Over the last couple of years I've taken my oldest (12 yo) son Samuel on Western hunting trips while my youngest (10 yo) son Elijah has enjoyed shorter, closer trips, expressing no interest in hunting or shooting.

Until the past year or so!

He completed Hunter Ed this past fall, spent a little bit of time chasing tree rats with a .410 and he endured a very tough Michigan deer season logging quite a few hours without even seeing one deer. Not only did he not complain or use the "b" word (bored; a higher offense than an F-bomb in my vocabulary) but he really enjoyed the quiet time outside.



As a reward for his excellent attitude and to see if we can tip the scales in his favor a bit, we're leaving Friday at 1 pm for a ranch in Mountain Home, Tx where my hunting pard Tom (brntrout here) and I hunted in 2006



and again in 2008



The query I am hoping Elijah can call his first big game kill is feral hog, but we'll also be flinging lead at a hardened steel bison 500 yards off the front porch of the lodge.

Elijah has become a pretty good shot with the Savage 223 that I cobbled for him,







and I know he's looking forward to an opportunity to hone his skills at longer range. He'll have about 200 rounds with which to practice!

In addition to his 223 I'm bringing a newly cobbled 7-08, my 5.56 M4,



the 1911 I won in Whelenman's club raffle this summer, my 6-250 and my 257 AI. All will be used to dispatch pork.

My goal is to get Elijah his first big game animal, enjoy fellowship w/ my hunting partners Tom & Ricky who live far from me, and fling lots of lead with Elijah & Tom's 12 yo son Kyle. I am also extremely excited to finally meet face-to-face my friend Kenjs1 who I've gotten to know here. I always enjoy 'fire meetings! If I can stick a hog (the tastiest bullet testing medium God has made) with a 95 gr VLD from the 6-250 and/or a 90 gr GMX from the 257 AI so much the better!!


It should be interesting navigating the People's Republic of Illinois with such an assortment of guns & ammo, but the I'm figuring the Prius is good camo!

In the past we've journaled our trips in writing, but decided to try doing so here instead and will report each leg of our journey here; please keep us in your thoughts & prayers as we travel,

efw

Looks like an awesome trip. Enjoy the time with your son.

Sounds like a great plan for father and son. Looking forward to your updates and will share them with my boys.

Quality time that a child would look back on, and can't help but to feel loved for that time shared with his father!

Congrats on a successful hunt!

Sounds like a great trip. Any chance you'd adopt a third 68 year old son? As in incentive, I do have several bricks of 22 LR ammo.

Today was a great day! Waking up to 30° after several weeks of lows in the single digits, I was happy not to need a coat. Imagine my joy of being in Missouri right now in the middle of the night and seeing temps in the mid 40s!

This being Elijah's first experience with a Long road trip, we've been doing it right. I picked him up from school early,



and we stopped for supplies.



Of course like any road trip we ran into some difficulties, with a big back up in Chicago. Fortunately that didn't last long, and we were on our way before too long wasting only an hour while gaining 10 miles.

Through our trip we enjoyed great conversation, with topics ranging from our favorite marvel superheroes and why Illinois sucks to the reliability of Scripture. We recently picked up soundtrack for guardians of the galaxy, and that's a great CD! George Jones, BB King, and Bob Dylan (all Elijah's choices) also made the play list.

Along 55 S. through Illinois, we saw more waterfall than I have seen in one place in many years! That flyway business is no joke, and in addition to tens of thousands of birds we saw several hunters in the fields. It looked like an exciting hunt!

Crossing into the west,



we just had to stop and get a picture of Elijah by the arch.



My initial thought on St. Louis was that it was a pretty cool city, which for me are two words that are typically oxymoronic, but then I realized it was the smell of a Ruth's Chris steakhouse nearby that was influencing my thoughts.

Finishing today's trip at a friends home near Springfield, I realize now what a gorgeous State Missouri is! I was very disappointed to drive across it in the dark. I look forward to seeing more tomorrow morning! I can only imagine what lies in those beautiful oak covered hills!

