Lexi Antonick Creates Outdoor Art

Lexi Antonick is making a name for herself with her breathtaking murals. She’s giving old buildings in rural west Texas new life while sharing some regional history and culture with passersby. Dayton rejoins this week on House Rules to give some career advice. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:06

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_06 0:26

Hello, friends, and welcome to another edition of the Lone Star Trail. I'm your host, Nathan Smith. Glad you can join us for another show. Today we've got some news about a federal court ruling concerning suppressors and the registration requirement that they have currently, also short-barreled rifles and shotguns. We'll get to that in a minute after our break. We also welcome Lexi Antonic with Lexi Antonic Fine Art. Lexi is becoming famous across West Texas for her murals that depict wide open spaces and Native Americans scenery from the outdoors all across small rural towns in West Texas. And so we join her to learn about the process and what she has in store next. Support some more coffee and join us right 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 RanchProRealEstate.com. The land is their life.

SPEAKER_03 1:38

When you need them, your local volunteer fire department routinely answers the call. Whether it be a fire, traffic accident, or a cat stuck in a tree, there is always someone there for you. However, because of declines in memberships, departments are becoming understaffed and struggling. Here's how you can help your neighbors and your community. No matter what skills you may possess, you can make a difference. Your local volunteer fire department desperately needs your help. Can you direct traffic? Install a smoke alarm, help at fundraisers. Your community needs you. You don't have to fight fire to be a volunteer. Will you make that difference? Will you answer the call? Brought to you by the National Volunteer Firefighter Recruitment Center, a program service of the Volunteer Firefighter Alliance. For more information on how you can help and make a difference, visit www.nvfrc.org. That's www.nvfrc.org.

SPEAKER_06 2:40

You're listening to the Lone Star Trail. We're glad you're here. Now let's get back to the show. Welcome to the show. I'm excited about today's guest. This has been uh one several weeks in the making. You've seen if you follow our social media, we teased this a few weeks ago. Uh on the phone, we're happy to have Lexi Antonic with us. Lexi Antonic with Lexi Antonic Fine Art. Uh Lexi, thanks for joining the show today.

SPEAKER_01 3:10

Of course. Happy to be here. Thanks for having me.

SPEAKER_06 3:12

Well, I know you're so busy right now. And so thank you so much for squeezing some time in for us. Um we're we're taking a little bit of a left turn from our normal discussions on the Lone Star Trail this week. We typically talk all things hunting, fishing, and outdoors. Uh and we also mix in a lot of Texas and Texas culture. We're trying to do better about doing that. And uh I've been following your social media for uh several months now. And before we get into this, um, I want to make sure everybody knows where to find your art and you can see exactly what I'm talking about. We're gonna have a YouTube video, our first YouTube video actually, uh posted, and we'll take snippets out of that and post on our social as well. But Lexi AntonicfineArt.com. You can find uh originals, prints, books, uh, you can see the mural gallery. I definitely want to talk about your books before we run out of time today, uh, Lexi. But to start with, I always always get information, background information on all of our guests because I think it's great to introduce amazing Texans like yourself to our listeners and our followers. So if you'll just take some time, tell us a little bit about yourself and where you are today.

SPEAKER_01 4:23

Okay, sure. So um I was born and raised in Colorado City, Texas. As were you, I learned. So that's pretty cool.

SPEAKER_06 4:33

Yeah, and we just found that out. I didn't even know that when we were talking. So yeah, we came from the same same place, graduated the same high school. Awesome. Go wolves.

SPEAKER_01 4:41

Yeah, yes, go wolves. Yeah, and art has just always been like I've always had like a natural ability, a gift. And whenever I was in the first grade, my parents noticed and they put me in art lessons with um a local artist, Carolyn Walker. Um and so I took art lessons from a very young age and got a strong foundation from the start, and you know, did them up until athletics started, like in middle school. And so then I kind of went away from it, and then towards the end of high school, I took art as an elective, and from then on I just kind of felt like things just really clicked from that point on. I just haven't put the paintbrush down. So throughout I went to school at Texas Tech and went to school for landscape architecture, but like my job while I was in college was to paint commissions and stuff. So it was mostly for local people, but I just always pretty much if I wasn't doing schoolwork or you know, hanging out, I was just at home painting and eventually it turned into doing bigger things, and I got my first mural. I guess it would have been my sophomore year of college, but yeah, that's just kind of a little, I guess a little background about me and how I got I guess started in the art world.

