Kind of had to chuckle, reading these. Worst opening ever for me, way too much company. Drones, helicopters, tracking dogs, way crowded. Hard to hunt. Deer were run off. Not much sleep last night.
Kind of had to chuckle, reading these. Worst opening ever for me, way too much company. Drones, helicopters, tracking dogs, way crowded. Hard to hunt. Deer were run off. Not much sleep last night.
I finally found my feeder, drug off in the woods and destroyed. Timing unit ripped apart and a broken barrel. No hogs around the feeder or people on camera so I have no idea what happened.
Twenty years ago I hunted public land in San Augustine County that was bordered on one side by Lake Sam Rayburn. I selected a spot in a tree line to hang my tree climber and shimmied up my tree for what I hoped was a good hunt. The weather was cool and there was fog so my hope was that the deer would be moving around when the sun burned the fog off. Long before sun-up though, I began to hear voices. I had been burned before when hunting on public land but I was hoping this was two guys walking away from me and would not screw up my hunt. I kept hearing the voices and it became clear that they weren't moving. I knew I was toast. I thought maybe they were fishing and would leave by boat. Nope. They had been camping and had apparently had a late night and were late getting up for opening morning. They finally dispersed but the damage was done. Didn't see squat. I came back later that afternoon with some buddies because they weren't supposed to be camping there in the first place. However, they had broken camp and were long gone.
"The world is littered with the bodies of people that tried to stick it to ole J.R."
My father and I have been in similar situations 3 times now on opening day.
First place was 100 acres that were leased to us exclusively. Our feeders didn't spin opening morning - it turns out the battery was disconnected. Kept on happening throughout the season and when we finally put in a game camera... the game cam went missing. The property was less than an hour from Houston. Very convenient, but was located next to a large mansion. Apparently, the owner was a lawyer who tried to sell the property to the wealthy neighbors. He leased it out to hunters to annoy the neighbors enough to try to get them to buy it at an inflated price. We only found this out after meeting someone else (small world) who had also leased the land a few years later with the same issues.
Second place... on a lease near Matagorda bay... we showed up opening morning to the blind and noticed the feeder was missing. We had approval from the lease manager for the feeder location, but one of the other lease members wasn't too happy about it. They disassembled the feeder and brought it to camp without us noticing and without telling us or the lease manager. We moved locations (with approval) and then another member wasn't happy... and that person knocked down our tripod.
Third place was on a lease in South Texas. Show up to find out the feeder timer was smashed - looks like someone took a baseball bat to it. Feeder timer was 20 yards away from the feeder. Once again... had approval from the lease manager for the location... and again someone else wasn't happy about it.
We opted for smaller leases after that where it was just us or us with a few other people. Never had any drama on the smaller leases. Finally got our own piece of property last year which has been a dream come true.
My father and I have been in similar situations 3 times now on opening day.
First place was 100 acres that were leased to us exclusively. Our feeders didn't spin opening morning - it turns out the battery was disconnected. Kept on happening throughout the season and when we finally put in a game camera... the game cam went missing. The property was less than an hour from Houston. Very convenient, but was located next to a large mansion. Apparently, the owner was a lawyer who tried to sell the property to the wealthy neighbors. He leased it out to hunters to annoy the neighbors enough to try to get them to buy it at an inflated price. We only found this out after meeting someone else (small world) who had also leased the land a few years later with the same issues.
Second place... on a lease near Matagorda bay... we showed up opening morning to the blind and noticed the feeder was missing. We had approval from the lease manager for the feeder location, but one of the other lease members wasn't too happy about it. They disassembled the feeder and brought it to camp without us noticing and without telling us or the lease manager. We moved locations (with approval) and then another member wasn't happy... and that person knocked down our tripod.
Third place was on a lease in South Texas. Show up to find out the feeder timer was smashed - looks like someone took a baseball bat to it. Feeder timer was 20 yards away from the feeder. Once again... had approval from the lease manager for the location... and again someone else wasn't happy about it.
