“
You mind taking care of the steaks?” asked David Cotton when we returned to camp.
“I’d be honored to grill the steaks your dad, Edgar, selected. Saw them earlier. Just hope I can do them justice!” I replied.
Our guest of honor would be none other than Rick Lambert, who has numerous claims to fame in his own right, but these days, likes being known as the father of entertainer extraordinaire, Miranda Lambert. Rick and I are longtime friends, a friendship we share with Jim Zumbo, another long-time friends, but also one of my heroes. More recently Rick has become a good friend of David Cotton, his dad Edgar and their family. We were on their ranch to do a bit of visiting and eating. Rick strumming his guitar and regaling those present with songs he has written, and a few of his favorites by other artists. He too had come to Becker Bottoms for a quick deer hunt, more specifically to hopefully see a buck rattled in by this correspondent and steak griller.
It took but a little while to properly season and prepare the ribeyes over a combination of oak and mesquite coals. When I piled them on a platter, Luke Clayton my cohort in radio shows, podcasts, hunting partner, and the third member of our “A Sportsman’s Life” digital TV show staff, including he, Jeff Rice and me (seen on Carbontv.com and on our YouTube channel by the same name) asked, “Where are the chicken thighs you usually do?”
“Chicken and ribs were last night. The guys who were here ate all but two pieces. I’ll get those for you to use as an appetizer!” Luke was quick to point out he had no intention of sharing those with anyone. Rather made both my chest and head swell a bit for Luke, who is a fabulous camp cook, to say such.
It didn’t take long for the thick and big ribeyes to disappear! Once they were served, the hunting stories were put on hold for a little bit.
Supper table cleared, Rick brought out one of his travel guitars. “When we move to the new house, I’ll have a “Guitar Wall.” Ya’ll will have to come see it!” Said he to the group gathered around him.
For the next hour Rick entertained the small group that had gathered with songs he had written, songs he and Miranda had jointly written, and a few older favorites from a bygone era when country western music as a whole was really worth listening to, save a few of of today’s artists. Rick explained, “We’re working on trying to find new talent from Texas that writes and performs their own music, that goes back to what country music used to sound like! Miranda created a new label for just those kind of artists. She’s got her mother and me listening to a bunch of artists who will fit the program what she’s planning.”
The night passed far too quickly and before long it was time for Rick to put away his guitar. After every one but David left, we had one more glass of “safe brown water” and talked about the morrow’s hunt.
We decided rather than go to respective blinds, we would hunt together. Me trying to rattle in a buck where both Rick and David could see it. Shortly thereafter David headed home.
Come morning, over cowboy coffee and tacos David had brought from town, “Are you really gonna rattle in a buck this morning for us to see?” asked Rick, then added. “You do know I’ve never seen a buck respond to rattling horns!”
“Yesterday morning before you arrived Mr. Edgar, David, William Nixon and I went to Rodney Wray’s adjoining property and I was able to rattle up one buck. So I know they’re responding to horns. We’ll see if I can convince a buck to respond…”
We loaded into the David’s CanAm; me, with my rattling horns and my Taurus Raging Hunter, .44 Mag 240-grain XTP; David with his Mossberg Predator in 6.5 PRC, topped with a Stealth Vision scope and loaded with Hornady’s Precision Hunter (143-grain ELD-X). Rick had brought a vintage Savage Model 99 topped with an equally vintage scope, but loaded with Hornady’s Precision Hunter (178-grain ELD-X).
Several minutes later after having position David and Rick in a tall, enclosed deer blind, near where the afternoon before I had put out some Vineyard Max (www.vineyardmax.net). I walked about 75 yards and sat down next to a tree along western the edge of a food plot. The wind was blowing from me toward where the duo waited in the blind.
My intention was to rattle in a buck and have him circle downwind of me, so he would walk between them and me, closer to them.
A minute or so after I started rattling, I looked toward the blind. A most interesting buck with four good points on one side and a cluster of points just above the burr on the other strode in between the blind and me, looking my ways. As he started to leave I grunted a few times. Immediately he stopped and stared in my direction, then walked into the woods behind me. I rattled my “horns” a couple more times, saw movement behind me in the trees and underbrush. Using my Stealth Vision binoculars (www.stealthvision.com) I could see another buck back in the brush. When I grunted to him he moved. I could see had was a nice, probably a 3-year-old 8 point. After another 20 minutes, we moved to another place. I learned a long time ago it’s best to stay for about 20 or so minutes after the last rattling. Quite often older, wary bucks take their time to respond to rattling horns.
We drove a half mile or so where I again asked David and Rick to crawl into a blind where they would have a commanding view of anything that might respond to my rattling. After allowing Nature’s sounds to return to “normal,” I started rubbing one of my rattling antlers, against a tree to sound like a buck rubbing. Essentially, I set up a scenario of two bucks encountering each other, fighting and then going separate ways.
I had sat down in tall grass and surrounding brush where I could only see back into the trees. After a while, I assumed nothing responded. But when I walked to where David and Rick waited, David asked, “Did you see the young buck? He came slipping in. Stayed a while then left.” I had not, but at least they had.
The three of us each had business to take care of that afternoon. We toward to camp. Upon arriving, I suggested we rattle once more, not very far from camp, in the area where this past February David had finally taken what we had come to call “The Never Give Up Buck.” I strongly suspected another buck similar in size might claim the vacated territory.
I left David and Rick sitting in the CanAm ATV where they could see the area rattled to. I moved upwind of where they sat and waited. My intention again, was for a responding buck to circle downwind so he would be between them and me.
A minute into my rattling sequence, having watched a direction David and Rick could not see, I turned toward where they were sitting in the ATV. There stood a really nice 8-point buck watching me. I tried to get him on camera which was a mistake. My movement caused him to start walking away. I grunted, he stopped momentarily and stared, then finally walked away. Or so I thought. Later, Rick and David told me the buck walked out of my sight but stayed in the immediate area a while longer.
When nothing else responded I walked to where my two compadres waited. Both were all smiles!
Wish we could have stayed longer. Bucks were “coming to horns” and I knew it would only be a matter for time before I rattled in a “shooter.” Unfortunately, the three of us all had places we need to be that evening and night. I had to get home to get ready for a trip to Europe, specifically to Finland where I hope to rattle in a whitetail buck whose ancestors were first brought to Finland in the early 1900’s.
I’ll let you know here how the rattling in Finland goes. You’ll be able to read about it in my blogs and articles, hear about it through my “DSC’s Campfires with Larry Weishuhn” weekly podcast, as well as the weekly radio show and podcast “Catfish Radio with Luke Clayton and Friends”, and watch that hunt on our weekly “A Sportsman’s Life” as seen on carbontv.com, our YouTube of the same name. You can access podcasts, tv shows and blogs on my www.larryweishuhn.net website.
