. I have been wanting to go hunting. Don't know about the rest of you, but after always going to Versus to see if any endurance sports were on, I would end up being disappointed to find hunting. However, I always seemed to stay glued to the tv when all there was, was hunting was on for hours and hours. Conditions always looked cold and the terrain was rugged, or same cold conditions, but guys were in a blind just waiting to make a shot. I loved the whispering voice of the hunters and thought it would be pretty cool to hold up a buck one day. Well, this past weekend that was ME!! Dallas (my father-in-law) gave me a call last week to see if I was able to go hunting with him in East Texas, and I was thrilled. Packed up my truck and drove 3.5 hours to Buffalo, TX. Sunday afternoon we sighted-in the guns and then made our way to the blind we would be hunting from. We were unlucky on the first day as the only excitement was 15-20 cows hanging out right in front of the blind eating all the acorns. Not a single view of a buck or doe the entire 3 hours! The fun part was just hanging out with my Father-in-law, drinking beer, and eating junk food.
Next morning we were up at 5 and on the road by 5:30 to be in the blind at 0600. It was freezing! 28F degrees and you're sitting in a wooden box with nature. I think this is what I enjoyed so much about this trip. It is you and nature. I was in a wooden box (blind), in warm clothing, enjoying the brutal conditions with a gun in my lap to see if I had a good shot in me. If I did I won. If I didn't the deer won.
Once the sun stared peaking out the real excitement began. I was stationed on small blind tucked into the forest with a 180 degrees of sight and I was just waiting for a buck to jump out of the bush. Every crack in the forest had my heart racing as I was realising that I could actually pull the trigger and take out a deer. Now this is a very powerful feeling of ultimate control! I now learn that this is called deer fever. It wasn't until about 0800 that a doe just casual walked and stood about 15 feet away from my blind. I picked up my gun and she was in my scope. I then thought, if I'm going to take something home to Austin, I don't want a doe! I want a at least a 8 point buck. Plus I really wasn't too interested in a gutting a doe in freezing conditions.
Six more doe and 30 minutes later I heard him rustling in the bush and then he exploded out tree cover and just sat there, well in my range were I was 100% confident i could nail him. On closer inspection, I noticed the spread of his rack was not greater than 13 inches, however, his rack was broken on the right side. I was not sure if I was allowed to shoot him. Made a movement to the phone to txt Dallas about shooting when he bolted and was gone.
At 0930 I was out of the blinds and heading back to Austin. I loved every minute of this trip even though I shot nothing except a target to sight my gun. If you haven't been hunting, I highly suggest you do.
Cheers,
JC
