Hunting out in way West Texas



Cabin in Dryden





Joe with a javalina that he shot.

 Two years ago I was invited to go bow hunting for mule deer in Dryden Texas. Dryden is one of 2 towns in Terrell County which borders the Rio Grande, sitting about halfway between Del Rio and Alpine Texas, it is a hard 10 hours drive from Dallas, and even further if you go down the road where the bridge has been washed out and you have to double back 60 miles.

When we got to Dryden it was close to 1 am, and the only person we saw was a Border Patrol sitting on the dirt road which we had to take and was a hour drive down this dirt road. When we got to the cabin and unloaded and settled down after the drive it was pushing 4 am.


Joe and Greg over looking the Rio Grande 10 minutes from camp.



When I got up the next day we were surrounded by mountains which Greg told me were in Mexico. After he showed us the feeders, we got to choose where we wanted to hunt. We had brought our pop up blinds with us as there are not any trees to hunt of in that part of the world. Everything has a spike on it and will prick you when you walk by it.

This was a very secluded part of Texas, we left Dallas Thursday and stayed until Monday morning, we saw a border patrol driving one day and a guy with 2 boys that were dove hunting. This is not a place where you go to town and have lunch or if you forgot the milk you run to the store, when you leave you will be go a minimum of 6 hours, so luckily we did not forget anything, but after 3 days we were running short on water and Diet Dr. Peppers so I was kinda glad to pack up.



Wayne and Joe over looking the Rio Grande.



I seen, shot and could not find a javalina the first day, deer season did not open til the next day but we could hunt the javilina's. I seen a spike and a doe the next evening but they never came in close enough for a shot. I did not see anything after that till the Monday am hunt when I hunted the feeder about a 1/4 of a mile behind the cabin. That morning I had a group of 9 mulies (3 spikes and 6 does) come out of a canyon (around 8 am) to the north and they were moving south, they were about 40 yds on the other side of the feeder. One of the spikes was coming to the feeder but a doe started stamping her feet and blowing before he got into bow range and spooked him off. I sat there for another hour till around 8:50 and did not see anything else so i started packing my stuff up. I was on the back side of my pop up loading my chair on the back pack when I stood up to stretch and look to the south past the feeder and saw a wide set of antlers walking south through the cactus, this rack was every bit of 24" wide, he was a trophy in any one's eyes.

Greg posing with his bow



Joe and Greg chunking rocks in the Rio Grande





This was a awesome place to hunt and felt very blessed to have been invited.



Greg and the Rio Grande



Wayne and Joe

Joe and the Rio Grande

Morgan The Hunter

I have been taken my son hunting with ever since he has was 4 yrs old, I took him when he was 2 but he liked to pick stuff up off the ground to eat ,so... I had to wait a few years before he could go back to the lease.

Now we would go and sit in the blind and play tic tac toe for hours, he would bring a game and play or he would fall asleep, but what ever the case he was there. He was not the quietest hunter and when a father takes his son he should expect this, so as the years went by I just expected the noise because I was making more noise shushing him and I was not creating a fond memory.

He shot his first buck when he was 9 and has been shooting every year since. I was just as happy letting him shoot as I was shooting a deer myself.

Now I have got him climbing tree's with a tree climber and using a crossbow.

My Hunting Son

This year I outfitted my son with a full set of archery gear, he got a Parker crossbow among other things , I had given him a bow (diamond razor edge) 2 years ago but he has not practiced and not able to hunt with it. So in order to get to hunt during bow season i had to do something drastic.

Hunting on the cheap.

When we go hunting, I try to save as much money where ever possible, whether it is gear, groceries, gas or places to hunt. The easiest is using coupons for the food I buy. I started clipping coupons a year ago and have learned several things. It is best to use the coupons when the food is on sale, that way maximized savings is realized.

 Well here lies another problem : the food we want is not on sale at the time we need it. So what needs to be done is to start stockpiling the food, an by that I mean, through out the year when the stuff goes on sale I buy as much as I can with the coupons that I have, so come hunting season I have most of the food except for the milk, eggs and bread products that can not by stock piled. The meats go on sale during the summer for the BBQ cooking season, so I buy the meat and freeze it, as does other BBQ foods that I can store in the pantry for later use.

Since I started couponing I have come to realize that there is a bunch of money to be saved and I have become a better shopper, always looking for the best deals, which is easy when I have access to 5 different grocery stores within 3 miles of my house.

Hunting at the LBJ Grasslands

First time me and Morgan went  hunting at  LBJ was 12/22/10. We met Troy and his son, Jason there. We set up our camp and scouted for a hunting location. The first time I go to a new place it takes time to scout and try and figure the deer movement and the human movements. This was mainly a scouting trip. It was really cold that night, Troy and Jason slept in the back of their truck, Troy froze, me I got a good sleeping bag and did just fine, Morgan froze also. It takes freezing a couple of time to figure out what you need to have when camping in the cold, they will  be better prepared next time out.