Hi Evan,
Thanks for posting pics of Nala's Dad and family. Nala just went through her first heat and I will be contacting you when she comes into heat again to get your ideas on who to breed her with and if you have any good candidates maybe we can work something out. You make a fine dog sir, see below!
My brother came into town this weekend and he had never been coyote hunting. So, i decided to take him and show him how cool some dog work is. We loaded up the coyote rig and off we went. I took him to a spot I never had hunted but has a ton of sign. I was saving it for a special day and yesterday was the day we would break it in.
As we drove to the first stand two coyotes crossed the highway in front of us, I looked at him and said this is going to be a good day
. We got to the first stand and got set up. I played my favorite coyote sequence but it was a blank stand.
The next stand was not to far away, We set up in a bottom a ridge. I was teaching him about the wind and how to predict where they coyotes were going to come..
trying to act like I know what the [beeep] I'm talking about.. Well luck has it I was right this time. I was about 10 min into my cadence my brother says here comes one. I look to my 3 o'clock and not one but 2 are hauling a$$ over the ridge and running straight for my brother. Nala had not seen the dogs as she was looking behind us and the cover is thick now. I let her know coyotes were near with a tsssss tssss tsss call I use. Once she heard this she turned around and spotted the 2 coyotes. They were about 50-75 yards in front of us and Nala bolted immediately after them. Zero hesitation on her part, as soon as she saw the yotes she was off. By this time my brother had one of the coyotes in his scope, I told him to hold up and watch Nala work the coyotes. The 2 coyotes did not seem to like her. When they noticed she was coming after them they hauled a$$ and took off running. Nala was right behind them and all 3 of them disappeared over the ridge. I was hoping that Nala would bring them back but it never happened. I am thinking they were either females or young dogs and didn't want any part of her. The good part is he got to see a double come right to him and he saw how Nala isn't afraid to engage the coyotes. My brother loved it! Off to the next stand
We set up on the edge of an open field with the wind to our faces under some big salt cedars. The grass was really high and I knew it would be hard for Nala to see any of the coyotes if they came in so I set the call about 20 yards in front of us so if they did come in she would be able to see them. After about 6 min into the sequence my brother said one is coming to us. Sure enough he is moving fast and headed right to the call. Nala again doesn't see the coyote because of the grass and she is behind us playing around. I let out the tssss tssss tssss and Nala appears. By now the Coyote made it to my call and is sniffing it. This coyote is so close you could almost touch him...Nala sees him and is off. Again I tell my brother to hold up and only fire when I tell him. Nala and the coyote engage this time and its on! They are going back and forth. The best part is its right in front of us. May 15-20 yards. The bad parts is I don't know how well my brother can shoot and I don't want him to kill Nala by accident and I didn't bring a rifle on this stand?? I really wanted to put this dog down in front of Nala to show her that her effort has paid off, She is really working this coyote. They are going back and forth and she keeps at him. He would try to leave and she was back on him decoying him back to us. Meanwhile I am telling my brother to shoot, then not shoot, then shoot. LOL, it was intense. Nala kept engaging the coyote and I didn't want him to shoot her. Come to find out he didn't have the view I had and finally was able to take the shot. He dropped the coyote with a neck/shoulder shot. I was really proud of his restraint and ability to not endanger Nala. I was really proud of Nala for showing my brother what a decoy dog does
My brother got to see something that most wait a lifetime to experience. He got to see some great decoy work, a double come down, and he killed his first coyote!!! . We made 3 stand and saw 5 coyotes. We will remember this trip for a long time.
I was able to get some video from my phone. You can hear me tell him to shoot then not shoot, you can see how intense it was. At the end I tell him to give me the rifle as I was getting worried about the coyote leaving and/or him shooting Nala. Right after I say that he put the coyote down. I have pictures of brother with the coyote but its a bloody mess as he hit the carotid artery and Nala is covered in blood from whooling the coyote. I was unsure if it was too graphic for the masses.
Here is My brother and his new best friend at our first stand
Here is the video. You can see how tall the grass is and the cover that was around making it tough to shoot ( this is my iPhone video.. sorry its not that good)
