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Home Camp
2007 Deer Photos
And Hunt Reports
Note: Home Camp hunts are listed on this page in reverse order with the most recent hunt listed first. The first hunt of the 2007 season can be found at the bottom of this page.
Links to our other camps are listed on the left.
Also note: click on an image to enlarge it to get the details of the photo.
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| Kyle Ezell |
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Home Camp Manager
Kyle Ezell has acted as both guide and cook at Adobe Lodge for the past several years. Now as full-time manager, Kyle is in charge of the daily details of the Home Camp operation.
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Hunt N January 21-25
Foggy, then cold, windy, damp, and finally freezing weather dominated Hunt N, our final hunt of the 2007 season.
We call it "Hunt N" because John Newsome (who hosted his family and employees here back in early December), likes to return for a late January hunt, too. For this trip, he brought along a few of his good-buddies from Illinois. He has booked this date for the past several seasons. But this year, in addition to the five hunters in the Newsome group, there were others who similarly had to get in one more deer hunt before the final curtain closed on the season. We were glad to see Ronnie Rivers once again who has hunted with us a number of times. Ronnie brought his friend, Chris Hunt, for a first-ever Texas hunt. Both are from Georgia. The final hunter was a Texan, Tim Piland, who booked the hunt only a couple of weeks ago. We've told you we can sometimes take hunters on short notice, and this confirms it. So we had a full compliment of eight hunters to end the season.
And like back on Hunt # 6, there was again a proliferation of law-enforcement types, both active and retired, among the hunters and guides: a game warden, a highway patrolman, two deputy sheriffs, and a border patrolman. Outlaws, beware.
With no more hunts scheduled, a few jobs got switched around. Camp manager Kyle Ezell, a cook if there ever was one, swapped places with Charlie Bowers who has cooked most of the hunts this season. Charlie traded in his apron for some camo apparel and guided on this hunt. Kyle served up some delicious meals, but after three months of seeing Charlie in the kitchen, you couldn't help but ask Charlie what was for supper. And, of course, Charlie kept pestering Kyle, offering tips and unsolicited advice. Neither of which was needed nor accepted. And good natured kidding dominated in the kitchen. Both Kyle and Charlie are what you might call "utility players" - their skills around the hunting camp aren't limited to just one speciality.
Actually, we had even a third cook for one meal. John Newsome had brought some salmon to camp, and folks, the manner in which that fish was prepared made some of the best eating of the entire season. Here's what they did, and you ought to try it sometime: first - be sure to remove all the skin, and soak the salmon fillets in soy sauce for a few minutes. Then spread mayonnaise on the top of the fish, and broil the pieces for about seven minutes. Remove the pan from the oven, turn the fish over, and put on another layer of mayonnaise before cooking that side for another seven minutes in the oven. Mercy, mercy, mercy. You talk about good!
So enough about recipes, the bountiful eating and gossip about the cooks. How was the hunting? Well, with the weather being what it was, it was o.k., but not great. The first afternoon, the weather was windy out of the southwest and chilly. The next morning, hunters found plenty of fog just at daylight. Couldn't see squat. An hour later, a cold front blew in and the temperature dropped like a rock. Hunters reported seeing very few deer for the first half of the hunt. A bit of rain came, and still the deer didn't move much. Finally, the rain turned to ice. Hunters told of more and more deer sightings as the final quarter came. Then, as the hunt concluded, the icicles were melting, and much warmer weather was predicted for the next day. The lesson: Texas hunting requires a variety of clothing. Come prepared.
The eight hunters in camp collected five bucks and fifteen does. Both Ronnie Rivers and Tim Piland, hunting under our "Trophy Option" contract, just didn't see a buck that warranted the trophy fee. Although Tim said he finally saw a bunch of bucks on the later hunts - nine during one sitting and sixteen, if he counted them right, during another. He said it was hard to keep track of all of them. Also, Steve Poe, a retired Illinois highway patrolman, never found one he wanted. Steve has been here numerous times, and such veterans are more likely to hold out for something extra-ordinary.
So the season ended for us, and you can't help but call it a good one. There will be lots of memories to carry us along. That picture book there, with all the photos of all the hunters, all the tally boards of all the hunts, all the photos of all the bucks - wow - what a season it was.
But still, when it's over, the old camp, with no one around, will be mighty lonely until the spring turkey hunters come in late March. The fire pit won't be consuming any more wood for a while. You won't be able to find any hot coffee in the kitchen. And it will be quiet - really quiet - without all the laughter and conversations, and accounts of the big'uns seen that day. But isn't it amazing how fast time seems to go these days? Before we turn around a few times, it will all begin again. We can hardly wait.
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| Hunt N - Five from IL; two from GA; one from TX |
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| Staff, Hunt N |
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| 15 1/2" 8 pt. |
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| 17 1/2" 9 pt. |
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| 17 3/8" 8 pt. |
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| 17" 8 pt. |
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| 17" 10 pt. |
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| Another picture of the staff - - - |
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| Now Kyle, here's the way you ought to be cooking - - - |
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| The third cook on the hunt - John Newsome. |
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| Proof that the salmon was good - - - |
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| The ice was already melting - - - |
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| No only will ice make twigs larger - - - |
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| Just before this photo was taken - - - |
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Hunt F January 16-20
Way back in October, the Sub-Sea 7 group was here for our first hunt of the season. Now, on our next-to-last hunt, they returned for another go-round of Adobe Lodge hunting. There were nine hunters in the group but only two familiar faces. The rest were new, and what an interesting bunch of men they are. All are involved in the off-shore drilling and most have worked in oil patches around the world. In fact, this was almost an international group with a couple of the hunters having re-located to Texas from Norway and England. But all in camp were good deer hunters, and we don't begrudge them a little time off from their work just so long as they keep finding plenty of that oil under the bottom of the ocean. Hey - bring up lots more of that stuff, guys and get the price down a bit.
It was bitterly cold during the mornings with temperatures down in the teens. Daytime weather was pretty chilly, too, when the wind was blowing. You'd think that deer movement would have been super, but it was only moderate with hunters reporting seeing decent, but not extra-ordinary deer numbers.
Dry weather is taking its toll on the body condition of the deer, especially the bucks. Their backbones are protruding sharply and none of them weighed over 150 lbs. A few antlers are being shedded, and hunters have to look closely to be sure the antler-less deer are, in fact, females. Remembering the buck who shedded an antler when John Rohrer's bullet put him down hard a couple of weeks ago, we were expecially careful in handing the bucks as they were brought into camp. Mercy - it's embarassing to pull the antler off a buck right before your hunting client's eyes. Been there; done that. So our rule is to avoid this fiasco at all costs. (Thankfully, in the event this tragedy happens, a clever taxidermist can fix it up so you'd never know. But still, "mucho quidado, amigo.")
With the hunt scheduled to begin at noon on Wednesday, it was Thursday night before everyone had finally arrived in camp. But even with less than a full team on the field for the entire game, nevertheless the hunters did a good job. Seven of the nine took bucks, and there were fifteen does taken. Plus a big bobcat. Taylor Thibodeaux got her as his luck continues to rock and roll this season. He had taken that nineteen point buck (our best-ever) on an earlier hunt this season with us . His cat had those very distinct spots, almost as sharp as a Dalmatian dog. Beautiful. Check out the photo below. And she was a big'un, too.
