CouesPursuit

Tag out in 4 days.

August can be different, but for the late hunt, I switch out my base layers daily and rotate 3 camo outfits for outer wear. My best outfit day 1 & 4 second best 2 & 5 third 3 & 6 That's my strategy anyway. Good luck, Scooter!

That's awesome. I went "mallard hunting" today and had to settle for these wigeon and gadwall. The mallards had their bullet proof vests on.

You can pm me and ill share some pointers, you looking to invest in the kind of setup that brings birds to you or are you thinking jump shooting?

It's sad and hurts but I like to read these 10 things every once in awhile, from the dogs perspective. Kudos for you coming through on #10, been there and words can't explain. So sad to hear and sorry that #1 didn't apply, it didn't for my first best friend either. I live by these now. ___________________________________________________________________________________ 1. My life is likely to last ten to fifteen years. Any separation from you will be painful: remember that before you get me. 2. Give me time to understand what you want of me. 3. Place your trust in me—it is crucial to my wellbeing. 4. Do not be angry at me for long, and do not lock me up as punishment. 5. You have your work, your entertainment, and your friends. I only have you. 6. Talk to me sometimes. Even if I don’t understand your words, I understand your voice. 7. Be aware that however you treat me, I will never forget. 8. Remember before you hit me that I have sharp teeth that could easily hurt you, but I choose not to bite you because I love you. 9. Before you scold me for being uncooperative, obstinate, or lazy, ask yourself if something might be bothering me. Perhaps I might not be getting the right food, or I have been out too long, or my heart is getting too old and weak. 10. Take care of me when I get old. You too will grow old. Accompany me on difficult journeys. Never say: “I cannot bear to watch” or “Let it happen in my absence.” Everything is easier for me if you are there—even my death.

Really enjoyed those great photos.

You can fight a lot of things in life, gravity is not one of them.

Think I just talked myself into buying a new safety system.. Thanks for sharing as sad as it is it could change someone's fate here.

Congrats to you and boys!

Thanks for sharing, have any more photos??

Sounds like you did exactly what you needed to in order to get it done. Great job!

My bet is several CWT folks carved some great hunting-themed pumpkins.. Share them!

Man, Thanks all very much for the compliments but I really thought I'd see some others posted too!!

Good post and great takeaway.

I've debated commenting due to my lack of knowledge about advanced video editing, but, I would like to share this. I believe the first thing to do is start capturing a lot of footage, and I only try to hit record during the good stuff because sorting through, organizing, storing, and generally dealing with the video can become cumbersome. Currently, I am just trying to record as much stuff as I can and organize it into clips for now, placed in separate folders by species and then date with plans to make the videos after hunting season and live through them then.. I bought a GoPro last year and I have a DVD camcorder that is several years old, and this is good for fun, but I'm lacking the HD quality that can actually zoom in and get close to the critters. The GoPro has good "HD" quality standalone, but can't zoom. The old DVD camcorder zooms but the quality is nothing like the GoPro.. Etc. It definitely takes some investment to make these top notch video's. Once you have the video: Something as simple as the free "Windows Movie Maker" can be used (and should already be downloaded on most any computer) to play a clip, cut out the useless portions, and keep only the good stuff. One important thing to mention is - Always keep the video clips in the highest quality you can afford - You can always bring it down in size and down in quality, but never back up! There are many, many other software out there to get crazy with video editing but in the beginning stages, something like WMM is all you need to get started!

Very, very cool! One of the first things I look at when it comes to youth hunting photos is how they are holding the harvested critter(s).. This young lady has a grip on those antlers I wouldn't dare mess with, and I think that says a lot about her and her hunting helpers. BIG congratulations to her, you, and the crew!!!

Thanks!! Once posted, my next bet is several will blow mine outta the water, pun intended..

I appreciate that, thank you very much. Sad to say I can't deer hunt until January and even sadder to say (on this CW forum), ducks will prevent me from getting out more than a day or two until August. Good luck to you! I'll also comment quick on the rattling horns since you asked. I used the antlers from my first rifle coues once during the rut, and had the attention of a great 100"+ buck for almost 30 minutes without either one of us flinching. He was 150 yards away and I had no cover to get closer under the conditions of the wind (spot and stalk attempt, so that's why I pulled pulled out the antlers). When the suspense was over, he walked off slightly aggitated but never made a single step closer to me. I learned enough to know it could have worked under different conditions. I may have been too loud, not loud enough, too frequent, not frequent enough, big smart buck like that just knew, or didn't see enough evidence for the rattling to be true.. who knows.. but it can definitely work!

I use a couple strategies that have taken me within 75 yards several times, still yet to connect but have been very, very close to letting an arrow fly at a coues, and have taken a little mulie. I think you will hear most people like to spot and stalk in the rut, and the distance they close to is entirely dependent on the conditions at that time in that place, and the hunter's ability to shoot X amount of yards in those conditions. If I had the equipment, I may shoot a little farther but I limit myself at 60 yards on live game, and practice a little farther. I know folks will jump in and say I and others need to shoot farther to be successful but I'm confident to 60 and that's that. Another method that I have used and have heard of many having success, which again depends on the time and place, is to find/glass does and set up on their trail, suspecting bucks will be in order to follow the same "hot" trail. When I heard of this technique, I immediately remembered a day in the recent January when 2 mature bucks ended up on the exact trail of a group of does just a couple hours later. This was in open country desert scrub, where the bucks could have taken any path they wanted.. They followed exactly the same course as the does. I may sit water in a dry August hunt, but probably not during the rut. In forested areas, some people do really well setting up stands in high traffic areas during the rut too.

+1

That is fantastic, thanks for sharing Tony!

Heck yea teamwork! Good luck on your hunt!

I have a side mount set up on my bow and I sharpied brown and green patches on the clear/shiny case for camo. I got some great footage of some deer last year but didn't even get any when I actually shot one this year. That's my problem anyhow, when I'm in the heat of the moment for both deer and ducks, I never bother turning the dang thing on!

Lots of great footage right there thanks for sharing!

Dan, you know I had enough birds just from the last hunt day bro, thanks for the tips! EDIT: Partial reasoning behind adding this first photo Best part is that every sausage tastes completely different. "Redhead here, there's a sweet teal, oohhhhhhhhh that's the ribeye mallard right there" lol It was kind of fun but next time I will be sure to mix the ducks up good after I cube them, and cube smaller, but before I grind them in with the pork butt. Coach, Thanks for the info specifically regarding the snack sticks. I didn't get around to making them yet, but will most definitely take your advice for next time. I used an LEM kit for my first time. Made summer sausage, hamburger and bratwurst out of the deer. Chorizo, ground hunter sausage (recipes from this site - thank you) and hot italian sausages with the javelina and sweet italian sausage with the ducks and geese. All have been delicious. EDITS: Added lessons learned Partially freezing the meat prior to grinding was key. The ducks and geese were 100% frozen since Jan 31 and I was worried about this (as we have all heard don't freeze things twice) but after slightly thawing them out, grinding, stuffing and refreezing, they did still turn out fantastic. I would avoid if it possible but it won't stop me in the future. I left the sausages as is (below) in the fridge for almost 24 hours. Deer Brat (top left) Duck/Geese (top right), Jave (bottom right) -- I don't even have to keep track of them when I pull out a variety to cook, each one is obvious based on color alone (tough when frozen)