"The lights are on", that's all Daniel said. That was my que to grab my bow load the truck and make the short drive out to his house on Trinity Bay.  I had been continuously bugging him to call us the next time they turned on their pier lights.  This was my first time bow fishing for gar a night.  The night started out a little slow.  We shot a few small needle nose gar and had several 120-150 lb. alligator gars rolling out in front of us about 40-50 yards.  Tyler and I had one shot at a huge gar 20 yards out.  It was a long shot and although I hit the gar, it was a glancing shot and my arrow bounced off.  When you see a big gar rolling on top of the water you only have a split second to shoot.  It is definitely a challenge to get a big one, not to mention successfully capture it on camera.  The Huntley Outdoors crew and the gar were not the only ones drawn to the lights that evening.  We shared the 400' pier with a few other trout fishermen that evening.  About 11:00 p.m. one of the guys hooked a big fish.  From the scream of his reel we all knew it wasn't a trout.  He had hooked a big alligator gar.  There was no way he was going to land this gar with 17 lb test line and the barnacle covered pier pilings.  We got set up and when the big gar surfaced Tyler and I both shot.  My shot hit the gar perfect dead center and stunned him.  Using my 400lb. test bow fishing line we were able to hoist the fish to the top of the pier.  I could not believe how big he was.  I jumped around like a little kid on Christmas morning.  I don't know who was more excited, me or the guys? Jeremy turned to me and said, "you do know you have to hold that fish".  There was no convincing needed for this girl.  No matter what it took I was going to hold this gar by myself.  Granted this gar was not the 150 lb. monster we had seen earlier that evening but it was definitely a trophy to me.  I would be lying if I told you that I was not a little bit nervous about picking him up still alive.  The gar was over 5 ft long and we guessed it to be around 60lbs.  I am 5'6" and weight a little over 100 lbs so he was a monster to me.  I had such an awesome time and I can't wait to do it again.  If you have never bow fished for gar you definitely need to try it!

  -Heather

Heather's First BIG Gar! August 30th 2009

It was a nice clear sky and no wind morning when I rolled in to El Campo to pick up my clients.  With no wind in the forecast I began to wonder if my season of mediocre teal hunts would continue this morning.  I had a father and son team John and Connor along with their dog Chili as well as John H. and his dog Ginger.  I got the decoys out in no time and we settled into the 4 man pit blind.  It was slow going early on with none of the customary teal buzzing the decoys before shooting time as they normally do.  Not long after legal shoot time of 6:38am the teal began their show.  With no wind the groups of 4 to 20 teal were landing in all directions making for tough conditions, but we managed to start knocking some of the rice rockets down as they worked the decoys nicely.  As the sun began to peek over the horizon we need one more bird for everyone to fill their 4 man limit of teal.  As it just so happened a single teal came and plopped right down in the decoys.  14 year old Connor waited for the bird to jump as I clapped and yelled doing everything I could to get the bird off the water.  I finally had to get out of the blind before the bird finally jumped and Connor smoked the bird w/ his 20ga.  As I walked out into the pond to pick the decoys up I checked the time, 7:35am, not a bad morning at all.

Jason

Teal Hunt! September 20th 2009

South Zone Dove Season Opened ! September18th 2009

Well the South Zone dove season opened up on Friday September 18th and I found myself and friends Mike Sisk, Jimmy, Sammy and Thomas Beet, as well as Will and Matt Parker in the middle of a sunflower field right outside of El Campo, TX.  I had been telling my friends about all the white wing dove we see flying out of town in the mornings while we’re around there teal hunting so I made it a point to try out the dove hunting this year.  The morning started off slow, which most white wing hunts do, with only a few mourning doves buzzing around the sunflower field.  With all my friends looking at me like I had just burnt them on the hunt the huge groups of white wings showed right on queue at about 7:30am.  It sounded like a war zone w/ all the hunters lined up around town waiting for the white wings roosting in town to make their daily commute to the feeding fields.  By 9am we had all shot our 15 bird limit along w/ about 50-60 other hunters in the field with us.  As we took pictures the birds were still flying and I began wondering why I ever walked out into the field as I’m pretty sure we could have shot limits standing right by the truck.  This was my first time to hunt white wings in El Campo, but it certainly won’t be my last. 
- Jason

