Had a heck of a hunt with family and friends in North TX. My buddy Roy was able to make it this year and since I was lucky enough to tag out right off the bat, I was able to hunt 4 days with him.

We arrived at camp on a Thursday eve and decided to start hunting right then. While driving in to hunt a river bottom Roy and I got to see 3 nice bucks from the truck, so we were super anxious to get to our spots and begin glassing. I sat on a little knob overlooking a brushy field and Roy sat on a ridge 5-600yds on down. The wind was kind of cool, so I bundled up good, leaned my rifle on the sticks and grabbed my rattle bag. I made a little racket with the bag and maybe a minute later I heard something right behind me, turned and a nice 3.5yo 9pt was eyeball to eyeball with me! Kind of startled me to be honest, that rascal had slipped up to about 15 feet and I just couldn't hear him for the wind. About 30mins later I heard a grunt and knew it had to be close with the wind and about that time a doe blew out of the brush maybe 25yds away with a dandy 18" 8pt hot on her trail. I bet it wasn't 30sec later and I spotted a doe hauling butt across the field below me, so I grabbed the binos and spotted two studs coming in hot!! I grabbed my rifle and followed them, but they wouldn't stop for a shot. Finally the big 10 stopped behind a tree at 175, but no shot! He took off again and stopped behind some brush, but still no shot!! That joker disappeared in the brush and I was sort of in panic mode. I grabbed the rattle bag for the heck of it, tried my best to immitate a fight for a few seconds, threw it down, grabbed my rifle, and you're not going to believe it, but that big rascal left that doe and came running over the hill at 100yds coming right for me! That big rascal ran up there maybe 50-60yds and slammed on the brakes looking right at me! I hammered him in the shoulder, but he took off like nothing happened, so I gave him another up the rear and he slid to a stop. I didn't expect to kill so quickly, but I'll take it any day man. It was AWESOME!!!! Turned out do be a dandy old 10 in the 150s that weighed in at 201lbs and his molars were worn flat.
[Linked Image from i.imgur.com]
[Linked Image from i.imgur.com]
I killed my buck with a CA RL 30-06 and 130TTSX at 3275.

Now it was time to really enjoy the hunt and help guide my buddy Roy. I think ole Roy just didn't want the excitement to end because that sorry rascal passed up buck after buck for the next 3 days. We saw some dandies and had some intense moments trying to make it happen on a few, but the big boys just kept staying one step ahead of us. We could have sealed the deal on many big 8s, but Roy wanted to hold out and see if we could bump into a giant. Finally on the last morning we spotted an old 8pt chasing a doe down in a brushy bottom, but couldn't get a shot. We found a nice overlook on a ridge and spotted several nice bucks in the bottom below, the largest of which had broke off one side. After 45min or so I looked to the left and the old 8 that had chased the doe through the brush earlier came slipping down the base of the bottom just below us. I told Roy he was coming and he smashed him at about 60yds. Roy made a perfect heart shot and the buck only went about 25yds before tipping over. The 139 Scenar gave one heck of a blood trail. Congrats Roy! It was a blast hunting with you buddy.
[Linked Image from i.imgur.com]
[Linked Image from i.imgur.com]
Roy killed his buck with a T3 6.5koolaid and 139Scenar at 2840.

My little bro played cat and mouse with an 11pt in some canyons for 2.5days, but he finally got to 175yds after a long trek and sealed the deal:
[Linked Image from i.imgur.com]
He shot his buck with a M77 6Rem and 90NAB at 3175.

Dad killed a dandy buck the 3rd day. He saw him trailing a doe at 348yds and put one through the ribs with his Tooley 6Rem and a 95NPT at 3285.
[Linked Image from i.imgur.com]

One heck of a hunt and I can't wait to do it again.

Have a good one,

loder