Wednesday, January 31, 2007

Yankee Buck





Thunderhoofs' nephew is alive and well. He is currently living on a farm in Ohio. Fresh alfalfa and corn three times a day, humans waiting on him hand and foot, and all the does he can chase. Life is good.


His name is High Roller.
He scores 377 2/8.

Views of Paradise

The steep bluffs quickly fall 300 feet (almost straight down) to the Delta land below. The bluffs are also filled with gravel. This is the Loess Hills formed thousands of years ago during the Ice Age. The bluff is also filled with many fresh water springs that wind down through the property and into the various creeks. The beds of the creeks are gravel and the water runs year round. Great for walking and exploring during the heat of the summer.
The old main road winds through the property fron west to east. It leaves the camp crosses the creek and eases between the cotton fields and the Indian Mound bluff.
It passes beside the lake and winds through the hills. Always a great 4-wheeler ride.

Tuesday, January 30, 2007

Super Deer Bowl XLI


Miami, FL> Thunderhoof is unavailable this week. Being the most famous deer in the world, leads to all sorts of invitations and speaking engagements. This week he is off to Miami and the Superbowl. He got to meet with the Bears and tour the facilities. He writes that the warm weather is great but he really misses the famous Christmas Place.



He is secretly pulling for the Colts. Peyton is a great quarterback,
plus the Mannings are really good people
and everyone knows that Archie is about the only Mississippian
as famous as Thunderhoof is.

4 Hard Headed Brothers


Rex the Blogger, James the Guide, Paul the Shyster, Trent the Ambulance Chaser
We all look OK when we dress up a little.

Ever Lived With a Legend?

My father (Hershel Howell) is one. sometimes I forget, or take it as very natural. When I step back and look through someone elses' eyes, it amazes me.
He has hunted with Fred Bear. Taken unknown amounts of deer with rifle and bow, incalculable amounts of ducks, grabbled giant catfish, and harvested about a billion turkeys. Hell, he used to rabbit hunt with a bow! Most everyone in this part of the world has hunted with him or learned to hunt from him. He seems to know the name of every tree in the woods. I'm trying but men like him are a vanishing breed. I sure am glad he is my father. There are about a million stories about our familys' hunting life together, most of them funny and entertaining. Hope I can blog about most of them as time goes by.
I found this picture from the 70's. Hershel Howell was instrumental in the turkey restocking plan for north Mississippi at that time. It is a success story beyond belief. If you hunt turkeys here, you can thank him.

Monday, January 29, 2007

Someone Could Get Hurt

Glad someone shot this horrible beast. You do not want something like this running around in the woods. Someone could get their eye put out!

Bummer Weekend


No Luck, MS> Finally headed to camp Saturday morning with a carload of screaming kids and Camo. It started raining about halfway there and was awful the rest of the day. With apologies to Steve, Trigger and Camo spent the afternoon in front of the fire chewing on shed antlers.

Friday, January 26, 2007

For My Fur Seeking Friends

That year, Dad and James got 68 fur bearing varmints in 3 days.

Last Chance, Rain Dance


Lonely Vigil, MS> While the rest of the country is finished with deer season and is busy with ice fishing, the members at the famous Christmas Place Last Gasp Club have this weekend to bag their buck with a muzzleloader. Mostly it is a futile attempt since they have all gone back in their deer holes. Never say never, some of these fools never give up!
All of the really good hunters are sitting around the fire
eating peanuts and drinking whiskey (For example, Me and Drew.)
To confuse and bother the members hunting this weekend,
I am posting the picture of an extremely large buck taken in Yazoo Co, just across the ridge. His name is Chris White and this is a damn monster. But hey, I'm sure that there are plenty running amok like this, So get out in the freezing weather and get one. Trent (the Greedy) hasn't missed a day of hunting yet. I expect him to be trying to hunt my stand this weekend.

