3 Strikes Rule in Effect

SnowmanMo

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For those of you who may have read some of my previous posts, you may remember that I live by a "3 Strikes Rule." That is, I will run a stand 3 times the same way. If nothing shows up, then it's time to change something. I only change ONE thing, so that I can spot the pattern of the predators. By doing this, I began to be able to get dialed into the patterns of predators and can quickly spot a shift in the pattern and adapt.

Now, I've been doing this for a long time. Blank stands are a reality in our sport. But that is a tough sell for new hunters, especially kids.

In previous posts I introduced our PM community to two very special little girls, Kandyce and Caidie. I call them my Killah Angels. For her 14th birthday Caidie wanted to go coyote hunting, and we were able to make that happen and she got her first coyote for her birthday.

IMG_2200 by Jason Mosler, on Flickr

So now it's Kandyce's turn. She has gotten a chance to get a fox, but it got away. So with the temps still high and the fur no good, we decided that we would try and get Kandyce onto a coyote.

For some reason the coyotes have become less responsive the last couple of weeks. So we started out on a bit cooler morning with the hopes that the cooler weather would have them responsive again. We had rolled through the morning with no results. It was time to institute the 3 Strikes Rule.

We decided to move a bit closer to the hillsides to see if we couldn't get a fox to come down for a visit.

Picture2 by Jason Mosler, on Flickr

Picture3 by Jason Mosler, on Flickr

We found a full water hole that was within 400 yards of the rocky hillside, and we dumped the truck behind the water tank. We strolled down into the wash, and split our forces with Andrew taking Caidie to the North of the tank, and Kathy and I taking Kandyce to the South. I had Kathy and Kandyce set up so that they could watch straight down the wash. I hung the call down the wash and pointed out a couple of side trails that I wanted Kathy to be aware of.

Knowing that the coyotes weren't fallin for what I was peddling, I opted to change things up just a bit. Remember, I only like to change up one thing at a time. This time, I decided to drop the volume. I cut it to about 1/2 of what I normally run the caller at so that I wouldn't blow out any foxes or bobcats that might be in the area We knew we had a coyote in the area because I spotted fresh tracks in the wash.

I ran through a few minutes of some low cottontail calls, then switched calls and ramped the volume up a bit. That's when Mr. Wile E Coyote decides to stroll in. It walks in on one of the side trails that I alerted Kathy to. It's looking right at me, but luckily it's attention was drawn to the FoxPro Jack jr. decoy that is on my CS-24. I can hear Kathy trying to help Kandyce draw a bead on the coyote. Unfortunately the coyote was just a little lower than the girls and was behind a bush. Kandyce could see part of it through her scope, but not enough. So she told Kathy to take the shot if she had a better one. Now how's that for maturity? A young lady that knows that it's not a good idea to take a bad shot, so she is going to pass her first coyote to Kathy if Kathy had the better shot.

Mr. Wile E is figuring out that something isn't right and he decides he wants to make a different approach. I didn't want the girls to miss their chance so I started lip squeaking at the coyote, and Ole Wile E decides to try a bit of a back door approach, well Kathy and Kandyce were waiting, and Ole Wile E fell to the 16in 6.5 Grendel.

Picture1 by Jason Mosler, on Flickr

It was great to see poor little Kandyce shaking with the after effects of a little coyote fever. Of course, that only lasted for a few seconds when she and Caidie go runnin over to help Mr. Coyote finish his approach.

IMG958627 by Jason Mosler, on Flickr

I never get tired of hunting with the Little Slayahs. Their smiles and energy are infectious. I always look forward to our next adventures.

IMG958625 by Jason Mosler, on Flickr
 
Originally Posted By: tripod3Somedays calling and shooting is just old hat, taking kids along is a great change and a noble thing to do.

So true...I had my rifle in my lap and just got to take it all in...a reward in itself.
 
Thanks for the post, great story. My son's, like a lot of today's youth, would rather play a video game. I seldom ask mine to go anymore. Which I might add is funny, because the oldest is like a good luck charm. Keep 'em hunting!!
 
I think this evening I need to implement your 3 strikes rule.. Did a total of 4 stands last week over 3 evenings.. no players.. Time to switch things up...

Excellent advice..
 
Originally Posted By: Jim ByersI think this evening I need to implement your 3 strikes rule.. Did a total of 4 stands last week over 3 evenings.. no players.. Time to switch things up...

Excellent advice..

Thanks Jim. Just something that I picked up from TONS of blank stands. I think that predators are very pattern oriented. But that pattern shifts as the seasons change. Mainly, I was seeing success that would all of the sudden dry up. So that got me wondering. So when I began changing things, I would take note of what they were coming in on and on the time of year. This allows me to lock onto their pattern and shift with it so that I am not playing a lot of catch up. This has increased my success rate.

There will always be anomalies. Sometimes the pattern shifts from year to year and successful calling sequences that stacked fur one year may not do so well another year. But for the most part, you will add sequences to your hunts kind of like lures in a tackle box.
 
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