Pull Your Pistol and Step Back in Texas History

I drew my pistol, cocked the hammer back and pulled the trigger. Fire and white smoke belched from the barrel and my advisory fell to the ground with a hole in its side. As it rolled to get away I fired one more shot and the coffee can was hidden from sight in a cloud of white sulfurous smelling smoke. As the smoke cleared the can lay still with holes to show where both round balls had passed through. I was firing a Replica of an 1851 Sheriff’s model cap and ball revolver. I could have been a Texas Ranger holding off a group of Comanche raiders bent on taking my hair or even a Texas Lawman facing down a desperate badman. These guns were also used in the Civil War and many Texans carried them long after. Some relied on the cap and ball revolver even after cartridge revolvers came on the scene. They were carried by such men as the James brothers and Bill Hickok.

People often ask me why I shoot the replicas of old cap and ball revolvers. They are slow to load with round ball, loose powder and percussion caps. They must be thoroughly broken down and cleaned within 24 hours of shooting or they will rust up terribly. I have to answer that they are the most fun of all the guns to shoot. It also seems that no matter how serious life or how old I get they let me step back in time for a while and relive a little history. I won’t go into all the loading and care of the old time revolvers as that information is available on the net and even videos of how to load and shoot them is available to watch on YouTube. I will tell you that today there are more replica types of black powder revolvers available to choose from than you could have found back in the time of the original Colts and Remingtons that were available to our ancestors. I am including some links to some forums I like that can put you in touch with those that shoot the revolvers on a regular basis and would love to help you get into the sport and hobby. I will warn you it is addictive. Get out and make some smoke of your own, Wild Ed


http://1858remington.com/discuss/index.php

http://blackpowdersmoke.com/forum/index.php

http://www.possibleshop.com/pistol-uberti.html

http://www.possibleshop.com/did-you-know/d-y-k-loading-the-c-b-pistol.html

http://www.voy.com/60048/

http://www.cabelas.com/catalog/browse/shooting-black-powder-pistols-revolvers/_/N-1100201/Ns-CATEGORY_SEQ_104503680?WTz_l=SBC%3BMMcat104792580%3Bcat104701680

You may wish to scroll down to the bottom of the page and mute or cut off the playlist sound before playing the video.

http://archives.gunsandammo.com/content/cap--ball-resurrection

The following book is one I highly recommend if you wish to learn more about the Percussion Revolver.

Direct Hit Takes Out One of Our Game Cameras

My brother has been getting some really good photos on his game camera in the last few weeks but apparently it is hail season at our place.  We have had three hail storms in two weeks and a direct hit from a hail stone took out his game camera.  We will have to send it off for some repair work and use another for a while.  Here are a few shots right up till the hit by the hail.  Wild Ed

Texas Spring Turkey Season

Spring Turkey season opens at our place March 31st and the opener always brings back memories of past seasons. This year I will only be calling and taking pictures as we are just getting turkeys back to their historic range on our place in Lampasas. We had a set back when a neighboring hunter killed one of our gobblers in deer season but at least two gobblers are staying around with a few hens.

I remember turkey season many years ago when as a teenager I would chase turkeys through the woods in Llano and San Saba counties with just a mouth call and a .243 rifle. I later added camo consisting of Army surplus camo clothing and charcoal rubbed on my face. There were a lot of times that ole gobbler would see me move or the shine of my gun, face or hands and be gone in a flash. As my skill developed and I learned about face paint, camo gloves and gun camo I became more proficient at bringing home a gobbler. I got good enough at calling I started using a shotgun and getting those gobblers to come in close. I remember seeing the first outdoor television programs showing someone using a turkey decoy and how the turkeys came to the call looking at the decoy and not the hunter. I finally found a plastic turkey decoy in one of the outdoor mail order catalogs and ordered it. There was no Internet or online search and ordering at that time, just the Gander Mountain and Cabelas mail order catalogs. When that first plain looking decoy came in the mail I could hardly wait until season to try it out. The success I had with that plastic decoy through the years helped me take a lot of gobblers and even a few with my old Fred Bear Grizzly recurve bow. I remember using rubber bands and a hot glue gun to put real turkey wings and a tail on that solid grey-black plastic decoy, from a distance it almost looked alive but kind of beat up. I guess the gobblers thought she looked great as they sure came in time after time.

