Frank's outdoors...

So, I went out to the blind this morning with my new TC Pro Hunter hoping to see the big wide buck I have on camera.  I saw the little 1" stub spike, but that was it.  So, before I packed it in, I retrieved the SD card from my camera.  I got home to review the videos, and noticed the big boy is now injured?!?!  At some point during the last 2 days he appears to have broken his leg, or gotten badly injured somehow.    Another video of the big buck injured... definitely looks like a broken leg, whether a run-in with a hog, another hunter, or another deer.  No idea.

Been a while since I have posted.  I have been actively hunting this season trying to get that big buck, and still haven't got him.  I have started watching and prepping (albeit late) my other spot I have scouted on my lease.  It currently has a small hanging feeder on it, and a tree I was using for my climber stand.  I have only sat in it once.  I bought a REAL nice Shadow Hunter blind at Academy in Conroe, and my good buddy Mark help me get it setup (the picture isn't great, but the blind is!). This is it in my garage, nice and new.  I bought a pack of "Elevators" and mounted 3' legs to it and put it in the field.  During the summer, I'll probably lift it to like 8' or so to get better view into the woods. So, I begin muzzleloader season with my new gun I got for Christmas!  I got a Thompson Center Encore Pro Hunter and a Nikon ProStaff scope.  Ready to rock'n'roll! Here is the action I have been seeing after moving my game cam...

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: