8 Alberta Texans...
Contributors to this thread:Hogs
From: Dino
01-Mar-15
This past February, 4 of us from Southern Alberta, met up with 4 buddies from Northern Alberta, for a hunt in Southwest Texas at the Cinco Ranch. Rob Kiebler, of Fair Chase was our guide for this special trip. We had gone the year before and had so much fun, we decided to re-book. The trip was also a surprise for my son's 18th birthday, Christmas and High School graduation. I had set it up as a surprise for Brendon and had Mr. Kiebler call him on Christmas morning. Nothing beats that Texas accent!
From: Dino
01-Mar-15
Getting the phone call!
From: Dino
01-Mar-15
Arriving at the ranch.
From: Dino
01-Mar-15
Sighting in...
From: Dino
01-Mar-15
From: Dino
01-Mar-15
We arrived at the ranch on a Sunday afternoon around 3pm. It was a non-hunting day, so we had lots of time to visit and tinker with bows. We were very excited about our 3 day hunt! Here Brendon is getting the details of the ranch and filling out paperwork.
From: HUNT MAN
01-Mar-15
This is going to be good. Thanks for posting.HUNT
From: Medicinemann
01-Mar-15
Hunt Man X2!!
From: Dino
01-Mar-15
In Canada we have awfully strict gun laws, and the big kid of our group couldn't wait to strap on a side arm...Texas style.
From: Mark Watkins
01-Mar-15
Looking good with that side arm!
Mark
From: drycreek
01-Mar-15
In for this !
From: sharpstick
01-Mar-15
Similar to Brendon I was surprised to be on this trip for 2015, I did not think I would be able to swing it but on Christmas morning my wife and 2 girls surprised me with this piggy bank with US money and a plane ticket to San Antonio. To say I was shocked would be an understatement!!!
I couldn't figure out why the other guys had been changing the subject every time I had asked them how their planning was going for the trip...I just thought they where being d!nks about it cause I wasn't going this time. As it was I was the only one who didn't know my wife had gotten me tickets in October and they where afraid of spilling the beans...lol
From: Dino
02-Mar-15
This tall skinny white guy is Sharp Stick, or as we call him Sherpa, he can tune a bow like no one you will ever meet. The party of 8 was so happy his wife surprised him for this trip!
From: Dino
02-Mar-15
Ranch manager Smiley and our intellectual guide John. Here, they are giving away all the ranch secrets.
From: Dino
02-Mar-15
Night sets in Texas as we meet with the ranch owner Mr. O'Brien and his son...We are very excited about the next morning, our first hunt.
From: Dino
02-Mar-15
From: Dino
02-Mar-15
Mr. Kiebler giving us strict details on animal movement and shot placement.
From: Dino
02-Mar-15
Brendon has had enough for one day...long day of travel and a lot of story telling, he wants a comfy bed.
From: bghunter
02-Mar-15
This thread is going to be great. Those photos are bringing back some memories thats for sure.
From: wild1
02-Mar-15
Great start…..more please!
From: sharpstick
02-Mar-15
Here is another pic from Day 1..
Rob giving some tips on shooting some pistols and black guns..."don't do anything stupid like shooting each other, these aren't bows and arrows"..lol
From: petedrummond
02-Mar-15
Thats good advice.
From: petedrummond
02-Mar-15
Too bad my buddy lee wasnt a bit more careful the week before u got there.
From: petedrummond
02-Mar-15
When a scope clears and the barrel doesnt bad things happen.
From: petedrummond
02-Mar-15
When a scope clears and the barrel doesnt bad things happen.
From: petedrummond
02-Mar-15
Fragments fly.
From: bghunter
02-Mar-15
That's not good.
Is that the bridge the govt built on the property to cross that creek but goea pretty much no where? I remember see that when at the ranch
From: petedrummond
02-Mar-15
The 7 million dollar bridge it is
From: Dino
02-Mar-15
5 AM mornings come quickly, especially when you lose an hour coming from Alberta. I have a hog barking and growling at me in the dark, Brendon was at full draw, twice on a hog, but it wouldn't give him the shot he wanted. Morning was a bust. Nice South deer arrived at my feeder.
From: Dino
02-Mar-15
Morning's blind on the runway
From: Dino
02-Mar-15
We re-group over coffee, morning was cool, and getting Colder, as a front was moving in.
From: Dino
02-Mar-15
One of our group had never hunted, so Sherpa (Sharpstick) spent some time with him tuning this X bow, while the others fished.
