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Stand by hunter luck!! And a Nilgai, too #6561689 11/28/16 12:57 PM
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lunkerm Offline OP
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On a whim, my daughter and I decided to go on stand-by at the Kickapoo Cavern State Park youth hunt. We bought a new tent, filled a cooler full of groceries and headed out.... 360 miles on a gamble!!!

When we got there, there were two unclaimed spots, and only she and a girl from Smithville were on stand-by!! She was in!

The ranger had everyone except the 2 standbys draw for spots. Then those people had the option of changing spots if they didn't like their draw. Then my daughter and the other stand-by girl drew to see who drew first between them, and we got last pick. Everyone had passed over compartment 12 in favor of larger compartments, compartments with known axis, etc... so we wound up in the leftover little compartment 12 on the edge of the park (with a road running through it to another hunting area.)

The ranger had told the group in orientation that there was ONE Nilgai on the place, and where it had been seen, and sure enough, a little girl from Schulenberg killed it. It was a monster- probably around 500#.

Anyway, compartment 12 was small and the brush was super dense. Friday afternoon, we walked in off of the road and found a tiny clearing, set up, immediately regretted it, and tore down and moved across the road to a little better clearing in a "lane." by Saturday morning, we hated it too, so we took off on a walkabout. We were seeing good, fresh deer sign everywhere- tracks, rubs, scat, fresh trails, so we knew they were there, it was just a matter of finding the right spot where two loud, smelly people could get a decent shot.

We finally found it- a lane nearly 400 yards long, I'd guess, and 60 foot wide. trails crisscrossed it, sign everywhere- it was perfect. We saw a doe and a fawn running Saturday morning, and Saturday evening, we saw a half-dozen does and 2 young bucks. She missed a good doe, but 20 minutes later some more does came in, then 2 bucks- a good yearling 6 point and and a 4 point cull with one unbranched antler. She took the cull in hopes of getting a big buck on Sunday, but on Sunday morning, the wind was nuts and we didn't see anything before it was time to go and make the long drive home.

It was incredibly lucky to drive that far and get a spot. It was a great hunt and we had tons of fun... and I had a good excuse to NOT go to the inlaws for 3 days! It was also the first time I had EVER tent camped with my daughter! win-win-win!!!

Re: Stand by hunter luck!! And a Nilgai, too [Re: lunkerm] #6561945 11/28/16 03:24 PM
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Triplesnake Offline
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That is great that it worked out for you like that! That smile says it all.

Were any axis killed on that hunt? how about sheep? I'm hunting out there on the 12th so any info would be great.

Re: Stand by hunter luck!! And a Nilgai, too [Re: lunkerm] #6561969 11/28/16 03:34 PM
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up

Re: Stand by hunter luck!! And a Nilgai, too [Re: lunkerm] #6562060 11/28/16 04:33 PM
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I was not but 20 miles to the southwest of you this weekend and yes that wind was miserable yesterday morning, but nice little deer.


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Re: Stand by hunter luck!! And a Nilgai, too [Re: lunkerm] #6562283 11/28/16 06:24 PM
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Congrats, that's a trip she will never forget.

Re: Stand by hunter luck!! And a Nilgai, too [Re: lunkerm] #6562441 11/28/16 08:02 PM
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Very nice! up

Re: Stand by hunter luck!! And a Nilgai, too [Re: Triplesnake] #6562723 11/28/16 11:09 PM
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lunkerm Offline OP
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Originally Posted By: Triplesnake
That is great that it worked out for you like that! That smile says it all.

Were any axis killed on that hunt? how about sheep? I'm hunting out there on the 12th so any info would be great.


No axis, sheep or goats. They said axis were most likely to be found on the units facing on FM 674. I know at least one group on that side never left camp and packed up and went home Saturday at lunch (huh????) and another group (if I have the right folks in mind) seemed rather uncertain what to do.

Re: Stand by hunter luck!! And a Nilgai, too [Re: lunkerm] #6563287 11/29/16 04:14 AM
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Nice deer ! . How many kids were there on the hunt total ? I'm thinking of going standby next week if any spots available .

Re: Stand by hunter luck!! And a Nilgai, too [Re: Bownhead] #6563452 11/29/16 12:26 PM
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lunkerm Offline OP
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I'm not real sure how many were in each group, but I guess right at 15 total kids. Basically everyone that actually made a real effort and put in some time in the brush got a deer, and some got 2. But there may've been one father/son that didn't- they were still hunting Sunday morning when we left.

As far as the standby hunt, I feel like we got real lucky because Kickapoo is so far from anywhere, it was a holiday weekend, the weather forecast was sketchy, etc...

Re: Stand by hunter luck!! And a Nilgai, too [Re: lunkerm] #6563728 11/29/16 03:34 PM
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Thanks for the intel. I'm looking forward to trying my luck out there. cheers

Re: Stand by hunter luck!! And a Nilgai, too [Re: lunkerm] #6563745 11/29/16 03:42 PM
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chital_shikari Offline
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Awesome! Congrats!

Re: Stand by hunter luck!! And a Nilgai, too [Re: lunkerm] #6563824 11/29/16 04:28 PM
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Great Experience!! banana

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