The road goes on-Moderator Meltdown

[Charlie Lamb]

Steve... I'm pretty sure you meant "Mole Asses"  :D  

 

[Charlie Lamb]

Curtis, Kevin and I were just settling in to our home away from home when the rest of the gang came through the door. For a little while all was turmoil and confusion as old friends embraced and shook hands like the long lost brothers we all really were.

Curt Cabrera made his way through the gang and thrust a strong tanned hand my way. I'd been looking forward to meeting Curt returned his firm grip and infectious smile.... and that smile is a beaut, let me tell ya.
I had to give him a little rib about his hunting accident and asked to see the bullet hole in his leg as proof of who he was. Seems I wasn't the first who'd pulled that gag that day. LOL

Through the crowd I spotted Rob DiStefano, reserved and smiling in his own friendly way. We soon clasped hands and sealed the friendship which we'd built over the years. No more computer relationships! This was the real deal and I thought to myself how natural and right it all was and how it was long over due. And I marveled a little at how great it all fealt to be with these men, as I always do when meeting Trad Gang members. They always seem to be the best of the best.

One by one I greeted each man. Brothers of the moderators wars, we'd long stood beside each other behind the scenes fending off the occasional  disgruntled member that our duties had forced us to offend when making a tough call on a post. Each and everyone of us had experienced that even though each had done his best to handle the situations in the most diplomatic and fair way possible.
We'd counciled with each other on the tougher problems that had arisen and there is always comfort in knowing you can draw from a bank of wisdom such as this group of friends so aptly represents. No arrogance or vindictiveness either. Just good solid guys... one and all.

New to me was Dick "Rabbitman" Easter, the quick witted, jovial bowman from Ohio. We'd spend time cruising the cactus patches before it was all over and Dick is one fine companion.

I'd met Chad Jones before and was glad to have him with us for the hunt. Chad's a quiet guy and another one of those dang Ohio boys that makes a habit of laying down big whitetail bucks often enough to make me quite envious.

Bob Walker was one of the big guys on the hunt. Tall and good natured, he'd proven to be a hard and diligent hunter at the Texas Sweat.
Bob had arrived with little problem, but his bow had somehow been routed to a different destination. Without so much as a bat of the eye, Bob picked up one of the St. Jude's bows and with a few arrows I donated to the cause was good to go.

Joe "JC" Coots was there to and I was happy to be spending time with him again. I'd become very close to Joe. Sharp as a tack and as fine a stickbow shooter as you'll likely run into anywhere, he seems to have a permanent smile on his face and a mischievious glint in his eye to match.    

Soon we were filling out the required paperwork and turned shortly after that to assembling bows and gathering gear, pulling on camo of a variety of patterns to suit the needs and philosophies of each bowman. It was damn hot outside in the midday sun, but we didn't care. We soon had divided up in two's and three's and split from the camp house in our respective vehicles.
Each newcomer teamed with a veteran of the Texas Sweat and each Sweat Vet with an idea just exactly where he'd start looking for game on the expansive 12,000 acre ranch.

Curt Cabrera and I jumped in my truck and headed out behind camp to an area that I'd had lots of Javelina action in during Texas Sweat '06.

Just a couple hundred yards from camp you turn up a sendero along that stretch and you can see for a half mile or better. I fully expected to see Javies as we rounded the last bend in the trail, but we didn't.
Pulling the gear shift lever down into "Stalk" we slowly cruised the sendero watching for blunt, round tracks of hogs and the diminuative, almost birdlike tracks of Javelina.
I was a bit surprised that we saw little of either.

[Guru]

....So we checked the pond,then Charlie and I set up and tried to call a coyote...we gave it about 20 minutes...nothing showed so we headed back to the truck....shooting along the way.

...We got back to the truck and got ready for some serious rabbit hunting!!!

 

..I shot a couple bunnies...

 

....As we cruised,Charlie saw a rabbit and got out to get a shot....as he was getting ready he motioned that there was another one on my side,so i got out,and as I started after it, it moved off a little,but not too far,I wasn't really paying much attention as I was more interested in what Charlie was doing,my bunny took off for the brushline,then Charlie made a great shot!!
  Then as Charlie was going after his bunny,I heard a big commotion over where the bunny I had been after had entered the brush,I look over see the bushes shaking and out comes the rabbit,twice as fast as he when in!!!!!

  I get to thinking,"what the heck could have chased that bunny out of there but a snake",so as Charlie was getting his bunny I went over,VERY SLOWLY, for a look......As I got closer,I could see that my hunch was correct......A BIG DIAMONDBACK!!!!  

