say “we did it, buddy”, turned back, took a deep breath, and with a slow exhale I squeezed the trigger.

The doe was down!  Before I could take a second look Justin was charging me with one of the biggest smiles I have ever seen.  We performed a high-five/tackle/hug, in jubilation, as Justin was exclaiming that I had dropped her and it was awesome!  I was speechless.  I couldn’t believe that we had actually pulled off a spot & stalk in an area with some of the most skittish whitetail.  Justin called the rest of The Lost Boys and gave them the good news, while we hiked back to the stand to collect our belongings.

Tommy and Justin sporting some big grins

Obligatory shirtless picture

We walked back towards the doe and were met by a caravan of trucks coming from the opposite direction.  After we took a good look at the doe in the dusk light we loaded her up and brought her back to camp for dressing and celebration.  The rest of the night was spent talking about our hunts that evening, drinking, planning a type of prank known as “the long-con”, and sitting around the fire with my best friends in the world.

Happy Birthday Craig!

At the end of the day, it is quite apparent that it wasn’t the fact that we harvested a doe that made the hunt a once-in-a-lifetime experience.  To me, getting to hunt with Justin, using a unique hunting style, and sharing the experience with my best friends that inspire perseverance, allow me to be myself, and build confidence are the things that I will remember.

A Weekend at Deer Camp

Date:  January 11-13, 2013

Report By:  Chris

Team Members:  Chris, Craig, Justin, Josh, Chad, Tommy

Weather Conditions:  Started out warm and humid in the high 70’s,  Strong cold front came through and dropped the temperature to the 40’s with a crazy thunderstorm.

We had been looking forward to this weekend for months!  It has been a long time since all the Lost Boys were able to get together at once.  The plans for the weekend were to head out to the woods of Trinity County, Texas to do some hunting and relaxing at deer camp.  Come five o’clock, the boys jumped in our trucks and set up without looking back.

The lease that we hunt on is an MLD management property.  MLD is a Texas program standing for Managed Land Deer.  The program pairs hunters up with a biologist who surveys the land and will assign a yearly bag limit.  The program focuses on managing a healthier heard and keeping the animal resources in balance.  One of the great benefits is that we get to hunt deer a few months longer than normal Texas deer season!

Craig, Chad and I were the first to arrive for the evening.  We got first dibs on bunks, and I made sure to get far away from the bad snorers.  Justin, Tommy, and Josh rolled up a few minutes later, while we were setting up camp and getting a fire ready.  We spent the evening sitting around the camp fire, telling stories, sippin on beers and whiskey, and hoping on a deer that the next morning may bring.  Things got a little crazy too, with random wrestling matches breaking out, and other foolish displays of masculinity.

Chad and Craig…Country as they wanna be

Justin’s New Head Lamp. It even made Dinosaur noises.

Whiskey fueled wrestling match

5 AM came way too fast.  Especially after not going to sleep until 3 hours prior.  Nevertheless, we were driven by adrenalin and excitement as we all suited up in camo, wished each other luck, jumped in the trucks and headed to the deer blinds!  The plans were for me and Chad to hunt together, Craig and Tommy, and Justin and Josh.  This is where the problems started!

Justin and Josh ran into the first set of problems.  When they arrived at the stand they were planning on hunting, they found that they had been locked out.  The blind wasn’t supposed to be locked and since they didn’t have the key, they had to try a backup blind.  At this time it started raining!  They had to walk through the woods, in complete darkness, with nothing but headlamps, while its raining, looking for the backup stand.  They finally arrive at the backup stand.  As they began to crawl in, they quickly found out that it was infested with Black Widow Spiders.  Since both Josh and Justin are like little girls and afraid of spiders, they decided to head back to camp and sit this hunt out.

Chad and I experienced problems of our own.  In Texas, it is a common practice to hunt over a feeder that is set to dispense a certain amount of corn each day to keep animals coming to the area regularly.   (We’ll address the debate about hunting over bait in a future article.)   The timer for our feeder was set to go off a few minutes before sunrise.  When the time came along we didn’t hear the click-clacking of corn being launched out of the spin feeder, but instead just the whir of the motor.  I knew this wasn’t a good sign and meant that the feeder was empty.  After an hour or so we left the stand and confirmed the the feeder had been empty for quite some time.  Oh well, it was back to camp for us to come up with plans for the rest of the day.

We got back to camp and met up with Josh and Justin.   Soon after Craig and Tommy showed up.  They had a moderately successful hunt.  They saw a few different deer, but were only targeting wild boar or a buck named Rufio that Craig has been chasing all season.  We decided our best bet for the evening was to go into town and buy some corn and jello mix to make some bait piles for the blinds where the feeders weren’t working.  That way would we have a chance to see some animals.

