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.