SPEAKER_06 6:21

All four of my kids who are under age 11, all of them are better artists than I will ever be. And so I've always uh appreciated and recognized uh people who are great artists and uh and kind of envious. I wish I could I could uh I don't know, I'm just not wired that way. Art's just not something I'm I'm inclined to or good at. I love looking at it and it I appreciate it, but it's not something I've ever been able to do. So as a kid, uh you said that your parents recognized it uh something was different. It's not wasn't the normal um uh kit drawings or paintings. What now as an adult, what did have you I'm sure you've had conversations with them, what is it that they have uh they've said or maybe reflected on uh from you as a as a kid?

SPEAKER_01 7:10

Um I think it's like from what I can remember, like you know, like in kindergarten and first grade, like some of the um I guess like activities in school would be like to draw something or you read a book and you know, some of the homework draw this or do that. And like yeah, they noticed that I guess I was wired a little differently. So instead of doing, you know, like a typical stick figure, I would sit there and actually try to draw like a real eyeball and like an actual hand and face instead of just lines and little circles with a little quick smiley face, you know?

SPEAKER_06 7:56

And um You're describing my art form now with the stick figures, yes. Current day.

SPEAKER_01 8:03

Oh my gosh, if I had a dollar for every time someone said, I can't even draw a stick figure. It would be yeah. But um, yeah, I think it's just they know saw something in me that, you know, I guess the typical person doesn't usually, you know, attempt to do. So um yeah, they put me in art lessons, but I also have um some family members who are like have natural abilities too. I actually have a grandmommy who she's painted murals. I don't know if you're familiar with Aspirmont, but that's where my dad's family is from, and so she's painted a lot there. She's always been like the art and crafty person. Like we'd go and stay with her, and she always had us doing something artistic. And my dad has a really good eye too. He can draw, he's just, you know, I guess didn't pursue it up. Yeah, yeah, right.

SPEAKER_06 9:09

Uh you said you kind of you kind of laid it down for a while and picked it back up and then uh took uh art class in high school and then pursued it in college at Texas Tech. And so what what's the I I ask people about when we talk about hunting, what's the mo or trapping, what's the uh what's your first memory of maybe your your first piece that you were most proud of? What's is there is there one uh piece of art, a painting, or anything that comes to mind that that really you look back and you think I'm I'm the most proud of this one, or this was the most memorable maybe um early on for you.

SPEAKER_01 9:43

Um yes, I remember my I don't know if it was my first time to enter an art show. I think it was though, but I had this um watercolor painting that I did. I don't remember the age I was. It was just like a landscape, but um I had one first place, and so that's kind of memorable. Um it was just a local art show, but you know, it's so exciting being a kid and you know, seeing your ribbon on your artwork. And I also I have a little background, I guess, but ever since I guess I started getting into art, I really wanted to do portraits. Like that was kind of like my goal. I wanted to be able to create portraits that look like so realistic and lifelike. And so I also have this little like Native American, it's like a young little little kid holding like a blanket. But um that one's also memorable too because it's I think I was maybe 10 whenever I did it, but like it looks like a a person, you know. Um not perfect, of course. It looks still like a kid did it, but like a kid with art background, you know. And so I would say that one's probably even a little more memorable because it's a little more to me, I've always enjoyed portraits and it really impresses me when other people can do them. So that one like appeals to me a little more and it kind of I guess is like a start and cool to look back on. Um, because throughout the years I've done so many portraits, and so it's pretty cool to have like that as a reference of where I started.

SPEAKER_06 11:30

Right. I want to talk now a little bit about uh the murals. So you mentioned earlier that your first mural was when you were a sophomore in college. Tell me about that first one. How did uh how were you contacted? What was your first thought when you were asked about doing it? And and kind of take us through that that first one.

