Lone Star Trail
Texas themed hunting and fishing interviews featuring experts and real tales from the field.
Lone Star Trail
Dangerous Game and Hogs Eating Pecans
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Mark Martin shares some stories from hunts in Africa, Alaska and Russia. Whether Cape Buffalo or Brown Bear, choosing the right caliber and patience is key. Dayton is back on House Rules with hunting stories of his own.
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Welcome to Lone Star Trail, a new outdoor show aimed at bringing you hunting and fishing updates and compelling stories from around Texas and right here at home. Get ready to join us down the trail. Now, here's your host, Nathan Smith.
SPEAKER_04Hello, friends, and welcome to the Lone Star Trail. I'm your guide, Nathan Smith, and thanks for stopping by. This week we go around the world with Dr. Mark Martin. He's an international big game hunter and shares some stories from a lifetime of hunting experiences. Dayton House is back this week to tell some more tales on this week's House Rules segment. Whether you're listening online or on a local station, we're glad you're here. Pour some more coffee, and I'll see you right back after the break. Whether you're looking to buy your next hunting property or have acreage to sell, you need Brian Clark and Ranch Pro Real Estate in your corner. Use the latest in technology to make listings easy for sellers to maximize value. In the market to buy that perfect ranch or hunting getaway, call Ranch Pro Real Estate at 325-642-3630. That's Ranch Pro Real Estate at RanchProReal Estate.com. The land is their life.
SPEAKER_03We're here talking to one of the fastest growing invasive species in Texas. Hi, I'm Giant Salvinia, nasty invasive species. I double in size every week. I understand you destroy Texas lakes and ruin fishing. Oh yeah. That's my thing. And that would be why boaters, fishermen, and skiers hate you. Yep, but they do give me rides from lake to lake. Folks, Giant Salvinia clings to boats, trailers, and gear. So remove even the smallest piece and put it in the trash. Don't tell them that! Hello, Giant Salvinia. Goodbye, Texas Lakes. A message from Texas Parks and Wildlife.
SPEAKER_04You're listening to the Lone Star Trail. We're glad you're here. Now let's get back to the show. Welcome back to the show. This morning we're honored and privileged to have Dr. Mark Martin with us. Mark, thanks for being here. Sure. Glad to be. Mark, uh, we've had lots of conversations and brief conversations, uh, your some of your travels and and hunting experiences, and it's always great to talk with folks who have had uh as many experiences out in the out in the field and in different places as you have. And so I'm excited to have you on the show and just to just to kind of pick your some things and and uh you know, anytime you've had a chance to talk with with folks who have uh those experiences, it's always great to get as much wisdom and knowledge. And you know, if there's some comedy of errors or on trial and error in there, that's great too. But I just kind of wanted to see if there's a if there is first of all a specific hunt that you've been a part of that is is either most memorable for for maybe what uh what you were after or uh maybe some circumstances surrounding that event. Is there one that just kind of sticks out, first of all, in your mind?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah. You know, I've been really blessed. I I um of course I did a lot more of my hunting when I was younger, and uh read too many hunting stories, you know. I'd read it and I'd go, man, I think I want to try to do that, you know. I don't want to just read about it. So uh I don't I don't know. I the the most memorable one would be uh when my son was about a senior in high school, he and I went to Zimbabwe and uh and hunted and hunted Dangerous Game and uh and uh you know hunted hunted buffalo and leopard and and uh plains game and that was probably the most memorable watching uh him uh get to enjoy what I like to do. Uh, you know, so uh anyway, it was uh the nice thing I like about Zimbabwe is it's uh open territory, it's not high fence, it's real hunting. And uh you know, you're hunting a huge hunting block, and uh it takes some luck and skill to always have a good professional hunter, but it's real hunting and you gotta find the animal and you gotta find their tracks or happen to see them and and uh off you go. So I that was the most memorable probably. It's Cape Buffalo. Cape Buffalo. Yeah, a little different. The water buffalo are they're more like Argentina and Australia. They're still um an aggressive animal. They're not as aggressive as uh the African Cape Buffalo, but it's it's an exciting, fun hunt hunt. It's uh you know, they're uh if injured, they're a dangerous animal. You know, if they've got uh calves, they can be a dangerous animal. And you uh you track them and you you get close and uh it's it's just a really fun hunt, and you've gotta use enough gun to you know put them down, so you don't want an injured buffalo. So that's always an exciting hunt. What uh what caliber were you using on that one? I use a 416. Um and I use it on buffalo and uh use it on elephant, and uh everything else is usually a 338. I just like to have enough gun to uh you know you can kill things with a smaller caliber, but I I like to use a little bit bigger gun. But 416 does a plenty good job.
SPEAKER_04Now you guys hunted all three of those in one one trip, is that right?
SPEAKER_02Yes, right. And uh and leopard are are an exciting hunt because you um you know you you shoot your bait and hang up uh the animals and trees and check your baits every day and see what's coming in. And uh used to in the old days, it was just you'd have to go by the tracks and see what hit the bait. Nowadays they've got cameras out, they know exactly what the animal looks like, and uh, but back in those days, uh you would just check the bait, look for tracks, look like if it looked like a male, uh, you would set up a blind, and and it's it's exciting because a leopard always shows up out of the blue. You never you never hear them, uh you never see them until they're suddenly up at the bait. And uh, you know, it's just an exciting, it's an exciting hunt, and sometimes it's very depressing because you sit there every night for 10 nights, 14 nights, and then you never never have a leopard show up. So it's it can be awfully exciting when when things go well.