Many years later I was watching the tube one Saturday morning in the off season and here were these two guys in a weird shaped camo tent hunting turkeys in the middle of a field with a decoy right outside the tent. I thought I can’t believe this will work as the turkeys will see that tent out in the middle of an open field and won’t come anywhere near it. I was starting to think the turkeys were tame as the turkeys walked right up to the decoy and one of the guys shot that turkey at mere feet from the tent. I knew it must have been a fluke or a place where turkeys had not been hunted much at all. Flipping through the channels a little later in the week I saw another hunter on another outdoor show setting up a turkey decoy and one of the strange camo tents in another open field. He then proceeded to call several turkeys right up to the tent and took one with his bow. I went to the catalog basket in the bathroom library and started looking through the pages of an outdoor catalog. I had to have one of those magic camo tent blinds. That was the beginning of my love affair with pop up camo blinds and turkey hunting. These things allow the regular guy to have success with shotgun or bow in hunting turkeys just about anywhere. I have had people that can’t even call send me emails about having turkeys come to a decoy set up outside a pop up blind. If you are like me you will find a lot of uses for your blind. I have used mine on deer, hogs, and predators. The pop ups are great for birding and wildlife photography. I have even hunted waterfowl and sand hill cranes from one of the blinds. It pays to read and watch for new techniques and gear to be used in hunting. Sometimes it will even change your life or at least the way you think and hunt. Have a great time chasing a gobbler this year. Have fun, make sure of your target and above all be safe.

Remember to take someone new to the field and get them started hunting. Once upon a time someone took the time to take you hunting. This article is dedicated to the friends, buddies and loved ones that took the time to take me hunting through the years. I hope I made you proud, Wild Ed


The following are YouTube videos showing the effectiveness of decoys and popup blinds. The second one they have a little problem with their shooting but it shows how good the decoys and blinds work so I used it. You may wish to scroll down to the bottom of the page and mute or cut off my music playlist before watching the videos.  Ed

Feel free to click on Post a Comment and leave a comment or read the comments of others. Thanks, Ed

Texas Quail Populations, Song Birds and Raptors, Something to Think About

I can remember going to my grandfather’s places in Lampasas and Llano counties in the seventies and eighties and hunting quail with my bird dogs. I could always kill a mess of quail if we worked at it for a few hours. It wasn’t like hunting in South Texas or West Texas where we could always get a limit. After I got married I was lucky enough to be able to hunt some farms and pasture land between Colorado City and Abilene that belonged to my wife’s family. There were quail everywhere and my dogs and I spent many a fun day in that part of the world. The quail populations are down so much that I no longer hunt them or keep bird dogs.

The event that brings me to tell you my observations happened Saturday morning as I was sitting at the dining room table having coffee and reading the paper. A streak came through the trees and plowed into the flock of white wing dove at our bird feeder. One of the dove slammed into the dining room window and the streak hit it before it fell to the ground. The flying streak turned out to be a Coopers Hawk that terrorizes the birds at our neighborhood feeders on a daily basis. As I watched it pluck the feathers from the dove I thought about how the hawks have increased in population since my younger years.

Being a falconer I have been interested in hawks, owls, harriers and falcons for most of my life and I am a real supporter and fan of raptors; however man has created a catch twenty two as far a raptor management. They have been given total protection and have enjoyed such for several decades and the populations have responded accordingly. So much so that many bird populations and especially quail have suffered in years when there are low populations of rodents the primary prey of hawks. More people are now setting up bird feeders; there are more city pigeons and more towns full of grackles. What this means is that more hawks are able to survive that first year out of the nest and become efficient killers on the wing. Past studies have shown that as many as eighty percent of fledgling hawks did not survive their first year; I no longer believe that to be the case. Studies are being done on nesting quail in the south, more and more the Coopers hawk is coming up as the villain. I hear from people that raise pigeons and are quitting because of the Coopers Hawks taking their birds on a regular basis until they are wiped out. Many members of our local poultry raisers groups can no longer let their flocks free range because of the number of hawk attacks. Some flocks have been completely decimated or they have to be penned and raised on feed. I tried to raise roller pigeons here and could not as I was losing several birds a week to Coopers hawks.

