October Hunting Adventure

6mm06

Well-known member

As many of you know, David Garrett (VicFox) traveled from Australia and joined up with me for some exciting hunts covering three states. To say we had a great time would be an understatement. We had planned this trip for over a year and I was hoping to show Dave some good ole American hospitality. Here are the details along with photos.

Dave's original desire was for a predator hunt, but I managed to talk him into a Wyoming hunt just to get his blood to pumping. Coyotes came later.

First up was Wyoming for a 6-day antelope and mule deer hunt. Joining Dave and me were Jeremy Patterson (yfzduner450) and his wife Lindsey from Utah. Everyone took antelope and Dave got a mule deer doe. The weather was great, hunting was good and good friendships were formed. We also traveled up to Buffalo one evening and had dinner with another Predator Masters member, DoubleCK, and his wife. Wonderful people.

VicFox and two of his antelope, one of which is a nice ivory-tipped buck. Both were
taken at about 250 yards with a 7mm STW shooting 140 gr. Barnes TSX.
DSC01716.jpg


DSC01718.jpg


168 yard mule deer doe taken with the STW.
DSC01736.jpg



Lindsey Patterson and her first antelope, taken with a .243 at 193 yards. Her husband
Jeremy (yfzduner450) is proud of his wife. Lindsey made a good clean shot. The little .243
Jeremy had accurized for her really paid off.
LindseyJeremy.jpg


Yours truly after dropping two antelope with my trusty 7mm STW, a Remington Sendero.
The Outlaw sling from Timber Butte Outdoors made carrying the heavy rifle a breeze.
DavidVAntelope.jpg



Our next stop was New Mexico for a 3-day coyote hunt with Tony Tebbe and Gunner. Tony has some fantastic areas to hunt with more coyotes than you can shake a stick at. We hunted both days and nights, taking 6 coyotes between Dave and me, and both of us missed a couple of shots each. We saw still other coyotes that did not present a shot.

We met Tony's family and had a meal or two together and quickly formed nice friendships.

Dave, Tony and Gunner with the first blood of the hunt.
resizedblood.jpg



My first coyote on the hunt, taken with a Bushmaster .223 shooting 60 gr. V-Max
DSC01753.jpg


Dave and another coyote. Tony got good video of this one.
DSC01806.jpg


Tony's hunting rig. That thing really works. It turns heads on the street too.
DSC01759.jpg


Dave, Tony and Gunner at it again
DSC01768.jpg




Story continued below......

 

One particular event turned out to be a very memorable one. Tony noticed a cow standing alone way out across the prairie at about 500 yards distance from us. After glassing he determined the cow had just given birth and a coyote was circling. We decided to attempt a stalk since there was a large sand dune out there and the cow was standing at the base of it on one side. The dune was like a bowl in the center with a ridge all around it. We dropped into a slight depression to the right and stalked the 500 yards or so across that open area, crawled up the opposite side of the bowl, slid down into it and crawled up the other side in an attempt to get on the coyote.

The cow spooked and ran. The coyote, not knowing what happened, also spooked and ran. Tony barked it to a stop at about 100 yards distance and I dropped it with one shot from his AR .223. What a magnificent hunt, ranking right up there as one of the most memorable I have ever had - stalking a coyote across a huge tract of land, dropping it with one shot thus finalizing a well-conceived plan that is stuff for a story book.

Tony and me with the sand dune coyote
DSC01792.jpg


View from inside the "bowl" of the sand dune
DSC01782.jpg


More Views of the sand dune hunt
DSC01784.jpg


DSC01786.jpg


It was a long drag back to the truck. Tony and I took turns
DSC01799.jpg


Gunner didn't miss a trick. He saw every movement, whether a bird, rabbit or coyote
DSC01823.jpg


A day-time coyote Tony called up for me.
DSC01843.jpg


Dave's and my coyote shot together. It didn't stand a chance
DSC01847.jpg


A bit of prairie dog shooting. The Bushmaster was amazingly accurate
DSC01835.jpg


A jack rabbit to round out the hunt
DSC01840.jpg



Story continued below.......
 

The last leg of our journey took us to Arizona where we met up with Brian Brooks (jcfd2201) for another 3-day predator hunt. Along the highway from Flagstaff and one hour's drive to Brian's house, we saw more dead coyotes along the road than I have ever seen back home. Apparently Arizona is overrun with them, much like New Mexico.

