More Recent Kansas Buck Pics!

Here are a couple of more recent pictures of bucks that the owner of the land where I will be hunting sent me. I can not wait to get up there! I am not picky, I will gladly stick one of these bucks if I am blessed with the opportunity.

New Hunting Social Networking Site

NoNameOutdoors.com is a new social networking site for hunters where you can share photos of game harvested and fish caught. One thing that I really like about this site is the internet legends page. This page research the validity of all of the emails that circulate in the hunting world. It is pretty cool.

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Kansas Game Camera Pics

These are some of the game camera pictures that we have been getting from the land that we are going to be hunting on in Kansas this year. Most of them are velvet pictures from a litle over a month ago. I am still waiting on some more recent photos. It looks like we could have a few potential shooters.

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Pictures From La Bandera Ranch

Here are some pictures from my trip to La Bandera Ranch this week!

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The awesome pool, perfect after an evening hunt!

View of the dining room, the 2 bucks pictured are a couple of Boone and Crockett bucks taken off the ranch.

Me shooting at the box quail competition

Ol Boy 5.5 year old breeder buck. 205 B & C

Pen of 2.5 year old bucks

3.5 year old 200 class B & C buck

La Bandera Ranch

I just got back yesterday from an incredible dove hunt in south Texas at La Bandera Ranch located just outside of Carrizo Springs. I went with a group of 16 guys which included my dad. Many of the people on the trip I already knew, but a few of them I met for the first time and now consider them to all be friends.
The trip started on Tuesday morning. My dad and I went to Meacham Airport in Ft Worth to meet our traveling party. Randy Pack, Larry Hilscher and Phillip Bell all own a King Air, and that is what we flew directly to the ranch. The plane turned 7 hours of traveling (if we went by truck) into just a little more than 1 hour. We landed on the airstrip located on La Bandera ranch. The other half of the group left from Executive Airport in Dallas, the plane they were traveling in was a Merlin.
The minute we touched down at the ranch we were greeted by 2 pickup trucks with seating for 8 in the back end and 2 suburbans. All of our gear was loaded in the suburbans and we all piled into the back of the pickups to go to the lodge.
My dad has been on a couple of quail hunting trips to this ranch the past few years and has always had a great time. He tried to explain what the accommodations were like, but his words and his pictures did not do it justice. The ranch is a first class operation. The lodge area is beautiful and extremely roomy. The pool and spa are spectacular; it almost looked out of place in the brush country of south Texas.
Most of us doubled up on rooms, but it was very comfortable with plenty of space. There was a large seating area in the middle of the sleeping quarters (for lack of a better term) that had all kinds of African and exotic mounts that I assume were killed by the owner of the ranch, Bob Hixson. Outside the sleeping area was a large port cache where the ranch vehicles would drop us off and pick us up. Across from that was the dining room, which was dominated by a large elephant mount and several of the Boone and Crockett class bucks that have been taken on the ranch. Across from the dining room was a large game room complete with a full wet bar, margarita machine included. This room was also littered with various trophy mounts of big game fish, elk, mule deer, bears, crocodiles and many other animals. Outside the game room and the dining room was a large outdoor fire place and seating area. An industrial type cooler loaded with beer, water and soft drinks and the pool and hot tub. The pool was on a deck that looked out toward old Mexico to the west. The view of the sunset was amazing from the pool deck. Just below the pool deck was an immaculate five stand setup for clay shooting. Whoever designed and built this retreat thought of everything and spared no expenses. This was a true sportsman’s paradise!
After a quick lunch we changed clothes, got our guns and split up into 2 groups of 8 to go out to the dove fields. We made a friendly wager between groups on which one would shoot the most birds, and of course my team won (not without plenty of protest and bickering from the other team) that first afternoons hunt was great, I think everyone on my team got their 15 bird limit.
After the hunt we returned to the lodge, changed out of our hunting clothes and all enjoyed the evening pool side. That night the cooks prepared us a wonderful Mexican dinner and then we retired to the outdoor sitting area and spent the night drinking, telling lies and enjoying good company amongst friends.
Wednesday morning we did not go to the fields to hunt dove, instead the ranch had arranged a box quail shoot. This is a game that usually involves pigeons, but it is the same none the less. I am not going to go into too much detail about what is involved in this game so as not to offend anyone or give the anti hunting community any extra ammunition. I do have to say that this was one of the most fun competitions I have ever participated in. We played 4 different games and therefore there were 4 more friendly wagers. Of course, once again, my team won 3 of the 4 bets. After the box bird competition we went back to the lodge and ate a nice lunch, and listened to the members of the other team bitch about how unfair the game was.
After lunch we got to tour the deer breeding program that the ranch has. This was very interesting. I learned quite a bit from the ranches breeding program manager and got to see some of the biggest bucks that I will ever have the opportunity of seeing alive, many were over 200 Boone and Crockett. When we were finished touring the breeding pens some of the group took naps while others hung out in the pool, myself included, relaxing before the evenings dove hunt.
We went to different fields for the evening hunt, and they were not as good as the previous evening. I think I ended up with 9 or 10 birds, which is not bad, but could have been better. My dad shot really well that evening, I think he got about 13 or 14, and led our team. I do have to admit that this evening I was on the losing end of the wager, even after bending the rules a little and hunting for about 30 minutes longer than the agreed upon stopping time, the other team beat us pretty handily. They were in a much better area; they had to have paid the guides to take us to the worst field on the ranch.
That night we ate rib eyes, baked potatoes, broccoli and cheese, and apple pie. It was a very manly meal that hit the spot. We were all pretty tired, but still spent quite a bit of time after dinner sitting by the outdoor fire place drinking beer and wine and telling the more stories and jokes. Many of the stories and jokes were the same as the ones told the night before, but due to the abundant spirits being served, no one really seemed to care, or remember for that matter.
The final morning came early; we were all out of bed before sunrise and headed out to the dove fields. My team went back to the field that we had so much success at the first evening, but it was not nearly as productive this morning. I ended up with 10 birds, 5 shy of the 15 bird limit. We didn’t have a bet on this hunt, I guess we had all grown tired of the arguing and it just did not seem like as much fun to us. After the hunt, I took a shower and packed my bags. A few of the guys got in the pool for a little while, and then we ate a big breakfast that was prepared for us.
At about 12:00 we all loaded up and headed to the runway to get on our respective planes and head back to Dallas and Ft Worth. I got to ride in the cock pit on the way home with my planes pilot, John. It was really cool listening to the air traffic controllers and seeing everything from a different perspective. I still do not have any desire to fly myself, but it was a neat experience none the less.
I hope that we go on this trip next year. It was a very memorable experience with a great group of guys. Our guides, Art and Alan were great! The food was great! The accommodations were first class! I will remember this week for the rest of my life. I thank my dad, John Roy Reid and Randy Pack for inviting me to go on this trip. Now it is time for deer season! I am not going to get to go to Brady this weekend for the bow season opener because I told my wife I would go to the A & M Arkansas game a year ago not thinking about the consequences, but you can bet I will be in a tree next weekend, and Kansas is only 4 or 5 weeks away! I am looking forward to another great hunting season, if nothing else happens this season, this past trip has already made it a great one.