I am taking my video camera this weekend. I am sure Thunderhoof will come out and graze under my stand. He loves to have his picture taken! He loves to pose for Action shots! I am going to take my rifle in case the evil hogzilla walks out in front of me too! Fresh hog for supper! Yum!Yum!

It has been a very good season for deer and the outlook is even better for turkey season. Stay tuned!

Thursday, January 25, 2007

Where Is it Now?


This 1940 era deer head having around 65 points
would score around 323 points.
This world record seems lost in antiquity.
Was it real? Probably
Thunderhoof says that it is his lost cousin from Texas.
The story is at Bowsite.com

Wrapping Up the Season





In February, professional trappers from Pennsylvania used to come stay and trap on the refuge. My brother,James, joined them one year. They caught bobcats, coons, beavers, nutria, and muskrats galore.








We try to be well rounded, sometimes we have deer and ducks.
Fuzzie would be surprised!







We have had a couple of big family ducks hunts behind the lake with my cousins. Of course, that was before I started hunting big mules there.

Wednesday, January 24, 2007

Big Fish


Pacific, MS> Paul Jones finally sent me the pic of his big bass. He took this fish at our lake last summer on a light line and had to fight him for at least an hour to get it in the boat. The big bass weighed well over 7 pounds. There's some big ones in the lake too! This scenic picture is for the Defiant Infidel who needs a relaxing break

Trents' Deer Picture Appears


Amityville, MS> Trent Howell took a nice 10-point off of the Pond Stand earlier this year.
The picture has been in limbo for the last month. Trent took the deer right before dark as it moved down the ridge to him. Trent is more concerned with killing a deer than he is afraid of a Ghost.

Tuesday, January 23, 2007

The Last Damn Time...


The area code for Memphis is (901). My answering machine is full of messages from there. I don't even answer the phone when it rings.
Mark calls (Memphis) "Why don't you have that giant buck that Drew shot on the top of your blog? Blah, Blah, Monster, Blah, Rebels, Blah, 11-point, Blah.
Click! I hang up.
The phone rings, it is Drew (Memphis) Uncle Rex! Why don't you have my deer pic on the blog? Blah, Blah, my first deer, Blah, Blah, Giant Monster, Blah, all my friends, Blah, Blah, Blah.
Click! I hang up.
This is the last damn time I'm putting that scrawny buck up on the blog. If you want another picture, you will have to look in a steamer trunk at the bottom of Enid Lake to get it. HA-HA-HA.

Monday, January 22, 2007

Mississippi 42 Point Buck


I found this on the MDWFP Forum.
A 42 point buck taken in north Mississippi,
just north of here; near Red Banks in Marshall County








The hunters' name is Bryan Smith
Great Mass with a 21 1/2 inch inside spread

A Home in the Wild

Oxford, MS> The Oxford Eagle has published a nice article about my brother James and his family in Alaska. He is a guide there and lives about 60 miles from anywhere. His specialty is Moose and Bears. This is not your drive up and shoot kind of hunt. It is back country stalking that is close up and extremely dangerous in heavy cover. For the hunting adventure of a lifetime email him at this address jamiehowell@starband.net Here is the article.
Trading modern conveniences for a home in the wild