Pretty typical East Texas deer camp. No power or running water. Just a roof over our heads and a fire pit!

We spent the rest of the morning heading into town to get corn and groceries, setting up bait piles, and cooking some jalapeno sausage for breakfast.  We had some downtime before the evening hunt that we spent having fun with some throwing knives and axes that Craig had brought.  We made an Osama Bin Laden target and made use of our time ridding East Texas of this terrorist threat… Seal Team 6 style.  Justin, Chad and Josh also found a new hobby of whittling.  They made some pretty neat stuff with some oak branches that were lying around camp.

Osama Bin Laden… near lifelike representation by Craig

Justin was the first one to stick one. Couldn’t have been a better shot.

Chad and Justin Whittling

Once we had sufficiently worn out our throwing arms and whittling sticks, it was time to head out for the evening hunt.  We were hunting in the same teams, and Justin and Josh had found a new stand that was neither locked nor had any sort of infestation.

A couple hours into the sit, Craig and Tommy sent everyone a text message telling us about a very unique experience they had.  A bald eagle had landed in a tree nearby and they were able to watch it for close to 30 minutes.  Bald eagles are very rare in East Texas, and it is a definitely special to have the privilege to see the symbol of our great Nation in the wild.

Craig and Tommy were the only ones having any luck all evening.  They saw 6 different deer over the course of the evening.  No one else had seen anything.  darkness was creeping up, and we were running on 3 hours of sleep and a few breakfast sausages.  We were ready to call it a day.  I leaned over to Chad and told him that we should probably call it a day in 10 minutes.

A view from Chris and Chad’s stand

Just then, a big doe walked across the shooting lane.  By the time I got my Winchester 30.06 up she had just crossed into the treeline.  Dang!  Missed opportunity!  Just as I was about to lower my gun, another doe walks out following.  She was smaller than the leading deer, but would still be a great animal to fill the freezer with.  Since we had 5 does that we needed to take before the end of the season to according to the MLD program, I decided to take her.  She never stopped walking, so I steadied the cross hairs as well as possible just behind its shoulder, where the vitals lie.  I pulled the trigger and she dropped in her tracks.  It was a quick, efficient kill; the best kind.

Me (Chris) with my doe. I can taste the sausage already!

Chad and my excitement was overwhelming.  We were ready to give up and in about a 4 second period we had seen 2 deer and put one on the ground.  It all happened so quick that Chad barely had time to turn around and see the shot!  Upon inspection, I had hit the deer a little high and a little far back than my intended shot.  Luckily she still dropped in her tracks despite the poor shot placement.

The next hour was spent hauling the deer back to camp, filling out the proper MLD kill information, and cleaning and quartering the animal.  Once we had her cleaned and quartered we iced her down so we could take her to the butcher on the way home.  The whole deer is going to be made into Jalapeno Cheese Smoked Sausage…  Mmmmmmm Sausage!

We had something to celebrate.  Nights at camp are some of the best fun you can have with your clothes on.  Sitting around a campfire, sipping on a drink, and talking about life with my brothers and my best friends is an indescribably amazing feeling.  We spent the rest of the evening doing just that.  That is until the cold front decided to move in!

Tommy, Josh, Chad, Craig, and Me (Chris) enjoying the fire. I got my jeans pretty bloody so they went in the fire.

The whole weekend the temperature had been muggy and in the 70’s.  Literally, within a 10 minute period, the temperature dropped 10 degrees, and then another 20 degrees over the next 2 hours.  The rain was insane.  We had to move the group under the awning, but we still got to enjoy the evening.  The rain turned out to be kinda peaceful anyways, and it sure was nice to get rid of the humidity.

Chad, Justin, Tommy, and Josh

Craig, Justin, Tom, and Chad… Notice that the sleeveless shirts are gone and the jackets are on.

We finally called it a night and everyone except Tommy and Craig slept through what they describe as the loudest thunder that they had ever heard.  Craig said he could hear the lightning crackling before the thunder boomed.  Its hard to believe that we all slept through that!

We got our first ever all group picture before we left. Tommy, Justin, Craig, Josh, Chad, Chris

We packed up in the morning and reluctantly said goodbye to each other, the camp, and the woods.  Going back to work after a weekend hunting with the boys is one of the hardest things to do.  We had a great time and as usual made some great memories.  We’ll be back in the woods getting into some kind of trouble before too long.  Until next time we’ll be eating jalapeno deer sausage and day dreaming.

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