We have one final hunt to go before we call it a season about a week from now. We are working on an e-mail newsletter summary of the season. If you would like to receive it, and if you are fairly certain we do not have your e-mail address, let us know what it is by shooting us an e-mail. We'll get you clicked into our address list. Then, we'll get the thing headed your way through cyber-space around the first of February.
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| First afternoon deer |
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| Eating corn |
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| Dancing - or boxing? |
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| Right here in camp - - - |
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| Hunt F - Texans all. But it is really an international group. |
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| Guides and staff - Hunt F |
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| 21" 8 pt. |
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| A better look at that eyeguard point. |
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| 32 lb. female |
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| 18" 7 pt. |
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| 17 1/2" 8 pt. |
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| It was cold on this hunt, but not as cold as - - - |
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| 17 1/2" 12 pt. |
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| 16" 9 pt. |
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| 18" 8 pt. |
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| 15 3/4" 7 pt. |
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| Put another log on the fire. |
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| New place to cook ribeyes. |
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| Talking oil business after supper. |
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| The skinner and the cook. |
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| Load up that meat - it's time to - - - |
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| We told you there were a lot of trucks - - - |
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| Kyle Ezell works at the lodge computer. |
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Hunt D January 5-9
Hunt D overlapped the end of the regular Texas season and the "Managed Lands" hunts we produce in January. Late-season hunting can prove to be quite productive. Indeed, the largest buck of the season at our Home Camp was taken on this January hunt - not the first time this has happened. But stay tuned. We have two more hunts yet to go. It ain't over till it's over, according to Yogi.
We had seven hunters in camp on Hunt D - five returning veterans and two new faces. We'll introduce all of them as we go along.
Frank and Mike Clara, hunting here with us for the fourth year in a row, this time brought their dad, Achille, to celebrate two big events: his fifty years in America, and his fifty years of hunting. Achille arrived from Italy in 1958 as a twenty-two year old, and that very year took up hunting, which he had never done back home. He has hunted every year since then, and has taken a deer every year. Took his first buck in 1962. And plenty more since. But never one like the buck he took on this hunt. It was Achille who got that big'un we told you about. Is that something special, or what?
Another returning vet was John Rohrer, from Lancaster, PA (or "LANKestr" as John says it. We just never were able to master that trick.) Early in the hunt, John got a brief glimpse at a buck that didn't just melt his butter - it boiled over. In telling about him, you'd have thought John was describing an elk. Later on, John took a liking to a lesser buck and put a bullet right smack in the deer's shoulder. When he hit the ground, guess what? His left antler shedded then and there. (We've seen this happen before in January, and we have to remember to be careful on our final two hunts of the year.) That's the bad news. The good news is that John could measure any kind of spread he desired with that shedded antler. Unlike last year when John was plagued with cattle and turkeys interrupting his deer hunting, this time, ole' John was on a roll and was seeing good bucks on almost every hunt. Since way back in the mid 1990's, John has hunted with us numerous times.
The two remaining Adobe Lodge veterans were a father/son pair - Jim Mousseau Sr.and Jr. Jim Sr. lives in Clarkston, MI and Jr. lives up a canyon west of Denver, CO where the snow can get as deep as his house. Both were hunting under our "Trophy Option" and neither took a buck. But since they re-booked for next season before they left camp, you can only conclude that they were satisfied with their hunt this year. Jim Jr. said the largest buck he saw was a 130 incher - not good enough. John Rohrer kept steering the Mousseaus to the blinds where he'd seen big bucks. This tactic has, over the years, had mixed results for us. This time, it didn't work. Neither Sr. nor Jr. ever found the bucks John had been scouting for them.
The final hunter in camp was Charlie Eifert from Mason, OH. Charlie took an exceptional six point buck, one of two such trophies taken. (The other one was taken by Frank Clara.) Wait till you see the photos below. Both are mighty impressive. Who said a six-pointer can't be a trophy? Sure wasn't us. So the seven hunters took a total of five bucks and ten does.
Every Adobe Lodge hunt seems to have a highlight or two. This one had three. Topping the list of course was Achille taking that Home Camp best-of-the-season-so-far buck. Secondly, his sons Frank and Mike once again treated us to some of the specialities from their restaurants back on Long Island. Here in West Texas, you just can't find authentic Italian soul-food like they brought along - cheeses, sausages, bread, and ziti. That ziti is something to savor, and we almost foundered on it. (A horse will founder when he eats too much. A fever will settle in his hooves, and he will be lame for weeks or months. Gotta pay attention to our feet for a few days, looks like, with those Clara brothers in camp.)
The third big event was finally getting some deer-weighing scales installed. Back on Hunt 2, Craig and Justin Boehler, who sell scales for a living back in up-state New York, took note of the primitive cotton scales we've always used to weigh all the bucks and does. So they took it upon themselves to furnish us with a space-age weighing device that gets a deer's weight to a tenth of a pound. Indeed, John Rohrer's buck gained an additional two pounds when John insisted on adding that shedded antler. Our skinner, David Gonzales, is one happy camper. And so are we. Our thanks go to the Boehlers. Photos of the device can be seen below.
Our final two hunts of the season are Jan. 16-20 and Jan. 21-25. Stay tuned.
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| Hunt D - Three from NY; one each from CO, MI, OH, and PA |
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| Hunt D - Guides and cook |
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| Photo safari |
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| John blocks the escape route. |
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| The escape |
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| Uh oh - he's headed right for camp. |
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| Safe at last. |
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| Meanwhile, back in the lodge - |
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| 20 1/4" 10 pt. |
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| 16" 11 pt. |
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| 19 1/4" 6 pt. |
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| 17 1/2" 6 pt. |
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| What's this? |
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| 19 1/2" 11 pt. |
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| Another big game hunter. |
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| The skinner is cooking? |
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| The new scale. |
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| One happy skinner. |
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| Jeri Duncan inspects the new scale. |
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| More high-tech equipment. |
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Hunt 12 December 31 - January 4
Every hunter on Hunt 12 had been here before - several of them numerous times. While reminiscing about our years together, we checked our picture books, and sure enough, the first time Ralph Gitz, Howard Seigfreid, and Dave Schalles hunted with us was way back in 1996. Mercy - one of life's treats is to see old friends. These three don't get here every year but there's no telling how many times we have hosted them over the past eleven years.
The others in this group of nine hunters from the Bloomsburg and Berwick areas of Pennsylvania have been here almost as often - Jim Knorr and his three sons, plus Kenny Seigfreid (Howard's son). Their amigo, Keith Jones, was the only one in the group who now lives elsewhere - Robbinsville, NJ.
So you might suspect that all these Yankees from the cold and frozen north country picked our late-season Texas hunt in order to escape the brutal weather back home. Didn't work. We had a couple of mornings during Hunt 12 that found the temperature in the low teens. It was way, way beyond chilly. Texans always marvel at a northerner's tolerance to cold. You'll see one of these guys wearing a t-shirt when we natives are wrapped up in a parka. But on this hunt we finally heard a few complaints about the cold. Of course frigid weather didn't keep them holed up in the lodge. They were out hunting deer like they were supposed to do and did a darn good job of it.
When we host a group of multi-year Adobe Lodge veterans like this bunch, they know to be patient and to wait until they finally find a buck they really like. They know the drill and that's what happened. Most of the bucks weren't taken until the third and fourth day. Except for Dave Schalles. He has a long tradition here of shooting almost the first buck he sees. Just can't keep his finger off the trigger you might say. We've even thought of hiding his bullets for a day or so. Thankfully we didn't because on the very first afternoon of the hunt, Bro. Dave brought in a high-horned and handsome buck - one of the best he's ever taken here. He also collected the hunt's largest doe - a 130 lb. whopper.
