Looks and sounds like y'all had a great time.
Congrat's to all.

PK

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Randall, can you PM the marinade that you used.......

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No family secrets - Buy the meat at least a couple of days before you need it, then sprinkle seasonings and freeze. Just don't forget to get them out of the freezer...

We use the following seasonings on a regular basis, so I don't know exactly what he used on this trip

unseasoned meat tenderizer
sage (ground, not rubbed)
Garlic Powder
Ginger (small amt)
Adobo (this is a hispanic spice mix that originated in Puerto Rico. you can find it in most grocery shops, if you can't find it in Kroger or Albertsons, go to a Mexican Grocery. There are several kinds - look for 'con pimento' if you want black pepper, and 'sin pimento' if you don't)

When you get to Ft Stockton, go to the Lowes on Dickenson. back in the produce section, they have lots of spice mixes. Two that Randall and I love are the cabrito mix, both with Mesquite and without.

Be careful with adding salt, as Adobe and the other mixes have salt in them and can get too salty. That is why we don't use seasoned meat tenderizer.

(later) He says to tell you that the exact seasonings he used were: the above with the addition of Mesquite flavored Jerkey Spice.

OK, Randall sayth:

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I am not going to say a whole lot, because I am gonna let Lora relate our Sat. morning hunt.

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So here goes:

First of all, I didn't get hardly any sleep Friday night. Not because of the accomodations (I wish I had beds as comfy at home) but because my dear, darling husband woke up about 10 times between 11PM and 4:30 AM. That is what I get, for living with a 5-year-old.

Anyway, we got up and dressed. It was pretty chilly, and there was about a 5 mile wind, so Randall and I dressed up in our brown Dicky coveralls. These are about the closest thing we have as far as camo, but who needs camo when you are in a stand?

We were dropped off, and spooked 2 deer at the feeder. Well, not spooked, exactly; they saw us, we walked on, they came back. We got into the stand, and waited. about 7 am we decided that the 'doe' homesteading the feeder was in actuality a buck with a spike going up on one side, and pointing down on the other. We kept seeing does going to the feeder, jumping into it, and jumping out; but no one was still, broadside, on the outside, long enuf for me to shoot. Then Randall and I both saw 3 or 4 big does, coming down the hill from our right. I said, "Is that a WHITETAIL doe?" He said, "which one?" "The one stopped, looking at me." "I can't tell" "Well I am shooting her cause I think it is a big whitetail". BAM.

Randall said, "golly gee, you missed" (Or something to that effect), and I said, "No I didn't, she is down!" We were looking at 2 different deer!

Well, we got out, and dragged my doe off into some brush. We were starting to field dress her, and Randall looked up, said, 'Oh, my (another euphanism) stand PERFECTLY STILL! so I didn't move a muscle, Randall s l o w l y walked 10 feet to get his gun, and dropped another doe standing about 30 to 35 yarda away.

I shot my 1st doe at 7:30; he got his at 7:45.

We got back into the stand, and about 9:30 I shot my 2nd doe. I hit her kind of far back, and Randall had to finish her off.

Trent was going to pick us up at about 10; so we started packing everything to the gate. I was sitting there, and heard the gun go off. Randall had shot at another doe, but just missed her.

3 deer, 5 shots. Not BAD!

My 2 deer were the farthest shots, I had ever made; about 125 on the 1st one, about 140 on the 2nd. These deer are in excellent condition due to Trent's management program.

Trent is a really nice guy (Quiet, though, and I have to admit I don't know how to handle "quiet") and Jamey, (Mrs Trent,) and I hit it off right away. I am sorry I live so far, as we could be as dangerous together as Randall, SH, and HunterTed are. Jimmy, their son, is a fantastic kid (watch out, girls!). He and I have something in common; we are weather forcasters, for the same reason. (the reason I am squinting in the photo is I had an 'orrible migraine Saturday.)

Oh. Randall says to tell everyone that I shot my does with my 257 Roberts.

Really looks like fun! Congrats to all!

Very cool. Sounds like a good time! Congrats on the deer guys/gals.

Just a few side notes to this story. Lora and I did get some pictures and when we get them developed we will see that they get posted.

I did manage to shoot my first animal with my 458, which I described elsewhere on the Forum.

We dropped by the ranch where we do the Javelina hunts and on our way out from there, as we were heading up the Farm to Market road toward I-10, we came upon a half dozen or so dead grey foxes, a badger and a coyote that were piled up next to the ranch fence, alongf with 2 dead Javelina. Some rotten S.O.B. that I hope comes down with Bone Eating cancer just dumped everything on the side of the road. The ones that really upset me were the Javelina. I am fixing to start doing everything I possibly can to see that those little guys start receiving the same consideration as a game animal here in Texas that they receive in Arizona and new Mexico.