From: Dino
02-Mar-15
Monday around noon, Texas blue sky showed and Brendon and I stalked javelinas on Caliche. We were super close 3 times but the wind kept swirling, plus we stalked a sneaky hog to 30yds, Brendon was preparing for the shot when the wind switched...grrr!!!
From: Dino
02-Mar-15
From: Dino
02-Mar-15
On this afternoon, a member of our group, nicknamed Amphibian, was able to shoot a Javelina with his crossbow. This was his first animal...ever! Upon his return to headquarters, a ceremonial, passing of the "Major League Bowhunter" Cap was passed from one new bowhunter to another.
From: Dino
02-Mar-15
What is a bowhunting trip without gear, more gear, and getting gear ready?
From: Dino
02-Mar-15
From: Dino
02-Mar-15
From: Dino
02-Mar-15
Fabian's first animal!
From: Dino
02-Mar-15
As we prepared to head out for the evening's hunt, the clouds rolled in, with a North wind and rain threatening. I was placed in Bobcat blind and was glad I elected to sit in the blind rather than the tripod stand.
From: Dino
02-Mar-15
The North wind and rain were making it very cold...even for a Canuck!!! The rain was pelting my blind and I decided to quietly turn my 2 way radio on, the time was 6:10 pm, within minutes the radio started buzzing! It seemed as though everyone had a hog down! My brother was first!
From: Dino
02-Mar-15
Next up was Mike, or Wheevzy as we call him.
From: Dino
02-Mar-15
Cousin Terry was next on the radio, "This is Degs here, hog down, but running away with my arrow in it!" As if that made any sense, post shot adrenaline was definitely kicking in... Terry was definitely underdressed and was shivering like a dog when this big mature boar came in. Degs focused, picked a spot and made a sweet shot. The boar wheeled at the shot and Terry was worried, it was getting dark and raining...the 175lb boar made it less than 60 yards! Those big Wasp Jak Hammers 1 3/4 cut really do a number on the hogs!
From: Dino
02-Mar-15
Fabian was next with hog down...followed shortly by birthday present boy Brendon!!! He was freezing cold, as he waited with his back to the wind and rain. This young boar came in and Brendon anchored it with a spine shot, we were up to 5 hogs down...Smiley came quickly to get him!
From: Dino
02-Mar-15
From: Dino
03-Mar-15
Bobcat was a bust for me...no hogs spotted. Sharpstick had however broken his unlucky streak when a group of hogs showed up. He chose the biggest sow and sent his Canadian flag crested arrow on its way. The perfectly placed 1 3/4" Wasp Jak hammer made for easy trailing, even in the rain. This finished our first night of hunting. 6 out of 8 hunters with hogs! All shot and all easily recovered.Wow! The skinning shack was very busy...little did I know what was in store the next day!
From: Kdog
03-Mar-15
Nice job guys, way to put it on those Texas hogs.
From: sharpstick
03-Mar-15
Picture of the Canadian Missile :)
From: bghunter
03-Mar-15
Great job guys. Rob has one of the best ranches and a great guy to hunt with.
I want to see the photos of the morning after all the hogs were shot as I know, there was some celebrating going on and Rob has one heck of a bar area for that :)
From: sharpstick
03-Mar-15
Here's a good one from the first morning...Dino thought putting R.K on his face for Rob Keibler was a good way to camo up. Too bad he did it in the mirror and it came out backwards...lol
From: bghunter
03-Mar-15
Lmao
From: IdyllwildArcher
03-Mar-15
Looks like you guys had a great time :)
From: Dino
03-Mar-15
The next morning a few fellows elected to sleep in, especially after being over served Makers...the night before. For those who did go hunt, it was a slow morning. I left my stand a little earlier and wandered around a creek...I love the idea of stalking hogs! When we returned to camp at 9 some boys were just rolling out and drinking coffee. Smiley was wanting to go for a short drive to the river and check a feeder before breakfast. I jumped in with him and asked Degs and Sharpstick to join us. We were just about to leave when Sharpstick asked, "Aren't you bringing a bow?" I was glad I grabbed it!
