Wandering Around South Texas

Today, Louise and I decided to go for a drive. It rained "cats and dogs" last night and today it is cloudy and gloomy! All in all, it's a good day for a drive.

We headed north on US 77 toward Raymondville and then turned east, headed for Port Mansfield. I had been there but Louise never had. Just a couple of miles out of Port Mansfield, Louise said, "Look out the left side of the Jeep!". I looked and saw the strangest herd of animals I had ever seen. They resembled deer or antelope but were bigger and had faces like cows. I know what you are thinking but this was at 10 a.m. and I was completely sober.

As luck would have it, I had neglected to bring the camera and couldn't get close enough to them to take a picture with the phone. They were very skittish!

When we got into Port Mansfield, I stopped at the first convenience store we came to and I asked the clerk what we had seen. He said that they were Nilgai, a relative to antelopes. Since I dont have a picture, you will have to "Google" it to see what they look like.

A little research revealed that they were brought to the US from India in the mid-20th century to be hunted. As often happens, some of them escaped and they are now established in South Texas with a population of about 30-40,000 animals. They have always thrived in India because they look a bit like cows in the face and Hindus, of course, think cows are sacred.

A short time later, we were doing some geocaching in Port Mansfield and found a new (to us) species of deer. These animals were almost tame but I don't know what they are. I figure one new species a day is enough!

Deer Hunting

Today was a once in a lifetime deal in the deer woods. I was about to give up and go to the house when I heard a deer walking behind my stand.

I froze and, when he walked under my stand, my first reaction was that his antlers looked like a moose's. To avoid scaring him, I had to wait until he was about 30 yards beyond me. Fortunately, I got a good shot and was able to get him. He had 18 points and weighed 150 pounds.

The bad news is that the taxidermy bill is going to be considerable. He is not something that I could pass up having mounted, though. Its extremely doubtful that I will ever even see another deer like that!

Tower Christmas Tree

Well, this week I got the bright idea to decorate the new tower in the form of a Christmas tree. I made a star out of 1/2" pvc pipe and put lights around it. Then Louise and I mounted it about 35' in the air and ran a pair of light strings down from it to the ground at an angle.

When it got dark, we took a look at it and it doesn't look too bad. We will, however, turn it off and wait until the day after Thanksgiving to light it again. I may try to take a time exposure picture and post it later.

Also, tonight is my debut as a net control on one of the local 2 meter repeaters. I would tell you that I'm not nervous but I would be lying. It's kinda like getting ready to give a speech in front of 100 people; its not bad after you get started but a little scary beforehand.

Deer gun season opens Saturday and I'm looking forward to that. Unfortunately, I'm going to miss a work day at a friend's Habitat for Humanity house. This is a great program and if you get a chance to participate, I would urge you to do it.

Hunting Results

Well, we've been black powder hunting for three days now and haven't done any good at all. I did see two does on Saturday morning but they were off in the bush and I didn't take a shot at them. Saturday was the best day, weatherwise, with a temp of about 38F, a light frost, and NO wind. This morning there was so much wind that you could hardly stay in the tree.

We're gonna go again in the morning and then take a break Wednesday.

I've still got to get busy and get that tower up in the air. Maybe I can work on that next week. How's that for procrastination?