SPEAKER_04Did you guys harvest a leopard on that trip?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, we did. We uh we had a really nice Tom, and um it's uh we built a blind like up on a hillside uh about 70, 80 yards above uh above where we had the carcass hanging. Usually use impala. Uh and uh if if you can have a zebra, it's even better. But anyway, impala worked well. And uh, you know, when you shoot them, then you they don't just suddenly drop dead unless you hit them in the spine. Uh and then they take off running, and it's kind of exciting to you know, get a spotlight and kind of follow where did he go and is he still alive? And uh but fortunately we've they're they're dead when we get there. But it's really weird. You can when you're tracking them after you shoot, when you get close, it you even smell you you can smell them like a kitty cat. They have uh the same smell. So when you smell that, you you know you're getting close. So uh, but it's it's exciting, and you know, we uh I think that cat weighed about 165, 170 pounds. So it's a pretty big male cat.
SPEAKER_04Were you guys uh there in the evening or was it actually after dark?
SPEAKER_02We know we're yeah, it's in Zimbabwe. In Zimbabwe you can hunt after dark. Uh some of the other countries like Tanzania, or if it's a uh hunting refuge, you you can hunt in the day, but not after dark. But Tanzania, they allow you to hunt after dark. And man, to get one in the daytime would be tough. Right. Because they're a you know, they're a crepuscular animal. They they're just not gonna really get out till late in the evening, or or they're just more comfortable at night. So uh yeah, Zimbabwe is nice about getting a cat. Um, you got a lot better chance if you got a light.
SPEAKER_04But that was uh that was before thermal was a big deal, right? You guys were just using lights?
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Yeah. Well, fortunately, I've gone on a couple of leopard hunts, and uh this one hunt we had the guy uh carried a car battery up into the blind and then hooked up a spotlight to the car battery. And uh and and another time it was just like almost like a magnum flashlight, it was so horrible. But uh yeah, thermals would be awesome, you know, if if it was legal, but a thermal would be awesome. You just gotta make sure it's a male, you know. Uh that's that uh they've changed a lot of rules where if you shoot a female, there's a big fine, and the professional hunter gets in trouble. But if you can tell it's a male, which you probably could under thermal. I don't know. You you've used thermal a lot more than I have, but uh if you can tell it's a male, then you're okay. But that'd be great because you never turn a light on.
SPEAKER_04Well, that's uh something we talk about on the show. Of course, we talk about thermal a good bit, but I think it was a week or two ago I was visiting with somebody, and uh we talked about how um thermal has really changed uh predator hunting here in Texas. And it's it's there's definitely an advantage, but it's also made me personally, it's probably made me a worse hunter because I just rely on the thermal and wait till dark, and you know, you could some of your movements they're concealed, and you don't have to be quite as uh as stealthy uh after dark. The animals kind of drop their guard to a degree, but uh it's yeah, it's incredible.
SPEAKER_02And I I haven't I know they've uh updated them so much. Uh you know, I I don't uh know if you can tell sexual characteristics or not on a cat, or but it is so much better for hog hunting, coyote hunting. It's just totally, totally changed that element. Um but yeah, I the thermal I've got I think is when they first came out. I I tell you I haven't even hunted in a year. But uh you're you're doing some thermal hunting, so um, so you can easily differentiate uh if it's a pig, it's fit, yeah, yeah. Well, sometimes I'd love to have that in Africa. And in in Zimbabwe you can even hunt at night. And now other you know, other places you can't handle that for dark, but you can hunt all night in Zimbabwe uh for a kudu or impala or whatever uh with the thermal if it's legal. I have no idea if it's legal anymore, but that would that would be fun.
SPEAKER_04It would be, it's a game changer for sure. And just to be able to see what's moving around you uh without spooking things the light is a big a big deal. But going to the uh back to the States now, um you know what an awesome experience in Africa. I know you've you've been to several different countries in Africa. Um and not just hunting. I know you guys have done a lot of um uh charitable work and mission work in in uh on the African continent as well, and uh that's a great great effort to be involved in. But if you you talk about hunting in the in the in the states, um you know you've you've hunted for elk and moose, and uh you've even hunted for uh a wolf up in was it Alaska? It was Alaska, yeah. You you kind of sum that up by by by just a lot of work. It sounds cool, but it's it's also a lot of work.
SPEAKER_02I tell you, I don't know many people that have really shot a wolf. You know, that's the deal. I I uh I don't know many people but how because they're they're so smart and you know they're such good hunters. And there have been a few times I was in Alaska and um you would walk from your tent uh the next day when you're hunting and whatever, and you would come across you know, you come across tracks, but you never saw them, you never heard them. Uh so that was one on my list that I really wanted to hunt. So I uh I I wanted to get uh a wolf and and you know finally finally uh finally got to do that.
