From: shores@roger.jsc.nasa.gov (David Shores/Metrica)
Subject: Texas Trip Report
Date: 16 Dec 92 08:49:32 CST
Originator: hunting@osnome.che.wisc.edu

Well, I've been meaning to write about my opening weekend hunting trip
since it happened, but I've been busy.  My wife says she will be glad
when the season is over so I will stay home for the weekend.

First, a little background on the lease.  I'm hunting on a gun club
lease in the national forest on land owned by Champion paper.  The
lease is 6000 ac.  and is about 20 miles outside of Cleveland, Tx.
Which puts it about 1:15 minutes from my house, I really like that,
two years ago my lease was 8 hours away :-<.

Anyway, my partner Doug and I went up in September and picked out
places for stands.  Mine is on the front of the lease overlooking a
trail which leads down to a stand of hard wood tress with a creek in
it.  I set my tripod stand up about in the middle of the field some
forty yards from the trail.  Every time I went back to fill the feeder
I would find tracks everywhere.  I even found some doe tracks 10 feet
>from my stand.  Yea!

Doug's stand is on the back of the property.  It sits on a little
hill, which overlooks a creek running from the middle of the property
to the edge of the national forest.  Fifty yards to the south of the
stand is a power line cut with the road on it.  The cut is about 25
yards across and goes on into scrub brush for the 500 to 600 yards to
the property edge.  This year Doug decided to build a box stand; after
he built the base we went up to set it up and to check and fill the
feeders.  There were doe and buck tracks all around his feeders and
crossing the road.  We were very excited to see the tracks since we
hadn't actually seen any deer on the lease.

Two weeks later we took my tripod and the top of his stand up to
finish setting up everything with three weeks until opening day.  Doug
had one small problem, he remembered the dimensions for the base
incorrectly.  The top would not fit on the base.  No matter what we
tried we just didn't have enough wood to do the job.  So we left the
top sitting on the ground next to the base.  In the following three
weeks between being busy and Doug being laid off we never got back up
there to fix his stand.  Doug figured no problem, he should be able to
see from on the ground ok.

Opening weekend was cold and clear.  We got up at 4:30, had some
breakfast and headed off in the separate directions for the stands.
There are about 35 people hunting this lease and most of them were up
for opening day.  When I parked my truck and started walking I was
seeing doe tracks all along the road to my stand.  Daylight came and
went, I heard lots of shooting but saw no deer.  Since our lease is in
the national forest we hear all of the lunatics shooting, mostly at
nothing I'm sure. (I will never hunt public land.)  About 10:30 I
decide I'm too cold and too hungry to sit any longer.  When I get back
to camp there is Doug standing in the lease managers camp area
watching someone clean a buck, a small 6 point, about 140 pounds;
small as in the rack was only about 10 inches wide.  He has a little
blood on his hands and a %$%# eating grin on his face.  Yes, it was
his buck and someone else was cleaning it.  (Fight urge to shoot
partner.)  When I talked to him about it he said he sat inside his box
stand until daylight.  But then he decided he couldn't see anything.
So he got out, emptied his bladder (yes, that's correct, right by his
stand) and climbed up on top of his box blind.  After an hour or so he
heard a shot not too far from his stand.  Then 10 minutes later the
buck comes trotting along in front of his stand.  The deer starts
walking on a trail 40 yards from his stand going from left to right.
As Doug raised his gun and took the safety off the deer heard the
click and looked right at him.  The deer started running across the
road and Doug shot him at the far side of the road.  He shoots a .308
with 150gr Nosler Partitions.  The bullet entered the right side just
behind the ribs and ended up just under the skin on the left side in
the ribs.  The buck got 10 yards and dropped in the brush beside the
road.

That morning there were 2 spikes, one doe and Dougs 6 point brought
in.  After lunch, filled with hope again, I go back out to the stand
about 1:30.  Hoping to find some does running from all of the
shooting.  I didn't see anything, but I did hear a lot of shooting
again.  Nobody on our lease got anything, one kid took a shot a a doe
but missed.  Doug saw a hog but couldn't get a shot.