SPEAKER_01 11:51

Right. So um the first one that I did was for the Rainbow Room in San Angelo, and so that is like for CPS, like meditation. And um a girl who I believe she's from Colorado City, but um, you know, we were Facebook friends, and I always, you know, started posting my art around that time whenever I was in college, and she had reached out to me about it, and it was more like of a donation piece, you know, just to do something good, and the task was to decorate um a design for a mural for the visitation rooms, and so I got the um like younger kid room, and so the design was like a rainforest jungle type scene with different animals and so it was pretty cool. Um, it was a little intimidating. I whenever she first reached out, it was kind of like, whoa, that would be really cool, but you know, the biggest piece of artwork I've done is maybe two feet tall, you know, and now we're talking about the whole room. But um, yeah, it I worked on this design and you know, got it approved, and then um I went on a weekend from Lubbock all the way to San Angelo, and my mom came with me, and she sometimes she's my um my mural assistant. I call her my mom major sometimes to come and uh help me like color block or something. But yeah, so I pretty much had the weekend to do it because it's kind of a far trip and with schoolwork and everything, you know, it's kind of like he had to really hustle to get it done. But um, yeah, it was pretty cool. So it was an indoor mural, and there was maybe a handful of other artists that each had their own rooms also, and so I got to connect with um a few of them, and now I keep up with them on social media, so it's pretty cool to see, you know, the people you met a long time ago when you're starting out, and then it's a it's a kind of a chain of connection there.

SPEAKER_06 14:09

Is this the one with the elephants and it's like a jungle?

SPEAKER_01 14:12

Yes, it's got some elephants and I think like a little tiger. Right. Yeah, that one it it my idea was kind of I think some of it's in black and white, almost like a coloring book. But it was fun. I I enjoyed doing it, and I learned a lot. It was a little stressful. I used to be a perfectionist, and so through the years I've learned you gotta let go of that.

SPEAKER_04 14:41

Stay tuned, right here. Lone Star Trail will return after these messages.

SPEAKER_06 14:48

If you follow the podcast, or if you're new, either way, we talk a lot about trapping. You're gonna find that out. Uh, we've got our own predator issues out here in Brown County we try to mitigate, but I want to talk a little bit about Texas Farm Ranch Wildlife Solutions. My good friend Philip Woods out in East Texas. Uh, he's an expert when it comes to managing predation on Texas farms and ranches. If you've got trouble with coyotes, with bobcats, with uh beaver, if you've got nuisance predators impacting your bottom line, you need to call my friend Philip Woods, 713-208-3517 is his number. That's 713-208-3517. You can email him at woodscattlecompany at gmail.com. Uh, Philip Woods out there in East Texas, he does a great job, but he's statewide. If you got problems in South Texas or the Panhandle, uh, professional trapping services, Texas Farm and Ranch Wildlife Solutions, that's who you need to call. You're listening to the Lone Star Trail. We're glad you're here. Now let's get back to the show. If you're just joining the program, we're talking with Lexi Antonic, Lexi Antonic Fine Art. Uh, she's an artist who does all kinds of art. We're talking about murals currently, and she's done a few murals that are just mind-blowing, uh amazing. Um, and that's what what I kind of wanted to get into. We've talked about your first one. I'm looking here at, and I can't really I can't tell you which one is my favorite of the ones that you have posted. They're just uh everyone you look at, it's like there's something else to love about each one of them. The uh you've done a lot of work in Snyder, and if you've been in Snyder, which we have an affiliate station there, 1015 KSNY, uh, they're in Snyder. And so if uh folks who are listening in Snyder can obviously they know about these murals and they've seen them and dropped by them every day. If you could, if you could kind of go back and look through these, and we're gonna post again, post pictures of these and uh a video of these these murals so everybody can see what I'm talking about. But there was a mural that you did of Powers Booth, uh, really great actor, passed away about 10 years ago, uh, was from Snyder originally, and uh, his most famous role, or one of its most famous, was uh in Tombstone. And the mural that you painted, so I really now want to get into the process a little bit and and kind of get into what it all what all goes into a mural of this caliber and this size. Tell us a little bit about this specific mural. How first of all, give us the dimensions. What are it's a huge building?

