Dudley Wants To Go Hunting At This Place ...

This Is The First House That Dudley And Wife Bought ...

a few years after getting married. It was a nice house on a little over four acres in the East Texas countryside. It was a great place and we lived there for about seven years. We moved from there when Frank was two years old. It was a three bedroom two bath house and was around 1600 square feet including the two car garage. We bought the home brand new from the builder. We got a good deal at the time and paid I think just over $50,000.00. You sure can't buy much of a house for that price any more. Dudley used to plant a cover crop at the bottom of the hill down by the creek and enjoyed watching deer from the 12 x 24 foot deck we built. The deck is still there with the porch swing on the end. In the evening we would sit out on the deck and when the weather was right we might be treated to see a weather balloon launch from the balloon base located about five miles to the east of the house. After Frank was born, we closed in the finished garage and put in a hardwood floor and a brick floor for a wood burning stove. We put paneling up that looked like distressed barn wood and Dudley's deer looked really cool on the wall. Dudley noticed the people that have the house now built a free standing two car garage where Dudley's dog pen used to be. If Dudley had stayed in the house, he would have built a carport off of the front of the old garage. When we had the house it was built in the middle of an old pasture in a clearing with trees down at the bottom of the hill and up the side of the country road that came to a point just off of the corner of the house. Who ever bought it has planted a bunch of pine trees all over the property. When we had the house it was painted a rich country blue with white trim. Now the house is painted all white and does not look nearly as nice as when Dudley lived there. The fifty foot television antenna tower Dudley put in is still there and Dudley also saw a satellite dish up on the roof. The home is located within a few miles of three maximum security men's prisons. I hope the new owners keep a loaded gun in the night stand. Dudley always did as escapes seem to happen on a fairly regular basis. It would not hurt to have a dog either come to think of it.

This Is The Taxidermy Shop And Deer Processor ...

Dudley has been going to for the last quarter of a century. Damn Dudley is getting old isn't he? I remember the first time I went there to get a bobcat mounted and at that time they were doing their taxidermy work out of a portable shop building at one of the taxidermists homes. Soon after that they bought the property on the highway and built the big taxidermy shop. Years later they added the Jerky business. They produce top quality work out of their shop. They placed high in the taxidermy competitions in the early years and have done a lot of work for some of Texas wealthiest hunters. They also do taxidermy work for poor boys like Dudley. They have mounted a bobcat, turkey, two wood ducks, a hybrid striped bass and a boar hog and a bunch of whitetail deer shoulder mounts for Dudley over the years. Dudley will probably not be getting any more taxidermy work done unless he ever makes it on his dream hunt to South Texas for a Muy Grande Whitetail buck. If that ever happens, Dudley may just get one more deer mounted.

Dudley Was Born Ready ...

Dudley and Frank got up early this morning and took off in Dudley's truck for East Texas. Frank drove and Dudley just went along for the ride. It was an interesting trip for Dudley as we drove through some of Dudley's old stomping grounds that Dudley has not seen in many years. We went through some towns where Dudley used to go when he was working right after college. The most amazing thing was going by and seeing the old house out in the country that we were living in when Frank was born in 1989. We moved out of the home in 1991, and Dudley can not remember for sure the last time he saw the place but it must have been around 15 years ago. Dudley will post some photos of the house tomorrow as it looks now. It is amazing how things have changed over the years. We saw three road kill wild hogs on the road today and several hawks this morning sitting in trees beside the road. We did not see any deer but we were looking and did see a few deer stands. The Trinity River was close to flood stage from all of the rain we have had. We went to the Taxidermy/Deer Processing place Dudley started going to around a quarter of a century ago. We picked up the deer meat from Frank's and Jeff's does and brought it home. Frank is going to grill bacon wrapped backstrap out on the grill tonight. Jeff is going to come over and help Frank cook and eat dinner with us and take his deer meat home. We are really looking forward to eating some venison for dinner.

Happy Birthday Dad, Your Son Loves You And You Are Missed ...

Tiger Woods 2009 Christmas Card, Got It From Texas Fred ...

This Photo Is Of Close To 100 Deer Racks ...

reported to have been taken from the attics of two men in Oklahoma who have been charged recently with poaching a Boone and Crockett class whitetail deer that was shot illegally at night on property owned by British Petroleum. I wonder how many of those animals were taken illegally, the majority most likely. I hope they throw the book at them. Dudley woke up early this morning and was a little surprised to see that it was snowing. It snowed pretty hard for a while but it it too warm so it melted as soon as it hit the ground. It was fun to watch while it lasted.

