Long Live the Beast

Last night I climbed a tree for about the 25th time this season in hopes of flinging a sharp stick through the vitals of a whitetail. It's been really tough hunting this year. We've got a bumper acorn crop so they've got much more feed than normal. Plus they've been doing heavy construction on N. Parmer and don't quit until almost dark. The noise pretty much keeps the deer bedded. From the tree I was in last night I've got about a 30 degree shooting window to a creek where they often pass between their bedding and feeding areas.

About 10 minutes before legal shooting time ended the construction noise subsided. The noise ruins not only the hunting but the tranquility of watching the sunset. It was almost dark when I saw a couple deer behind me. They sometimes come from that direction but they stopped to feed. If I waited for them to quit feeding and reach my shooting it'd be too dark. The nearest one was broadside and I had a small hole to shoot through. However the setup was far from optimal. My bow was pointing the wrong way and there was no foliage behind me so I was silhouetted against the sky. Since the shooting lane was so small I hadn't planned on ever taking a shot so I didn't know the yardage and have never flung a practice arrow that way. The arrow shows it was standing.


The far deer was facing me dead-on so I figured she was wise to me, but I tried anyway. Though exaggerated slow movement I was able to the bow turned around without getting busted. I drew, anchored, aimed, and released. It was too dark to see the arrow in flight but I heard the telltale "thwack" of a solid hit. The button-buck dropped in his tracks - spine shot. I climbed down, put another arrow through the vitals, and choked him out.

Since it was cool last night I just tagged, gutted, and skinned it, and left it hanging so it could age a little before I butchered it this morning. I'll try to jerk some of it tomorrow & send a care package to RainBlow. 3 tags & 2 weeks left...

Whackin & Stackin

Hunted feral hogs last weekend near Harper, TX. This is a high-fenced ranch with exotics but the hogs find their way though the fence and cause havoc. On Saturday the dogs got out and chased the pigs all over hell. They had one hunkered down and the guide told me to shoot it, so got about 20 yards away, waited for the dogs to clear, and release an arrow. The shot was dead-on, right through the heart. She got up and ran about 15 yards and collapsed, probably died 10 seconds after she was hit. It was one of those bow-kills every bowhunter loves to see. It'd have been great to have that one on video!

Back at the skinnin-shack I butchered her. She had 2 bullets in her, actually one that had separated. It had to have hit her in the vitals but she survived. It was all abcessed (sp?) and pussey around the wounds so they told me I could get another one. We BBQ'd her backstraps anyway - great stuff.

Sunday morning we chased them around again w/o the dogs. The pasture is a couple hundred acres with lotsa cover so the animals have ample opportunity to get away - definatly not fishing in a barrel. We spotted a group of about 25 about 300 yards away and the guide turned me loose for a stalk. I kept in the shadows and crawled the last 200 yards to them. The shits bedded down just as I got withing bow-range so I had not shot. Pigs like pile up on one another and you have to be careful about pass-throughs. They finally got up and moved 50 yards so I belly-crawled after them. Just as I got to them they moved another 50 yards so I continued crawling, all the time dragging my bow along side me. Over rocks, leaves, cactus, thorns, et al. There was a decient breeze and I was down-wind, but almost no cover and lotsa dry leaves to go through (noisy) so it was a tough, slow stalk.

I got about 20 yards from where they beded. Every few minutes a few would get up. I thought for sure I was busted but they'd grub a little and settle back down. This had gone on for well over an hour. The damn fire-ants were getting to me and I was growing impatient. A big black boar on the far side of the group got up and then laid down broadside with noone behind the front half of him. There was a pile of pigs about 5 feet in front of him though. To hit him I'd have to shoot over the near pile of pigs and hope they didn't jump while the arrow was in flight, I missed, mis-judged the distance, et al. I knocked an arrow (for about the 20th time), aimed a little high so I wouldn't hit the other pigs, and released. Fred Bear guided another one home, YOWSA! Since this one was an old boar it had a pretty solid plate (cartilage under the hide around his vitals). The broadhead penetrated to the far shoulder but no pass through. They all got up and took off, one with an arrow sticking out like a flag. I got our guide and we tracked for about 1/4 mile. Even though it was a double-lung shot this old boar was tough and not giving up. I was afraid if they took off hard that he might separate and die somewhere we couldn't find him so I told him to go ahead and shoot him if he got the chance. He put 2 243 rounds into him before he went down and I stuck another shaft though his heart to finish the job. He weighed in at 130#. The teeth were well worn so he was old. This was probably my best stalk yet so I was elated afterwards. I'm so alive!!!

The spotted one on the left is the first one I killed:

#2. He reminds me of like Michael Moore without the hat and body odor...

Bohemian Rhapsody

I've always liked this Queen tune so I've been trying to learn this lately. Started with piano sheet music and tried to convert to guitar. This is going to be a tough one. It's in Eb or Bb; I'm not sure which because of all the weird chords. Not a single open cowboy-chord in it. Weds night I made it all the way through; it took an hour and a half. Stairway & Hotel California were tough at first too but I don't remember them being this hard. Hopefully I'll get it before I give up.

Here's a link to one impressive version of it to see what I'm shooting for: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGs5mn-rM5k&search=Bohemian%20Rhapsody

Centisorus!

Found this above the front porch this morning. This is NOT a photoshop hack!

That post below it is a 4x4.

Bandits Caught Red-Handed

My neighbors were out of town for a few days so they had me care for their critters; 3 cats and 2 guineas. The guineas are ferocious bug-eaters and also provide eggs, albeit small eggs. They’ve got a little coop for them which I need to lock up at night to keep the predators out.

So last night I was locking the door and Cindy noticed a small raccoon inside climbing up the wall after the guineas. (They roost in the rafters.) So I ventilated him with my .45 (along with the east wall of the coop – oops!) The hens were upset so I wasn’t going to be able to get the dead coon out without them taking off so I shut the door and left them to settle down. About an hour later I checked on them again and they were all upset. There were 2 more coons locked in the coop with them. 2 more corbons fixed that. I’m really surprised they didn’t catch the guineas; guess they were upset about their sibling lying dead in front of them.

Here my ever faithfull coondawg checking out the guilty trio. Smallish, but the meat will be really tender. Can't decide where to jerk the meat or just grind it and make lasagna again.

Pantera

There was a pretty good documentary on Pantera on VH1 that I finally got around to watching. Most of it focused on Darrell. He was a huge KISS fan, which I knew because they got into a "KISS" mode one Thursday night at MetalWorks (little club in Arlington). He took it so far as to join the KISS Army. A few days after he got his first guitart (age 7) he had the whole Ace Freeley makeup on and was jamming. Anyway, they buried him in a KISS casket. The funeral was a who's-who of the hard-rock world. EVH put his guitar in the casket with him. It wasn't just a random axe he had either, it was the one he toured with. Prolly worth well into 6 figures, although it's not like Eddie can play anymore... A bunch of his buds put bottles of Crown in the casket for "the trip". Hopefully he's jamming now with Hendrix and Randi.



The other main focus was on Phil. I never was that crazy about him, although his voice and style fit Pantera like a glove. The massive substance abuse kicked his ass like it always does. He blamed the heroine use on his back problems. HorseShit! There are effective prescription pain-killers for that, although it's still possible to get addicted to them too (ala Rush). He's just another fkn doper and, like all others, will always be a liability to those around him. In the end he tried to paint himself as Dime's brother but everyone else pretty well called him on that lie.

Vinnie started his own recording company, I give him a good chance at making it profitable. He's got decient business sense and knows the music biz too.

Download's are done, gotta go. Nite.