SPEAKER_01 17:27

Right. So I think that it is maybe 19 feet tall. And so this mural a group project. So on my website, you'll see there's three of us standing there. And so we also this is on the back side of the wall. I have a picture with the Herefords, but it's the big Snyder um Western mural. And so our big ones there were group projects, and that was with artist um Kalina Mache Cowell. I don't know if I'm sure you've seen her murals before all over the big country. She has a really cool style, so colorful. And then the other guy, his name is Daniel, and he's actually from Florida, so he came all the way down to come and work on these murals, and he loves it. He loves coming to Snyder, it's pretty cool. We introduced them to all subs. So, anyways, those were um collaborative projects, and so with those as a team, we would have like Teams calls and you know, go over the designs and brainstorm.

SPEAKER_06 18:39

Lexi, when when you talk about the design and you look at a blank wall, I just I'm you just get over I would get overwhelmed immediately. Of course, nobody cares what I think about this because I'm not an artist, but what I'm what I'm getting at is is how do you transform a literally a blank wall into it? Looks like Powers Booth is sitting in a chair. I mean, he's like he's it's like three-dimensional looking. It looks like it looks like a photo that you just screen printed on a wall. I mean, it is so realistic looking. How do you how do you get there in your mind? I mean, you do you take it just a a stroke at a time? Do you have this end result in your mind when you start day one? What is it what is that like?

SPEAKER_01 19:25

So this is kind of like a little, I guess, insider knowledge. I get asked this question all the time, and like when we were working and people would stop by, everyone wants to know like, how do you keep it proportionate? Like, how how do you even kind of like you're saying, accomplish this l outcome? And so what we do is once we have like the the picture that they wanted on the wall, we go up in the evenings and we use a projector. So then you have your outline sketch. And then once you um go up there to start painting, it's pretty much it's still a task because especially with portraits, every quarter of an inch if you're off, it looks funky. Like you know, you have to really nail it. Um and so I mean I guess it's just trial and error. And honestly, every mural I have done still I always there's always this point at the beginning where it's like, oh my gosh, I have imposter syndrome. Like, what did I just commit myself to? How am I gonna do this? But it's I guess it's like part of it is mentally just pushing through. Um all girls go through these I call them ugly stages, and it's really intimidating, and it's almost some days it's hard to push through because you get to this point where it's like this is just a mess. How is it gonna come together? And you just push through and you I guess you have to just really trust that you know what you're doing and that it'll work out and not to think too much about you know how it looks in the in the process because it always it always seems like, at least for me, maybe it's just part of my process, but it always feels like, oh my gosh, this is never gonna come together.

SPEAKER_06 21:34

I want to talk about the one in in Iran because uh I'm looking at it now, and did you do this one by yourself or was this also a group?

SPEAKER_01 21:43

So that one, that one still that will probably forever be my favorite. I don't know if anything can top it, but that one was my largest, most detailed one I've ever done by myself. So I Um, yeah, that one was I did that one, I guess I started it at the end of May. Um, but yep, that was a solo project. And that talk about intimidating imposter syndrome because like before then, like doing the Powers Booth portrait was the first time for me to ever paint, you know, a face that big and it was really intimidating. And so then moving on to the um iron mural, it it was just a very detailed mural, and you know the mock-up looked pretty cool, but actually getting there and staring at the wall in person, it was just yeah, it was a lot to take in. And that that project was a a big growing, I guess, project for me.

SPEAKER_06 22:57

Well, the video when we post it will make sense because listeners, uh viewers can see what I'm seeing as we're talking, um, but it is just absolutely amazing, this mural. And again, it looks like a screen somebody screen printed this across the wall of this building in there, and and to know that it was done with two hands and a paintbrush, uh probably some other tools, I'm sure. But wow, I mean it's just amazing. So for for reference, I'm gonna show this picture of you sitting in front of uh the Native American that you painted here. How how tall are you roughly?

