Gr8 White Jr

Way to go Ilene! Talk about whackin and stackin! Those are some fine trophies. Great write up and great pics. Thanks for taking the time to share your adventure with us. Congrats! -Tracy

Way to get it done! An archery coues at 11 years old?!?!?! Way too cool. Congrats on your first of many! I know your dad has to be glowing with pride. -Tracy

That is WAY too long to wait for a shoulder mount. You have to assume that your mount has been set aside while other work that was dropped off after yours was completed. Unfortunately A LOT of taxidermists prioritize their work based on the "squeaky wheel" method. If I were you I would have a serious talk with the guy and then stay on him. Call him on a regular basis to see if he's making any progress and make it very clear that you expect your mount to be done ASAP. -Tracy

As many of you already know my “city girl” girlfriend, Angie (Girlygirlhunter), has become quite the huntress over the last couple of years. She has already taken two javelina with a rifle and two years ago she took her 1st deer, a coues buck with her bow. Yes that is correct, her first deer was an archery coues! Hahaha! This time she has out done herself! I will give my side of the story and then she will fill in her side in a lower post. I had high hopes that Angie would fill her archery deer tag this year being that she made it clear that she wouldn't pass on any buck. Last year she passed on several bucks the first weekend of the hunt and then had some close calls but ended up not filling her tag so this year she just wanted a buck on the ground. Fine by me! In the area that I hunt I had two different spots to hunt, one up high that was about a half hour to 45 minute hike to get to and one way down low that was about an hour and a half hike straight down to get to. Angie made it very clear that she did not want to make the hike down to the further spot so she would only hunt the higher spot so I set two tree stand up at our higher/closer spot and one tree stand up at my lower/further spot. The plan was that Angie and I would hunt the higher spot together like we usually do and then after she filled her tag I would hunt the lower spot by myself. I was crossing my fingers that Angie would fill her tag early in the hunt because there was a particular buck that I wanted to hunt down low and I new I couldn't hunt him until she tagged out. By the time I got off of work Thursday, got home and loaded the truck with all our hunting and camping gear we were on the road at 11 PM for three days of hunting. It was about a 4 hour drive including stopping for fuel so we reached our parking spot right at 3 AM. Angie slept a little while I drove but it wasn't much. We were both very tired but the excitement of the day to come had us itching to get to our stands. After changing into our camos and getting all our gear in our packs it was time to hike down to our stands. We sat our stands until almost 11:00 that morning with only one doe and some turkeys coming by. After hiking back to the truck we went to find our friend Justin (Gotcoues). We set up our tent, sleeping bags, etc. and had some lunch. By this time it was 1:30 Friday afternoon and I still had not had a wink of sleep. I was exhausted and so was Angie so we decided to take a nap. We were planning on only napping for an hour or two but we were so tired we didn't get up for the evening hunt. We figured we would be better off if we used the evening to catch up on our sleep and then hit it hard fully rested in the morning. Saturday morning came and we were both feeling a lot better after catching up on our sleep. We sat our stands all morning with 7 does, 2 fawns and some turkey coming by. It was a good show but I was feeling really disappointed that no bucks had come in. As we headed back to camp for lunch Angie could tell that I was itching to hunt the particular buck at my lower spot so she suggested that I go down low and hunt on my own for the evening. We discussed it back and forth for a while. All the hard work that I put in all summer long and setting the stands up together was all so Angie and I could hunt together so I was torn on the idea of hunting on my own. She told me to just go and that she would stay up higher and hunt on the ground. She said, “I don't want to hunt the tree stand. I'll just go sit some where or maybe I will just walk around and if I see a buck I'll shoot it.” I tried to tell her that the odds of her killing a buck while out walking around are next to nothing and that I was worried about her being out there by herself. “I will be okay by myself” she said. I decided to go for it and Angie dropped me off where I could hike down into my low spot. After an hour and a half hike I reached my stand. I was super excited as this was the first time I had hunted this spot. After about an hour in my stand I looked at my phone which was on silent and saw that I had missed a call from Angie. Then I saw I had a text from her that said “BUCK DOWN! BUCK DOWN!” My first thought was that Justin had shot a buck and that he must have called Angie. I immediately called Angie. Her voice was very shaky as she answered the phone and said “I just shot a buck!” I asked her if the hit was good and she said she didn't know but there was blood EVERYWHERE! I asked her what the blood looked like and she said that there was bubbles in it. I told her to sit down right where she was at and to stay put until I got there. I knew it would be well over an hour before I could get to Angie so I called Justin who happened to by very close by to where Angie was at. I explained to him what was going on and he said he could be to Angie in no time at all. I called Angie and let her know that Justin would be there to help soon so just stay put and don't leave the blood. I climbed out of my tree stand so fast and hauled tail up the mountain. Normally it takes at least and hour and a half to hike out from my lower stand and this time I did it in 53 minutes and that includes a short break to call TJ and tell him the news. Talk about adrenaline! By the time I got to the top Justin, his son Dillon and Justin's friend Hank had already made it Angie and they all had already recovered her buck. WOOHOO!!! I was and am so proud of Angie! She needs no tree stand. Haha! She spotted this buck while she was walking on the ground and was able to be quiet enough and move slowly enough to get a shot and successfully kill a coues with a bow AGAIN! Completely by herself and on her own. Amazing! We took some quick pics and Thankfully Justin and Hank packed the buck out since my legs were like Jello after my 53 minute “sprint” straight up the mountain. Haha! I can't thank Justin and Hank enough for there help and of course it was great to have little D there for another coues recovery. I am still on cloud nine and so proud of Angie for having such patience and control over her nerves to get it done 100% on her own! Way to go my “City Girl”! As always thanks to Amanda for the wonderful site where we can share our passion with each other. Angie (Girlygirlhunter) is going to fill in her story of how the stalk went down and post pics on a lower post so just scroll down for the good stuff. -Tracy PICS BELOW

