THE LAST POST!

This will be the last post for this website on blogger. Please join us at our new site, you will love it! And make sure to join the discussions in our Forum!

www.TheHuntingGame.com

The Clock Is Ticking!

It will not be long now and the new page will be underway.  Thought I would share with you guys a couple things about the new site that you may or may not like.

1. The layout is really different.  It is a pretty busy website with a lot of information on it, but is also made easy to navigate.
2. There is a forum for everyone to post the pictures, videos, point of views, tips,  and for sale items.  If you would like you can post the pictures on the forum, or send them to us via e-mail for our Home Page and we may do a write up on you as well.  This is all free, so please feel free to use it all the time!  This forum is also made to post pictures directly from your computer without the use of photobucket, imageshack, or any other hosting website, so you should really like its ease of use.
3. You will have to sign up for the Forum with a valid e-mail address and password... just like any other forum.
4. We will be having a Big Buck Competition this year, and it is only limited to Wise County, Texas.  Since this is it's first year, we are keeping it small and do not want to get in over our heads this year.  If you would like to sign up, just wait a week and it will all be on the new site. $60/person and pays 3 places with a mount for 1st place, and deer processing for 2nd Place. Details next week.
5. Share the site... the more people that come to the site and use the forum, the more we will all get out of the site, including some nice giveaways...
6. Once the new site is up, we will not be posting to this site anymore.  We will leave a last post to direct everyone to the new site in case they end up here.
7. Here is a little preview I posted on our new Facebook Page, which is also something we added.  If you like the Facebook Page (ad on top left), it will also keep you updated with the new site, let you know when contests are starting up, give you a chance at some giveaways, and keep you up to date with new posts :)

Things On My Mind!

• Hog Cheese! Sounds strange right? Well I used it this weekend to see if it would attract this huge hog that has been terrorizing my deer! It is made of fermented peanuts and will make you sick just smelling it.
  
  See the brown spot... Hog Cheese! I could smell it while I was up top!
• Well you don't see me posting a picture of the beast do you? I watched 2 does and a fawn get close, sniff it, then run up wind like a bear was chasing them.  Not making that mistake again!
• The hog came close, but not in bow range.  I also had about 15 turkeys come grazing through my site... I did get a nice little panoramic pic while I was napping in my stand!
  
  Click to enlarge!
• The new GoPro works like a champ... I will post some video of the hunt later on today.
• With the new website about to launch I may want to get all of my material ready... I'm a little nervous, but think it will all be easy to use in less than a week.
• Here's a nice little article about Duck Hunting on a budget. For all you deer hunters than don't duck hunt, just wanted to let you know it is just as costly!
• After we get a couple sponsors on the new site we're going to have a nice little giveaway contest for everyone that signs up for the forum.  It is a free forum, but we are also going to be offering a "Supporting Membership" and some other odd and end things...
• Of course we will have sign ups for the Wise County Hog Contest and the Turkey Contest on there as well, with the addition of the Big Buck Contest as well.
• And to all of you who didn't try my mojo set up for dove season... you missed out.  Yesterday, we shot a mojo because the dove tried to land in the middle of them.
• Here's a nice dove recipe I think I may try after my next hunt!

Forum Preview

Thought I would give you guys a sneak peak at the new forum for the website!  Tell me what you guys think...then again, not many people comment on here.

EDIT: The new site will be ready Thursday!

Things On My Mind!

And it's less than a month away!

• Looks like we are going to be hosting a big buck competition this year, but being the first year and the website being remade, it will probably only be for people hunting in Wise County only.
• Johnny over at Rut Country Taxidermy is an SCI certified scorer and will probably be the one to score them... I will post details about it later on!  
• And yes, next year we will make it for Wise and surrounding counties, then hopefully to North Texas.  This year it will be pretty straight forward, but next year the options will be open for different divisions...
• I just bought one of these... Pick Stick!  If you dove, duck, or goose hunt, you must get one, you will not regret it! Video of it in action.
• TPWD had a media release about the rise of Geocaching (a real-world, outdoor treasure hunting game using GPS-enabled devices. Participants navigate to a specific set of GPS coordinates and then attempt to find the geocache (container) hidden at that location.) and after I read the article they had, I found a geocache without the use of a GPS device.  It was a waterproof box with camo duct tape all over it to keep it hidden... Ironic!
• All it had was a stamp (like an ink stamp) and a journal to leave your own stamp on.  There were people from Georgia, Colorado, and Virginia who had left there little mark in it.
• FYI - Here is what the format of the forum for the new website will look like.  Hunting Washington When it is up and running I hope you guys will share it with all your hunting friends.  We hope to even have a booth next year at Hunter's Extravaganza to help promote it, too.

Dove Season Plus Some...

