This season has been one of the slowest I can remember, but also one of the best! We hunted a little bit here in Fannin County, but Pops provided the trip to remember. Pops has a good friend that has just acquired a lease in Zavala County Texas. To deer hunters, this is the best of the best places in Texas to hunt. Often called the golden triangle of Texas deer hunting. The infamous Las Casadores is about 25 miles form the camp. This place hosts the biggest buck contest in Texas. Brad Guartney was kind enough to invite Pops, Brock, Bryson and myself down for a weekend of hunting. He allowed a management buck and a trophy buck and unlimited doe, varmints, pigs and javelinas. Brock and Bryson had much success.

We left out on the long road trip on Wednesday Dec 14th at about 6pm. With the boys and all the gear packed in Pop's truck, we struck out for San Antonio. The boys were armed with iPads, books, music, etc, This was unexpectedly a pretty un-eventful trip. The boys are getting to the age where I don't hate to drive 8 hrs with them.  Our destination was a camp just south of a little town called Batesville. We stopped in Waco that night and stayed in a hotel. This was Pops idea and I'm kind of glad he did this. It was raining all the way to Waco, so a stop was readily accepted.

The next day we got up and enjoyed a continental breakfast, loaded up and headed south. I was behind the wheel this time and I made compete use of the speed limit. After about another 3 hours we were at the infamous Las Casadores taxidermy and outdoors store. These guys had everything a hunter could dream about. I actually found a copy of the Texasbowhunter Journal here. I grabbed one on the way out and we headed to camp. The camp was about 25 miles from the interstate. We arrived and got settled in, Brad was more than hospitable. After a couple hours of just checking out camp we geared up for the first hunt.

This place is 5000 acres split into two 2500 acre pastures. The usual hunting situation was no where to be found here in deep south Texas. There were no hard woods, no open pastures, just the thickest brush I have ever seen. Brad explained to us that the brush is called black brush. The summer drought took a toll on this place and had the vegetation confused to say the least. Brad said that before, there was no green to be found. In October they got a few good rains that made everything believe it was spring....everything was green as a gourd. The deer could literally eat while on beds. The main hunting technique was corning roads called senderos with truck bumper feeders. The deer would usually file out and feed by the herd. This weekend the deer didn't cooperate quite like usual. That was cool with us, we just like a good weekend hunting trip.


Bryson drew first blood on his first deer with a 100 yard shot from his .223 Rossi. He was super excite as was I.

 

 

 

 

 

The next morning Brock sat with me and Bryson went with Pops. The deer were not moving much so Brock wanted to try to call something in. I let him do it all and he called in a nice bobcat. He did the job with my .270. He was more excited about this kill than his first deer.

 

 

 

 

 

Saturday night Brock took his first ever javelina...those things are nasty!

 

 

 

 

Bryson was upset that Brock has killed more animals tan he so I told him to shoot a rabbit...They are everywhere. He took his 223 and made a perfect head shot on a cottontail rabbit at 120 yrds. I was extremely impressed!!

 

After a long drive home, we will all agree that the drive was worth it. Thanks Brad!

Deer Camp Rebuild

Deer camp was a strong tradition in the Braley Family when I was younger. As the brothers got older, the traditions slowly faded away. Holler hunting is something my boys will never experience, as is brush runnin, and trapping. Daddy, Uncle Johnny and Uncle Joe would take vacation during the Christmas holidays and we would play all week! I loved that time in my life, and I want my boys to have the same fond memories when they are raising their kids.

Kevin has talked to uncle Johnny and received his blessing to move the old bunk house wherever we want. There is a spot on Jeff's land where he camped as a kid under two HUGE oak trees. We are gonna get have to do some work but deer camp will resume in 2012!

Deer Season 2011

Ok, so I'm a little behind this hunting season. I have been so busy with Brock's football, we haven't had time to hunt much during bow season. I bought Jess a bow and have it all set up, but have yet to shoot much. Brylee just turned one and began walking, that lil gal is into everything. She has kept us busy as well. Well lets get to the hunts!

