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Year 2010 Review
Year 2010 Review
This was the first year of my “Retirement.” Seems to me I was more busy than normal. The new year started out with Bison hunts. Tom Kelly of Smith & Wesson and Aaron Carter of American Rifleman magazine came down to chase our buffalo through the woods. The animals had taken up residence in the heavy timber of the Ranch. The recent heavy ice storm and cold temperatures had made the woods nearly impenetrable. I guess that is why they liked it so much. We managed to finally find them out in a small opening. Aaron took his bull with a T/C Contender carbine in the massive .500 S&W caliber. He put the bull down with one well placed shot.
A short while later, Tom hammered his bull with the S&W .500 handgun. Two shots put the bull down in the edge of the brush on a rocky hillside. Both these hunts were aired on Steve Scott’s Outdoor Guide TV show. The shows aired on Versus Channel this fall. Steve Scott followed up these hunts with one of his own a few days later. He took a great bull in the dense oak woods after a long chase. While the bull was on the move for another escape, Steve took the bull directly through the heart with a T/C Icon chambered in .300 Win Mag. The bull was dead on his feet in a few seconds. This hunt also aired on The Outdoor Guide TV show.
November Happenings on Tarbone Ranch
We have completed all of our 2010 deer hunts on the Ranch and every hunter took a great buck. If you have any interest in hunting with us n 2011, give us a call soon.Early in season, actually late in October, Robert took a great management 8 pt which scored 138”. He took the buck from a group of 5 bucks that were working over one of our alfalfa food plots. He made a great shot and the buck was piled up within 80 yards after a mad dash toward a thicket.
Heather was up next. She was accompanied by my good friend Dave who shot video of the hunt for an upcoming episode of his new show, Trijicon’s Sports Afield, which will appear on The Sportsman Channel. Watch for it to air in 2011. Heather’s buck was a great 9 point, 6 yr old buck that weighed in at a very hefty 215 pounds. This was her second deer hunt and her first buck. She put the buck down in his tracks with one shot at 80 yd shot with a Ruger 300 RCM cartridge from her Ruger M77. After all the video was shot and the celebration was over, her buck scored an incredible 152”.
During prime time of the rut, Dr. Dave and his dad, Chuck came all the way from Pennsylvania to hunt bucks on Tarbone Ranch. We hit it perfectly and the rut was on. Chuck took the buck I called “Pugnasty” on the first full day of hunting. The old buck was tending a doe and after we spotted the pair emerge from a thicket, the stalk took Chuck and his guide Joe within 100 yards where Chuck made a great shot. The big old buck went down within 120 yards. Pug weighed in at 218 pounds.
Dr. Dave was up in a tree stand that evening with Joe who was standing in as guide since I was down and out with a bad case of Shingles. Dave wanted to bowhunt and was interested in taking the buck named “Crazy”. After putting them into a stand at 4:00 pm, we awaited a call of their success. It didn’t take long before the call came in. Sure enough, Crazy had emerged from the bedding area right under their stand. Dave took the shot at about 20 yards after the buck had spooked a little from some stray noise.
Upon the shot, the buck ducked to escape and the arrow struck him high just over the shoulder. Knowing the shot was most likely not fatal, we waited until the next day to attempt recovery. After a difficult trailing job and tough follow up shot, Crazy was on the ground. Dave went CRAZY on Tarbone Ranch. This buck scored 181 5/8” with 17 scoreable points. Wow, what a buck!
Our last hunter, Jason arrived on December 3 for a late season outing. After an evening sit and seeing only small bucks, we moved to another food plot for the morning hunt. We were teased be several young bucks and lots of does until just before dark when a great 8 pt buck appeared near the other end of the clover field. This 6 yr old management buck came to within 100 yds of our blind to visit some does. This was a fatal mistake and in the fading light Jason made a great heart shot which put the buck down within sight. This old buck weighed in at 194 lb after a long hard rut chasing does around the Ranch.
We have maintained a 100% success rate through the season and this makes us very proud. Our bucks are all born and raised in the rolling hills of Tarbone Ranch and are not easy to hunt by any means. My advantage is the time I spend among the deer and my intimate knowledge of the terrain and hunting opportunities.
We plan to take only 5 more deer hunters during the 2011 season, so if you are interested, give us a call soon.
October Happenings on Tarbone Ranch
The sumac bushes and willow trees are beginning to show their colors and the oaks won't be far behind. This ushers in one of my favorite times on Tarbone Ranch. Fall temperatures and colors combine to create great outdoor experiences this time of year. We've been sleeping with our windows open and are serenaded nightly with bugling elk. It's among the world's most enjoyable night sounds.
The food plot production has been a struggle this year. We planted wheat, peas and turnips in the winter plots on Sept. 1 with predicted rainfall. Got the rain and the seed sprouted promptly. Then no more rain for 6 weeks. Most of the seedlings died from the extra high heat and dry conditions. We worked up another 1.5 acres the first week of October and planted another mixture of seeds hoping for production before first frost. Today is 17 October and the seedlings are finally showing themselves. I just have to hope they get going well before the first frost actually happens. Normally that is about November 10. I wouldn't mind if it waited a few days.
We enjoyed our first elk hunter a couple of weeks ago. Jordon took one of our biggest bulls. Pictures of his 8X8 bull are posted in the Gallery. The elk were in full rut during the hunt and we enjoyed a symphony of bugling. We had another elk hunter this week. Dale took a big cow in the thick woods. Great venison in store for him and his family.
Our first deer hunter scored yesterday with a 138” management buck. We had five bucks in front of us before one that we both liked came on the scene. Thanks to Robert for making a great shot. I love short blood trails. The bucks are actually being difficult to see right now. I guess it is the “October lull.” I think they are saving their energy for the upcoming rut. Most of my trail camera shots of the biggest bucks are coming in the middle of the night. Lots of rubs and a few scrapes are beginning to pop up though, and I expect the action to pick up very soon.
More rain is predicted for the upcoming week with cooler temperatures. We are preparing for more hunters to arrive at Tarbone Ranch with the upcoming weeks, so stay tuned for more success stories. As of now, we maintain a 100% success rate with each hunter harvesting the trophy of their choice. You could be among the lucky hunters. Contact me for your hunting trip with us here in God's country, the Wichita Mountains.
March on Tarbone Ranch
March on Tarbone Ranch We are still battling the remnants of the ice storm damage from Januaryʼs blizzard of ice. There is a light at the end of the tunnel though, and it seems not to be a train. Most of the big trees and limbs have been removed from the immediate house and headquarters area. There have been many trees damaged badly and most have had to be pruned heavily to allow them to recuperate to the best of their ability. The aftereffects of this storm will be visible for a long, long time. The work has been a grind and thanks to both Hunter, Tanner and Tammy for pitching in to get the job done in a timely manner.
Tarbone News February
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Our power was off for 8 days and we grew a greater appreciation for electricity which we take for granted most of the time. We ran a generator to keep the freezer and fridges running. It also allowed us to stay warm by burning our fireplace with its fan blowers. Glad that is over for sure. Now if I can just get most of the downed trees and branches out of my yard, I will be ready to go fishing.
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