Sabre52
Cave Dweller 
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,504
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Post by Sabre52 on Nov 5, 2011 16:33:53 GMT -5
Howdy folks, First day of deer season here in the Hill country now and guess what the critters say? Yup, " Hey boys lets all head for Mel's house!" *L*. This is only about a third of the herd that showed up this afternoon. Another twenty of so behind me and another group that big on the front side of the house. Some of the bucks are whoppers and of course the Blackbuck don't like being shot at either so we have four males and their harems right now. A guy could get trampled outside the game fence that protects the yard plants *L*.....Mel  |
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,504
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Post by Sabre52 on Nov 5, 2011 16:52:54 GMT -5
Geoff: My dad was an ardent hunter and taxidermist and I had my fill of wild game before I graduated high school. MY god, I must've had to eat most everything on four legs or with feathers. Didn't hardly know bird meat came without lead shot until I was fairly old. I really enjoy shooting but only hunt with a camera......Mel
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Post by Toad on Nov 5, 2011 17:08:32 GMT -5
Sure that fence is sturdy enough???
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,504
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Post by Sabre52 on Nov 5, 2011 18:32:19 GMT -5
Toad: When the axis deer show up I often begin to worry about the fence just a bit. Those rascals are so big the horns extend way above the fence. Only other time I worry is when the Angus bull ( a notorious cattleguard walker) gets in this pasture with our Charolais bull "Long Balls". Those two got in a scrap against the fence one day and I thought I was gonna have to replace a whole section....Mel
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rockhound97058
freely admits to licking rocks
Thundereggs - Oregons Official State Rock!
Member since January 2006
Posts: 760
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Post by rockhound97058 on Nov 5, 2011 19:52:59 GMT -5
Don't remind me Mel! - Yesterday I went to my Thunderegg mine and it was opening day of second elk season. What a cluster lol. I dug for a couple hours and came home scared of a stray bullet.
One neat thing I seen along my drive was 2 seperate pairs of bucks head butting for the nearest doe. Was a neat sight.
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Post by drocknut on Nov 5, 2011 21:38:05 GMT -5
Deer party at Mel's place..woohoo...lol. Good thing you have the fence otherwise those yard plants would be history.
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Fossilman
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2009
Posts: 20,723 
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Post by Fossilman on Nov 5, 2011 23:13:07 GMT -5
Nice herd....ever find shedded antlers too in your area.............Love shed hunting myself.
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,504
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Post by Sabre52 on Nov 5, 2011 23:34:47 GMT -5
Fossil: You know, it's funny but, even though we have about 800 deer, I only find a few sheds because the country is pretty rough.. We even have a special antler ride each year to hunt sheds on horseback but I don't have a lot of luck . Which is by the way , probably good as it's probably not wise for me to be carrying pointy objects while riding Hopper. I do pick up a lot of skulls while hiking though. Lot of deer get hit by cars around here and seem to turn up dead plus whitetail are not long lived under these overpopulated conditions and a lot of the big old ones die off naturally.....Mel
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Post by rockrookie on Nov 6, 2011 8:02:23 GMT -5
COOL !!!!
black buck hunting with bow & arrow is on my bucket list . its a long list just hunting , alone .
haha !!
--paul
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,504
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Post by Sabre52 on Nov 6, 2011 9:01:26 GMT -5
Wow Paul! Bow hunting blackbuck would be challenging unless they were partly tame or hunted over bait. They really have incredible vision and compared to white tail are hard to approach even on horseback. Really fast critters too. I've almost been mowed down by them a couple of times and it's a real rodeo when one runs into the middle of a horseback ride *L*. Got to say that would be an interesting hunt, probably very similar to hunting pronghorn.....Mel
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Fossilman
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2009
Posts: 20,723
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Post by Fossilman on Nov 6, 2011 11:02:02 GMT -5
Fossil: You know, it's funny but, even though we have about 800 deer, I only find a few sheds because the country is pretty rough.. We even have a special antler ride each year to hunt sheds on horseback but I don't have a lot of luck . Which is by the way , probably good as it's probably not wise for me to be carrying pointy objects while riding Hopper. I do pick up a lot of skulls while hiking though. Lot of deer get hit by cars around here and seem to turn up dead plus whitetail are not long lived under these overpopulated conditions and a lot of the big old ones die off naturally.....Mel Hopper huh,must be a story behind that name-LOL |
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,504
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Post by Sabre52 on Nov 6, 2011 15:51:35 GMT -5
Fossil: Yup, under certain conditions, which are totally unpredictable, he's a friggin 1200 pound bunny rabbit. He done likes to hop a bit *L*.....Mel
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Post by rockrookie on Nov 6, 2011 18:13:19 GMT -5
Wow Paul! Bow hunting blackbuck would be challenging unless they were partly tame or hunted over bait. They really have incredible vision and compared to white tail are hard to approach even on horseback. Really fast critters too. I've almost been mowed down by them a couple of times and it's a real rodeo when one runs into the middle of a horseback ride *L*. Got to say that would be an interesting hunt, probably very similar to hunting pronghorn.....Mel challenge is more fur and rewarding than ease . though i might be forced to give i to using a rifle , eventually . my Uncle got one in Texas on a large game ranch . he said it was not easy . though a 100 yard shot after 2 evenings seems easy to me . --paul |
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Post by texaswoodie on Nov 8, 2011 7:04:23 GMT -5
My grandson went to San Antonio for a couple of weeks to do some surveying on a game ranch. Came home with a huge amount of sheds.
Do people hunt on the ranch? Seems like it would be like going out and shooting the neighbors dog. Though the population does need to be kept in check.
Curt
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,504
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Post by Sabre52 on Nov 8, 2011 8:39:07 GMT -5
Curt, The ranch is a game preserve so no hunting at all. We do however have trapping programs where we trap some of the blackbuck for sale or allow trappers to dart some blackbuck for sale to cover expenses involved with deer or sheep removal. The wild sheep are becoming a real problem so we have a program going right now to try to lower their numbers by about 90%.....Mel
PS: After the third day of hunting season we now have about twenty trophy whitetail bucks hanging around now. They're so nasty now that you actually have to watch your back outside the game fence as some are fairly aggressive.
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grayfingers
Cave Dweller
Member since November 2007
Posts: 4,575
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Post by grayfingers on Nov 8, 2011 10:26:21 GMT -5
Nice deer Mel, critters sure are good at knowing where to go when the shooting starts! Ted Turner owns a HUGE ranch that runs from the Gallatin valley over into the Madison valley, lies in Two counties. Out of state hunters pay thousands to kill big elk and deer there. Us local hunters tend to despise him, but the truth of the matter is that they don't kill many critters (Just the trophys).
If Teddy's ranch was public land it would be hunted out. It is good that the critters have these places for refuge. I do long for the days when there was not that many hunters, and one could get permission to hunt private land. Now most contract out the hunting to outfitters, and it is a rich man's sport. Meanwhile the public lands are overrun with the average Joes, and it can be a bit like a war zone until all the game runs off to the private ranches. Back when, we all hunted for meat first, a nice rack was just frosting on the cake.
Bill
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Gotta lick those rocks to see if they shine!!
