Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting What do you need to do before next opening day?

Done, as pictured. Had my fill of blind construction in the heat which lasts pretty much until November.

Get my rifle from the closet. Put an extra handful of cartridges in my pocket. Grab my binoculars. That it.

Hanco: Nothing! I am ready.
Just have to wait.
225 days til the Deer/Elk Rifle opener here.
Counting down.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

I need to pick a state and make a road trip. Stayed home and hunted local the last two seasons. It’s time to stomp around on some new ground.

Unless I draw out on some earlier doe mule deer and/or doe pronghorn hunts (won't know until Summer out here) I know for sure Me & Son in Law #2 (the Marine) are Booked for cow elk next December. But we both shoot as much as we can all year, so lots of reloading/shooting until then. How well do I remember and "do not miss" those hot/humid days in SE Texas getting stands ready, helping other guys on their leases, phew!

Get at least 40 yrs. younger!

Hip

Hey Hipshoot! Sell me Two Swigs off that bottle that takes those 40yrs off.. one for me, and one for my wife! ha

Rehabbing deer stand. Adding a landing to this one. I always like the little doors, so I could have a full size window, but I’ve grown tired of that as I’ve gotten older. I’m gonna redo stand, put full size door in it. I like 4 foot x 4 foot stands, but have one 6x4 for grandkids. I made landing removable.

Wow Hank, thats some serious Welding you got going on there. Did you do that for a living? Were you a Pipefitter too? I tried to be a welder, and the "Uphill Filet Weld" Test (Lee College, Baytown) looked like grapes hanging off it, ha! I transferred out to another class before I failed and lost my "Early Out" from the Army, ha. I had to sign an agreement that I would go back Active if I failed before my ETS date! I admire anyone that can work metal though. Where is your East Texas deer lease at?

Yes was a Plumber/ Pipefitter/ Welder. Pretty good with backhoes and excavators also. The East Texas lease is in Weirgate, Newton county. Built the frame in 82. It’s been to four different leases through the years. It’s getting a little beat up. It seems like I’m making something all the time.

Built this not long ago



Built this frame for a friend this summer





Rebuilt bush hog about a month ago, son in law had it all jacked up. Skirt torn up, three point hook up was bent

Over the years, I've acquired an assorted selection of rifles & calibers but now have just about everything I need & not a lot of room in the gun safe to add much more. While acquiring the rifles, some of my optics were bought simply because it was a deal & I had a gun that needed one. So I have some great scopes that aren't sitting on the optimum rifle since they were paired in chronological order because of convenience & it was an adequate solution at the time. I'm going to make a project out of pulling a bunch of scopes off, reassigning them to get all them matched up better, zeroed in & performing their best. It's going to force me to spend a lot of time at the range between now and the fall. Don't you just hate that?

I also had an old friend & hunting buddy retire recently so he could help his aging parents around their farm. I want to build a shooting bench & setup a range out there so I can drive out to visit him and we'll have something fun to do. My local public range is limited to 200 yards but out at the farm we could shoot a lot farther than that with a river levee as a backstop. I haven't had much need to shoot long because of the woods I spend all of my time in but it would be fun to stretch out a bit & improve my skills. It would be nice to start shooting some more skeet occasionally. My shotgunning skills have relied more on quantity than quality lately. I absolutely need to spend more time shooting my bow from an elevated stand. I need to practice, practice, practice which translates to a lot of enjoyable spare time.

I still have to get back to my lease in Alabama to moth ball for the summer. But before next season I will need to change the oil in my camp generator Ranger and Foreman ATVs. All I really need to do next October is haul out my two climbers and put them in my trees and get my cabin back up and running.

Before next season I need to be "a friend" of hanco's.... I'm not a shooting house hunter but I'd like to put a frame like you made on my farm. Nice job!

RE bush hog: A quote from my father: "A sledge hammer and a welder are required tools to maintain a bush hog"

Y'all are on top of things. I'm still visiting properties to take down lock-on's from this season.

Draw a tag.

Ha! Got you beat though - I already bought my General Buck tag. Just need to stop counting days til the opener, put my boots on and start walking.
Hanco that tall stand is pretty badass

Edited to add: folks talk a lot of smack about stand hunters but I have to admire the amount of resources and work you guys put into it. Impressive.
Very different game here.. I've never been in a tree stand in my life. Sneaking around quietly is what most of us do here on the wet side of the State. Lots of days in the rain.. then these blacktails just appear in front of you. Same place you were glassing just a minute ago and there they are

Thank you

I hunted one place you could walk and stalk, jump deer and Javelinas out of canyons. It was fun hunting

Mow shooting lanes, repair the feeders that the bear tore up. re build one set of steps .Also looking at building a 6x8 box stand 16' high to be able to see into the turnip patch.
Plus all the normal stuff like trim high branches with the pole saw in some shooting lanes and such.

That’s a big ass stand

I need to find a place with more deer

Get at least one knee replaced. Work up a load for the 100gr TSX in 6.5 Grendel. Check zero on my Excalibur.