A very special triple (long read)

SouthTXBowhunter

New member
A couple weekends ago my in-laws came up for a visit. Since deer season is in full swing, I'm stuck at the ranch every day and we just don't get to see them much at this time of the year. Grandpa "Slug" (how's that for a nickname? Lol!) decided he wanted to put some meat in the freezer so the plan was to do a little whitetail hunting. The early season was really tough, with lots of acorns and plenty of green stuff to eat; and the heat was keeping the deer fairly nocturnal. But, we thought we'd give it a shot anyway. I had a popup blind set up on a mesquite flat that bordered some very heavy S. Texas brush; and I thought we might be able to catch some deer moving toward a nearby tank or feeder.

We climbed into the blind about an hour before sunrise, crossbow in hand, and settled in. It was muggy and in the low 70's. By sunrise, we hadn't seen anything moving except for a fat jackrabbit that was sure enjoying our corn. About 10 minutes after the sun came up, the yotes blew up around us and kept at it for a while. At that point, I really wanted to forget about deer, go grab the guns and go do some calling. I had told my FIL that we might go do a little calling after we got done hunting deer but he'd never been calling and didn't seem all that interested. So, since he was looking for meat, we sat tight. And sat. And sat. Absolutely nothing was moving. By 9am I knew we wouldn't be seeing a deer and we'd heard several more blowups. "Ok," I said, "lets go grab your rifle and see if we can get one of those coyotes to come in before it gets too late and I have to go check on my hunters." I'm not sure if he agreed because he really wanted to give up on a deer or because he wanted that fresh can of snuff he'd left in the truck. In any case, we left the blind and headed for the truck.

It didn't take long to grab my calling gear and his Remmy 700 .223, affectionately nicknamed, by him, "The Black B*tch!" Lol! He looked a little dubious about the impending adventure but he dutifully followed his beloved son-in-law.
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I set us up along the edge of the thick brush line, where we'd heard the coyotes earlier. The wind was blowing along the brush line but cutting it slightly, so they would have to come out in the open in order to get down wind of us - IF there weren't any behind us. I placed my Foxpro about 20yds out from the brush line and slightly upwind of our stand. If they came out where I expected, it wouldn't be a very long shot. 60yds at best. Behind us, in the open mesquite flat, you could see about 125 yards; so I hoped I'd be able to spot one coming from our backside. I told my FIL to keep a close eye on the brush line down wind of the call. He gave me a look like, "Yeah right! I'll play along because I love you, son, but this seems like a long shot to me."

I started with TT Jack Extreme pretty softly and gradually increased the volume. About 3 minutes in I looked over my shoulder, into the open flat, and I caught a quick glimpse of a coyote moving about 100 yards out - circling to come in down wind. I lost sight it in a draw and turned to my FIL and let him know. I never did figure out what happened to that coyote; he must have 'smelled a rat' because he never came all the way in.

About 5 minutes in I caught a flash of movement back in the brush moving right towards where I had been expecting them to come out; and I whispered, "Get ready, Dad! Here comes one at 12 o'clock." He came trotting in and stopped between 2 bushes at the edge of the brush line, staring at the location of the call. If I had drawn an 'X' on the ground where I had hoped a coyote would come, he would have been standing smack in the middle of it! Slug dropped him with a 50yd shot to the chest that flipped him over backwards. As soon as he shot, I switched to Pup Distress 3 and told my FIL to keep still and keep an eye out, in case there was a second dog. About 30 seconds later a female came out cautiously and sniffed at the dead male. Dad dropped her right on top of the male!

As you can imagine, there was a lot of back slapping, fist-pumping and hushed congratulations going on, following the shot! I'm not sure I could have been any happier or more excited. My FIL had, simultaneously, a grin from ear to ear and a look of total disbelief on on his face. LOL! 'What the heck,' I thought, 'I might as well run the call a little longer. It seems like a lucky day.' So, I told him, "Let's sit tight and run the call for a few more minutes." I dialed up TT Jack Extreme and let it run for about a minute before I sent out a Female Challenge Bark. I was immediately answered by a bark a couple hundred yards out. Back and forth we went, for about a minute, barking at each other - every answer getting closer and closer. When it became clear that the coyote was committed, and getting really close, I switched to Vole Squeak and was rewarded with a very tentative male coyote coming through the brush directly down wind of the call. Unfortunately, my FIL couldn't see it even though he was practically next to me. He would have been easy with my shotgun but I wanted him to shoot.

I whispered, "He's just on the other side of that bush at your 2 O'clock. Get ready!" He tried moving his shooting sticks to his right but the coyote caught the movement and whipped his head around to look at us. I whispered, "DON'T MOVE!" He's looking right at us!" Dad was a trooper and he froze like a statue. After staring at us for a few seconds, uncertain what we were, the coyote ducked behind the cluster of brush blocking my FIL's view and I wondered if I should have just taken him myself. He was moving to get into our scent cone, to check us out. Using the opportunity, while he was obscured from view, I pointed to the first clearing he would reach, as he circled us. I said, "he's going to come out right there!" My FIL made the final shift with his sticks as the coyote came back into view, moving sideways. I knew Dad wasn't quite ready yet so I squeaked and stopped him but he whirled and froze, facing right at us and looking right at us. CRACK! The Black B*tch rolled him over backwards and we had a triple!

I jumped up and did a little victory dance, hugged Dad and slapped him on the back. It was a very special moment. I know triples my be common for some folks, but they aren't for me. The ranch where I do most of my calling is very thick brush and I hunt some very tight quarters. So, trying to get off 3 shots on 3 yotes in those conditions is extremely difficult. To do it with my FIL on his FIRST ever set, was like winning the lottery. Talk about getting someone addicted to predator hunting! The rest of the visit, all he wanted to do was go calling! We only had time to do a couple more sets while he was up visiting and we only called one more coyote (that he couldn't get on quick enough) but that's the ONLY hunting he wanted to do! LOL! I guess I have a new calling partner and the deer are a little bit safer these days!
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Here's a picture from that morning. BTW - He's a US Marine Vietnam combat vet




 
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Wow, great stand with the father in law. Sounds like you have a new calling partner. I'm gonna have to take my dad out one of these days. I know he would have a good time.
 
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