Chances are very good that if you hunt deer, turkey or wild hogs in Texas you have at least one corn feeder on the property you hunt. You also have some sort of stand or blind that you hunt from. August is traditionally the month when we Texas hunters “get our feeders goin'” and erect, or patch up, existing stands. It’s also a good time to set up new hunting spots.
The opening of bow season is a bit over a month away now and on many Texas Parks and Wildlife managed lands ranches, hunting with any legal weapon is allowed on these properties. Whitetail bucks will soon be shedding the velvet on their antlers and by now, many of us have had a good look at the resident deer on our leases, thanks to images on our trail camera.
The past couple days, I’ve been setting up a feeder for deer and hogs in a new area that I have high hopes for. I chose a spot on the ranch I hunt adjacent a cross-fence that, like most fences, is overgrown with hackberry and cedar trees. This fence's natural cover was a key element in my choice of the new hunting spot; a spring-fed pond the animals use on a regular basis was another.
Granted, you will probably think my new set-up is a bit unconventional but it can also be very productive. I’ve tried this system in the past with very good results. Not just any spot along a fence will work, the fence needs to be near a funnel or pinch point that deer use on a regular basis. The spot I chose has a long point of woods on one side of the fence and water on the other, there were plenty of hog and deer tracts along the pond and an obvious spot where game had been crossing the fence on a regular basis. Animals use the thick cover for bedding and loafing during the day and move to water early and late.
Now, here is what will cause you to scratch your head and wonder about my set-up. I plan to hunt from the bed of my truck, especially for hogs and most likely for deer later in the season. I know the majority of game will be coming from the heavy timber across the fence, heading toward the pond for water. I chose a spot along the fence with lots of heavy cover and cut a ‘hole’ in the brush near the fence just about the width of my truck.
I piled the brush up along the outside side of the fence, on the side that will block much of the view of the truck from game approaching from the woods. Wild animals on farm and ranch land are accustomed to seeing farm equipment and vehicles.
I’ve got a couple of 30-gallon feeders that I hang from tree limbs; one is situated about sixty yards across the fence. This one I have distributing corn just before dark each evening. This will be my hog hunting spot. I’ll back the truck up with the tailgate touching the fence, sit in a comfortable swivel office chair with a cooler with cold drinks within easy reach and wait for the hogs to show.
During these night hog hunts with my CVA Cascade VH (varmit hunter) .223 topped with an ATN Thor LTV thermal scope, the hogs will never see the truck, even when at the feeder sixty yards away.
I plan to use the distant feeder, which I positioned on the edge of the woods about 125 yards from the fence during deer season. Deer are much quicker to pick up on movement than hogs and I will need to conceal my movement during daylight hours while deer hunting. For this I will construct a little 4-foot-by-4-foot blind from quarter-inch plywood to set in the back of my truck. I will drill holes in the corner of each piece and use snap ties for a quick assembly. Concealment rather than strength is my goal.
The blind will only be 5-feet high and the pieces will stack nicely for storage and transportation. A little green and black spray paint on the outside walls should do the trick to break out the square outline of the blind. I’m still researching materials. If I can find a light semi-waterproof material other than plywood that is rigid enough, I will use it instead. The four walls will break the chill from cold north winds this fall and winter.
I will cut shooting ports in front and two sides of the blind. Seated in my comfortable swivel chair, I will be able to hunt from a portable, elevated position. For this hunting I will be using my CVA Cascade 6.5 PRC rifle topped with a Stealth Vision scope. With this set-up, I will be able to make accurate shots out as far as I expect to see deer.
Of course weather will be a factor when using the truck as a blind. I wouldn’t consider setting up one of my tree-line blinds in a low area that stays muddy during the fall and winter but the spot I chose is close to a ranch road on high ground that should remain ‘driveable’ most of the winter.
If you lease hunting land, it makes sense to ask permission to do some trimming along an overgrown fence before going to work with the bow saw. I didn’t have to cut any saplings or overhanging limbs over 2 inches in diameter in the area I chose.
I’m sure had I looked, it would have been possible to locate spots where I could have simply cut out a ‘hole’ out of an overgrown area and driven my truck in, but the fence-line set-up made more sense because of visibility, not only in front of the blind toward the feeders but to each side as well. During the rut, those bucks are subject to pop up anywhere!
Email Luke through his website www.catfishradio.org. Listen to his weekly podcast “Catfish Radio with Luke Clayton and Friends” just about everywhere podcasts are found. Luke also does a weekly digital TV show,”A Sportsmans Life” with his friends Larry Weishuhn and Jeff Rice. You can watch it on Carbon TV www.carbontv.com or YouTube.
