Opening Day of Turkey Season

Turkey season started yesterday here in my neck of the woods, and my dad and I gave it our best shot to lure in an unsuspecting gobbler, but to no avail. We tried calling and setting up decoys at multiple locations on the property we hunt, but we didn't see or hear a turkey all day. We only saw a few tracks and it just seemed the birds were nowhere to be found. But, that's why they call it "huntin'" and not "killin'". Here are some pictures from the hunt.

This was our first decoy set, along the edge of a wheatfield in a spot where I shot a really nice gobbler a few years back. There is a creek bottom directly behind us that meanders through the property with a good stretch of woods where the birds have roosted in the past.

This was our second set, in an area that I would consider a mesquite savanna. That's my dad over there on the right.

This was the last place we tried, on top of a ridge where there is a nice stand of post oak and blackjack oak trees.

Some tools of the trade: a slate call and a Remington 1100 shotgun.

With no turkeys responding, I took the opportunity to take a picture of myself in action.

I saw this interesting-looking little cactus while we were hunting and snapped a picture. Anybody know what kind of cactus this is?

After we got done turkey hunting we put some protein pellets in a free-choice style feeder that we have positioned in the center of the property - in an area that we have designated as a "deer sanctuary" that is off-limits to hunting. We've had a game camera running at this site for quite some time, but we try to stay out of this area as much as possible so the camera has not been checked in about four months. I pulled the memory card and took it with me to view the pictures when I got home. While viewing the pictures I was tickled to death to see this:

I haven't gotten pictures of this deer since late October, and I had pretty much come to the conclusion that he had been shot on a neighboring property. This was the deer that I had nicknamed "Slingblade" because of his left G-2 being bladed like a knife. Much to my surprise, he made it all the way through the archery and gun seasons, and was photographed on our property in mid-February. I guess our little sanctuary might be paying off because we also got this picture of him in early December.

I can't wait to see what this deer looks like come this Fall! Hopefully he will just hang out on our property and show up on some more pictures before archery season rolls around.

Now on to the important stuff. We couldn't make a trip to the lease without stopping at this place!


I plan to do some more turkey hunting in the next month, and I've been busy working on a new trail camera that I hope to have completed in the next couple weeks, so check back for updates.

Odd Antlers

I changed out a memory card on one of my homemade trail cameras that I have at my "Official Camera Test Site" today and got a couple pictures of a very interesting deer...


Here is a cropped, close up for a better view.

A couple things are strange about this picture. First of all are those CRAZY antlers. What is up with that?!?! Secondly, this buck is still carrying his antlers as of March 18th, which is pretty late in the ballgame. This should make for a very interesting conversation piece.

I'm trying to think of a good name for this deer. What do you think I should call him?

More Shed Antlers and Some Colder Weather...

This morning, despite some windy, colder weather, my dad and I got up early and drove out to our hunting lease to try to look for some shed antlers. We haven't looked on this property yet this year, and we wanted to give it a try before the vegetation grows too tall to be able to spot them (and before it gets warm enough for the rattlesnakes to start moving). Temperatures have been in the 70's all week, but a cold snap moved in overnight bringing some snow flurries and temperatures in the low 30's. We gave it a valiant effort this morning, and I bet we walked every bit of five miles.

My dad found a small one on the edge of a wheat field right off the bat.

My dad ended up finding a total of 4, and I found 1, but all but the first one were old ones that have been on the ground since at least last year. We thought my dad might have found a matched set from an 8-point from last year, as he found two that were very similar in size and shape that were laying within 25 feet of each other. But after a closer look, I think the antlers were from two different deer.


I didn't have my good camera with me, so I was just taking pictures with my phone, and I stopped to snap these two shots of some of our Creator's handiwork while we were walking around through the woods.


The highlight of the day might have been the double-meat, double-cheese burgers we got for lunch at Herd's Hamburgers!

I also pulled a couple trail cameras that haven't been checked since the new year, so I had a good number of pictures to sort through. I got a picture of a really nice looking bobcat. Check out the markings on his coat and how heavily spotted he is.

I also got some hog pictures.


I was also really surprised to see that I had pictures of bucks still carrying their antlers as late as March 13th. I didn't have any pictures of bucks after that day so I'm not sure if they have even dropped them yet or not.


That may have been a contributing factor to why we only found one fresh one this morning...

Built Another Trail Camera

I've been working on another trail camera over the last several weeks and finished up the build a few days ago. This one is for a friend at church who happened to already own the specific model of Sony camera that I have been using for most of my trail cameras. Here are a few pictures of the finished camera:

Front view showing flash, camera lens, and motion sensor holes

Side view showing external toggle switch and pipe-thru security feature (for locking cable to go through to secure camera to tree or post)

Inside view of camera showing motion sensor control board, 9-volt battery, pipe-thru security feature, and Sony camera

Some features of this camera:
-Sony 4.1 megapixel digital camera with LCD screen to view pictures in the field
-Camera runs off two "AA" batteries while motion sensor runs off one 9-volt battery
-Mossy Oak waterproof case
-Pipe-thru security feature that allows a Python locking cable to run through the case to attach the camera to a tree or post for added theft prevention
-External toggle switch to activate/deactivate motion sensor to prevent unwanted pictures during set up or checking of the camera
-Two camera delay modes - trail setting or feeder setting
-Compact 6 1/2" x 4 1/2" case design that will fit in a coat pocket

I got another camera in the mail this week that I plan to begin work on soon that is a little bit newer model that takes higher resolution images. Hopefully I can get it into the field soon for some test shots. Stay tuned!

Dad Finds a Very Unique Shed

I was able to spend some time with my dad this afternoon looking for some sheds. Despite the drizzly, wet weather conditions, he and I, along with my friend Justin scoured the woods in search of fallen antlers. It was a good afternoon, and my dad found a shed that is by far the most unique I have ever seen. Instead of just finding one antler, he found a fresh set of antlers from this year that had completely grown together at the bases. When the deer shed it's antlers, they fell off his head as a single piece!


Isn't that the strangest thing you have ever seen! I'm gonna start calling that deer the "Monobrow Buck".

Great find, Daddy! I enjoyed the time we got to spend in the woods together.