Preparing Mentally and Physically

As usual it has been awhile since my last offering. I believe it was back in the beginning of August when I purchased my new Alpha Max 32. I am here to report that the Alpha Max 32 is one kick ass bow! I have been shooting almost every day for the past month or 2. In that time I have completely changed my shooting form, using more back tension, shooting with both eyes open (I used to close my left eye) and I have switched to a thumb style release as opposed to an index finger style release. It has taken some getting used to, but after all of these changes I believe that I am shooting better than I ever have. My long range accuracy, 50 to 80 yards, is still not to my satisfaction, but at 40 yards and in, I am splitting arrows!

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I am hoping that all of this practice pays off in a big way this year. As I have discussed in other entries, I am going back to Kansas again this year for a rut hunt at the beginning of November. I am now very confident in my ability to shoot an animal out to 40 yards which can only help to increase my chances for success. I am not completely satisfied yet, and am still practicing to try and extend my comfort/ confidence level out to 50 or 60 yards, but I do not know if that will be accomplished in the month and a half that I have remaining until the Kansas trip.

I have also been much more active this off season than I ever have in the past. Back at the beginning of May I decided that my health and my appearance body wise was pathetic. I made the commitment to get off my ass and get to work getting in shape. Since May I have been eating right, I have almost quit drinking beer (although do still occasionally enjoy a few on the weekends) and I have been working out on a very regular basis. I try to get some sort of work out in at least 5 days a week, and of those 5 days I usually try to get 2 work outs in on 3 of those days. My workouts have consisted of core weight training, bike riding (actually spin classes), jogging, intense walking and swimming.

This lifestyle change has really paid off as I have lost 40 pounds and dropped 2 waste sizes since May. I really feel good, probably as good as I have felt since I was in high school playing sports year around. Now instead of finding excuses not to exercise, I really get down on myself and beat myself up mentally if I skip a work out or if I do not push myself hard enough in a workout.

