Coach

Kidso is the man when it comes to bears and lions, and TJ has taken more lions than most of us will ever see in the field.

Like backpacking in? http://www.coueswhitetail.com/forums/topic/27987-a-week-from-now/

I don't own the Vortex, but I have a lot of buddies that do. I was lucky enough to get a pair of Swaro 15x56 SLC a long time ago, when you could still get them cheap on the "gray market". Mine came from France and I think they were around $1117 at the time including the VAT. Only difference between them and the ones sold in the US is they have black rubber coating instead of green. I've looked through mine, and my friends' Vortex at the same things and I have to agree with the other posters here, there is no comparison. The Vortex are good, even great glass. The Swaro 15x56 is, in my opinion, stand out above just about any other glass out there. The only glass I've looked through that compares and in some ways beats Swaro for my eyes is Leica, but they are in no way cheaper.

Man, Lance, that is one heck of a buck. Huge congrats. I read your story a few days back and thought I had replied - As I jump to the end of the thread it looks like I missed the drama - glad about that. Great job on an excellent buck. You deserve it.

Dang, that is a stud buck in your avatar. My hunting these days is all about my sons, so I don't have the time I used to for hunts of my own, but I would be glad to meet up with you and hunt 23 any time. I know certain parts of the unit really well, others I am dying to explore. Shoot me a PM if you want.

A buddy of mine set up to do some calling and got almost run over by a lion. Shot it with a pistol at VERY close range. I know he posted the story here a few years back.

Awesome job! Nice lookin' bull there.

Poke a hole in it to let the gas out. Geeeeeeze. But I'm still laughing.

Nice job! That's an awesome old bear there, and you and your dad will have memories to last a lifetime.Thanks for sharing!

Nice bucks there. Thanks for posting.

Awesome buck, huge congrats to the hunter there. An accomplishment to be proud of.

Great buck, and great write up. It's so awesome when a good man meets his great inner hunter, and through hard work and dedication, things come together. I loved your story, and I especially liked how your faith shined through it all. Truly an inspirational story.

Sweet buck - you made that look easy, lol. Huge congrats on a really cool looking buck.

Nice job! That's some true hunting right there.

Awesome buck, and spot-and-stalk - that's an amazing accomplishment. Huge congrats to Mike!

Someone's paranoid about their daughters dating haha...jk LOL, I don't even have daughters, I was just trying to be funy. 3 sons-

Man, what an awesome buck! Huge congrats, and I really enjoyed the story. That's a great write-up - nicely done all around!

You guys got my vote even though a local guy here was trying to push his vid. I liked yours better and I really think you deserve to win.

Bears are extremely tough. Their anatomy is a little different in that you have to place the shot further back than you might think. The area around the shoulder is thick with bone and muscle. Help us out, when you say you could see the arrow sticking out, was it high up in the thigh?

Great buck, and a really well made video! Nicely done all the way around. Huge congrats.

It's always nice when we get direct feedback from G&F. Thank you, Brian for taking the time to respond to this thread.

My oldest son beat the ever loving crap out of my truck today. I sent him off to scout for deer and bear and he asked if he could drive up the road a bit. As my middle son, Nick and I got out of a blind after about 8 hours, and packed up our stuff, Matt drives in right to the tank, that doesn't even have a road to it. Scratches from the headlights and hood to the tail lights, 3 dents in the cab and a HUGE dent in the back quarter panel... This just after he mangled a 88 Toyota truck... This morning all I could thing about were bear and coues, and tonight all I can think about are repairs I can't can afford to fix, and a mindset I can't seem to get into. Sorry to vent, and don't mean to derail the thread, but my hunt was absolutely ruined by my own kid who just can't learn when or how to slow the "F" down....

Sat all day in a blind - had some great one-on-one time with my middle son, no deer, but good times.

This is a great topic. I really hadn't thought about it too much until now, but I tend to agree that a lot of the bucks taken in mid-late August have some more growing to do. I've also noticed that over the past couple of years, the monsoons have started later and ended later than they have in the past. Many archery hunters are relying on sitting tanks but when it's still raining all over which is very hit-and-miss. I spent all day today sitting on water with my middle son hoping for a buck to come in. It was a good set-up and had some good sign but no deer came in. The moon is definately a factor, and the abundance of water plays in heavily. But back to the original question, I agree that most bucks, especially the bigger ones, are not done growing when the archery hunt starts. As Amanda pointed out, I think from G&F perspective it's all about scheduling - and the start of the hunt this year seems to be at least a week later than years in the past. I seem to recall Aug 14-17 being typical - but that's just going from memory.

Facial hair of most kinds has many benefits - camoflage being the least of them unless you are trying to blend in at a homeless shelter in hopes of securing a free meal. The principal benefits are psycological. The pure intimidation factor of gray and black facial hair, for example, is enough to convince most game animals, and most 40+ bar-fly/ex-biker chicks to give up playing "hard-to-get" through nothing more than mere display. The same is true for local hoodlums (also knowns as those wanna-be's that are trying to get your daughter's attention). Try and scare one of those testosterone-filled knumb skulls off with your clean-shaven face, and pink - or "coral" - as they say now, collared shirt and Birkenstocks with socks on - not gonna happen. But a clean shaven head, some curly fuzz around your jaw and chin, a tight, sleeveless shirt that shows off your 24-pack abs, and sunburned forearms, camo shorts with boots, and junior Mr. tough guy becomes Mr. "Yes Sir, No Sir".