The next morning was cold again.  Doug decided to stay in the sack, so
I went to hunt his stand.  I got in his stand or rather on his stand
about 5:45 with sun up about 6:30 or so.  Everything was great, a
light wind blowing from left to right down the creek, and cold.  As
daylight came and the frost started to melt the wind died down, then
picked up and swirled, and then got worse.  There weren't as many
shots that morning and I still hadn't seen anything.  Finally about
10:30 the wind was so strong I gave up on hunting and ate an apple and
put on my walkman to listen to the radio.  I put my camo face mask
back on to stay warm and was looking around with the binoculars.  I
could see the stand of the guy I was riding with, it is about 800 to
900 yards away on the top of a rise.  With the glasses I can tell if
there is someone in the stand or not.  I noticed he was gone, so I'm
just waiting for him to come get me in the truck.  I scan the area to
my left with the glasses, nothing.  Until ... I take them down.
There, at about 70 yards is a buck nose to the ground, coming at me.
Now, when I had given up on hunting I laid my rifle down beside my.
Remember I'm sitting on top of the box.  So, I had to turn around and
get my gun.  When I did the stand made a sound as loud as a freight
train hitting a wall doing 100+ mph, or so it seemed.  When I got
turned around again I looked for the buck with the scope but couldn't
find him.  Said, "ok you know he is there, so settle down".  Now I see
him.  He was standing behind two little pine trees at about 60 yards
away looking at me.  I had never shot a buck, or even seen a buck
before while holding a rifle.  To say I was excited is an under
statement.  Can you say buck fever, I knew you could.  I put the cross
hairs on his neck, figuring this to be a good shot.  But the stupid
cross hairs kept moving off of him.  Take a deep breath, hold it ...
1/2 second later ok try that again but a little slower.  I did this 4
or five times before I settled down.  This took about 6 or 7 seconds.
I'm sure I was on the edge of hyper ventilating but who cares.  I
noticed that one of the little pine trees had a little branch in front
of the buck's neck.  I figured, I can make 2 1/2 to 3 inch groupings
at a hundred yards, but I knew I was going to hit that 1/4 inch branch
at 60.  When I did shoot the buck almost did a back flip and dropped
right where he stood.  I shoot a 150gr 30-06 boat tail.  The bullet
entered about halfway down the neck, broke the neck and exited the
back of the neck about 2 inches above the back.  I forgot that I have
my rifle sighted in at 2 1/2 inches high at 100yds.  But it got the
job done.  The buck was an 8 point with an inside spread of 16 1/2
inches.  The brow tines are only about 1 1/2 inches long, but not bad
for my first buck.

My buck is still the biggest buck brought into camp.  Only 2 does and
2 hogs have been taken since then.  The only other activity I have
seen or heard is one afternoon in my tripod about 20 minutes before
dark I heard a buck come up and rub his antlers on two different
bushes or trees in front of me.  But, I am in a 1 buck, 2 doe county,
so if I see a buck all I get are pictures, if I remember the camera.

Last weekend, December 12 and 13, I found a deer trail deep in the
woods.  So I set up a ladder stand and hope to go back up for the
final weekend which is Jan. 2 and 3.  My wife says I can go, she also
said I can go the weekend after Christmas, but I don't think I'll push
her, I rather like being married.  She was supposed to come camping
with my while I was hunting but decided it was going to be too cold
for her.  She doesn't want to hunt, but she does like venison.

I have really enjoyed the stories of hunting trips on the net, I hope
mine was enjoyable to.  Sorry if I rambled, I still get excited about
that buck.  I'll let you know if I get anything on the last weekend of
deer hunting.


About the wind, what experience do you have with hunting in the wind
and rain.  Do you stay in if it is windy?  I work at NASA in Houston
and regularly see deer on my way to and from work.  I have even seen
them in the wind and rain, but I was always under the impression deer
would not move in the wind and rain.

Good hunting, but remember ... safety first.  Know what you are shooting at.

David Shores







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