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Here’s a video from last night. Short but sweet. Took my dad out he’s 68 and having the time of his life scanning for me with the thermal. Had four confirmed in two hours. Will be going out most of the night tonight. The picture is even better than it appears on video. I could easily scan to 4-500 yards last night.
We had a good short run last night. Took out seven raccoons. My partner was getting a little excited and taking some early shots. This one almost made the slinky run out. No such luck for him. Curiosity killed the cat.
Had a great night last night. I am getting older had half a night to go and I wanted to go to bed. Everything seemed to be moving but the raccoons didn’t want to charge too hard. Hit 32 degrees last night a lot of lookers. Coyotes were going. Most we had come in at one time was four at a dead sprint. We got two of them. Couldn’t shoot the other two due to a house on the horizon. No need to be unsafe.
Ended up with another four raccoons and three coyotes. I get my Rattler 35 on Monday and will be putting it on an AR. No more bolting and faster shooting. I’ll also have video capability so should get some videos. Had two bobcats come into coon fight. We can’t shoot them until December here or they’d been done. I did take one video. Enjoy.
I received the AGM Rattler 35 in the mail on Monday. What a difference it is going to make. Lightweight. Solid little unit. Easy to get on. I sighted it in last night. I didn't even need a heat source in the evening gloom. I was able to site it in at 50 yards with a little over six shots. Should be good as usual from 50-300 without much adjustment in shooting. It has a 1235 yard detection range and the detail even in the daylight is amazing. I can't wait to see the first pile of coyotes through it.
I did pick up an external battery pack which should run the unit for at least 8 hours and it can be plugged into your truck to charge as needed. I doubt I will ever need it. I do have to figure out some adjustments to get the extra cord out of the way but so far no issues and honestly I don't think there will be many. I also decided to put this one on an AR so I won't have to bolt and I can work on putting down more than one at a sit. I sure wish I had the ability to put some lead down fast last weekend.
It's been a while since I posted. I have had some pretty busy weeks I've been picking up some in the emergency department which cuts into the fun time. However, I've been going out calling as often as I can. I even shot the first buck I've shot since 2009. Just hadn't seen anything that really tripped my trigger but with the prices of meat I'm ready to eat deer for a while. My youngest is starting to show interest in outdoor activities which is what I've been waiting for. He's finally ready to have some fun. Wore him out pretty well deer hunting this year and even though it's not my cup of tea it was a blast hearing his voice crack when they walked out.
I've found I have had some day time hours which were better suited to get out. Surprisingly (I'm not why it surprises me) the Rattler does equally as well in the daylight as in the night. I linked a video I hope of the rattler on a coyote at about 100 yards in the daylight just before this. Wind was blowing that day which made getting steady a chore but the gun did its job. The picture on picture does not show the cross hairs in the video, but there are crosshairs in the zoomed image as well. I have been trying to call a cat out of there that I saw a week or two before season opened. Took him about 45 minutes to get tired of hearing the squealing.
I recently traded off my low end thermal. Didn't have a whole lot of use for it. I picked up a 6.5 creedmore RPR. Also came with about 200 rounds of ammo which seems to be half the battle in that caliber. I have not even shot it yet but it was used previously by a South Dakota predator control expert who has since passed away. I'm sure if this thing could tell a story they would be good ones. I am currently looking for glass for it but I am leaning towards going all daytime on this one. I'm looking into some long range options.
Finally, the boy is really starting to get into the swing of things. Starting this weekend he's going to be off school for a week. He wants to catch a bobcat. I think I am going to finally set my first trap of the year. I've seen now a total of 15 different bobcats with thermals all of which were before season opened up so I think we can get on a couple within a week. Total so far this year is 15 coyotes and 68 raccoons I've taken with thermal. One of these days I am going to start shooting all of the racoons looking out of the trees but I haven't talked myself into it yet.
Have a small line out while the kid is off school. 20 traps and I think we’ll call it good with that. He’s living his best life and learning about nature along the way. Took two days to catch him his cat. Was hoping for first night success but we’ll take it.
We hit some cold and snow around here which is all it takes to really get those coyotes going. Went out two days ahead of the cold front and had the most amazing night I've had yet calling. Saw over 100 raccoons easily. Counted 48 deer in one field with three nice bucks. I did take some pictures of them in the thermal and will see if I can get them uploaded. Called in a total of 10 coyotes that night with two pairs. I put eight of them to sleep but didn't double on either pair as we were in some cover. Also shot the third bobcat of the season calling.
Most people were locked up inside enjoying the warmth but I've got a little crazy on my side. Went out with about 2 inches of snow and -8 degrees. Sure makes the coyotes hungry. Had to work Monday morning so only went for a couple hours Sunday night. Called in two groups of three at a time with simple rabbit in distress. I've used coyote vocals for most of the year but figured they'd be a bit hungry. Dad will be calving a pasture soon so I wanted to see what was in there and I wasn't disappointed. Within three minutes I had a triple coming right at me.
I have really called a number of locations multiple times. I have stuck around ground we have cattle on or that I typically trap. I've traveled out of my territory maybe a couple nights over the course of the winter. I've found that with the thermals as long as I make a note of what sounds I'm using I can switch it up and get other coyotes to respond. I had worried I wouldn't be able to keep putting them down but they seem to continue to either move in or respond to a new set of vocals. I have been hitting them hard in about a 10 square mile area. So far going into the new year I'm at 38 coyotes that I've put down.
Also finished out my son's small trap line. I only ran about 20 traps for 5 days but it was the memories with him that made it worth while. He was on the road with me every day once he was out of school even when I drug him out of bed at 0300.
Wade, Donna and I are big fans of your threads. We smile the whole time we read along. What a special deal that you are taking your son along at these crazy hours. Memories for a lifetime!
Blessings, Mark
Re: It’s that time of the year
[Re: WadeRyan]
#7454193 01/08/2211:07 AM01/08/2211:07 AM
Thanks guys. Couldn't make it a whole season without a few traps in the ground. Weather front was coming in and I went out a couple nights ago. Was not disappointed. Picked up another seven coyotes in three hours. Saw a total of ten. There aren't many getting by. Have been going back to the coyote vocals as they are starting to pair up. Finding them in the cattle for the most part. So far on the year I've shot fourty-seven coyotes. Can't ask for much more being this is the first season I've had a thermal the whole time. We are getting into a raccoon contest in about two weeks. We have to drive 1.5 hours to check in which is going to cost us three hours overall, but it's the most raccoons killed legally in 24 hours. Four man team. We might try it with two. I've been taking mental notes of where we've seen the concentrated raccoons we've let go but not for long. I'll try to take some pictures.