• Opening day was a nice little starter for the season!
• Nothing better than getting your limit, bring home fresh killed dove, then marinating them for the rest of the day before cooking them that evening.  
• They were fabulous! 
• Echo, my lab, did excellent (Thank you Jason at Dark Timber Kennels)!  
• Echo took off after a wounded dove about 50 yards away that was just hovering about 2 feet off the ground and caught him before he ever touched the ground. 
• I hooked up the GoPro to him as well, but missed the best shot when he made that retrieve. I took it off him 5 minutes before... Bummer!
• And for those of you that use mojos, I hope you read my tip in an earlier post about placing them in a triangle pattern facing the center. It worked opening morning and I was the only one in my group to shoot limit... not bragging, just trying to give you guys some dove hunting love.
• Any bands guys?
• Send me some pics of your limits guys!

Antagonizing...

Yep... He would be in my sights after seeing this on my game cam. CREDIT: J.Holley

Things On My Mind! (Crazy Animal Mishaps)

If someone would have shot that doe during bow season...

This never would have happened!

• Some situations just can't be avoided... luckily for us, we have cell phones with cameras and go pros to help record some of those situations!
• Never pee on an electric fence!
• This never gets old... race car vs. deer!
• Some of these are old, but I still get a laugh out of them... Animal Wins & Fails.
• I don't think I would want to corner a bull elk! Just my opinion, but they don't look too soft and cuddly!
• That's all I've got for now... New website should be up soon! 

Why Did The Bear Cross The Road?

Things On My Mind!

• I'm not a big fan of cows being let loose on my lease a month before bow season starts... time to get to fence building!
• TPWD has set the waterfowl regulations already.  We can actually harvest 2 Canvasback a day, which is the first time that it has been legal to shoot 2 in over half a century.
• And they also have, in the making, an online course for the Texas Hunter's Safety Course.  I sat in a class room for what felt like 48 hours to get mine done, now you can be done in 6 hours!
• Did anyone watch the "Aporkolypse" last night on Sportsman Channel?  Pigman, Uncle Ted, and some others killed, what I thought they said, 455 hogs from a helicopter.  My bucket list got a little longer last night...
• I think the people in the picture above over did their limit!  Unless of course they are in South America where the dove are considered pests.
• I could always use a couch like this!

Dove Season Approaches

Click on Picture to Enlarge

• As the flying mini ribeyes of the sky start to come into season, I'm sitting here wondering, where am I going to hunt...not good!
• I have a buddy out looking for land, but have had no success in finding any decent dove property.
• If I could hunt in downtown Decatur, or my back yard, I would! Every dove hunter sees more dove in town then they do closer to the country... for some reason that is just how it works.
• I also like to shoot and eat pigeons... they taste just as good (sorry if there is a pigeon racer in the crowd).
• Have you heard of the dove tree? Some swear by it but I will end this post with my best tip!
• Bag Limit for North Zone:  15 White Wing, Mourning, or White Tipped in the aggregate; to include no more than 2 White Tipped.  I have never seen/shot/killed a white tipped dove! 
• If you get a banded dove, don't for get to report it with the USGS or call 1-800-327-BAND

TIP:

• Buy 3 mojos and place them in a triangle shaped pattern about 4 feet apart with each dove looking at the center of the triangle.  It resembles how the dove land when going into a food source.  Also it helps get the attention of dove that are a distance away in different directions.  

DOVE SPECIES:

Eurasian Dove

SHOOT EM!

No Closed Season & No Limit!

Inca Dove

Mostly in South Texas

DO NOT SHOOT!

Mourning Dove

SHOOT EM!

White Wing

SHOOT EM!

White Tipped Dove

SHOOT EM! 

But Only 2/Day!

Rock Dove / Feral Pigeon

SHOOT EM!

No Closed Season & No Limit!

Hunter's Extravaganza Review

• This is my first time going and let me say... I will go back next year for sure! It was awesome! I saw so many new things and took care of a lot of our bow hunting clothes shopping while we were there.
• Of course, we grabbed a a couple cold ones before we started walking, which I couldn't believe they served there, but felt very patriotic after purchasing a large and thinking - I'm having a cold beer in the middle of a hunting show with guns everywhere... I love Texas!
• My wife and I saw a couple people we knew who had booths, The Little's from 9 Bar Ranch here in Decatur, Jeff Thomason from Predator Pursuit, and Michael Stark from S3 Deer Stands.

