Coach

Wow, that's a healthy looking bass right there. Great job.

Wow, outstanding trip. Thanks for sharing it with us!

June, you dissin' the "golden child"? LOL.

Nice reply TriClawps - very professional and to the point. Count me as a potential future customer. Great idea, by the way. I started trying to garage-shop my own, but it would be too heavy. Gonna have to ask the wife and kids for one for my birthday. Good hunting, Coach.

Carl got my reply this morning.

Hey guys, we had a heck of a youth hunt going 4 for 4 with my two older boys and two buddy's daughters getting their pigs. This year, my youngest son, Josh, turned 10 on Jan 28th - a little late to put him in for the youth hunt so I had to put him in for the general hunt so we'd be sure to get his field day in. Josh has been chomping at the bit to finally have a tag of his own, and he's gone along on all his brothers' hunts. Finally it was his turn this weekend. We set up camp Thursday night and were up by 5:30 on Friday - he was ready to go. I haven't been hunting during the general season for quite some time, so I was surprised to see how many other hunters were out. We got to our glassing spot early, but there was a truck parked just a little bit down the road, so I figured there was no sense glassing where these guys were probably hunting. We head down the road a bit to where I intended to hike in a ways and get away from the roads. As soon as we hit the top of the first hill, I see some javi's moving off a hillside into a drainage but coming right toward us. In hind-sight, we could have just sat tight and they would have come right to us, but I wasn't sure if they would hit the drainage and go up or down, or continue to us, so we busted tail off the hill and started sneaking to the edge of the drainage. Well, of course as soon as we get about 10 yards from the edge, the whole herd is right there coming straight at us. The one in front must have seen me duck and motion to Josh to get down because they came up a little to our right, just behind some bushes and cactus. I could see them clearly at 15 yards, but Josh just couldn't get one lined up as they moved in and out of cover. They worked their way past us before we could get a shot, and the wind was now unfavorable, so we backed out and circled around trying to get ahead of them. As we approached the top of the hill where we had first spotted them, they spooked slightly and ran single file through an opening. Again, Josh wasn't in position for a shot (first hunt ever, bless him). This time they seemed a little more spooked and were heading into some thicker brush, so I thought we were probably out of luck and would have to find another herd. However, we continued to sneak over to where we last saw them and just sat tight for a while to see if we could hear or see them again. Finally, I catch them on the next ridge over working through a wash into a bedding area I had found during the youth hunt. I point them out to Josh and tell him it's going to be a little longer shot than we had planned, but they were relaxed and we had plenty of time to set up. We work down to an opening where we can shoot across the canyon and extend the bipod. We picked out the pig he was shooting for and I told him when he felt comfortable to squeeze the shot. BOOOOM! Thwack!!!! When he shot I kind of jerked my binocs so I didn't see the hit, but I sure heard it. He whispers, "Dad, I got him!" I find the pig again and sure enough he was hit hard - he laid down, then stood up, and started walking in circles. I could see blood on his nose so I knew it was a good hit. I had Josh set up for a follow-up shot, but could tell the second shot missed as he tried to follow the herd out of there. We busted down the hill and over to where he was hit. I was a little nervous - sometimes those little buggers are tough and don't give you much of a blood trail, and this was some thick stuff. There was good blood where he was hit and I started following the trail to see where he went. Well, turns out he only made it about 10 feet. Josh's hit was a little low but clipped lung, and the boar was still alive, but immobile. We put a finishing shot in to make sure he didn't suffer, and it was done. Josh took his first pig less than a month after his 10th birthday. Whew - I can't tell how much pressure that took off dad. LOL. Funny part is, we had these pigs at 10, 12, 15 and 30 yards during the stalk and couldn't get a clean shot. The shot Josh made was 154 yards sitting on a rock with a harris bipod - pretty impressive shot for a 10 year old, IMO. BTW, Thanks to Mark for loaning us the perfect "pig rig" his Ruger m70 in 22-250 and for loading up some great rounds. I know, too much story, too few pix, so here are the pictures... We have a tradition where before each kid's first javi hunt, I draw a javelina target to practice on... Blood at the point of impact... Josh with his pig... Dad & Son shot... One more...