From: Dino
03-Mar-15
We just made it to the river "cliffs" when Smiley announced, " There's hogs down there!" With that we were after them...I was finally stalking hogs! We got into a bunch of them rummaging around a "tank", what we'd call a dugout. The wind was perfect and a big sow fed to 30 yds and I slipped a jak hammer into its lower chest. It ran away from the others, but they kept feeding, we slipped up on another hog and I shot a young boar, meanwhile another hog was also in a good position, so Degs grabbed my bow and release and shot it at 12 yards!!! Wow what a morning!
From: Dino
03-Mar-15
From: sharpstick
03-Mar-15
Here's a pic of me at full draw on a hog with Dino's bow after Degs shot his hog with it...I'm left handed but have shot right before due to an injury so we tried for 4 hogs but one small twig was in the way of a clear shot. The worst part of trying with his bow was having to let down...it's the wrong hand and 12 lbs more than I draw with my good arm, I think I left one of my nutz laying beside the tank when I let down!
From: writer
04-Mar-15
Seriously, can't you guys find someway to have fun? :-)
Good to see some Canadians coming to this side of the border to enjoy the outdoors.
Y'all come back now, ya'hear?
From: Dino
04-Mar-15
Here's Degs with his hog, shot with my bow, which used to be his...lol! We almost had 4 out of this group!!!
From: petedrummond
04-Mar-15
You are doing a great job on this thread. Makes me want to go back.
From: Dino
04-Mar-15
Thanks for the kind words Peter. We enjoyed the trip so much that I wanted to share it. The hospitality of the crew at Fair Chase and Cinco Ranch is unbelievable...I too want to go back. I will soon add more of the story.
From: Dino
04-Mar-15
It was only our second night and we didn't feel like sitting so we had Rob corn a road close to the river and the nasty cane. It wasn't long before we spotted some javis and Sharpstick made a great stalk and shot!
From: Dino
04-Mar-15
As it got darker, we began to see a few hogs. We got busted on one stalk by bad wind, then around the next corner, we saw more! They jogged away from us and we jogged after them, they must have surmised we were rival hogs. They began feeding and I closed the distance. I made a 33 yard shot on a very large sow. The lumenok end of a big Jak Hammer tipped arrow, showed a very good arrow placement,The sow ran down the bank, disappeared, and we heard it crash into the cane. Mr. Kiebler's words rang out..."we don't go into cane after hogs." Shot looked good, so we sent Sherpa in after it...he crawled through a hole i wouldn't to blood trail this baby! What an awesome hunting partner!
From: Dino
04-Mar-15
From: Dino
04-Mar-15
Meanwhile, Brendon was back on the south end of the ranch. He was in a tripod stand that he had spent his first morning at. He was close to shooting a beautiful banded oreo hog, but a fickle wind betrayed him. Wheevzy was spending time at Pepe stand, named after one of ranches first cowboys...this young hog showed up...
From: Dino
04-Mar-15
Us Canadians don't mind hog meat, so Wheevzy watched him for just a little while! :)
From: woodguy65
04-Mar-15
How many pounds of hog meat did you take back to Canada?
From: cityhunter
04-Mar-15
nice going
From: Drop tine
04-Mar-15
Did you bring the meat back with you? If so how hard was it to take on the plane or get across the border? I am from Alberta as well and have been considering doing one of these hunts and an alligator hunt.
From: Dino
05-Mar-15
Our group took home about 80lbs of hog meat. The airlines in the States, in particular, San Antonio were awesome! We had frozen javelina heads in our carry on bags, and hog meat in coolers. Last year we had no troubles at the border crossing, driving back into Canada. This year we had a real gem of a CBSA officer, he threatened to seize our gear, but he wasn't sure why. From my understanding, the US border has no concerns with javelina trophies or hog meat. The CBSA website, brings you to the Canadian Food Inspections, where it states, game carcasses are allowed into Canada with proper licensing. Don't wait to go Droptine, just book your trip!!!
From: petedrummond
05-Mar-15
Here's a pic of the "woodguy" with our hogs.
From: Dino
06-Mar-15
Pete! Looks like you have some nice meat! Have any good recipes to share? :)
From: Dino
06-Mar-15
Celebrating in the skinning shack
From: Dino
06-Mar-15
Two amazing cane stalkers, Sherpa, aka Sharpstick and Degs
From: Dino
06-Mar-15
We traveled a long ways to have real life mesquite Texas bbq! Smiley obliged!!!