Opening day of bow season I went alone and saw zero.

Me and the boys went to the woods a couple times, but only saw a couple deer total.

Brock and I went during the youth season, but again....zip!

Developing a pattern here....not good!

Our trips to the woods have been limited this season. We did get out during the Thanksgiving weekend though. We sat in a bois d arc tree ground blind for about 15 minutes when I decided that these guys aren't ready for hunting on a trail from the ground. They need to be at least 20 ft off the ground in some kind of enclosed blind. Any way, we got up from there and eased over to the tickle grass patch in hopes of a doe. When we got there we settled in by a cedar tree with the wind in our face and a good shooting lane. Finally a doe stepped out but Bryson couldn't find her in the scope. Oh well at least he got a taste of the adrenaline rush. He asked "why are my legs shaking!?" and I responded " same reason mine are, that's why we do this, for the meat an the rush!" We waited a little longer and made our way back to the truck.

Till the next hunt....

Football

Brock has made me very proud this football season. He is in the 4th grade and is playing QB for the Headhunters. He has scored on a QB keeper and passed for a couple TD's. This last game vs Wolfe City he made an open filed tackle that the ref said was the hardest hit he has seen from any age this year. This really makes me excited for his football future. If this group of boys remain together, the HG Warriors will be quite a team in a few years.

Jess found this nice buck killed on the roadside by the Ivey Place on july 29th. I would have loved to fling a arrow at him!

My sweet baby girl!

HOT!!!!!

2007 Chevy V-Max I bought form Seth Mahler. Nicest truck I have ever had....Last one I hope! 

Brylee's first trip to Burger King!

More Pics...

We bought a pontoon boat and we love it. Here are the boys on Pat Mayse July 4th 2011.

Brock slipped and gashed his outer thigh on the front of the pontoon on July 3rd. We took him to Salas Minor ER, but this cut wasn's minor...had to go to the ER and get 6 stiches inside and 16 staple on the outside. He was SUPER tuff!

Here we are all tied up on our personal lake..Coffee Mill! We had 4 pontoon, 4 cruisers, and 2 seadoos that day! REDNECK YACHT CLUB!!!

Breakfast at Patmayse on the weekend of July 22nd 2011. from left Bryson, Brock, Dylan and Luke...Laiken was across the table.

more pics coming...

...more pics

Brylee loves the water

The boys had a awesome year in 7-8 year old Coach Pitch. Bryson is on top row second from left, he played catcher and did an outstanding job. He is every bit the athlete Brock is, but Bryson really dont care what other people think and if he wants to play good he will. Brock is bottom row second from right. Brock played first and third base this year and was the one of the dominate forces on the field along with Jacob(sitting to his right). Brock is a jock for sure.  

Brock had to have his eyes dialated again.

Here is where I was raised...Mom has applied and qualified for a housing grant form the state. When all is said and done this house will be torn down and a new one will be bulit. After 5 years of keeping taxes paid, the deed will be written over to mom free and clear!

more pics coming....

It has been a while since I have updated the goings on from 509 elm. Well instead of typing a 7 month recap, I'm going to post some pics with captions.



We caught and fired some bass we caught in Jeff McDowells pond. We all caught a few but this is the only pic I took.(Didnt eat this one)



Jess has shot her bow more this off season than I have. She now has a new Mathews Mission Craze bow. Im in the process of getting it set up now.



We went to a Frisco Rough Riders baseball game and Bryson got a foul ball...he has since lost it!



Miss Brylee continues to grow like a weed. She is going to be the boss of the house I'm afraid. This shirt was made waaaay before my kids were born. I think this one was Braley's.



Brock went on a field trip to The BallPark in Arlington. Here he is in the dugout!

More Pics Coming....

Squirrel Hunt 2011

I was off work on Jan 17th 2011 in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. birthday. Brock, Bryson and myself hit the woods armed with shotguns and .22 rifle in search of the fuzzy tail tree rats.




