My daughter Kenzi won an axis deer hunt in Lone Star Outdoors Show 2019 Instagram Photo of the Year contest with her mule deer hunt photo and went on the hunt at the Koons Canyon Ranch south of Rocksprings, TX in July, 2020. Josh with Rustic Reminder's Taxidermy manages the hunting at the ranch and took care of every detail for us.
We used the Tactacam FTS system for the first time in a hunting situation and it worked great for Kenzi; it was attached to a Burris Optics Eliminator III scope and it streamed wirelessly whatever I was viewing to a tablet that Kenzi could view real time. I was able to show her an axis buck the first evening (we passed at 286 yards because of our limitations judgement), raccoons, axis does, whitetail bucks - all animals that Kenzi could not see before in the wild due to being out of her focal range. What a great thing for her to experience; I see applications for her using it when we go on vacation where I can bring in long distance objects close enough for her to view. I am set up about 6 feet in front of my wife and daughter in the hunt; I bought a cable extension this spring so that we had room to be apart and maneuver versus before where we were stacked together.
The next morning an axis buck came in and we were able to make a shot on him but not before missing an opportunity on a smaller one! At attempting to make a shot, Kenzi was not able to get the vacuum trigger to work when I noticed the battery connections had come off of the 12v battery for the system; I reconnected the battery and got to decide between the 2 as the other one started walking in below us. The combination performed flawlessly as Kenzi fired (you will notice Kenzi got excited in the video and tried to blow on the vacuum tube at first)! As luck would have it, we discovered during processing the buck had been gored during fighting with another axis buck and had a puncture into his stomach lining. This buck most likely wouldn't have made it through the next year.
As Kenzi says about her hunts, she wants to #fillthefreezer, make new friends, and have a good time; mission accomplished!
The desert is a true treasure for him who seeks refuge from men and the evil of men. In it is contentment In it is death and all you seek (Quoted from "The Bleeding of the Stone" Ibrahim Al-Koni)
Tulsa I don’t think I could smile as near as big as your beautiful daughter! Congratulations to her and the whole family. Everyone deserves to be that happy. GreggH