SPEAKER_01 23:38

I'm five eight. Okay, so 25 feet tall in the wall that you mentioned.

SPEAKER_06 23:45

So, you know, it's a 20-foot tall person you've painted. Uh, did you have a specific um inspiration for this Native American? Did you what what kind of research did you do? Um tell me about that a little bit.

SPEAKER_01 24:05

So yeah, so that was done in Ira, Texas, and it's a little small town. I don't know if you've ever been there. Oh yeah. I enjoyed it. It's I think it's beautiful, but yeah, very rural, not not many people around. But um, their football team is the Braves, so like an Indian warrior. And so um me and the superintendent had gone back and forth with me, you know, an initial collie told me about the school and sent me pictures of the area, and told me that he just wanted something that represents the school and also the area. So there's all like the pretty plateaus and land formations and um the Pagus River runs through there, and there's a lot of like oil-filled type jobs there, so that that's where the pump jack con goes in. And um so yeah, we just went back and forth and he sent me some different pictures that um you know, like that they had hanging in their office of Native American art, and um yeah, we just went back and forth and came up with the design together and it came from that, yeah. Right, yeah.

SPEAKER_06 25:30

So you had a complete sketch done as you're as you're doing this. Uh you're not obviously you're not doing this on the fly up there on a you know, 20-foot ladder or a scissor link or something. But right, but I'm sure it kind of takes a on a life of its own when you're up there. And did you make changes from the sketch uh at all once you saw it on the on the wall?

SPEAKER_01 25:52

Honestly, for the most part, no. I tried to stay um as close to the rendering as possible. I mean, maybe a few of like the little plants and stuff in the foreground weren't as accurate, but um for the most part, the way that I function is I'm not a very I'll just say creative person. I'm artistic, but I like to have a reference to follow, and I don't do the best job at making things up on the fly because there's so much that goes into it, especially with something as um, I guess like dramatically lit as this mural was. You know, there's so many things if you're gonna add or change something, you gotta take into consideration the way the light falls on it and the shadows and the coloring, and it's just a lot more technical than adding something. And um so I feel like through the years and within this past year, I've gotten better at um my renderings for murals, and I think that's been the biggest change in like the quality of my work has improved because because I follow my references. Um before, you know, I didn't have the knowledge or the technical skills for like different lightings and shadings, and so my stuff would be very vibrant and not you know technically make a lot of sense. And so um, yeah, I feel like I've learned that for me, my murals can be, I guess, stronger if the um, you know, the picture, the inspiration is super cool and exciting, you know?

SPEAKER_06 27:45

Right. Uh I can't wait to see to see more. You've got uh so many awesome murals already completed. The White Buffalo is part of a bigger piece that's in Snyder. I'm sure, like I said, our listeners in Snyder have are very familiar with with uh this. I want to talk about uh your books. Not only are you an artist on of with murals and uh uh other other forms of art, but you've also uh ventured into uh illustrations in some kids' books, and you have those on your website. Uh tell me about that process. How did that come about?

SPEAKER_01 28:20

Yeah, so um we me and my husband did these children's books together, and it all started because my husband, Trayson, he is just like a storyteller. He's one of those, like he'll have everyone rolling laughing at the stories he tells. And like they're pretty much like life experiences. So he used to rodeo um professionally, like full time. And so, you know, all those hours on the road and all his travels to all the different places, he's got quite the collection of stories. And so he started I guess years ago, he started writing down his stories um during his free time and coming up with like making them into poems. And so he has his notebook that he writes them all in. And um there was this one that he wrote about the Snowborn cow that he had bought. Um he got a great deal, but whenever he got it home, she was just like crazy and ran them over and stuff, and it's like he learned why it was such a good deal and why no one else wanted her. And but it was a poem written more for adults, you know, to be funny and tell around the campfire. But he had this idea to make um a children's book, and so we uh bought me an iPad and I started practicing and doing some research on you know self-publishing and looking at different um children's books to get an idea, and it was such a struggle for me to um you know go from doing more realistic type of artwork into something that's appealing to children, and um so with our first book, I spent so many hours. It took three months to do because I would get so locked in on details because there's a lot of people, um like characters in the children's books, and all of them are someone like that we know real life, yeah. Yeah, they're like friends, and it was pretty cool when we did our first one, you know. My husband would reach out to you know, the person significant other so that it would be a surprise, but just make sure that it was okay if we used their um you know picture in the book. But because they needed to look like the person, I spent hours and I just got so carried away with it. And like I would zoom way in because I did them on my iPad, and then whenever you zoomed out, it was like I spent days on this and you can't even tell what I did. So I had a lot of trial and error and learning. Um you know, I had to just change my style completely, and it it was a struggle, but they turned out you the animals were fun.

