Sako Rifles Afield (as intended)

[Bucktote]

Best wishes & good luck!!
planning & stealth will pay off.

 

[stonecreek]

Well, not "afield", but you've seen this buck and Sako "afield" in an earlier thread: https://sakocollectors.com/forum/threads/vintage-sakos-and-deer-of-a-lifetime.16781/

Just got it back from the taxidermist and hung it in a place of honor beside my son's 6-point bull elk which is flanked by a Colorado mule deer I took a few years ago. Spaher calls it a "Trifecta" of North American deer species. My wife says to stop there -- she refuses to let a moose head into the house (but maybe I could sneak in a West Coast blacktail someday if I'm stealthy about it).

 

[Bucktote]

Hi Mr. Stonecreek,
I tried that with the buck from McMillan county, it didn't work, but they get over it after a while. Several nice dinners at a good sea food place seemed to work for me, but the ball is in your court!! Best wishes & may the force be with you!!

 

[Bucktote]

While we are talking about trophy deer etc. a discussion came up about Boar hog heads on the wall Never at my house! Then what cal. rifle? I have taken them with .22, 243, 30/30, 30/06 & maybe this year with 25/06. Some friends recently purchased a farm property with a plethora of feral hogs. I know how our friends in Texas are plagued with them and we have our share in GA & SC.
May I suggest hog training? While in Argentina I was shown by the outfitter how they train pigs to come to the shooting stands. They take a small cup of diesel fuel, sprinkle it on the ground then spread a coffee can of corn close to
the corn, NOT on the diesel fuel. Within 15 minutes there were 30+ pigs of all sizes fighting for the corn! I don't know how long it took to train the hogs to associate diesel smell with corn, but the results were astonishing. Mr.Stonecreek, that is quite an impressive wall you have, maybe like
Larry Potterfield says, "maybe just one more"

 

[stonecreek]

While we are talking about trophy deer etc. a discussion came up about Boar hog heads on the wall Never at my house!

Yeah, they're pretty ugly. I do have a bleached boar skull that my wife tolerates my keeping out on the screened porch.

Here's a photo of the den wall opposite the one above. The craggy old whitetail on the left is one my son took. I love the character of that deer. It was on it's last legs, had almost no teeth, and its body was skinny and drawn. My son was only 12 years old at the time, which is probably about the same age as the deer! The one on the right I took, a nice 10-point typical. Both are from the Rolling Plains of West Texas kinda between Abilene and Lubbock.

 

[Bucktote]

Beautiful trophy display Mr. Stonecreek! My family room has all mine allowed by the secretary of the interior, Sorry can only show opposite wall
I am computer challenged, will try later.[
edit #1. Hope this works, Three cluster: deer in middle from Texas, between George West & 7 Sisters. 7 1/2 year old, 255 lbs, Deer on left, near Post Texas, Salt fork Brazos river, Deer upper right from our farm. Mom says " That's all folks"

 

[Spaher]

Well, Sako rifles not going to be re-sighted in or different ammo tested for awhile. Hoping this is the end of our drought in S Tx as got 8.3” of rain overnight & rifle range flooded, with swarms of mosquitoes & gnats expected in a few days. Mosquitoes life cycle of 13 days if no stagnant water, so a puzzle on that. Upside is forbs to explode & greatly help for last 6-7 weeks of antler growth with extreme temps dropping. Our Sako rifles are going to have a bit of fun soon.

 

[icebear]

Amazing! Eight inches overnight. I don't recall that even the heaviest of our summer monsoons produces that much. Good luck with the cleanup.

 

[Bucktote]

Hi. Mr. Spaher,
What are the strips of vegetation & bare ground in the photo? Are they trees or bushes? Can't tell what I am looking at? Yes sudden heavy rain is a mixed blessing & a curse, but we can't control the weather & must do the best we can, good luck!!

 

[Bucktote]

Hi. Mr. Spaher,
What are the strips of vegetation & bare ground in the photo? Are they trees or bushes? Can't tell what I am looking at? Yes sudden heavy rain is a mixed blessing & a curse, but we can't control the weather & must do the best we can, good luck!!

 

[bloorooster]

Spaher..is it true?
I’ve heard that Aug is the most accelerated period of antler growth? Up to an inch per day??

Icebear..we had 7” of rain night before last .. over the course of 8 hours. Flash floods have been devastating here the past few weeks

 

[Spaher]

Strips are areas for planting oats, turnips etc in Mid-October for wildlife from November to Late April & for cattle to graze in April & May, with orchard grass(native) will grow in May through summer [] for birds, turkeys, etc.
Between strips is mostly just mesquite trees & all else is big combo of native brush with high protein content. In background you can see 2 other food plots in distance. We use a drone for overviews & then satellite imaging for things like measuring for fencelines & replacement in calculating purchasing supplies as quite accurate. On occasion we’ll use a drone for helping i.d. location of straggler cattle in the brush when changing pastures to graze. Of course, the native habitat is the cornerstone for wildlife. Added habitat & Tx “duck” photo…humor
As to amount of growth I don’t believe 1”@ day is correct but August is the most stressful period (dog days), but good range conditions & temps influence growth to finish out, i.e., big G-2’s & 3’s but small G-4’s a symptom of stress in my opinion.

 

[icebear]

That's a pretty impressive longhorn in the first photo!

 

[Spaher]

Thx Icebear. Here is a rare all black one & a 109.5” skull. Hoping to have some younger ones reach 120” in the future

 

[Bucktote]

I expect that straggler cattle would be easy prey for Ms. Puma pictured in your post. It must be quite a chore rounding strays up, but drones would be quite an effective tool. Use Thermacell at the shooting range, your mosquitoes are big enough to fry & like ours they take a pint at a time!!!

 

[Spaher]

Guys, posting topics to keep conversations going during slower times while we wait for hunting season. 99% off-topic but thought entertaining to some of us. Thanks

 

[icebear]

Guys, posting topics to keep conversations going during slower times while we wait for hunting season. 99% off-topic but thought entertaining to some of us. Thanks

OK by me. I don't know much about game ranching and I enjoy learning about it from somebody who obviously cares about the natural environment and works within ecosystems. Too many people, notably politicians, don't even know what an ecosystem is and don't care.

 

[Spaher]

Icebear, reply on earlier Q of cleanup after unusually heavy rains, we have none other than fence repairs at times. All structures built preventively on high ground. Our river & creek crossings we build ourselves designed for slow water rises as minimal elevation declines. We’ve gotten up to 24’ rises on river with less on creeks or tributaries or affluents, but crossings made for debris to flow over as riprap angled in front of water direction to allow early road usage even if water remains. Debris is a major contributor to damage from water so minimize it or have alternate design to catch it elsewhere.

 

[stonecreek]

Hoping this is the end of our drought in S Tx as got 8.3” of rain overnight

I saw that tropical disturbance was going to come close to you and had my fingers crossed that you'd get some much needed rain. Boy, did you! Still nothing in the way of moisture here a little way to the north of you. I lost 300 acres to a brush fire last week, and had to evacuate the house overnight. So I wish you had shared just a smidgeon of that rain with me!

 

[icebear]

I saw that tropical disturbance was going to come close to you and had my fingers crossed that you'd get some much needed rain. Boy, did you! Still nothing in the way of moisture here a little way to the north of you. I lost 300 acres to a brush fire last week, and had to evacuate the house overnight. So I wish you had shared just a smidgeon of that rain with me!

Wow, that was a close call. Glad everybody is OK and the house didn't get hit. Pula! (That's the national motto of Botswana; it means something like "Pray for rain" in Setswana.)