P.E.T.A.

I was watching the news last night and saw that P.E.T.A., idiots are in town protesting. Have you ever noticed that everytime they stage one of these things, they send the ugliest people out, and that should be against the law, yuch.... Don't they have any good looking women in the bunch. Yesterday they had a few on the corner of Alamo and Market and they had the oddest demonstration going on. They had large styrofoam trays layed on the ground. You know, the type that fajitas, chicken, fish, ribs, and other meats are placed on, and they were about 5 or 6 feet in length. Then they had semi-naked people laying on them with cellophane wrapped around the tray and the person, and I don't know why but someone left the bottom open. Don't know that I'd eat any of that, but take me to the market and I'll sure buy some short ribs, fajitas and such and they'd be on the grill.

They also had some people standing around with signs that read "Meat is Murder", well heck ugliness should be against the law. Sure hope they don't visit my page because there is a lot of murdering going on here and there are People Eating Tasty Animals here. They want us to become vegetarians like them. No thanks I'll stick to my steaks, my prime rib, my T-Bone steaks, I'll stick to the Duck gumbo, the shrimp gumbo, the goose gumbo that Melvin the Master chef makes. No thanks I'll stick to the rib eyes, the short ribs, the brisquet, and lamb and the cabrito that Iwas raised on and my father grilled. Just writing about it gets my mouth salivating and my taste buds are awaiting that grilled flavor. They want us to become vegetarians but no thanks, I'll stick to the menudo that my mom used to make. I'll stick to rabbit that my father used to grill, I'll also stick to eating squirrel that Mark Johnson introduced to me. I'll stick to the deer meat, of which I have a lot in the freezer this year thanks to Elliott. I'll stick to eating wild hog, doves and turkey and also wild turkey. (Not the bourbon but the actual wild turkey with feathers on it.) I'll stick to the trout, speckled trout, the rainbow, the white bass, the sheepshead, the gafftop, the catfish, redfish, pompano, the red snapper, the salmon, and the sharks that I was taught how to catch.

I guess the only good thing about having PETA protestors in town is that it reminds me to check my freezer too see what kind of meat I'm running low on, and if I've had any meat for that day. Thanks guys.

Well since deer season is over and it looks like there's going to be a break before Turkey season starts I think I'll go hog hunting and try to get a couple of small hogs for the grill.

Oroldo Deleon to the rescue

If you know anything about me, then you know I like to eat. One of the subjects I excelled in while in high school was Lunch. I loved it. In my last post on here I wrote about the 3 deer we invited to dinner. We were exhausted from the climb up the hill to retrieve the very nice buck Collin shot. Then as the sun went down along with the temperature we still had to get all three tagged, back to camp and hung up and get the fire going to cook something to eat. I had eaten 3 apples and drank 2 bottles of water, but I was exhausted. We were all looking foward to getting something to eat but we still had a long ways to go. With 3 deer on the atv there was no room left so Elliott drove the 3 deer up towards camp while Collin and I took that long walk back.

Up the hill then around the hill then up the large hill, and just when you're really exhausted you have to go up another big hill. Oh did I mention all the rocks! Thats right it's like walking through one ginormous (I made up that word) gravel pit with various shapes and sizes of rocks that we walked over. Luckily I bought some comfortable, dependable rugged boots because they were taking a beating. Small rocks, flat rocks, round rocks, sharp rocks, large rocks, huge rocks, rocks on ledges, it's amazing anything grows out there. Each time you take a step you step on a rock that is loose and it's possible to twist your ankle really bad, and as you climb up the hills your footing is really unsure.

As we got back to camp our energy was gone and it was well into the night. We started the lantern to get some light then hung up the deer. Well actually we got two hung up and decided to leave the third one on the atv since we didn't have enough rope and we were exhausted. Now we had a major decision to make. Do we get the fire started to cook something or do we eat cold sandwiches. As we sat to take a break we all decided to eat cold sandwiches since it would be easier and did I mention we were exhausted? As we sat there still trying to muster some energy to walk to the cooler to start the sandwiches we noticed headlights in the distance coming our way.

It wasn't long before the vehicle pulled into camp and we noticed it was Elliotts cousin Oroldo and he turned out to be a lifesaver. He saw how exhausted we were and he said he was going to cook supper for us. He knew we were cold exhausted and what we needed was some warm food to get our energy back, so he started the fire and got out the fajitas we had and seasoned them and then cooked them. He then warmed up the tortillas and served us, and I ate 4 very tasty, tacos or maybe I ate 5. All I know is they were excellent and they hit the spot. I could feel myself getting my energy back but I could also feel my old injuries hurting really bad. With the temperature now below 32 my old injures were aching pretty bad and Elliott also was feeling it in his leg. That sleeping bag and blanket would sure feel good tonight.