It was a long day (800 mi) and after St. Louis Elijah slept. Fortunately I had my Soundgarden Pandora station to keep me company! Stone Temple pilots, Soundgarden, audioslave, tool, Alice in chains, Red hot chili peppers, Temple of the dog, tool,and several others kept me awake and gave me good company!

Elijah and I are both looking forward to what tomorrow holds! You Southerners may chuckle, but I'm a big waffle house fan! We know where we're going for breakfast with our gracious hosts!

Thanks for reading we'll be back on the road first thing tomorrow morning finishing our trip to the San Antonio area!

Looking good- and glad all is well. You will know when you hit Texas because it is where the water ends. Serious.

Temps in the 60's first half of the week.

Looking forward to your impression of the ranch and the hunt. You will dig the hill country and its folks.

Great stuff.... good luck, look forward to further reports!

Today was an absolutely incredible day for sight-seeing; one HUGE reason why I love road trippin' over airline travel!

We started out having breakfast w/ our kind hosts and good friends Kevin & Devon at a favorite breakfast joint of mine, Waffle House:



The drive down 44 through Joplin was INCREDIBLE; Missouri is simply gorgeous, and I am sad to say I was so focused on the road I didn't get pics! Suffice it to say we'll be taking Kevin's invite to return during deer season!

Likewise, Oklahoma was gorgeous with the red clay of Georgia, the rolling hardwood-covered hills of Missouri, and the aridness of Texas. I have to say I knew I was in an AWESOME city when I came across Tulsa's 99.5 Classic Country and heard George Jones, Alabama, and Randy Travis just like that! I can't remember the last time I heard ole possum on the radio! I may have to move there...

After several hours Elijah expressed a need for art supplies so we stopped and got him some paper, markers, and pencils. We also ran around in a little park where we too these pics:





The scrub oak & red dirt is quite pronounced there; I've heard Ok has great public land whitetail hunting and certainly believe it! What a great looking place to have an adventure!

With adequate supplies



we proceeded as long as we could before



And right about then something most unexpected... A pair of absolutely humungous bull elk bedded In a field outside Lawton, Ok. WOW!! That was Elijah's first wild elk sighting and pretty exciting for both of us!

Cont'd

Elijah made great use of his art supplies




and when we hit Texas we had to get out



Can you tell he didn't feel like it??

Then, knowing water is in short supply here,



We had dinner at Dairy Queen and he exclaimed, "Finally I know what DQ stands for!" He enjoyed his ice cream!



We agreed that we love the equal footing Texans give their state flag compared to the U.S. We talked for a while about it, and he agreed the REAL patriot cares for his neighbor and community more than some group of bureaucrats thousands of miles away and a great country must start there.

I love how he thinks things through!

Finally we've arrived at Winchester Ridge, Mt Home Texas LATE. As we drove in the back way we saw an amazing abundance of whitetail deer and a blackbuck ram!

We started our drive at 740 am and ended here at 11:20 pm or so, hence this hurried entry before bed!

Tomorrow we hunt...

Thanks again for checking in,

efw

Good Luck!!

Looking forward to seeing more photos and further commentary on your hunt.

CT

There is a good chance you are going to see some axis deer while down there. Glass some fields and openings, even near town(s) right before dusk. They move in herds, often large ones and walk in file.

Today (Sunday) was much different than the last two. I love this ranch; we needn't go anywhere with all of our needs perfectly well taken care of. We brought lots of food to cook, so there is nothing to do but lounge around and wait for the next hunt! Fantastic!

Elijah was wiped out last night and wanted to sleep in and that we did. I have an internal alarm that typically wakes me up by around 6 at home (which is 5 am here) but I must have been toasted too as we didn't get up until approx 8 am.

Once up we set about to empty my car as we waited for our hunting partners who took off late yesterday afternoon from the Atlanta area. They arrived at about 9 am, and we promptly got their gear unloaded and started a breakfast of home grown eggs, grits, and chorizo sausage.

Next up we checked zero on our rifles. Kyle, my hunting pard's son, shoots a Marlin XS-7 243 and Joe, the ranch owner carries a Winchester FW in the same cartridge.



