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I managed to find some time during my kids' Christmas break to squeeze in a short hunting trip. This was a make-up trip since I believed the gloomy weather forecasts at Thanksgiving and we did not go as we had planned. Naturally it did not rain at the ranch then.

Our family had two firsts on this trip. My youngest would be joining us at the lease for the first time and my oldest would be carrying her own hunting license for the first time. She was hoping for a chance at a pig.

I managed to drag myself out of bed early enough on New Year's Eve to make the 6-1/2 hour drive to our lease in Dimmit County with all three of my girls. We were running a bit late when we headed out into the pasture but the deer started showing up fairly quickly. After a bit a couple of hogs showed up a long way down the fence line and we waited for them to come closer. Instead, another group appeared on the other side. As quietly as we could my oldest and I changed positions with the two other girls so that the oldest would be in position for a shot. I explained that they needed to get to a certain bush to be where I was comfortable with her shooting. Naturally, as they got about to that point they changed directions.

While we waited for them to return another group showed up on our original side, moving in quickly. We switched spots again and were just settling in when the other group began to return. My daughter decided that they were our best bet so we made the switch a final time. She waited patiently for them to get in range and for one to present a good shot. The other two did their best to stay still. She took the shot when the opportunity came and the pig ran in a short circle and fell over. We had time for some pictures and were back in camp by six for the work to start.

We spent New Year's Eve skinning and quartering the pig and getting it on ice so we celebrated on New Year's Day with sparkling grape juice and black-eyed peas for luck.

We spent the rest of the trip looking for a decent buck to shoot. We saw a lot of game, and even a badger, but we did not see any decent new bucks. We did see one young buck with a bad attitude.

A broken brow time and a snapped main beam and he was still looking for a fight.

The last morning a buck showed that I was thinking about removing from the gene pool. I was looking at adding delay to my return if I shot him and before I could talk myself into it he was gone. We packed up shortly thereafter and began the long drive home after the end of another good father/daughter weekend in South Texas, getting home last night.

If the pictures do not show up I have added them to this year's hunting gallery.

[Click on the pictures for full-sized versions.]

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