The nine hunters took seven bucks. Neither Kenny Seigfreid nor Josh Knorr was able to put their tag on one. Kenny, hunting under our "Trophy Option", said the largest buck he could find was a small ten point - not good enough to warrant the trophy fee. Josh said he saw a monster 12 point, but doggone the luck, the rascal was across a fence and out of bounds to our hunters. Josh finally found a good nine-pointer later, but after seeing that exceptional buck earlier, his ambitions had been raised considerable. Josh took three good females as compensation. There was a total of eighteen does taken by the entire group.
In addition to the cold weather, the big news of the hunt was our off-duty guide Jerry Watts finding a buck that was lost on the prior hunt. Jerry had been guiding Scott Crawford and his son, Chase on Hunt 11. Jerry took it upon himself, on his time off, to go for one more look and sure enough, about 300 yards from the "scene of the crime", a good 8 point was found. No doubt about it - it had to be Scott's buck. Watts has a strongly held opinion that when a hunter reports missing a shot, chances are he didn't. In this instance, there was zip, zero, nada blood found, and a clean miss was the conclusion at the time. Hind sight being twenty-twenty, Jerry thinks that had they undertaken an extensive search at the time, they might very well have pushed the wounded buck into going much, much farther. And you have to wonder if the super-cold weather could have been a contributing factor in his demise. As a matter of interest, the shot was way-low in the buck's chest and behind the front leg.
This much is certain: in the past week, Jerry Watts has been responsible for finding three "lost" bucks. Is this pure-dee luck? Maybe we ought to beg him to buy our next lottery ticket. He's on a roll.
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| Hunt 12 - One from NJ, 8 from PA |
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| Hunt 12 - guides and cook |
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| Schalles has a new toy |
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| 17" 9 pt. |
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| 20 1/4" 9 pt. |
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| 18 1/2" 10 pt. |
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| 20 1/2" 9 pt. |
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| 17" 8 pt. |
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| 16 1/4" 11 pt. |
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| 15 7/8" 8 pt. |
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| 18" 8 pt. |
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| Dave Schalles - photography expert. |
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| Ribs and skirts????? |
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| The war room. |
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Hunt 11 December 26-30
For those of you who are counting, we cancelled Hunt # 10 when we got no one booked. So we move on to Hunt Eleven.
The only bad weather on Hunt 11 occurred before the hunt began. Now just how can that be, you ask. Here's the deal: the hunt was to officially begin on the day after Christmas. Some of the hunters elected to fly into San Angelo on Christmas day. We would pick them up at the motel on the morning of the 26th and then get four more - a couple of father/son pairs - at the airport. But oops. The weather was bad in Dallas, and planes were getting cancelled and travelers bumped off of flights. Both dads called to say they had just rented cars and would make the five hour drive. Sadly, we were unable to get them connected up at DFW - they could have rented only one car for the four of them. But the real trouble was their luggage - it was already checked through to San Angelo, and who knew when it would get here. Long story short - finally by noon the next day, all was well. Such events happen from time to time and when they do, we deal with them.
To heck with that Dallas weather. Ours could not have been more perfect. It is getting really cold in the mornings now - down to around 20 or so, but the afternoons are warming to the 50-60's. And despite the burden of the full moon, the hunters did mighty good. Indeed, we saw the widest buck of the season taken on Hunt Eleven.
Hunts between Christmas and Jan. 1 usually find families in our camps when the kids are out of school, and this one was no different. We had nine hunters: three father/son pairs and a couple of father/son-in-laws. If you're doing the math here, this adds up to more than nine hunters, but Bob Booth gets counted twice as he was here with both his son and father-in-law. Of the nine hunters, seven were returning veterans. Every single hunter re-booked for 2008, and the new hunters - Scott and Chase Crawford - promise to bring even a couple more hunters from back home in Georgia to experience Adobe Lodge-style hunting. Scott has hunted several places in Texas, but he said he really liked the way we do things.
The nine hunters put seven bucks on our tally board. Pat McMahon, from Sugar Land, TX and hunting under our "Trophy Option", never saw the buck he judged to be worth the the trophy fee. And doggone the luck, Scott Crawford missed a good'un. But at least he found one worth shooting at. As long as there will be deer hunting, there will be missed shots. Anyone who claims to never have missed one has already lied to you and don't believe anything else you're told. Several of the bucks weren't taken until the last day. When hunters are focused on finding exceptional bucks, there won't be many does taken. Indeed, there were only seven does taken by the whole group during the four days.
Jerry Tibbott and his son, Austin had perhaps the best hunting adventure of their lives. Seems that their guide, Jeff Branon, had rattled-up a buck, but the old boy stayed way-yonder too far out there. Then the lazy rascal just laid down with a couple of does. Now what? A clever decision was made: Jeff was to stay there rattling to divert the buck's attention while Jerry and Austin would attempt to sneak way-round and up-on the buck. Worked just like they planned, but Jerry and Austin had to belly-crawl for one heck of a long way - never a safe thing to do in this thorn-infested country. Last year, Austin made a couple of spectacular shots at his buck and a bobcat. Did the same thing this year with that buck. Folks, this boy is already a darn good hunter, and it will be several more years before he is old enough to drive. Austin even collected a fox. See what we're saying. And Jerry got the best trophy of all - a feral cat (a quail-eating machine if there ever was one.)
The second big story of Hunt 11 was finding a buck which had been lost back on Hunt 6. Faithful readers will remember that Steve Burns from Lapeer, MI had a good buck rattled up for him by his guide Rob Parry. The buck happened to be across a river. Steve's shot put the buck down, but not for good. The day turned out to be a real ordeal for all involved, and despite the talents of Charlie Bowers' Wonder Dog, Harley, the buck was not recovered. But he is now. Jerry Watts was guiding on Hunt 11 and while in the general area where the deer was lost, Jerry noted the tell-tale smell of a dead animal. Sure enough, it was a good ten-pointer who showed all the evidence of being Steve's buck. We've already called Steve with the good news. See there - sometimes there are story-book endings after all.
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| Hunt 11: Three from Deleware; two from PA; two from GA; two from TX. |
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| Hunt 11 - Guides and staff |
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| 23 1/4" 8 pt. |
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| 20" 9 pt. |
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| Austin and his fox. |
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| 19" 11 pt. Rattled/stalked |
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| Proud father. Successful son. |
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| 15" 10 pt. |
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| 16" 10 pt. |
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| 15 1/2" 9 pt. |
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| 18 1/4" 10 pt. |
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| Jerry Watts finds Steve Burns' buck. |
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| Kyle is cooking on ribeye night. |
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| Ribeye night continues. |
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| Dig in. |
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| There ain't a real cowboy in the bunch. |
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| How to make fine wine - - - |
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| Mary Witt - super cook |
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Hunt 9 December 13-17
The last Home Camp hunt before the Christmas break turned out to be a great time for all. Oh sure, the weather, which was beautiful the first afternoon, turned damp for a while then finally blustery and cold when a front blew through on the third day of the hunt. It even got down to 16 degrees on the following morning. But the adverse conditions didn't seem to affect the hunters or the hunting.
In camp was a lively group of four from North Carolina. These hunters have been to Texas numerous times, but this was their first-ever trip to our Adobe Lodge Home Camp. And it won't be the last either. They all re-booked for 2008 before leaving. There were two more first-timers - from Louisana. We'll get to the newcomer's names in just a minute.
