Coach

I'd be willing to spend a little extra on one if it had a little c4 in it that could be set off remotely by cell phone.

Nick turned 10 in February and jumped right in by taking his first Javelina shortly after his birthday. So now it's turkey time! We missed opening weekend due to being slammed with baseball. Three sons on three teams in three different leagues means we pretty much live at the ballfield - not to mention I'm coaching one of the teams. Anyway, I've been dying to get the boys out on this Jr. hunt. I was laying awake last night thinking of this cool little burn I found last fall while helping a buddy on an archery bull hunt and I just got the feeling that we'd find some birds in there this Spring. So, today being the only day this week we don't have either a game or a practice, I decided to take Nick out there after school and give it a whirl. Right off the bat we found a few tracks so we knew they were in there. After a bit of poking around we found an area that seemed to be getting a lot of activity, and had a nice drainage leading through the pines up into the burn, so we set up the double-bull and a few decoys. We started off the set with some really loud clucks on the slate, then waited a few minutes and went at it again. After only 15 minutes, it came - that sound we were hoping for- a gobble a couple hundred yards behind us. I hit the call again, and again the Tom gobbled, but already much closer. Within just a couple of minutes we could hear him putting as he came up behind the blind and to the left. From where he was standing, he could see the decoys, but you could tell he knew something was off. He hung up behind a little live oak strutting, gobbling and beating the ground. He clearly wanted those hens to come to him. Nick shifted to my side of the blind and tried to get a clean shot, but was mostly blocked by that oak. I hit the call lightly again and the old boy let out one more gobble. This time his head cleared the tree long enough to give Nick the opportunity he was waiting for. BOOOM!~ It was all over. He dropped in his tracks. I was super proud of Nick for holding off until he had a good shot - especially given the circumstances. And I have to admit - I've been on a lot of turkey hunts and it has NEVER happened that fast. Now I just hope Nick's not spoiled for life thinking it's always that easy! So one down, now it's Matt's turn. He's my oldest and was busy umpiring a game this evening, but I'll do my best to get him a chance to pull it off also. If he gets one, I can focus on my tag - Enjoy the pix.

Keep up the fight. It's pretty clear that they have heard us and are not yet ready to drop the "mineral" aspect of this proposal. Just think about how easy it would be for the anti's to buy a few bags of salt and make just about every accessible water tank illegal to hunt. Think I'm exaggerating? They've done it in other parts of the country by scattering grain around well known migratory bird waters, making it ILLEGAL to hunt around those areas. We can't let this slip through while we're busy with other things. If this rule gets enacted, it will affect us all whether we hunt over salt or not. Get involved, make your voice heard and FIGHT this thing. Gino is right on the money here - you may not even be hunting directly over salt, but if this gets passed, it will be on YOU to make sure there is no salt anywhere near where you are. That's a huge feat - I've seen many situations where people have 'staked out areas' that are salted that I've intended to hunt and never knew that their established salt licks were nearby, until they spoke up in one way or another. If Gino's illustration isn't convincing enough, try this. You find a little saddle with converging game trails and set up your stand. Somebody else knows you are hunting those trails, dumps out a little salt and calls you in for hunting over bait. Now it's up to you to defend yourself, IN COURT, that you didn't know there was bait in the area. This is a lose-lose for hunters, and we have to do everything in our power to fight it tooth and nail. Gino, you sent me some info earlier about where I could send donations for this fight. I got lazy and lost it - can you repost the information so that we can all put our $$ where our mouth is and fight this thing. We've already lost so much in this state in the diminished rut coues hunts and blocked access to public land. Somewhere, we have to make a stand, and this is it. ACT NOW!!!

Looks like a great trip - thanks for taking us all along with you! Great photos too - I love the one with the gulls!

Awesome pictures - thank you for sharing them with us!

I'd love one of those cameras, but I'm just too scared to be the next "some idiot stole my camera" dude. I'll have to stick with my cheapo's and home-brews for now.

Hittin' Grandad's "cough medicine" again, I see!