SPEAKER_04What does it take to how do you prepare for that? I mean uh you know I've killed lots of coyotes, but wolves are a obviously they're different species, but they're also completely different in their behavior and patterns. So how do you how do you prepare for uh a wolf hunt?
SPEAKER_02You know I I I'm pretty bad about uh uh well I I kind of researched in the Safari Club in their in their advertisements in the back. I'd check on things and I talked with one of the editors there at uh SCI and he had gone to um Canada to hunt um wolves over bait, and he had hunted uh uh seven-day hunt uh in a blind over bait, and they never saw a wolf. And uh he went back with the same people the next year and shot a wolf on the first afternoon. And then uh I had uh some friends that had hunted um way up uh north, uh probably the Northwest Territory, and they went about as far as they could go on a vehicle, and then they got on uh they had a little small building on skis, and they got on uh snowmobiles, and they just took off north till they could finally get into a caribou herd, and uh that's where you're gonna find your wolves, and that's how they did it. But it was pretty miserable, and they uh they got frostbite, and um it was a tough hunt, a tough hunt. And then there's another hunt I checked on that you could hunt from a central cabin up in uh kind of northwest Alaska, and uh so so that's the one uh that I went with. And when he when I talked to the outfitter, um he told me make sure you get a sleeping bag that's minus 40. So he was right. Yeah, I found a good mummy uh and I'd wear a bottle of clava at night and uh mummy up, and it really was nice because I stayed in a little bitty cabin that had no heat, and uh, but it worked. Uh, and it was snow, of course, everywhere. We hunted in February, and um you know you don't do a lot of walking, so you can really put a lot of gear on. But uh I'd hunted years before that, I I'd hunted brown bear in Kamchatka in Alaska in uh Russia, and it's solid uh snow everywhere, and that's their that's their Alaska, and that's all run by the military, but they have great brown bear, and there they they hunted off of snowmobiles, but they had you on a sled behind their snowmobile. And uh when I got up these feet people, you had to drive your own snowmobile, so uh um I didn't like that. Uh and of course the guides have these new modern snowmobiles that look like a a disc or a frisbee, really wide base, and the one they give me is looks like an old cigar, it's real narrow, and turn up, you know, the first day out was miserable. I turned over so many times. But anyway, that's you know, you uh I hunted with a 338, and really you don't need that big a gun for a wolf. You know, they weigh 120, 130 pounds, but uh it doesn't take much to to kill a wolf. Uh it's so a 25 out six would be fine. But um anyway, I've just uh my gun's a 338 with a 250 nozzler, and it's just always done me well. But yeah, you put a gun on a strap and uh ride around on a snowmobile, and uh so it it was uh you know it was an interesting hunt. You know, I had two guides, and uh, you know, I think the first four days we we never saw wolf, saw tracks, we never saw wolf, and it's kind of discouraging. And uh our area was about 60 square miles, so you know, you would ride 60, 70 miles a day, just you know, just taking off and going and going, and and on the fourth day we had topped a hill and then following tracks, and sure enough, we uh we uh had a bunch of wolves on a fresh kill on a moose. And uh so I got to shoot one that was just kind of unaware, and then uh shot him broadside, and they had uh the they just split up and took out, and I followed one running down the hill and tried to shoot him in the rear end, and I ended up hitting him right in the back of the head, which was better.
SPEAKER_05Right.
SPEAKER_02Uh, but anyway, that was that was our deal. It was just kind of uh famine to feast, and uh uh but they're just an incredible animal. They're just uh I I you know you you hunt kites a lot, but oh yeah, wolves have really long legs. You know, I I did not realize that. They're they're just so much taller, so they can get through the snow, you know, and I just had not paid attention to that, but they can really stand tall to get through, you know, three, four feet of snow, but they're just an incredible killing machine. But uh we never we didn't have any wounded wolves, but he said that if you wound a wolf and you get up on them, they will not attack you. They will just turn their head and kind of cower and look away. Um and you know, if you walk up on a wounded leopard or a wounded lion, they're they're gonna go after you. And uh, but uh that's good, you know. That he, you know, like if uh wolves were as aggressive as lions were, there wouldn't be any kids left in Alaska that walked to school, you know. So anyway, but thank goodness they you know, you read you read and hear stories about wolves and and they just don't attack humans hardly. You know, God put the fear of man in them. So uh when you walk up on a wounded wolf, I don't think you have to worry about them you know getting on top of your head.
SPEAKER_04Well, you brought up the bear stories, I'm gonna have to ask you about the what year what years was this when you were you were in Russia hunting bears.
