Monday, November 30, 2009

 

Dudley Is Glad He Is Retired ...


Sunday, November 29, 2009

 

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



Saturday, November 28, 2009

 

Congratulations Texas Christian University Horned Frogs ...



Friday, November 27, 2009

 

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.

Thursday, November 26, 2009

 

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 ...

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Wednesday, November 25, 2009

 

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.

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

 

Both Of These Bucks Were Hit And Killed Recently ...


in separate motor vehicle crashes in Van Zandt County near Canton Texas. It was reported that the crashes took place at night within a few hours of one another. Looks like those game wardens were working overtime. In Texas is is illegal to pick up a road killed animal. You are supposed to call the authorities. Of course there are a lot of trophy bucks hanging up on peoples walls that were found on the side of the road, tagged and taken to the taxidermist. It is a shame that two mature whitetail bucks met such an end. Dudley would rather see a hunter legally take a buck such as these. When the rut gets going, the big boys throw caution to the wind and chase the girls and it does not always end up in their favor. You take your chances and sometimes you win and sometimes you lose. That's just the way life is.

Monday, November 23, 2009

 

Frank Made It Back From His Hunting Trip ...






to East Texas. He did not see any more deer Saturday night or Sunday morning. Saturday night he did see a bobcat but he gave it a free pass as he shot one years ago and had a nice rug made for his room with the hide. Dudley told Frank that bobcats were beautiful animals that you do not see very often so after taking one you should pass on any others you see. Dudley does not think bobcats are much of a threat to the deer population. Coyotes are a different story, Dudley believes they should be shot on site at every opportunity. Frank said Sunday morning the fog was so heavy there could have been a bunch of deer crossing the right of way but he would not have been able to see any of them. Sunday afternoon, Frank and his grandfather went and filled up Dudley's old deer feeder with corn. Frank also spread out the 120 quarts of red oak acorns on the ground in two different spots. There is a four day antlerless deer season which starts Thanksgiving day. Frank and a good friend of his that has never killed a deer are going to go hunt the four day doe season. Frank has yet to see a doe out of his stand this year so I would think the odds of a doe wandering by should be increasing each day they are out there.

Sunday, November 22, 2009

 

Frank Has Not Had Any Luck Deer Hunting ...


down at the farm. But Dudley's friend J.T. got one heck of a nice buck yesterday evening hunting in southwestern Arkansas! Dudley met J.T. back in 2007 on a disabled deer hunt hosted by a Buckmasters chapter. J.T. is disabled like Dudley and is about the same age as Frank. J.T. killed his first deer on that hunt, a nice 7 point. Last year he got a really nice 8 point. Dudley has been talking with him on a regular basis and he was singing the "Ain't Got No Deer Blues" like Frank has been. J.T. said the eight point buck came out at about 100 yards and he made a perfect one shot kill with his .308. Way to go J.T. you are one heck of a deer hunter!

Saturday, November 21, 2009

 

Frank And His Grandfather Went Hunting This Morning ...

down at the farm in East Texas. Frank sent me a text to let me know that they saw a buck walk across the power line right of way his stand sits on. He said it was a dark bodied buck and appeared to be fairly large. He only saw the deers antlers from the side so he had no way to know if the deer would meet the new antler restrictions. To be legal a buck has to have an inside antler spread of 13" or greater. I told him he should have grunted at the buck to try to stop him and get him to look his way so he could have tried to judge the width of the rack. He said he did not think of that in time. I think he was so surprised at seeing a deer after so many trips to the stand with no deer sightings. He is back hunting by himself right now. He is hoping the buck or another one will make a mid day appearance. Later this afternoon, Frank will go back to town and pick up his grandfather so they can go back to the farm for the evening hunt. Dudley never got to go deer hunting with his father or grandfather. Frank is a lucky man, I wonder if he knows just how fortunate he is?

Friday, November 20, 2009

 

Dudley Went And Got His Swine Flu H1N1 Shot ...

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yesterday afternoon at a clinic put on by the local county health department. Dudley picked a good time to go around 3:00 PM as it was not too crowded. The morning crowd was gone as was the lunchtime crowd. The leave work early crowd had not arrived yet. It only took about fifteen minutes to get the shot. Dudley sat in a chair for fifteen minutes afterwards to make sure he did not have an adverse reaction. Dudley got out of there in about one half hour total. Dudley did not have to pay anything for the shot. No doubt the several thousand dollars in State, County and Local property taxes Dudley pays every year covered the cost of Dudley's shot and probably the shots of a few non tax paying citizens and non citizens as well. Dudley had some concerns about the safety of this new vaccine but his pulmonologist and his neurologist both insisted he get the shot. Dudley asked his neurologist if he was going to get the swine flu shot and he said he was. He told Dudley that if he got the swine flu, he would end up in ICU on a respirator fighting for his life. Dudley has been there and done that and would like to avoid that at all costs. Dudley made the decision to get the shot and he thinks it was the right one.

Thursday, November 19, 2009

 

Yep, It's Hog Killing Time ...


