Displayed Name
New member
Love these write ups and pics! Great hunting Mike and Bubba.
Bubba and Mikes most excellent adventure - 25 coyotes -THE END-
- Thread starter mikegranger
- Start date
smackanstack
New member
Excellent read! Way better than the mags. GO BUBBA!! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinning-smiley-003.gif
mikegranger
Active member
Busted, go back and read the first page of this report. Bubba gets his fair share of finishing. Thankfully we don't have any hogs in Montana as they are horribly destructive to the habitat and wildlife.
JShepard, Bubba is not much bigger than your dog.
JShepard, Bubba is not much bigger than your dog.
canislatrans54
New member
As always, your telling & pics make me feel as though I've been right there with you & Bubba!! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif
Ya know...I agree this sure is a PRIME candidate for HOM...but if Mike & Bubba would win, what prize would be Bubba's? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif I mean, he does a lot of the work too! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
Ya know...I agree this sure is a PRIME candidate for HOM...but if Mike & Bubba would win, what prize would be Bubba's? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif I mean, he does a lot of the work too! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
misterfuzzer
New member
It sounds like Bubba is good, but you taught him to take pictures too??? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/bowingsmilie.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinning-smiley-006.gif
mikegranger
Active member
November 10, 2008
Last day of coyote hunting. The past two days have been terrible and I was bound and determined to get in one more good day before heading home. But, if conditions were like they’ve been the past two days I was going to pull the plug. We woke up bright and early to no wind, no clouds, no fog and a nice good frost. Oh boy, this could be good. As we drove the 15 miles to begin calling, deer were crossing the road in front of the vehicle and were scattered throughout the fields along the road. Must have seen 50 or more. That’s always a great sign because if the deer are moving other animals are doing the same. I was slowing the truck down, looking for a place to pull off the road when two coyotes crossed in front of us. They didn’t seem worried about me in the least. I stopped the truck and one coyote sat down. That was all I needed to see and pulled a quick u-turn. We backtracked 1/2 mile and was out of the truck in a blink of an eye. Bubba had seen the coyotes and it was all I could do to keep him from departing in their direction. We found a nice knoll and began calling. In no time the male appeared on the horizon with the female close behind. He stopped one time, saw Bubba, then came barreling in. I was hoping to get the two coming in unison but it was not to be. The female stopped out of view and the male never looked back. Remember now, I’ve had two very dry days of calling. A male coyote was charging in and logic said “wait, she’ll come over the hill, shoot her first then kill the male.” The irrational me said “heck with that, you haven’t killed a coyote in two days, shoot the male, he’s right in front of you staring down Bubba!” Guess who won out? Yep, I drug a nice large male back to the truck and never saw the female again. A coyote on the very first stand takes the edge off and a great beginning to a beautiful day.
Walking back to the truck we stumbled on some old bottles. Don’t know if I’ve mentioned this or not, but I can’t walk by an old dump or abandoned homestead. During my childhood, me and my dad were constantly digging in dumps and would come up with some mighty fine treasures. My lovely wife says I’m worse than a kid, always bringing home someone else’s trash! I disagree.
What a haul. Two blue canning jars, a coke bottle made in Torrington, Wyoming in 1947,an Eldewiess beer can, 1 gallon milk jug and 3 other bottles neat bottles. All trash!
About midmorning we had a coyote hang up way out there. She just wouldn’t come any closer and eventual lay down. Fortunately I was in a position to scoot off the hill without being seen. We head back to the truck and in the kennel Bubba goes. He hates it when I force him into the kennel but sneaking upon a bedded coyote doesn’t work so well with him in the lead. A long hike followed by a few short squeaks and coyote #2 is in the bag.
I like windmills too. Couldn't pass up this picture.
Wishing hour finds us overlooking beautiful wheat fields with several unbroken farrows between each field. Coyotes usually lay up in these unplowed rows and today was no exception. When I blew the howler, two separate pair rose up. One pair was almost 3/4 mile away and the other over a mile. Once the first series of rabbit squalls were completed, the furthest pair were no longer in sight. A 10 minute wait ensued and eventually two coyotes were within 300 yards. They had split up with the female directly to my left and it’s partner directly in front of us, but standing behind a fence. Both were statue still, neither closer than 275 yards. Bubba was barking his head off but for some reason they would not respond. When the female turned broadside she fell to the .204. By golly, a three dog day! I’m liking it.
The next stand proved to be the most interesting coyote event of the last 2 years. We found another series of wheat fields and when I blew the howler, a pair stood up and looked our way. They were only 1/2 mile away and I thought for sure they’d be in our laps in no time. It was not to be. I called, squeaked, called some more and howled but they just sat there. In the heat of battle, we tend to get tunnel vision. Having learned through the school of hard knocks, I try to force myself to look around even when coyotes are coming in. Upon looking over my left shoulder, I spotted another coyote and it was coming hard. I’m lying prone and immediately shuffle 90 degrees to face the coyote. Bubba sees this and looks in the direction I’m now facing and spots the coyote. Off he goes and the coyote immediately drops down. She’s 200 yards away and through the scope I can see her, chin flat on the ground, ears layed back and not moving a twitch. Bubba stops, and when I tone him to come back, she stands up and comes forward another 20 yards. Bubba turns back around and she flops on the ground and does the same thing. Hmm, this is really interesting. The second time Bubba is toned he comes all the way back to me. Now is when I see something I’ve never seen a coyote do before. She hunches up with all four feet almost touching, fur puffed out as much as possible, a horrible snarl on her face and pogo’s right to us! What do I mean by pogo? It’s hard to explain but with all four feet touching and hunched up, she bounced, kind of like a mule deer, 180 yards, right to us. When she’s at 10 feet, Bubba lunges and the fight is on. I’m frantically trying to get an open shot but they are way too close. The fight lasts a couple of minutes but before ending, I was a little worried that they were going to be in my lap. When they finally separate, she’s two yards from the end of the barrel. Bubba and she are snarling at each other, inches separating the two. I look through the scope and see nothing but fur, and won’t shoot because of the inability to see Bubba. I lift my head off the rifle to make sure he is clear, then pull the trigger. Thus ended the strangest calling episode in a long time.
