2022 Hunting season

[AJ01]

Well, the past deer season was a "hit or miss" kinda deal down here... mostly miss!!

Season started off REAL slow. We had good deer on camera, but it was always at night.

2 of the 4 places we have had a HUGE amount of "oil and gas" work going on. Trucks and rigs coming and going all day long, every day. Not very conducive to good hunting. But that's Deer hunting in Texas. We actually had our #1 best spot ruined by a new drilling rig coming in a month before the opening of Archery season!!!
That operation ended on December 20. Needless to say, that place was a total loss for 2021.

Enter place #2, new gas pipeline "right-of-way" was added, right done the middle of the property!!! Haven't seen a deer ANYWHERE on that piece of ground in over 8 months!!!

#3...over taken by BIG UGLY HOGS!!! Haven't had a deer on camera since June of 2020. Did I mention I HATE Hogs!!

#4....Well...It has a ton of deer on it! Lots of places to hunt. But it has it's draw backs for an old fart like me.

(A)...it's a 7.5 hour drive from my house to the property!! One Way!! It's a long drive, but it's a longer ride!! I feel like a little kid stuck in the car with the folks... "Are we THERE yet!!"
(B)...the Deer are the size of a small German Shepard!!! But there is a lot of them!!! Too many actually, that's why we "culled" a bunch this past season. We took a few small Bucks, but mainly Does. Work on the ranch goes on...

For 2022? Well new stands will get hung here in East Texas come March, weather permitting. Also a couple of new ground blinds will be added. I have one piece of property we are going to look at digging a new pond on it to add water.
We will aslo be adding a "hog trap" to one property. (Did I mention I HATE Hogs??)
The "boys" will take care of "out west", that's their job!!

2022 has to be better than 2021!!! Hopefully Orion will smile on ALL of us in 2022!!

[Boo]

AJ, I had my challenges too! I have a house going up about 500 yards away from my property line. When they were pounding the well in, deer didn’t show up even at night. Worse still was that the neighbour across the road have 2 large dogs visiting my property with regularity. His Invisible Fence was faulty and told me he would keep them in the house. That didn’t work because they still showed up on the cams a couple of times a week. I’m not the dog killing type but it came pretty close for those 2 dogs!

[AJ01]

Boo...I had the same problem with a new neighbor a few years back that built a house about a mile from one of my places. They seemed to think that since they had "moved to the country" they could just let their 5 large dogs roam freely. I had them on camera a bunch. Was sitting in a tree stand once and they came running and baying to beat the band by the stand!!!
What were they doing? Chasing a Deer!!

I talked to their owners. It was like talking to a fence post!! I told them if someone catches them chasing calves, they will be shot!!
Unfortunately for the dogs, one of the ranchers out near me, but NOT me, lost a calf. Was it the dogs? I don't know. Could have been Yotes. But I know he shot at least one of them and took it to the home owners. Told them IF he caught anymore on his farm, they'ed get the same treatment!
Home owner put a fence up. Problem solved!!

Dogs were just doing what dogs do. It's the owners who are the problem. I use to raise and train German Shorthairs. Keep your dogs at home!! Your neighbors MIGHT not want your "pets" on their place. Wish folks could figure that out.

Sure makes your deer nocturnal!!



And yes...this one is still out there!!

[ko4nrbs]

Well, the past deer season was a "hit or miss" kinda deal down here... mostly miss!!

Season started off REAL slow. We had good deer on camera, but it was always at night.

2 of the 4 places we have had a HUGE amount of "oil and gas" work going on. Trucks and rigs coming and going all day long, every day. Not very conducive to good hunting. But that's Deer hunting in Texas. We actually had our #1 best spot ruined by a new drilling rig coming in a month before the opening of Archery season!!!
That operation ended on December 20. Needless to say, that place was a total loss for 2021.

I was raised in NE Texas. When we lived in Holiday, Texas we had an oil pump next door to our Mobile Home site. Just had to suck it up and get used to the noise in order to sleep at night.

It was like this one.


Bill

[AJ01]

Well, the past deer season was a "hit or miss" kinda deal down here... mostly miss!!

Season started off REAL slow. We had good deer on camera, but it was always at night.

2 of the 4 places we have had a HUGE amount of "oil and gas" work going on. Trucks and rigs coming and going all day long, every day. Not very conducive to good hunting. But that's Deer hunting in Texas. We actually had our #1 best spot ruined by a new drilling rig coming in a month before the opening of Archery season!!!
That operation ended on December 20. Needless to say, that place was a total loss for 2021.

I was raised in NE Texas. When we lived in Holiday, Texas we had an oil pump next door to our Mobile Home site. Just had to suck it up and get used to the noise in order to sleep at night.

It was like this one.


Bill

Bill...
The pumpjacks ain't the problem, it's the crew trucks, deck hands, frac rigs, water trucks and so on, pulling in and out all day long, and sometimes at night! My biggest complaint is...why do they wait until deer season to decide to work on a pumping unit? I just know that there is an "animal rights activist" in every oil and gas office in Texas going... "I'll show these &%*$#@@*% deer hunters a trick!"