The final two hunters - Warren Widmyer and H.B. Lantz, from Virginia have been here each of the past several years. Regulars you might call them, and it's always great to see them. They, too, rebooked for next year. Indeed, the entire group of eight hunters re-booked for next season. We told you we all had a great time, and this confirms it.
The Louisana hunters, from Shreveport, were Rick Pierce and Matt Vienne. They both took nice bucks. Actually, Rick has extensive experience hunting Texas - down in South Texas and somewhere in the Hill Country. So we are flattered to know they'll be back next year. Gosh - out of all the places in Texas, they picked us again. When hunters re-book, (and there have been a bunch of them so far this seaon), we know we are doing something right.
The NC hunters were a father/son pair - Carroll Lineberger Sr. and Jr. Carroll the elder brought along all kind of goodies to eat - pretzels, peanuts, bubblegum - but he also brought some homemade wine. There were several flavors and even us beer-drinker types thought that apple wine was a mighty fine drink, and healthy too. Wonder if a glass of apple wine every day will keep that doctor away? The other two Carolinians were Keith Bost and Brian Robbins.
Seven of the eight hunters took bucks, and the season's first bobcat finally was taken. We had almost given up on collecting a kitty this year. H.B. Lantz got him. And Carroll Jr. took a javelina. So when you add all this to the twelve does, it was a busy hunt. The hunters reported seeing numerous bucks, and there were several captured on film to prove it. They were showing photos at a rate that would compete with any grandparent. Maybe we can get some of these images posted, either still or video, when they send them to us. If they send them to us. We welcome any footage taken by one of our hunters at any camp.
It was only Brian Robbins who failed to collect a buck out of the entire group. Brian admitted he was looking for a 150 class buck or he wasn't going to take one. He didn't find him, but he said he was satisfied with his hunt. And with Brian hunting under our "Trophy Option" program, we are reminded this is the very reason we instituted the choice several years ago. For that hunter who wants to hunt for only the "best of the best", sometimes we can put one in front of him, but more often we simply cannot. That's why such bucks are called "exceptional". We have no doubt they are here, and our trail cameras can prove it. But they don't "grow on trees", (although they might rub the bark off a big one here and there).
This will be our last hunt posting for about two weeks. We don't complete another hunt until almost the first of January. So Merry Christmas to all. After Christmas, we still have five more hunts to go before we call it a year in late January. Stay tuned.
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| During the kickoff meeting - - - |
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| And Kyle was just telling the group - - - |
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| Hunt 9: Four from NC; two from VA; two from LA. |
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| Hunt 9 - guides and cook |
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| H.B. - here's a hunting tip - - - |
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| Necessary evil - paperwork. |
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| 16 1/2" 8 pt. |
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| First one this year. |
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| 17 1/4" 8 pt. |
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| 17" 10 pt. |
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| 67 lb. javelina |
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| 18 1/2" 10 pt. |
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| 16" 8 pt. |
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| 17" 8 pt. |
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| 15" 10 pt. |
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| 17 1/2" 8 pt. FIRST BUCK |
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Hunt 8 December 8-12
Before coming here to hunt on # 8, David Charles from Millersville, PA said he had hunted several days back home and it had rained every single day he was in the woods. Looks like he brought all that rain with him to Texas. Except for the first afternoon of the hunt, every day of Hunt # 8 saw mostly drizzle and finally a bit of rain. But it didn't seem to affect the hunting - all eight hunters in camp collected good bucks. And several javelinas, as well. The temperatures were mostly in the 30's.
David was on his third hunt with us, as was son Randy Charles and their buddy Scott Bradbury from Lancaster, a live-wire if there ever was one. Wait till you see his t-shirt below. The fourth member of this party was a new face for us - Mike Black, as were all the remaining hunters in camp.
Two of them, Chris Schultz from Pottsville, PA and Eric Besthoff from Massapequa, NY have formed a hunting-buddy friendship over their years in pursuing whitetails on the eastern shore of Maryland. This was their first-ever Texas hunt. The final two hunters in camp were Gary Dove from Elk Ridge, MD and John Wright from Alvin, TX (down near Houston). So we had a party of four, a party of two and a couple of singles. Despite the continual precipitation, this group of hunters had one heck of a time, the evidence of which is that they all re-booked for either '08 or '09 and will be bringing even more hunters on their next visit. Can't do much better than that.
It is always a big event for us when a hunter takes his first-ever buck hunting here. John Wright is a passionate duck hunter, but deer hunters in Southeast Texas don't find many decent bucks. John had taken a number of does over the past few years but elected to pass on the young, small bucks he had encountered back home. He thought he'd have a better chance at a good buck hunting with us. On the first evening of the hunt, and before the rain started the next day, indeed John did put a bullet in a buck. But having learned our lesson about contaminating a trail before Wonder Dog Harley has a chance at tracking the blood, John's guide Mike Thomson wisely elected to return to camp and to gather up cook Charlie Bowers and Harley plus camp manager Kyle Ezell. Thankfully, the buck was found after only a short trail, but it could easily have turned out otherwise. Live and learn we have. And everytime old Harley gets called out on a mission, he just gets better and better.
Another big event on the hunt happened when Eric Besthoff collected his buck. First a little background. For many years we have used retired office chairs in our deer blinds. Though shop-worn and unsightly for a nice business somewhere, they are comfortable and functional for a box deer blind, especially because they swivel and rock. But they have an inherent problem - they finally begin to squeek. And noise is not conducive to successful deer hunting. So slowly but surely, we are replacing the noisy chairs with plastic lawn chairs like you see stacked up at Wal-Mart. Although they don't have any complicated movements, these chairs are surprisingly comfortable. Most importantly, they make zero noise. So what's the problem?
Now Eric is a pretty big fellow - 6'4" and 250 lbs. Being a policeman back home on Long Island, that size is no doubt an asset in his chosen profession. But it was a little too much for our quiet plastic chairs. When Eric spotted the buck he wanted (and when you see his photo below, you'll understand why), Eric got his gun out the window and touched one off. Eric had twisted the chair's leg a bit as he was getting in position to shoot, and the cheap thing just collapsed under him as the gun recoiled. Knocked him right smack on his fanny it did. All the way to the bottom of the blind. Down but not out, Eric scrambled up to look out the window, but all he could see were white tails (that's where they get their name, of course)scattering in all direction. He had no idea if he'd hit the buck, which way he went - no nothing. The story had a happy ending, and we even collected a photo of Eric and the chair.
Maybe the lesson here is this: if you are about to get in a scrap with a great-big-old-cop somewhere, just invite him to sit in a plastic chair first.
For the record, here's the stats on the hunt: eight hunters took eight bucks, ten does, and four javelinas.
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| Hey Scott - what does that t-shirt say? |
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| Moving in to the lodge |
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| First stop after the move-in: |
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| With the guns now sighted in, where do you put that bullet? |
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| Hunt # 8: Five from PA; one from MD; one from NY; one from TX |
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| Staff, Hunt # 8 |
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| 19" 9 pt. |
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| 16" 8 pt. FIRST BUCK |
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| 15 3/4" 10 pt. |
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| The chair that did him in. |
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| Whitetail or elk? |
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| Eric and his javelina. |
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| 18 1/2" 11 pt. |
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| 15 1/2" 8 pt. |
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| 16 1/2" 8 pt. |
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| 17 1/2" 10 pt. |
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| 15 3/4" 10 pt. |
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| A pair of pigs. |
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| Scott rescued his guide from this one. |
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| Just for the heck of it - |
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| Mike collects a nice fox. |
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| Adobe Lodge Rocks With That Fox |
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| Guides wrapping meat. |
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Hunt 7 December 3-7
It hardly seemed like deer hunting weather on Hunt 7 with the temperatures getting to around 80 degrees each afternoon, but no matter. This hunt was outstanding.
