Frank,
You are right about the parade. Every other vehicle in SE Texas is a truck, and right now it seems that every other two has a 4-wheeler attached to it in some way. If you see a brown and tan 83 Bronco with P-Buckshots pulling a little red trailer with an orange suzuki 4-wheeler, it is me.

Most of my scouting is already done. I have found that the most pleasurable time to scout is January-March. It is amazing how open the woods become that part of the year. You can also go all day without being drenched with sweat.

My favorite hunting tactic is to find a good rub line leading to where It opens up nicely for a feeder. Most guys set up to watch the feeder, but I like to get on the thickest part of the rub line that leads to the feeder. I find a good tree, or sometimes I use a tripod, and get about 75 yards looking NE through thin shooting lanes that I usually have to wait until this time of year to cut because the greenery grows incredibly fast in this part of the country. I usually cut 3 thin lanes that look like spokes of a wagon wheel with my stand being the hub. You don' t want your lanes to be too wide, because these ' Piney Wood Bucks' are smart. The theory is that you get a good look at him in the first lane, and you have two more to get a good shot. I have found though that in the thick stuff, a buck can come from any direction, and sometimes they might even use your thin lanes for travel routes. That is exactly what the buck I shot last year was doing.

I think I might have stumbled on to the real reason I like my Marlin. If I used my .270, I' m sure I would be out in this brutal heat cutting 200yd lanes.

C. Davis