Tomme, could ya put me down for a "large" shirt? Thanks

Sure Tracy. Just send me the $15. :D

The money'll be there, but I'm sure the concrete piggy'll pay for it. :twisted:

Hunt # is at 51.

I don't know what is in the mail and I'm going by postmarks. So if you haven't mailed it yet I can no longer guarantee you a spot. Doesn't mean that you might not still get in, but I believe we will fill up next week. To be fair to those whose money is in the mail I will honor postmark or time of Paypal post, whichever is the earliest.

Gonna be a good BIG hunt.

Thanks for supporting LSBA

Tomme

Hey Roger fill me in on the concrete pig and balloon deal. Is there a chance for me to supplement the old income on this trip?

heeeeeeerre, piggy, piggy, piggy...

The concrete pig is a contest between the stick and string group that whoever gets the biggest hog on the hunt wins the pig. Unfortunately, we've ALL failed to close the deal with a trad bow (for those competing) for 4 years running. :evil: :evil: I did nail a rabbit though. :P

Anyway, the concrete pig has yet to find a home. One that will accommodate an approximate 30 pound trophy. :twisted:

Am I close Chunky? Tomme? etc, etc, etc...


...and so forth.

Tracy pretty well covered the concrete pig deal. It has, I think, a $5 entry fee prior to taking a hog and if you win, you get the much coveted concrete pig to take home. I don't think it pays any money back. The money goes into the LSBA funds. I really think those trad guys are missing on purpose 'cause no one wants to have to drag that concrete pig into the house proudly exclaiming; "Honey, look what I one!" I can see it now: getting half drawn and the thought of lugging that thing home enters their mind, next a loud "shoo pig" is heard all across the ranch eminating from their location. "Too bad, no shot, maybe next year." :lol: All of us who use training wheels on our bows, are not eligible for this fine contest.

Balloon shoot- anyone can enter. I think we paid $5 each last year. It's a money pot, so here's your chance to supplement the income. Brad places a half inflated balloon (about 4" diameter) on a target out in a dried up pond bed behind one of the bunkhouses. Everyone then lines up and takes a shot at it. If it isn't hit, we move up a bit and try again. Did I mention that the first shot usually occurs at over 100 yards away? No problem. Last year all us highly skilled, overpracticed, Robin Hood wannabes really lit it up. I think the balloon was finally hit at a whopping 42 yards by Brad. Such a magnificent display of archery marksmanship is rarely witnessed by mere mortals. :lol: Plan to shoot. It's a blast. Oh, and bring more than ONE arrow to the shoot. Walking back and forth every round to pull ( read as: look around in the dirt and grass) arrows is tiresome and takes forever. I say we shoot at least two ends before hiking to search for....uh I mean pull.....arrows. Really, you shouldn't lose arrows. It's open dirt with a bit of grass tufts scattered about, so finding arrows isn't a problem.

:cry: :cry: :cry: walking is part of the deal but I know we all are in such fantastic shape that walking should not be a problem! :wink:

I almost got skin cancer standing out in the sun last year waiting for someone to finally break the balloon.

Now do I go for the concret pig again, or do I give up and actually shoot something.

FYI - Tracy and Roger, your checks made it in today, so you're good to go.

How is the success rate on these hunts? I've never dropped anything bigger than a rabbit with my bow and was hoping that this would be the trip. I would love a hog or turkey!

lbbf this is a hunt with a good opportunity to see game and perhaps score. The chance of success depends on a lot of factors such as how hard you hunt and willingness to learn. Please feel free to ask me, Brad Adams, Ronny Strickland, Samsdad and Buff all the questions you want. I don't mean that we are "experts", but all of us have taken a lot of game.

This is real hunt as opposed to a "canned" one. By that, I know of some game ranches that have 200 acres and maybe 500 hogs on the place. You will always have shots, but to me that is not a real hunt. This ranch covers 13,000 acres, it's low fence and even with feeders and a feed route, some of the hogs are smart. Still if you hunt long and hard you should see game and have some shots.