Staff Writer

Folks back home have a lot of questions about Jamie Howell’s decision to leave Oxford and his stockbroking career for the Alaskan wilderness. The main one is: “Why’d you do it?”It’s an easy answer for Howell and his wife, Kecia, and one they don’t regret after 10 years of eating off the land, hunting for a living and raising seven children in a log cabin they built by hand.
The nearest city is Anchorage, 70 hard miles away. Their closest contact with the outside world is through two recent miracles — cell phones and satellite Internet — and a floatplane that serves as their only way in or out. As communication has improved, so has their business as hunting guides for brown bear, black bear and mountain goats. Their clients for five- to 10-day hunts in the spring and fall include many folks from Mississippi.
The children do their part in helping make camp and lead hunts. The first bear-kill marks the coming of age, most recently for daughter Mahala, 9.The Howells are also parents to Brock, 15; Nathaniel, 13; Cora, 11; Eleasah, 7; and Gabriel, 5. Their eldest, 17-year-old Victoria, is looking forward to coming to school in the fall at Ole Miss, where her parents met more than 20 years ago.Meanwhile, it’s life as usual as the dead of winter sets in — digging through as much as 9 feet of packed snow, bracing for temperatures of minus 45 degrees, and depending on each other as a family for their survival till spring.
So why did they do it? Because they’d have hated not to.The Oxford EAGLE visited with the Howells at the Oxford home of his aunt, Maralyn Bullion, while the couple was in town last week for the funeral of his mother, the late Peggy Howell of Water Valley.
Have many of your family members been to visit you out there?One of my brothers has been with his wife, and all Kecia’s family from Missouri has been. Daddy’s not made it out, because he’s been taking care of Momma over the last few years. I hope he’ll come now.
What’s the land like there? “Real brushy. It’s a lot of thick brush, soft land, a lot of marshy land. ‘Course you always think of Alaska and the mountains, and they’re there — but they’re up there. Very visible, but it’s not like you’d be able to get there from where you are. It’s just too tough. “Seventy miles in Alaska is a long ways. When we first bought it, I’m thinking, ‘Shoot, that’s from Oxford to Memphis. That’s nothing — I can walk that far in a couple of days, I guess.’ And boy, when you get up there, it would take me a week to walk out of there. It’s tough country.
”How did you decide to go?“We just had gotten tired of what we were doing, and then we thought about a couple of places we’d like to go. We looked at some rural places in Arkansas, and we talked about maybe somewhere else out West, but it kept coming back to Alaska.“In the end, we ended up buying a piece of property sight unseen in the remote hinterlands of Alaska — where they were even talking about it being remote. We literally sold everything we couldn’t fit in a truck and a trailer, and packed up like the Beverly Hillbillies and off we went. We had five children with us and had two more since then.
”So what did the kids think about it?“You know they just followed along but they did good. It was kind of an adventure, especially the first summer when we were building the cabin. There’d be bears in the yard — you wake up in the morning look out and there’s bears in the trees, wandering around all the time. It was a trip.
”What was it like that first year?“There was nothing there, and we lived in Army pup tents for the months it took to get a cabin built from scratch. We literally landed there with a chainsaw and some spikes and some Plexiglas, and built everything else from timber that was there.“We took everything in we could by plane when we first went, ‘cause it was almost a year before I made it back into town. We brought lots and lots of canned food. ‘Course we killed some bears and moose, so we did have that. We ate a lot of salmon.“We’re on the lake and then about a mile and a half away is a river where we did most of the fishing. It’s just five acres and it’s surrounded by State of Alaska land.
”What all do the kids do there?“Every day is never boring, but there’s always hard chores to do. We get our water still from the lake, and they have to run it through a sophisticated water-filter system. They have to haul the water from the lake, bust wood, bring wood in. They have to help cook — there’s nine of us, so it’s like running a camp all the time. And then they have home school, which really takes up the vast majority of their day.
”What do you think this lifestyle’s given them?“Survival skills, being able to do stuff on their own. And I think being more responsible, not taking many things for granted. “Just the mere fact of turning a faucet head and water comes out of it is an amazing concept. When you have to go get water out of the lake and chop a hole in the ice to get the water out of the lake, and bring it in and run it through a filter to get drinking water, you appreciate something that simple.

Wilbur Has a Blast


Cootville, MS> Wilbur Herring, old curmudgeon and real estate agent, visited the famous Christmas Place this weekend. He reported that he had a blast! He and Dad hunted ducks, hogs, and enjoyed looking over the property. He said that they hunted Dads' boxstand with 8 deer in the field with them and drank Apricot Brandy while they waited for hogs. (Wilbur does not drink, but the fumes kept him warm) He got to go up to the lake, tour the land, and watch all the kids hunting hard. He reported eating a great duck gumbo and the feeling that he was treated like a king. Burney killed a nice 8-point (I will have pics later) and told me he wanted to go back fishing as soon as Pop was ready. He fit in well with the jokes and repartee of Paul and loved being with Dad. He is always a lot of fun with me and I would love for him to come deerhunt next fall.

