This was a great trip and an all time thrill for me to share a camp with Gene and Barry Wensel. The weather crippled us right off the bat with a ton of rain. It made a lot of the roads impassable, so access to some of our area was all but impossible. Then on day four, we got 4 inches of snow dumped on us! Yes…In Texas!!!!

Never released an arrow, but got real close one afternoon. Wasn’t meant to be for me on this trip. But still an awesome time with even better people!

The ranch was enormous and beautiful…

A giant boar we saw from the road on day one…

Sheds were all over the place…

We found these one day…

Common sign…we saw some very big boars…

Sunset…

Then came the snow….

A reminder we were still in Texas…

Hunting partners, Don and Skyler Wilson from AL…I hunted this day,all day, in wet snow and light rain in my 90% jacket and pants. No moisture reached my Traverse layers underneath…most excellent!

Same area as first picture…

Ouch!

A lot of time behind the Leica’s…

A picture I’ll treasure…Barry and Gene…

Just got back from a great weekend on the famed Tejon Ranch of Southern California.  As usual, it was a great time and we went 4 for 4 on the hogs.  The highlight for me was getting to whack one with the wife and kid in tow.   My cousin, Matt Sumrow, also got to take his first wild pig.

Homey don’t play “off season.”  A buddy of mine just talked me into trying something new.  A predator hunt, at night, with hounds.  This was definitely not the typical hunt but it sounded interesting and with nothing else planned we decided to give it a shot.  My brother, Taylor, and I loaded up and headed a few hours north for a quick hunt.  It was not what we expected but sure was fun.  It was supposed to be easy.  It was not.  Far from it.  We were hoping for bobcats.  The area is also loaded with bears and big cats too so there was always the element of the unknown.  It was cool hunting in the dark as you never knew what the dogs might have treed.  The first chase resulted in an instant strike and a tree several hours and miles later.  It was one of the most strenuous climbs I’ve ever been on.  Straight up, soaking wet, crawling on all fours, with an oak brush canopy that was so thick you could not stand up.  When we finally got to the tree, it was so thick that it took us several minutes to even find the animal in the tree, and another several minutes to see it well enough to identify it.

Taylor was up first. His only “shot window” was tiny and heavily obstructed with branches.  He had a 3” circle exposing the critter’s head and that was it.  The first two shots deflected off branches.  The third just grazed the side of his head.  The next shot resulted in a bumped release and a mis flung arrow.  The fifth arrow hit home perfectly, right between the eyes (I have a picture but it’s a bit graphic).  After that shot, the animal amazingly jumped from the tree and took off.  We didn’t think it would go far but it did.  We let the dogs go again and they treed a mile later, fortunately back towards the truck.

This time Taylor was down to his sixth and last arrow.  We found a good shot angle, lit the critter up, and Taylor drilled him with a good kill shot.  The amazing thing was that the fifth arrow was still stuck in the animal.  A few inches of arrow was sticking out of his face and a few inches was sticking out of his hind quarter.  That animal had run over a mile, in thick brush, with an arrow running the length of him!  Pretty incredible.

We ran the dogs the rest of the night but no more good chases.  We froze our asses off.  The brush was soaking wet and made us soaking wet.  We were not prepared for such a long chase and I was not dressed properly.  I just threw my Celcius jacket in the truck and jumped in with jeans on.  I will NEVER hunt in blue jeans again.  Once I stopped moving for a few minutes my pants would actually freeze to my legs.  I was incredibly cold all night.  Cotton kills!  I was truly longing for my fast-drying Sitka pants.  We watched the sun come up and didn’t get back to camp until well after day break.  I haven’t stayed up all night since college!  This was certainly a non-traditional hunt and new for us, but will definitely be something I’ll do again.  The rush of chasing predators at night is very addicting.  Can’t wait to go again.

Last weekend, Brian Wessel, Mike Mealey, Mike Mitten, and I attended the 15th Annual Traditional Expo to show off all the new Sitka Gear. The place was packed and we were busy all day with guys looking at the new Optifade Forest Pattern.

The Incinerator Jacket and Bibs will be the stand hunters dream wear! Goose Down from Sitka, who would have thought!!!

More perfect whitetail gear was oogled in the form of the Stratus Jacket and Bibs. Quiet and windproof–Excellent!

I wish I had taken photos of the shocked faces…all the traditional wool guys coming over to complain how noisey our gear was…what’s that, no noise? How can that be!

We helped at dozens guys figure out what pieces they needed to order for a proper system. Dealers will be busy when the new gear hits the shelves.

All in all, the best show I have done. Crowds were up and interest in Sitka Gear was HIGH!

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