We opted for smaller leases after that where it was just us or us with a few other people. Never had any drama on the smaller leases. Finally got our own piece of property last year which has been a dream come true.
I would’ve opted to be in 3 separate fights over that mess if I knew who did it. Your not about to destroy my personal property and have no repercussions. I don’t care if it’s right or wrong, I work hard for what I have, nobody is going to destroy it.
3 YEARS AGO, I SHOWED UP TO NO BOX BLIND OR FEEDER! SUCKED AND MY SON AND I HAD TO SIT ON THE GROUND UNTIL WE COULD GET THE GW INVOLVED.
What’s the rest of the story?
I found my stuff set up in a field 10-12 miles away during the last weekend of season. GW and sheriff were all involved and I eventually got everything back. The LO's help had "given it away because he didn't know who's it was"..... It was all around shady and last I heard them boys ended up with tickets as long as their leg for other illegal crap!
I finally found my feeder, drug off in the woods and destroyed. Timing unit ripped apart and a broken barrel. No hogs around the feeder or people on camera so I have no idea what happened.
Well, there's last year. Walked all the way from camp to be quite. Lights out the whole way, there was just enough moon light... and puckered up big time when I went by a sounder of hogs. Got to the stand two hours before shooting light. Noticed a smoky smell... no biggie, we just has a lot of rain and thought somebody had a burn pile going. Get in, shut the door, then grab the chair and my hand stuck to it.
Turn on my headlamp and the entire inside of the 8X8 fiberglass blind is burned to a crisp. Windows were all melted, covers charred. It had gotten hit by lightning a few days before... thank God nobody was in it.
This wasn't opening weekend but is my worst hunt. Mid January so doe only season & I got permission from a friend to hunt his high game fence ranch & shoot some does. Rule is don't shoot a buck & don't shoot a doe with a tag in ear. Sitting on a wheat field & watch a big buck & fat doe feeding. About 30 minutes before dark realize I need to pull the trigger & confirm the doe doesn't have a tag & drop her in her tracks. Get in the mule & as I get closer I'm thinking I shot the biggest doe ever, she was HUGE. I get out to admire her & notice she has balls!!!!! What???? Look at her head & notice where antlers had dropped recently. I shot a $15,000 breeder buck as a meat doe. Check the ear & noticed where he had a tag at one time but it had torn out. Called my buddy & told him what happened & he wasn't happy but said he forgot to tell me that the breeder bucks sometimes start dropping their antlers early. Felt like I was going to throw up.
This wasn't opening weekend but is my worst hunt. Mid January so doe only season & I got permission from a friend to hunt his high game fence ranch & shoot some does. Rule is don't shoot a buck & don't shoot a doe with a tag in ear. Sitting on a wheat field & watch a big buck & fat doe feeding. About 30 minutes before dark realize I need to pull the trigger & confirm the doe doesn't have a tag & drop her in her tracks. Get in the mule & as I get closer I'm thinking I shot the biggest doe ever, she was HUGE. I get out to admire her & notice she has balls!!!!! What???? Look at her head & notice where antlers had dropped recently. I shot a $15,000 breeder buck as a meat doe. Check the ear & noticed where he had a tag at one time but it had torn out. Called my buddy & told him what happened & he wasn't happy but said he forgot to tell me that the breeder bucks sometimes start dropping their antlers early. Felt like I was going to throw up.
My worst opening morning was a couple of years ago. Got out to the lease on Thursday to make sure everything was set for opening day. Went to my primary area, checked the blind/feeder and everything was ready for Saturday morning. Threw some corn on a hill next to the feeder where we would usually catch deer crossing that wouldn't go to the feeder. Left the area so things could settle down Thursday afternoon and Friday. Wake up on Saturday morning and my son and I head to the blind. The sun starts to come up and I start hearing cows. By daylight, I had close to 50 cows in my area surrounding the feeder. Found out the next day that the guy that had the grazing rights to the property came in on Friday and moved his cows into my area.
