Posted by: Kieth-Tx (209.30.224.213)
Date: November 11, 2005 06:34PM
A buddy invited me up to a deer camp that they have near Arkadelphia called the "Red Dot" deer camp. I have hunted in South Texas all my life and thought this trip might be fun....boy was I in for a surprise. It took us awhile to get outta Texas but we finally got there. Well, being full grown, I'm normally hungry, so the first thing we did was stop at a Mexican restaurant in Arkansas. We were tuckered out...in full camo...late at night...these people didn't bat an eye. We walk up to the counter to order...and I started laughing my butt off!!! For up there on the order board, for sale, are...."Sanchos". Man...we had everybody in the place staring at us, when the lady behind the counter asks if there was something wrong. Well, I ask her just what was a "Sancho", and she tells me this taco set-up. She asks...what's so funny...well as Kelly can attest...down here in Texas, a "Sancho" is the guy that comes to your house when you go to work, if you know what I mean...and here they were selling them for $1.64!!!! Well, it was a short trip to the deer camp from there, and we got there at almost midnight....did I mention it was cold.
They had a big camp fire still going and there quite a few guys still up. This camp had the coolest set-up....it was totally made up of old school buses..4 or 5 were bunk houses and 2 were the kitchen and mess hall. We said our hellos and hit the sack.
Couple things I guess I should mention at this point 1) it had been a loooong time since I had used a real outhouse. 2) I had never used one below freezing. About 2 am....that tea hits home and up I get....I had a rough idea where the outhouse was, so out I go...what tha...bare footed and it had started snowing. I figure things can wait till morning. I get back to sleep...barely when 4 AM somebody is knocking on the window and asking me about eggs...now I don't know about you guys but that early in the morning, I can barely put my socks on, and I had no clue what this man wanted...my buddy hollers out...mak'em all over easy. I'm tellin ya...this was a first class place cause we got up, and they had biscuits, eggs, sausage, bacon, grits and pancakes waiting for everyone. This homeboy was in heaven....the food was delicious. I couldn't believe how great this was till my buddy says that the camp rule is we cook the next day!!! Oh well...I still loved it!!! Well we're finally off to the hunt.....
We finished breakfast...I am NOT kidding, ever ate at a Hot Biscuit restaurant, well it was better than that!!! Well me and my buddy headed out to the stands deeeep in these pine trees that only the rich folks had in South Texas
. He drops me off and says my stand is down about 100 yds and covers a large open field...I thinks...oh yeah...have 25-06 and I can shoot!!!
It is still plenty dark...walking down this road...don't want to use the flashlight...Are there panthers in Arkansas is going thru my little brain? Nothing happens...I get to the blind, shoulder strap my gun and climb up the ladder into the blind, and almost peed on myself cause some %^&$% had left the window open and Mr. Owl was at home.
Once the commotion died down and I removed the remains of some of his last kills, it started to smell better. It started getting light and this place called Arkansas had some beautiful landscape!! It was quiet, serene, light low laying fog...my kinda place.
After a little while, I started hearing dogs...now in South Texas...if you see a dog chasing a deer...he's fair game...and these dogs I can tell are gonna go thru my little world here in a couple minutes, when I start hearing a truck coming my way...now I'm mad cause I'm figureing it's a poacher. They both get there about the same time and I'm not caring about the deer and dogs, I'm looking at this maniac that slides to a halt about 50 yds from me...jumps ON TOP of his truck box, WITH a gun (read kieth is hiding in blind). Well the deer, dogs and poacher take off....I know I have a long walk back to camp, IF I can find it, but I'm outta here.
I start walking...and after awhile I start hearing a truck...thank GOD...the truck slides to a halt and...you guessed it....it's crazy man..and he's hollering to get in the truck.
Then I recognize this guy as "Navajo", one of the guys from the camp...now I'm still p#$%* from earlier but I'm holding the O'God handle, thinking I had just made a BIG mistake getting into that vehicle. He asks me if I had ever hunted with dogs before...no says I, and he says, well hold on, cause the deer is headed for Peach Tree curve...these crazy people had CBs. The morning ended with no deer, but wow...what a ride, Navajo said he wouldn't let my buddy ride with him anymore...said he screamed too much. After I had got a good look at this guys truck...there wasn't a place on the whole truck that didn't have some kinda dent.
We stayed there after the weekend, so we pretty much had the place to ourselves. My buddy had a .280 and said he didn't have many shells for it and asked if he could use my 25-06...no problem. So he tells me of a good spot but to take my 12 ga W/double 00 also.