SPEAKER_02I think it was about 2000, somewhere in there. Okay. Uh it was it was crazy. It was you know, why would you go to Russia to hunt bear? But I I read an article and the they were just crawling in big bears uh that would come out of their caves. Seemed like it was like May, but they would come out of their caves, and uh it's it did not discourage me to go there. And it was uh it took about two and a half days to get there. Back in those days, you couldn't fly to Anchorage and fly over and Camchaka's right over the Bering Sea, you know, that joins Alaska. So nowadays people are able to fly from Anchorage to uh uh uh Camp Chaka. But we used to have to fly 36 hours, and then when you get to uh Pavlovsky, I think is the name of it, then you get on an old military helicopter, uh, and uh then you fly another seven or eight hours, and uh anyway, but uh it was all snow, stayed in a little uh camp where had one interpreter and uh but they hung on snowmobiles, pulled you on a sled, and it was it was great. It was beautiful, it was uh you know, it was incredibly beautiful, but the the guys knew uh big beer, that's the only English words they knew would be big beer, you know. So uh the only problem was that every bear they saw was a big bear. Was a big bear. Yeah. But it was the first bear we saw. Uh there's some areas, it's real mountainous, and most of it's snow, but there are some low areas that have forests, and the forest, you know, big pine trees and everything. And we saw a bear that uh when the bear saw us, he headed for the forest. And uh my crazy driver uh tried to cut him off uh before he got to the forest. So he we were running uh parallel with him and try to cut him off. And we were probably 10 yards from the forest as he met us and he's swinging at us with his claws as we go by ducking, you know, and there's no brakes on one of those things. So but anyway, that that was kind of an experience, but uh but most of the time, you know. They they see you and uh they're gonna get out of there. But we we uh you were allowed two bear and I killed two really nice bear. Um so it was you know, I don't think I'd do it again, but um uh at that time you're young enough and uh but they have beautiful big brown bear. They some some of the biggest bear. You know, they have some 11-foot bear. I didn't see an eleven-foot bear. And uh, you know, the Alaskan Peninsula's got some great big bear, you know, 10, 10 and a half, eleven feet, but those two areas have the biggest bear.
SPEAKER_04That's where you uh did you carry your 416 there? Uh 338. 338, okay.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, it is just good bear medicine, and you know, you could shoot a bear at 200 yards and um and you know you're gonna hurt them uh with with a good placement shot. So but most of the bears were less than 100 yards. They were they were uh and I've I've been fortunate and I've got uh Kodiak and uh some other areas for bear and and uh but the 250-grain knives is a trick.
SPEAKER_04Well, I mean you're you're uh someone who I would trust if uh if you've been a hundred yards from a uh pink Russian brown bear and can trust that that round. So that's a big bullet though. I mean, truly, and if with the with the right placement, like you said, it's it's devastating.
SPEAKER_02It is, it is, and the professional hunters in Africa said it would be plenty good to shoot Cape Buffalo with, but it's illegal. You have to use uh 400, uh at least a 400 rifle. You know, a lot of people are a 375, some people use 375, but it's illegal to use the 338 on uh Cape Buffalo and it it would do plenty, plenty damage.
SPEAKER_04The bear, um, what how did you guys did y'all just stumble upon the bears that you were able to harvest or did they?
SPEAKER_02No, we just drove all day. We would just head out and uh one one of them, uh like I said, I I shot two because there's so many bear there, but we'd seen one and he ran up to the top of a mountain where he got out of the snow and was up on the rocks, and we just got out and um you know initially you're walking and you're walking in treetops in the snow, you know, you and you can't really walk. You you kind of lay on your stomach and swim. And you just can't walk in the stuff that's so deep. And then we got to the rocky area and went on up, and he was in a cave with a big rock in front of his cave, and he was sticking his head up looking to see where we were. And and so I just shot him in the neck, you know, and that was it. But it was kind of cool to, you know, he's out there looking around, and uh, but they have a lot of they have a lot of uh brown bear, and you know, people in Russia. I don't think they can have a gun, they can't hunt, and uh nearly all of their hunting industry is foreigners, and and there was a guy in my in the camp with me that was a KGB guy that uh you know, he fit the description too. He was very unfriendly and d didn't want to spend any time with you, but he he was there hunting and and uh I think every day he went out and shot a bear and uh he just kept piling them up until he found a big enough bear that he wanted uh and and just got away with it. But yeah, the uh uh it was real meager setting, but uh I I liked I like the Russian people. They were they were very friendly and very good hunters.
SPEAKER_04Did you eat any of either of those bears that you shot?
SPEAKER_02We we ate a little bit, yeah. Was it good? Not much. It was you know, it depends on what they're eating. Uh-huh. Uh now black bear, uh if they've just been eating berries and roots and stuff like that, they're good. They're they're kind of like eating pork. But a brown bear, if they've been eating a lot of fish, things like that, it's just not very good. Yeah. But uh yeah, some of the people definitely eat them or make sausage out of them. And but yeah, you know, it's it's uh I'd rather eat a black bear than a brown bear. You know, that's what I think seems like was it Daniel Boone or David Crockett, one of them, they loved black bear bacon. You know, that was that was their thing they liked because it really is kind of greasy, fat, like pork. Uh so I don't know if you've ever eaten a bear. I don't know.
SPEAKER_04No, I haven't.
SPEAKER_02Never.
SPEAKER_04Not not too many bears where I've been.
SPEAKER_02Ever eaten a coyote, you know?
SPEAKER_04No. No, I draw the line there.
SPEAKER_02I haven't eaten my yeah, I haven't eaten cat either. I know I didn't eat my leopard. So okay.
SPEAKER_04Uh what about the buffalo? The cake buffalo? Did you try any of that?
SPEAKER_02They're good. They're good eating. Yeah. Yes. No, they're excellent.
