Nine Bar Ranch Blog
Top New Year’s Resolutions for Successful Hunting in Texas
As we enter the second month of 2024, it’s time to stop and check in on our New Year’s
Resolutions. No, we’re not talking about your weight loss goal, personal habits
improvement, or your promise to finally get the garage organized; we’re talking about
your goal to up your game and experience successful hunting in Texas!
Any seasoned hunter knows that the hunting season for most particular games never ends.
Rather, we just move from active hunt to active preparation. With that perspective in
mind, let’s discuss some excellent New Year’s resolutions for hunters.
1. Clean Your Weapons
Resolve to clean your hunting weapons after every hunt, whether you’ve been
successful or not. Clean inside and out, oil anywhere metal touches metal, and
use heavy metal remover every time you’ve fired your gun. If you took your gun
out in rain, snow, or mud, disassemble it and thoroughly clean it.
Following this routine will improve your accuracy, boost your self-discipline, and
ultimately make your costly gear last many years longer than it would if you
neglected it.
2. Organize Your Gear
You may not feel like spending a weekend organizing your hunting gear, but the
feeling of knowing you’re ready to take any opportunity to jump in your truck and
hit the hunting trails can’t be overstated. You don’t have to get ready if you stay
ready.
3. Practice Your Marksmanship
Can’t get out of town for a hunt but have a hankering for some sport? Take your
gun out and work on your marksmanship. Like any other skill, your aim is
only as good as the effort you are willing to invest into it.
4. Take a Friend Hunting
Remember when you first learned to hunt? Whether you learned from your
father, uncle, or a family friend, you are no doubt grateful for their lessons. You
wouldn’t be the hunter you are today without that series of introductions to the
sport.
This year, resolve to be someone else’s mentor. Pass along the knowledge and
heritage of hunters who brought this skill to you.
5. Cook up Some New Game Recipes
Unless the hunt is rough on you all year, you’re going to have some delicious
game to cook up before long. Instead of relying on the same old recipes and
techniques you’ve used for years, branch out a bit! The internet is a great
resource for tips and tricks to level up your game cooking skills.
Once you find a recipe (or three) you love, invite friends to share the meal(s). Nothing will give someone a positive perspective on hunting like enjoying flavorful meats the grocery store just can’t offer.
6. Plan a Hunting Trip
Of course, hunters deserve vacations, too! This year, we’d love to see you here at
Nine Bar Ranch. Take a look at the incredible packages we offer, choose the game
you are most interested in tackling, and then book the getaway of your dreams. We
can’t wait to hunt alongside you, and join you around the campfire after sunset.
Happy Hunting!
4 Cold Weather Hunting Mistakes to Avoid
Winter hunting can be tranquil and restorative, but it can certainly be uncomfortable and challenging as well. It isn’t easy to wake up at 3 a.m. on a frosty Texas morning and head out into the wilderness, yet success rates of hunting on days like these make it worth the effort.
With proper preparation, you can adapt your hunting skills to suit any time of year. Avoiding the following four cold weather hunting mistakes will give you a great jumping-off point – but we do recommend that all hunters create their own custom plans for hunting in any weather.
At Nine Bar Ranch, our winter hunting packages include Whitetail Deer, Aoudad, Red Stag, and Fallow Deer hunts in addition to the Wild Boar hunts we offer year-round. If hunting options are slim near you, we invite you to join us in a true prize game pursuit! Take home your meat as well as your trophy and incredible photos to share with your friends and family. Hunting this winter here at the Ranch will be the most memorable hunting trip you and your party have ever had. We look forward to meeting you.
Four Cold Weather Hunting Mistakes to Avoid
1. Wearing the Wrong Gear
No one wants to be out hunting while cold or wet, so it’s natural to want to bundle up for comfort and safety. However, it is also possible to be wearing too many layers, resulting in clumsy movements or even overheating.
We recommend wearing wool base layers, then a Gore-Tex jacket, a wool cap, wool fingerless gloves, and a lightweight, synthetic or wool scarf that you can pull up over your mouth and nose to stay warm.
If the weather forecast predicts a late-morning heat spike, leave room to stash layers in your pack as you go.
2. Hunting Hungry
Cold weather can sap your strength because keeping yourself warm burns calories rapidly. Bring trail mix, jerky, dried fruit, hard-boiled eggs, or mixed nuts. These items are lightweight, calorie-dense, and full of a broad range of nutrients to fuel your hunt.
3. Zero Hydration Situations
You may have left home with a travel tumbler of coffee, but it’s 9 a.m., the sun is beginning to warm the ground, and your layers mean you’re getting thirsty.
Don’t get caught off-guard by this common mistake! Hunting while thirsty means hunting while distracted, and distracted hunts usually fail. Bring a full bottle of water and sip it slowly yet regularly as you wait for the game to cross your path.
4. Skipping Rainy Mornings
Very few of us wake up in the pouring rain and feel excited about heading outdoors. Still, we recommend persevering through weather challenges and wearing the proper outwear to make sloshy conditions bearable.
Deer love the sound cover, scent masking, and fresh hydration rain brings, so you are quite likely to encounter MORE deer in the rain than you would on a crisp, dry morning.
The Takeaway
Cold weather hunting is a challenge, but the rewards are well worth the extra effort required to persevere. If you’re a serious hunter, avoid our four common winter hunting mistakes, and bring home the buck you’ve been pursuing since October.