Curtis Kellar first mentioned wanting to throw together a gathering of archers for a Texas hunt a number of years ago as we sipped a cool beverage under a full Texas Moon.

The idea was to bring together a few friends from colder climates (brothers of the bow as it were), for a long weekend of shooting bows, hunting pigs and Javelina and enjoying each other's company, in the warmth of the south Texas Spring.

Not a bad idea! Not bad at all!!

So we proceeded to notify a few friends. The notice was a short one given the time of year, but we managed to scrape together a rag tag crew of buddies.

Chris Kinslow, Eric Zuniga, Curtis Kellar and Charlie Lamb showed up for this last minute event.... and had an absolute blast. We managed to take hogs, a bobcat, and assorted smaller game.

In the spirit of the bow and true camaraderie we stalked the south Texas brush country. Each hunter adding his own experience and expertise to a soup of hard hunting and sweat, flavored with mesquite and a few cactus spines for spice and lovingly stirred with longbows and recurves.

So it was that the "Texas Sweat" was born. More ingredients for this bowhunter soup were soon added to the mix.

Word spread of our little adventure and before long we had more "volunteers" for a second and much bigger batch of our south Texas delicacy.

Where the first "Texas Sweat" drew it's participants from only a couple of states, the second or "Texas Sweat 05" saw hunters from around the United States and Canada.

The "Sweat" had gone International.

This second hunt tripled in size and the results were truly outstanding.

Hogs, Javelina, rabbits (jacks and cottontails), badgers and bullfrogs all fell to the arrows of our troupe of brothers.

We hunted from daylight until dark, reveling in the cool of early morning and sweating under the hot midday Texas sun.

We relaxed in the comfort of a well appointed camp house and shared in each others successes, gathering around each returning bowman in the cool of evening, as stories were told and the hunts relived again and again.

We learned from each other. For each man brought with him his own unique skills. We laughed at the misfortunes that only bowhunters know and shared the stories of each days hunt in our comfortable camp like Robin Hood's band of merry men.

...and we ate like kings at the end of each day when the dust had been rinsed from tired bodies. We lounged once again under the cool evening breeze under the full Texas Moon and reveled at the possibilities that lay ahead. And so it is, at the centre of March each year that the tides ride high and we will gather once again to share a little "Texas Sweat".