If I'm not mistaken, there is still a youth Unit 1 turkey hunt this Spring. Not to derail your thread in any way, gotcoues, and if there is ANYTHING I can do to help out the youth hunters in your camp, I'm there. I just want to make sure nothing happened that I'm not aware of WRT some youth hunts in Unit 1 for turkey. I've got 3 unit 1 youth bird tags I hope to help out with.

I know we all thought this was dead, but obviously the big names and big money behind it aren't going to give up without a fight. Time to pull off the kid gloves and tell every "sportsman's group", club and legislator exactly what we think of it. Not one dollar to your club or one vote if you let this P.O.S. legislation see the light of day in Arizona. The people of Arizona know where they stand on this, now it's time to make your voice heard.

Always happens on my kids' Spring Break, when I'm far from cell service. 3 more weeks at least.

I'm no photoshop expert but that looks a lot like Obama's birth certificate. Just sayin' Actually, I do spend a lot of time in photoshop, and it doesn't take much to see how unnatural the lines are around the cat. It reminds me a lot of the picture of the lion sneaking up on a guy posing with his elk kill. I've seen variations of this where there are several lions behind him, and a chupacabra.

I've got this exact model - bump for a very good tripod. I sure like mine. It is a tad heavy for hiking, but for a spotting scope it's perfect. Also, when you're bouncing from place to place it's nice to have a good steady 'pod you can set up fast and stand behind, even with heavy optics, it's hard to beat.

Looks like one brookie in there. I used to LOVE ice fishing Sunrise. I'd catch a whole bunch of brookies back then and bring them home and smoke 'em. Closest thing we have up here to smoked salmon. The 'bows on the other hand, I just can't eat. Still would be fun to take the boys up if the action is hot.

There are college sports going on right now??? Wow, I must have missed the memo, while waiting for baseball season to arrive.

Awesome job, Ashley! And great job dad for working so hard to make it happen. Fantastic story and write-up too. Sounds like you guys had a great time and made some memories that will really last.

Thanks, gotcoues. Actually Josh's pig made it 5-for-5 for the youth hunters in our party this year. Here's a link to the story of the first 4... http://forums.coueswhitetail.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=30496 Josh just didn't get to be one of the hunters in the first hunt because his birthday was smack in the middle of it, and he still needed to get his AZGFD Hunter's Ed field day in. Thanks again for the replies.

I shopped around a bunch before I bought mine. Seems like a very good price, IMO.

Wow - nice job. Those are some HUGE boars in the pictures. Congrats on a great season.

I used to be a little too critical of Ted and his "in your face" approach. As I've gotten older and watched so many intellegent, articulate and modest voices who have the power to reach out, choose to "sit this one out", I've kind of changed my attitude about Ted. I may not always agree with him or his tactics, but you have to hand it to him. He doesn't back down one inch, and I find that very admirable. Kudos to Ted for standing up and expressing himself, and for having our backs even when we don't have his. Good post, and after you click on the link, there's a lot more to see.

That's a nice buck for sure! Did you end up finding another?

That's pretty cool - I'd like to learn how to trap those cats. Nice job.

I tend to agree with the previous posters. I'd love to try one out, as I think the Rangers and quads are really loud, and spook game far worse than a typical 4x4 pickup. But relying solely on batteries out here instead of gas gives me pause. I can see how they would be perfect on a ranch where you could pull in and plug them in every night, but the way we tend to hunt out here...probably not so much. Not saying they won't work here, just have a hard time considering driving one for hours into nasty country with the fear of having to walk back out.

I carry mine in the back pouch of my Cabela's hybrid daypack. 10s around my neck.

That is an amazing buck. HUGE congrats to the hunter. Just outstanding.

You can have my oldest son for $20 plus gas to drop off, but I won't part with my 15's. LOL. Just bumping your post to the top.

I wouldn't let the fact that you're hunting elk change too much if you have a setup for you that works. Yes, they are a heavier animal, and yes, you will see a ton of info on the web about Kinetic Energy, and heavier arrows and broadheads for elk. The simple answer is that a well placed shot with a quality arrow and broadhead will do the job, so find what you shoot accurately and use it. If you hit heavy bone, 100 grain vs 75 probably won't make the difference between finding a poorly hit elk or not.