There is just no telling how many times John Newsome has hosted family, friends and employees at the Adobe Lodge Home Camp on this hunt date. Counting only deer hunting, it must be fifteen-twenty times now. And we are always glad to see them. The group this year kept expanding until finally we found eleven hunters in camp. But since they brought a couple of campers - along with several hunting vehicles - there was plenty of room for everyone. They always drive here from central Illinois and they bring a multitude of hunting toys. This year was no different, and we have some photos below.
With the rut in full swing now, the rattling was working great as four of the twelve bucks brought into camp were taken in this manner. And there were some whoppers, too - the second and third largest of the season so far at the Home Camp. Each rattling adventure is a story in itself and we'll save that talk to put with the appropriate photo below. No doubt about it, rattling is the most exciting way to hunt a whitetail, and we think any buck taken thusly is a trophy for sure, no matter how big he might be. It is "THE HUNT" for the animal which is our most important policy.
We are just now beginning to notice a few broken tines - which have not been much of a factor up to now. Who knows what the post-rut hunters will find? Hopefully, the good nutrition provided to the deer via Mother Nature's good rains all through the summer - when those antlers were really growing fast - will mean fewer broken racks after the fall battles are over and done with. We'll see.
As we noted above, the afternoon temperatures were quite warm, but indeed it was downright chilly during some of the early mornings. When the daily temperature moves from the low-thirtys up to dang near 80+, you don't know what to wear. A deer blind can get plenty cold if you aren't dressed for it.
Here's a quick summary on the hunt numbers: eleven hunters took twelve bucks. (John Newsome always takes two). Fifteen does were harvested as well. Despite the warm weather, hunters reported seeing good numbers of bucks everywhere.
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| Unloading time |
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| Handy for hauling "stuff" into the lodge. |
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| Portable elevated blind. |
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| Portable bucket. |
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| Hunt 7: The Newsome group. All but one from IL |
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| Staff, Hunt 7. |
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| 17 3/4" 10 pt. |
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| 20" 10 pt. - Rattled-in |
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| 17" 11 pt. |
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| 12" 10 pt. |
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| 19" 9 pt. |
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| Proud father, successful son |
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| 16" 8 pt. - Rattled-in |
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| 15" 10 pt. |
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| 17 1/2" 8 pt. |
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| 17 1/2" 8 pt. |
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| 16 3/4" 8 pt. |
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| 18 1/4" 10 pt. Rattled-in |
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| 16 1/2" 12 pt. - Rattled in |
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| Ugh ! Record-keeping. |
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Hunt 6 Nov. 28 - Dec. 2
A criminal-type would have felt mighty uncomfortable on this hunt with five of the hunters and two of the guides being law enforcement professionals (both active and retired). You almost wanted to get someone's permission before stealing a cookie out of the kitchen.
The weather was near perfect, except for the third day when the wind blew a gale. But so what? There were three nice bucks taken that day despite the blustry southwest wind . And last week's cold weather is behind us, thank goodness. Maybe the frigid temperatures triggered the rut which is now hot and heavy, the evidence of which is that at daylight on December 2 as the hunters were packing to leave, there were three potential shooters right there in camp chasing a hot doe around through the parked trucks and trailers. Why travel miles away from camp burning all that expensive gasoline when you could sit right there by the fire pit and fill your tags? Just kidding, of course. We don't hunt the pets around the lodge.
We call this second hunt after Thanksgiving the Knapp/Reynolds hunt. Connecticut hunters Bill Knapp and Ray Reynolds have been here on this particular hunt date every year since 1997. What a pair they are, and they have told us to keep their names on this hunt forevermore. Bill has taken our "Buck of the Year" three times now (1997, 2003, 2006). Ray told us that his 2007 buck was the best one he's ever taken here. Bill's son, Eric, is also becoming a regular. And this year, they introduced us to Jerry Messina, a friend of theirs from PA. Another Adobe Lodge veteran, Larry DiCicco Jr., from Cherry Hill, NJ was in camp but without his dad who had to cancel at the last minute due to a family heath situation back home. We've postponed Larry Sr.'s hunt to '08.
Next in the group was Ron Smith, another NJ hunter, who had hunted turkeys with us back in 2006 but was on his first-ever Adobe Lodge deer hunt. And finally, we had a brand-new hunter here named Steve Burns from Lapeer, MI. Now Bro. Steve made himself quite welcome when he showed up with enough salmon to feed everyone in camp, both hunters and staff. And talk about good. Why? Because we had a brand-new cook - Mary Witt - who used to live in Alaska and knows her salmon cooking. She fixed that fish three different ways. So if you ever decide to come hunt here, try to schedule it when Mary is cooking and Steve Burns is back in our camp after fishing all summer.
All seven hunters put a bullet in a buck, but sadly only Steve Burns' buck didn't get brought in to camp. We had to give him a DNF, but it wasn't for the lack of effort. Indeed, camp manager Kyle Ezell recruited off-duty cook Charlie Bowers and his faithful beagle, Harley, to help in the search. They jumped the buck four different times, trailed him several miles across a river and through the woods, but he got away. Then, on the final morning of the hunt, Steve and his guide, Rob Parry, went for yet another look and darned if they didn't find that very buck - obviously wounded, but still quite mobile - and sadly, the buck eluded them once again. Rob says he will continue to hunt this guy for the next few weeks. Maybe he'll get him for Steve. We are keeping our fingers crossed, but it is darned hard to type this way.
So the tally board showed six bucks and twelve does. Still no bobcats. What has happened to these felines, anyway? Last year by this time we had several already.
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| Welcome to Hunt # 6 |
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| Hunt # 6: Three from CT; two from NJ; one each from PA, MI |
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| Staff, Hunt # 6 |
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| Two cops talking shop. |
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| What? Again? And this one makes Boone and Crockett. |
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| A better look at that tail. |
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| 16" 8 pt. |
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| 19" 10 pt. |
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| 16 1/2" 8 pt. |
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| 18" 8 pt. |
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| 17" 8 pt. |
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| 16 1/2" 10 pt. - Rattled in. |
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| Father and son - Bill and Eric. |
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| Hanging out at the fire pit. |
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| What is going on back there behind the kitchen? |
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| Ah-haa. It's Jeff wearing the horned hard-hat. |
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| Last night in camp. Time to celebrate. |
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| The wood pile has grown, thanks to Ray Reynolds. |
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| Poor photo, but it tells the story. |
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| Introducing our new cook, Mary Witt. |
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Hunt 5 November 23 - 27
Boy Howdy. Talk about a change in the weather from the previous hunt to this one.
Back on Hunt 4 just before Thanksgiving, it was getting to pert-near 85 degrees every afternoon. We actually observed shorts being worn around the camp. Not so on Hunt # 5. The hunt kicked off on a blustry, chilly day and the weather just got worse. Drizzled all the second day and night, and we even saw a few snow flakes on the third day. But the good news was that we got over an inch of moisture (actually 1.4") which has been badly needed.