People and deer get accustomed to 'stuff". Used to have a feeder that sat about 100 yards from an actual working pumpjack. Deer came to it everyday. Let people get added to the equation... and deer will scatter. I guess we just stink!!

And Bill....stay after those "Swamp Bucks"!! Some of the biggest deer I've ever seen killed in East Texas came out of the swamps around Caddo Lake, Lake Palestine and Lake of The Pines. I wish you a ton of success!!

AJ

[janesy]

I learned that if you tuck your jeans into your knee high rubber boots and then cinch them as tight as you can you can get a blood clot from a pinched vein under the skin and be out of the game for 5-6 months.

So for '22...I won't do THAT

[quake]

I learned that if you tuck your jeans into your knee high rubber boots and then cinch them as tight as you can you can get a blood clot from a pinched vein under the skin and be out of the game for 5-6 months.

So for '22...I won't do THAT

Wow! Have you fully recovered??

[janesy]

I learned that if you tuck your jeans into your knee high rubber boots and then cinch them as tight as you can you can get a blood clot from a pinched vein under the skin and be out of the game for 5-6 months.

So for '22...I won't do THAT

Wow! Have you fully recovered??

For the most part yes. This past week I really pushed it at work, and I'm pretty sore. But as far as the clot goes physically, yes, it's as good as it is gonna get.

I climbed a tree once in October, and it put me in the hospital a couple days later. So I decided I had better not do that for a while.

But bear season is coming. And I'll be the camp cook before I miss that!

[AJ01]

I learned that if you tuck your jeans into your knee high rubber boots and then cinch them as tight as you can you can get a blood clot from a pinched vein under the skin and be out of the game for 5-6 months.

So for '22...I won't do THAT

Chris I'm glad to hear that you are getting better!!!

I know I haven't seen ya here on the forum in quite some time. I hope you have a MUCH better 2022!!

[janesy]

I learned that if you tuck your jeans into your knee high rubber boots and then cinch them as tight as you can you can get a blood clot from a pinched vein under the skin and be out of the game for 5-6 months.

So for '22...I won't do THAT

Chris I'm glad to hear that you are getting better!!!

I know I haven't seen ya here on the forum in quite some time. I hope you have a MUCH better 2022!!

Andy thanks, without getting into it publicly I got the shat end of the stick a few times over this past fall. But all will work out and be for the better and we are all still kicking. Had to hunker down and plow through, which is exactly what I did.

[Prmtvbowman22]

I spent 28 days in the woods and shot 1 big doe and 3 coyotes passed on multiple other does and only had 1 6pointer within range. Let him pass. My last hunt I watched 11 does feed in the bean field while snow pelted me in the face with a 30 mile an hour wind. Not what I hoped for but any day in the woods is a good day.

[Patcon]

Also I will never pass up a deer on the first day that I would absolutely kill on the last day...

This!

I still shoot anything decent… in SC if you see a buck you want to shoot, you better shoot him. There is just not enough continuous land to trophy manage… someone down the road will kill him! I killed three doe and a good buck with my Excals this year… pretty happy!!

Being in SC, this also!

[AJ01]

I learned that if you tuck your jeans into your knee high rubber boots and then cinch them as tight as you can you can get a blood clot from a pinched vein under the skin and be out of the game for 5-6 months.

So for '22...I won't do THAT

Chris I'm glad to hear that you are getting better!!!

I know I haven't seen ya here on the forum in quite some time. I hope you have a MUCH better 2022!!

Andy thanks, without getting into it publicly I got the shat end of the stick a few times over this past fall. But all will work out and be for the better and we are all still kicking. Had to hunker down and plow through, which is exactly what I did.

Well....none of my business, but whatever it is, I hope you come out of it on top!!

I was a bit concerned about you. I'm glad to see ya back.!!

[Hatchet]

Chris I'm glad to hear that you are getting better!!!

I know I haven't seen ya here on the forum in quite some time. I hope you have a MUCH better 2022!!

Andy thanks, without getting into it publicly I got the shat end of the stick a few times over this past fall. But all will work out and be for the better and we are all still kicking. Had to hunker down and plow through, which is exactly what I did.

Well....none of my business, but whatever it is, I hope you come out of it on top!!

I was a bit concerned about you. I'm glad to see ya back.!!

Here's to better days!
Hatchet

[Hatchet]

My three mistakes of the 2021 hunting seasons.

During spring turkey season I tried to get fancy and decapitate a turkey. I missed twice and my daughter missed a shot on a big Tom. Lesson learned. Back to body shots. Maybe try to decap one after I get my first one down.

During deer season I passed on a couple shots at 40yds.
I'm comfortable enough with my equipment and shoot accurately at 40 so in 22 I plan to take that shot if its presented.

I got wrapped up in an extended argument/discussion over vaccines, politics and religion. Spent to much time arguing and not enough time enjoying life. Lesson learned. You do you, I'll do me. If we agree, that's great. If we dont that's great too. Takes all kinds of kinds.

104 days til spring turkey. I can almost feel the warm spring sun on my face and feel the wet spring soil under my boots. Just hoping I get another chance to get out there and feel that thrill of hearing a turkey gobble his way right to me!
Take care
Hatchet