The family was pretty busy with various sports and big game hunts last fall and I just didn’t make the time to do any calling. I love calling, but it seems to end up taking a back seat to other hunts or family activities. The wind kicked up pretty bad yesterday afternoon and evening while I was butchering the whitetails my kids killed in Texas, and it occurred to me that it might put a damper in coyote feeding for the day. My next thought was – tomorrow will be a great day to go calling!
With that thought on my mind, I set the coffee pot and snuggled into bed to get rested up.
I was up and away before dawn and even managed to drive past the Border Patrol station on the frontage road without getting pulled over and harassed like usual. I wonder if that was a good omen. There was a nice breeze out of the north, so I entered the general area I wanted to call from the south end with the intent of working my way into the wind. Using my TraxWEST mapping software in the Garmin, I puttered along looking for a nice break in the terrain. I found one about a mile after turning off the “main road,” so I ditched the truck and took a walk. I was ready for my first set just as the sun peeked over the horizon and made its presence known through the light cloud cover. (Aside – at last year’s Convention I won a FoxPro Firestorm. I made a few stands with it in February last year, but never had any responses. I figured I’d give it another go this morning.) I put the caller up and a little cross wind of my position and dialed up a couple lone female howls using the remote suspended from the custom lanyard made by our very own Workman. I muted the caller for about five minutes before hitting the button for adult cottontail. The terrain is pretty open in this area, so I was trying to play like an owl and swivel my head 360 degrees to watch every direction. About three minutes in, I happened to catch movement out of the corner of my eye. I slowly turned and spotted a coyote trotting along the ridge about 150 yards behind me trying to get my wind. When he went behind a bush, I quickly picked up my Trigger Sticks and rifle and got lined up on where I expected him to reappear. When he did, I was ready, and shot as soon as he paused. The hit sounded solid, but didn’t put him down immediately, so I hit him again. That did the trick. I switched over to pup in distress for a few seconds, then back to cottontail. I played out the rest of the stand with no more takers.
Back to the truck and on down the road. I typically try to put about a mile between stands, and at 1.1 on the odometer I spotted what looked like another good spot in the distance. I cut across the wind a third of a mile or so before finding just the right place to repeat the previous setup – caller and decoy upwind, me positioned to see as much ground as possible. Again I started with a few lone female howls. In less than a minute, I spotted a coyote moving on a small rise about 300 yards upwind of me. He didn’t seem interested in the howls, so I squealed a little on my recently acquired Stone Coyote call (from PM’s badtothebone). The coyote looked my way, but didn’t pay much attention, and within a minute or so I lost sight of him in the brush. Hoping for the best, I played a few more tunes on the hand call. I was about to switch over to the e-caller when a flash caught my attention. Coming over the hill about 120 yards out was the coyote, who had worked downwind towards me. While he tried to sneak up on my decoy, I swiveled the rifle in the sticks until I could get him in the scope. When he turned broadside, my bullet was on its way and I was rewarded with the solid “thwack” of a hit. Again I tried the pup distress, then switched back the hand call for another five minutes or so with no further luck. I wandered over to check out the second male of the day.
After humping it out to the truck, I cruised up the road until another mile had passed. While walking into the third stand, I jumped a coyote out of the brush and sent him running for parts unknown. I hoped he wasn’t in the area alone, so I went ahead and set up about 400 yards further in. Same deal – lone howls, some cottontail and lightning jack, but no takers on this one. Was the magic over?
Wash, rinse, repeat – to the truck, up the road about a mile, and another 1/3-mile hike into the desert. This time I decided to use an old hand call I got from a fella called “Gonhuntin” that used to frequent this board. Called “The Edge,” this was my first custom hand call I ever bought, which has arguably got me addicted to the darn things.
It was always a good call, but has been relegated to bag duty for the past three or four years. Today it was ready to shine again. So, after a few lone female howls, I started signing the bunny blues on the once faithful hand call. After three or four series, I spotted an odd-looking spot on a far hillside that I didn’t think was there when I started the set. I stared intently at it for over a minute and was about ready to write if off when it moved and started slinking down the hill in my direction. When he dropped off the hill out of sight, I made a move to get the rifle pointed at where I expected him to appear. Once situated, I went ahead and played a few more notes on The Edge to keep the coyote interested. It took about five minutes for the coyote to pop back into view, this time at about 150 yards. Since he was still headed my way, and had a ways to go before getting downwind, I stayed quiet and still and let him come. At about 40 yards, he stopped facing me, peering intently at the odd-colored bush (from his position he could not see the decoy, only me). I centered the crosshairs on his chest, let out half a breath, and CLICK! Sonofa… I hadn’t fully chambered the round in the AR. While keeping him in the scope, I reached up and pulled the charging handle, releasing it quietly. Of course he saw me and turned to leave. I kissed him to a stop about ten yards farther out, and clicked at him again. Dang it! This was getting bad.