You and I both

Ok a little more stories to tell. CHC,Lora, Ken, Pam, Kent and myself met in Ft. Stockton, for dinner. Swaggerfan and his dad had joined Trent early, to start his cull hunt. It's about a hour drive form Stockton to the ranch. With Randall driving 45 mph it took us 2 days. They stopped and saw every dern blasting critter on the side of the road. When we finally had arrived, Nathan(swaggerfan) had filled his Cull. Really a nice deer, and big bodied to boot. A doe was also taken that night by Joe, I beleive. We started to settle in, and used the Lodge and the Guides House. A flood in the main lodge had some repair work going on. The accomadations are very nice, with plenty of beds, bathrooms ect. Many good things came of this trip. I met new Forum members and shared the fire with them. I was honored to see 2 lady hunters take their deer, and outshoot a man. We won't mention any names We all pitched in and helped each other out, wether it was cooking or gutting, skinning ect. It is nice to see a group that can enjoy themselves and look out for one another, in the way this group did. The other high lights if you don't all ready know is I am going to begin guiding on this ranch and my old lease ranch, which is something I have wanted to do for years. I guess in my old age, I enjoy seeing people take game, then me pull the trigger. Another interesting tid bit, this will also be my new lease as of next year, and I will be sharing it with a new lease partner, who is off this Forum. This was just a neat trip with expierences some had never seen, including myself. Too have a high fence operation with in a ranch and still have 36,000 acres is beyond my imagination. We saw red stag, Blackbuck, fallow, Elk, Mule Deer, Turkey, Javelina, a little of everything. I am a lucky fellow to have been able to spend the time with this group and look forward to doing it again. 2nd group you are most definately in for a pleasant trip, rest assured. Roy

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With Randall driving 45 mph it took us 2 days. They stopped and saw every dern blasting critter on the side of the road.

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NOW you know why I do not follow him anywhere, anymore.

Glad to hear about you new lease and your guiding opportunities. Remember we are friends.

Sorry I haven’t posted sooner gals and guys. Forum computer time just didn’t work out for me yesterday. I didn’t even get to check posts.

Hands down, this hunt was one of the best hunts I have ever been on. The group of folks my dad and I got to share camp were all top notch. 7mag, CHC, CampCook, SH, MS.SH, and KWR… thank you guys for everything! Camp felt like a bunch of old friends hunting together.

Team Hillbilly… be prepared for a heck of a hunt. Just watching the deer is exciting. You can’t beat that country either. Plus the hospitality is just

I will post up my story just shortly. Good times

Alright, I am packing as we speak to head BACK to west texas for the holidays.........duck and quail hunting will be on the menu........I am going to video some of that as well..........Will post what i can on here.........
Nathan if you get a chance. do i need to put my video on photobucket or something like that to put it on here....

I've had one heck of a hunt this year, with Roy and Mike. It's going to be hard to top Mike's place. I'm hoping for a good hunt at Trents place as well. Still have a lot of room in the freezer to fill. Roy says it shouldn't be a problem, and it's starting to sound like he could be right for once. LOL sorry Roy my fingers got carried away.LOL
I look forward to meeting you guys around the campfire.

Kent, I would think posting it on something like Photobucket would work. Let me check into it, and I will get back to you. That is one of the greatest moments caught on film ever.

THB, congrats on your hunt at Mike's! It looked and sounded like that was an awesome hunt. I can assure you a heck of a hunt in December too. I think you will get to see a lot of good deer, I know you will see some beautiful country, and I have all confidence your freezer will be full! Plus, you know camp will be a good time.

I am working up my story of the hunt. I will post that as soon as I can. I will also get some photos up soon.

Swaggerfan
7mag told me you seen a big axis buck while you and your dad was hunting. Can you tell us a little about in your story? And any of the rest of the hunters that might have seen other critter besides Deer jump in here and tell us about them

Pam and I sat at the stand saturday morning and evening that a lot of the exotics came to. We had some younger fallow bucks and a axis buck in saturday morning. We watched a fight between 2 good size whitetails saturday morning just at day break and later on we watched to fallow bucks fight in the feeder pen. We also got to see his red stag and black bucks. The highlight for me was saturday evening when we watched 6 big whitetails come to the feeder each bigger than the next. Then a small fallow buck came in and bedded down in the feeder pen. I saw something comming across the pasture from about 1000 yards away and could not really tell what it was but as it got closer I could see it was one of the biggest axis bucks I have ever seen. He was very tall and just a massive buck. When he got within 30 yards of the feeder pen the whitetail were gone in a hurry. He stayed around for a while but never got in the pen. The cost of the hunt was worth the price of admission just to see the quality of animals we got to watch. Ken

I forgot to mention the 2 herds of javilena we saw and the lone boar javilena that came into the feeder pen area. He was a very large male. We also saw a turkey with a nice beard, and a fox I couldnt get a shot on.

I rest my case . 350ranch.......what do you think about them Axis???

I am sitting at that stand next time........i need to get more filming in, plus I am still thinking hard about doing that cull hunt when we get there......

Thanks there Ken sounds like I need to pack the video camera.

350,
When I figure this putting video on the internet thing...I will show some of the footage that I took......I would definitely bring the video and the camera........

We are still kicking ourselves for forgetting Pam's video camera

From what I have seen on the post and the pictures from yalls first hunt I dont know if I can stand to see video footage. That might make me go off the deep end waiting around here for a few more weeks. So go ahead and put it on there I will try to control myself

Not long now, I'm already off the deep end

Pretty sad, kind of, when I have to buy a GPS to get around this place. I convinced momma, it's a "must have" If I am going to guide out there and not get lost

350, It was SaginawHunter's story above you heard about. I sure wish I would have seen that axis. We did see some red stag though. There were two cows and a young bull. They did not come into the feeder, but we saw them after heading back to the lodge.