SPEAKER_06 31:32

Uh in the words of the of the great Del Brisbee, uh, if you've never bought a Celbarn special, then you ain't no cowboy. Because I think we've all been there and done that. I've got one in the pasture right now, as a matter of fact, who I got a great deal on, and I can't wait to uh take her to Telbarn, back to the Tel barn.

SPEAKER_02 31:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 31:51

And she'll be fondly thought of if somebody eats a hamburger someday, but someday soon, hopefully. But um, yeah, well, we'll look at the cool story, and I'm gonna um order a book or two, and maybe you guys can uh can sign them uh for us. We'd love to we'd love to support you guys and and do that. Uh Lexi, we've talked a lot about your murals, we've talked about your books. Uh kind of the question is where do you go from here? What's the next step for your business? You've obviously got a God-given talent and you've uh you've made a business out of your talent, which is is uh great and something we talk about on this show a lot with different folks. So uh where do you go from here? What what's next for for your artwork?

SPEAKER_01 32:36

Here lately, murals have been kind of like the thing that's been keeping me busy, and I've really enjoyed that transition from you know, before it was solely commission work, and now I am getting to paint on these bigger spaces and getting to do a lot of cool things. Um and so yeah, I'm hoping that the murals continue to keep on, you know, moving along. And um, it's actually kind of funny. So I live in East Texas now, but um pretty much every job that I have gotten this year has been somewhere out here in West Texas. So it's nice for me because I get to come and I'm close to my family here. Right. Um I would say that's the only I guess hard part is whenever I go and do these murals because they're such big jobs, I am gone anywhere from you know two to three weeks. My I'm actually finishing up a project um hopefully today, but I've been working on it I think for 20 today's day 24. And so that's that's one thing I guess that you know people probably don't think a whole lot about is it it just takes time to do those big jobs, and so you know, being away sometimes can get hard. But I feel like I stay so busy once I'm in it that like the month flies by. I can't believe it's already August.

SPEAKER_06 34:17

Yeah. 100% I agree with that. It does fly by. Um, especially when you're doing something that you love and something that you're good at. And so that's that's that's a that's a mixed bag, I understand. But you know, you and I both being from uh the edge of West Texas, uh I my wife gets me a hard time all the time because there's no trees and cars that you only go back. It's like I feel like this is God's country. And uh, you know, only people from there recognize it's rugged beauty. So I understand the the the drawback to that area. And uh and and there's so much you know, history and there's so much there's so much culture. And I think that's one thing that I I love about your murals is that you you weave uh you weave that that historical component and really get a great great sense of not only what is there now or what may be there, but what has been and where it's been before. And that that's so hard to do in in uh in in words, but you've you've done it with uh with your murals so well. And so I can't wait to see where your business goes and uh love seeing it take off like this. And even more so now that I know you're a Colorado City native, and that's even uh even a more cool thing. So Lexi Antonic Fine Art, if you're just joining the program, we've been visiting with her. Great discussion on her mural creations and her artwork. Um, she's available to do uh commissioned artwork of all kinds and all different scopes. But uh if you've not had a chance to look at her website, check that out at LexiantinicfineArt.com. Uh she's also on Facebook and all the socials, Instagram. And we'll have links to her information also on our social, so uh be on the lookout for that as well. Lexi, thanks for your time today. Thanks for taking a break from uh uh the paintbrush and and visiting with us. Uh we look forward to seeing the great things you're doing.

