Posted By: txtrophy85
He closes one door and opens another-Long Read Warning - 12/29/20 05:46 AM
The year 2020 has been a season of change for many of us.
Earlier on in the year, in February 2020 BC (before Covid ) we had decided that it was best to put the remaining piece of the family ranch for sale. For the last 26 years, we had called this patch of brush country our home away from home, many memories were made here. I shot my first deer, first bobcat, first coyote and first hog on the ranch, plus many other firsts I'm certain I have forgot ( had my first whiskey drink on the ranch as well!). Lots of things you take for granted but they come rushing down the barrel of the pipe when you realize those days are coming to an end sooner than later. During the summer things were put in place and the ranch was put on market and the clock had started, which I knew would not take long to find a Buyer. I was able to say my goodbyes and get in two of the best days of dove hunting I have ever had in my life, before before the place changed ownership a few weeks ago.
Fact was, I was not able to spend much time there the past several years. Life happens and responsibilities take precedent over former activities leaving precious little time, and that time was spent pursuing other interests. For the past 3 seasons I have been leasing a place 18 min from my front door, and while the convivence factor cannot be beat, it lacks in the "ranch" aspect when you know within a few minutes you can be back at the house, at the gas station or in the drive thru line at Taco Cabana. My wife and I have been very casually talking about getting a place of our own, to go to and escape and hopefully show the kids some semblance of what we grew up with ( she lived on a small place in East Texas growing up in a family of loggers ) so they can appreciate a rural aspect of life. No plans were set and we hadn't even decided on an area other than the somewhere in the Hill Country. Many of you know I'm in the Ranch Brokerage business and despite growing up in South Texas brush, I have fallen in love with the western edge of the Hill Country from Menard to the Garvin Store area up to Juno/Sonora. I had quietly looked at a few places, unbeknownst to anyone, even my wife. She must have been on the same mind track as I was, because she was looking too....
Around mid-September, she had sent me a property to look at. It was a bit smaller than I had originally wanted so I didn't even open the email. I sat in my inbox for two weeks when she called me and asked if I had looked at it. I told her no, I did not and she asked if I minded showing it to some clients of hers who had also seen it ( she is in the real estate business also ) that coming Friday. I called the listing agent and set the appointment, Thursday afternoon she calls back and says they have a contract on the property. I shrug it off and tell my wife, she is bummed but that's the way it goes. Saturday agent calls back and says the deal has hit a snag and if I wanted to show it Monday I could.
We load up the truck and go meet her clients, and head over to the property. Pulling thru the gate, my mood immediately goes sour....this little place is fantastic. I say very little as we show the client couple around the ranch. Thinking they are going to engage in buying this place I am kicking myself for not looking at the email the day she sent it over. After the couple leaves we spend another hour or two on the place driving around it. We head out the gate and my wife gets a call from the couple....they loved the ranch but its too remote for them ( they wanted a full time residence semi-commutable to San Antonio ) we hang up and call the agent back and end up submitting an offer for ourselves. Quick negotiations and we are in contract and the countdown to close begins.
In the interim, the previous owner let me go and fill feeders, etc. so it would be ready when we took ownership. We fast tracked a few things and close a few weeks early, which ended up being the Friday before deer season. Opening day of season, we skip the morning hunt at the lease and make a hasty trip out there and prepare to get everything in order and maybe even get a hunt or two in. After unloading all our personal effects and making an effort to get things in order, we go off to our respective blinds for an evening sit. There is one spot in particular that is head and shoulders prettier than the rest of the place and this is where my middle son wanted to sit. We settle in and are surprised at the number of deer we have at the feeder ( Something has been eating the feed but other than that, we have no idea of the deer population other than to go off the word of the previous owner). The sun starts to dip lower when the boy starts to come unglued and says "there is a big buck coming into the feeder". I pull up the glass and see a really respectable hill country deer come into view. At this point we have owned the place right at 24 hours, but its also hard to tell a 13 year old boy no, he can't shoot. I give him the go ahead, He gets the rifle up but the sun is setting behind the feeder, making a shot impossible without blinding him. We must sit and wait for the sun to dip behind the hill, and after about 10 min it does. The buck is still at the feeder and he settles the crosshairs and lets it rip. At the shot, the buck jerks up, runs towards us and stands in the open. He racks another bullet in the gun, but the bucks angle makes a follow up shot impractical. The buck starts to lean and goes down not 40 yards from the impact.
We get out of the blind and walk down over to the buck. The bullet from his 7mm-08 went in right behind his shoulder. Glory be to God for letting us see this awesome scene, as I've never watched a deer die like that, they either run and die out of sight or they drop at the spot. It was pretty awesome to have a full view of the buck in his final moments.
So the bar has been set for the rest of us, this buck will be the one to beat. Taxidermist aged him at 5 years old and he scored 140 2/8ths"
As of this writing, my Wife has also killed her first pig and her friend took her first deer, an old nanny Doe. Best part about the place, is no internet and cell phone service is severley lacking!