From: standswittaknife
06-Mar-15
Been really enjoying this thread! thanks,
From: Dino
06-Mar-15
The next and last morning we awoke to frost in the river bottom. Many of us were tagged out already, but I went along with my brother to a spot close to the river...and wouldn't you know it, it froze! Dang cold follows us Canucks everywhere. We left the blind early and followed roads. We bumped some hogs, including 2 real bruisers, listened to hogs fighting in the cane, but no luck in terms of arrows flying. We headed back to camp to see Brendon and JW...loading clips. I think JW enjoyed shooting the black guns and pistols more than hunting...lol Thanks for being a good influence on my son JW!!!
From: Dino
06-Mar-15
Do you have room for this guy in the military or reserves? JW loved the freedom of the ranch!
From: otcWill
06-Mar-15
Great thread! Thanks for posting
From: Dino
06-Mar-15
Shortly after a hearty breakfast, heaven forbid you skip a meal in Texas, we were delivered to the river bottom to wait and wander around the cane. Perhaps the guides wanted border patrol to pick us up and deliver us back to Canada lol...unbeknownst to us, Rob K. was simply wanting to get rid of us for one of his schemes he had planned for the evening. No worries, we had a great time at the river.
From: Dino
06-Mar-15
From: Dino
06-Mar-15
From: Dino
06-Mar-15
This is about as close to Mexico as you can get. I was tempted to swim in the Rio, just to say I had, but when I asked about the water cleanliness, and if anyone one else, other than illegals swam in this border river, I was answered with a lot of statements, that I didn't want to hear. So I stayed dry and now don't have to show you pics of me and my speedo in the Rio Grande! :)
From: ToddT
06-Mar-15
But, can you prove that the phone call you received in the initial post, was really THE call???
Just messing with you, but I did wonder why you took a picture of getting a phone call.
Regardless, it looks like you had a lot of fun, made a lot of memories and got away from the harsh north weather, if it was only for a few days.
Also, it was great that you mentioned that someone used a crossbow and no one came unwound.
Where did you hunt? The pic of that first pic looked like a really good deer, did you see a lot of deer?
From: sharpstick
06-Mar-15
The phone call pic was Christmas morning when Brendon got the call from Rob asking him to come down and "shoot some bleeping hogs..." this was his graduation/Christmas present from his folks, pretty awesome gift IMO.
Attached is one of my favourite pics from the trip...a father and son shot on the big trip...pretty cool that they are able to do this together.
He's a great young man and a pleasure to hunt with, he has the patience of a saint...proven by the time when he was 15 and his father (Dino) did our 3 applications for antelope in Montana and when we got to Montana we learned Dino had missed something on the application and only he was drawn...lol Brendon took it all in stride and we still had a great trip watching his father chase speed goats all over the prairie.
cheers,
Sharpstick
From: Quinn @work
06-Mar-15
What was the reason for shampooing the hog? We're you going to mount it or have the hide tanned and wanted it cleaned? Ticks? Just wondering.
From: Dino
06-Mar-15
Quinn, all the hogs/animals are hit with dawn soap before being processed at the skinning shack. This helps to keep ticks and fleas at a minimum.
From: Dino
06-Mar-15
Brendon and his uncle Mike (Wheevzy), were able to sneak away for a Javi hunt the last morning.
From: Dino
06-Mar-15
Brendon, like his old man, loves Jak Hammer broadheads...this one has Javi, written all over it. :)
From: Dino
06-Mar-15
And, on the last morning of the hunt, Brendon made a great shot on a Javelina.
From: Dino
07-Mar-15
On the way back from the river, Amphibian( Fabian), made a great stalk on this big javelina, the Xbow, combined with those Jak Hammers is devastating. 40 yard shot.
From: Dino
07-Mar-15
Celebratory high five!
From: Dino
07-Mar-15
We had very little downtime at the ranch. We were always embarking on an adventure or learning the elements of self defense. We squeezed a lot of adventure into the last day. Brendon loved shooting the pistols! Thank you Texas and bless the U S of A!!!
From: Dino
07-Mar-15
The last evening's hunt was upon us and we went to place Dale and Brendon. Can you believe a man can smile about being placed into a small cubicle such as this?
From: Dino
07-Mar-15
Brendon's sit for his last evening's hunt in SW Texas!
From: Dino
07-Mar-15
No wonder there's so much game in this area. Look at all the habitat! Wow!
From: Dino
07-Mar-15
The last evening was upon us, John made us an amazing fire and Rob K. gathered us all around. He thanked us for coming, and asked us to keep an eye towards the western sky. The ranch had a show for us, in honour of being Canadian neighbours, and for making the big trip so far from our homes...