Brock with 20 guage and Bryson with .410
We were squirrel hunting 1-17-11


We parked on the hill far from our normal parking spot. This turned out to be a huge eye opener but I will get to that later in the story. We headed down the hill and approched a group of 3 big pecan trees. This sit was unsuccessful.

Leaving the first set of trees we headed north to another possible squirrel habitat. Half way there we stumbled into a spot with lots of deer sign.

Ground Scrape
Found about 50 yards from parking spot

Rub
Found about 30 yards from parking spot

Another rub
Found less then 20 yards from prking spot

These pics are about 20-30 yards form our normal parking spot during deer season. Looks like we have been parking where we should have been hunting. I will remember this little fact when setting up for next deer season.

We found a few nests and Bryson blasted in them with his .410, but nothing was in them. We continued to stalk around as quietly as possible in search of some targets.  We finally found a single grey squirrel on a short walk through Aaron's place, but the little dude avoided us totally. I hoped Bryson could get a shot with his shotgun or the .22 rifle but it wasn't meant to happen today.

Finally ending up in the north bottom, we jumped a single deer and almost at the same time a swamp rabbit ran between me and the boys. I've never seen a swamp rabbit, but that thing was large. We tried to get a shot but it vanished as quickly as it appeared.

As we headed back to the truck I decided to let the boys shoot some. Each boy took turns emptying the 10 round clip in a matter of seconds. They loved Pop's 10-22. All I did was reload the gun. Needless to say, the little oak tree they were shooting probably won't see spring blooms.

The only negative thing about this outing was the injury Bryson got. He was holding a small tree when Brock's shotgun barrel hit Bryson's finger. It instantly turned blue and by the time we got home, it was totally black. He will probably loose the nail.

Other than the smashed digit, this was a very enjoyable hunt for us Braley Boys. I hope the boys enjoy our hunts as much as I do.

Brock wrote in his journal about the hunt...here is a pic of the entry:

Brock's 3rd Grade Journal Entry 1-24-11

Until Next Hunt.....Kyle

Seymour Trip #3

Friday Jan 7th

      Pops has us loaded up again and we are headed to his lease for a youth hunt. The boys can kill anything, and hopefully 3rd trip is a charm.

      7:00pm- We are pulling into Gainesville to partake in a little Chinese cuisine.

Sat Jan 8th

      6:00am- Brock and I are settled in Gary’s blind this morning. Bryson is with Pops.

      

8:00am- Brock was sitting quietly playing PSP and 5 doe eased to the feeder 110 yards away. I told him to turn it off and stand up. He did both without question. He usually wants to tell you something but this time he knew it was show time!

      

As I was handing him the rifle, I asked "Are you nervous?"

 "No! Why would I be?" he replied.

As he looked through the scope at the deer, I told him "When she turns broadside, shoot her right behind the shoulder."

He replied "you really want be to kill it?!".

I said, "yes, that’s what we came for!"

        His voice was shaking when he said "I'm getting nervous now!"

      Well the doe never gave him a clean shot so we took the gun out of the window. The rifle was barely out the window when she stepped into the perfect spot. I handed the gun back to Brock and I could tell the hunter rush had a hold of him. I told him to pick a spot, relax like he is shooting at a bottle and squeeze the shot. He performed perfectly!!! The doe, at 100 yards, gave a lunge kick and ran about 10 yards. I grabbed his gun from him and frantically tried to load another round. I thought he might have missed or hit her too far back and needed a finish kill shot. Before I could get the gun unloaded, she stumbled and died.

      I was so excited at this point, I could barely breathe! Brock was just as happy! He was ready to run out there and get his hands on his first ever whitetail deer!

      After a 15 minute wait, we walked to the downed deer. After the high five and hugs, I went to get the truck but Brock wanted to wait there with his deer!

      We haven’t heard from Bryson and Pops all morning. After we got Brocks deer tagged and field dressed, we weighed her: 100 lbs.

Pops and Bryson showed up finally and they didn’t have any luck. Hopefully Sat evening will bring Bryson something to shoot at.

