204 AR
Well-known member
We've been trying to get together for awhile and this last weekend it lined up. They're about 3 hours away in some pretty good country. It was his first thermal shooting, so I pointed out the controls on the Nocpix before we went out, and let him at it! He shoots a lot for someone his age and is a natural as you'll see! Ended up 8 coons with 11 shots and 2 for 2 on coyotes. His Dad and I took turns scanning as we just had the two optics but we all got in on some action.
We started with coons, I thought that would give me a good idea on how he reacts when things get fast. See for yourself:
After the coons, it was time to get serious. Here's the end of our first stand. This little female came in on script to simple prey distress. The biggest challenge was getting her stopped! I really still wouldn't have been surprised if he had missed his first coyote, it's a different level of adrenaline, at least for me. To say I was stoked was an understatement!
We called it a night as we planned to hunt in the morning. The morning hunt was more about scouting spots for them to hunt at a later date, I'm not sure I was much help as their terrain is very different but I know with time and patience they'll have success by the truckloads!
The next night we had a chance at another pile of coons but passed as we were focused on coyotes. The first stand we didn't see any but located a few so we went in their direction. The next stand after a few howls we had some ticked off coyotes not far off and I gave them something to investigate. This big ol male came in to see who's in his territory and Reid made him pay!
The next stand I got a group good and MAD, but they were across the road where we didn't have access and I couldn't get them across. The last was a total dud and we called it and went and watched the Bears miraculous comeback against the Packers. He was pretty stoked with the weekend and they are looking at thermals now lol.
We started with coons, I thought that would give me a good idea on how he reacts when things get fast. See for yourself:
After the coons, it was time to get serious. Here's the end of our first stand. This little female came in on script to simple prey distress. The biggest challenge was getting her stopped! I really still wouldn't have been surprised if he had missed his first coyote, it's a different level of adrenaline, at least for me. To say I was stoked was an understatement!
We called it a night as we planned to hunt in the morning. The morning hunt was more about scouting spots for them to hunt at a later date, I'm not sure I was much help as their terrain is very different but I know with time and patience they'll have success by the truckloads!
The next night we had a chance at another pile of coons but passed as we were focused on coyotes. The first stand we didn't see any but located a few so we went in their direction. The next stand after a few howls we had some ticked off coyotes not far off and I gave them something to investigate. This big ol male came in to see who's in his territory and Reid made him pay!
The next stand I got a group good and MAD, but they were across the road where we didn't have access and I couldn't get them across. The last was a total dud and we called it and went and watched the Bears miraculous comeback against the Packers. He was pretty stoked with the weekend and they are looking at thermals now lol.