I'm going to try to put together a handout of tips, but here's a few off the top of my head.

1. Scent control - the hog's nose is their best defense. Wear rubber boots if you've got them, make sure you set up well downwind of the feeder, or feed route. Don't touch the corn with your hands if you feed the area.

2. Scatter corn lightly in your shooting area. A big pile will spook them.

3. Don't use a hog light on your bow. These hogs are educated.

4. Don't get on the stand too early and do stay until the hogs come. On our first G & G hunt I saw people climbing on their stand at 3:30. It was a hot day and that was way too early. You also are spreading your scent over a wider area. It may also make you quit too soon.

5. The hogs will hit every feeder and the whole corn route, but they tend to not come out till dark. I have seen people packing up and heading back to camp 30 minutes before sunset. TOO EARLY! It might be good to eat a snack just before you go out or bring something to nibble on while on the stand. I have stayed as late a 9:30 to get a shot at a feeder, but they did come out. Now that's a lot of time on the stand (I got on my tripod at 5:30) but it depends on how bad you want a shot.

6. Aim a lot lower on a hog than a deer. I recommend trying to hit it no more than 1 inch from the bottom as the heart is incredibly low. If you hit the mid-point on a hog you might get the spine, but chances are you will go over it (it's real low too( and will never find the animal.

7. Finally for turkey, ask someone else, like one the group with Ronny Strickland as those guys are a lot better at it than me. I would recommend hunting out of a pop up for turkeys as their eyesight is incredible.

All this boils down to hunt hard, learn a lot, and you may bring home the bacon. You should have a good time even if you don't and at the least you should come away with good memories and info that will make you a better hunter.

Thanks for the info. Sounds like a great time. Even if I never get a shot at anything but the balloon I'll still have a blast. I haven't hunted much since I was a kid and really miss it. I'm looking forward to meeting everyone and getting back out in a stand.

We WILL have a good time. Just beware of anyone from Cumby, TX. :wink:

Ok now I' really confused. The 31 is a Sat. Are we still going on Fri the 30th? Since the first is on Sun. does that mean we will be able to hunt turkeys until noon on Sun. only?

Texas spring turkey season will open on March 31, Saturday for this hunt. :D

Tomme had the gov. open it a day early to make this hunt special. :shock:

http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/huntwild...nimal_listing/

Frontloader has it right. I just call up the guys in Austin and they change all the seasons the way I want them :wink: (NOT).

We will hunt hogs only on Friday evening the 30th and then will hunt turkey and hogs all day on Saturday and Sunday morning. That gives us two morning hunts for turkey, which is generally best for those who are good at calling.
Thses spring hunts have traditionally been scheduled noon Friday till Noon Sunday. We went with this first weekend this year because it's both a full moon weekend, which is best for hogs, and also because it was the first weekend of turkey season and we were hoping to get at them before they'd been hunted. We do trade off one evening hunt for turkey to do this. Hope this makes it clear.

Hey Tom have directions already been posted to the place?

Tomme, y'all hunt turkey birds all ya want. I'm out for the HAWGS!!!!

:P

The real turkey hunters will roost the birds Friday evening. Then Sat. morning they will set up about 100 yards away and call them right in. :D

The newbys will just wonder around lost :? spooking/busting birds and pigs for those who did their homework and were ready to be successful.

Oh well, that is hunting. :roll:

Greg I'll post these again at mid month, but they're real simple.

1. Go to Sabinal. In your case you'd probably go down I-35 to San Antonio and then go west on Hwy 90.

2. at the only light in Sabinal take a left (South).

3. Go about 4.5 miles and you will cross a creek (first dip in the road.

4. About 100 yards past that you should see a gate with an LSBA banner on it. If go through the gate to the big barn (which is right inside the gate) and we will have a check in station there.

Look forward to seeing you there. We'll have to show these guys how the Mary Hardin-Baylor crew can hunt!

R we there yet? R we there yet? R we there yet? R we there yet?...