Joe, the ranch owner, suggested that I have Elijah shoot my 6-250 which I have loaded w/ 90 gr NBTs instead of the 223 w/ 65 gr Sierras. His experience is that the 243 is a substantially better killer than the 223 on hogs. For deer, he said, the 223 is fine but pigs have enough fat on em that they'll plug the hole and leave no blood trail.

I had Elijah shoot it and he was comfortable, and it was time to head out to blinds!

Now as a "Yankee" with a Prius you can imagine all the heck I got, but I noticed something goofy amongst the southerners here: in spite of sitting in box blinds, they all were decked out from head to toe in camo? My son and I had "normal" clothes on that are comfortable for the climate but not camo. We noticed this w/ 3 (presumed) Texans who came into DQ last night too. They were covered in some trendy camo w: high end labels all over (mostly under armor & scent lock) but were driving a truck w/ an elevated stand in the back? Now I recognize they may not have been hunting out of that elevated stand and so "need" the their camo, but it did stand out enough that my 10 yo said something in the car. When our hunting parts came out all decked out he elbowed me and smiled...

After all was said and done, my buddy's son Kyle got to cull a buck



Elijah looked over a bunch of bucks but saw no culls; the HUGE boar we saw got spooked before he could shoot. Even so, all the animals made him hopeful.




He was positive and the ranch owner Joe was great with giving him tips to increase success.

Like most boys he listens to others easier than to his dad .

Wow what an awesome day today!

Early this morning Elijah was up and at em. He'd really enjoyed having Joe, the ranch owner and good friend of my hunting partner Tom, coach him last night in spite of losing an opportunity at a dandy boar. Joe offered to sit with him and Elijah enthusiastically accepted the offer promising to be ready when Joe needed him.

They dropped me first and I had whitetail all around me



but I couldn't but pray that Elijah could shoot something! I heard some distant pops (which is how that 6-250 sounds) but couldn't know if it was him. At 7:30 I looked around and noticed a single boar headed somewhere in a bit of a hurry. I contemplated waiting but decided I'd better shoot while I could see him; he was maybe 75 yds out.

Kenjs1 here sent me a wonderful M8 6x42mm w/ euro #4 a couple of years ago, and I really like it for general hunting! I put a (3300 fps) 90 gr GMX from my 257 AI into the sweet spot where the spine meets the skull of this nice boar:



I cycled the bolt quickly for a second shot but none was necessary; he kicked a few seconds and was still.

Meanwhile at another location Joe was showing Elijah how to drop pigs with one well-placed (3000 fps) 90 gr NBT from my 6-250. Within just a few minutes Elijah dropped the hammer on TWO boars!! This one is going to be a Euro-mount along with mine; its tusks were needle sharp and when he hit the ground his tongue got stuck on his left:





They're both fine pigs and as we were talking later this afternoon I remembered that I'd never in my life shot two head of big game in one day so he had that over me!

We did a lot of photos, gutting and skinning in the late morning. Another in our party shot a boar and I had to have Elijah pose with a truck bed 'o pork!!



And here we are together with our trophies, the left two of which will be our family's first mounts of any kind:

Congratulations to you both!

Elijah, Well Done on a pair of nice porkers. Really like the cutters on the hog in the middle. Where can I get one of those skull and crossbone shirts for the upcoming campfire hog hunt?

I believe you are right to have them mounted.

Awesome!

With hogs gutted, skinned, and cooling we enjoyed dinner and some peace and quiet. Joe had decided to take us to another ranch of his where the hogs were "more predictable" to quote him. In addition to the hogs there'd be a super abundance of exotics including aoudad, axis, blackbuck, Sitka, and fallow.

As usual Elijah and I had a great afternoon together relaxing and watching the huge variety of animals come through. We even got to see a roadrunner which was a real treat for us as my older son and I have recently gotten into birdwatching.



