Damn near’t Mexico hunting trip – 2009

Well, we arrived back in Lubbock around 4:45 yesterday evening. We had a great time even though it did not turn out with a kill at the end of the hunt. We had all expected not to make any kills since it was a little late in season and this is the first year for us to go down there. So, now for the story…

We left around 3PM and headed southbound. We could have left sooner, but had to wait for Craig. LOL We arrived at the Palacio de George around 9. As we pulled up there were about 8 deer in the front yard. We unloaded the gear, and started turning on the water and electricity. As Craig and I were in the back turning the water on, we heard Nick talking to someone. When we went back around the front, we found Joyce was there making sure we were not “boogers”. It was nice to know someone was watching the place a little. After a quick call to the wives, letting them know we made it and all was good, we settled down for the night.

The next morning we had breakfast, and I showed the guys around the Palacio. We pulled the boat out and started it up. Made sure it was rigged out and ready to go. We grabbed the gas tanks, and then headed to Del Rio to get gas and the permits for Craig and Nick. Then we headed back and were ready to hunt after a quick shower and getting our hunting gear loaded into the boat.

We got the launch permit for 4 days, and launched the boat at Rough Canyon. The boat was headed south at full speed. Then, about 3/4 of a mile down the river – it died. Not sure what happened, but it would not start again to save our lives. When it did start it would not stay idling. So we trolled our way to a decent beaching area and decided to work on it a little more. When we landed the boat there were several deer right where we landed. We wanted to shoot them, but it was not a hunting area – and we play by the rules (for the most part). LOL After giving up on the boat, we pushed off and started trolling and paddling our way back up river to the boat ramp. An old guy and his wife from Wisconsin pulled up and towed us into the boat ramp after many jokes and stories about the “corn liquor” gasoline. Roundapple was his name, and he said corn liquor was for drinking, and that “ethanol” was not good for boat motors. He said that was our problem. Once we made it back to the ramp, I asked him what we owed him. He said nothing, I just hope you boys kill a deer down and it falls down in the bottom of a canyon right at dark. Then he just laughed. He was a character for sure.

As we were looking at the boat for a little while and made sure it was on the trailer good, a Park Ranger pulled up. He went through the normal questioning and checking our license and permits. We talked about the boat a little, and hunting. Then I jokingly asked, when can we start hunting in Devil Shores area. He asked how much land we had there. I told him an acre. He said, well you need 15 to hunt with a rifle, and there is no law in Texas that says you can’t shoot a deer with your bow in your yard. We all laughed and made sure we knew his name and badge number.

So there was one day of hunting – gone. We went home and looked at the boat some more. Cooked, ate, and Craig decided he was the new “Tigaba”. Later that evening Craig nick named Nick as “Strawberry’. It was all based on the tattoo Nick has on his left breast of a red chilli pepper. Craig thought it was a strawberry and said “I’ve seen some girls who had tattoos of those!” LOL We had a good laugh with that. We decided to hunt Area 1 by truck the next day. By truck means, we get there by truck – then hike our rears back – way back in there for some hunting.

We hunted all day the next day and did hike back to the rear end of Area 1. We put in about 7 miles that day. The terrain is a bit of a pain. Up and down for the most part on an average of 380 feet elevation change, on loose rock. We saw several deer back in there. At one point I could see a couple out about 200 yards to the south. Nick decided he would try to circle out wide and push them back toward us. Then once he was out about 100 yards I heard something behind me. It was a nice buck and a little yearling, which I found weird for the two to be running together. They were about 80 yards from me. I tried calling them in a little, but no luck.

It made for a long day, but a fun one none the less.

We decided we would take Sunday to try and get the boat running. We worked on it all day, even Larry came over and helped us out for a while. No luck. We decided to put it up and just hunt without it. We were a little disappointed that we could not get to area 4. That is the one area you can only get to by boat – which is where we wanted to hunt.

The next day we hunted Area 5. We hiked back toward the rear corner of it and were setup right before sunlight. Around lunch time we decided to move. We scouted around for a while and saw two Aoudad sheep. We found a nice area with great cover, tracks, rubs, scrapes and water. We decided we would mark this are and keep scouting a little while. We hiked on, then took a short break, ate, and then decided to back track to the area we found before. We split up and met back up at the area we had marked. Once we met up, we talked about where we would setup. We split up and the hunt was on.

I enjoyed a little knap underneath God’s great clear blue sky. Nothing was moving but the ducks and birds. So it was nice and quite. LOL

Craig shot at one, but hit just short of it. Nick drew back on one, but never got it to move into a clear shot. Same thing for me.

Then on our way out Nick drew down on a skunk. I asked him politely, with a small threat of his life, not to shoot it. Then we jumped another deer on the way out. Nick drew back, but never had a shot – too much brush.

We headed home, showered up and went to Cripple Creek for a meal. We watched a movie or two, and all was good.

We took Nick to the airport to pick up his rental car – he was driving to Tyler from Del Rio. We dropped him off, and then went back to get him since they did not tell him he had to fly in to get picked up there. We ended up taking him to the Hertz rental place.

Craig and I went back to the Palacio and cleaned up everything, buttoned down the hatches and threw the off switch. Then we loaded up and headed north bound. It was a great time and will only get better and more successful as time goes on. We’ll know the area much better by next season. I plan on scouting as much as possible throughout the year.

Thanks George for everything!

Here is a link to some pictures: