Moving to TX. and my introduction

Hello to all,

I'm going to be moving to TX I’d like to take this opportunity to introduce myself since I just joined this site. My name is Tom and my online name is Flags. I’m a retired Chief Petty Officer in the United States Navy and have just accepted a position as an NJROTC instructor at hebron High School in Carrollton.

I’m originally from Golden, Colorado but haven’t spent much time in the state since the Navy insisted on keeping me elsewhere. I’m still officially a Colorado resident since my retirement in Apr 2014 because I hadn't decided to settle down yet but will be switching to a TX resident after I get there. Because I come from CO, I'm currently sitting on a lot of preference points for CO having 20 elk preference points, 13 deer preference points, 3+10 weighted moose points, 3+12 weighted sheep points, and 13 bear points. I've also got 5 preference points for pronghorn in WY and 8 preference points for moose in NH.

I am an avid hunter and fisherman and have been blessed to hunt many species in many states. So far I have held tags for Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, Nebraska, Kansas, California, Hawaii, Texas, Alabama, Florida, Virginia, Pennsylvania and New Hampshire. I have also hunted British Columbia a couple of times and have made 5 safaris to South Africa, Zimbabwe and Cameroon.

I've successfully hunted Elk, Mule Deer, Whitetail Deer, Blacktail Deer, Black Bear, Bighorn Sheep, Mountain Goat, Pronghorn, Bison, Wild Boar, Alligator and some exotics in Texas. I've taken about 20 species of plains game in Africa including Roan, Eland, Kudu, Gemsbok, Wildebeest, Impala, Warthog and Zebra. Of all the game I've hunted I have always had a real special place in my heart for elk which is understandable since I come from a family of elk fanatics in Colorado. If my count is correct, I have personally taken about 25 elk and have been in on the talking of around 100 others. I also go after rabbits, squirrels, upland game and waterfowl every chance I get and just started turkey hunting last spring.

I’m not much of a bow hunter because I have never been able to devote the time to get good enough with a bow to shoot at a living animal. The chance of wounding is just too high with my minimal skill level. But I have done a lot of hunting with black powder for Mule Deer, Elk and Whitetail. I use a variety of firearms with a 7mm Rem Mag being my go to gun. I also use a 6.5x55 Swedish, a 6.5x54 MS, a 9.3x62 Mauser, 375 H&H Mag and a T/C Contender in 7mm TCU. One thing I find as I get older is that I use the 7mm Mag less and less and the 9.3x62 more and more. If you haven’t played with a 9.3 I highly recommend it.

I look forward to exchanging ideas, opinions and experiences with all of you. I also look forward to moving to TX and am anxiously awaiting when I can hunt there. I have lost my desire for big antlers and trophies and go after meat now. So I'm going to be chasing does and hogs for the most part.

Cheers

Welcome to THF and Texas. Thank you for your service time.

Terry

ta THF, quite the resamma, my spelling bad tis reason of me bad luck hunting. day call me colt.45 alias de joker some say not playing with a full deck. ya, de wild card. okay, my jokes ain't worth theirs some guys on here that do some Elk hunten. for your service. Best Wishes, sir. Edit: dang android i'm not i've been tested. tis a conspiracy i tell ya

If you are after meat then go to a store and buy it. That's the cheapest way to do it In Texas.

Sounds like you'll fit right in Flags.

gotta pay ta play . most land is privete owned. did leases for years, in better times. then some WMA land opened up. did archery hunts, back then best hog hunting around. 3 months hog only, all legal meens. $48.00 permit ya get book with public hunts &rules. ask at Walmart. best wishes.

That's the truth.

Howdy and thanks for your service. After you see some of the bucks being posted on here I'm thinking your desire for some big antlers may come back sir. Welcome aboard sailor

To all,

Thanks for the welcomes and the responses. As a retired member of the military I'm eligible to hunt military bases like Ft Hood and am hoping I can pull some does off them next season. I don't need the meat this year because I took a buck pronghorn and a doe mulie in CO last month. So I'm good for meat.

