Back in December, Monte Miles was kind enough to auction a hunt in South Dakota to help out our friend here, Weasel. I was lucky enough to win and we went up to hunt with him over the last few days. RagnCajn's son, Steven, who I used to be roommates with, came up to Colorado last Thursday. On Wednesday I was doing some chores around the house on the ATV I had bought for this trip and the wheel hub broke on it so I think I called every motorsports dealer in Colorado looking for this part because we were leaving Friday morning and needed an ATV for the trip. Found a place in Laramie, WY that overnighted the part in for me so Steven and I left early Friday morning for Laramie. The guys at TNT Motorsports really took great care of me there. The had ordered the right part and I didn't have all of the tools needed so they were kind enough in the service department to help me get the part on my ATV. I highly recommend them for any of your needs!
Steven and I finally made it to the Southwest area of South Dakota and met Monte and his friend Ryan. Ryan drove up from NE and came along for his great looks ( /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif ) and personality and to help film hunts. We got up early Saturday morning and it was real windy out, so we slept another hour or so. Despite the wind we decided to go see if we could get some fur on the ground. We headed out to the honey hole and as we came up over the hill, we jumped a coyote and she was standing at about 225 yards, looking at us. The coyote was looking right into the sun so she stood there for quite a while trying to figure out what we were. We wanted to get a kill on tape so Monte and Ryan hurried to get the cameras set up, but the coyote was losing patience and started to walk off so I barked and so did Tikka. She went down with a shot to the ribs and shoulder. She was a real tough coyote and started trying to crawl away after laying on the ground for a little bit, so I told Steven to take a shot and put her down. He took a shot with the AR and grazed the hair between her eyes. The next shot put her down. This shot was perfectly centered between the eyes. I don't think Monte and Ryan believed that Steven meant to do that, but, we had some fur on the ground already. We called the stand with nothing else coming in.
On our way into the next stand we jumped another coyote at about 200 yards, but we didn't take a shot and nothing showed when we called. It was very windy all day and we had a hard time getting the sound to the coyotes. We made a few more stands with no luck and explored some land on the ATVs. After sunset we went back to camp and played some cards.
Sunday morning... windier than Saturday! We made a stand at sunrise overlooking a valley. Set the Foxpro up on a fence and called and called. I hear Ryan squeaking to the left of me and never even saw the coyote come in hard from the right. The coyote stopped a few yards from the call, about 80 yards away from us, and looked back at Steven. Bad move. Here came a Vmax through the eye and she was DRT! I think this was when Monte and Ryan realized that Steven is a great shot!
We made a few more stands and then headed out to some new land that Monte had gotten permission for, to scout out some new stands. We set up on the top of a knob and called and called. I think we could see Nebraska from our stand, the grass went on and on. Eventually a coyote was spotted at about 1 mile coming in hard to the call. The it stopped. Then it ran. Then it stopped. It stopped around the 1/2 - 3/4 mile mark and eventually layed down. Didn't care any more about any of the calls we threw at it.
This picture was taken with my 300mm lens zoomed all the way in!
After a while we left Ryan on the knob to watch the coyote and Monte, Steven and I put the stalk on it. The coyote got up and left once we got about half way there... we explored more land and made a few more stands with no luck. Went back to camp for more Poker. Ryan cooked up some pork chops that were the best I'd ever had! Steven and I about stabbed each other with forks to get the last one...
Monday morning... made a stand at sunrise, first stand yet that hadn't been in hurricane force winds. Called and called and finally a coyote was spotted at about 3/4 mile, just sunning and not really paying attention to what we were doing. Steven and Monte decided to put the stalk on this one and were spotted after getting about 1/3 of the way to it. Here came the wind again, worse than the day before, so we went and screwed around on the ATVs calling a few stands with no luck and checking out the scenery. Made it back to camp for more cards and some of Ryan's awesome spaghetti!
Tuesday morning... Steven and I need to head back to Colorado, but it was finally a day without much wind, so we all made a stand before heading out. We didn't have any takers, but the coyotes were real vocal and we could hear them howling in the next valley so we got in the truck and headed that way. We made another stand that was real promising, but all we called in was a bull and had some mule deer curious about what we were doing. Not sure how we didn't call in a coyote on that one! Went back to camp and packed up.