Sunday, January 21, 2007

The Louis Award

Shawshank, MS> Each year a special award is presented to the most unethical, sorry, crooked, lying, complaining, hateful, law breaking, game hog that has set his ungrateful feet on the hallowed grounds of the famous Christmas Place. I can assure you that every damn person has won the award at least once. Please vote early and vote often. Editors note- it is ok to vote for Paul 20-30 times each session

Who Should win the Infamous Louis Award?
Rex
Trent
Burney
Hershel
Paul
Mark
Thunderhoof
Free polls from Pollhost.com

Did I Mention?

Hey! I just happened to have a pic of my big buck!

Some Freeze, Some Fish

While I am staring out my window watching freezing rain and dreaming of spring, my buddy Guy K over at Charming, Just Charming is fishing and watching pretty women in bikinis. I need a vacation.

Thoughts On Spring


It is raining and cold today.
Everyone, except me, is at camp trying to enjoy the next to last weekend of muzzle-load season. I have been sitting in front of the fire thinking about spring. Hot weather, golf, fish, golf, turkey season, etc.
Hell, I might do some topiary in the spring.
I know exactly what animal to create in the hedgerow.
If it is cold for awhile longer, I may try my hand at painting!
I might be another Van Goat!
Paul keeps drawing and sending me pictures, with arrows and
math equations showing the flight of his bullet on the big 10-point that got away this year. I think that he needs to work on his drawing ability along with his shooting skills!

Saturday, January 20, 2007

Ducks?

This is for Fuzzie at PA Hunt, Fish, Shoot. He seems to think I am prejudiced against duck hunters. Other than they are all crazy, most are great guys and, of course, they are all filthy rich.
Since I can't figure out how to reprint a post on here. Please follow the link to the best and bloodiest duck hunt that ever graced the famous Christmas Place Skybusters Club. The Poisoned Blue Hole.

Mulligan Hunt Organized


Stewpot, MS> Hershel Howell, land baron and deer coddler, has organized the annual Mulligan Hunt at the famous Christmas Place Hunting and Cooking Resort.
For those that do not know, it is a hunt at the end of the year that hunts everything that the season is still open on. Rabbits, squirrel, quail, woodcock, duck, and anything else that is open.
At the end of the day it all goes in a big stew pot for supper!
This year a new critter is on the menu. Wild Hogs!
It is a lot of fun traipsing the property with dogs and 4 wheelers, hunting, SCOUTING and getting in that last hunt of the year.

Friday, January 19, 2007

Delaware Deer Beware


I have been visiting a blogger over in Wilmington, Delaware.
His name is Steven Kendus and he runs a bunch of blogs. He is very interested in bowhunting, pheasants and staying on top of the hunting situation along the East Coast.
He has an interesting hunting blog called
East Coast Hunting and Outdoors Enthusiasts
He is a member of the fabled Brandywine Hundred Gun and Rod Club with a lot of interesting info and pics with his world famous hunting dog (Gus) and of their club hunting pheasants.
He is also raising kids, trying to make a living and get in some hunt time too!
I am glad that unlike Bill and Othmar, he has killed a big old buck that I can post a pic of.

Loco Logos


I have been trying to figure out a logo for my site, and to put on hats, shirts, etc. Christmas Place Hunting Club, Thunderhoof and my site address should all be on it if possible. A feeling of the south and the Delta should be in the pic. Mike over at The Kudzu Khronicles sent this. It's pretty good. If anyone else has suggestions let me know.

Girls Get Deer Too!


Pauls girls are getting more interested in other things than hunting right now, but they still hunt every now and then. This pic is of Paul and his beautiful daughter Hillary after a successful hunt.

