Fritztown Freetrappers Rendezvous – March 9-11, 2012

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Here are the details on the upcoming Fritztown Freetrappers Rendezvous near Huntsville, TX

RENDEZVOUS INFO
DATE: Friday, March 9th to Sunday, March 11th. Early set-up on Thursday beginning at 1:30 p.m.
LOCATION: 322 Walker Loop, Huntsville, TX.

From Austin, San Antonio, or any place west, your best bet is to get to Navasota, go east on Hwy 90 to Anderson. Make a RIGHT onto FM 149 and stay on this. After you go through Richards, you will see a large sign saying you are “entering Sam Houston National Forest” (you are still on 149). Go 2.3 miles from this sign and you will come to a crossroad. To the left takes you to Huntsville (FM 1791). To the right takes you to our house. Make a LEFT onto FM 1791. You will go about 9.5 miles and make a RIGHT onto Walker Loop.  Remember this mileage because you want to pass up the first Walker Loop road. There will be a FFT sign where you turn. Once you are on Walker Loop, go about 2 miles and the road will be on your right. It is across from a cemetery and there will be another sign.

From Houston or Dallas – take I-45 to Huntsville, go west on State Highway 30, LEFT onto FM 1791. Sorry, I don’t have mileage from SH 30, but it’s about the same as from FM 149. Look for the FFT sign and make a LEFT onto Walker Loop. See directions above.

COMPETITION: Events Friday as available and Saturday until 3:00 p.m.
Rifle Shoot – Archery Walk – Primitive Archery – Hawk & Knife.
Prize donation is requested.
Anyone may compete, but you must be a member to qualify for prizes.

FEES: Membership fee: $10.00 per year
Competition fee: $15.00 per competitor (includes camping fee).
Non-competitor camping fee is $10.00 per lodge.
Modern camping in parking area.

COUNCIL FIRE: We told Char Cloth and Herb (our cooks) that they would not have to cook, if they would just attend so that means the rest of us have to come up with food for our Council Fire dinner. Please bring a covered dish that can be shared by all. Dinner will be at 5:30 p.m. Saturday night, followed by competition awards, tall-tales, singing, drinking, and the usual rendezvous rowdiness!

See ya in a few weeks!

Kathy “Hummingbird” Boyd, Booshway Bitch (cell: 512-809-8854)
Steve “Justeve” Boyd, Booshway (cell: 936-537-5625)
Home phone: 936-597-7574
club email: txwscb@yahoo.com

Mountain Man Scout Program – Volunteers Needed – February 17, 2012

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Fellow buckskinners,

A call for volunteers………….

A Boy Scout leader has contacted me asking for some of us to help him put on a weekend campout for disadvantaged boys on February 17th.

The theme of the campout is the Mountain Man era.

There will be instructions in the skills needed to survive in the Shinin’ Mountains.

We will demonstrate the skills and teach the boys how to perform them.

Shooting, knife and hawk throwing and archery are included, along with fire starting, crafts, etc.

NRA qualified range and shooting officers will be present.

Those of us who would like to do so may set up period camps on Friday or Saturday and camp either or both nights.

There will be around 70 Scouts there that will be in Troops of about eight boys each.

The Troops will rotate through the activities.

The boys will arrive Friday afternoon and set up their camps, take part in the activities on Saturday. They will break camp and do some brush clearing for the State Park officer on Sunday, before heading home.

If you would provide your time and talents please let me know as soon as possible so I can help the leader plan the Saturday activities.

Some of them might be the buckskinners of tomorrow.

For more details, or to volunteer, contact Joe “Grey Wolf” Wolf at 830-935-3121 or 830-832-5399, or email wolfbear “at” gvtc.com

SAY NO TO INTERNET CENSORSHIP!!!

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Huzzah to Wikipedia for blacking out their site to raise awareness about SOPA. Google has also blacked out their homepage image. I am sure there are more . . . The SOPA legislation would allow websites to be blocked in the name of copyright infringement.

But what does this mean?

What if you talk about a movie on your personal blog? Link to a YouTube video of an 80s song you love? Maybe …put up a movie quote or two? Are you infringing a copyright – can a movie studio or record company protest your “unfair” review or “use” of their content?

Could your website be blocked?

What if you were spreading a message that The Man didn’t like and you happened to include some of the above content? What a convenient way to silence your voice!

The problem with vague legislation is that it has a way of morphing into something far worse.

This is called unintended consequences . . .

The internet is the last bastion of freedom on our fair planet – where you can search for and find information about what’s going on around you and draw your own conclusions – without the bias of corporate news that is always pushing some agenda.

The internet allows you to talk to people that share your interests and beliefs, and let’s you be strengthened knowing that you are not the only one out there that feels the way you do.