Despite the wind, Steven and I had a great time hanging out with Monte and Ryan and we were even able to get some fur! Also got to see some beautiful country and exchange some stories and eat some good food. I'd do it all over again, even with the wind! Big thanks to Monte and Ryan and thank you to Steven for making the 21+ hour drive and for entertaining us!
Steven and I finally made it to the Southwest area of South Dakota and met Monte and his friend Ryan. Ryan drove up from NE and came along for his great looks ( /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif ) and personality and to help film hunts. We got up early Saturday morning and it was real windy out, so we slept another hour or so. Despite the wind we decided to go see if we could get some fur on the ground. We headed out to the honey hole and as we came up over the hill, we jumped a coyote and she was standing at about 225 yards, looking at us. The coyote was looking right into the sun so she stood there for quite a while trying to figure out what we were. We wanted to get a kill on tape so Monte and Ryan hurried to get the cameras set up, but the coyote was losing patience and started to walk off so I barked and so did Tikka. She went down with a shot to the ribs and shoulder. She was a real tough coyote and started trying to crawl away after laying on the ground for a little bit, so I told Steven to take a shot and put her down. He took a shot with the AR and grazed the hair between her eyes. The next shot put her down. This shot was perfectly centered between the eyes. I don't think Monte and Ryan believed that Steven meant to do that, but, we had some fur on the ground already. We called the stand with nothing else coming in.
On our way into the next stand we jumped another coyote at about 200 yards, but we didn't take a shot and nothing showed when we called. It was very windy all day and we had a hard time getting the sound to the coyotes. We made a few more stands with no luck and explored some land on the ATVs. After sunset we went back to camp and played some cards.
Sunday morning... windier than Saturday! We made a stand at sunrise overlooking a valley. Set the Foxpro up on a fence and called and called. I hear Ryan squeaking to the left of me and never even saw the coyote come in hard from the right. The coyote stopped a few yards from the call, about 80 yards away from us, and looked back at Steven. Bad move. Here came a Vmax through the eye and she was DRT! I think this was when Monte and Ryan realized that Steven is a great shot!
We made a few more stands and then headed out to some new land that Monte had gotten permission for, to scout out some new stands. We set up on the top of a knob and called and called. I think we could see Nebraska from our stand, the grass went on and on. Eventually a coyote was spotted at about 1 mile coming in hard to the call. The it stopped. Then it ran. Then it stopped. It stopped around the 1/2 - 3/4 mile mark and eventually layed down. Didn't care any more about any of the calls we threw at it.
This picture was taken with my 300mm lens zoomed all the way in!
After a while we left Ryan on the knob to watch the coyote and Monte, Steven and I put the stalk on it. The coyote got up and left once we got about half way there... we explored more land and made a few more stands with no luck. Went back to camp for more Poker. Ryan cooked up some pork chops that were the best I'd ever had! Steven and I about stabbed each other with forks to get the last one...
Monday morning... made a stand at sunrise, first stand yet that hadn't been in hurricane force winds. Called and called and finally a coyote was spotted at about 3/4 mile, just sunning and not really paying attention to what we were doing. Steven and Monte decided to put the stalk on this one and were spotted after getting about 1/3 of the way to it. Here came the wind again, worse than the day before, so we went and screwed around on the ATVs calling a few stands with no luck and checking out the scenery. Made it back to camp for more cards and some of Ryan's awesome spaghetti!
Tuesday morning... Steven and I need to head back to Colorado, but it was finally a day without much wind, so we all made a stand before heading out. We didn't have any takers, but the coyotes were real vocal and we could hear them howling in the next valley so we got in the truck and headed that way. We made another stand that was real promising, but all we called in was a bull and had some mule deer curious about what we were doing. Not sure how we didn't call in a coyote on that one! Went back to camp and packed up.
Despite the wind, Steven and I had a great time hanging out with Monte and Ryan and we were even able to get some fur! Also got to see some beautiful country and exchange some stories and eat some good food. I'd do it all over again, even with the wind! Big thanks to Monte and Ryan and thank you to Steven for making the 21+ hour drive and for entertaining us!