Now it had gotten REAL cold and nothing I owned was thick enough, so my buddy says I can borrow his thermal coveralls....I am not kidding when I tell you they were Day-Glo Orange....I just knew a deer would see me a half mile away.....one more part to go...sorry so long.
Well....like I mentioned earlier, my buddy loaned me these Day-Glo coveralls that I just knew every deer in the state could and would see. And I was using his .280 and my 12 Ga...I had never shot a deer with a shotgun before. I forgot to mention why he needed so many shells that he had to use my 25-06...he was hunting from the top of this hill(in Texas it was a mountain) and the deer would stick their head out...look both ways...and fly across to the other side of the road...and he could see both sides for about 400 yds...I can still hear that gun going off...over and over.... Well I walked way into these woods and found a nice spot that I could "glow" in, hunkered down and started looking.
I wasn't there 10 minutes when this doe steps out about 100 yds away and looks straight at me...I knew it...they CAN see me!!!! She promptly turned and looked the other way...and stood there. I ease out the 280.....take the safety off....sight on the shoulder...pulllllllllllllllllll the trigger pulllll the trigger...it won't pull. Nothing, nada, deer still standing there...sight again...pull the trigger...yank...bam. I knew I missed, but checked it out anyway...nothing. He later tells me..oh, by the way, the trigger sometimes sticks!!! #$&%$#$#&#$.
Well, I start walking back through the woods, come around a corner, and here are 2 more does walking away from me about 30 yds away...I sit the 280 down....pull up the 12 and I now have a doe. I'm thinking ALLRIGHT!!! I field dress it and pull it to the edge of this clearing when I think....if I pull this deer out, onto that road...I will get shot. Soooo, I walk about 30 yds to a area that had been clear cut about 6 months before and sit down against a pine tree.
I promise you, I haven't sit THERE 10 minutes when a doe stands up about 50 yds away....and this is the biggest doe I have ever seen, and starts walking toward me. She stops about 30 yds out and turns.....doe #2 is down. Kieth is one happy camper!!!!
My buddy shows up...with no deer and says...dang...you gottem stacked like cordwood!!! We had had a great time, but we had to get back home, so we left the next morning...thanx guys for reading my hunt.
Date: November 11, 2005 06:34PM
A buddy invited me up to a deer camp that they have near Arkadelphia called the "Red Dot" deer camp. I have hunted in South Texas all my life and thought this trip might be fun....boy was I in for a surprise. It took us awhile to get outta Texas but we finally got there. Well, being full grown, I'm normally hungry, so the first thing we did was stop at a Mexican restaurant in Arkansas. We were tuckered out...in full camo...late at night...these people didn't bat an eye. We walk up to the counter to order...and I started laughing my butt off!!! For up there on the order board, for sale, are...."Sanchos". Man...we had everybody in the place staring at us, when the lady behind the counter asks if there was something wrong. Well, I ask her just what was a "Sancho", and she tells me this taco set-up. She asks...what's so funny...well as Kelly can attest...down here in Texas, a "Sancho" is the guy that comes to your house when you go to work, if you know what I mean...and here they were selling them for $1.64!!!! Well, it was a short trip to the deer camp from there, and we got there at almost midnight....did I mention it was cold.
They had a big camp fire still going and there quite a few guys still up. This camp had the coolest set-up....it was totally made up of old school buses..4 or 5 were bunk houses and 2 were the kitchen and mess hall. We said our hellos and hit the sack.
Couple things I guess I should mention at this point 1) it had been a loooong time since I had used a real outhouse. 2) I had never used one below freezing. About 2 am....that tea hits home and up I get....I had a rough idea where the outhouse was, so out I go...what tha...bare footed and it had started snowing. I figure things can wait till morning. I get back to sleep...barely when 4 AM somebody is knocking on the window and asking me about eggs...now I don't know about you guys but that early in the morning, I can barely put my socks on, and I had no clue what this man wanted...my buddy hollers out...mak'em all over easy. I'm tellin ya...this was a first class place cause we got up, and they had biscuits, eggs, sausage, bacon, grits and pancakes waiting for everyone. This homeboy was in heaven....the food was delicious. I couldn't believe how great this was till my buddy says that the camp rule is we cook the next day!!! Oh well...I still loved it!!! Well we're finally off to the hunt.....