        Sat Eve-3pm…Bryson and I are in Gary’s blind for this evenings hunt. The wind has picked up quite a bit, but I hope that doesn’t hinder the deer activity.

        4pm-I guess the wind has the deer bedded down…we haven’t seen a thing. Bryson has become bored and is wanting to go back to camp to play with Pepe’s dog.

       

        5pm-Well we tried to call up some coyotes, but nothing seems to be moving today. I feel bad for Bryson, he really wants to shoot a deer.

        5:45- We spotted a big hog at James’ feeder in the bottom. Hopefully he will work his way up here before dark.

        6pm-Bryson wants to stay here now since the hog might be coming up to the feeder, but it so dark we couldn’t see him if he did.

       

        Bryson came up short on this evening hunt, but that’s hunting!

Sunday Jan 8^th

        6am- Bryson and I are once again in Gary’s blind. It’s very cold this morning, but I have 2 heaters on high. It’s nice and toasty in here, but the windows are fogged…I will take foggy windows over a freezing little boy any day.

        7am-The windows have un-fogged and we can see now. Only problem is there is nothing to see. It is supposed to snow today at home so we are going to cut this hunt off about 8 so we can get home before the snowy roads.

        8am-We are finished hunting and going to close a gate on a James’ feeder. Pops and Brock are going to meet us at the camp, and we are headed to Fannin county.

       

        8:10am- Just got a excited radio call from Pops asking that we hurry to unit #2. Not sure what is wrong but I hope it a good call. I’m kind of nervous…..

        8:15am- It was a good call….Brock and Pops spotted deer at unit #2 feeder and tried a little stalk hunt. They eased up a draw and positioned on a tree about 100 yards from the deer. Brock made another good shot on his second doe for the 2010-2011 season.

        10am- We have everything loaded and are on the road home.

This has been a very special hunt for me. I got to spend time in the outdoors teaching and learning with my boys. I’m grateful everyday for the time I have with them. The fact Brock killed his first 2 deer this weekend just made it more special. I wish Bryson would have connected on a deer, when I asked him if he was upset he didn’t get to kill a deer, he said “I wish I killed a deer, but I just like to go hunting” That statement from my 6 yr old means the world to me.

This is the end of our deer season for 2010-2011. Thanks to Brock for putting meat in our new freezer…I sure didn’t add to it!

Until next hunt,

Kyle

Pics from Seymour Trip #3

Here are the pictures from our third deer hunt for the 2010-2011season in Seymour with Pops.

Brock's 1st deer- Jan 7th 2011...killed with .308 @ 100 yards



Brock working on a patch of skin from his 1st deer.
He wanted to make a rug, but I talked him into a smaller rug!



Brock with his 2nd deer.
Two deer in two days....not to bad!

2010 Seymour Tip #2

Pops is once again taking us to his lease to do a little deer hunting.  Brock has now graduated to the .380 rifle and Bryson is still blasting the .223. Both boys have impressed me with their marksmanship. We took a couple water jugs out to the farm land and both had direct hit at 100 yards. I feel very confident that they can hit their target with our problem. I hope this weekend proves my theory.

 

Sunday December 26^th:

               I am off work Monday for the holiday so we are going on a sun-mon hunt.

 

Sun 2:30pm

               Brock and I are headed to the stand they call Gary’s. As we traveled the pasture road toward the stand, Brock brought up a character for our first hunt; Mr. Moose. He asked me if a moose would eat a deer! That boy has quite an imagination. I love it!  As we sat and talked about everything a 8 yr old can think of, I spotted movement in the brush 110yrs away. I told Brock to watch and in a bit a small 8pt emerged and made his way to the feeder. Brock was very upset that I didn’t let him take a shot at him. This was a young deer and I tried to explain to Brock in a way that made sense to him, but I pretty sure he thought I was nuts!