Somewhere around 2 or 3 am ice started falling pretty good and it kept on going through day break. Oroldo drove into camp around 0730 and the sleet was coming down pretty good. Now it was a race to get everything packed and get out of there before it got worse. We were at the farthest point or at the end of the road and the weather was getting worse and we needed to get to the main road before the ice made the gravel road impossible to drive on. To make a long story short we made it to the main road and then back to San Antonio.

Did I have fun.....you betcha. Would I do it again....in a heart beat!!! My only regret is I have to wait till the season starts again in 10 months.

WHOA, WHOA, WHOA What are you guys doing over there!!!!!

And shortly after that we heard “don’t shoot anymore, we have enough”. It was a wild evening Monday the 28th. Elliott, Collin and I went to Rocksprings on a 3 day hunting trip looking for deer and hogs. We arrived on Sunday evening in time to go out on the evening hunt. I saw a gray fox where I was at and watched as it looked for something to eat. After twenty minutes it ran off. Elliott said he got to his spot and deer were at the location and they stayed as he got set up. I don’t think Collin saw anything as he was at the furthest point of the property. Needless to say none of us shot anything that first night.
Monday was totally different. After a good nights sleep, ( I know I slept well because I didn’t have extra keys in my pocket) we got up at 0430. It was very cold that morning and as I walked at 0500, to where I would be hunting I couldn’t help but look at all those stars in the sky. What a beautiful sight!! As I got to where I would be set up, Collin continued on to the farthest part of the property. It took us about 40 minutes to get to my spot and Collins hunting area was another 20 minute walk. As dark as it was and since there was no wind blowing, I kept thinking the chupacabra was going to sneak up on me. When the sun started to come up I could start to make shadows out and what I thought was a nice size deer about 90 yards away was a nice size cedar bush, which is not something I like in my diet. Now if I was Euell Gibbons, I guess that would be something I could try but I’m not. So I continued looking through my binoculars but didn’t see anything that morning. Somewhere around 0800 I heard Elliott shoot. He was hunting in the same spot I was hunting the night before.
When we’re out there we all carry hand held radios and believe me they are handy. Elliott got on the radio and said he shot a good size doe. GREAT!!!!!
If you’ve never been hunting before, here’s some words of wisdom. Once you shoot and knock something down, the fun is over. Now you’ve got to clean the animal and get it back to camp, and that’s where the work begins. Unless of course you’re Elliott. I have never seen anyone clean a deer as fast as him. I can’t figure out if it’s because he’s a Mexican or he has had a lot of practice. He’d be good in a knife fight, and I know he can set some type of record for skinning a deer. Somewhere around 0830 Collin and I head back to camp, it’s cold and I’ve had enough fun this morning shivering and watching cedar trees.
Collin and I got back to camp and I made breakfast while Elliott schooled Collin on skinning a deer. I think he taught him how to skin a deer the slow way because he wanted Collin to return home with his fingers attached. We had chorizo mexicano that was made from a deer we had shot a few weeks earlier and egg. After eating 4 that’s right 4 tacos I was happier than a bum on a baloney sandwich.
I decided to head out around 1pm and took that 40 minute walk back out to where I would be hunting. I took 3 apples to eat when I got hungry and 2 bottled waters. Not much to eat huh for the rest of the evening, but I know myself. If I would something heavy like sandwich or tacos, it won’t take me long to fall asleep. That’s right, I know for sure I’ll fall asleep on a nice cool day like that day. With a slight breeze every now and then and the only thing to hear is trees singing a hypnotic lullaby, It won’t take me long to be in la la land. Yup three apples will do so I thought at that moment.
It was about 4:30 and Collin had been in his stand for a while when I saw some does come out about 50 yards in front of me. I told myself, self, if you shoot a doe know it’s possible you could get another one to come in a little later before it gets dark for 2 deer that evening. KAPOW, or BOOM or BANG, however you want to imagine it, I fired and hit that doe and dropped her like a hot potato right where she stood. Great, now that’s two deer for the day for us. Now this is where it gets crazy. The other deer that were with the one I just shot wouldn’t leave. That’s right I don’t know what was wrong with them deer. They kept eating and at one point ate completely around the doe that I shot, only to look at it every now and then. I made noise I threw an apple core at them, I squeezed the half empty water bottle making a lot of racket and they wouldn’t leave. I stood up, then sat down, then stood up, then sat down. I was doing the wave while standing up and sitting down with my arms fully extended reaching for the sky, and all they did was look at me and continued eating. It reminded me of the year I went to Tennessee with my brother in law and his friend Rob and he shot 5 times at some deer, missing all five times and the deer didn’t move, except I hit my doe and it was down and these deer in front of me were now eating all around her. The deer would look at me as I did the wave and if they could talk they would probably tell each other look at this fool, he thinks he’s at a baseball game. I knew I had one buck tag left and had planned on saving it for a buck, but now I thought oh what the heck lets see