H82Miss
Member
Early Wednesday morning found me prepping my gear for another fun filled day calling Idaho predators with my hunting buddies Jjess and mjlynnjr. It was a crispy cold 16 degrees as I stood in my driveway and greeted Jjess upon his arrival. Soon after, mjlynnjr pulled up in his new ride sporting a spiffy pop up camper. Jjess and I got a quick tour of the new mobile love shack and then loaded up the Bear Getting’ mobile and headed out. On the way we stopped and picked up Hendershizzle, another regular hunting buddy, but a relative newby to predator hunting. Hendershizzle quickly loaded his gear and the four of us were off down the highway.
We arrived in our hunting area and hiked in to our first stand just as shooting light approached. We set up in pairs overlooking a thick, brushy, dry creek bed. Jjess and Hendershizzle were on one side and mjlynnjr and I on the other. As it would be throughout the day, Jjess and I were carrying our .223 AR’s, Hendershizzle had his 7 mag, and mjlynnjr was packing the 12 gauge M2. We started with coyote vocals for the first 8 or so minutes and then went to distress. After 25 minutes we called it quits and headed back to the truck.
The next 4 stands were dry.
On the sixth stand we set up in a brushy, low bowl with about 70 yards of open to the juniper tree line. Again, mjlynnjr and I sat together facing west and Jjess and Hendershizzle sat 50 yards to our left with the Foxpro and decoy between us 15 yards out front. At about the eight minute mark I saw what I thought was a coyote in an opening about 400 yards out. My heart palpitated as I keyed my radio mic in rapid succession to notify the others that something was coming. My excitement dissipated quickly as I saw several more figures following the first. It turned out to be deer, about 12 in all. Then Bang! Bang!.........Bang! Shooting from the left. I quickly inquired over the radio what they were shooting at. “He got away.” Jjess replied. Apparently a coyote had briefly popped into view bobbing through the tall sage brush at 60 yards. He quickly flipped a U-ey and headed out when he caught our wind. They fired 3 warning shots as he dashed through a clearing at the tree line 200 yards out. Educated that one! We were all a little bummed as that was the first one that has gotten away so far this season.
We made another 2 stands with no luck. We had made 8 stands and only seen 1 coyote all day. We were feeling a little discouraged and decided to start making our way back to town. We planned to stop and make one last stand if we came across something that looked promising.
On the way out, we passed the spot where mjlynnjr shot his first coyote back on 11/9/11. Mjlynnjr said “Let’s give that a try again.” We all agreed it was a good spot and we hadn’t hunted it in over a month so we figured we’d give it a shot. We parked the truck and geared up for the final stand of the day. It was about 1600 hrs when we sat down and we had about an hour and a half of shooting light left. Mjlynnjr and I sat together in a small, slightly elevated, rock outcropping facing wsw while Hendershizzle and Jjess sat about 70 yards to our left amongst the tall sage. The Foxpro and decoy were placed 40 yards to my left and out in front about 20 yards in a small open, patch of low yellow grass. Although this has been a productive stand in the past, it is very hard to hunt due to the lay of the land. Where mjlynnjr and I were sitting is the only decent place to sit that affords visibility. The sage brush is thick and almost 4 feet tall in most places making it especially difficult to see predators approach. We made the best of it Jjess let the caller play.
I had high hopes for this stand, but the day had been very long and so far disappointing. At about the 15 minute mark of this last stand I was thoroughly disgusted and ready to call it a day. I picked up my binos and slowly scanned the far hillside, rock outcroppings, and draws to no avail. I rested my binos and was ready to give up when I heard an unfamiliar sound. A loud, human sounding “Woof” came from Hendershizzle’s direction. The “Woof” was followed quickly by a gunshot. I turned my head to the left to see what they were shooting at just in time to see a bobcat on a full run heading straight at me about 25 feet away!! I could see his eyeballs looking right at me and the dirt flying from under his paws as he ran. He saw me about the same time I saw him. He changed his direction of travel slightly to his left and passed in front of me at 10 feet. It happened so fast!!! My AR was in front of me on sticks. All I could do was blurt out “Bobcat!” Mjlynnjr quickly raised the shotgun and fired. The cat rolled and fell dead. Holy smokes that was intense!!!! As I admired the cat lying a very short distance away, I caught movement on the far hillside. A coyote was weaving his way through the brush attempting to make his escape. I raised my rifle and fired. He kicked up the speed a notch as I fired twice more before he was out of sight. Over the radio Jjess said “Did you get one?” I replied “Bobcat” as I walked the 7 short steps to where the bobcat laid and picked him up for all to see. Mjlynnjr and I fist bumped and congratulated each other while Hendershizzle and Jjess headed out to look for the coyote Jjess has shot at.
Hendershizzle, mjlynnjr, & H82miss
Tom Bobcat, 20.1 lbs
mjlynnjr
Jjess, mjlynnjr, & Hendershizzle
mjlynnjr
Turns out, a coyote had come from the hillside out in front of Jjess and Hendershizzle and was sneaking his way in toward the decoy. The coyote was about 40 yards from the decoy when Hendershizzle gave him a “Woof” to stop him. The coyote paused briefly and Jjess took a shot. Apparently, the bobcat had been sneaking in from our uncovered 6 o’clock. At the shot, the bobcat spooked, and as luck would have it, ran right at me and mjlynnjr. I believe the coyote that I shot at was the same coyote Jjess had shot at and I saw him as he was leaving. We searched the area and after finding no signs of a hit we determined we both missed.