Then, as is typical of weather around here, the final day could hardly have been prettier. Clear blue skies, no wind, moderate temperatures. But by then, it was all over but the shouting. Despite the adverse conditions for the first 3/4 of the hunt, everyone in camp had already collected his buck. Except for, doggone-it, one DNF. Indeed, some pretty darn good bucks found their way to camp, and in the photos below, you'll note the wet hair on most of the deer.
We had seven hunters in camp. Only two had been here before. Lyle Olson from South Carolina has become a regular. Been here for the past four years and says keep him on our annual list until he says otherwise. Lyle introduced us to his buddy Ed McFarland who has extensive experience hunting Wyoming but was on his first-ever Texas hunt. The other vet in camp was Bob Gwartney, here with his son, Robert. Bob hunted with us for the first time way back in 1992. Sadly, it was Robert who lost his buck - a real disappointment to all of us.
The Bartolotta brothers, here from a little town called Queens, NY, were first-timers, as was Freddie McLemore, from League City, TX, down near Houston.
So that was our group for Hunt Five and the seven hunters took six bucks plus the DNF. They also harvested fourteen does. Pretty darn good we'd say, hunting in inclement weather and all that. No one complained, though. But we didn't get to sit outside around the old campfire much. Just too blooming cold and wet.
The big news of the hunt was finding Ed McFarland's buck and averting the dreaded DNF on the board. The search party waited until early afternoon to begin the trailing (literaly cold trailing) chores, and thankfully they were successful. The buck hadn't gone all that far, but the search was postponed a while to let the buck bleed-out, if possible. All's well that end's well is what we say.
The other newsworthy event was Lyle Olson's unusual buck. Here is how to describe him: get rid of both his left and right antlers and you'd have a unicorn. Check out his photo below.
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| Hunt 5; Two from NY; two from SC; two from MS; one from TX. |
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| Staff - Hunt # 5 |
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| 15 3/4" 8 pt. |
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| 19" 10 pt. |
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| 18 1/2" 10 pt. |
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| 17 1/2" 8 pt. |
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| 16 1/2" 8 pt. |
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| 17" 9 pt. Unicorn |
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Hunt 4 November 17 - 21
When we have seven returning Adobe Lodge veterans out of a group of ten hunters, and when nine of the hunters are hunting under our "Trophy Option" program, you can bet that super-selectivity will dominate on that particular hunt.
Such was the case on Hunt # 4 as Jamie Kinsey, from Tallahassee, FL, for the third year in a row, hosted a group of business associates and friends. The hunt produced almost no bucks until the very end as everyone in camp was holding out for a top trophy. Indeed, Bruce Dennington, Ft. Myers, FL said he had seen 25-30 bucks that he would have quickly taken on his first or second year with us. Bruce held out to the last morning and did finally bring a good one into camp.
Two of the hunters used bows. Scott Knox back in 2005 collected a 130+" deer with an arrow. But this year when he had a shot, it wouldn't be the right buck; when it was the right buck, well gosh, he just couldn't get the shot he wanted. Such is bow hunting, but Scott is always upbeat and positive about everything. One day, he stayed out hunting all day from daylight to dusk. Now that's dedication.
Sadly, the other archer, Brian Zettle, had a DNF on his buck but did manage to collect two does with his bow. Maybe that buck will be found somewhere, someday, but it is always so discouraging when a buck is lost. There were lots of man-hours expended in the search, without success. You just have to wonder where that buck was hit.
Thankfully, along toward the conclusion of the hunt, there were some mighty handsome bucks taken on Hunt # 4, and the final talley showed ten hunters putting seven bucks on the board (plus the DNF). Only Scott and Jamie failed to collect bucks. Jamie's guide, Tillman Lawdermilk, admitted that despite all their hard hunting, he could just never get Jamie on one of those top bucks which was their quest. Such is hunting, and such is the reason for our "Trophy Option" alternative price. Sometimes things work out, sometimes they don't. With the focus being on big-buck-hunting, there were only seven does taken by the entire group of ten hunters.
The weather continues to be unseasonable warm - and dry. But a cold front is coming, and the next hunt will be quite different weather-wise. You didn't even need a coat on most mornings on Hunt 4, and the afternoon temperatures got well into the 80's. Caliche dust powders all the trees alongside the roads. The rut seems to be underway now, but it is a "kind-of, sort-of" type deal. So therefore the fawn crop next spring will be strung out, looks like.
Every hunt seems to produce a "big-event", and this one certainly did. To find out what happened, check our report under "Latest News". But first, check out the bucks below and see if there are any you don't like.
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| Getting ready for Hunt # 4 |
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| Let's get all the gear loaded. |
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| Getting unloaded at the Home Camp. |
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| Hunt # 4 - Florida hunters all. |
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| Staff, Hunt # 4 |
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| Hey Charlie - what's for supper? |
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| Yum, yum. Can't wait for supper. |
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| 17 1/2" 10 pt. |
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| 15 3/4" 8 pt. |
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| 17 3/4" 10 pt. |
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| 15 3/4" 9 pt. |
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| 20" 10 pt. |
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| 17 1/2" 9 pt. |
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| 21 1/4" 10 pt. |
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| First Deer. Cody Holt |
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Hunt 3 November 12-16
Hunt # 3 started off with a bang - no pun intended. Two bucks were taken the very first afternoon of the hunt, then three more came in the next morning. Using a football analogy, there were five scoring drives in the first quarter of the game. And one of those bucks just happened to be our Home Camp's best of the season so far.
In camp was a party of six headed by Frank Daley, Amherst, NH who has hunted with us numerous times. Most of his group has been here before, and knowing the drill, all collected bucks. Frank was accompanied by two brothers, two sons, plus one amigo. The other two hunters in camp were singles and were both first-timers - Tony Rocco who just happens to live in the same town (Tewksbury, MA) as Roger and Larry Daley (Frank's brothers). So right away, you can see we were surrounded by great Down East accents. The eighth hunter was Mike Terrace from Chester, NY and the good news about Mike is that he managed to take two bucks on the hunt. So New England and NY were well represented on Hunt # 3.
The eight hunters took nine bucks and 22 does (counting one DNF). They almost filled every slot on our tally board. There were four bucks with ten points, three with nine points and two had eight points.
It is always a big treat when a hunter collects a first-ever buck. There were two of these events on Hunt # 3. Bob O'Boyle from Nashua, NH, and born back before WW II, had never taken a deer of any kind. Now he has a nice buck and three does to his credit. It's about time, Bob, and congratulations from us all.
Frank's son Ed Daley, now living in Charles Town, WV, was asked if his buck was his first-ever deer. Ed said, "Not exactly". When pressed for details, it seems that Ed had taken does with the front end of his car a couple of times. So since this website strives for total accurracy, it should be noted that Ed's buck - the largest at the Home Camp so far this season - is indeed his first-ever deer taken with a rifle.
The Daley group has a history of hunting with us every-other-year so we can hardly wait for 2009. First-timer Mike Terrace re-booked for '08 before he left camp and will be bringing his son.
As was true of several of the previous hunts, and as good as the bucks on this hunt were, the reports from the guides and hunters of bucks seen but not taken are quite encouraging. Guide Charles Fleming on this hunt, and guide Roy McFadin on Hunt # 2 tell us they had spotted "the largest whitetail buck" either had ever seen. In other words, the best bucks are still out there. And there are many more hunts to go this season. We hope some of our remaining hunters this season get to put tags of these monsters.
