I would rather call and hunt predators than any other activity I can do with my clothes on! Ten years ago I was asked, well prodded, to start an Internet message board. The Texas Predator Posse was born on September 23rd, 2003. We had 765 members join in the first few months. The Texas Predator Posse started out as a board mostly oriented toward Texas hunters of all kinds with an emphasis on predator hunting. We quickly had members joining from all over the USA and other countries. Today, the Posse has over 4,400 members in 48 States, 6 Canadian Provinces, Finland, Norway, Australia, Great Britain, Ireland, Namibia, Costa Rica, Argentina, Brazil, Sweden, Iceland, the Netherlands, Serbia, South Africa, and Bulgaria.

Many predator hunting message boards have come and gone over the years. I think the Posse has succeeded because we try hard to maintain a family-friendly board and don’t permit personal attacks (which have been the downfall of many boards). We do encourage good active debate however and sometimes have to agree to disagree. As we all know, there a few “absolutes” in predator calling:

1. Always call into the wind.
2. Always call downwind.
3. Always use cover scent.
4. Never use cover scent.
5. Always use a plastic-tipped varmint bullet.
6. Never use a plastic-tipped varmint bullet.
7. Always use a decoy.
8. Never use a decoy.

You get the picture.

The bottom line is that the first rule in predator calling is that there are no true absolutes and your way may be just as successful as someone else''s.

The Internet has, in many ways, become the new hunting campfire. You can make friends and swap stories of hunts, hunting techniques, and equipment suggestions on the many message boards with other hunters from all over the world. I have made many lifelong friends through my participation on the various hunting message boards. The message boards have also allowed folks to learn more and flatten their learning curves faster than ever before. There is very little you cannot learn about predator calling on a good message board. Most predator callers and hunters in general are very willing to share their expertise.

Over the years we have expanded the topics discussed on the Posse to include 30 different forums including Predator Hunting, Hand Calls, Electronic Callers, Big Game Hunting, Hand Loading, Rifles, Archery, Fishing, and more.

Our first year, we also started doing Posse Member’s Hunts. To date we have had 71 Posse Member’s Hunts in Texas, New Mexico, Canada, and Namibia. Any Posse member can sign up for a hunt. These are a great way to put names and faces together. They also give new hunters a way to start out hunting by learning from experienced hunters and give seasoned pros a chance to hunt with friends in places they might not get to go on their own. We try to hold a Youth Hunt every year to give the kids a chance to get out, too. One of our most popular hunts has become our annual “Big Boars with Big Bores” hunt! The campfires in the evening are probably my favorite part though. It is great to get caught up with old friends and spend time getting to know new ones

This year we held our 9th Annual Texas Predator Posse Rendezvous in Menard, Texas. We had members come from Texas, Alaska, Arkansas, Michigan, and Colorado. The Rendezvous is an annual get together open to all Posse members. It starts on noon Friday and goes through noon Sunday. We hold four shooting competitions and both an adult and a youth hand-calling contest. There is a Q&A Panel where members can ask predator-calling questions of the pros.

This years panel included: Byron “Coming to the Call” South, Gary “Carnivore/Burnham Brothers” Roberson, Chris “Night Crew-Carnivore” Robinson, and Jeff “Predator Pursuit” Thomason.

We also gave away over $10,000 in Door Prizes this year. The ticket sales for the Door Prizes are the fundraiser for the board to help defer our expenses.

In addition to all the fun on the board, the hunts, and the Rendezvous, The Posse also supports two kids hunting charities with various fundraisers: Operation Orphans/Camp Gene Ashby and Texas Outdoor C.H.I.L.D. So far we have donated $20,097 to our youth hunting charities.

If you have not joined and participated in one of the many good Internet hunting message boards, I encourage you to do so! I guarantee you will get back more than you put in! I invite you to make the Texas Predator Posse one of your homes on the Internet! http://texaspredatorposse.ipbhost.com/

Good Hunting!