Relatives own the Franklin Ranch. Spend some of my childhood on the ranch. Drove thru today for first time in 25 years on our way to Cotulla. Ate at Maxs Cafe. Same as I remember it.

I worked at the Tilden Acid Gas Plant before I moved to CO. Loved eating at Max's everyday, CFS and burgers never dissapointed.

County seat of the fourth least populated county in the state.

got a little place between tilden and three rivers......."new" mexican food place is pretty good and in my opinion the burger at wheelers on jalapeno bun is the best in town

North or south side of 72? We used to mop up on white bass bank fishing at the Bracken Ramp.

north - many good memories at bracken. we used to walk to the log jam and load up on whites.

Great uncle and Great Aunt were the county judges back to back in the 1970s thru 1990s. Pudge and Elaine Franklin. Met Nolan Ryan for the first time in 1998. Had a few beers also. Great man

Not from there but family has place south of town. I was fortunate enough to be there Tuesday to witness 3.5" of much needed rain.

Welcome to the free state of McMullen county.
It was great back in the day when hp's didn't bother driving through or handing out tickets.

I own a small ranch which was a piece of the Countis Ranch .. I'm not sure if the Countis was part of the Franklin ranch or not .. i thought maybe it was at one time ? They border each other … the Countis was sold to the Chinese and I think it resold resently ? Our ranch borders with the ranch owned by Jeff Kent the former Astros 3rd baseman .. he wants to buy ours so we always have a buyer when needed !

Stone Cold Steve Austin used to have ranch out there. He sold it a couple of years ago since he was spending all his time in LA.

I've judged Ag Mechanics in San Antonio for 17 years. While most schools have good FFA and 4H programs that focus on animals, good Ag Mech programs... not so much. There are some schools that have good Ag Mech instruction and consistently bring quality projects. Tilden is one that does every year and has won Grand Champion in the past.

My wife is. Her dad owns Max's now.

Really nice South Texas country.

For a couple of decades, my grandfather and his friends leased a place on the north side of 72 adjacent to the Donnell. I killed my first deer there. For a low fence back in the 80's there were some really great deer.

Aside from the deer, my fondest memories are of the smell of Travis Club Senator cigars clinched in my grandfather's (Class of '51) teeth, F-16's from the 149th buzzing our blinds on the way to the range, and Cowboy Cafe cheeseburgers served by waitress
so short she had to stand on a milk crate to ring up the sale.

Man, those were great times!!

Edit to add: having one of his last left over Senators tonight!

I know this isn't exciting but I celebrated with a bunch of friends in Tilden for the turn of the century. Shotguns were the firecrackers.

Me, Camo, the old man and the uncles did a little fishing this afternoon. Hot as balls but we had a few coors and finished the evening some fajitas. Lake sure could use a turd floater

Me, Camo, the old man and the uncles did a little fishing this afternoon. Hot as balls but we had a few coors and finished the evening some fajitas. Lake sure could use a turd floater

Dang, I guess that was the unknown number I declined with my invite today!

The Fall Guy said:

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Relatives own the Franklin Ranch. Spend some of my childhood on the ranch. Drove thru today for first time in 25 years on our way to Cotulla. Ate at Maxs Cafe. Same as I remember it.

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I love max's. Have eaten there all my life, starting when I was maybe 3 w/ my late dad.

Tilden has changed a lot, but max's hasn't

I just bought a small piece of the Countiss ranch. Yes, a couple of investors bought it from the Chinese company. It's fantastic country

Been making trips to Tilden for over 20 years, family friend has hunted the same pasture on the Donnell for 42 years. I love it down there, it's beautiful country. Max's has the best cheese enchiladas in Texas and it's not even close, the guy I hunt with has their enchilada recipe which given to him by the family. He swears the secret is the crappy tasting Tilden water, he's never been able to fully replicate it. Shot my first south Texas buck down there at 12 years old. Was hooked after that.

I always thought it was cool that our office in Tilden was in the old jail. I didn't get many calls for agronomist help there.

F4GIB71 said:

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I've judged Ag Mechanics in San Antonio for 17 years. While most schools have good FFA and 4H programs that focus on animals, good Ag Mech programs... not so much. There are some schools that have good Ag Mech instruction and consistently bring quality projects. Tilden is one that does every year and has won Grand Champion in the past.

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Who would have ever guessed that tiny Tilden and Vega would be the SEC of Ag Mechanics in Texas.

Tilden FFA thrived under the decades long leadership of a great Ag '83; a great friend, kindred spirit, and brother in Christ.

I testified in a trial in Tilden earlier this year. Was an experience. Ate at Max's.

I used to eat at Max's all the time back in the early 90s when Max was actually still around. And used to stay at the motel on our duck hunting trips. We would launch at the Daughtrey boat ramp. The hunting and the fishing was really good up in the Frio arm back then. Haven't been to Tilden in a long time or that part of the lake. Lots of fun memories from down there!

Can always count on great, well built projects from Tilden and, of course Vega. Priddy is another thin school who never disappoints. There are some other larger ones who do well. Corsicana come to mind. Boerne used to have some outstanding projects but they seem to have stopped coming. I am looking forward to another year. I do a small show in Kerrville in Jan. Good warm up for the big shows, San Angelo, San Antonio, and of course Houston. I also do Comal County the week following SA Show.

People don't understand what these kids do until they see for themselves. "A HS kid built that?!"

I believe it's for sale and has been for a while. Glad they keep it open. Getting ready to spend a lot more time down there now that it is fall.

TX_COWDOC said:

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For a couple of decades, my grandfather and his friends leased a place on the north side of 72 adjacent to the Donnell. I killed my first deer there. For a low fence back in the 80's there were some really great deer.

Aside from the deer, my fondest memories are of the smell of Travis Club Senator cigars clinched in my grandfather's (Class of '51) teeth, F-16's from the 149th buzzing our blinds on the way to the range, and Cowboy Cafe cheeseburgers served by waitress
so short she had to stand on a milk crate to ring up the sale.

Man, those were great times!!

Edit to add: having one of his last left over Senators tonight!

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My grandfather who introduced me to hunting, chewed on Travis Club Senators, and occasionally would light it and take a few puffs. Love that smell.