We finished breakfast...I am NOT kidding, ever ate at a Hot Biscuit restaurant, well it was better than that!!! Well me and my buddy headed out to the stands deeeep in these pine trees that only the rich folks had in South Texas
. He drops me off and says my stand is down about 100 yds and covers a large open field...I thinks...oh yeah...have 25-06 and I can shoot!!!It is still plenty dark...walking down this road...don't want to use the flashlight...Are there panthers in Arkansas is going thru my little brain? Nothing happens...I get to the blind, shoulder strap my gun and climb up the ladder into the blind, and almost peed on myself cause some %^&$% had left the window open and Mr. Owl was at home.
Once the commotion died down and I removed the remains of some of his last kills, it started to smell better. It started getting light and this place called Arkansas had some beautiful landscape!! It was quiet, serene, light low laying fog...my kinda place.
After a little while, I started hearing dogs...now in South Texas...if you see a dog chasing a deer...he's fair game...and these dogs I can tell are gonna go thru my little world here in a couple minutes, when I start hearing a truck coming my way...now I'm mad cause I'm figureing it's a poacher. They both get there about the same time and I'm not caring about the deer and dogs, I'm looking at this maniac that slides to a halt about 50 yds from me...jumps ON TOP of his truck box, WITH a gun (read kieth is hiding in blind). Well the deer, dogs and poacher take off....I know I have a long walk back to camp, IF I can find it, but I'm outta here.
I start walking...and after awhile I start hearing a truck...thank GOD...the truck slides to a halt and...you guessed it....it's crazy man..and he's hollering to get in the truck.
Then I recognize this guy as "Navajo", one of the guys from the camp...now I'm still p#$%* from earlier but I'm holding the O'God handle, thinking I had just made a BIG mistake getting into that vehicle. He asks me if I had ever hunted with dogs before...no says I, and he says, well hold on, cause the deer is headed for Peach Tree curve...these crazy people had CBs. The morning ended with no deer, but wow...what a ride, Navajo said he wouldn't let my buddy ride with him anymore...said he screamed too much. After I had got a good look at this guys truck...there wasn't a place on the whole truck that didn't have some kinda dent.
We stayed there after the weekend, so we pretty much had the place to ourselves. My buddy had a .280 and said he didn't have many shells for it and asked if he could use my 25-06...no problem. So he tells me of a good spot but to take my 12 ga W/double 00 also.
Now it had gotten REAL cold and nothing I owned was thick enough, so my buddy says I can borrow his thermal coveralls....I am not kidding when I tell you they were Day-Glo Orange....I just knew a deer would see me a half mile away.....one more part to go...sorry so long.
Well....like I mentioned earlier, my buddy loaned me these Day-Glo coveralls that I just knew every deer in the state could and would see. And I was using his .280 and my 12 Ga...I had never shot a deer with a shotgun before. I forgot to mention why he needed so many shells that he had to use my 25-06...he was hunting from the top of this hill(in Texas it was a mountain) and the deer would stick their head out...look both ways...and fly across to the other side of the road...and he could see both sides for about 400 yds...I can still hear that gun going off...over and over.... Well I walked way into these woods and found a nice spot that I could "glow" in, hunkered down and started looking.
I wasn't there 10 minutes when this doe steps out about 100 yds away and looks straight at me...I knew it...they CAN see me!!!! She promptly turned and looked the other way...and stood there. I ease out the 280.....take the safety off....sight on the shoulder...pulllllllllllllllllll the trigger pulllll the trigger...it won't pull. Nothing, nada, deer still standing there...sight again...pull the trigger...yank...bam. I knew I missed, but checked it out anyway...nothing. He later tells me..oh, by the way, the trigger sometimes sticks!!! #$&%$#$#&#$.
Well, I start walking back through the woods, come around a corner, and here are 2 more does walking away from me about 30 yds away...I sit the 280 down....pull up the 12 and I now have a doe. I'm thinking ALLRIGHT!!! I field dress it and pull it to the edge of this clearing when I think....if I pull this deer out, onto that road...I will get shot. Soooo, I walk about 30 yds to a area that had been clear cut about 6 months before and sit down against a pine tree.
I promise you, I haven't sit THERE 10 minutes when a doe stands up about 50 yds away....and this is the biggest doe I have ever seen, and starts walking toward me. She stops about 30 yds out and turns.....doe #2 is down. Kieth is one happy camper!!!!
My buddy shows up...with no deer and says...dang...you gottem stacked like cordwood!!! We had had a great time, but we had to get back home, so we left the next morning...thanx guys for reading my hunt.