From: Dino
07-Mar-15
From: Dino
07-Mar-15
A fireworks display! Photos will not do it justice, but it was impressive!!! Not only impressive, but very thoughtful, hospitable, and appreciated!
From: Dino
07-Mar-15
Whilst this was going on, Smiley brought a friend in to prepare some of our hogs for the grill. He had an amazing dry rub and cooked ribs, hams and loins, over a huge bbq! What a treat! These guys hardly look like they are enjoying themselves!
From: Dino
07-Mar-15
The laughter and pure fun continues! Huge ribs! Some may have had broadhead holes in them!
From: Dino
07-Mar-15
And as quickly as all that happened, and as much as I tried to slow everything down, I couldn't, and it was morning and time to get serious about packing meat and trophies for the long trek home.
From: Dino
07-Mar-15
We had to have one last meeting and beverage before boarding. We had awards to give out for largest hog, first hog, largest javi, and first javi. Here the commissionaire, makes a speech and prepares to distribute the winnings.
From: Dino
07-Mar-15
A big winner! And a happy man...remember, he almost didn't make the trip, but his wife and kids surprised him with an amazing trip, and a life memory!
From: Dino
07-Mar-15
And with that, the trip was over, the boys are busily back on their mobile devices as we settle back into normalcy, and regular every day life. What an amazing trip. We are thankful for these great countries we live in! We thank Texas for awesome hunting opportunities and mostly we thank Rob Kiebler and the Cinco Ranch for helping us celebrate a young man's stepping stones. What an adventure! Hope ya'll enjoyed the photo journal.
From: wild1
07-Mar-15
Awesome thread...that's what it's all about!! Except, I'm gonna have to speak to Rob about my not getting my fireworks show! ;)
From: ben yehuda
07-Mar-15
Great thread fellas. Looks like you had a blast. I love Alberta (went to university there), but Texas certainly has a lot to recommend it.
From: Neb_Bowhuntin'
10-Mar-15
Awesome story!! Great photos!!!
Shoot str8 and stay safe
Jeff
From: Dino
10-Mar-15
Thanks for the kind words fellas! The trip was simply superlative. Now the thing is, how do I get back there? My next son doesn't graduate until 2018...not sure I can wait that long.
From: Mark Watkins
10-Mar-15
Fun times! Thanks for posting a great trip!
Mark
From: Drop tine
10-Mar-15
Great pic and story. Definitely has me thinking of a trip sometime.
From: Dino
18-Mar-15
On my last hog my buddy Sharpstick used his BlackBerry Passport to take a video of my shot. Amazing that a phone can take such great footage...I have the video uploaded and am awaiting approval from the bowsite authorities. :) Enjoy the video!
From: Dino
20-Mar-15
Wow! Apparently the video upload takes a while...sorry fellas. All good language and no X rated content even...lol! Hopefully it's up soon.
From: Jacob Nisley
21-Mar-15
Thanks a lot for taking the time to post all the pictures and take us along on your trip. It looked like a ton of fun and its good to know we have some good neighbors up north!
From: cityhunter
21-Mar-15
nice post great pics
From: Huntcell
21-Mar-15
That Rob of Fair Chase Hunts is a first class act for sure!
Great a accommodations, super food, abundant game, fantastic host
WoW he sets the bar pretty high!!!
Great job Rob!
Thanks Northern brothers of the bow for excellent photo story
From: Dino
29-Mar-15
Grrr!!! Tried a second time to upload a video, converted it to a WMV, and still no luck, or no word from the powers that be...sorry fellas!!!
From: Dino
11-Apr-15
Apparently, I am doing something wrong as I can't get the video to upload. Please find the attached link which will bring you to my short Youtube video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1Tuq9TEYSk
From: sharpstick
11-Apr-15
sharpstick's Link
link to vid
From: Paul@thefort
12-Apr-15
Dean, I was ready to retire and get up early for a Colorado turkey hunt when I started to bring up a few game Conferences.
I believe that since 1997 when I first found Bowsite, I have never click on the HOG Conference until this evening.
I am glad I did and found your hunt/story. Very nicely done. I enjoyed that a lot. Good hunt, good friends for sure.
My best, Paul
From: Dino
12-Apr-15
Paul, Thanks so much for the kind words. I am glad you enjoyed the thread! Best of luck with your Colorado birds!
