South Texas Hunt - Rancho Solita

My friends Bob and Jim invited me to fill an open slot for a hunt on their lease in South Texas.  We were joined in camp by Larry and Mark.  I flew into San Antonio, picked up a rental car, and drove to Freer TX.

In true TX fashion, the rental car that I picked up at the Emerald Aisle was this white F150 pickup.  It came in handy.  This is the cabin at the ranch.

I arrived at about 2:30 and we headed to stands at 3:00.  Jim and I sat in this stand on the first night.

 There's a corn feeder at about 150 yards.  They release a batch of corn at 7:00am and 4:00pm.  Even before the feeder went off, we had a dozen javelinas come into the feeder.

Jim and I each shot one to try to scare them away - we wanted to see the deer and were afraid the javelinas would scare them off.

Javelinas are know as "Skunk Pigs".  They are varmints that grow to as much as 80 pounds.  They are well named because they stink due to musk glands.

Jim and I dragged the javelinas away from the feeder and got back in the stand.  The other javelinas came right back. They were followed by a couple does who didn't seem to worried by the pigs.

As the light was dimming, two bucks came out.  One was an old 9 point and the other was a young 6 point. This ranch is being managed to produce trophy deer so bucks are not shot until they are mature and at their prime.

We had beautiful sunsets and sunrises (most days).

One morning we had fog and couldn't see 50 yards - we gave up and came in for breakfast.

This modified Jeep is the main vehicle for getting around the ranch. It has a feeder on the back for leaving grain on the roads.

Since there were 5 of us and only 4 seats, Larry was given the seat of honor on the front platform.  A seat cushion on two bags of corn.  We took a tour looking for quail but they seemed to be hanging out in heavy cover.

There are several more stands to be set up.  This lease is a 6,000 acre ranch where they are running cattle.  There are also active oil drilling activities.

One day they did a cattle round up by pushing them into a corral using a helicopter.  They had a little difficulty with the last step - loading them into the trailer.

Larry and I sat in a stand the next night.  If you look over his shoulder, there's a dead javelina in the road behind him.  I took a shot at a doe at 30 yards and completely wiffed.  We found out later that my scope was set up to shoot 8" high.  I shot two javelinas before finding that out but I missed one doe.  The jeep broke down (lost steering) and Larry and I walked in to get my truck after dark.

 

There is an awesome firepit where many problems of the steel industry were solved once and for all.

Bob is holding a piece of rebar that has been heated in the fire to red hot.  This provided hours of entertainment.

Jim and Bob did all the cooking and we ate like kings.

 

The flora in this region has prickers on everything.  There are also rattlesnakes.  Freer is famous for it's annual Rattlesnake Roundup.  Anyway, taking off on foot into the brush requires precautions like snake chaps.

While Bob was dealing with getting the Jeep towed, we went to the quarry for some target practice.  This is where I learned that my scope was off.  Mark knew his way around the pistol range.

Jim is a competitive IPA shooter.

Larry just recently got his concealed carry permit.

Jim did some coaching and drills (once he got back from the ranch house after collecting a few foregotten items).

Last night I sat in a stand by myself.  Nine javelinas came into the feeder and then the bucks started arriving.  You may be able to see the buck walking up on the javelinas in this picture. Eventually 5 bucks showed up.

This photo is thru the binoculars.  There are two bucks facing off against the javelinas.  The bucks are 20" or 22" 8 points probably weighing over 200 pounds.  The javelinas are about 50 pounds and one would walk out, face off against the bucks, and the bucks would back off and stay outside the corn perimeter.

At last light, a doe showed up and, since Bob wanted some backstraps, I shot her.  It was about 80 yards and an easy shot with a zero'd gun. We hauled her in in the pickup truck and tried out the new butchering facility.

Here she is just before getting strung up.

This is an awesome set up for gutting, skinning and butchering game.

Earlier in the week, Bob took this feral hog - about 200 pounds.  On Saturday morning, Jim took two coyotes. In total over a few days the body count was something like 8 javelinas, a hog, two coyotes, and one doe.  We had to have watched 20 different bucks but chose not to shoot them.

Many thanks to Bob and Jim for hosting me - it is a really neat property that is perfectly set up for hunting.  And it was a fun camp with Bob, Jim, Larry and Mark.  Next time at my place?