Our first morning's hunt resulted in Dave getting a nice dog within about 2 or 3 minutes of calling.

Dave and his Arizona coyote
DSC01866.jpg


Dave and Brian
DaveArizonaCoyote.jpg



Things seemed to dry up after the first coyote and the coyotes weren't responding to the call.

Also joining us was Randy Beecroft who demonstrated his skills with mouth calls. One evening was very windy, yet we dropped down into a river valley and managed to call up two coyotes from across the flats. Shots were taken at a distance of about 200 yards, all were misses but I managed to get some very good video footage of the event, making it a successful one despite the misses.

Randy Beecroft while calling up two coyotes from across the river bottom
RandyCalling.jpg


We also did some prairie dog shooting in Arizona
DSC01881.jpg


Notice Brian's predator hunting truck. Great camo
DSC01904.jpg


Besides meeting some fine people and having a great time hunting, we also took in some
breath-taking scenery
DSC01883.jpg


DSC01889.jpg



This adventure is one to dream about and tell again and again while sitting by the fireside with good company, sharing adventures and remembering crossing paths with good people who we now call friends. It doesn't get much better than this.



A short 1-minute YouTube summary clip of our hunts





Here is Jeremy's clip of the hunt

http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=TOwLqbPh_J4



Dave's photo gallery of the hunts

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFnNHxhlz8g&feature=youtu.be

 
It was a real pleasure hunting with Dave and David. I already miss you guys! The people in our small town are still talking about he Aussie that came hunting here.
lol.gif


Yall helped write some great stories, stored in my hunting memories. Those will last forever.

Thank You!

Tony
 
Dave,

It sounds like a great trip for all of us to envy. I felt like I was right there with you on your well documented journey. Thanks for taking the time to post your adventure!

Eric
 
Good stuff guys! Thanks for sharing. It was nice to meet you. Wish I could have gotten you out and about Sheridan County some.
 
I had a great time and would gladly have you guys back anytime!!! Two great guys....a true Virginia Gentleman and a crazy Australian and one couldn't ask for better people. I'm glad you guys had a good time and I want to thank you both for the opportunity to host you on your trip.

Brian
 

Thanks Tony. It was a great adventure.

DoubleCK, it was very nice to have met you and your wife. Maybe one of these days our paths will cross again.

Brian, again I wish to thank you and your wife for the great hospitality you showed to Dave and me. It was a real pleasure.

DannyK, Yep, I've got it ready and looking for some adventure this coming winter. I will post later on the baiting forum about the details. This has been a summer project that has shaped up pretty good. How about you? Ready for some coyote shooting fun?

07-2.jpg


11.jpg



 
Great pics and story David. I had a great time hunting with you guys. We had a blast and can't wait til we can meet up and do it again!!!!

It looks like you guys got into the coyotes!!!!
 
Nice looking blind Dave, cant wait to hear the details, I'm going to deer camp on the 13th for the rest of the month, predator hunting will begin after that.
 
It certainly was the trip of a life time and hope that those who joined me at different time on the trip had as good a time as I did.

Many thanks to David Vance 6mm06 who put this hunt together over the last 12 months and accommodating me, gearing me up with Rifles ect and having to put up with me over the 25 days or so that I was over there. It was terrific to be part of your family in Virginia not to mention to hunt with you.

Tony Tebbe put in the hard yards both day and night to put game in front of us going beyond what would be commercially expected and made my long trip and our expense travelling worth 100% of our outlay. Your expertise made the difference and we enjoyed you and your families company. Thank you.

I would also like to thank Brian JCFD2201 for the time and trouble he put in to host us on the Arizona leg of the trip including thanks to you buddy Randy and the Brooks family for sharing their home with us.

Meeting up with Predator master members was a bonus and to hunt with them was AWSOME. Thanks Jeremy and Lindsay.

Your Southern hospitality extended from Virginia down to NM & Arizona up to Wyoming across to the West coast.

I met the most wonderful people wherever we travelled making great friendships that I hope we can extend by meeting up again.

You have a beautiful country complemented by such fantastic people who welcomed and shared so much with me that has been unmatched in my 49 years.

Predator Masters has been a fine platform to encourage such friendships and I am eternally grateful.

Long story short Thank you,
 
Back
Top