 Well,It took some tree trimming, some machete' work on a cactus, a couple shots,and, as Charlie said, "getting a little too friendly with that cactus bud"....I had my sought after rattler!!

 

...and Charlie's bunny....


 

....for the next day and a half I paid dearly for getting too close to that cactus!!!!  

  The javi action was slow,but we made up with it shooting rabbits.Here's Charlie with a couple warning shots and then a third,(same rabbit) deadly missle....

 

 

....here's a single deadly head shot...the master at work!!!

The shot....

The walk up....

 


 I'm so grateful for the time I got to share with Charlie.He's a very special person, with so much experience.It was a pleasure and a priveledge bud!!

[Brian Halbleib]

Man oh man, I have to wait 9 more months before scratching this itch again! Thanks guys, keep it coming!

Did anybody get pictures or video of the Curtis Kellar rabbit cleaning technique?

-Brian
 www.bowyersjournal.com

[Guru]

Here's a pic of the head shot bunny....Let me add,Charlie is one fine archer!!!!

 


Looks like Charlie and I were writing at the same time....I've had enough for tonight....have at it bud....

[slow walker]

Dang Charlie, straw hat, white sox, and those same damn coveralls (Did you wash them since March?)  Gettin' a little arrogant ain't ya??

[JEFF B]

hey nice shot on the rabbit

[Charlie Lamb]

Con... those are my snakeproof white socks!    I tried washing my bibs once, but it made them smell funny!!  :D

[Al33]

A most wonderful thread. Thanks guys for taking the time to post the pic's, videos, and tales of the hunt. I am enjoying this so very much.

I will be seeing JC this Saturday and I will definitely be soliciting his tales of this adventure.

Al

[the Ferret]

how come I can't see any of these videos? I click on them and get a blank photobucket screen. Anybody have any ideas?

[Joe D]

Good stuff Charlie!  

[Paul R]

how come I can't see any of these videos? I click on them and get a blank photobucket screen. Anybody have any ideas?
 

Same thing was happening to me mate, after the blank photbucket screen comes up go back and click on the video link a second time and it should work.  

[Jumper]

This is cool! Keep the pictures and video coming!

[Tom Mussatto]

Mickey, Photobucket converts all uploaded video to Flash. If you are getting a blank screen you need to install Macromedia Flash Player.

[Littlefeather]

Nice tellin' guys! Sorry I haven't had much to add. I'm swamped with daily duties at the moment. I had some fantastic times with some outstanding guys. One memory that serves me well is telling Rob D that I would work one sendero while he worked another. The plan was for me to return for him if javelina appeared in my sendero. My annual limit is already filled. As the sun hung low in the western sky many javi's begain trickling into the very wide sendero I'd been watching. I quickened my pace to coverthe 1/2 mile back to Rob. As I rounded the corner I was delighted to see Rob in stealth mode just yards behind some very large hogs. I ruturned to the javi's in my sendero to use them to hone my stalking abilities. The only change in my game plan was to carry a 38 blunt on the string. As I neared long shot distance I ran out of cover. A high arcing arrow caught the last javi in the flank area(blunt remember). The javis exploded in a dust cloud but when I arrived to pick up my arrow there was one in the brush not 10 yards away. I greeted him with another surprise, the 38.....He was away in a flash and much wiser from his experience. More later. CK

[Charlie Lamb]

We "prepped" the sendero for future use and headed out for another area of the ranch. I knew just where I wanted to check next. Little did I know that we'd be short stopped by an adventure with Javies.  

As we came down a long straight away on the main sendero, a Javelina darted out into the track ahead of us some 150 yards away.
I wasn't surprised. This stretch had come to be known simply as "the truck stretch" and had provided several of us with stalks during Texas Sweat. An old Chevy pick up sat just off the road here, rusting slowly into oblivion and providing an unmistakable landmark for anyone hunting the area.

As we passed the spot where the Javie had disappeared I had Curt drop off with his bow as I jabbed a finger in the direction of a mesquite which sat just downwind. I eased on up the road in my truck and found a handy spot to park. I was going to slip back down and watch this show and if it got good enough, join in the fray.

I can't speak for Curt, but I had the usual doubts running through my head. "Would the Javie come back out?"  "Would he come out where Curt could do something with him?"  " Would there be more than one?" It didn't take long for my questions to be answered.

A couple of Javies crossed the sendero beyond where I thought I'd put Curt and I soon saw him slip from the brush and head in their direction. If they had stayed close in the brush on the other side of the fence he'd surely get a shot... and if Curt shot I expected we'd be taking photos of his trophy soon. He's as good a hand with a recurve as you'll likely run across.