Couldn't have said it better! -Tracy

Congrats on a stud of a buck! I love those eye guards. Great story! I always like reading the very detailed stories. -Tracy

I was having the same problem last week when I trying to post pics of Angie's buck. Finally gave up and she posted them from her computer with no problem. Not sure what the problem is. -Tracy

Three missed shots? Most guys pray they will get ONE shot let alone THREE! As far as hunting goes, you must be doing something right being that you had three opportunities in one week. All you need to do now is concentrate more on your shooting and you will be good to go. Be happy you got the opportunity to have your heart pound through your chest three times in one week. After all that is one of the best parts. A miss is extremely disappointing but all it means is that your hunt is not over and you get to go back out and get that rush of the hunt again. If you are like most you might be saying that you quit but in reality you will never quit. You have come so close to sealing the deal, the season is not over yet so get back at it and sooner or later everything will fall into place and it will happen for you. Good luck to you! -Tracy

PM sent. -Tracy

Way to go D! Congrats on your first find! -Tracy

Hope all went well. Angie and I wish you a speedy recovery. -Tracy

Outstanding! Way to get it done! Congrats on a great buck. How about a story on how it all came together for you? -Tracy

Great story Bill! Can't think of a better birthday present. Congrats and Happy Birthday to you! -Tracy

SONA is the acronym for Swarovski Optik North America. -Tracy

Sure it wasn't earlier? What kind of truck? I stopped by G&F yesterday but earlier than when you were there. It was about 11:00 or so and I grabbed some regs and apps for a left over tag. I was in a lifted white Dodge 2500, sticker on the passenger side back window. -Tracy

Great pics Lance! I love non-typical coues. Looks like split G2's are a common genetic in that area. Thanks for sharing. -Tracy

Awesome video! What kind of camera? -Tracy

My first thought was 80ish. -Tracy

Glad you posted this. I have been wondering the same thing. The deer numbers on one of my cameras have taken a hard fall at the same time pictures of a lion has become a lot more frequent. At one point the lion came in 3 days in a row. -Tracy

Congrats again Justin! We had an absolute blast out there, other than being dressed in a tux in that NASTY PA humidity! Hahaha! I'm glad we were able to be a part of yours and Colleen's special day. Casey, no Angie didn't catch it, it went right over her head. Hard to believe being that shes 5'11". -Tracy

If you're looking for a used pair I would check Craigslist or Samplelist.com. If you don't need them now and can wait for the right deal you will eventually find a great deal. Just check both site every day. If you are looking for a new pair then like Casey said cameralandny.com or if you're in Phx stop by Outdoorsmans and they will take care of you. -Tracy

I don't know the details to any laws as far as this matter goes but if it is illegal to have a camera on a tree and the law give the FS the authority to takes it then I would guess that there isn't much you could do about it. As far as somebody other than the FS who just happens to find another person's camera out in the forest, the legalities really are irrelevant to the issue. Regardless of what the law says you do not have any right to take anything that does not belong to you. What it really boils down to is basic right and wrong and respect for others. If you are even somewhat of a decent person and have any kind of understanding of respect for others then you don't need any law to tell you whether or not to mess with or take something that doesn't belong to you. As far as cameras "disrupting wildlife", your statement screams of your ignorance. I have never put a camera on a waterhole but I assure you that a camera at a water hole WILL NOT keep game from drinking. -Tracy

I sent in both my SLC 15x56's and my EL 10x42's last summer. The 15's were just dirty and I wanted a cleaning. The EL's I had bought used and were in pretty rough shape, broken eye cup and looked as if they had been drug through the dirt for miles. I was honest with the lady at SONA when I called and told her I wanted the EL's completely gone over, cleaned in and out, and the eye cups fixed/replaced. She said they would look over them and then call me and let me know how much it would cost for the repairs. I sent both pairs in (over night shipping) and never recieved a call about any charges. Within two and a half weeks I had both pairs back to me. The EL's had brand new eye cups and both pairs were spotless and looked brand new. Best of all, NO CHARGE! You just don't get much better customer service than that. -Tracy

July 22nd @ 1:13 PM

I have that exact scope on my .300 Win Mag and absolutely love it. I've never had a problem with getting "kissed" by the scope. -Tracy