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Hunting
with Mellon Creek
Outfitters By
James Ferguson |
I recently had the opportunity to hunt with Mellon Creek Outfitters near Refugio, Texas. This was my first experience hunting with a full service outfitter and what a pleasant experience it was!
I arrived late Wednesday afternoon and was met at the gate by Jimmy Brown. I followed Jimmy to the lodge and he took me inside and showed me my room and the rest of the lodge. The lodge was a 3,000 square foot facility with all of the comforts of home. Even though the lodge was a modern structure it had a rustic feel due to the cedar planks on the walls and all of the mounts through out the lodge. Jimmy introduced me to the ranch manager Chaise Burleson and my guide Joey Carey. After the introductions everyone helped me unload the truck and get settled in.
After I had all of my gear inside it was time to eat. Jimmy made sure to tell me not to eat before I arrived because he would have dinner ready for me and Eric Runnells my camera man. I can not say enough good things about the food! We had home cooked meals for every meal. I gained 6 pounds in the 4 days that I was there. Did I mention the
desserts???? After dinner I talked to Joey about our hunting strategy and then it was time for bed.
On the first morning of my hunt I had a nice management 8 point with tall tines walk in front of my ground blind three times but I never had a shot. When I could see him the camera could not and when the camera had him I didn't. He was easily a 130 inch 8 point.
On the afternoon hunt of the first day, we hunted another location. We were in a ground blind on the edge of Mesquite flat. The deer should filter out of the Mesquite brush and into the field if all goes as planned. At 5 PM the deer movement began. We had a young 8 point walk by our blind and he hung out in front of us all afternoon. The next deer to show up
was a nice management 8 point in the 130 inch range and a trophy 11 or 12 point buck that was easily in the upper 150's to lower 160's. These two bucks fed out in the field about 200 yards from our blind and never made it our way.
On the third day, after the morning hunt we drove over to another stand location where Joey had seen three nice management bucks. This particular stand was a box blind sitting on a gas pipeline. The pipeline opened up into a big field with natural grasses growing that the deer loved to feed on. When we arrived at the box blind we parked around the corner from it and eased up on foot to take a peek and see if anything was in the field. When Joey eased around the corner a nice management 8 point was standing right by the box blind. We watched the buck for a few minutes and decided that this would be the stand that we should hunt for the evening hunt.
After lunch we headed back out to the box blind. We had not been in the blind very long when the buck appeared down the gas pipe line. He began feeding our way and everything looked as if it was going to go as planned. As the buck began feeding our way we had a turkey walk in front of the blind. The turkey stopped and began feeding on some bugs in the grass. The buck saw the turkey and I guess he did not like what he saw so he went into the brush and cut the corner and came out in the field 60 yards from us. The rest of the afternoon we watched the buck feed out in the field with several does over 100 yards away.
Just as I began to think the buck would never come our way a huge hog appeared in the field. The hog pushed all of the deer towards us and the buck was coming our way fast. I grabbed my Mathews Z7 and got ready for a shot. The buck was walking
ton the side of the blind that we were not set up to shoot out of. I had to sit on the arm of Joeys chair as he was crammed back into the corner of the blind. As the buck was walking I ranged him at 37 yards. I put my 40 yard pin low on him and sent my Muzzy tipped arrow on the way. The buck ducked and my arrow went right over him. As I sat there in disgust, I watched the buck trot off out into the field. He then began to feed with the does 150 yards from the stand. As I sat there trying to figure out what happened it came to me. The buck was walking quartering to me slightly. After I ranged him, he took 5 more steps or so. That probably put him at 33 yards. Even though I figured out what had happened it did not make me feel much better.
As we sat there watching the buck out in the field another buck appeared down the pipeline and it was headed our way. Joey took one look at the buck and immediately knew he was a cull buck that he wanted me to shoot if I got the opportunity. The buck walked right down the pipeline and right in front of our box blind. I grabbed my Z7 again,
and came to full draw. Joey gave me a range of 29 yards. I settled my 30 yard pin low in the vitals and touched the trigger of my Tru-Fire release. THWACK! The Muzzy found its mark! The buck wheeled and ran back down the pipeline but his attempt to escape was futile! He began to get that wobble going on in his back legs and
he went down less than 100 yards from the box blind! All of the deer on the pipeline just watched the show then began to feed again once the cull was down. After a short celebration it was time to go get the buck.
We loaded the buck up in Joeys truck and headed back to the lodge. Once back at the processing facility, we unloaded the buck so he could be weighed and measured for the MLD paperwork. Mellon Creek Outfitters is under a Type 2 MLD management program with Texas Parks and Wildlife so you do not have to use any of your own tags on the deer.
The last afternoon of my hunt we went back to the same box blind in hopes of getting another shot at the management buck that I missed earlier. With only about an hour of shooting light left the buck appeared 300 yards across the field. I never thought he would come close enough to get a shot at him. As time slowly ticked by several does began to filter past our box blind and feed down the pipeline. Once the does were in front of us, the buck stopped eating and headed straight towards the doe. He was coming fast! I grabbed my bow once again and came to full draw. As the buck was approaching my shooting window Joey was reading me the distance, 29, 27, 26, 24......The buck was now in my window at 24 yards. Joey grunted, the buck stopped and looked right at us but it was too late for him! My MX-4 was on the way and blew through him like a hot knife through butter! The buck shifted into high gear but he did not make it far. Seventy five yards from the blind the buck began to run in a small circle and went down in the middle of the pipeline! Time to celebrate!
On every hunt we were in the middle of the deer. The quantity and quality of the deer that I saw while I was hunting with Mellon Creek Outfitters was amazing! I have never hunted a place where the deer are as calm as they are at Mellon Creek Outfitters. With over 100,000 acres to hunt is easy to see why. The deer are never pressured. Mellon Creek Outfitters takes a limited number of customers each year. They hunt somewhere a few times and move on. I definitely plan on hunting with Mellon Creek Outfitters again next year! |
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