I’ve lamented often how after moving to Texas 19 years ago, that I so miss my favorite snowy bowhunts in the Winter, Water Wonderland! Those memorable Michigan blizzard expeditions are emblazoned deep in my predator psyche and I dream often of the day I can return to the magic whiteouts back home.
Alas! My white-on-white snowblow dream snowstorm hunt finally came, and I didn’t even have to fly back to the Great Midwest!
As we hit the sack on January 9, 2021, at our SpiritWild Ranch Texas home, meteorologist predictions caused the hair on the back of my neck to come to full attention, and although I was hesitant to believe them, the dreamy thoughts of a 4- to 6-inch snowstorm in the otherwise colicchie-, cedar- and cactus-infested Central Texas zone was almost too much to grasp.
Ted Nugent: Why Hunt, Fish and Trap?
I actually got a little misty-eyed as we awoke the next morning to the real McCoy of snowstorms, with big, beautiful, tumbling white flakes filling our Hill Country air and covering our sacred hunting grounds!
With the fireplace ablaze, Shemane and the dogs and I snuggled and prepared for an unprecedented snowday just like the good old days in the North country!
I fired up the old 1968 Ford Bronco, locked the hubs, slipped her into 4WD lo-loc and growled into the beautiful whitestuff to play!
The snow was so heavy that we spent the better part of the day chainsawing low-hanging limbs, many of which had snapped and blocked numerous lanes and trails.
Eager to get into a deerblind, I loaded up my Mathews, a thermos of hot chocolate, the SpiritWild vidcam gear and prepared for the sensual overload of my first honest-to-God Texas snowstorm bowhunt!
The flurry of songbirds and squirrels darting about in the snow kept me wide awake, and after an hour or so I could see some distant whitetails skirting the thermal cover of the vast cedar grove before me.
There really isn’t anything in nature quite as beautiful as the dark, tawny shape of deer moving through a snow-covered forest, and before long, a trio of does made their way into my little ambush corner and I prepared for the shot.
Although the scene before me looked everything like my memorable Michigan snow hunts, what happened next could only happen in Texas, as a band of huge African Aoudad wild mountain sheep cautiously emerged from the cedars and headed my way.
I thought I would implode with excitement!
These ultra-wary wild sheep are notorious for their hyper spooky nervous nature and they took their good old time inching their way into bowrange, piledriving my nerves with every step.
When the largest old ram eventually turned broadside, my arrow was on its way and the immaculate white snow now had a splashing of crimson spray as the huge beast leapt his last.
My Mathews bow is so quiet that the other sheep and deer only flinched and watched as the old monarch of the cedarbreaks tipped over after only 25 yards, and lay still in the snow within seconds of arrow impact.
There is no way that any nonhunter could ever imagine such a tsunami of excitement, emotion, joy and spiritual peace as a bowhunter experiences at such a moment.
I tingled. I sighed. I hung my head and muttered a little prayer for the wildthings and felt that powerful, fulfilling rush of accomplishing the highest of nature’s highs.
But alas! As the deer looked on and milled about in confusion, a small whitetail doe craned her neck to see what the heck was going on with the big, dead ram, and with a life of its own, my second arrow was off and disappeared into the crease of her foreleg, and then all hell broke loose.
I could see the graphic red blood spraying out onto the snow as she high-tailed it into a very white no-man’s land, where she crashed after a short burst.
Well, what the heck! I wanted a dreamy, snowy bowhunt and I’ll be doggone if I didn’t get one heck of a dreamy, snowy bowhunt in spades!
Mark me down for a double-trouble snow whammy January 10, 2021!
Everybody knows there are few things in life more wonderful than a good blood trail in the snow, and I took my time following both of them for all they were worth.
The tracking, recovery, loading, gutting, cleaning, hanging and photo taking literally had a life of their own, and I celebrated each of them for all they were worth.
Happy snowday bowhunt 2021 Uncle Ted! You want it, you got it!
Multi-platinum guitar legend TED NUGENT has a new full-length album THE MUSIC MADE ME DO IT, on Round Hill Records. The album is available now for order everywhere, and the title track “The Music Made Me Do It” is available to download and stream wherever music is sold.
And now, the Ted Nugent Spirit Campfire with John Brenkus, is #1 on Billboard’s Top Facebook Live Video Chart! The ever-articulate Nugent and co-host Brenkus, the Emmy-winning broadcaster from ESPN, make for a high-energy and entertaining combination. The show launched in June 2020 and offers a front row glimpse into musical inspirations, hilarious anecdotes, thoughtful recollections and an enviable lineup of legendary talent.The Ted Nugent Spirit Campfire with John Brenkus airs live on Mondays and Thursdays at 9:00 p.m. EST on Facebook and YouTube.
With more than 40 million albums sold, rock legend Ted Nugent is equally well known as the nation’s most outspoken proponent of our 1st and 2nd Amendment rights, conducting thousands of pro-gun, pro-freedom, pro-American interviews in major media worldwide. Nugent is a New York Times best-selling author whose works include Ted, White & Blue —The Nugent Manifesto; God, Guns & Rock ‘n’ Roll and Kill It & Grill It. This year, his award-winning Ted Nugent Spirit of the Wild TV show celebrates its 500th episode! For all things Nuge, visit www.tednugent.com
Why Did You Shoot That Buck?
The Wolf’s Place in Wildlife Management