A couple hours into our air a few hogs came on from stage left. The other animals don't care at all for hogs and got fidgety. I told Elijah to pick the one to the left and on "3" we'd I'd shoot the one on the right and he the left. We'd discussed the fact that he now had shot 2 heads of big game in one day which I'd never done, and Elijah assured me he didn't care to shoot but wanted me to so we could both remember the day we got 2 heads together. As the group of young boars came down the trail I wanted to shoot one length-wise to see if I could catch my 90 gr GMX and I did just that at approx 100 yds:



Here is my "Yankee a$$" (in plain clothes; not camo) with my prize:



As we enjoyed the sunset together and decided we'd done enough killing for this leg of our trip Elijah really started chatting about all we'd seen and done and beaming in a way he does when he's feeling great. He beat the heck out of a prickly pear as we made our way to the blind



and talked my ear off once seated, smiling and exuding joy as only Elijah does



We enjoyed ourselves the rest of the evening just relaxing and chatting and playing w/ my camera. Here is a pic of our cartridges (6-250 & 90 gr NBT next to 257 AI & 90 gr GMX) on the ledge of the blind



Kirk, a friend of my hunting partner's, shot a nice boar and an aoudad. We had pieces of our various animals on the grill for dinner and it was all wonderful. The food fellowship country and prey are all amazing. I can't possibly express how grateful I am to have a station in life that affords me such luxuries as trips like these. My wife supports me wholeheartedly, and I have some great friends like Tom, Joe, Kevin, Devon, and Kenjs1 who are all hosting us along different legs of our journey!

Today we'll cut up pigs and help butcher our cooler full of critters,walk around in the warmth with binos & a bird book and relax before heading up to Moran tomorrow to meet Ken!

Thanks be to God for a crazy cool life, His gorgeous creation, and His Son without whom all this stuff would be meaningless!

Jealous as hell! Awesome trip!

Elijah and I relaxed, slept in, enjoyed breakfast on the porch watching a an 11 pt whitetail w/ drop tine.

While we ate and enjoyed the lovely sun and variety of birds,





my friend Ricky shot a lovely aoudad ram w/ a single shot from his 30-06:



Today the agenda is nothing but cuttin!!!

Man, that is a hard act to follow. Feelin' a lot of pressure here.

mjbgalt- hey....isn't there salt peter in Varget?

Ken. I am manly enough to overcome. Lol

Caught a 90 gr GMX in that head-shot hog. It was in his right ham, and TINY:



Will weigh when I get home. Found a 90 gr NBT in one of my son's hogs which was in the offside shoulder and just jacket but lost it when we emptied the truck of our "leftovers".

How about this sunset????!

Ken don't worry man just looking forward to hangin with you; REALLY. Pretty much killed out anyway, and cooler is STUFFED!! This was it half way through our 4 hogs:

That sunset photo is something!

Sounds like a fantastic trip. My dad and I went on a few roadtrips for Texas hunts when I was a new hunter. They were great.

Get another cooler! That pork will taste mighty good come summer grilling season...

With one ending comes a new beginning; last night Elijah said he is REALLY gonna miss this place and I'm with him!

Being vacation he slept in



and I had the breakfast of champions: rice pudding, HUGE cup of coffee (in a Baylor cup), and pork tenderloin left over from last night



and Elijah followed my lead in 10 yo fashion with leftover CHEESECAKE!



He is finally feeling "worthy" of his "boar hat"



and we're happy to know that our breakfast buddies'll be here when We get back





We're REALLY excited for the next leg of our trip when we get to hang out w/ my dear brother Kenjs1 up at his lease!!

I would be remiss if I didn't thank Joe Nagy, owner of Wincher Ridge Ranch for his hospitality, and my very close friend Tom Murphy who put this outing together. We'll certainly never forget it!!!