1) I was into year 2 on a large lease in Splendora, TX called the Dry Cherry Creek Hunt Club. The rule was that two weeks before the season there was to be no visits to let the property settle, so everyone filled the feeders to the max and waited for the happy day. Friday before opening day I get a phone call from another lease member saying that someone had changed the locks on the gate and that there was a guard there to boot. Turned out that the President of the club neglected to pay the timber company that year. All Club members had two days (Friday and Saturday) to remove whatever stuff they wanted to keep. By the time I got there on Saturday someone had helped themselves to the game cams. I felt fortunate to salvage one stand and one feeder.
2) My family has owned this piece of property in WI for over 60 years. Got a new neighbor who took it upon herself to contest fence line property boundaries, always in her favor, and to hire people to patrol "her land" to protect it form the like of us, known deer hunters. This went on for 4-5 years until she hired a group of really obnoxious middle aged guys who made it their business to slam car doors, play music loud, sugary country, not the good stuff and take target practice during opening morning. They thought they were being funny by asking my brother who was set up in a stand 50 yards away if they were disturbing his hunt. Of course, they were. It appeared that they were looking for a fight. That night I got pretty wrapped up upon hearing the story, expecting they would do a repeat performance the next day. Keep in mind that the rifle season in WI is a 9 day affair. Opening weekend is a big deal. Not cool
My opening morning this year was the absolute worst in all my years of hunting. At 8:02 am I got a phone call telling my Mom had passed away in her sleep that morning. She had a long life and lived to 89.5 yrs of age.
My opening morning was the absolute worst in all my years of hunting. At 8:02 am I got a phone call telling my Mom had passed away in her sleep that morning. She had a long life and lived to 89.5 yrs of age.
Very sorry to hear STX. Prayers sent for your family sir.
11 or 12 years ago - I worked late Friday evening. Woke up extremely early to make the two hour drive to enjoy the opening morning hunt. It was warm and I was a wearing a short sleeved collared shirt and a visor. Got there just in time and scrambled up the ten foot ladder to get on my knees in preparation of entrance through the half door. Opened the door and could see something on my black plastic seat. I had recently cleaned out this blind prior to season and could only think one oy my hunting partners trashed it up a little to play a joke on me.
The blind had black plastic sides and when I aggressively swiped the crap off my seat, I immediately knew I had not been thinking right. The whole blind damn near came alive with me on my knees and my body half way in. The "crap" in the chair was actually yellow jackets and when they hit the side of the blind it awakened all of their buddies that were all over the interior of that durned blind. They started dropping like flies, stinging me on my head and also on my back as they entered into my collared shirt.
I did not use the ladder on the way down. After thrashing on the ground and maneuvering out of my shirt, I waited until I ceased hyper-ventilating, gained my composure and went back into the blind. Didn't see much in the way of deer, but I killed a ton of yellow jackets.
11 or 12 years ago - I worked late Friday evening. Woke up extremely early to make the two hour drive to enjoy the opening morning hunt. It was warm and I was a wearing a short sleeved collared shirt and a visor. Got there just in time and scrambled up the ten foot ladder to get on my knees in preparation of entrance through the half door. Opened the door and could see something on my black plastic seat. I had recently cleaned out this blind prior to season and could only think one oy my hunting partners trashed it up a little to play a joke on me.
The blind had black plastic sides and when I aggressively swiped the crap off my seat, I immediately knew I had not been thinking right. The whole blind damn near came alive with me on my knees and my body half way in. The "crap" in the chair was actually yellow jackets and when they hit the side of the blind it awakened all of their buddies that were all over the interior of that durned blind. They started dropping like flies, stinging me on my head and also on my back as they entered into my collared shirt.
I did not use the ladder on the way down. After thrashing on the ground and maneuvering out of my shirt, I waited until I ceased hyper-ventilating, gained my composure and went back into the blind. Didn't see much in the way of deer, but I killed a ton of yellow jackets.
Was on a lease and had look forward to opening day sitting in my stand anticipating daylight , like a child waiting on Santa. As daylight approaches the feeder goes off and about 10 minutes later the guy beside the lease we had decided that would be a good day to bulldoze trees down on his place. Oh did I mention did not see anything that week.