We hiked back to the truck, took some pics, and called it a day. Although we had been discouraged earlier in the day, persistence paid off in the end. That last stand also concreted my belief that we call in more cats than we realize. Had that cat laid low or chose to retreat to where he came from, we would have never seen him. Luck was on our side today.
mjlynnjr
Thanks for reading,
H82Miss
Edited to add the obligatory tailgate shot
We arrived in our hunting area and hiked in to our first stand just as shooting light approached. We set up in pairs overlooking a thick, brushy, dry creek bed. Jjess and Hendershizzle were on one side and mjlynnjr and I on the other. As it would be throughout the day, Jjess and I were carrying our .223 AR’s, Hendershizzle had his 7 mag, and mjlynnjr was packing the 12 gauge M2. We started with coyote vocals for the first 8 or so minutes and then went to distress. After 25 minutes we called it quits and headed back to the truck.
The next 4 stands were dry.
On the sixth stand we set up in a brushy, low bowl with about 70 yards of open to the juniper tree line. Again, mjlynnjr and I sat together facing west and Jjess and Hendershizzle sat 50 yards to our left with the Foxpro and decoy between us 15 yards out front. At about the eight minute mark I saw what I thought was a coyote in an opening about 400 yards out. My heart palpitated as I keyed my radio mic in rapid succession to notify the others that something was coming. My excitement dissipated quickly as I saw several more figures following the first. It turned out to be deer, about 12 in all. Then Bang! Bang!.........Bang! Shooting from the left. I quickly inquired over the radio what they were shooting at. “He got away.” Jjess replied. Apparently a coyote had briefly popped into view bobbing through the tall sage brush at 60 yards. He quickly flipped a U-ey and headed out when he caught our wind. They fired 3 warning shots as he dashed through a clearing at the tree line 200 yards out. Educated that one! We were all a little bummed as that was the first one that has gotten away so far this season.
We made another 2 stands with no luck. We had made 8 stands and only seen 1 coyote all day. We were feeling a little discouraged and decided to start making our way back to town. We planned to stop and make one last stand if we came across something that looked promising.
On the way out, we passed the spot where mjlynnjr shot his first coyote back on 11/9/11. Mjlynnjr said “Let’s give that a try again.” We all agreed it was a good spot and we hadn’t hunted it in over a month so we figured we’d give it a shot. We parked the truck and geared up for the final stand of the day. It was about 1600 hrs when we sat down and we had about an hour and a half of shooting light left. Mjlynnjr and I sat together in a small, slightly elevated, rock outcropping facing wsw while Hendershizzle and Jjess sat about 70 yards to our left amongst the tall sage. The Foxpro and decoy were placed 40 yards to my left and out in front about 20 yards in a small open, patch of low yellow grass. Although this has been a productive stand in the past, it is very hard to hunt due to the lay of the land. Where mjlynnjr and I were sitting is the only decent place to sit that affords visibility. The sage brush is thick and almost 4 feet tall in most places making it especially difficult to see predators approach. We made the best of it Jjess let the caller play.
I had high hopes for this stand, but the day had been very long and so far disappointing. At about the 15 minute mark of this last stand I was thoroughly disgusted and ready to call it a day. I picked up my binos and slowly scanned the far hillside, rock outcroppings, and draws to no avail. I rested my binos and was ready to give up when I heard an unfamiliar sound. A loud, human sounding “Woof” came from Hendershizzle’s direction. The “Woof” was followed quickly by a gunshot. I turned my head to the left to see what they were shooting at just in time to see a bobcat on a full run heading straight at me about 25 feet away!! I could see his eyeballs looking right at me and the dirt flying from under his paws as he ran. He saw me about the same time I saw him. He changed his direction of travel slightly to his left and passed in front of me at 10 feet. It happened so fast!!! My AR was in front of me on sticks. All I could do was blurt out “Bobcat!” Mjlynnjr quickly raised the shotgun and fired. The cat rolled and fell dead. Holy smokes that was intense!!!! As I admired the cat lying a very short distance away, I caught movement on the far hillside. A coyote was weaving his way through the brush attempting to make his escape. I raised my rifle and fired. He kicked up the speed a notch as I fired twice more before he was out of sight. Over the radio Jjess said “Did you get one?” I replied “Bobcat” as I walked the 7 short steps to where the bobcat laid and picked him up for all to see. Mjlynnjr and I fist bumped and congratulated each other while Hendershizzle and Jjess headed out to look for the coyote Jjess has shot at.
Turns out, a coyote had come from the hillside out in front of Jjess and Hendershizzle and was sneaking his way in toward the decoy. The coyote was about 40 yards from the decoy when Hendershizzle gave him a “Woof” to stop him. The coyote paused briefly and Jjess took a shot. Apparently, the bobcat had been sneaking in from our uncovered 6 o’clock. At the shot, the bobcat spooked, and as luck would have it, ran right at me and mjlynnjr. I believe the coyote that I shot at was the same coyote Jjess had shot at and I saw him as he was leaving. We searched the area and after finding no signs of a hit we determined we both missed.
We hiked back to the truck, took some pics, and called it a day. Although we had been discouraged earlier in the day, persistence paid off in the end. That last stand also concreted my belief that we call in more cats than we realize. Had that cat laid low or chose to retreat to where he came from, we would have never seen him. Luck was on our side today.
Thanks for reading,
H82Miss
Edited to add the obligatory tailgate shot
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