Wednesday, November 18, 2009

 

The Look Of Deer Hunting If Guns Are Outlawed ...


Tuesday, November 17, 2009

 

If You Enjoy Watching Wildlife You Need To Check Out ...




the ESPN Wildlife Cam by clicking here. Be sure to make a bookmark so you can check it often as this is the best free wildlife cam out there. It streams live video in real time day and night. In the day time you see a color image and at night you see a black and white infrared image. Dudley has seen bunches of turkeys, tons of deer and a black bear. The exact location of the camera is being kept secret. The camera is located on a small piece of property in southern Arkansas, I do know that much. It is a low fence property located some distance from a river. You can check it out at the posted feeding time but now that the rifle season is open in Arkansas, you will probably see more deer after sunset. It is really fun to watch the deer interact with one another after dark. Dudley has seen some monster bucks as the photos above will show. Last night Dudley saw two large bucks with their nose to the ground in the background trailing a hot doe that had passed by earlier. Frank talked to his grandfather last night and found out he went down to the farm yesterday morning about 10:00 AM, he was walking by Franks stand en route to fill up one of their corn feeders and he saw a buck crossing back and fourth across the power line right of way three different times no doubt trailing a hot doe. It is all Frank can do to wait until his last college class Thursday night so he can head to East Texas and get in his stand Friday morning. Frank saw a photo posted on the Texas Hunting Forum of a huge 8 point killed last weekend in the county where he is hunting and that buck was running a doe hard when he was taken.


Monday, November 16, 2009

 

What A Waste Of A Nice Mule Deer ...






Sunday, November 15, 2009

 

This Is The View Frank Had Yesterday Evening ...


to watch the TCU Horned Frogs beat the Utah Utes. Frank was going to watch the game from the parking lot with friends at a tailgate party via a satellite dish on a big screen t.v. About an hour before the game he got a call from his boss who has season tickets and got invited to sit with him and his daughter and her friend at the game. The seats are on the 50 yard line and Frank had a great time. Dudley called and added a sports package to the cable t.v. so we could watch the game at home. TCU has a great team this year and should finish the season undefeated. Dudley's mother and father are both graduates of TCU. Dudley grew up near the campus from the fifth grade on and used to go to all of the home games when he was a kid. End Zone tickets in those days were pretty easy to come by. Dudley bought two tickets on Stub Hub the other day for the game against New Mexico. Dudley got two tickets on the 40 yard line 19 rows up from the field on the visitors side. I don't think New Mexico has won a game all season so the Frogs should annihilate them. Barring a surprise next Saturday up in Laramie Wyoming, TCU should finish the season undefeated with a 12 and 0 record. Then it will be on to a bowl game and who knows, maybe a National Championship!

Saturday, November 14, 2009

 

TCU Horned Frogs Are For Real ...

Don't Back Down!


 

These Are Some Photos Of Water Being Released ...





from the flood gate of a dam located near where Dudley lives. The dam impounds a 3,500 acre reservoir that Dudley spent a lot of time on fishing when he was a youngster. Dudley used to catch Largemouth Bass, Catfish, Crappie and Sandbass out of the twelve foot Terry Bass boat Dudley bought when he was in High School. The little boat only had a 9.5 horsepower Evinrude outboard but that did not stop Dudley from going all over the lake and up the creeks and river that fed the lake. A few years ago they had a National Bass Tournament on this little lake and the guy that won it walked away with a check for a quarter of a million dollars. The tournament had been scheduled for another lake in the area but at the time the lake levels were low due to a drought and they moved it at the last minute. It has been a long time since Dudley used to fish the lake and a lot of water has flowed out of the flood gates.

Friday, November 13, 2009

 

Dudley, Frank and Lizzie Are Going Down To The ...








beautiful Texas Hill Country next month to go deer hunting! Dudley was able to make one heck of a good deal on a hunt for two mature management whitetail bucks and two exotic does on a 2,200 acre ranch outside of Kerrville Texas. The hunt includes one nights stay at the Y.O. Ranch Resort/Conference Center. The most exciting thing about this hunt is Lizzie is going to take her first deer on this trip. Dudley is just going along for the ride, this hunt is for the kids. Frank is going to take Lizzie out to the rifle range soon to let her get in some more range time and get used to the mild recoil of Dudley's Remington model 700 in .243 caliber. Dudley had a recoil pad put on and a muzzle brake prior to Frank killing his first deer down near Bandera Texas back in November of 2000. Can you tell he was happy in the photo above after bagging his first deer? Dudley hopes Lizzie will be just as excited. Dudley will be, that is for sure. The Y.O. Ranch Resort is a great place to stay. Before kids, Dudley and wife spent many vacations down in the Texas Hill Country and we always stayed at the Y.O. The Y.O. Ranch is one of the most historic ranches in the state. The ranch we are going to be hunting on is near the Y.O. Ranch and is owned by the same family. Dudley spoke to one of the great grandsons of the original founder of the Y.O. Ranch yesterday to finalize the plans for the kids hunt. Dudley is really looking forward to this trip and seeing Lizzie posing proudly with her first Whitetail Buck.

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