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| Hunt # 3 Kickoff Meeting is about to begin. |
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| Hunt # 3: Three from NH; three from MA; one each from NY and WV |
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| Hunt # 3 Staff |
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| 16" 10 pt. |
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| 16 1/2" 8 pt. FIRST BUCK |
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| 19" 9 pt. |
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| 22" 10 pt. FIRST BUCK |
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| 16 3/4" 10 pt. |
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| 15" 8 pt. |
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| 19 1/2" 9 pt. |
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| 17 1/4" 10 pt. |
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| 18 1/4" 9 pt. |
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| Ribeye night and hanging out around the firepit. |
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| Tony asks Kyle Ezell about this cotton boll. |
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| Mesquite coals just right for cooking ribeyes. |
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| Cooking ribeyes |
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| New skinner in camp. |
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| Just to prove a point. |
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Hunt 2 November 7-11
Hunt Two was one heck of a hunt. All the hunters in camp collected nice bucks, but one in particular was mighty remarkable. Taylor Thibodeaux's buck had more points than any other Adobe Lodge buck ever. Wait till you see the several photos we collected below. Taylor, from Houston, was back here hunting once again after being here on Hunt A back in October.
We had seven hunters in camp with only Taylor and Florida hunterTerry Hensley being veterans. All the rest were first-timers, and here was more remarkable news: all the hunters in camp proved to be very selective while hunting. You couldn't accuse any of them of shooting the first decent buck seen. They all patiently waited for a "butter-melter". You get hunters like that in camp and you're going to see some good bucks in our freezer. Sure 'nuff.
Quickly, so that you can scroll down to check out the photos, here are the stats of the hunt: seven hunters; seven bucks; 15 does plus a DNF doe. And Bless All Their Hearts: every doe taken was a good, large mature one. Good job, guys.
Several of the hunters reported seeing bucks much larger than what they took. Craig Boehler said he saw at least six that would go over 130. His son, Justin, saw one that would probably rival any "Buck of the Year" we've ever taken. So we can hardly wait for the rest of the season just to see what might be out there.
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| Hunt Two: Two from PA; Two from NY; and one each from TX, SC, and FL |
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| Guides and Staff - Hunt Two |
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| 14" 19 pt. |
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| Taylor and his 19 point buck. |
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| Another view |
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| Two drop tines stick in the ground. |
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| 18" 8 pt. |
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| 17 3/4" 8 pt. |
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| 19 1/4" 7 pt. |
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| 18" 10 pt. |
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| 16" 8 pt. |
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| 17 1/2" 9 pt. |
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| Gambling in the skinning shed? |
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| An the winner is - - - |
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| The winner counts his money. |
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Hunt 1 November 2-6
Never mind that this hunt is our fourth of the season. We call this Hunt # 1 because it coincides with the opening of the regular Texas season. The preceding hunts have been so-called "Managed Lands" hunting - a program in Texas whereby participants can legally hunt whitetail deer with a rifle so long as all the management practices are in place. So how did Hunt # 1 go? We'll get to that in just a bit.
Of the nine hunters in camp all but one were Adobe Lodge vets - and a couple of the hunters were here way back in 1987. We even found their old photos in our picture books. It pays to keep such treasures. One of these men, Grover Hess who had brought his whole family last season, returned once again this year with another of our regulars, Tom Biehl. They had met here on the hunt in '06 and took a liking to each other. This is not the first time we have seen such friendships develop in our camp. Grover and Tom, both from PA, have hunted here often, but until last year they were never on the same hunt date.
The other hunter from long ago, Walt Armbruster, now living in upstate NY, brought a friend he had acquired in a similar manner. Walt and Chuck Muehlbauer met somewhere on a hunt and have been hunting together over ten years now. Chuck was the only Adobe Lodge rookie in camp.
The other five hunters in camp have been hunting with us for the past five or six years now. All from the Cleveland area, we had Terry and Mike Donovan, Kevin and Marc Koepp plus Walter Christensen.
So now with the introductions properly done, how did this group do? And quit beating around the bush. When the dust settled (no kidding - it's been a bit dry), we found seven bucks and 22 antlerless deer on our tally board. Kevin Koepp said he turned down six or more "shooters" - bucks he would have been happy to take on previous hunts - while looking for a super-exceptional animal. Similarly, Terry Donovan said he turned down at least two whitetails that would have scored well into the 130's. Both hunters had chosen our Trophy Option and were quite satisfied with the results of their hunt. The evidence: The Koepp/Donovan group re-booked eight slots for 2008 before they left camp.
The most exciting event of the hunt was the search for Walt Christensen's buck. On the third morning, Walt drew blood on a nice buck, but guide Larry Meeks wisely abandoned the search to return to camp in midday. We have learned that it's better to wait a while before trailing a wounded deer. All hands and the cook (literally the cook Charlie Bowers and his faithful beagle "Harley") got in on the deal.
Now ole Harley has been out on these duties before without much luck. But this time it was different. Harley got on the trail, then off the trail, then on the trail of bucks that weren't even wounded. They started over several times on that hot afternoon (high 80's), and doggoned if Harley and the guys didn't finally jump the missing whitetail deer who was dragging a front leg, but who was still plenty capable of outrunning everyone through the cedar thicket. In desperation, Charlie dropped Harley's leash since Harley, being built a bit lower to the ground than Charlie, could make better time through the dense brush.
Following a 150 yard chase, Harley "surrounded the buck" and piled him up in a cedar bush. But it was just Harley's luck: he couldn't quite get to the buck because his leash was tangled in a briar. So Charlie put the deer down, finally, with a quick pistol shot.
The entire event was the perfect training exercise for Harley, and no doubt he will get better and better. But we are hoping there will be few wounded whitetail deer for the remainder of the season. Entering a "DNF" (did-not-find) on our tally board is no fun. But not so this time - the deer was found, and we all will live happily ever after.
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| Hunt 1 - Five from OH, two from PA, one from NJ and one from NY. |
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| Hunt 1 - guides and staff. |
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| 16" 11 pt. |
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| 20" 8 pt. |
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| 15" 11 pt. |
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| 16 3/4" 9 pt. |
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| 19" 8 pt. |
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| 16 1/2" 8 pt. |
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| 17 3/4" 9 pt. |
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| 23.35 lb. cat |
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| Harley and Charlie |
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Hunt C Oct. 28 - Nov. 1
Hunt C turned out to be like a football game where all the scoring was done in the first quarter, the last quarter, and finally had to go into overtime. Here are the details:
The first afternoon of the hunt Roger Schantz from Levittown, NY found a buck that "melted his butter" - and it's easy to see why when you see the photo. Then, the very next morning, the other three hunters in that group - Roger's sons Wayne and Roy, plus their friend Mel Sherman - all collected nice bucks, as well.
The other two hunters in camp, Mike and Marvin Rogers from New England, hunted and hunted and hunted some more without finding a buck. On the last morning, Marvin finally got to put his tag on a buck, so the official hunt ended with Mike being buck-less. But there was good news here: the brother's plane wasn't until the next morning. When asked if he would like to hunt an additional afternoon, Mike was ready, and was accompanied by brother Marvin who tagged along to see what might happen. Sure enough, Mike make a 170 yard shot to put a good 10 pointer on the ground.
So this event was akin to a field goal in overtime to win the game. All six hunters in camp collected bucks, and to top that, they all took their quota of three does each. Our tally board had not one empty slot - they filled'er up.