It was tough leaving the Hill Country. While temps were the coolest we'd seen since our arrival (high-40s vs high-60s) it was still a far cry from home and with scenery second to none







But the Prius was loaded down and the cooler STUFFED w/ 4 hogs; two of which went nearly 200 lbs/ea, one @ approx 160 & the smallest 130-ish



We grabbed some fresh cowboy jerky just outside the ranch from Garven Store at 41 & 83 near Mountain Home and Elijah was enthused for the road



Winding our way up through the Hill Country as we headed north we stopped in the charming German settlement of Fredericksburg where we grabbed a new cooler and dry ice for our meat. We also loaded up on Subway & snacks and continued toward Moran NW of Abilene in N. Texas to meet my friend Ken at his lease and stay in his camper there a couple of nights.

Great thread efw! Congrats to you and your son!

Our two days with Ken in his camper at his lease were fantastic in spite of some weather that gave even us Michiganders a run for our money.

As we drove up Wednesday night it started raining. By the time we met up with Ken it was really coming down, and I fishtailed down the road to his lease but on the 2-track in we still did better than Ken in his 2WD F-150!

The rain continued all night and Thursday morning it continued with heavy winds. We slept in and ate breakfast together, and Ken had a great collection of classic movies and board games we played a while





I was itching to get out and see the lease, so we set out in spite of driving rains, cold temps, and high winds. The views and scenery were well worth it; Ken has a lovely arrangement.



The Texas mud ain't no joke; before we were a hundred feet from the camper we were carrying quite a load on each boot. Even after scraping there was a lot:



Carrying that weight was tiring and the temps rain & wind wore us out quickly. When we returned to the camper Ken presented me with an extraordinarily special gift, a stag handle Moore Maker custom knife & leather sheath:



He couldn't know it but as I watched Joe & Tom work w/ their knives while butchering pigs I fantasized about the sort of fine blades I see pictured in posts here. I am amazed at his thoughtfulness & generosity!

We watched a few movies, told stories, sipped Dr Pepper, and got cabin fever.

Finally we could take no more and decided to shoot. Ken & I have, as near as we can figure, been "modern day pen pals" here on the 'fire since around '08 or 9 so we know a lot about one another's favorite rifles. It was a real pleasure to get to shoot his Rem 6mm in a Boyds Classic topped w/ Burris FFII 6x40mm & German #4 after hearing so much about it. Likewise he enjoyed shooting the 257 AI that has performed so beautifully on this trip w/ the M8 6x42mm & German #4 he gave me a few years back.

The evening was spent chatting, eating popcorn, and discussing hunt plans for Friday morn before Elijah & I'd head for Arkansas on our next step toward home. At every point Ken was gracious host, and exceedingly kind to Elijah rubbing him and helping him enjoy himself.

The forecast suggested an end to the rain Thursday night, and we were excited for a walk around the lease & some coyote calling. That was when I missed having camo...

Excellent all around. Thanks for sharing. Nice looking knife you got there.

Thanks for the kind words brother and for letting me know you made it to the next stop ok. You and E-man are welcome any time. Come back when we can put that knife to use. I want a picture of your using it!

We made the most of it and the mud let us see how much activity that place is having at the moment. Tracks of all kinds criss-crossing everywhere. I think right now it may be the epicenter of the coyote world, right Eric?

It was great seeing the rigs we talked abuot so much and shooting that M8 again reinforced my comments said on the thread regarding sentimental attachment to a scope.

I made it out fine but yeah, cannot wait to replace those factory tires! Anyone want a slightly used set of mud magnets? That lease gets crazy slick with just a fraction of an inch of rain. I got home and my grandson was excited to see me but before even hugging me looking very serious and sounding disappointed sighed " Ohhhh Papa's truck is dirty again" and shook his head.

Folks it was great hanging with Eric and seeing what a terrific father he is. A big play pal to his son while maintaining his respect. He chatted with his family at home while were were holed up in the camper and the great bonds between them all is a joyful thing to witness. Blessed people who actually know it. He is the same guy in person as he is here and I am glad to know him.

Great story Eric!, look like it was a grand time and a great success a and yes I'm jealous.

Can't wait for pork on the grill.

Ken and I had a fantastic walk on Thursday morning; his lease is amazing! Not only is it large and scenic, but the mud (that colonies to make hiking difficult) showed a great deal of game active on the place.

