Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Lost my East Texas Lease

When I started posting at Accurate Reloading in 2001, I too was amazed at the vitriol and scorn directed toward folks that stand hunt as folks in Texas do. One of the reasons I post so many pictures it to illustrate our style of hunting. I have hosted several folks that post here on occasion that were from Oregon, California, or Idaho. After spending a few days hunting with me at my "Beer Lease" near Reagan wells, they typically would say something like "I had no idea........

Just got back from my fourth "24hourcampfire hog hunt" down in Crystal City. Folks from Oregon, California, Nevada, Idaho, Montana, the north east and southeast states drive as much as 3 days or fly in to sit in stands,"shoot" hogs, varmints and other critters, and enjoy some good food, renew acquaintences and consume adult libations. In the four trips, I've yet to hear one say he did not get his money's worth.

Here is an example of one of the facets of hunting at the type of lease you describe.

To get to this stand I ride up the side of a hill as far as I can on my ATV. I then walk about 300 yds to the top of the hill, and then 50 yds down to the stand and climb in.



Looking up. That's the canopy stand 175 yds up the hill under the dot!



I only hunt this stand in the morning



as should I shoot a critter there, I have to load up my gear, traipse back to my ATV, go down the hill out the gate, then drive about two miles to the entrance to the goat path that allows me to go over a hill and into the valley where the stand is.




Northwesterly view from "the canopy"



Southeasterly view from "the Canopy" and another feeder

Another spot I call "the cliffs". It's about a mile off the main ranch road we travel to access our stands. To get there I ride in as far as I can go, grab my rifle and pack, walk a zig-zag path I have marked with flagging tape about two hundred yards up the hill until I get to the cliffs. Then its a climb up the rock face of the cliff to get to either an old stand I found or just to sit on the the rock face.

view from "the Cliffs"



and one last spot, at a location on the side of a hill at a location called "#5". Got a hole in the scrum 125 yds down the hill......



ya!

GWB


PS: Hanco, I feel your pain. I've lost four leases in the last 20 years, one as recently as last year. The pix above are from what I call "my beer lease". My "deer lease" was down in Woodsboro. Sixty thousand acre low fenced ranch that 29,000 acres are being taken as a wind farm. The night before the rifle season opening, after we had worked all year, we were told that the season was canceled. Bummer!