Merry Christmas

The BBHE management team would like to wish all of the Buzzard Bluff hunters and visitors a very Merry Christmas.

Even you, Duke.

Wild Turkey is not just for Drinkin'

Marshall and Vicki seemed to have stumbled onto something perfect when they bought their land. Isn't this a beautiful sight?

Here is the test. ONE of them is NOT a decoy. Can you tell which one? The answer will surprise you.

I think that we have lost Marshall and Vicki Jeffus for good

Hunters:

We enjoyed having Marshall and Vicki Jeffus at BBHE last year and we were looking forward to another year with them this year..... until their daughter Jordan decided to tie the knot on opening week of deer season. Not a big deal, it happens to the best of us. (pay no attention to the birth date of two of my sons, 11/12/87 and  11/07/07)

In the meantime, the Jeffus' have been quite busy beavers. They purchased some hunting land outside of their home town of Wichita Falls, built a cute cabin on the property, and then got right to work getting this place ready for hunting season. You can see photos of the place in previous posts by clicking here. They have done quit a job in both picking a perfect place to hunt and building it out.

Here is a nice view of the property from one of their deer blinds.

As you can see, it is a typical beautiful TEXAS sky, very cool rolling stock with gun mounts and the works, and in the background is a feeder to help attract deer to the area.

But at night the scene gets even prettier.....

You can click on any image to enlarge it.

THAT is an impressive deer. Just remember, Marshall, you shot your first deer at BUZZARD BLUFF HUNTING EXTRAVAGANZA. We will always be your first deer, but not your first trophy deer. That is very exciting.

Your deer are better, your blinds are more comfortable, your toys are cooler AND you get to sleep in your own bed at night. All we have to offer is a warm campfire, some good eats, and a bunch of half way true hunting stories. As I wrote in the title, I think that we have lost Marshall and Vicki for good.

Happy hunting and please share the photo when you take that monster.

Buckskin

Hunters:

Every year Buzzard Bluff we leave between 3 and 5 good deer hides on the ground for buzzards to eat. While there is nothing inherently wrong with that (the buzzards need to eat too) I have decided to try and use the skins to make clothing that we can wear around the camp site. If it works out then I will make a garment for everybody who wants one

I have been doing a little research on the topic and most of what I have read says that tanning a hide the old fashion way, brain tanning, is the best way to do it. It supposedly makes for softer clothing that doesn't impart chemicals into your skin.

To that end, I have purchased a book called Deer Skins to Buckskins.

 
As I have been looking for clothing patterns for buckskin, most of what I have found has either been Native American or frontier style with lots of fringe. I am going for something a little more modern, I think.

I just think that we would be proud to wear clothing that came from the deer we take from Buzzard Bluff. I don't like to waste. On that note, when one makes clothes there is always scrap material left over so I am proposing that we do not waste that material either.

I think that our ladies would be more than proud to wear clothing that we hunted, skinned, tanned, and produced. Don't you?

From what I have read so far, I think that we need three skins to make a shirt. That means that we could possible produce one garment per year. For all of those who want to be included in the project, all you have to do is hunt, help me prepare the hides in the field. and give me moral support.

All of this will be off the table if it is too hard to tan the hides. I may make the first shirt (and bikini) and decide that the effort is not worth the end product. Cross your fingers.

Kit

Rainfall - Sept and Oct

Hunters:

It would appear that Rudy, Arkansas has been receiving above average rainfall for the months of September and October.

September:
Average - 0.07 inches
Actual - 1.79 inches

October:
Average - 0.02 inches
Actual - 0.39 inches

I hope that this means the deer will have had plenty of food to eat in order to grow antlers and be as healthy as possible.

The extended forecast for Rudy for the week of 11/13/16 still shows high temperatures of 64 degrees and lows of 41 degrees. As we all know, the colder the better.

Quick Fletch - Very cool way to fix arrow fletching

Archery Practice

It has been several years since I have actually shot my bow. I have taken it hunting and drawn the bow a few times, but I haven't actually shot an arrow from my bow in more than 5 years.

SO..... I figured that I had better tone my bow specific muscles AND sight the bow to make sure it will still hit what I am aiming at, assuming that I can still pull it back.

Good news. I was able to pull it several times without fatigue and I was shooting some good patterns.

I was dead on at 10 yards. So far so good. That deer would be dead for sure.

At 20 yards my sight was a little off but I had good grouping.

After a little adjusting I was able to get it closer to the kill zone but I still need to make a few more adjustments. That deer would probably live long enough to escape and never be recovered. NOT responsible hunting.