SPEAKER_01 36:10

Thank you. It was so good talking to you, and thanks for having me. I enjoyed it, and you gave me an excuse to take a break, which is good.

SPEAKER_06 36:20

You're listening to the Lone Star Trail, and it's time once again for House Rules with Dayton House. Dayton is a retired government trapper, a firearms expert, an outdoors enthusiast, and a true Texan. At 76 years old, he's still going strong and enjoys sharing his passion of the outdoors with others.

SPEAKER_07 36:43

Biggest month that I ever had catching coats was in uh Brecken Ridge and Throckmarton area. And I caught uh leave 121 coats in 30 days up there, but it wasn't anything to see 15 or 20 coats every day just through this pasture. You could drive and see for miles uh clerks owned it and roads everywhere, but the cowboys jumped coats, maybe 15 or 20.

SPEAKER_05 37:18

Was that in January?

SPEAKER_07 37:19

No, uh believe this was April. April. Yeah, they hadn't started pupping yet. Yeah. Uh normally uh you would see some pups, but uh I got there a little earlier. The weather changed their pattern a little bit, but uh the biggest day I had was I caught 32 coats up there in snares in one day.

SPEAKER_05 37:43

Any in the same same snare? All different snares.

SPEAKER_07 37:49

Had 125 snares out. And every time you'd catch a coat, well you just drag him off out there and put another snare in there. So some of those holes caught two or three different coats during the month.

SPEAKER_05 38:06

That's work. 125 snares, that's a lot of work.

SPEAKER_07 38:09

But that's fun.

SPEAKER_05 38:10

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_07 38:12

And one of the draws or canyons, I couldn't drive down it, so I walked down it and put snares in it along the fence, and on the way back had a coat already caught within 15 minutes of setting it. That's the fastest.

SPEAKER_05 38:29

That's just regular traffic through. There's there's no bait, there's no nothing to send it. That's right. Wow. It means the population was pretty thick up there.

SPEAKER_07 38:38

Oh, unbelievable. And me and another boy worked there a month, and I believe it's 197 or 93 coats that we killed. And we called the fixed-wing airplane to come in. And the first flight, they have to fill up every three or four hours, but uh the first flight they kill 90 something, and I imagine I saw at least 160 while they were shooting those. Wow. Got on a high hill and coach everywhere. And then they came back after they fueled up, and that day I don't remember we killed 214 or 15, and the next morning got another 40 or 50 before they left, and so we'd killed 190, and there they killed 240. I guess. And I thought we'd done good. You never know how many is going to show up on a deal like that. Uh now around the house I hunt every night. Walk around the house with my monocular, and if I see a skunk or gray fox, well, I try to shoot, and the wife's got used to it, and sometimes I'll get up at two or three o'clock in the morning and walk around the house and shoot a skunk.

SPEAKER_05 40:08

How many skunks have you seen this year or killed this year? Do you know? Off the top? I know you don't have your list.

SPEAKER_07 40:13

I think 42 this year. Last year I got 83. So you're on par then. Yes. Yeah. And I can't believe that many skunks. That's wild. And one year I killed 63 gray fox. And now I'm not oh probably 12 or 15 this year.

SPEAKER_05 40:32

That surprises me because you have the dogs. Yeah, two dogs. You know, there all the time. Yeah.

SPEAKER_07 40:41

But uh almost well, I'd say three nights a week that I'll shoot something. Yeah. And each night I try to walk all the way around the house two or three times. And uh so I'm enjoying my retirement. Not everybody could do that or would want to do that.

SPEAKER_05 41:04

Maybe you need some more little kids at your house to holler throughout the day outside, and that would keep the varmints from coming up. Because I noticed that like on a weekend when the kids are at the grandparents or whatever, it seems like I've got more uh more varmints around.

SPEAKER_07 41:23

Uh years ago, I'm told that whenever some people had covered wagons and the kids would go to crying, it would attract the coach. Oh, yeah. So maybe if I had some little under a year old, I could let them cry and use them as a caller.