                To our left about ½ mile away was a field and a feeder on the neighbors lease. I told Brock to look over there and see if there are any deer in that field. He was confused again why I wouldn’t let him take a shot at one of the seven doe that was moving across the field so slowly. I had to explain that 800 yards is a very hard shot! He said “You said this gun would shoot 5 miles!” I had been telling him and Bryson that a rifle is very dangerous and could travel long distances. To Brock this meant he could shoot and kill from HG to Windom!

               After another hour or so we noticed that the young buck from earlier had bedded down and was now moving even closer. AT one time he was only 50 yards from the blind and Brock could have got him easy. Maybe later in the season, but now we are waiting on a bigger buck. James’ stand is a few hundred yards to our right and he now has a group under one of his two feeders. Hopefully one will make their way to our feeder.

               James just took a nice 10pt. We have been watching his feeder all afternoon and all that has been there is a group of doe and a young 8pt. This 10 came in fast as James took the shot as soon as he stopped for a bite of corn. Now I hope the shot will run those doe up to us.

               Its almost dark and the doe from James set up have arrived at our feeder. My conscious won’t let me let Brock shoot because it is past legal shooting time. I radio to Pops to get another opinion and he agrees. Guess we will have to wait on another chance at a deer for Brock.

 

Mon 6:00am

               Bryson and I are headed to the stand now and Brock is sitting with Pops. It is 30 degrees and has a slight north wind. Maybe the heater in the stand will keep us toasty and warm. 7am- it just breaking light, nothing in view yet…finger crossed! 7:15am-Bryson has fallen asleep in the chair….at least he is still and quiet now! 7:45am-I hope nothing has been to the feeder since 7:15 because I just woke up from a little nap. 9:00am-Been a very uneventful morning for Bryson and myself as well as for Brock and Pops. I think we are going to head back to HG as soon as we get to camp. Pops is goin to stay and ride back with James on Tuesday morning after they hunt.

 

               11:00am- We are going to go to town with James and drop off his deer at the processor and look around at the hunting shop.

               11:20am- James just spent $100 on the deposit for his deer to be processed and $400 at the taxidermy to have it mounted! Boy there is no way I could afford to hunt if I did that every time I killed a buck…wait, Yes I could because I haven’t killed a deer, buck or doe, in 3 years!!! L

               12 noon- We are pulling in to the Rock Inn Cafe for a quick lunch, then off to HG we go.

               12:45- Pops talked us into staying and hunting this eve…wasn’t real hard to convince me to though!

 

               1:15PM-Brock and I are once again at Gary’s stand and hoping for a deer to show!!!

               5:45pm- Not a single hair was spotted by anyone today!!! Wish we would have headed home at lunch. We will arrive home at about 10pm and I have to work tomorrow. Hopefully Miss Brylee will be up so I can see her before I rush to bed.

 

               The youth season and late doe season starts Jan 3^rd and lasts until Jan 16^th. Pops said we could come back during that time and maybe get the boys a shot at a deer.

 

Until next hunt…..

 

 

Kyle

 

Seymour Trip 2010

Friday Dec 3rd

Well our annual deer hunting trip with Pops is underway. He picked us up at the house, and we are on the way to Seymour Texas. Well it is actually Maybell. Pop's lease is part of the Ranger Creek Ranch. This particular lease is tucked in the Waggoner Ranch. There is very limited deer taken off Waggoner so the possibility of a big un passing by is pretty good.

It is now 7:45pm and the boys have done fairly well with the long drive, but...now they are driving us nuts! Bryson slept for bout an hour an half. While he slept, Brock didn't make a sound. When Bryson woke up, Brock became really silly! I think I'm gonna pull his head off if we don't get there QUICK!!!!

Saturday Dec 4th

Morning Hunt
I hunted from Eddie's stand. It is the blind Jeremy saw the big buck from last weekend. I got there well before light and was messing with my phone and I didnt think about the "glow" it was making. I heard something blow at me and when I looked with the binos, i saw two deer running away. The wind really got high for the rest of the morning. I took a walk down to Garys stand, but didnt see anything. The wind was gusting about 40mph and had everything pinned down in cover. I dont blame them one bit either.

