Huntin' Buddies!

My Favorite Hunting Buddy!!

Wow! What a hunting season we have had so far. Some great success and some very quiet and peaceful mornings, all alone, or have they been alone. I looked at one of my old friends facebook pages this morning and it took me back to the last time we hunted together. A duck hunt in central Texas that in my mind was going to be more about he trip than the hunting. I can still see him sitting in the passenger seat of my truck with the seat laid back and complaining of a headache. A headache that didn't go away for 3 days. From the time we got up to the time we hit the rack, headache!! I brought him home on Sunday night and told his wife to take him Monday and have him checked out. That was the Monday we found out he had a brain tumor...headache!! I will never forget sitting in a hospital room and him asking me to take care of his wife and kids if he didn't make it. I told him we would hunt again. 1 very successful surgery and many years later, he is doing great!! It's those kind of guys that make great hunting buddies. The ones that even though you have moved and you don't talk often, when you do, its like nothing has changed. Although we haven't hunted together in a long time, we still share successes and failures by phone or email or FB. I am on a lease right now with some of my favorite hunting buddies, brothers in Christ, and life long friends. Buddies that will soon have new babies, new priorities, and new reasons that keep momma from giving us that ever coveted hall pass. Hope you have a few hunting buddies of your own and if you haven't talked to them in a while, give them a ring and see how the season went.

Texas Youth Hunters Program

Every year I volunteer at a youth hunt that is run by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Dept. We normally take about 4-5 kids who dont have the opportunity to hunt on a doe only weekend. It is a parent/youth hunt and I am usually one of the guides. If you live in Texas you really need to check it out at texas-wildlife.org/tyhp. We have had the opportunity to hunt many different ranches over the years that if you hunt or watch hunting shows you have heard of, but this one is my favorite. I would love to tell you about it, but it is a private ranch. Here are a few pics from this years hunt...




One of the Kids and Dad




Really nice deer...



Nice Mature Deer....

Nice Drop!!

Group Shot

This is just a sample of the deer and fun that we have on these weekends. If you want to volunteer go to the website above and sign up.

El Nino did it?

Ok, its December 24th, its currently 32 deg and SNOWING in Texas. I was sitting in my study chair wondering what the odds would be the we would have a White Christmas in Texas this year. Slim and None. To warm and to wet. However, I began to think of what might be causing the 2nd snow of the year in north Texas and it hit me...El Nino!! My studies of El Nino have taught me this, you see most of the effects after the winter after the onset of this event. It brings lots of rain to North America (check) followed by a diminished hurricane (check) and then a strong winter (check so far) and a spring of heavy tornado activity (?).

My question, as I sit in my chair, is this..."what effect does El Nino have on the rut activity of the whitetail?" Everybody I talked to this year told me that their rut activity was really "off" this year. Some guys even told me that they saw a rut like activity in late October and then again in early December. I know, I know...there is a second rut that comes from the does that didn't get bred the first go round 21 days after the first. But, check this out. That's longer than 21 days and we are not getting reports of a "few" does in December, but major rut like activity 6 weeks after the first sign of the rut that came 3 weeks earlier than last year!! Makes you go, hmmm?

So here's my conclusion. Do you think God has control of the weather? The good and the bad, the light rains with beautiful rainbows and the destroying hurricanes that show no mercy. You better believe it, just ask Noah!! I did some research and found 17 verses right off the bat that show the effects that God had on the weather. To reward and to punish.

As you make it to your Christmas Eve activities, remember the reason for the season and the birth of a child that came to save the world. He would love to hear from you!!


Side Note:

"El Nino effects two major countries.
Australia and South America.
In Australia, The 'El Nino Effect' causes drought, lack of water, dry season.
In South America, it causes the COMPLETE opposite. It causes flash flooding, lots of rain.

I like IT!!

It is a part of you. It is a passion. It is something that you strive to improve in your life on a daily basis...what is it? I dont know. Thats what you need to answer yourself. Is it a job? Is it a hobby or maybe its what you daydream about when no one else is around. Maybe its a relationship! With a spouse, a child, a sibling, parent or grandparent. Or maybe its THE relationship...you know, the one you have with Jesus Christ...or the relationship you wish you had with Him. It could be any of a million different things...thats for you to figure out.

For me, its all of the above. Its wanting to be the best husband that I can possibly be. A leader, an encourager, provider and a lover. Its the desire to be the strictest and most tender dad a kid could have. The drive to be a good brother, son, grandson and extender of the family name. Its an outright passion to see just how close I can get to a whitetail deer without it knowing I am there (back to the daydreaming part). Its the desire to share the outdoors with my son and daughter, to extend the heritage that was passed down many generations to me. This blog will be about hunting, fishing and the great outdoors, all of which happen to be Gods creation. Stories from my kids, myself and stories of hunting with "the guys"...oh, the guys!! There will be funny stories, sad stories (hopefully not many), heartwarming stories. There will be knowledge. Knowledge of the outdoors, links to good article, my take on all sorts of stuff. (no politics)

But most of all this blog will be about a realtionship. The will to be in the Will, Gods will. The desire to see God in everything. From the loss of a job to the birth of a child, He is in it all. Sometimes we see it right away and sometimes we dont, but he is always there, and I am gonna try and show him to you...through the outdoors and life.