I could tell by his body language that the little stink pigs had gone on and he was getting ready to move back across the sendero when he suddenly melted into the sparse cover along the fence. That could mean only one thing.

Soon several more Javie's entered the sendero from the side he had started out on. Curt seemed in a bad position. Even though his camo (some kind of Predator pattern, I think) made him virtually invisible against the mottled green brush of the fence row, he'd be hard pressed to close the distance from where he was.

Not long after entering, the little pigs darted skittishly back from where they'd come. I held my position, not wanting to interfer, and watched Curt slip quickly across the open to his original hiding place.

This was all too good to be true and it was just a matter of seconds after I lost sight of Curt, that another bunch of Javie's moved out into the sendero. I just knew that at any moment I'd see the flash of an arrow and one of those musk pigs would take off like a scalded cat, bearing a mortal wound. I was partly right.

Taking the whole scene in through my binoculars, I found myself holding my breath as the seconds ticked away. I knew that often when veiwing through binoculars, that distance is compressed and the animals would look closer to the hunter than they really were. They could be well out of range for all I knew.

Suddenly there was a flurry of activity as the whole pack scurried out of the sendero, but none seemed to have been hit.... at least not that I could tell. Something had happened down there and I closed the distance to find out what.

As I approached Curt's position I caught movement in the fringe of brush along the edge of the sendero. A Javelina, Curt's brightly fletched arrow protruding from it's side, lay kicking out it's last.
I wanted to yell out, but remained quiet and eased on down toward Curt. More Javie's came out into the open at that point. Man! What a thrill. It looked like it just might happen twice.

They disappeared and I closed the gap. Soon I was shaking Curt's hand as he spoke in low tones. We had Javie's all around us.
Curt touched my shoulder and whispered to get ready that he'd just seen a Javelina moving toward the sendero behind me.  

Had I move a little quicker in the direction he'd pointed I'd have been in a better position to shoot, but the little pig made it to the open while I was still to far for good shooting. Little did I know that Curt had his camera on video (I just love the new camera technology...stills and video all in the same camera) and was taping as I tried to close the distance.

I'd opted to wear a tank top instead of a camo T-shirt when we left camp. I figured Curt was the new guy here and should get all the action. I just wanted to stay cool as possible.
The Javelina took in an eye full of that dark purple tank but didn't exactly bolt` right away.

The angle and distance never did get quite right and soon the Javie left the sendero for parts unknown.

[RayMO]

Charlie and guys...just read thru all of this. Just great!    

Charlie, I sure would like to team up with you one of these times and head down south  

[Charlie Lamb]

We stood there by Curt's dead Javie for quite a while waiting to see if this circus was going to continue, but we soon decided we were alone. That's when the handshaking and grinning started in earnest.

I'd shot the last picture on my camera that the battery would handle on the way down to the ranch and would now pay for it. My camera sat idle and battery-less back at camp while the little power tubes sat in the charger. Rooky mistake for sure!
But Curt had his fully charged and we were soon snapping away and admiring his trophy.

After that it was a short run back to the camp house where we deposited the Javie in the walk in cooler. A cold drink and a check to see if my batteries were ready (they weren't) and we were back on the road headed for our original destination.

Except for a few bunnies the rest of the afternoon was pretty slow. We checked several sendero's that had produced just two months before only to find little sign. The sendero I really wanted to check somehow eluded me... just couldn't remember exactly how to get there. So much for being familiar with the ranch!

I guess maybe we'd been granted all the excitement we were allowed for one day as we didn't have anymore Javie encounters.
In our travels, we did run across some of area's jackrabbits. Not as big as the jacks I was accustomed to in the northern Wyoming rockies (whitetail jacks and the biggest of the breed), these south Texas hoppers were of the Blacktail subspecies.
Long and lanky, with ears that were all out of proportion to their body size, these hares were wired tight, just like every other critter in those parts.

They are very hard to get close to, but Curt did a fine job of closing the distance on one and added him to the bag with a well placed shot. A razor sharp Snuffer took the jack in the backside and penetrated him lengthways, exiting it's neck.
Jacks are always surreal in their toughness, but this one gave up the ghost quickly to the giant three blade.
I've yet to add a blacktail jack to my "list" and was a little envious of Curt. But I was having a blast watching him shoot and seeing the joy in his eyes as he savored every encounter.

Back at the camp house that night we all stayed up a little later than we should, but I guess that's par for the course. We caught up on the days adventures over an excellent meal prepared by our talented cook.

