Outside Days

I didn’t think the Talco boys could improve on the outrageousness that was last year’s waterlogged varmint hunt, but once again they pulled it out of the bag Texas-style. Imagine a howdah, the canopied elephant saddle of colonial India and Africa, made for a 4×4, add camo, and you get the varmint vee-hicle. Lamping in style, we added skunk, possum, rabbit and jack rabbit to last year’s species list of racoon. And the British learned a crucial lesson: when a Texan tells you not to pick up that skunk, there’s some good sense in it.

Texas wildlife is spectacular in all its glory, from the songbirds to the white tailed deer. Seeing Mike (the guide) and Neil (a client) perched in high seats waiting for the pre-dawn burst of hog life reminded me of cardinals roosting in the trees…minus the colourful plumage. We used quads to get to the remote high seats, sitting out until it was too dark to shoot, and again just before dawn. As in any sport, we all come home with stories of the REALLY BIG one that got away. In this case, it did, and we all saw it to the shame of the unnamed hunter (you know who you are). Zach, ranch manager, said it was one of the largest he’d ever seen in Talco. There’s always something to go back for…

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