Finally at 30 yards, I was WAY off the target but I was satisfied with my grouping. I was almost all the way off the bag. I would have missed that deer completely, and probably lost my arrow in the process.

So, I still need to make some big adjustments there but I didn't want to pull a muscle on the first morning practicing, so I will work on that one more tomorrow.

All in all, GREAT practice run. This is the easy part. The hard part is getting close enough to a deer without it smelling me, then drawing an arrow without the deer seeing me, and doing that without the deer hearing my coat rub against itself or a tree. A lot of planets have to align before I can take a deer with a bow. But you have to play to win so I will give it another shot this year......AFTER I take a deer with a rifle first.

Note: No deer were harmed in the making of this blog post. The same cannot be said for the Super Sack. BBHE supports ethical hunting practices and does not condone bow hunting with shots like the ones seen in the photos above. 

BBHE 2016 Attendance

Hunters:

Last year was a record year for the number of hunters at BBHE. In 2015 our hunter list was rich. We had The Core:

• Neil Miller (Master of the Game 2010)
• Martin Riedel
• Rob Vinson (Master of the Game 2013, 2014)
• Kit Vinson (Master of the Game 2012)

We also had a slew of guest hunters:

• Marchall Jeffus
• Vivki Jeffus
• Sterling Vinson (Master of the Game 2015)
• Victoria Vinson
• Chris Bernal

This year the numbers will be much different.

Marshall and Vicki didn't have the guts to ask their daughter to move her wedding date far away from opening weekend of deer season. I can certainly understand that. I mean, there are only 365 days in a year. When you only have 52 weeks to choose from for a wedding, them's pretty slim pickins for options. The other 51 weeks of the year must have been pretty crappy weeks to have a wedding, right? I totally get it.... sort of. Not really. No, I don't get it. There, I said it. It's on the table for all to see. I don't understand how anybody could let something like this happen. This is how it would have gone down at my house, "Sure, y'all can pick that week to have a wedding. I hope that you guys take a lot of great pictures so I can see how the wedding went because I'll be hunting in Arkansas that week. Here's a thought. Why don't you go to the Rent-A-Center and see if they can rent you a dad to walk you down the isle because this dad will be sittin' in a deer blind waiting for that monster buck to stick his head out so I can get my name on the Master of the Game plaque." But instead, it will be YOU Marshall Jeffus, that has to go to the Rent-A-Center to see if they can rent you a usable set of balls.

Both Victoria and Sterling recently graduated from Graduate School and found highfalutin jobs back east. I would tell you all about their jobs but it is all top secret. If I told ya I'd have to kill ya. Some things just aren't worth knowin'. Anyway, they are out of the mix. Y'all go on and spend your opening week hanging around a bunch of damn yankees. Or should I have said, "yous guys" go on. Fine. Fine. No, it's not fine. How anybody could pick a stupid job over a chance to get your name on the Master of the Game plaque is far beyond my ability to comprehend. Who would pick total strangers, and yankee strangers at that, over family is beyond me.

Rob still has a freezer full of venison. He is also saving up his time off to go visit his kiddos back east during the winter break. All that's just fine with me. Since he and his clan have dominated the Master of the Game competition for the past three years it will be a good thing to give the rest of us undeserving peons a chance to ring the bell and take home the plaque. I think that I speak for all of the other hunters when I say that I'd take a win by default any day of the week. Just wait until you see what I will do to your coveted "honey hole" when you next see it. I'll have so many blinds erected on your spot the next time you hunt there that you won't be able to recognize the place. Dubai will look like a kid playing with LEGOa compared to what I have planned for your precious hunting grounds.

And Neil Miller, don't think for a second that you are out of the heat on this one just because Uncle Bob is your granddad. "I have to go pheasant hunting with an important business contact on that week waa, waa waa." I don't even know where to start on this one. Am I even hearing you right? You're choosing a scrawny bird over a majestic deer? Your head must be full of scrambled eggs because there sure as hell aint no brains up in there.

You turds will get no sympathy from me! You want sympathy, look in the dictionary between shit and syphilis! That's where you'll find my sympathy.

Now, I want all you "hunters" who can't seem to be able to show up to BBHE 2016 to drop down and give me twenty.... One! Don't you feel dumb. Two! Look at you. Three! Don't you ever think about missing BBHE again or else I'll stomp you into the ground.....

See what we have here is a failure to communicate. Know this, killing is my business, ladies, and business is good. Do not attempt to challenge my authority. I have six weeks to turn you gaggle of maggots farts into a well-discipline hunting club. From this day forward your sorry asses belong to me. You will not eat, sleep, drink, blow your nose or dig in your buts without my say so.

Be advised, ladies, I am going to WIN the Master of the Game this year! You will note my emphasis on the word WIN: Whisky! India! November! GET USED TO THE SOUND OF THAT WORD!

Does Charlie care about jobs, or weddings, or winter break? HELL NO. Charlie is just waiting out in the jungle for a weakling like you to come by. 

And who’s going to put red meat on your table after the zombie apocalypse? Certainly not you. You’re too busy fluttering around to all of your social engagements like a butterfly. The survivors will be the ones who are trained and practiced deer killers. The rest will be gathering the crumbs under our table.

For the rest of you who have your priorities straight and will be at BBHE 2016 this year, you're still a shit sandwich. You're just not a soggy one. From this moment, you are no longer turds. You have graduated to maggots!

This year's core will most likely consist of:

• Martin Riedel
• Kit Vinson

With a special guest hunter:

• Chris Toliver

Of course, we will all stay home when the day comes that The Duke of Oil decides not to show up. We'll see you guys in 47 more days.

Opening Day of Dove Season

Today marks the opening day of hunting season in the north and central zones of Texas. September 1 is dove season and it is a day that many people take off from work to enjoy. Some Buzzard Bluffers have done just that, and they have had great success.

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It is still very early in the day as I am writing this post and already Chris Toliver has taken down two birds with only ONE shot. THAT is a sign of a skilled wing shooter for sure.

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Marshall and Vicki Jeffus were limited out and home by 9:00am. These guys eat, live, and breath bird hunting so it came as no big surprise that they were so successful on opening morning. Check out these pics.

No dove would escape the eyes of this seasoned wingshooter.

You can't argue with dead birds on the tailgate.

You should know who you will be hunting with

To the hunters of BBHE 2016:

I invited Chris Toliver to hunt with us this season and at first I was confident that he would make a great addition to the hunt. However, Chris just recently celebrated his 50th birthday. Please congratulate him when you see him. 50 is a big deal. Check out his cool birthday cake. Martin, you will love this one.

Birthday cakes made out of beer are all fun and good, but the next photo is just downright startling. I will take responsibility for whatever happens at BBHE this year. I will do my best to keep Chris under control. The thing that gets me is that I asked him if he did anything stupid on his birthday, anything that he would be embarrassed about the next day, and he told me no.

THEN.......

This photo emerges...........

I mean, who even owns a garment like that, much less puts it on for a birthday photo. NOW, I am starting to get nervous about my selection. My advice to you as you enjoy BBHE this year, don't drop the soap. If you drop your keys, then kick them all the way to the car, and sleep with one eye open. I know I will be.

Kit

Sleeping Beauty

What we have here are the sleeping beauties.... waiting to be put back in service.

BBHE 2016 Planning Starts Today

Hunters:

As you know, planning for the BBHE hunt starts way before November. We had discussed some dates early on but I had to modify those dates because they didn't include any weekend hunting days. I almost forgot about Neil Miller (Sorry Neil). I have made a few changes to the previously discussed dates. The change I made to the schedule adds one more hunts and allow us to hunt over a weekend so Neil can join us. The only casualty will be that Chris will not be able to join us until the afternoon of the 12th. 

Martin and Chris have already purchased their plane tickets. That is great news. Here are the official dates.

(remember that you can click on the images to make them bigger if you need to)

Here is how I have it planned for the above week in November:

Note: Rob is fighting for full custody of his daughter and if he wins he will not be joining us for the hunt this year. Family comes first. The following is assuming that Rob will be joining us.

Martin and Rob arrive to Dallas on the 10^th.

We load the trailer, do the grocery shopping, and precook meals on the 10^th. We all stay at the Vinson Hotel – group rates of $149 per person but free if you help all day.

We wake up early on the 11^th and get to the camp by noon as we did last year, buying our licenses before we make camp. To speed the process I will buy my license online and ask that Chris and Rob do the same. They will mail it directly to our houses. That way we can get as much scouting and stand setup as possible.

Then we hunt on opening morning of the 12^th through the 15^th. 

Chris will be arriving on the afternoon of the 12th.

On the 16^th we do a morning hunt, break down camp, and then maybe do an afternoon hunt as we did last year. After that we return home.

On the 17^th Martin and Rob fly home and Chris drives home.

There is a possibility that Alicia, Mateo and I will go camping there on the 4^th through the 6^th. If we do that then I will simply leave the camp setup so we won’t have to do that when we arrive to hunt. That would be the “best case scenario”.