Pops and the boys didnt have any luck either.

Evening Hunt
Bryson and I hunted in James' Hilton. This blind has everything including and radio and lights. It makes hunting with a kiddo very enjoyable. I dont have to worry about any noise or movement spooking anything. Add the fact that his feeder is 200+ yards away and you can literally speak at normal voice level and move around all you want. That said, we didnt see a hair!

Brock sat with Pops and they had the same luck we did.

Sunday morning hunt sent us home with no meet for the freezer!

Until next time....
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

THANKSGIVING DAY 2010

Goodness what a unique morning this turned out to be.

I was busy wednesday night getting everything sorted out and pack for the next morning hunt. I layed out all our clothes and I picked rather warm weather attire. I also packed a bag with coveralls in it just incase. There was forecast of an artic cold front to be moving through and I was not going to be caught in a cold blind with two under dressed boys.

We arrived at the gate to Aarons place at 6am. I got out of the 4runner to get my pack ready and noticed a slight temp drop. I asked the boys if they wanted to put on the coveralls and neither did.

Aaron arrived and we proceded to the blind. as we drove through the pasture it began to sprinkle a tad bit. We parked and took the short hike toward the blind. When we arrived we had to hurry a bit cause the rain was picking up. Aaron and his brother Jered then took the trucks to the parking spot.

Now, Brock, Bryson and I were in the blind trying to be quite and get settled in when Brock said...I will take those coveralls now...Bryson followed suit.

A few minutes and a lot of noise later we were all dressed up and quiet....I stared out  fogged window and the calmness struck me odd. I look over at the boys to see this...

Sleepy Time

The slept for over an hour!!

The rain finally let up but I think it was the worst timing for a cold front ever. I think the deer were still on beds when the rain set in and that made them just sleep in. I know I would have loved t be in bed.

As the morning continued we talked about everything they could think of. I remembered i brough the video camera so i took it out and they tried to make a hunting show. I will try to post some of those later.

View form the Blind

Brock was so excited to get the chance to kill a doe. Pops supplied us with a Encore pistol chambered in .223. He has a .308 barrel but we figured that was a bit large for his first shots.

Brock and His weapon... .223 Thompson Encore (It is Pop's)

Pops took Brock out to practice on tuesday and I belive he could hit his mark...

Brock's practice shots for 50 yards

Well we didnt see anything this morning, but that why it called hunting!

Lost Blind

On Sunday Nov 21, 2010 I decided to go for a sit in our ground blind and see if me and the boys could anticipate seeing anything from there on Thanksgiving morn. That is when it is legal to kill doe again. Upon my arrival I could not locate my popup. Remembering that Aaron has said his uncle didnt like my placement on my blind, I text Aaron to see if he might have some insight as to the location of my blind. A few minutes later I got a text from him saying "my uncle took it down, it was spooking the deer". This kinda got my blood boiling, this guy took my blind down from my property!?!? Before I could send a rather wordy text back to Aaron, he invited me to come sit with him on their side of the fence.

When I got to Aaron, I climbed up the tall ladder of the two man stand. This was a very nice stand I must add. Well we discussed the removal of my blind and Aaron agreed with my disgust of his uncle's action. I had time to calm down and realize that its not worth the possible loss of friendship with Aaron to confront his uncle. The damage had already been done and drama was not going to change anything.

After a good visit with Aaron, it was time to leave. His uncle walked up to us and he was a bit suprised to see me in the tree with Aaron.
When I reached the ground, he said "I took that blind down cause it was spooking all the deer."
I answered "Yes, that is why I set it up a month before Thanksgiving Doe days. Me and my boys were gonna sit in there so they might see something. All my stands are for bowhunting and I cant sit with them in those situations."

This kinda got his attention and I think he realized his error in judgement.
We roamed around for a bit talking and discussing random stuff, then I eased back across to my place and headed to retrieve my blind. It was 50 yards from where I had tied it to a tree. The limb had been cut, so I'm pretty sure he cut it and threw it in anger.