The weather has been almost perfect the past few days. Chilly in the morning (45 or so), but warmed to around 80 during the mid-afternoon. A dry front blew through the area on the last afternoon but the wind wasn't terribly bad. Sadly there has been no moisture. The dry conditions are making our deer hungry now, and the big news of the hunt has been the presence of a herd of deer right their in our photo studio eating "greens and corn". We finally collected a series of photos to better show all this. They are posted on the Trail Camera page of this website dated November 2.
During the "overtime" hunt, Brandon Ezell (high school senior, camp roustabout, skinner, feeder-filler, and all around hand for several years now) guided his girlfriend, Alisha Ahlers to her first-ever deer - a nice doe. Alisha and Brandon's sister, Brandi, have taken on the daunting task of cleaning the lodge between hunts. So far, the girls are doing a really-good job, but we are hoping this hunting habit Alisha just acquired won't interfere with her work. But isn't that a challenge for every hunter? Don't all of us dream about avoiding work to go hunting? Alisha - welcome to the club.
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| Hunt C - Five Adobe Lodge Vets, one first-timer |
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| Hunt C - Guides and Staff |
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| 18" 10pt. |
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| 19 1/2" 9 pt. |
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| 17" 8 pt. 193 lbs. |
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| 18" 8 pt. |
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| 16" 9 pt. |
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| 16" 10 pt. |
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| Over-time buck and the field goal unit. |
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| 110 lb doe - FIRST DEER |
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| Rookie guide, rookie hunter |
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| Adobe Lodge Clean-up Crew |
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Hunt B October 23-27
Not recovering a wounded buck is akin to pouring cold water onto the spirit of a deer camp. It happened to us on the first hunt, and happened again on this second hunt of our season. Actually, it happened twice. Thankfully, one was found; sadly the other was not.
In camp were three Adobe Lodge veteran hunters and four first-timers. Alabama native Vic Hamilton has hunted with us numerous times and his son, Lee, has been here almost as often. Lee's wife, Tina, was here to take her first-ever whitetail. The Hamilton group also included Vic's brother, Lawson (who now lives in South Carolina), plus an amigo, Bob Stone, a retired air force pilot. The other two hunters were both from PA - Jerry Tibbott (here in '06 with son, Austin) and Jeff Artley.
The first afternoon of the hunt was uneventful, but the next morning, Tina, sitting in a blind with Lee acting as her coach, guide, and videographer, hit a buck. At first the deer didn't even appear to have been touched by the bullet. Lee carefully studied the victim's meanderings and when finally they went to look for evidence, sure enough there was blood. Unlike Paul Harvey, the "rest of the story" did not have a happy ending and turned out to be an all-day ordeal for all involved. Numerous guides; dogs; tracking; miles and miles; no lunch; etc. Plenty of blood was found along the way, but - no buck. And doggone the luck anyway.
Jerry Tibbott's bow-kill buck was a different story. Jerry, an experienced bow hunter and wise to the ways of hunting, put his arrow into the buck and watched as the buck ran a short distance to lay down under a bush. After a bit, Jerry elected to quietly leave his stand to return to camp to search for the deer the next day. Sure enough, when they found the buck, he hadn't gone another 25 yards. The cape and the horns were fine and nevermind the meat. Jerry also collected a nice javelina - the first non-deer critter of the season.
Lee Hamilton had elected, as do many of our veteran hunters to hunt under our "Trophy Option" package. Lee asked if Tina might be allowed to take his buck. Of course we said yes, and finally, Tina did, indeed, collect her first-ever whitetail. And Bob Stone finally found the buck he wanted on the last afternoon. So Hunt B had a good ending after all.
Once again, this group of hunters did a bang-up job (no pun intended) on collecting twenty antlerless deer. All but one of the seven hunters took three each. There were four bucks taken. Except for Tina, all the Hamiltons were here to possibly take a "monster". They went home buckless but all said they were satisfied with their hunt. Vic had seen an exceptional buck but just never could quite get the shot he wanted.
The weather now is "normal" - whatever that means. It is in the mid-70's during the day and the mid-40's at night. Thankfully, we suffered no super-windy days on this hunt. But it is getting mighty dry now, and there are zero forbs and winter weeds to be found. The deer are out and about doing strange things in their search for food. Want evidence? Check our trail camera posting of October 27 when we got photos of monster bucks right there in our photo studio at the lodge. Hungry deer - that's good news for deer hunters. Also, there are reports of young bucks doing a bit of easy fighting, but the rut is yet to come.
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| Hunt B - Two from PA; one from SC; four from AL |
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| Hunt B - Guides and Staff: Jeff Brannon, Albert Zapata, Jerry Watts, Jeff Stark, and cook, Charlie Bowers. |
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| 18" 7 pt. |
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| 17" 10 pt. - Bow |
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| Javelina - 50 lbs. |
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| 17" 8 pt. |
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| 18 1/4" 7 pt. - FIRST BUCK |
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Hunt A October 18-22
10-23-07 Finally. The season is underway. And the kickoff-hunt was, mostly, a good one.
The hunt was hosted by Sub Sea 7 from Houston, a company that is involved in completing oil wells off-shore around the world. What an interesting bunch these folks are, and you ought to hear about their incredible work. Some of these guys have hunted with us several times, but until they arrive in camp each trip, we never know just who might be in their party. This year was no different. There were a couple of familiar faces, but most were first-time Adobe Lodge hunters.
There was to be a party of eight, but as it turned out, we had only five hunters for the whole time, and one hunter was able to be here for only about 24 hours. So as we compile our statistics, we will have to remember that we didn't have a complete team on the field for the duration of the game. With that in mind, here are the results of the hunt: the six hunters put three bucks on our tally board, but there were two DNF's (did not find the buck). And there was a miss at a buck. So how do you count these sad events when you figure your annual success rate?
The census data compiled by our biologists shows that we must remove a large number of does this season, and the Sub Sea 7 group did an outstanding job in helping with this task. The five hunters who were here for the entire hunt took a total of fourteen does (plus a DNF doe) and most all of the antlerless deer were just the kind we like to see brought into camp - large, mature does. Indeed, one of the does put 140 lbs. on our scale and that just might be the heaviest doe we have ever seen taken here. When time permits, we will have to study our records to confirm this.
The weather was plenty warm until the final morning of the hunt when a cold front blew through the area. No doubt the warm weather kept the super-bucks hidden under a shade tree somewhere. Nevermind what our trail cameras are finding - the hunters saw plenty of immature bucks but not too many large ones.
There were times when it was fairly windy, too, which affected the two bow hunters in camp. Tom Dade, Katy, TX had a monster buck at 38 yards but elected to not shoot at that distance in the gusting wind. What a sportsman! Such an attitude is to be congratulated and appreciated by all who love the sport of whitetail hunting. Nick Bellnoski, Houston, TX collected his first-ever buck with his bow - a moment he will never forget - and what a buck he was, as you will see in the photos below. Just click on any photo to enlarge it and to get more information.
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| Sub Sea 7 Hunters - Texans All |
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| Adobe Lodge Staff - Hunt A |
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| 17 3/4" 8 pt. 165# - Bow |
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| 16" 11 pt. 145 lbs. - Bow |
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| 17" 8 pt. 180 lbs. |
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| First deer of the 2007 season |
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| The photo session - a happy time. |
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| Hard-hat guide wear. |
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Here's how to contact us:
Skipper Duncan
Adobe Lodge Hunting Camp
P.O. Box 60127
San Angelo, TX 76906
e-mail: skipper@adobelodge.com
cell: 325 374-7024
office: 325 942-8040
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