The time when I started working out coincided with me reading Cameron Hanes “Back Country Bow Hunting” book, and he and his book really inspired me to take my hunting, and more importantly my health to a new level. I have always enjoyed competition and participating in sports. 16 years ago when I graduated high school, it left a void in my life. I did not really have any avenues for competition other than the occasional intramural sports in college and beer league softball games. Hunting is something that I have always done, but never really treated it as a sport or something that you can get better at by preparing yourself physically and mentally. Cameron’s book made me see hunting in a different light and he has really made me compete with myself in order to become better at the only sport that I am a participating in now, bow hunting. Though my hunting is not what most people would classify as physically demanding (mostly tree stand whitetail hunting) maybe the fact that I am in better shape mentally and physically will help me sit in the tree for an hour longer than in the past. Maybe the hard work of the past months will allow me to sit more still than I have been able to in the past. And maybe, with a little luck involved I will be prepared mentally if and when the buck of a lifetime steps out in front of me.

If you are not familiar with Cameron Hanes, check out his website at www.cameronhanes.com or go to www.athleteshunt.underarmour.com and check out Cameron’s blog. In addition to being a bad ass hunter, he is an unbelievable endurance athlete and great outdoor writer.

New Bow!

I got back from vacation on Saturday. The fam and I had a great time, but it was good to get back. On Sunday I went out and shot alot of arrows through my Bowtech General, and I have to say I was shooting it really well.

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Well, on Monday I talked to my friend Robert who is in the market for a new bow. I decided that I would go to All Star Archery in Lewisville with him on Tuesday and help him pick one out. I was not really planning on shopping for myself, as I just purchased my Bowtech General last year and it performed flawlessly last season. I killed a buck in Kansas, a buck in Texas and 3 does in Texas. All of the animals dropped within eye sight of my stand. I have never had that happen before in the past. I was however, very interested in shooting the Elite Z28, as I have heard and read alot of good things about the bow and the company.

All Star Archery had one Z28 in a 28" draw length at the shop, imagine that, just my size. The guys in the shop put a rest on it and let me shoot it a few times. The bow was every bit as good as had been reported. It had a very smooth draw cycle and smooth shot with little to know vibration. It also was lightning fast. That being said, I decided not to buy it, because if I was going to buy the Z28 I wanted to get it in Ninja black and All Star only had it in Camo. Also, I did not like letting the bow down, it really seemed to jerk my arm off.

Robert had the shop set up 4 bows for him to shoot, the Mathews Reason, Bowtech Admiral, Hoyt Turbo Hawk and the Hoyt Alpha Max 32. He shot all of them quite a bit and gave them all a good test. Robert originally went to the shop with the intentions of buying a Mathews, but after shooting the Hoyts, decided he liked the feel and was more comfortable with them. His only dilemma was whether to buy the Alpha Max or the Turbo Hawk which is about $300.00 less.

The whole time I was looking at the Alpha Max 32 that they had set up for him. It looked so sexy, it was the all black model, and it just kept calling to me. I have heard alot of great things about the Hoyt Alpha Max and you see the guys on tv shooting them all the time.

To make a long story short, when Robert was taking a break from shooting I picked up the very light Alpha Max 32 and let a few arrows fly. Wow! that bow was awesome. I thought it was smoother than the Elite all the way around. The draw cycle was very smooth, with a deep valley (much deeper than my Bowtech General) and a nice hard wall that allowed me to anchor perfectly. There was no hand shock or vibration and the bow was super quite. The grip felt perfect in my hand, all in all the bow just fit me perfectly.

I was going to let Robert make his decision between the two Hoyt bows, but he was waivering back and forth. He told me to buy the Alpha Max and I didn't hesitate. As usual I go to a store, shopping with someone else with no intentions of purchasing anything for myself and guess who walks out with a new bow, me! Robert is a smarter consumer than I am, as he decided that he needed to sleep on it and do a little more research before he decides between the 2 bows. He had the guys at the shop hold the last Alpha Max for him, it has 60 lb limbs and is the model with the black riser and camo limbs.

I am very excited about my purchase, and can't wait to get it set up. I am going to put my HHA optimizer site on it and probably my Vital Gear Kazaway rest. I will buy a new Fuse stabilizer for it and probably get a new Fuse quiver.

Last night after working out, I wanted to keep my shooting practice routine going so I shot about 30 arrows through my General. I shot it great, the whole time thinking to myself "Why did you buy a new bow? This one is great!" As anyone who knows me can attest, my weakness is shiny new toys. I feel comfortable knowing that the new Alpha Max will perform everybit as good this season as the General performed last season. Number one it is a great bow, just as the Bowtech, but more importantly this being my 7th year bowhunting, combined with the amount of practice I have put in and the success I have enjoyed, my confidence in my ability is what will ultimately allow me to get the job done this coming season.