It Is Cold And Has Rained Most Of The Day ...

here at the Dudley domicile. This is the kind of day Dudley likes to stay inside but there were too many errands that needed to be run today. Dudley got out this afternoon in the cold and the rain and went to the bank and then went by the Lotto store. Then went and got the oil changed in Dudley's pick up and then to the gas station for a fill up. Then it was over to the Barber Shop for a hair cut and a moustache and beard trim. By the time Dudley made it home he was pretty well tired out. There is not one football game or basketball game on TV that Dudley wants to watch tonight. Guess I will spend some time on the computer then turn in and go to be early for a change.

Dudley Is Glad He Is Retired ...

Dudley Can Already Taste The Grilled Bacon Wrapped Backstrap ...

Congratulations Texas Christian University Horned Frogs ...

It's The Day After Thanksgiving, Known As Black Friday ...

which the retailers and half of the population, mostly the female half seem to get really excited over each year. It seems to Dudley to be getting more ridiculous each year. Last year you had store employees getting trampled to death by eager mobs clamoring to get in the store so they could fight over the best deals. This year there were stores announcing they were going to open up at three or four in the morning and some even opening up at midnight so they could get a jump on the competition. Dudley's wife is going to be fighting the crowds at the mall today. Better her than Dudley who does need to get out later and make an important purchase. Dudley is going to go buy a couple of Lottery tickets but he is not going to go any where near the mall. Dudley is not Toadily Insane, at least not yet anyway.

Frank Called Me At 7:03 AM With Big News ...

his buddy Jeff had just shot his first deer! Today is the first day of a four day antlerless deer season in the county they are hunting in. Frank said about 6:45 AM a big doe and a fawn came out into the oat patch toward the top of the hill 130 yards away. Jeff quickly put his Remington model 700 30.06 out the window and lined up his cross hairs on the big doe and squeezed the trigger. Frank said the doe went down at the shot and then got back up and disappeared into the woods. They were sitting in the stand talking giving the deer time to expire. Frank was looking out the window in the other direction and another doe walked out into the right of way 50 yards away. Frank grabbed Jeff's gun and aimed for the base of the neck and fired dropping his doe in its tracks. They were two very happy hunters having both just shot a deer about ten minutes apart! Frank said they went and got his truck and drove around down to his deer and loaded her up. Then they drove back down around and turned back and went up to the top of the hill where Jeff's deer had been. They got out and found her piled up about ten yards inside the wood line. They loaded the second deer into the truck, filled out their tags and headed into town. They used a come along and hung the deer up from a ladder under the big oak tree Franks grandfather has been using to hang deer and hogs up for over thirty years. After they get the deer dressed out, they are going to take them to the processor Dudley always used about 45 miles away. Dudley is glad to see all of Franks hard work planting the food plot and putting out the corn and acorns paid off in a big way. Helping your buddy to kill his first deer and then taking a second deer your self ten minutes later, man it does not get any better than that.

Happy Thanksgiving From Dudleys Diary ...

Dudley Met The Guy In This Photo ...

a little over 25 years ago. The photo was taken on his farm north of Palestine, TX. The fellow lived the kind of life Dudley could only dream about. Dudley was told he had inherited a large estate from his parents who had owned a successful business in town. He did not have to work and spent all of his time hunting or fishing or working around his farm. He had put in a high fence around part of his place and was raising some big whitetails inside the fence. I remember he drove me and a coworker around the high fence and showed us some of the deer he was raising. He showed us his elevated deer stand that was quite big and was more like a one bedroom apartment up on stilts. He had power to his deer stand and had an air conditioner and heater so he could stay comfortable no matter the weather. He had a television and radio so he could stay entertained. The stand was built right by the fence so he could shoot the wild deer on the outside of the enclosure if he wanted to. If I remember correctly the buck in the photo was killed by the man down in Mexico and I think it had 14 points. He was a part time taxidermist and I believe he did the full body mount on the buck himself. The picture was set up and he had a photographer take the photo and he had a bunch of postcards printed up with the photo and an advertisement for his taxidermy business, Green Stump Taxidermy. He was ahead of his time raising big whitetails behind a high fence before it became common place here in Texas.