The rough raspy sounds of the belt sander had faded and the cocobolo wood dust had settled from the air, I was finished.  I had just completed building my own longbow.  Time was not easily donated to the labor of building my bow.  Taking care of my four year old daughter, six year old son and managing the archery pro shop took up most of my time, but as we do when it comes to our passions, I made the time.  I remember the excitement I had to shoot my bow.  I also remember the overwhelming feelings of doubt and frustrations after each arrow missed its mark.  You see, fourteen years of bowhunting and competitive 3D tournaments had given me a supreme confidence in my abilities to shoot a bow.  But this was no compound and I quickly realized that consistency with my longbow was going to take a lot of practice.  That year my dreams of harvesting an animal with my longbow fell to my ethics as a hunter.  I knew in my heart that I needed more practice and did not want to chance making a bad shot.  It was fourteen months later and after countless hours of practice I had earned my calloused finger tips and gained my instinctive confidence.  I was ready and it was time for me to fulfill my dream so with husband/cameraman Jeremy in tow we headed to the woods.  We hung our stands along a well traveled trail in an almost impenetrable palmetto thicket.  This low lying bottom land along the Cedar Bayou is prime habitat for feral hogs. Days one and two of the hunt unfortunately ended without opportunity. 

My Dream Achieved, Heather Huntley

the "Most Extreme Huntress."

On day three we pushed our way through the palmettos and to our stands as quietly as possible.  The evening was drawing to an end when suddenly I heard a rustle to my right.  Before I knew it, seven hogs stepped into my shooting lane.  My heart raced in the way that only hunters understand.  I slowly stood and readied for my shot.  A million scenarios ran through my mind but my years of bowhunting experiences had taught me to most importantly be patient.  I focused my attentions to the largest red colored hog and at that moment realized this was my opportunity.  With total confidence I drew my bow, anchored and released my arrow.  As I watched the arrow hit its mark I was flooded with emotions.  I had glued, shaped and sculpted this bow and now successfully used it in the field.  My blood, sweat and now tears were all worth it.  I had come full circle and achieved my dream. I am honored to share one of my many hunting experience with you.  I hope with this essay I was able to convey my passion for the outdoors and inspire other women to pursue their dreams.  I believe with motivation, determination and perseverance all women can become an “Extreme Huntress”.                                          -Heather

After mine and Jeremy’s teal hunt got cancelled I called up my good friend Sammy Beets to see if he wanted to go chase some trout in Trinity Bay.  He proceeded to tell me he had found a few teal in Trinity bay on a widgeon grass flat at the edge of the bay, but he wasn’t really sure how good it would be.  After a short discussion we came up with a game plan to hunt for a little while and if the birds didn’t cooperate we would go chase redfish on his 10’ Mowdy scooter boat.  This is what I love about September in Texas.  You’ve got dove season, teal season, and some of the best fishing of the year. 
Waking up at 5:30am and driving 10 minutes to the boat ramp was a pleasant change from waking up at 2:30am and making a 2 hour drive to El Campo, TX to hunt.  We dropped the boat in the water at about 5:45am and made a short 10 minute boat run to the flooded grass flat where the birds had been scouted. As we pulled up to the flat you could see the duck feathers scattered across the top of the grass which had grown up to the surface of the water.  We set out about 3 dozen decoys and 2 spinning wing mojo ducks which the teal just love and then waited for legal shooting time.  Sammy left to go park the boat a good ways down the shoreline and before he could get back I already had teal sitting in the decoys and mottle ducks hovering over the top of me.  Legal shooting time came and groups of 3 to 12 birds began to work the blocks.  With the low light conditions we just stood in the thigh high salt grass and picked our shots as the fast flying teal put the landing gear down to hit the dekes.  By 7am we had 7 ducks down and needed one to finish our limit and that’s when the hunt went cold.  I began to wonder if we had missed out chance for a limit, but about 7:15 the teal began to move again and as 3 dropped in the decoys Sammy dropped his 4 and final bird.  It was 7:15 and we had filled out 8 bird limit and it was time to go chase some redfish. 
With the recent rains the normally clear grass flats were somewhat muddy so sight casting which is our preferred method to fish was out of the question.  We made a quick drift over a sand hump and it didn’t take long for a hungry redfish to eat my bass assassin.  He was no giant, but a nice 22” redfish and a good fight on light spinning tackle.  I took a few pictures and quickly release the redfish back to his home.  We left that spot shortly there after to go look for some better water and found it, but no redfish to be found.  I did find a 16” flounder that was sitting in a sand pocket waiting to ambush my shrimp imitation soft plastic.  With honey do’s waiting at home we called it a day around 9:30 and were home by 10am.  Not a bad day on the water. 

September in Texas…..  Does it get any better?