On a recent trip from Round Rock to Abilene my wife and I counted eighty two hawks along the roadway. Most were Red Tailed hawks along with a few Coopers. Since Coopers are a predator of the woods and thickets and are not out in the open much I am sure we passed by many more. Last deer season sitting watching a cut Milo field early one morning in Nolan County I watched twenty two harriers and hawks check the field out for prey. I used to hunt quail on a regular basis in this field but now it is not worth the effort, I wonder why? We have had three quail coming to our feeder at our place in Lampasas after an absence of quail for several years. Last week I found one of the hens remains in a circle of feathers near the feeder, the victim of a hawk attack.

Man almost decimated the hawk and falcon populations at one time with our use of DDT. The knee jerk reaction of total protection was not good wildlife management and if it continues it will be to the detriment of other populations such as quail and song birds. Maybe it is time we manage raptor populations with actual science and for the good of the total system and all wildlife.
Just a thought, Wild Ed

West Texas by Wyman Meinzer

A good friend sent me the following video in an email this week.  I had seen it before but some how these pictures make my spirt soar and bring back memories of being in West Texas.  I just had to share them with you.  For those of you that know West Texas you will understand my feelings, the rest of you will get a glimpse into the soul of West Texas.
Wyman Meinzer is one of those people that speaks through the lens of his cameras.  Being an amateur photographer I have studied his work for years and enjoyed the wildlife and scenes of Texas he has shared with us. I have dedicated this week’s blog to his video of West Texas pictures as the music and pictures show some of the reasons that many of us are so drawn to this State and feel such a close connection to the land and wildlife. Take a few moments to enjoy the pictures of Wyman Meinzer and the music of Doug Smith. If you get the chance get out and see some of West Texas for yourself. Wild Ed

Before you play the video scroll down to the playlist at the very bottom of this page and hit the speaker icon to mute my playlist music or just turn it off so you can hear Doug Smith's music that accompanies Wyman's pictures. I would also suggest you click on the full screen icon right after starting the video so you can see the pictures as large as possible. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did. Wild Ed

Wyman Meinzer's West Texas from Wyman Meinzer on Vimeo.

White Bass Time at Colorado Bend

One of my favorite places to spend the day fishing or go camping on the Colorado River is at Colorado Bend State Park.  The word is that the White Bass spawning run has kicked in and you can get in on the action.  Located just west of Lampasas, where the Colorado River forms the border between San Saba and Lampasas counties is a beautiful State park in the Colorado River valley bounded by bottom lands with tall trees and high scenic bluffs. The water runs in long winding pools and shallow, rock-strewn rapids. In places, beautiful waterfalls cascade to the river below. The park is famous for the spring white bass run. The white bass swim up river to spawn out of the depths of Lake Buchanan. Fisherman come from all over the State to fish for the white bass each year. If you catch the peak of the spawning run you can stand and catch a white bass almost every cast. Most of the time you have to work a little harder for your catch, one of my favorite methods is fly fishing with small blue scuds or freshwater shrimp flies on an ultra-light fly rod. If the bite is slow I have found slowly paddling the river while trolling with a blue or blue and silver plastic grub to be the most productive for putting enough fish in the cooler for supper. If you are real lucky you might catch a striped bass, hybrid bass or channel catfish while casting or trolling on the river.

The fishing is only one reason to visit Colorado Bend; it is also a great place to view wildlife up close. Over a hundred species of different birds, feral goats, feral hogs, raccoons, grey foxes, bobcats, skunks, ringtailed cats, deer and armadillos all call the park home. Don’t leave any food out if you are camping or you may have night visitors you did not invite in your camp. Down stream from the boat ramp is a rookery of nesting Great Blue Herons worth the trouble for the adventurous hiker or paddler. If you watch close you might even get to see a Bald Eagle soaring up the river. You can hike to Gorman Falls or explore the many other trails in the park for days.

You can find out much more about the park at


http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/spdest/findadest/parks/colorado_bend/

Take time to take someone you care about into the wild and share the experience of making memories. Colorado Bend is a great place to start, Wild Ed

Feel free to click on Post a Comment and leave a comment or read the comments of others. Thanks, Ed