As to this:

Maybe but I doubt it. I have over 40 mounted heads right now and my wife has pretty much said "enough". So I'll let the rest of you have the bucks. Women and children first for me. LOL.

Cheers.

Welcome!

That's awesome. Once you get settled in post up some pics of those trophies please sir

Welcome Flags! Hope you enjoy the forums. I can tell you that there are some definite SMEs on here and I have found THF to be an excellent resource.
Cheers

to the great state of Texas.

and thanks for your service!

Come on down shipmate! And Chief, we got plenty of hogs around these parts, and plenty of places you can hunt them. Is your right index finger completely recovered yet, or is it still kinked from holding that coffee cup?

Welcome to the forum and welcome to Texas when you arrive, get here before we're out of room!!

AND THANKS FOR YOUR SERVICE TO THIS GREAT COUNTRY!

Can you build us a lake?? We are running out of water!

and thanks for your service!

Does Colorado by chance have a life time hunting/fishing license option??? something to consider if available before you move ...

I worked with a guy in CA that was a long time LMCO engineer, he had lifetime hunting license from about 6 different states that he lived in ...

Welcome aboard Flags. I'm sure you'll fit in just fine as these guys are Hunting Loonies of all stripes. You'll find Texas to be a bit different than your other postings as it is primarily a Private Lands state with less than 3% of the Land mass owned by a governmental agency.
You really should take up bow hunting more often as there is a National Treasure of a Federal WMA up here about an hour north of you at Lake Texoma called Hagerman that generates P&Y quality critters almost every year, but is restricted to Archery Only.

North Texas has abundant water fowl hunting & fishing WHEN theres water in the numerous lakes within a 2-3 hour drive of your location, but Lake Texoma is one of only a handfull of Striped Bass lakes in the US that has a population of self reproducing fish, and why we are up here after living in Carrollton for 30 years.

For a good gunsmith nearby, go find Doc's on Whitlock just north of the downtown square, across from the Dallas Water Plant. PM me for contact info. Like all Good Gunsmiths he's usually booked solid but spring time is the time to get any serious work into him. Gun ranges are not plentiful, but there are some around, including the private Dallas Gun Club facility not too far away from Creekview HS over on I-35 @ Hwy 121, and the public LB Houston Dallas Complex just west of I-35 on Luna Rd off of Hwy 114 for a full service range.

Have Fun 'cause you've just come ashore in a place like no other.
Ron

Oh yeah, well... I saved 15% with some insurance company so stop all the bragging buddy!

Kidding - welcome.

Sounds like you will love it on here.

Really? I saved more than that in half the time.....

Welcome aboard Flags!

How many Yeti coolers do you own and could you post photos?

Hey Chief, welcome-I did the same after retiring as an HMC and moved here in 1993. Good luck.

to the THF forum and when you finely get to again

X2!!

Flags, Welcome to Texas and to the Texas hunting forum.

Howdy!

Welcome and thank you for your service !!!

And thank you...for serving...

X2 and quite a résumé you have there.

You're gonna miss the open range hunting and hope you like hot weather. Really it's not that bad it's just different.....

....from another swabbie - 1969-72!

welcome from bosun's mate 59-63

As requested. These are the ones I have with me right now. Most of my trophies are stored in a house I own in CO but these ones I've got on the wall in the back bedroom.


Aoudad, Mountain Goat, Blesbok, Blackbuck, Bighorn Sheep.


Springbok, Warthog, Russian Boar, Impala, Alligator skull.


Stone Sheep, Whitetail from PA.

Cheers

Chief Flags, very nice mounts!!, bet you miss the "rest of your house" though That warthog is incredible, never hunted one, but that one looks like a monster.

had some cool mounts of couple waterbugs on wall using blowgun. wife made me take em down

glad to have a fellow like u in texas chief ,

to Texas and to the forum. Great pics, great trophies and hope you stick around and share some stories

That's a long list of hunts and animals taken. Congratulations on those. to the forum.