Thursday, January 18, 2007

Muskoka Dad


I asked Bill Anderson to send me a photo of the massive buck he killed this year.
I am still waiting. I did see that his father (the real hunter in the family) bagged a nice buck. Hmmmm.... He is being promoted to be the new Deer Hunting Editor at Muskoka Outdoors
Congratulations, keep teaching and maybe Bill will get a deer one of these days.
Bill has started a new fishing blog for you trout fishermen. It is Trout Waders. It is not grabbling, but is a very up to date and interesting blog for fishermen.
Remember his motto: Hunt Proud, Fish Hard!

Curse Lifted


Dingo, MS> Paul Howell otherwise known as Professor Fubar has finally quit drinking after receiving a note from the Indian Mound signed with a giant hoofprint. The note officially lifted the curse on him until he screws up and messes with forces beyond his control again.
The last two years he has shot a six point ($150 fine) and each year the Stewarts have taken the largest buck. Coincidence? HA! Not at this place. Paul is tired of having the word FUBAR whispered at him each time he walks by and is ready to move straight into turkey season.

Stunned Hunters

This is a pic of the hunters at camp on the last weekend. Notice the stunned expressions on everyone except Drew (who shot the big a@@ 11 point)
Hunters- Trent, Drew, Mark, Paul, Burney, Bobby- (Dad and I refused to be photographed with such riff raff.)

Wednesday, January 17, 2007

Stone Flat Buck


Polaroid, MS> the members of the famous Christmas Place Blogging, Blasting, and Bragging Club are finally getting the hang of this blogging.Burney brought in this European mount of the really nice buck that he took at a stand at the Stone Flat area. I remember coming down the road on my 4wheeler and he had the damn thing lying in the road. What a hoss!
He is going to do the same with Spencers buck and have it on a plaque for a coffee table or a wall mount.

Tuesday, January 16, 2007

Lucky Hat Arrives

I just received my very cool hat from Jim over at Sportsmans' Blog. I can tell from just putting it on that it is filled with luck. He also included his card, so go take a look at his site.
Hey! Matt Got one too!


Checkmate, Thunderhoof!


Sliding Checkers, MS> Steve over at The Shed Antler sent me a pic of an interesting chess set that uses deer and hunters as the pieces. What a great teaching tool for a certain lawyer. After his disaster of a season, he needs all the help he can get.




This will help him differentiate between a pawn










and a Bishop

Monday, January 15, 2007

Blogging Up A Fire

I am beginning to believe that Othmar has too much time on his hands.He is now running his sixth blog. This blog will concentrate on the beginner hunters and what hunting is all about.

The King of DeerTopia

Season Finale, MS> Drew Stewart, son of mafia mailman Mark Stewart, had hunted hard when he got the chance to go to camp. He had worked in the summer, helped repair stands, shot his doe and done everything he was supposed to do to get and deserve a nice buck. It was the last weekend and he felt another season had slipped away. It was hot, the deer were not going to move and it looked like rain coming. He decided he would go to the North Cornfield BoxStand and maybe at least see a deer. He did not have to wait too long.
Mark was at the Turkey Feather stand; surrounded by deer. He could not believe they were moving like this. He picked out a fat doe to fill his freezer and it fell in the field after the shot. A few minutes later a lone gunshot sounded north of him and he thought, that might be Drew.
Drew was taking it easy as the sun slipped down. He scanned left, then right and back left. Holy Crap! A giant buck was standing in the wide open eating like a cow!
He got his shaking gun up, counted 4 points on 1 side , found the side of the deer in his scope and pulled the trigger. The big deer collapsed. Drew had taken his first buck.
We went to get the deer after dark. What a hog! A muley grande is there ever was one. The big 11-point with split brow tines was some kind of impressive. I think Mark was more proud than Drew. What a magnificent 1st buck! Congratulations to a wonderful young man and the hope for many more over the years.