Work Weekend at the Lease

September 13 & 14
This past weekend we had our semi-annual work weekend at the lease. Everybody was there and it was one of the funnest times I've had at the lease. I know the pictures don't look like it was a work weekend, but we actually did get a few things accomplished. On Saturday morning, we started the day off right with an action packed dove shoot. I'm gonna call it a dove "shoot" because there were so many birds that there wasn't much of a hunt to it. We were beginning to feel the outermost effects of Hurricane Ike as we started to get a little breeze out of the north and some intermittant rain showers. It didn't seem to slow the birds down any as we were able to bag 64 that morning.

After the morning hunt, we cleaned birds and mowed the yard at the bunkhouse. By the time we got done with that it was time for lunch, so we went to my favorite place to eat, Cotton's Restaurant in Bryson, Texas. After lunch we went over to "600", which is the part of the lease where we deer hunt, and we installed a new free-choice protein feeder in the deer sanctuary. We spent most of the afternoon building a net wire fence around the feeder to keep the livestock from eating the high-dollar protein pellets in the feeder. That evening we dined on some of my Dad's dove hash, which consisted of slow-cooked dove breasts chopped up into small pieces and sauteed in a skillet with mushrooms, olives, and diced potatoes. It was different, but good.

Since the bird hunting was so good on Saturday, we gave it another shot on Sunday morning. It wasn't quite as fast-paced as Saturday's hunt, but it was still good. We bagged another 42 birds that morning. The weather was clear and cool and the sunrise was absolutely gorgeous.

We spent the rest of the day working on various stands and feeders. We are only about a week and a half away from archery season, but I may end up missing it if I get deployed to help with the hurricane recovery.

Also, I found out last week that I got drawn for two different public hunts. Chris and I got letters in the mail stating that we were chosen for the "Historic Methods" hunt on Fort Leonard Wood army base in South Central Missouri. I also received notice that I was chosen to participate in a gun hunt on Old Sabine Bottom Wildlife Management Area in East Texas.
Photos courtesy of Shane Jordan.

Checking the Trotline

This morning I got to go out with my neighbor across the street, Ken Jackson, and help him check a trotline he has been running. There were three fish on the line. Only one was a keeper, so we re-baited the line with some shad. The lake was absolutely beautiful this morning with the calm water and the cool air. It brought back memories of when I used to run trotlines with my Grandaddy when I was a kid.

Opening Day of Dove Season 2008

We had a really good opening day of dove season at the hunting lease this year. I had scouted the morning before and thought we might do okay but I didn't expect it to be this good. My Dad and I each got our limit of 15 by 9:00 that morning. We were joined by my Uncle Rusty and my cousin Shane and all together we bagged 44 birds on opening morning. I believe that should be enough to justify firing up the grill during our upcoming work weekend on the 13th and 14th.

We also got a ladder stand put up in a new spot and my trail camera up and running in preparation for archery season which is just around the corner - September 27th to be exact. We did a little fishin' while we were there as well. Shane is a photographer on the side and he brought his camera and snapped these pictures from this weekend. I thought they were pretty neat.

Sportsman's Feast

Yesterday evening was the 3rd Annual Sportsman's Feast at Cottonwood Creek Baptist Church in Allen, Texas. This is part of the men's ministry at Chris Mogan's church, and he has been kind enough to invite my Dad and I for the third consecutive year. Each year they have a good meal, exhibits, several speakers, and lots of door prizes. This year the keynote speaker was retired 4-star General, Tommy Franks. He was very interesting to listen to and emphasized that we are "One nation, under GOD" and "In GOD we trust". He is definitely a man's man who takes a common-sense approach to everything he does. I know I enjoyed listening to him, and I wish he would have spoken longer. It seems like he was just getting warmed up when he quit talking. I enjoyed the Christian fellowship with the other guys and hope to get to attend next year as well. Thanks for the invitation Chris!

No Luck Getting Drawn for Public Hunts

All my life it seems like my name never gets drawn when it comes to raffles, give-aways, and other games of chance. And now it appears the same is holding true for public hunts. First, I didn't get drawn for Hagerman, then I didn't get drawn for an Iowa tag, and I found out today that I didn't get drawn for either of the archery hunts I put in for which are offered by TPWD, one being the Whitetail hunt at Gus Engeling WMA and the other the Mule Deer hunt at Matador WMA. So I'm 0 for 4 so far. I still have a chance at getting drawn for a managed hunt in Missouri and several of the gun hunts offered by TPWD.

Actually, I did get drawn for something one time. About ten years ago I bought a raffle ticket at the Gunter High School basketball game for a chance to shoot a half-court shot during halftime. If you made the half-court shot you won the pot of money which had been increasing in size all season long after each of the washed-up locals whose ticket was drawn airballed the shot and didn't even come close. The raffle was being held to raise money for the prom or something. Well it came time for the drawing and I was sitting in the stands with my parents and I leaned over to my mom and with a confidence similar to that displayed by Jimmy Chitwood in the movie "Hoosiers", I calmly told her "If I get drawn, I'll make it." You can ask her, I'm not making this up. Well what do you know they just called my number! So I walked out on the court and they bounced a basketball to me. Picture this, I just got off work digging trenches for a plumber and I was wearing an old nasty T-shirt, a pair of dirty Wranglers, and some work boots. I dribbled the ball a couple times and glanced up at the goal. I dribbled it one more time and took a jump shot. As soon as I let it go, I knew it was in. It had a perfect arc on it and it went through the rim with nothing but net. I leaned back and gave one of those Tiger Woods' fist pumps as the crowd went wild - well at least a few of them went wild. I think I won $100 for that shot. They did away with the half-court shot raffle after that. I guess they lost money or something.

I guess if history repeats itself and I actually do get drawn for one of these hunts something good is liable to happen!