One more time; I yanked back on the charging handle and let the bolt slam down. Ol’ Wily was out of there, but once again I managed to stop him with a kiss. This time he stopped broadside at about 75 yards and I center-punched him through the ribs. He did a death spin and hit the dirt. I squalled for another five minutes or so before picking up my toys and heading over to check out the coyote.
Third male of the day.
It was starting to get pretty windy by this time, but I figured I had enough time and enough road (I was getting close the highway) to make one more set. I figured I’d keep using what had worked all morning and hiked in about ¼-mile or so and made a similar setup, this time using just the e-caller. The stand looked promising, but nothing showed up after 23 minutes and a bunch of wind, so I called it a day. Wouldn’t you know it, the wind was barely blowing when I got home about half an hour later. Oh well, Mama had some honey-dos all lined out for me, so I took care of those to earn brownie points for next weekend.
By the way fellas, this is the country you can call if you come down for the PM Convention and Hunt. Just click the banner in my signature below and in a month you can be buying raffle tickets for FoxPro callers and posing with desert coyotes. C'mon, you know you want to!
I was up and away before dawn and even managed to drive past the Border Patrol station on the frontage road without getting pulled over and harassed like usual. I wonder if that was a good omen. There was a nice breeze out of the north, so I entered the general area I wanted to call from the south end with the intent of working my way into the wind. Using my TraxWEST mapping software in the Garmin, I puttered along looking for a nice break in the terrain. I found one about a mile after turning off the “main road,” so I ditched the truck and took a walk. I was ready for my first set just as the sun peeked over the horizon and made its presence known through the light cloud cover. (Aside – at last year’s Convention I won a FoxPro Firestorm. I made a few stands with it in February last year, but never had any responses. I figured I’d give it another go this morning.) I put the caller up and a little cross wind of my position and dialed up a couple lone female howls using the remote suspended from the custom lanyard made by our very own Workman. I muted the caller for about five minutes before hitting the button for adult cottontail. The terrain is pretty open in this area, so I was trying to play like an owl and swivel my head 360 degrees to watch every direction. About three minutes in, I happened to catch movement out of the corner of my eye. I slowly turned and spotted a coyote trotting along the ridge about 150 yards behind me trying to get my wind. When he went behind a bush, I quickly picked up my Trigger Sticks and rifle and got lined up on where I expected him to reappear. When he did, I was ready, and shot as soon as he paused. The hit sounded solid, but didn’t put him down immediately, so I hit him again. That did the trick. I switched over to pup in distress for a few seconds, then back to cottontail. I played out the rest of the stand with no more takers.
Back to the truck and on down the road. I typically try to put about a mile between stands, and at 1.1 on the odometer I spotted what looked like another good spot in the distance. I cut across the wind a third of a mile or so before finding just the right place to repeat the previous setup – caller and decoy upwind, me positioned to see as much ground as possible. Again I started with a few lone female howls. In less than a minute, I spotted a coyote moving on a small rise about 300 yards upwind of me. He didn’t seem interested in the howls, so I squealed a little on my recently acquired Stone Coyote call (from PM’s badtothebone). The coyote looked my way, but didn’t pay much attention, and within a minute or so I lost sight of him in the brush. Hoping for the best, I played a few more tunes on the hand call. I was about to switch over to the e-caller when a flash caught my attention. Coming over the hill about 120 yards out was the coyote, who had worked downwind towards me. While he tried to sneak up on my decoy, I swiveled the rifle in the sticks until I could get him in the scope. When he turned broadside, my bullet was on its way and I was rewarded with the solid “thwack” of a hit. Again I tried the pup distress, then switched back the hand call for another five minutes or so with no further luck. I wandered over to check out the second male of the day.
After humping it out to the truck, I cruised up the road until another mile had passed. While walking into the third stand, I jumped a coyote out of the brush and sent him running for parts unknown. I hoped he wasn’t in the area alone, so I went ahead and set up about 400 yards further in. Same deal – lone howls, some cottontail and lightning jack, but no takers on this one. Was the magic over?
Wash, rinse, repeat – to the truck, up the road about a mile, and another 1/3-mile hike into the desert. This time I decided to use an old hand call I got from a fella called “Gonhuntin” that used to frequent this board. Called “The Edge,” this was my first custom hand call I ever bought, which has arguably got me addicted to the darn things.
Third male of the day.
It was starting to get pretty windy by this time, but I figured I had enough time and enough road (I was getting close the highway) to make one more set. I figured I’d keep using what had worked all morning and hiked in about ¼-mile or so and made a similar setup, this time using just the e-caller. The stand looked promising, but nothing showed up after 23 minutes and a bunch of wind, so I called it a day. Wouldn’t you know it, the wind was barely blowing when I got home about half an hour later. Oh well, Mama had some honey-dos all lined out for me, so I took care of those to earn brownie points for next weekend.
By the way fellas, this is the country you can call if you come down for the PM Convention and Hunt. Just click the banner in my signature below and in a month you can be buying raffle tickets for FoxPro callers and posing with desert coyotes. C'mon, you know you want to!
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