Wensel Bros pig gig

[Wiley Coyote]

Hey Tom, who are you calling Frenchmen? We are from Ontario not Quebec!! Had a great time. Only regret was that we didn't pitch our tents closer to the rest of the crew. Maybe our paths will cross again on another hunt someday.  

[Wiley Coyote]

Thomas Burns is a fine person and an awesome hunter. I only wish I could have seen him stalking and shooting.  

[Whip]

Yeah Wiley, I thought maybe you had heard rumors of Rob's snoring when you set up over there!    :eek:  

I am leaving again for a few days but will try to post a little before I go.  

For me, any hunt starts the moment I leave my driveway.  Smiley and I headed out early Friday morning and headed south to pick up Charlie.  After an unplanned side trip nearly to Chicago, we pulled into his home around 1 and were promptly stuffed full with chili, sandwiches, and homemade pie by his lovely bride Billie.  We had a long drive ahead of us yet, and already I needed a nap!

The rest of the drive to Texas was a real treat with Charlie taking charge of the story telling duties.  Heck, I would have driven all the way down just to listen to them all!  I don't think we ever had the radio on or a CD in the player all the way down and back!

I'll go try to work on some pictures for the rest of the story........

[hill boy]

Ok gangers I just loaded up a bunch of pics but my internet is on and off but stay tuned there will be pics and stories tomorrow I promise.Great hunt great bunch and I wish I was getting ready to go back tomorrow.Did I mention Border Bob and I had a double the last evening?Stay tuned for more action and details.      

[Barney]

Kevin, Welcome     Great to meet you.

[BigRonHuntAlot]

Congrats to all the guys that have posted pics...

 Mike, I am not so patiently waiting to see yours!!   LOL   Tighten Up Dude!

[Curveman]

Welcome to Tradgang Kevin-I knew you couldn't resist!        
 
To the many who have not met Kevin, I am sure that all of us on the pig gig will attest to the fact of what a truly nice guy he is and a fine hunter! It was my privilege to both tent and hunt with him for the week and I enjoyed every moment!          

[Charlie Lamb]

I was sure ready for Joe and Wayne to show up on Friday. As soon as I could pry them away from the table, we hit the road.

I'll admit to jabbering a little more than usual as the excitement of finally getting underway was really on me... OK! So I was excited all the way to the ranch. At least my partners were patient listeners.

We met at a motel Saturday and once situated got our butts over to Woody Blackwells place where we were greeted with a cold drink and hot food... some great smoked brisket, turkey and the best creamed corn I've ever had.

It was hard to get a word in edgewise even with guys stuffing their faces full of the great grub.

We'd assemble the following morning for the trip to La Pryor and make a pit stop at the WalMart and the feed store in Uvalde on the way.

I'll give the other guys a shot at filling in as I go and besides, I don't have a ton of pictures to show.

I'd loaned my camera to the wife a while back and it came back to me broken. Fortunately she got one of her own for Christmas.

My new camera was on order but didn't arrive in time for the trip so I had to humble myself and borrow Billie's if I wanted a camera for the trip.

With the admonition to "be careful with it", I bit my tongue and determined to return it in pristine condition.

Considering the extremelyl dusty conditions at the ranch I kept the camera in it's soft case, wrapped in a bandana, stashed in a polar fleece cap in the bottom of my pack for most of the trip.

I'll get rolling with my portion of this tale in the morning.
   

[Missouri CK]

If you guys don't start telling some stories some heads are going to roll!

[Charlie Lamb]

Oh yeah!! I want to extend a personal thanks to Wiley Coyote for doing gate duty on the hunt. Seems like we'd come in from a day of hunting hot,tired and thirsty and he'd be there to open the last gate into camp for the returning hunters.

I appreciated it immensely even if I did have "Cowboy" position in the truck and couldn't curb my smart mouth.... "HEY!! Hurry up! I'm thirsty!"
  :D

[Curveman]

The adventure began for me as Tippit and I zipped along through a 10 degree Boston dawn on the way to Logan Airport. We were both grinning and nearly shaking like little puppy dogs from the anticipation alone of seeing old friends! Doc, of course knew everybody. I had hunted with a half dozen of the TG boys on the 2 “Quebec Quest” bear trips I went on but already considered the others friends as well from our Tradgang campfires. Still, I was well aware that many of them had forgotten more than I know about bowhunting and I was a tad anxious. It was clear though that Jeff loved and admired these guys as each sentence began with: “wait until you meet Whip!” and “you won’t believe the talent Woody has!...and Doug, his knife work is truly exceptional!...”

The flight flew by (as neither of us had slept much the night before; we were soon zonked out on the plane; Jeff being fortunately able to take his hearing aid out)!                ) that immediately puts everyone at ease with a warm welcome that never quits!

Woody very generously opened up his home to us for dinner Saturday night (I should say “museum” for we were all awestruck when he displayed his work of knapped broadheads)! Flashes went off everywhere as folks hurriedly took pictures).  The tribe continued to gather there with new arrivals every hour. The fun had begun!

[hogdancer]

yes welcome Kevin to your new cyber family !
I wish I could have spent more time with our brothers to the north, the Canadians were some fine folks for sure, I hope they make it again !

[Curveman]

I had the opportunity to head out with them for a day. Really nice guys and I also hope they make it again!

[IB]

Kevin.....GREAT ta see ya man      

 For those of you who don't know of Kevin..He wears strange pants and his hair parts in the middle  

 A real blessing to have you around Brother.

[Kevin Bahr]

Hey Kev!  Welcome to Tradgang!  Glad you guys all had a good time.  I might just hafta make a two weeker out of it next time.

[tippit]

Kevin is a real soft spoken gentleman.  Well maybe there was too much dust in my hearing aid...I know the gentleman part for sure     Glad to get to know you Kevin and hope to be in camp with you next year...Doc

[Kevin Bahr]

Doug, if you need a place to rest on the way to NY, my house is your house, buddy.  But leave the pet armadillo home...

[Doug Campbell]

Thanks Kevin, if they'll let me parachute when we pass over Morton I'll let you know    

That armadillo was the only thing I was able to get besides alot of good times with some great people!! We were practicing catch and release hunting that afternoon. Someone laid down the challenge when they said there was no way to grab a live diller and hold on... I crawled up on this one as he was nosing around a big rock, my only fear was him jumping straight up and smacking me under the chin when I grabbed him    

Like I said it was a long but great trip down with Vance and Barney, couldn't ask for two better traveling companions. I spent most of my time looking for a good hog but did take the time out to miss a couple of javies one afternoon     I think the only problem was we nailed the full moon dead center and the hogs seemed to be mostly nocturnal. Gene had trail cams out where he was hunting and was getting 800-1200 pictures a night with most of em between 1 and 4 AM. I hunted an area above a dandy pond which smelled and looked like a barn yard but the pigs just weren't moving in the daylight. Saw a couple of incredible whitetails, one that was without a doubt a Booner, would've loved to find the sheds off him...

As you all know these hunts aren't all about killing critters, hanging out with great guys made this trip enjoyable from the start. I got to shake the very talented hand of one of my idols. Woody is not only a great knapper but a great guy also, hope to get to call him Friend for many years to come. Seeing great old friends like JC, Doc, Charlie, and meeting several more that'll be old friends next trip was what it's all about.

Thanks a bunch everybody for contributing to another fun hunt!!      

[Nakohe]

OK OK we get it great guys fun trip had by all. We need stroies of beasts on the ground and blood letting already!!!!! Some of us have not been able to hunt in a long time and need our blood lust satisfied. LOL      

[fatman]

well said, Donald....fish or cut bait......