I'm a "high-end" optics kind of guy, but I have a pair of Vortex binocs in my truck console for everyday viewing and will be topping my secondary smoke pole, kids-and-wife rifle and varmint gun in Vortex rifle scopes. Finally, there is a true bargain in optics, and I can tell you from experience, Doug treats his customers very well and deserves our support. I've purchased several items through him and CameraLand and have always been treated extremely well. They are a top-notch company with great one-on-one customer support. Dollar for dollar, Vortex binocs and rifle scopes are way better than anything I've seen in their price range. And let's face it - optics, like packs or boots isn't an area where you can skimp and still make out OK. I've already stated on this site that before I started looking through some Vortex glass, I could not, in good concience, recommend any of the "more-affordable" glass to friends and family, because I've personally wasted so much money on "mid-range" glass only to upgrade to Swarovski eventually. I have Swaro 15-56's and 10-40's, and have thrown away hundreds looking for a bargain on hunting optics. That said, Vortex truly is a good deal on glass when compared against the "big boys". Sure it isn't as good as Leica or Swarovski, but it is high quality glass at a less-than-premium price. Just my $.02 Go get some big horn in '09!

There's a lot to consider here. At one end of the spectrum, we have a story in which the animal's capture was intentional (if Brun's story is true). An the other end, the contention that it was purely accidental. Only the people involved know where along that spectrum the true story falls. Regardless, the fact that he was caught in a snare and subsequently had to be euthanized as a result is not being contested. Speaking from experience, G&F does not generally excuse accidents in the course of law enforcement. If you are in violation, regardless of your intentions, you will likely be cited and prosecuted just as if you had set out to willfully break the law. I don't see any reason that the same standards should not be applied to them as well. Of course, the sad part is, it ultimately comes out of our pocket.

I like the pellets in my Knight LRH. I thought loose would shoot better for some reason, but in these modern smoke poles, I'm sold on 2 pellets of .50 grain .50 cal. Shoots like a centerfire for me. You can go 3, but I'm not convinced it buys you anything more than more powder burnt outside the barrel.

Stand back, make sure there isn't any "gore" and put the animal in a regal position. Get some background, and make sure it is tasteful and above all respectful. Show the land in which the animal lived and died and give proper respect and you will be AOK. If there is need, Photoshop is great for cleaning up the photo - no tounges, no blood - you get the idea.

Good looking buck. With archery tackle I'd take him in a heart beat. Rifle or smoke pole would totally depend on what else I had seen and how much time is left.

Nice looking shed! I love how it wraps like that.

Wow - that was fast. I figured someone on here would have some info. Thanks.

I've noticed for the past few years that the smallmouth in the Black are filled with some type of parasite. They look like little yellow seeds embedded in the meat, but when you cut them out, they are little yellowish worms. Some of the bass have little black dots all over the fillets, which I assume are the "worms" in their early stages. I've always cut the fillets into small chunks and removed all of the little worm-like parasites then cooked them up VERY hot. Does anyone know the story behind these little suckers, and whether there is any danger when eating the meat? I have heard that they come from the herons, and their droppings getting eaten by smaller bass, but nobody seems to know whether they are actually dangerous or can be transmitted to humans. Any info is much appreciated.

I doubt that we'll get an "easy out" on this. The more he keeps piling on trillions of dollars in American debt to China and other countries on our children and grandchildren, the sooner we'll see him fade away as he should.

Sounds like a sweet bow. Congrats! I'm gonna shoot the new Bowtech Air Raid before I pick my next stick flinger.

Good luck with whatever you choose. Personally, I dig the wisker biscuit. Great for stalking, the arrow NEVER falls off, and oh yeah, it's fun to say

Nicely done! A big congrats - now go clean up this border mess!!!

Great job, Brian. What an awesome story!

Ineresting stuff - so with a .300 wsm, can I still handload Bergers? I was about about to buy some dies this weekend.

Sent.

I noticed a couple odd success rates as well (not as odd as zero, of course). For example, the 16A Jr. hunt had a 65% success rate, compared to 18% for the 16A general hunt just a week later. I'd love to see the formula that somehow takes into account the optional harvest reporting.

Thanks for the awesome photo-journey! What a great trip!

Too bad you didn't have a 25-06 on your lap - both down. Good job stikin one with a longbow though!