• We will have a booth next year to promote the new site!  Along with my friend and guide buddy, Jason Craig with DTK Waterfowl and Dark Timber Kennels (we are splitting a booth). 
• Since the site is finally being redone with the forum and all we have the opportunity to sell ad spaces and try and get the name out there for people to visit the site more... every little bit helps and everyone loves a free koozie!
• If you're going to Hunter's Extravaganza and are thinking of buying an ATV or Side by Side... don't go, you will buy one!
• Has anyone ever heard of Hartcraft Exchange? So far, I'm really impressed with there broadheads!  We bought a Master Pak which included six ferrules and locking collars, twelve Trophy I blades, twelve Trophy II blades, twelve Thumper blades, twelve Lil Thumper blades, nine Lopper blades, two X-Tends, and one 9v 3LED flashlight. Here is a pic of the broadheads!

• Not only are they interchangeable with the blades, but the ferrules are extremely sharp and if they are damaged in any way, they will replace them at no charge! I can not wait to try the Lopper blades and try and cut off a turkey head because they are just plain scary looking! We will probably be doing a review on these as well!
• I came across a duck call company that I have been following for quite some time on Facebook called Toxic Calls.  They are from Idaho and have an awesome design on there calls, but are a little different then most.  Of course, I couldn't help but try one and then ultimately, make the purchase of a pink double read for my collection!
• We also purchased a new set of small Nikon Binocs, my wife some Scent Lok clothing and boots, a blood trail flashlight, and above all (drum roll please)....a Pico De Gallo Maker!  You may be wondering why on earth they were selling them at a Hunter's Extravaganza Event, but let me tell you, they made a killing.  Since we have had it for the last 2 days we have already made pico de gallo, ground up sausage, beat eggs, chopped veggies, and made more hot sauce.  It is one of the most awesome things I have ever owned and I could not even begin to tell you what it is called, but it cost us $35. EDIT: I googled "Pico De Gallo Maker" and found it... the Kitchen Plus 3000!

• They had a Rattlesnake Pit!  It made me a little nervous seeing a bunch of rattlesnakes, especially when the guys running it have there coolers, tables, and food all sitting in the pit with them walking around it like it's no big deal.  My kids would have loved it, but the boy probably would have tried to stick his fingers into the fence...

• There were also plenty of booths rented by outfitters, and some of them were most impressive!  9 Bar's was probably one of my favorites, there were nice tables, displays, and mounts...even had a couple from my Taxi, Johnny at Rut Country! My wife even asked them if she could shoot a Moose with her bow at there place... she really wants to Moose hunt for some reason.
• If all else fails and you don't find anything you would like to buy, there are always stickers and free koozies everywhere to be found!
• I was a little dissapointed I didn't get to see Operation Game Thief's Wall of Shame!  They took it to San Antonio and Houston, but for some reason left us here in North Texas out.
• I also never made it to check out the Deer Competition, and I even had a friend who had entered his 10 point from last year... turns out he got 2nd place in Division III for archery and missed 1st by 1/4 of an inch!  They went by net score and his was 159 5/8 Gross with a net score of 145 2/8... the man who won had a gross score of 149 2/8 but won with a net of 145 4/8. Brian Loper, you still had a beast of a buck with 2nd Place, Congrats Bud (He was also there as part of the Prostaff of Cinnamon Creek Archery)!

• I can not wait till next year to see what all is new and hope to help this site get up and going a little more after the remodel, which shouldn't be but about another month or so... Let's do this!

Peace Out... I'm gone!

Texas Trophy Hunters in Fort Worth, Texas!

North Texas to Colorado

Some of the younger Chapman kids from Decatur took off to Colorado to do some fishing... They have caught a couple Trout (the bigger) and Brownies (the smaller) and even came 2 inches from catching a state record Brownie.  I've never been river fishing, but this is making me think it may be time to give it a try...

Cameron Hanes

There are some people that inspire us and really get us going when it comes to working out and hunting... so it was really neat when Cameron Hanes posted what I sent to him about my wife!

I Have No Idea

Does it look like she pulled it just a little too much? Cause I have never seen anything like this...

Hell of a shot if you ask me!

It will stay there as a reminder to never shoot with the dog in the kennel!

Not A Good Way To Start The Weekend!

CREDIT:  Taylor Everett of Bridgeport, Texas rescued this little guys this morning and got him back on track!

Post About Ducks!

• Duck season does start at the same time as rifle season, so I thought a little duck info might not hurt anything...
• New waterfowl calls of 2013! Thanks to the Ducks Unlimited News Letter.
• And as I was looking through the 2013 new waterfowl calls from the link above, I saw these guys, Paleo River... now I don't know how they sound,but I sure would like to get one of their whistles, they are very nice looking!
• And of course DU has listed the new waterfowl guns of 2013, but I never thought an over and under would ever be on the list!
• And here is a complete 2013 Waterfowl Gear Guide you can look at that includes everything.
• And you might as well drill a well near your ponds here in North Texas because they are drying up fast!