Then I drove to the end of the ranch road to see what was there. A closed barricaded bridge to Mexico and the ghost town of La Linda Coahuila including this hilltop church on the other side.





Back to hunting. Yes, I did actually do some hunting too.

Beautiful country to have the opportunity to hunt in.



You can see a guzzler in the background. I did run a covie onto this hillside and got 5 points out of Blaze across the hill. She was so tired and hot she was not very stylish. She would just stand over the bird panting and look at me. The first point I thought she had been stuck in the leg with a cactus and did not know she was pointing. I about had a heart attack when I walked over thinking I was going to pull some cholla out of her leg. Boy was I surprised with a bird flushed in my face. I was tired and hot too. shells were flying out of my gun each time, but, I only hit two birds out of the 5 points/flushes on this hill.



Blaze and I.



How about some bird pictures.

I had the Auto 5 on this hunt. I wanted firepower, so no over under this time.



And a nice mature bird. If I had ever wanted to have one mounted, this would have been a good one. Hmmm, I wonder why they call them Scaled Quail?



I had one bird that Blaze just flat out refused to retrieve. It was up a steep hill, so I was frustrated and kept sending her back. I finally gave in, made the climb, and found out why. I don't blame her, I would not have stuck my face in there either.



I think Blaze will need a better pair of Dog Boots next time.

The last day I left early and made a drive over to Elephant Mountain WMA. I did not have much time to hunt so I did a one time drive through and picked the most scenic spot I could find for a walkabout.







Right off, we met up with a momma Javelina and young.





Gratuitus Windmill picture for my wife. She loves windmills.



And last a sunset picture from behind Mulie_Mike's hunting lodge on the Rio Grande at Lajitas.
Bats where already flying all around and you can see a lone duck on the river below.



Mike's guide, Texas Hunting Forum member "darrack" invited me eat dinner with the Aoudad hunters. One of which is also a THF member, but sorry I forgot the name already. Getting to take a shower at the house was nice too considering I had just gone three nights without one. The other guide Pablo showed from El Paso with the frozen Aoudad Cape later and I hit the road home. A big public thank you to Mike and his guides for the hospitality and to Mike for saving that Aoudad cape for me. And also a big thank you to forum member Scoutdog who answered my post in the upland forum. He helped me a bunch though a pm dialog in filling me in on what I needed to bring and what I might expect when I got there.

I was soon pulled over by a border patrol truck just after I left Lajitas. I had a retirement ceremony for a brother firefighter to attend on Thursday, so had to hit the road at 2:30 am so I could make it in time. A black dusty truck in the early hours must have looked suspicious. I got a laugh when they searched my trunk and looked in my big cooler. I saw the border patrol guy carefully knock on the lids keeping his distance both times. Looking as if he was expecting a jack in the box to pop out! I was later followed by another border patrol truck for several miles before reaching a checkpoint. I guess watching to make sure I did not drop someone or something off first. They were just doing their job, very friendly, and especially liked Blaze.

I can't wait to go back. I will probably pick a cooler time of year and a year with better bird counts, but to be honest, it is not about the birds to me, so I could easily find an excuse to make this fandango again anytime.