We called at several locations hoping to see a few of the MANY coyotes we heard & whose prints we saw, but this was when my lack of camo burnt us,



but cruising the lease of a great friend with our favorite rifles (his 6 Rem, my 6-250) was awesome even without a shot fired!

I'm positive it and the stiff breeze were both significant liabilities. I did see a coyote at one point but only in a flash as he circled downwind of me.

Once he's given me a tour we returned to find sleeping beauty just out of bed



chillin w/ a Dr Pepper which he later called his "coffee"!

After cleaning out the trailer we got out for a pic together before Elijah and I hit the road for Little Rock.



Yeah Ken blinked but Elijah took forever to get the shot right...

On our way we stopped for dinner and Elijah basked in the knowledge that he was finally worthy of his camo boar cap



and we picked up some AWESOME road music



which we enjoyed all the way!

Today (Friday) is our last full day on the road. We were up early and enjoyed breakfast



after which we got in the car and had coffee... and "coffee"



getting out occasionally to make room for more, run around a stretch a bit, and model the awesome shirts Ken gave us as souvenirs



as we made the long ride from Little Rock to Indianapolis where we HAD reservations in a hotel w/ a pool. Apparently they've had a big problem for quite a while and it's shut down, so I ought to have just finished the rest of the trip... Elijah, on the other hand, was fine just chilling out for one last evening w/ his old man flipping channels complaining about how there is never anything on.

Oh for a collection of classic movie DVDs !!

what a great story!

Great story, Ernie along with some great pics. Too bad you had to hunt with such inferior cartridges.

Home!!!!!

Thanks SO much for the kind words and prayers all!

Dang Denny I didn't have the heart to kill em any deader....

Thanks again for taking the time to post the pictures and write the story of your adventure with your son. I am looking forward to making the trip down to the annual 24hourcampfire hog hunt *Texas Edition* for 2015, with my only son.

We've already talked ourselves silly trying to decide on rifles and gear for the trip. Hoping to make it down a day early so we can make it down to see the Alamo.

I'm sure you know it, efw. You are a blessed man.

Oh boy DO I EVER!

We certainly overpacked gun- & ammo-wise, but we thought we'd be shooting steel and didn't get to. If I had it to do over again I'd have packed one rifle a piece w/ a 50 round box of ammo.

Also in past hunts I've found that if AI want to kill something with a handgun that's all I can bring along or, as a rifle loon, I'll utilize that tool first.

I can't even express the gratitude I have for such an awesome son, wife, friends, vocation, etc, that allows me to have these experiences! God has blessed me far beyond anything I could ask much less deserve.

You'll have an amazing time! The Alamo will be a worthwhile stop! Are you flying or driving?

Arkansas is STUNNING!

Leftover stump was 40.4 gr, or about 45% retained weight.

Pretty good considering how tough hog noggins are!

Ah, we're going to drive down. Figuring to see the country and travel at our own pace. Hard to believe the trip is coming up next month!

That's the way to do it; the road trip is a fantastic experience! You'll have some awesome memories and be able to bring home that much more pork; I'm excited for you can't wait to hear the reports!

Great read. Way to go Elijah.
Great friends like Ken are hard to beat!!

RE the camo... same at our lease. My best friends mom, I swear has camo socks and underwear probably...

I still have camo, because at times you can't buy what you are after clothes wise and have it not be camo... try insulated waterproof... yep, but its nylon type noisy like a snowmobile suit..

But generally i'm in carhartt pants, a tshirt or maybe hooded sweatshirt.

Heck I've killed a lot of deer without camo. Even out of a tripod with a bow... Brother in law killed a small mule deer buck wiht his bow once wearing a white T shirt....
Now a prius... nah, I ain't buying into that chit. LOL. Explorer yes, alternative fuels, no way.

Congrats again to the young un!

Jeff

way to go! sounds like you all had an awesome hunt!

Nice read Eric, finally got a chance to read it all. I agree, the road trip in itself is part of the adventure.

The prius in not on menu when we drive to WY;)

Great thread on a great topic, Eric.

Thanks for taking me along on the adventure through your words.