SPEAKER_04I assume they're pretty pretty close to cows.
SPEAKER_02It's just like eating our beef. Yeah, it really is. And uh just not much fat. Right. But yeah, the cake buffalo's good. Uh, you know, nearly all the planes came over there are good, and they don't have a wild taste to them. You know, that's they you know, I you I've eaten so many white tail, I can tell a little bit of taste in it. And then you eat an axes and you you really don't have that same thing. It's the same for about a lot of the planes came over in Africa. They these don't have a that little twinggy uh taste to them. Even uh, you know, if you if you shoot an elephant, uh it doesn't take any time for a village nearby to find out about it, and they're showing up with their toe sacks and their hatchets, and uh you know, you come back the next day, there's nothing left but you know, bone. Uh because elephant is good. It's just uh you know, it's and when the villages find out about it, they're gonna come get every bit of the meat that they can.
SPEAKER_04One of these days I'm gonna have to, I've heard, and not from just one person, but I've heard you've got an amazing uh room in your house with with a lot of I assume you got at least one of those bears mounted.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I do. I it's it's you know, it's stupid, it's crazy. I don't know why you look back on it and say, what was motivating you to do this? Uh but you know, we do like to hunt, and uh some of us have been blessed, you know, raised hunting and fishing, and and we've you know uh got to do it, but uh it's crazy. But yeah, yeah, I've I've had some good taxidermy work, and uh and you know, every animal you have, you you still remember the hunt, you still remember the circumstances. And you know, when I when I croak, I I guess my my son will probably uh put them in a museum somewhere or something. I don't know what read I don't think he wants them, you know.
SPEAKER_04Right. Right. Well, I mean they're all it's memories. I I don't know. I don't know if you follow Jeff Foxworthy or not, but he's a he's a big hunter. I know that. Yeah, and he's got a I saw a video the other day about uh from one of his of course it's a huge huge room in his in his house and it's full of different mostly deer, uh, but other other things too. And and yeah, that was his point was that you know these are these are like pictures to me. They're just memories and uh uh memories shared with folks. Yeah. So you remember who was on the hunt with you, you remember what the circumstances were, you me, you know, just with a look at that at that animal.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, and people don't understand it's not all about the kill. You know, it's it's the the kill is kind of the icing on the cake, but it's uh the camp and the camaraderie and uh you know uh all of that, you know, and uh but yeah, the uh the the the kill is some involves luck, some of it involves skill. But you know, hunting is like anything else, there's a growing curve, you know, and you know, learning curve, and it just never stops. And I look back on some of the hunts, you know, boy, if I would have known this or if I'd have experienced this, or but it's just a constant learning curve. Uh and you know, you hopefully you get better and better and learn from your mistakes and and everything. But it it's just uh I like the great outdoors. You know, I I'm getting old enough now I don't have to kill anything to enjoy it, but I I do like to take my grandkids hunting and take kids hunting. But yeah, they're great memories. You know, it's it's it's not all about the killing the animal.
SPEAKER_04Whether you're looking to buy your next hunting property or have acreage to sell, you need Brian Clark and Ranch Pro Real Estate in your corner. They use the latest in technology to make listings easy for sellers to maximize value. In the market to buy that perfect ranch or hunting getaway, call Ranch Pro Real Estate at 325-642-3630. That's Ranch Pro Real Estate at RanchproRealEstate.com. The land is their life. Welcome back to the show. We're here with uh Mart Martin. Uh, Dr. Mart Martin, you're a medical doctor, uh, have been a family practice uh doctor for for close to 50 years.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, uh we moved, uh yeah, we're getting close. Uh 79 uh got uh started practicing, so yeah, it's close.
SPEAKER_04Uh yeah, it's getting there. As a as a as a medical doctor, as an avid uh outdoorsman, um hunter, um you've you've had uh the um unique maybe experience or history to be able to see a lot of different uh things in this world. We talk on this show a lot about uh God's creation. We talk about uh being being close to nature uh is the same as being close to God. And uh last week talking with a guy in Pennsylvania, um Carson Hall with uh with Head Outdoors, he's a videographer, and uh we talked about um uh there's a verse in Psalms 19 that says the the heavens declare uh the handiwork of God. And and uh tell me a little bit about your from your perspective. You've had all these great hunting experiences all over the world. Um what what is that does that verse ring home for you? Does it yeah.
SPEAKER_02It you know, it is uh the outdoors is therapy anyway, a lot of times for us, you know, whether it's the outdoors here or uh, you know, what there are there are prettier places than Brown County, you know. There really are. Uh but yes, uh, you know, um I know up in um I I think the when I hunted up in British Columbia and uh some of those mountains and areas and all that, it's just incredible, you know, the clear streams, the uh but yeah, it's just um yeah, I I um you know God's handiwork is everywhere. You know, Romans 1, uh Paul talks about, you know, it's it's obvious, you know, that God God's made it where we we have a feeling there's something else out there, you know. And uh I think nature's one of the one of the places you see it. But yeah, there's so many beautiful uh you know, I I've had a couple of times I'd be hunting by myself up in the mountains, and sometimes you just can't stand it. You just uh you start singing, you know, start singing the Lord or just scream out or whatever. And I know that probably sounds weird to people. No, it doesn't. It uh but anyway, it it's sometimes it just brings it out in you that uh, you know, we're we're pretty insignificant and why God wanted to create us and uh because he wanted to enjoy us, you know. It's it's just kind of weird, but we definitely uh some of us are blessed to enjoy his creations more than others, but oh yeah, the out the outdoors is my therapy, you know.
