thegunsmith2506

I agree with finding good sign, and moving often. I am sure in some cases the actual sound might matter, but most the time I don't think it does. I use 99% prey distress on my stands. I seem to have a harder time from March until July for all predators. My favorite sounds are rabbit dist and bird dist. Keep at it and good luck!

I will be out for at least a couple of days. No bears on the cameras yet, but maybe this warm weather will get them up.

Looks like a good spot! Thanks for posting!

Thanks guys! He is a nice buck, but I don't any other pictures of him. We have glassed him a few times in the past, but he has never watered at this spring. We have had a camera on this spot for most of the last 3 years. In all that time we have never seen another person here. It was the first time I have had a pig there, so that was kinda cool. I got this camera at Sportsmans, but I was at Cabelas today and saw them on sale for $79.00. A few more night time pics: Here is a link to the camera. http://www.opticspla...ght-vision.html

I bought this Tasco camera last year because of its long battery life. I used it a few times to make sure it worked ok, and then put it at my favorite spring. Its a real pain to get to this spot, so I wanted a camera that would last a while. I got 640 pictures in 5 months and the battery was still good. Not too bad for a $90.00 camera. I didn't get any pictures in the month of December. Not sure if that was the camera or if the animals just weren't hitting the spring for a few weeks. Here are a few pics. Not as good as some of my other cameras, but good enough to see whats going on.

This year has been really tough for us so far, but we finally had a really good day of calling last week. Our usual spots just weren't producing, so my buddy and I decided to change locations, and try a few stands. I ended up killing my 2 biggest dogs to date on back to back stands. It was about 10am and we had tried a few of our favorite spots with no luck at all. We had just reached a new area we were gonna try when I looked up on the hill and saw 4 coyotes about 600yds away. We decided to drive around the end of the hill and hike back around. It took about 20min to get set up. The only clearing we could find to setup in had only 1 tree to sit by. I set up the FX3 and the Miss Hoptober decoy about 20yds in front of the tree. My buddy set up at the tree and I laid down against a grass clump about 10yds to the left of the call. We were at the base of the hill and I expected the coyotes to come out on the hill to our right. I started with a female howl, and then cranked up jack distress. About 3min into the calling I saw a coyote coming in hard 30yds in front of me. He was locked on to the decoy. I was waiting for my buddy to bust him but he wasn't shooting. The coyote got about 15ft from the decoy and decided something was up. As he turned to go, I sat up and hit him with a load of 3-1/2 BB's. As soon as I pulled the trigger, my buddy started shooting. I realized we had more than 1 coyote come in. I jumped up just in time to see the second dog run by me at lees than 20ft. We both emptied or guns at him but he never would stay down. I am sure we had a fatal hit, but after searching we never found him. After a few high fives, we weighed the dog. I was shocked to see 38lbs. It was my biggest dog to date. We skinned him and picked up all the empties, then headed for another stand. About a mile down the road, I was eying a spot that looked pretty good, when a coyote crossed the road. We backed up behind a big rock outcropping and headed in the direction of the coyote. The sun was high and with only low brush, we had no shade to sit in. I set up the decoy and call in the only good shooting lane we could find. I had to sit about 40yds away with a small bush between me and the call to keep from being seen as they approached. After about 10min I was thinking nothing was gonna show. I had been watching hard to my left when I caught movement out of the corner of my eye. I snapped my head around to see this big male step around a small bush at 35yds. He caught me moving, but it was too late. The Hb BB's knocked him over. I jumped up to see another coyote leaving the area. We both took a couple of shots before he got out of range, but didn't connect. My dog took a finishing shot, but finally stayed down. I was shocked when I picked him up. He was heavy! I was even more shocked when the scale read 44lbs! This was now my biggest dog to date. Most of our desert coyotes are around 25lbs. After a few pics, and skinning, we kept on. Our shooting was pretty bad, but the calling was great. We managed to put 7 coyotes in front of the call. Five were in shotgun range, but only 2 were killed. Sorry for the long read...

Thats a cool looking cat! Thanks for posting

Got out this morning for a few quick stands. The second stand brought in a nice coyote, but he hung up at about 80yds and wouldn't come any closer. On the 3rd stand we had this nice female Grey come in to Cottontail dist in less than 5min. One quick shot at 20yds and she was done. This was my first kill with my new Browning Maxus. So far I really like it.

Thanks guys! With the way things are going at work this year, I have had to stay much closer to home. The vest is an older Primos Turkey vest. My wife bought it for me for Christmas the first year we were dating. Its about 8 or 9 years old. It works great for me and my style of hunting. Lots of gear pockets, and a padded seat and backrest. The bird pouch on the back holds the call and decoy.

We have been watching a herd of pigs since mid summer in this drainage. All the snow made it tough to hunt opening weekend, and the wind was pretty nasty too. The wife and I finally made it out about 2pm to check the cams and do a little hunting. We still hunted into the wind for about a mile when I spotted a lone pig feeding 200yds in front of us. We stalked to 54yds, and found 6 more pigs in the brush. The plan was for my wife to shoot first, but that didn't work out. When we got to 24yds this big sow busted me moving and started to circle down wind. I as afraid she was gonna bust out of there and take the rest of the herd with her. At 22yds she cleared enough brush so that I could shoot. I told my wife to take the shot, but she wasn't tall enough to shoot over the brush. I hit a limb and ended up hitting her too far back. The first shot broke both back legs and she dropped on the spot. After a finishing shot, we took off after the others. It was my wifes first bow hunt, and she emptied her quiver trying to hit these lil targets. She got really close a few times, but just couldn't pull it off. We still had a blast! I think she is hooked on bow hunting.

Congrats! It is nice when it all comes together.

Thats a darn good day! Nice Job!

Its been really tough getting much calling in this year. Between work, and Big game hunts, I have only been out a couple of times. Most of my stands have been for cats, but I did get down to the desert after Thanksgiving for a day of calling. Only called in a few, not as good as last year, but still a lot of fun. On one stand we called in a really dark colored female. Hadn't ever seen one this color. I hope to get out more after Christmas!

Took these on the way home from Vegas 2wks ago. Just thought I would share.

Thats a great looking cat! Nice Job!

My wife has the cow tag right now. We are seeing plenty of elk, and lots of bulls, just can't seem to close the distance, and keep track of the elk. That has always been our problem in this unit. Congrats on a great bull!!

Anyone do any good on the bull hunt?

Anyone do any good on the bull hunt?

We watched a few big Mulies chasing does today while out glassing for elk. Seemed pretty early to me, but I guess not. Cool Pics!

Very Cool!

Sorry to hear about your Grandmother

Awesome! That is a great looking cat. I love those days where every stand is a winner,

I used them for my archery cow I shot in unit 8 this year. I was shocked at what they think is ok. Every package of meat I open I have to wash and trim. There are also chuncks of bone in all the ground meat. We do 90% of our animals ourselves, now I remember why. Wish I would have read up on them first......

19a is just a tough unit to hunt right now. The elk populations seem to be way down from 5 years ago. I hunt and scout in there all the time because it is close to home. My wife and I have had 5 tags in there in the last 4 years. This year she has the late cow hunt. The biggest problem for us is keeping track of the elk the last few weeks before the hunt. Last year they did a controlled burn right in the area we wanted to hunt. This year they did the same thing. I saw the smoke on my way home from work yesterday. Looks like I am back out to try and find a herd we watced this summer in a different area. Good luck to all who ave tags!

I never really thought about it till my wife said something. I did get a call from the G&F, and they took down my info, so maybe I will get a check. I would much rather have a lope tag!