Newsletter - 2004
2004 was a very good
year.
Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and very good New Year.
2004 was a good outdoor year for me. Starting in February, my friend, Peter
Feain, and I drove to Zenia, California, to hunt with Jim and Tinamarie, of
Arrow 5 Outfitters (arrow5@cwnet.com). We both took fine meat pigs. Peter
managed to take a gray fox, and I a nice bobcat. While on that hunt, the dog
handlers jumped a large male mountain lion. Within several hundred yards, the
dogs treed it. We were able to climb into that tree and photograph him. Some
people told me we were crazy, as we got within five feet of him. They could be
right.
Two months later found Peter and me in the hill country of south Texas, hunting
for Indian black buck with Garry Wright Outfitters, (hunt@garrywright.com). The
hunt was absolutely successful, with both of us taking great black bucks. They
are beautiful small antelopes. The food that came out of Garry’s kitchen left
nothing to be desired.
May found me fishing in the high Sierras, with my friend, Tom Martin, and his
group. While the fishing was not the best we have ever had, everything else was.
The weather well, maybe not the weather, but the food and friendship were first
class. Looking forward to next year. Hope the fishing is better.
Today I returned from Montana where I have hunted “the Jim Ranch” for the last
11 years (mwickens@mtintouch.net). I have taken some very good mule deer, during
that time. This year, I wanted to take a white tail. As Matt, the
owner/outfitter, and I went out for the afternoon hunt on the last day, I had
made up my mind that I would go home empty-handed if I did not see a good white
tail. About 45 minutes before sundown, Matt spotted a large forked horn mule
deer. Earlier in the week, Matt’s dad, John, had seen that deer and stated,
“Wish some one would take him out of the genetic pool.” When Matt spotted him,
he was over 700 yard away and moving, slowly, toward us. Thirty minutes later,
the forked horn deer had moved within 260 yards, a distance my Weatherby .270
could reach. I slipped out of my blind, trying not to spook the other deer in
the field. Going prone, I placed the cross hairs of my scope on the deer’s
shoulder and slowly squeezed the trigger. Happy to say, the deer went down with
that shot. It was a cross between a mule deer and a white tail. From what I
understand, he had all of the equipment a mature buck needed. The problem was,
he only shot blanks. While his horns looked like a mule deer, his coloring, and
markings were of a white tail. I had wanted a white tail, and it seems I made it
half way. Maybe next year, I will get a complete white tail.
You can find photos and stories on my outdoor website at
www.campfiresandfriends.org. Check it out. If you have taken photos or written
an article about the outdoors, send them on. I would enjoy posting them on my
website.
All the best for the New Year. Shoot straight and practice, practice, practice.
Ron