SPEAKER_04Well, it's good therapy, and uh, you know, it's I was talking with um well I was at a at a convention, I guess, recently about talking about um statistics and and science-based uh data that was discussing specifically the the Gen Z and then the Gen Alpha, which you know, my kids, my oldest kid is part of the Gen Alpha guest generation, and and then the generation even under them or next in line with them, uh Gen Gen Alpha is is being raised uh according to this science data almost exclusively by screens. And and my generation is probably the last one that remembered a time before the internet and a time before and cell phones in our pockets. I remember my parents' first cell phone, it was wired to the horn and the lights on the truck, and when the phone would ring, the light the lights would come on and the horns. And so we've come a long way with with carrying these phones in our pockets today. But along with that is uh there's definitely some some detriment, and I think you see that. And so anything, you know, part of our show mission is to promote just everybody, but especially kids getting outdoors and having a connection with nature without interference of screen.
SPEAKER_02Absolutely, you know, I and they'll and they enjoy it, you know. When they get a chance, it just blows their mind. Absolutely. But, you know, I remember as a kid on Saturday mornings, my mom would uh take us out toward a place in Coleman County called Silver Valley and would drop us off. We'd have 22s, it'd be two or three of us. And back in those days, ranchers didn't lease their places out. And uh we'd walk up to their uh house, knock on the door, and ask them if we could shoot rabbits, and uh we'd walk all day, and uh that night she'd pick us up where she left us, and you know, we didn't have cell phones, totally unsupervised. Uh and uh, you know, we we lived in a uh time where we were we were totally unsupervised growing up, basically, and and kids miss that now. They're they're uh you know, of course, as parents were watching and want to be careful, and uh there's more bad guys out there, it seems, but right uh when you take these kids out, and you know, when they get to fish for the first time or uh yeah, or other thing, they just uh man, they want to do it again. Now, not all of them do, but the majority of them in enjoy it, and it's uh you know, they're gonna be repeat uh repeat people to going out and enjoy it outdoors.
SPEAKER_04You talked earlier in our first uh segment this morning about uh taking your grandkids uh hunting and and out outside with you. What what's your what's your tip on uh on taking uh four or five-year-old boy with you hunting?
SPEAKER_02I tell you, uh one uh when they're ready to go, you go. You know, I mean you you don't drag them through uh a 12-hour day, you know. But if they're out, you're out fishing, they're hunting and they're wanting to leave, I I don't really push it. But uh yeah, I make make the the hunts and the fishing trips kind of short, but it's it's always nice if it can be successful, you know. And then so uh well, I usually would take them to a tank. I knew there were plenty of perch and things like that, and we'd hit them for 30 minutes and then over over time they'd want to stay a little longer and uh uh and you know, start them out shooting a 22, really start shooting them out with a BB gun or a pellet gun, but just getting them out, you know, getting them out. And I I think uh just make it pleasant. I think if you make them sit in the deer blind and they freeze to death and get frostbite, and it's a little harder to get them next time to do it, you know. Right.
SPEAKER_04Well, that's kind of my standard question. What do you do?
SPEAKER_02What do you do when you're getting your crew?
SPEAKER_04Yeah, lots of snacks. Yeah, yeah. It it's not hard to get my crew out. We uh they they love going, and I think just um one thing I've done I talk about on this this show is I've I just have to let go. You know, I gotta let go of of my expectations for the whatever it is we're doing. But Kelton, the oldest, he he's a better fisherman than I am. I mean, he's more patient and and he's now at 10 years old, he's now to the point where he can uh he's he's wanting to stay longer. And dad would say 15 more minutes. Let's uh let's go again tonight. And you know, that's so he uh I I've got a I've got the opposite challenge with him. The others, it's uh even the girls, they they want to get out and they're they're very outdoorsy. So I think you I think you're right. Just getting them out is is key.
SPEAKER_02It is, and and uh uh but you know, and and uh if I think you've got four kids or whatever, they're each one of them are gonna have a different you know thing that they like to do or whatever, and you just like you said, you gotta kind of hang back and let them do those do those things. But I've my I've got one grandson that's a junior in high school, and just uh you just gotta be patient. You know, you'll you'll find something you'll be hunting, and uh, you know, they can't see it. And then then you know they don't get the shot off as quick as you you would and all that. You just gotta be patient, not say anything, encourage them, uh, and uh, you know, just encourage them and make them you know, do your best to make them successful. Uh so uh yeah, yeah, it's but it's it's just uh uh but when my grandkids get here, they want to head out. You know, they want to head out to the farm, they want to get out for a while. So I know you you have that blessing too. You have that blessing too where you can get out and sure. Well, we are very blessed.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, and you know, it's a great opportunity, and I don't do enough of this, but it's you know, in Deuteronomy it talks about when you um when you rise up and when you walk by the path and when you sit down to the table and when you're basically everywhere you are is a chance to talk about about God with your kids. And um I find it just I just find it easier when we're out in a deer blind or out in a on a tank. I mean it's just it's just because it's a natural conversation. I mean, you can look at anything around and you know, a a dragonfly sitting on the the pond or a frog or the fish that you catch or I mean, you know, it's just it's just natural thing.