Hunt #1,2        12^th

Hunt #3,4        13^th

Hunt #5,6        14^th

Hunt #7,8        15^th

Hunt #9           16^th

That is 9 hunts in 5 days. Not too bad.

I would like to do the Buzzard Bluff Rib Fest on the 12^th

Licenses:

We have two options for licenses; a 3 day license or a 5 day license.

There is a $55 difference between the two. That can buy a lot of ribs when you multiply that by 4 hunters. So I propose that we each get a 3 day license and space them out like so.

Kit:      12^th – 14^th

Chris   13^th – 15^th

Martin 14^th – 16^th

If Rob is able to join then he will pick up Martin’s Dates and Martin will buy his for whichever dates he wants to since he will be the last person to buy a license. (He can’t buy his online because of international issues). This way we will always have a tag to hunt with. If all 4 of us are hunting then we will have 8 tags and that is more than plenty. If for some strange reason we need more then we can use Neil’s tags. Neil is a resident and can take up to 4 deer.

Victoria and Sterling (Winner of the Master of the Game Award 2015) will not be joining us this year as they both have graduated and secured real jobs back east. 

Marshall and Vicki Jeffus will not be joining us this year because they are marrying off their last child. Since parents don't get to pick the date and children can sometimes be horribly insensitive to hunting season dates, they are SOL for BBHE 2016.

As it stands right now, here is the list of hunters and their status:

Kit Vinson - Definite YES

Rob Vinson - Maybe

Martn Riedel - Definite YES

Neil Miller - Definite YES

Chris Toliver - Definite YES

That is all the news that is fit to print.

Introducing BBHE Guest Hunter - Chris Toliver

Hunters:

I am excited to announce that my very close friend from Austin, Texas (formerly Wichita Falls), Chris Toliver, will be joining us as a guest hunter at BBHE 2016. Today he officially committed to the entire week of the trip. He will be filling the bunk left open by Sterling Vinson. If Chris performs well (meaning he doesn't shoot a bigger dear than I do) then we will conduct the black ball ceremony and if he passes then we will proceed to new hunter initiation and then hazing. If he survives all of that then maybe he might come back to hunt again and we can add his face to the row of floating heads on the blog. But we are getting WAY ahead of ourselves.

Chris is a proud Texan, an avid hunter, a connoisseur of fine whiskey,  and a knife collector (Get him to tell you the story about the drunk knife purchase he made at the Renaissance Fair). He has two fine kids and no wife. For that reason it is really hard to find a photo of him without a girl on each arm, but I was able to find a few.

Proud Texan

(I told him that he could find bucks bigger than this one in Arkansas. HA! The joke's on him)

We've been friends since the mid 1980s (over 30 years)

Don't let the Jane Fonda Jazzercize headband fool you, he's a tough mudder.

I know that everybody will enjoy having Chris hunt with us as much as I will. The countdown continues until BBHE 2016. Stay tuned.

Exactly 6 Months Away

We are exactly at the halfway point between last season and next season. That is huge news because this means that I can start planning the hunting trip without appearing too strange. I won't go as far as to start planning meals (though I have thought about it) but I will start tying down dates so that people can start buying tickets and reserving the week for

BBHE 2016

Being Married to a Hunter

http://www.wideopenspaces.com/know-youre-married-hunter/?utm_source=FACEBOOK&utm_medium=CPC&utm_term=SH&utm_campaign=SH

If you are married to a hunter you need to read this in order to appreciate how bad it could be.

If you are a hunter then you need to knock it down a few notches so that you can show this article to your wife/girlfriend and show her how bad it could be.

Big is Back

This is for all you jokers who made fun of my big tent...

Marshall and Vicki are out for next year's hunt :-(

Good news and bad news for BBHE 2016. Below is an excerpt from an e-mail I just received from Vicki:

"News flash!!!

The good news:  Jordan and her beaux of 3 years are tying the knot in Mexico this fall.

The not so good news: it's happening on Nov. 12 - opening weekend of deer season in Ark.

Hate to miss the fun, but wanted to let you know.  Hopefully, we can join in the next year."

Y'all know what this means, right?

MORE RIBS FOR THE REST OF US!!!!!!!!!!!! Woo Hoo!!!!

Ahem....

We are so very sorry that you guys can't make it.

Keep Your Eyes On The Prize

Sterling's name will forever be on the Buzzard Bluff Master of the Game Award plaque. For those of you who do not yet have your name on the board, there are only 12 empty spots left.