Frank's outdoors...

Had another visit from the big boy (on this lease anyway!).  I am hoping to get another shot at him before the season runs out.  It also appears that one of his kids is visiting too ( seen on my post from Nov. 15th ) , it seems they have the same genes as the brow tines are exactly the same.

As the season on does in the county where I hunt ends, I took one this Saturday.  It was a nice big doe with a pair of 2 yr olds with it.  They came out at 8am with the sun RIGHT in my eyes... it was 30 degrees.  A beautiful morning.  When I brought my gun up, the sun right in my face made it look like I was in a fog!  Brutal.  Anyway, I shot at her, and the heat made a steam cloud that lasted for a few seconds so I had no idea which direction she went or if I even hit her!  I waited about 15 minutes before going after her.  Found her about 15 yds in the woods.  Thank God for my buddy Mark who hunts the lease as well, as we used his 4 wheeler to tote her back to camp to be cleaned/quartered. Sorry for the quality of the photos, all done with my iPhone... This photo was me just messing around with my iPhone from the blind a few days before.

We had another great hunt with Butch Waggoner (actually his son Ryan) of Butch's Guide Service.  It was damn cold, and it was steady raining all morning.  We took 16 geese (9 specks, 4 snows, 2 ross, and 1 blue) and 4 ducks (1 spoony, 1 mallard, and 2 green teal). Me acting like a fool: Picture of some of the gang (me, Kevin, Mike, Dad B, and Dad F).

Hadn't been to the lease in over a week, and went to get the SD card, install a solar panel on the feeder, and put up new blind material.  Hoping to hunt tomorrow evening. Check out what turned up on the camera! After I installed my blind material, took a few photos of that and my solar panel.   Also got a picture of the green haze showing up in my food plot...  rye grass, rape, and clovers.

Saw 3 does this weekend, didn't pull the trigger.  Wish I had.  After the morning rain, I mean sit, haha, I went and got the SD card from my camera.  When I got home, saw this buck on the camera.  Not a shooter this year (Montgomery County, TX has antler restrictions 13" or better OR a spike), but in a year or two, he could be a nice buck!  Out in the middle of the day, which is what the moon phased application are saying the deer would be doing...  And the hogs are back... a big fat one:

Opening weekend has been great so far, seen several bucks.  Unfortunately, I haven't seen a shooter yet.  I did however have that photo on the camera.  I switched the camera to video mode, and caught this fella...  Sooo, I know there is a shooter out there!!!

Went to check on my camera this pas weekend in anticipation of opening day Nov 6th!  Well, it appears there MIGHT be a decent buck out there other than the young narrow spike/4pt below.  We'll see, but the camera is taking less than desirable photos, and since the activity is always in the dark, I am getting mainly infrared photos... might be time to switch to a flash camera.  I used Paint.NET to enhance the contrast around the deer and noticed it might be a 6 pt or even a small 8pt.

Spent all day at the lease today prepping it for the season. Rented a walk behind brush cutter, brought a pruner, saws, machetes, etc.  We cleared about an acre or so and it made a huge difference.  After all was cleared, I spread a 25 lb bag of " Plant Easy Deer Food Plot Seed " from Outside Pride Then we toured the rest of the property and put out another small feeder that I have running once a day... it only holds 1 bag of corn, but it is sitting in a real sweet spot with a narrow shooting lane.   More hogs on the feeder, this time a group of 4.

A good friend of mine has been on a deer lease in Willis for a couple of years, which is all of 25 minutes from my house.  Well, he called me this year and said ther were some openings.  It is close and economically friendly, so I am was definitely in!  :) I have access to about 350-400 acres and can put up 2 or 3 blinds.  THis season I don't have a 4 wheeler, so I am stuck walking to/from the blind.  As my lay of the land would not be conducsive to a LONG walk, I have a nice spot a couple hundred yards from the gate.  I put out a feeder, a tripod, and a game camera.  Attached are some pics of the layout. I went out to the lease this afternoon to get the weeks pictures.  There were only 17 pictures on the camera, and the camera quality is below average in my opinion.  Anyway, some hogs, a 5 or 6 point young buck, a couple of does, and a HUGE boar. Its gonna be a good season.  Next year, a bow perhaps???

I am very excited about the upcoming season, and having purchased the Beretta Xtrema jacket (and the liner jacket that I got last year on sale at the Orvis store) to use this year!  This jacket system is awesome!  I am kind of a gear-freak, and when I saw this jacket at the Orvis store, I knew I had to have it.  Then I patiently watched for it for almost 2 years, and it went on sale at Cabela's and I had a gift card, and voila!  Cabelas Beretta Xtrema Jacket This thing has pockets for everything, is very light, but will be a nice layering jacket.  Plus, with the liner jacket that I have already, I'll be prepared for any conditions!