if they run when I shoot the second one. I looked thru the scope on my Howa .270 and picked the next one that would be taking a trip with us to San Antonio, and that’s when I heard KAPOW, OR BOOM OR BANG, or whatever you want to imagine as another rifle shot, which came from the Collins direction, and the deer in front of me took off. Collin said I shot a nice buck on the hill in front of me and it fell behind a cedar tree but it looks like it’s still alive. Collin asked if he should go finish it off or wait. When I asked him how far it was he said about 200 yards. DANG that’s a good shot I thought as he continued to say I shot it as it was running down the hill. WHAT THE……running shot 200 yards down the hill!!!!Now that’s a heck of a shot. Collin shoots a .270 also and he uses Ballistic Tip bullets from Winchester and at that distance, which is not far for that caliber and bullet, I knew it still has that knock down power and it wouldn’t get back up. Collin said he was pretty sure he hit it behind the last rib or on the last rib but it did go down. While conversation was going back and forth between Collin and I guess who showed up in front of me again? Right at 100 yards walked out 6 deer from the trees. I told Collin not to move and more deer were in front of me and I was going to take another one which was a good size spike. Once again I picked up my rifle and sighted in on the spike and KAPOW, OR BOOM OR BANG, (I think you get the picture by now), and the spike fell, and the deer kept on eating around it. That’s right now I got 2 deer down within 40 yards of each other in plain sight and these deer are now eating and grazing around both of them. Now I want to shoot another one, but I can’t since I now have used all my deer tags. That’s when both Collin and I heard a voice over the radio as it reached a mighty crescendo yelling WHOA!!!WHOA!!!WHOA!!! WHAT ARE YOU GUYS DOING OVER THERE!!!!! Shooting deer,…..Elliott, to which Collin replied, Marc has 2 deer down and I got a very nice buck down on the hill in front of me 200 yards away, and Marc has more deer in front of him that won’t leave. Elliott said that’s enough deer, we still have to dress them out and he was right. We still had to go look for Collins buck and then get it to where my two were and then get all three of them back to camp. OUCH that’s gonna hurt. Elliott brought the ATV down and we went to look for Collins buck since mine were right in front of us and there was no tracking these two. We got to where Collin was shooting and he showed us where he shot from and where the buck went down behind the cedar tree. It was still daylight but shadows were getting long, fast. Elliott hiked up the hill at a fast pace and In some spots there was 4 to 5 foot rock walls that he pulled himself up on to continue up the hill. I pulled my range finder out and got it ready to range the distance when Elliott found the deer. Collin followed behind Elliott at a slower pace. Elliott climbed to an opening and I told him to continue up about another 20 yards. When he got to the height where Collin pointed out to me where the buck went down I told him to go to his left about 30 yards. As he turned he took 2 steps and said, there it is. Then I heard WOW that’s a very nice buck, you gotta see this. Both Elliott and Collin drug the buck down a little but it was real heavy dragging over large rocks and boulders, and thru the brush. It was very tiring and we decided to clean it while still on the hill to drop some weight. I took the knives up the hill and after dropping some of the weight we started down the hill, and it sure felt like we hadn’t dropped any weight from that buck. Once we got to the bottom of the hill we drug it through the creek bed or should I say rock bed and more brush and more boulders, and damn I’m tired, but we have to keep dragging. We finally got it to the ATV and picked it up, and now we have to go up another hill, a very steep hill and go clean my two deer.
It’s now dark and we are still on the way to clean my deer, and the temperature is starting to drop. We get to the doe and she hasn’t moved. I’m exhausted and was hoping she would have been resurrected and ran off but no luck, she has to be cleaned out. It takes me a few minutes since I take my time and value my fingers. Then I get to the spike and now I’m really exhausted. The apples I brought are gone and I have 1 bottle of water left, and it’s freezing. Elliott offers to clean it for me, but I tell him no, I shot it I’ll clean it, that’s how I roll but you can lift it on the ATV for me. Now we have three deer cleaned and we have to get them to camp which is a 40 minute walk and we have to go up several hills. At night. Elliott is driving the ATV and Collin and I are walking at a slow pace to save energy since we are tired. We can only hear the ATV traveling towards camp and can see the lights almost to the top where the camp is but it’s not moving. We hurry up the pace and get to where Elliott is only to find out the deer are falling off like a gravel truck losing it’s load on the highway. Elliott has drug one doe up most of the hill because it won’t stay on and we help him get one of the other deer on the front while one is loaded on the back. He continues up the hill and the front one falls off again. After several minutes of wrestling with the deer trying to keep them on the ATV we finally make it to the to of the hill and then to camp, and we’re all exhausted. We muster up the last of our energy and get them strung up and now it’s time to rest. It’s freezing and we’re too tired to cook anything to eat, heck I just want to sit and relax because my old injuries are hurting something fierce. But it’s been a fun day. There will be another story about Elliotts cousin coming to the rescue that night but it will have to wait.