SPEAKER_05 41:40

I heard him guys do that. He took his he took his like seven-month-old with him and it was he was crying and I don't know. That seems a little cruel to me, but uh college versus work.

SPEAKER_07 41:54

I'm gonna give you a little bit of uh practical experience here. Uh I'd urge kids to go to college and try it out. It's not for everyone. If you know what you want to do out of high school, then go do it. My advice is do what you want, find somebody that'll pay you to do it. Then later years find a place that you want to live. And somebody will pay you to do almost anything. You can get paid to play golf, ride horses, shoot codes. And so if you know what you want to do, then do it. Don't go to college, don't waste your money on all that. But uh, if you're not sure what you want to do, well, try college out. And most of us changed our degree plan, and we never lived up to what we started out. I wanted to be a park ranger in Yellowstone and trap bears. And I wound up trapping coach.

SPEAKER_05 43:05

But well, that's closer than a lot of people.

SPEAKER_07 43:07

I came close, but no cigar today. If you know you want to be a diesel mechanic, well, go to some junior college or technical school and learn to trade. In just a few months, well, they'll train you, and oftentimes your new employer will want to train you a little different, or he'll have his own rules and get started early and try different things. During high school, you ought to hire on at two or three different places and learn some jobs and trades and you might find something that you like better than hunting and fishing, but uh I don't know what that'd be. Working McDonald's and getting free hamburgers. Oh man, I don't know about that. But I I started out in Stephen F. Austin in Nacadochas and was going to have a forestry degree. And I hated it down there. I didn't know anyone there, and it's it was too big. One of the chemistry classes had 450 people, and the professor came in the first day and said, 250 of you need to drop out or I'll fail you. And I should have dropped out and made a D in organic chemistry, and I'd never had chemistry in high school, so uh as soon as I got through with my first semester there, I transferred to Cisco Junior College and loved it there because I'd g go home almost every weekend and mama would do my laundry and get a good meal. Yes. And so uh you don't always know what you want to do or but uh the experience you get along the way is is a lot of help. I wound up going to uh Tarleton and graduating there and don't regret it. My mother graduated from John Tarleton when he was a junior JTAC, John Tarlton Agriculture College.

SPEAKER_05 45:16

That's right. Yes.

SPEAKER_07 45:17

And then I graduated there and the two daughters graduated there, and we was hoping the grandson would go and be a fourth generation, but I don't think that's in the plans yet. He started out at AM and lasted a year there in the core and before you uh dropped out or run out of money, but uh that that core's a tough yeah life and I wouldn't encourage anybody to They're serious about it. Yes. My degree at Tarleton was in industrial education. Mother was a school teacher and said, no matter where you go, you can hire on teaching school. If farming's not your thing or uh auto mechanics, well you go to a big city and you can hire on a school teacher immediately. They're always looking for teachers. And so she encouraged all of us to get our degree in teaching certificate, and two of the brothers taught for a while. I lasted two weeks in a middle school in Fort Worth, and I'd had enough of it. So I learned a hard lesson there in a hurry.

SPEAKER_04 46:32

Stay tuned right here. Lone Star Trail will return after these messages.

SPEAKER_06 46:40

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. 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. Let's face it, whether you farm or ranch or raise wildlife, you've encountered problems with predators, no doubt. My friends at Texas Farm and Ranch Wildlife Solutions have the answer to your predator nuisance farmant problems. They specialize in taking care of those pesky raccoons, coyotes, bobcats, beavers, whatever wildlife issues you're having, Texas Farm and Ranch Wildlife Solutions is your answer. Call my friend Philip Wood at 713-208-3517. That's 713-208-3517. You can find him online at TFRWS.com. He's a professional trapper. He knows what he's doing. He has the right resources and the right techniques to get the job done. If you don't believe him, look at his website and see all the happy customers he's racked up over the years. Phillip Woods with Texas Farm and Ranch Wildlife Solutions. Give him a call. You'll be glad you did. Let them help protect your land and livestock. Also, you can connect with us on Facebook and share your hunting and outdoor photos and stories with us at Lone Star Trail Radio at gmail.com. Until next time, for all of us here at the show, so long.