CouesPursuit

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)

All around, great work!

I was just reading the recent post on the opener for waterfowl where one mentions not to skybust, as it can ruin the hunt for everyone. Then another gentlemen asks what qualifies as skybusting.. I think it would be great to start a little discussion as to what duck hunting etiquette is. One can't follow it if they don't know it! I follow: Get in early- I don't have a problems getting in and settled before shooting light, but others do. Setting up or walking around like a sore thumb in a duck hunting area can be rude. Give distance- It's not a big deal to be a couple hundred yards away from someone, but if I see someone seriously set up and blinded in well, I know I wouldn't try to earn from their hard work. No skybusting- Call it what you want in whatever variation, but shooting at ducks that are not in definite kill range is "skybusting". I try not to shoot past 50 yards at a duck. it doesn't matter if they are decoying or passing by, if you can kill them shoot them! Or leave them alone! Share big groups- If you're hunting an area with other guys around, and a large group (20+) of birds come in, let them work a little bit! If I had a large group come in, and I'm the first group to shoot, I better drop several or what a waste for everyone! Bad call, No call- Calling at other people's working ducks should be good calling only. Everyone needs to practice calling ducks to get better, but I try not to do it at the expense of scaring them out of the area for others, and myself. In regards to reducing the success of another's duck hunt, is there anything out there that one can learn to practice better duck hunting etiquette?

Thank you for sharing this! Picked up my cartridges at cooper and baseline with more left.

Great Dad!

Congratulations on a great start! Not easy to take down those the F14's, especially 2 of them! Were those both hens or was it a pair? That's a drake and a hen. The one on the right has a much brighter speculum on his wing then the one on the left. Plumage changes, but speculums will stay the same. I'm not questioning you, but do you think that applies when one could be a cinnamon and one could be a BW? http://www4.ncsu.edu/~csdepern/documents/WaterfowlWings.pdf

Congrats on expriencing one of the best stories I've read here that ended with a fantastic photo!

Scooter you sure you watched the same video? Both feathered wings are attached when you pull the breast are they not? EDITED: You were talking about brents post? My bad..

Good addition! Leaving the birds in the middle of a parking lot or public area is like not picking up your shells, and worse in certain cases. Do you have a problem with the guy just breasting out the birds or is it mostly how the place looked when he was done? Check out this technique, .I usually pull the breast and wings out, gather up the bird carcasses and extra feathers and then go hide them out of plain site. The technique in the video above is ideal for getting birds from the field to home. Keeps the wings for ID (you only need one) and the wing meat for killer buffalo duck wings!

My fiancé prefers evening hunts which gets me out more, but have only had limit worthy evening shoots later in the season. Thanks for the reminder to stick with it. Hope you and everyone else have a good season as well. Location location my daughter only 5 so after school hunts great for her and we hunt all private land so it make it nice but when we lived in white mountains oh boy evening hunts were awesome. Bring your dog up sometime or give me a call I hunt with you I still have your number handy, Roger. Thank you very much!

My fiancé prefers evening hunts which gets me out more, but have only had limit worthy evening shoots later in the season. Thanks for the reminder to stick with it. Hope you and everyone else have a good season as well.

You can also tie in that Mexican Spotted Owl and other endagered species both benefit and lose in specific forest restoration practices, and how an endangered species influence whether projects get approved or not.

Fire management is huge, look into WUI projects, fire suppression and prescribed burns (This would be the easiest paper IMO) Bark beetle infestation and treatment Your dad's recommendation may be referring to something like the TMP (Travel Managment Plan) that Tonto and some others are in process of completing, takes them a while but a good topic as well Good luck bud!

Says a lot to come back and share that! Congratulations on that package, sounds like one sweet deal!

Good for you. I think I would re-read the original post. I didn't imply or complain about where I hunt. It even looks like at least a couple other people in the "community" thought the information was valuable, followed by better ideas on top of mine. That's CWT, right? And let's be honest, any open discussion on any hunting etiquette is worth having. Even if it doesn't apply to you. Ok, how about this. If I get to an area and there is someone already there I should move on ( first come first serve). Especially if I'm close enought to tell if they are sky busting, walking back to their truck, or I can tell how their call sound. If you take my advise about finding another location, all of your concerns listed above would go away. Ok, how about this. If you get to an area, you are the somebody there, no need to move on (first come first serve). Now someone comes close enough to you and your spot, yes, even if it has been a secret until that morning.. Wouldn't it be nice if they were aware of what a community of people thought was good hunting etiquette? Your advice doesn't always apply, and "my" concerns apply to more people than just me.

Good for you. I think I would re-read the original post. I didn't imply or complain about where I hunt. It even looks like at least a couple other people in the "community" thought the information was valuable, followed by better ideas on top of mine. That's CWT, right? And let's be honest, any open discussion on any hunting etiquette is worth having. Even if it doesn't apply to you.