SPEAKER_02So it's a it yeah, there is I was driving the four we're my grandkids when they were little and uh we'd come up on blue bonnets and I'd say, you know, who planted those? You know, what where did they come from? You know, and you know, God planted them, you know. That's you know, that's how and you just turn, you know, in God into every little thing that you know, like you said, you you uh you you do it all day long. You you try to include God in your conversations and and uh yeah, it's a lot easier to do in the outdoors, it seemed like to me. But if we'll come up on a rock formation or come up on something, you know, in the water or the river, and you know, you know, God, God did that, you know. It's um constantly put that in their mind, you know.
SPEAKER_04Great thoughts, uh great tips and great stories. Uh Mark, Martin. Thanks for your time this morning. Unfortunately, we're we're out of time. We'll have to we'll have to do this again. It's been a great, great time. And uh, man, thanks so much for for visiting with us.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, and enjoyed it. And like I said, I've I've been blessed. And you know, as things progress, uh it's we we've been blessed of a to hunt, and I know you've you've been blessed in that too. But yeah, I appreciate your show, and and I I think uh when we uh are not afraid to mention uh God nowadays, and uh I I think it's great, and uh I I just appreciate uh what you're doing and and your connection with the outdoors. Stay tuned right here.
SPEAKER_01Lone Star Trail will return after these messages.
SPEAKER_04Dayton is a retired government trapper, a firearms expert, an outdoors. 76 years old, still going strong. Enjoy sharing his passion of the outdoors with others. We're back with Dayton House, retired government trapper. You're not retired, however, from all kinds of other hunting.
SPEAKER_06That's correct. I've enjoyed hunting 77 years now.
SPEAKER_04That's great. We've talked about this in the past. You got your start uh road hunting.
SPEAKER_06Yeah, three years old.
SPEAKER_04Three-year-old outlaw on the hood of a Ford. Uh yeah, driving and killing rabbits up and down the road. That's that's cool. Well, it's been a while since we talked last. What's been going on with you?
SPEAKER_06Uh I've mentioned several of the records that I've uh set, personal records more than anything else. Uh one of them killing 67 hogs in one night by myself. I don't know that anybody of any of my friends that have ever killed over 20 by themselves in one night. But at the Pecan farm a few years ago, south of Richland Springs, well, there's 400, maybe 500 hogs could be seen in one night. Wow.
SPEAKER_04And you only got 67?
SPEAKER_06I only got 67. I tried to shoot three shots at every one of them.
SPEAKER_04Wow. That's a lot of hogs.
SPEAKER_06Too many. Oh man. Talk about some damage. Uh they ran a pecan farm, and I believe they come for miles, perhaps 10 miles or more, just to eat pecans every night. Uh, I'd killed over 1,300 hogs that year, and sometimes uh you'd see groups of 50 or 60. Here at Beattie, a few years ago, I saw about 120 one night, and they were all around the pickup and running. The wife was with me, and she said, How are you going to shoot that many of them? And I said, Well, as long as I don't kill a cow, well, I'm in good shape. But there's too many hogs at times like that. A group of 50 or 60 is about three times what I'd like to see.
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_06Ten or fifteen is uh a good size to shoot, and if you can kill half of them, well, you'll be doing good.
SPEAKER_04You're making a dent, yeah.
SPEAKER_06Uh on this place I've killed two coats in one shot twice. I'd kill a hog one night, come back two or three days later, and coats would be eating on it, and I'd let them line up. And that's the first time I've ever done that. I've been trying for 60 years to kill two in one shop and didn't do it until five or six years ago. And now I've done it twice here at Beattie.
SPEAKER_04It's just a lesson, don't give up, right?
SPEAKER_06That is right. Keep trying. A few years ago at uh Colmeen, uh north of Lake Proctor, the lady that owned that did not want us to kill the cows. For some reason, she liked to hear them howl, and there got to be too many of them. She wanted us to kill hogs only, and then they started coming up near her yard, and when she was walking with her dog, well, she was afraid they was gonna attack her, so she started allowing us to kill the cows. And we'd killed enough hogs that whenever you'd shoot, it was like ringing the dinner bell. And the old coach would come immediately and eat on the hog. One night after I'd shot a hog, within 30 minutes, I'd kill five coats off of that one hog.
SPEAKER_04What year was this? This wasn't this wasn't recent, was it?
SPEAKER_06Oh, twelve, fifteen years ago.
SPEAKER_04Okay, all right.