The Old Place
![[Linked Image]](https://texashuntingforum.com/forum/pics/userpics/2020/12/full-1562-272023-evening_hillsides.jpg)
![[Linked Image]](https://texashuntingforum.com/forum/pics/userpics/2020/12/full-1562-272024-well_road.jpg)
The New
![[Linked Image]](https://texashuntingforum.com/forum/pics/userpics/2020/12/full-1562-272029-img_3979.jpg)
![[Linked Image]](https://texashuntingforum.com/forum/pics/userpics/2020/12/full-1562-272025-img_3983.jpg)
The Buck to beat
![[Linked Image]](https://texashuntingforum.com/forum/pics/userpics/2020/12/full-1562-272026-img_4314.jpg)
Earlier on in the year, in February 2020 BC (before Covid ) we had decided that it was best to put the remaining piece of the family ranch for sale. For the last 26 years, we had called this patch of brush country our home away from home, many memories were made here. I shot my first deer, first bobcat, first coyote and first hog on the ranch, plus many other firsts I'm certain I have forgot ( had my first whiskey drink on the ranch as well!). Lots of things you take for granted but they come rushing down the barrel of the pipe when you realize those days are coming to an end sooner than later. During the summer things were put in place and the ranch was put on market and the clock had started, which I knew would not take long to find a Buyer. I was able to say my goodbyes and get in two of the best days of dove hunting I have ever had in my life, before before the place changed ownership a few weeks ago.
Fact was, I was not able to spend much time there the past several years. Life happens and responsibilities take precedent over former activities leaving precious little time, and that time was spent pursuing other interests. For the past 3 seasons I have been leasing a place 18 min from my front door, and while the convivence factor cannot be beat, it lacks in the "ranch" aspect when you know within a few minutes you can be back at the house, at the gas station or in the drive thru line at Taco Cabana. My wife and I have been very casually talking about getting a place of our own, to go to and escape and hopefully show the kids some semblance of what we grew up with ( she lived on a small place in East Texas growing up in a family of loggers ) so they can appreciate a rural aspect of life. No plans were set and we hadn't even decided on an area other than the somewhere in the Hill Country. Many of you know I'm in the Ranch Brokerage business and despite growing up in South Texas brush, I have fallen in love with the western edge of the Hill Country from Menard to the Garvin Store area up to Juno/Sonora. I had quietly looked at a few places, unbeknownst to anyone, even my wife. She must have been on the same mind track as I was, because she was looking too....
Around mid-September, she had sent me a property to look at. It was a bit smaller than I had originally wanted so I didn't even open the email. I sat in my inbox for two weeks when she called me and asked if I had looked at it. I told her no, I did not and she asked if I minded showing it to some clients of hers who had also seen it ( she is in the real estate business also ) that coming Friday. I called the listing agent and set the appointment, Thursday afternoon she calls back and says they have a contract on the property. I shrug it off and tell my wife, she is bummed but that's the way it goes. Saturday agent calls back and says the deal has hit a snag and if I wanted to show it Monday I could.
We load up the truck and go meet her clients, and head over to the property. Pulling thru the gate, my mood immediately goes sour....this little place is fantastic. I say very little as we show the client couple around the ranch. Thinking they are going to engage in buying this place I am kicking myself for not looking at the email the day she sent it over. After the couple leaves we spend another hour or two on the place driving around it. We head out the gate and my wife gets a call from the couple....they loved the ranch but its too remote for them ( they wanted a full time residence semi-commutable to San Antonio ) we hang up and call the agent back and end up submitting an offer for ourselves. Quick negotiations and we are in contract and the countdown to close begins.
In the interim, the previous owner let me go and fill feeders, etc. so it would be ready when we took ownership. We fast tracked a few things and close a few weeks early, which ended up being the Friday before deer season. Opening day of season, we skip the morning hunt at the lease and make a hasty trip out there and prepare to get everything in order and maybe even get a hunt or two in. After unloading all our personal effects and making an effort to get things in order, we go off to our respective blinds for an evening sit. There is one spot in particular that is head and shoulders prettier than the rest of the place and this is where my middle son wanted to sit. We settle in and are surprised at the number of deer we have at the feeder ( Something has been eating the feed but other than that, we have no idea of the deer population other than to go off the word of the previous owner). The sun starts to dip lower when the boy starts to come unglued and says "there is a big buck coming into the feeder". I pull up the glass and see a really respectable hill country deer come into view. At this point we have owned the place right at 24 hours, but its also hard to tell a 13 year old boy no, he can't shoot. I give him the go ahead, He gets the rifle up but the sun is setting behind the feeder, making a shot impossible without blinding him. We must sit and wait for the sun to dip behind the hill, and after about 10 min it does. The buck is still at the feeder and he settles the crosshairs and lets it rip. At the shot, the buck jerks up, runs towards us and stands in the open. He racks another bullet in the gun, but the bucks angle makes a follow up shot impractical. The buck starts to lean and goes down not 40 yards from the impact.
We get out of the blind and walk down over to the buck. The bullet from his 7mm-08 went in right behind his shoulder. Glory be to God for letting us see this awesome scene, as I've never watched a deer die like that, they either run and die out of sight or they drop at the spot. It was pretty awesome to have a full view of the buck in his final moments.
So the bar has been set for the rest of us, this buck will be the one to beat. Taxidermist aged him at 5 years old and he scored 140 2/8ths"
As of this writing, my Wife has also killed her first pig and her friend took her first deer, an old nanny Doe. Best part about the place, is no internet and cell phone service is severley lacking!
The Old Place
The New
The Buck to beat
Great buck for your son and congrats on an awesome place! Love the off the grid comment too!
![[Linked Image]](https://texashuntingforum.com/forum/pics/userpics/2020/12/full-1562-272103-8eb04d3a_047c_472a_88b0_31b44ec6a1a9.jpeg)
![[Linked Image]](https://texashuntingforum.com/forum/pics/userpics/2020/12/full-1562-272104-73b62c3d_3e8b_4135_8a7d_42caf8b0410f.jpeg)
![[Linked Image]](https://texashuntingforum.com/forum/pics/userpics/2020/12/full-1562-272105-3fcaddd3_3ffa_45bf_9a15_abe42aa587d0.jpeg)