Do what you can to keep the internet free – please sign the petition to block SOPA.

Once the shackles go on . . . it will become much harder to remove them.

Blow Pipes – For Sale!

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If you’re looking for something different to give as a gift for Christmas, how about a Blow Pipe? If you’re a campfire lover, or have a wood burning fireplace, a Blow Pipe makes it so much easier to start your fire. A Blow Pipe takes the place of a bellows, allowing you to start a fire from embers or kindling without singeing the hair off your face!


Have you ever tried to start a fire in the wind and rain? Our Blow Pipes enable you to start a fire in the worst of conditions by creating a draft directly at the source, whether you’re starting with kindling or reviving the embers from the night before.

Lightweight and portable, easy to use, they’re a must for every camp box and fireplace! Your handcrafted Blow Pipe is made from copper, with a handle that allows for hanging at your firepit or fireplace and comes with a real horse hair decoration!


Only $18.00 each plus shipping and handling!

Now taking orders for Christmas!

Give us a call at: (512)914-3660
Dena Wilks (Hot to Trot)
Rock’n S Enterprises
P.O. Box 1607
Lampasas, Texas

Two Great Vous This Weekend – Nov 18-20, 2011

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Hey folks –

Looks like there are two great events this weekend. Ranger Springs Skinners are having their annual Fall rendezvous near Decatur, TX – and the lovely Three Jugs is hosting a “beginner’s Rendezvous” at Tanglewood Forest up near Corsicana.

The Ranger Springs event will have some great prizes up for grabs, including a custom portmanteau and camp kitchen box!

The Tanglewood Forest event features a pot luck dinner, a modern camp with running water and electricity available. Since this is a rendezvous for beginners to learn more about the hobby, period dress is not required, but encouraged for the old hands. Get some of those friends who have been on the fence about buckskinning out and get them to this event.

The weather is great!

Get outside and get involved with your local clubs!

More details – including fliers – are available on the events page!

TFT Rendezvous XV – This weekend!

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Grey Wolf and the Texas Free Trappers will be hosting a rendezvous this weekend (Nov 12-14) at their new site near Shiner, TX.

As anyone who has attended one of Joe’s events can attest, they are shooting intensive – a great event to attend if you would like to do a lot of shooting.

For more details, see the events page!

Texas Free Trappers Get Mention in TPW Magazine!

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Grey Wolf sent me over an article that was published on his group, the Texas Free Trappers, in Texas Parks and Wildlife Magazine.

Here are some excerpts:

Texas Free Trappers re-create state’s forgotten fur trade.

Grey Wolf stalked his prey, feeling every twig and acorn through the thin soles of his moccasins. Sunlight darting below the thick canopy of the woods glinted off the well-worn antler handle of the knife sheathed on the leather strap across his coarse, pale-blue linen shirt. Below it dangled a powder horn and a “possibles” bag, a handmade leather pouch containing lead balls, patches and a variety of items needed for hunting — or self-defense.

Grey Wolf spied something in the shadows of thick brush and tugged his leather-brimmed cap down tighter. His scruffy white beard bristled across the stock as he shouldered the long rifle, leaned below a limb, cocked the hammer and squeezed the trigger. Acrid blue-white smoke erupted from the muzzle. A loud clang rang out. Forty yards away, a small metal target swung in submission.

“My favorite thing to do is the trail walk. It’s a lot more like real life, when you’re hunting or being hunted, than paper targets,” says Grey Wolf, the name retired architect Joe Wolf goes by when he relives the colorful era of the mountain men of 1825–38 through the organization he founded six years ago, the Texas Free Trappers.

There’s even a few quotes from our friend Taylor:

Rendezvous are a continual learning experience for 23-year-old Taylor Tomlin, who began at age 9 in New Mexico with his grandparents.

“I’ve made hand-forged knives and made my own leather from hide,” he says. “It keeps me interested. I’m always working on a new project.”

Tomlin, a consultant on costuming and historical authenti­city for films and documentaries, attends other rendezvous across the country and, like some other members, participates in re-enactments of Texas battles, such as the ones this year that marked the 175th anniversary of independence from Mexico.

“You can’t get anything out of a book like the experience,” Tomlin says. “A rendezvous veteran not only can tell you exactly how they would have lived but also how they would have felt because they’ve done it. I’m fortunate to have started so young. A rendezvous is one of the coolest things to take a kid to, to get away from video games, cellphones and computers and use your imagination, learn new things, work, sweat and be uncomfortable. Not a lot of people can camp in the woods for days at a time and perform essentially lost skills.”

Check it out – there are some great pictures and good words from some friends who are active in the Texas buckskinning community.

Here’s the full article!

Huzzah to you, Grey Wolf!