SPEAKER_06And then another night, two, three weeks later, I killed four coats off of one hog. And there were so many coats up there, you'd hear maybe ten different groups howling at the same time. And since then that property subdivided and I guess divided 20 ways, perhaps, and we're no longer able to hunt any of that area. Back in uh, I believe it was 78, I killed a turkey that had five beards. Most people have never seen one that had two or three beards. And I took this turkey by the Goldwaite Eagle, the local paper there in Goldwaite, and at that time the editor's wife was the only one there, and she wasn't interested in hunting. She didn't want to see it, didn't want to make a picture of it, and it never got posted in the Goldwaite Eagle. And now her son is the editor, and he'll have uh uh 10 articles about hunting there every week, and uh he never did uh see that turkey, and uh but very few people have ever heard of a turkey having five beards. No way, 25 and 38 inches on all five of them if you total the length of them.
SPEAKER_04Wow. How old do you think that turkey was?
SPEAKER_06I don't know, probably eight to ten years old. Imagine he's a little tough if you try to eat him. Uh there at Comean, I mentioned a while ago, the largest hog I ever killed was 419 pounds. And I saw it one morning and thought it was an Angus cow, and so I just kept on driving, and I thought, well, its ears look funny. So I stopped and looked back at it, and the old hog was coming to me, and I just let it come within 75 yards and shot it in the neck and it went down. I got back in the pickup and started to drive off and looked, and that hog got up and started running, so I had to shoot it a couple of more times. But uh that's unusual to kill a wild hog that'll weigh over 200 pounds. A lot of people say, oh, that'll weigh three or four hundred pounds. Uh not till you weigh them. Uh it's unusual to to kill one that is over three hundred pounds.
SPEAKER_04Did you just pitch him in the back of the pickup?
SPEAKER_06No, I left him there. I couldn't even roll him over hardly.
SPEAKER_04Man, that's a big pig.
SPEAKER_06Oh, too big, that's correct. But uh this was a fun time, whenever you can see hogs every day, and some days I'd stay up there all night and uh enjoy that. I killed three deer in one shot years ago. Oldest brother and I were wanting to have some processed over and Hamilton made sausage out of it, and he had a seven millimeter, and I was shooting a 308, and both of us that same morning killed three deer in one shot. I've been trying to kill four, but I've never done that. I've always uh threes my limit on one shot. I caught my own dog years ago in a snare, and the dog went about a mile and a half from the house, and I didn't go over there for seven days. So the dog was caught in the snare for seven days and eight nights. And when I got there and found it, was she still alive? The cows across the fence and nearly stomped her to death. Oh my goodness. She was weak she couldn't jump in the pickup.
SPEAKER_04Wow.
SPEAKER_06And so all these critters that you think catch snares choke them to death. Well, it doesn't dogs oftentimes are used to being tied. And so I was lucky that it didn't kill the dog.
SPEAKER_04Yeah. Did she come back come back to life a little bit?
SPEAKER_06Oh yeah, yeah. Next week I was carrying her with me every day.
SPEAKER_04She didn't get caught again.
SPEAKER_06That's right. Uh growing up, one of my brothers shot a hole in the ceiling with a shotgun that I'd just cleaned. And I've never had an accident with a a gun that hurt anything. I've had them to discharge and shoot a hole in the ground, but uh never shot had one to go off in the vehicle or never hurt anybody with uh a discharge.
SPEAKER_04So there's gotta be, you're just telling part of the story there. There's gotta be more to that story. What how did that happen? How old was he? How old were you?
SPEAKER_06We were still in high school, so we were probably 12 or 14, and I'd clean the shotgun and leaned it up against the wall, and whenever he came in, he threw it up to the ceiling and pulled the trigger. He didn't know that I'd put it around in the chamber.
SPEAKER_04Oh wow.
SPEAKER_06But that's the closest accident I guess I've ever had.
SPEAKER_04Uh what did what did your uh mom say?
SPEAKER_06Don't do that again. Uh I did have a near uh death accident with a hand load that my nephew loaded in 6'5 Creedmore a few years ago. He overcharged it, and this was a gun that had never been fired, and he wanted scope mounted on it, and whenever I fired it well uh had so much pressure. Has a small hole on the end of the bolt near the chamber, and the everything came out that hole.
SPEAKER_04Oh my gosh.
SPEAKER_06It locked the bolt down. The ejector, the extractor, the sprangs, and all the plungers, and everything in that bolt, into the bolt came out that hole. Uh we had to hammer the bolt open and it didn't ruin the gun. It did ruin the bolt, but uh they're replaceable and a good gunsmith and uh eight hundred dollars will you get it going again. Had to it did not run the barrel. And I was kind of surprised about that. So Remington has a good action if you can uh blow one up and what about your what about your hand or your face?
SPEAKER_04Did it ruin your no damage at all?
SPEAKER_06Okay, just blew everything out. I'm surprised that it blew the extractor and the ejector out that little vent hole. That that's dangerous when you low overload them like that. There are a few mistakes that I've made and a few errors over the years, and uh uh a few things that I can't tell about because the statute of limitations hadn't expired yet.
SPEAKER_04But well, that's all the time we have for this week's episode. Thanks for stopping by. Me and old Hank the Gardog will catch you next week at the same time, same place. If you can't join us on a local station, find the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find podcasts. Also, you can connect with us on Facebook and share your hunting and outdoor photos and stories with us at Longstar Trail Radio at gmail.com. Till next time for all of us here at the show.