Later that day Aaron called me and said his uncle wanted me and the boys to hunt in his big box blind on Thksgiving morn since we have no where to hunt. I gladly accepted his offer.

I think God kept my tounge in check that morning and rewarded me by laying guilt in Aaron' uncles heart. I explained this situation to Brock and Bryson. I hope they learned as much as I did about how you actions speak volumes!

Until Thanksgiving Morning....Kyle

Jeff's Backyard Buck

Jeff got a nice 8pt buck on Tuesday Nov 23, 2010. He had been seening a few doe in a field south of his house. He decided to have a sit a see what was there. A few hunts later his Ruger .270 found the vitals of this nice Fannin county buck.



Jeff's 2010 Backyard Buck



Trail Camera Pic Update

Finally some deer...hopefully someone killed that big boar. Now maybe a shooter will start checking my setup and I will get a shot.

We are at the hospital again, this time for Brock. He is having tonsils and adaneoids removed today at 9:30am.

He is constantly askin "how many more minutes?" He is so nervous, but being a perfect patient.

It is now 830 and Brock has had a cocktail to chill him out...it has worked! He went from crying to saying "they are gonna bring in a saw and cut my head off!!!!" Then laughing about it. He is super goofy now!

Just separated us from Brock and I didn't like that. Luckily he was medicated enough it didn't bother him. Now the wait begins....

Just spoke to Dr Erikson and he said Brock did great. Pops, Jess, Brylee and I are in his room waiting for him to get here.

He just arrived from recovery and the nurses said he did great. He has had 3 popcicles and a gatorade. It is gonna be a long weekend for my buddy cause his throat is gonna be SORE! Hopefully we can keep him comfy while his pain is greatest.

Until next time, Kyle
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

It is opening rifle weekend in Texas. With the new addition, Sunday eve is the first rifle hunt for me and the boys. The lease has been set up mainly for bow hunting so we had to make some adjustments.

I gave my daddy a Budweiser popup blind about 5 years ago when we used to go turkey hunting. Mom let me have it back, so me and the boys took to out today. We took it to a spot where me and daddy used to hunt every opening weekend...the tickle grass patch. It isn't quite as open as it used to be, but I set up the popup right beside the cedar tree line where daddy taught me how to hunt in a cedar. (That's a whole different blog...lol)

After getting it set up and staked down, we climbed inside. It was a bit crowded in there but wasn't too bad. We sat for about 45 minutes and Brock had had enough. Bryson, on the other hand is quite the blind buddy. He will set listening to his iPod for hours on end as long he can look through binocs once in a while. Now back to Brock...he can't seem to stay put for very long anywhere. He started saying he was gonna pee in his pants. I gave in and we went to check the camera.

The camera was set on a trail coming out of the hard woods to the east of the tickle grass patch. That's the woods where Jeff killed a weird buck waaayyy back when. I think it was a 3pt or something...I was a lil kid and I thought it was sooo coool that Jeff killed a deer on our lease. Oh yeah...nothing on the camera.

After checking it, we sat for a while and watched the field. Finally we went over to the feeder and placed the camera over there.

We didn't see anything, but just seeing my boys outdoors was enough for me.

Driving out, I noticed the awesome sunset. I snapped a picture.

It was a perfect end to a good outing with my buddies!

------------------------------------------------

For a change, I let the boys type there thoughts in the blog. Here are their entries:

BROCK-
I like to go hunting with my daddie because he takes me on really fun hunting trips. Right now we are setting in the blind at our deer lease. Now we are back at home and it is 8 pm. I am fixing to have to go to bed in thirty minutes. Then we came home and i got to hold my baby sister brylee.

BRYSON-
Der mommy we are sitting in the blind And we Havnt seen nodeer.

Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

Brylee comes home today. We just finished the out patient paperwork and mom is feeding lil miss so she will be content on her first car ride.

She is coming home in CAMO...sort of, it a gown with roses and vines on it so I'm calling it Bryleeflauge! Lol

Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T