Is That A Look Of Relief??


This is the face a of a happy, tired, and above all else, relieved coyote dog in training.

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After last weekend, he was probably thinking I had no idea what I was doing. We went out last weekend and, while I called a total of five coyotes, swirling winds made some O.K. stands turn almost impossible. Of the five, only two of them presented even marginal shots. Both of them were running hard for wherever downwind was at the time. Needless to say, I missed both of 'em. For Zack, it was just a bunch of riding and walking in the desert punctuated by meaningless noise. Not much fun for a puppy!
Fast forward to this weekend, and things eventually turned up. Judging by yesterday, I'd have thought we had more of the same crappy luck in store. The only coyote that came in stayed quite a ways out in heavy brush. I tried to plow a round through the stuff at him, but it turned out like you'd expect...
This time of year, the highest percentage times of the day for me are right at sunup, almost sundown, and midday. Midday in July is miserable, so we left the house today before dawn and headed out to one of my favorite areas, the middle of the oil patch. Sorry for the poor focus, but it illustrates how dense the oil production activity is in that area.

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We set up by a pump jack and started calling right after the sun cleared the horizon. I was using what's probably my favorite call right now; a tiny little horn tip from TT. It makes the most pitiful, gravelly, baby jackrabbit distress you can think of. As usual, two or three jackrabbits came running over almost immediately. Almost as quickly, what I think was two coyotes showed up. With the jackrabbits and coyotes out there, a lot of "stuff" was running around in the brush. One of the coyotes was on his way in and went behind a small rise to my downwind. He boogered off and I didn't get another look at that one 'til he popped back out on a distant dune in response to pup distress. Having already caught a whiff of me, he wandered off over the dune. I went back to the rabbit distress and had one of the coyotes come right back and check up on his way downwind. At last, I was presented with a chip shot and dropped him easy. Zack and I trotted out to recover the coyote and Zack helped ensure he was good and dead. He seemed almost as happy as I was that I actually managed to shoot one of the coyotes coming in to a stand!
I dragged him back to the rig for the requisite hero shot.

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This coyote was leaking pretty good, so I took the opprtunity to work a little bit on blood trailing and, within his 5 month old attention span, Zack did pretty good.
I called a few more stands, but when they shut down with the heat and wind, it happens quick. On the second stand, the calling once again made a jackrabbit break cover and come running. A hawk on his way in was about to capitalize on the jack's indiscretion when two kingbirds jumped on him and ran him off. I would have really liked to have seen the hawk get the rabbit, but the birdy butt-whoopin' was pretty cool, too.
Never a dull moment out here in the desert; thought I'd share.
 
Great photos and narrative, Corey. Thanks for sharing. Zack is growing up to be a good looking dog. He's going to be a hoss. You can't really beat his bloodlines, can you?
 
Yep, sorta like a much funner version of the tail-on-a-string. He's mainly just getting okay with riding in the rig, loading up, and looking around on the road.
Every now and then, I'll shoot him a jackrabbit and now he's getting fired up whenever he hears a gun go off. He's ready to run out and chew on whatever's out there bleedin'.
 
Sounds cool, what part of NM are you from. By the looks of your terrain, looks a little south.

Zack is a good looking pup.
 
Yeah, I wish that it was alot cooler though. How long have you been hunting him in that heat? Got to be tuff on you and him. At least you can get out there at daybreak and get some stands in before it gets scorching.

He's a cute little guy though.
 
We'll go out for a couple of hours at a shot. When we're calling from the roof, he'll hang out on the in the shade on the seat.
Right now he's just good for quick jaunts into the brush. We get home and he stretches out and catches a nap. It's a good way to keep him from acting too obnoxious in the house, as well.
Thanks for the compliment, he is turning out to be a fine looking dog.
 
Sounds like a good disposition on that pup, the more focused he is on the hunt the happier you all will be.

I taught Tug to chase coyotes by using a skinned coyote on a rope and having the kids pulling it and then when he got too fast, I would release my GSP, and release him after gus(GSP), he learned the catch game really quick like that. He just mills around while I am calling. Once the coyotes see him, they come in fast. If I tell Tug( where are they) he will start looking around until he sees them, locks on em and waits for the "sic em" command. He's gone after that.

It is fun when the dog starts to get it all figured out though.
 
It is cool when I see that he's starting to figure stuff out. He's going to go spend some time with Tony pretty soon, though. I want to make sure he turns out as good as possible.
 
If he is gonna spend some time with Tony, he will definitely have it figured out when you pick him up. The more fur he is in the better off you both will be, not to mention happier.
 
Kind of thought that's what it was, just didn't realize that Tony had gotten rid of it. Glad you picked it up, should work great for you guys.
 
It's Gunner Junior! Love the blood on his face. Makes him looking like a hunting dog now.
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You are doing well with him Corey. A dog doesn't learn a darn thing, sitting at home.

Good stuff and congrats on the coyote.

Tony
 
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