The next morning Curt was up and eager long before anyone else was stirring. He could have come and woke me up, but showed some restraint and just let us all get up on our own.
It turned out we were a little late getting away, but it wasn't really a big deal except losing a few minutes of the cool part of the day.

Once again Curt took the shotgun position in my truck and we headed for the back sendero.
Far up the track we spotted a black dot against the light gray dust of the sendero. A quick inspection with binoculars showed a nice size hog putzing around in the open.

Knowing that the "drive, drop, and run" routine seldom worked on hogs, we quickly had the truck hidden in the brush and prepared to assault the hogs position on foot.
We had a good wind to work with, but with the distance being great and nothing in that section of the trail to hold his interest the hog melted into the brush long before we could get within range.

Soon we were back at the truck and not wanting to waste the morning coolness we headed out for the sendero I'd tried to find the previous evening. Curtis had straightened me out on my directions and I was soon pulling through the hub area and into the long straight sendero where I'd seen so many Javies in March. Not to mention a couple of hog sightings and encounters with coyotes.

As the morning grew warmer we failed to see any Javelina or hogs and a quick stand with a varmint call turned up nothing. We did, however, find a few cottontails to harass and I'd be happy just doing that if there wasn't another animal on the ranch.

Curt was able to capture a couple of shots I made at rabbits on tape. I can't say I was tickled with my performance on the first two shots at this one particular bunny, but redeemed myself as he stopped one last time at greater range.

At another rabbit stop, we both had opportunities at bunnies, Curt going right while I went left.
Curt's cottontail hopped away into the brush before he could send an arrow that way and immediately came high tailing back out of the brush at light speed. Curious!

There's been some kind of commotion back in there where the bunny had entered the thick stuff, but Curt turned his attention to videoing my stalk and shot on the bunny I was after. I made that shot count and we turned to see what had happened on Curt's side.

In short order we found the cause of the rabbit's quick exit, curled up at the base of a weesatche bush. A nice size rattler had been the author of the bunnies consternation and frightened flight. He lay there angrily buzzing at our approach.

Scanning the cover close by for any company he might have we pushed out way into the thick of it to settle with Mr. No Shoulders. Holding the brush out of the way so Curt could bring his deadly Kwik Styk into play Curt soon had an arrow in the snake. The shot was a bit off the mark due to deflection by the thick stuff that surronded the diamond back, but soon a second arrow whacked into the snakes skull.

Now all we had to do was get him out of there. Curt made a couple of vain attempts at reaching into that maze of cactus spines and thorns, but we decided it would be best to get the machete from my truck and open things up a bit to speed the process and minimize the blood we were leaving on the local flora.

Soon I had an opening that Curt could work with and he was soon dragging the very dead snake from the tangle. Of course it wasn't before Curt had gotten a little to close to some adjacent cactus and learned the lesson of the spiny pads.

It usually doesn't seem all that bad at first, this brushing against cactus thing. But what at first seems a minor irritation soon gets to be a major pain. Curt had gotten some spines in his side and with their usual malicious character were firmly implanted in the very nerves which drive you crazy while working their way to your very core. I'd learned that very lesson long ago... several times.

We decapitated the dead rattler after taking the mandatory pictures and deposited him in the back of the truck with our mornings take of rabbits. Unfortunately I'd left the tail gate on the truck down and somewhere on the route to camp the headless snake had made a last bid for freedom.

We never did figure out where we lost the snake and I felt really bad about it. It was a fine trophy of the hunt and truly representative of the country we were hunting. Though we backtracked over every sendero we'd come down, the snake was nowhere to be found.
It would have been a fine replacement for the snakeskin backing Curt had recently done on his recurve, but which now was showing signs of failing in the finish.
I know Curt was disappointed, but he is a good sport and took the loss in stride.

[Bob Walker]

They say a picture is worth a thousand words and this one says it all, LOL! Those spines don't hurt, do they Curt?????
 

[JC]

Sorry I have been absent from this great tale fellers....been a long couple of days. My tales aren't near as interesting as the others...I did have an awesome time with these guys and am very happy I finally got to spend time with them. Still amazes me this silly little computer and Dan Quayle's internet can change so many people's lives for the better.

I'll slip in a couple throughout the day. I'll say this for starters. I was having a lil shooting issue...that thanfully I finaly realized was 1/2 mental and 1/2 a new glove. But ol Charlie and Curt put some kinda schoolin on me at the target butt. And I doubt there's few who could have stood against them even if the challenger were "on". Shooters they are boys, no other way around it.

Just took me a while to get over breakin charlie's sight.....