Tales of TX Sweat 2007 - 1st Group

[Terry Green]

I wish Mel and John would chime in.....I'd love to hear there stories again.

I'm about out of pics.....I got a few fill ins left I think.....

BTW......those sheep were LOUD....and came across the canyons and banged ya up side the head at times.

[JC]

One eve Whip and I went down by the river with the mesa to our backs and set up varmint calling for 2 sets. First set while we were calling, we heard "WHOMP....WHOMP.....WHOMP". After we moved we talked about that deer stomping up on the hillside upset at our calling.

The second set, I heard it again and got up to look up the steep hillside at what was causing the sound. There, silhouetted against the skyline, waaaaay up on top, were two rams smacking it out....the WHOMP were there horns clashing! That was worth the price of admission I'll tell ya!

[Whip]

Your right JC, those boys were really going at it!  They would back up to 15 yards or so apart, stare each other down, and then just lower their heads and bring it full bore!  Looked like some kind of National Geographic special, and we had front row seats!  That HAD to hurt!  

[JC]

The next day, Whip, Tique and I decided to go up the hill right behind camp to see if we could put the sneak on the sheep.

 

 

On the way up we ran into one of the caves the animals used for shelter...smelled like my barn.

 

The beautiful view from the top towards the river

 

When we got up there, Dave Stinson was already there. He's the bump to the left of the lone tree.

 

I had no desire to blow his stalk so I sat tight. Whip and Tique circled way around to his left and I stayed on his right. A bit later, the sheep moved and ran by at about 50 yards....some nice rams in the bunch...only problem is they were well below me and gettin on down the road. Dave circled to get at them again and I stayed on top to watch Terry and Tom on the opposite canyon.

After seeing Tique set up on another heard of sheep and then Dave again twice more as I was moving around, I decided it was just too many folks in that area. I love hangin with these guys but these critters were tough enough to hunt as it was and I just hate the thought of messing up someone's hunt so I started back down the hill to find out if anything was hanging in the bottoms that no one seemed to be huting.

On the way, the mountain laurel was in full bloom and smelled like rich perfume all over the hillside.

 

[JC]

The spanish dagger was in bloom too, flowers so luxuriant they looked good enough to eat...like scoops of vanilla ice cream. Like most everything though, the beauty belied the vicious protection of sharp spines. I think these things could do some serious harm if you fell on one...the leaves were very sharp and very stiff easily penetrating your pants and into your leg if you bumped into one.

 

Springtime was in full swing and I was simply capivated by the number of seemingly delicate flowering plants surviving such a harsh environment.

 

 

I made my way down this wash...the trees giving me some familiar comfort after spending the last few days out in the sky. I'm used to the thick woods here at home so was feeling a bit out of sorts. I spent the rest of the morning playing chase with a small heard of deer and a vanishing porcupine.

 

 

Saw 6 different deer as well as this lil scrape.

 

 

[JC]

After seeing this expert scraper's work, I headed back to camp to find another at work...

 

 

I spent the rest of the morning listening to Charlie tell stories and give seasoned advice on the tillering of Curtis's new selfbow. Again, the true purpose of this hunt was the time spent with good friends...it was time well spent.

[Whip]

When I got back to camp that day Charlie was pitching in with some string making for that bow.
 

[Guru]

This just gets better and better....

[4runr]

JC those pics of the flowers are just way cool.
I'm sharing with the family and they are just lovin it.

This just keeps gettin better!

[JEFF B]

keep it comming boys this is great stuff.  

[cjones]

Wow this thread is great. Keep it coming guys!

[Whip]

The days were flying by, and tend to run together in my mind, but I think it was the third afternoon when JC and I were back in camp early enough to head to the river and see what fish could be found.  We recruited Gary as our guide, and I took my bow for carp, while JC rigged up a 3 weight flyrod.

I had only bowfished once before, and that was a long time ago, so this was pretty new stuff to me.  The water was clear, and running fast, and I was having trouble figuring out how to hit the buggers.  As those who have done it know, you have to hold low to hit what you're aiming at, and I soon found there is a learning curve involved.  Wasn't long though and I found a carp tailing in some shallow water.  With his back out of the water I didn't have to worry about a distorted image, and was soon hand lining a nice carp back to shore to the cheers of my gallery of two behind me.
   

JC limbered up the flyrod, and taught the bass a leason or two.  I think his final tally was 12 bass that day, with the largest probably 2 1/2 lbs.

When we finished JC gave me a leason on carp skinning and making some fine leather for a project.  He skinned the fish first, and then removed the scales one by one by hand rather than just scrapping them off.  He explained that doing it that way leaves the color and pattern intact, and indead when he was finished we had two beautiful skins with a deep rich gold background and black markings.  Those are going to make him a nice armgaurd!  Unfortunately I was so engrossed in watching the process I never thought to get my camera and record the results.  

[JC]

What do you mean make "him" a nice armgaurd?!!?? I don't even shoot with one....so I guess I'll have to make one for the guy that shot the carp    :rolleyes:  

Whip failed to mention he shot the carp IN THE EYE..."learning curve" my hind end!

Thanks guys, I really like to take the pics of the flowers while I'm hunting...especially in TX. So many beautiful things to see in a place that at first glance, looks desolate. I truly appreciate the wonder of God's creations and the beauty he saw fit to imbue them with.

[Whip]

You do a much better job on the flower pictures than I do JC, but I did find a couple.  The flowers where a real treat to find and such a stark contrast to the harsh and unforgiving nature of the rocks and thorns.
 

   

[hunt it]

Here is the gang from Sweat Hunt #1/07

[hunt it]

Here is Gary,John,Mel and Dave resting after the hunt.

[vermonster13]

A parole officers nightmare there. lol
(the group shot)

[hunt it]

If you can enlarge this one, you will see a big line of Corsican rams running along the trail at bottom of hill on lower side of river. This was after being chased for a few hours, they all bailed off the mountain and ran up that trail towards camp. Camp is 400 yrds to the right on that trail. Ted can tell you more about that spot!

[hunt it]

One fine bow rack!

[hunt it]

Thanks for the comments on the ram guys! JC, those sure are nice pictures of the Fauna and Flora. I had it in my mind so many times to stop and take pictures of some of those blossoms but was always in overdrive and never did. It's funny looking at all the pictures as I don't think there is one square inch of that mountain above camp that I don't recognize.