There is now one hour of daylight left with 4 coyotes skinned and in the truck. As the sun was sitting we were overlooking a pond with a cow carcass on it’s shoreline. It had been there for awhile and mostly picked clean. Howling produced responses from two directions. One of which was directly into the setting sun. I kept calling and shortly saw a coyote several hundred yards out. He was slowly coming in when I saw Bubba jerk his head and take two steps to the right. I look into the sun to see an outline of a coyote walking towards us. Without binoculars or rifle scope the coyote was almost impossible to see due to the glare of the sun. But the field of view is limited through the optics, which reduces a lot of glare. I pulled the trigger when the coyote stopped and a great day got better.
We loaded up #5 and scurried to the last stand. Dusk is upon us now and things are tough to see. The initial howling session produced a single response. I faced in it’s direction and glassed. Sure enough, barely visible in a background of sage was another coyote. He took his merry time coming in. Bubba spotted the coyote while he was way out and was off to be the greeting party. As happened throughout the day, when Bubba would go towards the coyotes, they would stop. Whenever I brought Bubba back, the coyote would advance. With military like precision, Bubba advanced, the coyote held his ground; Bubba retreated, the coyote advanced. They played this game until the coyote was within 150 yards. Light is fleeting quickly and just when I’m ready to take him, the coyote ducks behind a knoll. We wait a couple of minutes but he’s a no show. Bubba runs out to where he disappeared and I see the coyote appear about 100 yards from where he was last seen, circling, trying to get a whiff of the hound. I don’t waste any time and drop him in his tracks. Like I said earlier, it had the makings of a great day.
What a fantastic hunt. Two coyotes at the end of a wonderful day, sacks full of fur and the best hound in the world. (my world anyway /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ooo.gif) I am truly blessed.
Six coyotes topped off a wonderful 25 coyote and two fox hunting trip. I realize not many of us have the luxury of hunting coyotes for ten days in a row. Coyote hunting is my passion. I would much rather be calling coyotes than deer, elk, or bird hunting. Therefore, I make my hunting plans around coyotes. Call me strange, better yet, addicted, but nothing else provides the excitement, time and time again! I’m hooked and have been for 30+ years.
Thanks for reading Bubba "The Wonder Dog" and my story. Hopefully they'll be plenty more to come.
Last day of coyote hunting. The past two days have been terrible and I was bound and determined to get in one more good day before heading home. But, if conditions were like they’ve been the past two days I was going to pull the plug. We woke up bright and early to no wind, no clouds, no fog and a nice good frost. Oh boy, this could be good. As we drove the 15 miles to begin calling, deer were crossing the road in front of the vehicle and were scattered throughout the fields along the road. Must have seen 50 or more. That’s always a great sign because if the deer are moving other animals are doing the same. I was slowing the truck down, looking for a place to pull off the road when two coyotes crossed in front of us. They didn’t seem worried about me in the least. I stopped the truck and one coyote sat down. That was all I needed to see and pulled a quick u-turn. We backtracked 1/2 mile and was out of the truck in a blink of an eye. Bubba had seen the coyotes and it was all I could do to keep him from departing in their direction. We found a nice knoll and began calling. In no time the male appeared on the horizon with the female close behind. He stopped one time, saw Bubba, then came barreling in. I was hoping to get the two coming in unison but it was not to be. The female stopped out of view and the male never looked back. Remember now, I’ve had two very dry days of calling. A male coyote was charging in and logic said “wait, she’ll come over the hill, shoot her first then kill the male.” The irrational me said “heck with that, you haven’t killed a coyote in two days, shoot the male, he’s right in front of you staring down Bubba!” Guess who won out? Yep, I drug a nice large male back to the truck and never saw the female again. A coyote on the very first stand takes the edge off and a great beginning to a beautiful day.
Walking back to the truck we stumbled on some old bottles. Don’t know if I’ve mentioned this or not, but I can’t walk by an old dump or abandoned homestead. During my childhood, me and my dad were constantly digging in dumps and would come up with some mighty fine treasures. My lovely wife says I’m worse than a kid, always bringing home someone else’s trash! I disagree.
What a haul. Two blue canning jars, a coke bottle made in Torrington, Wyoming in 1947,an Eldewiess beer can, 1 gallon milk jug and 3 other bottles neat bottles. All trash!
About midmorning we had a coyote hang up way out there. She just wouldn’t come any closer and eventual lay down. Fortunately I was in a position to scoot off the hill without being seen. We head back to the truck and in the kennel Bubba goes. He hates it when I force him into the kennel but sneaking upon a bedded coyote doesn’t work so well with him in the lead. A long hike followed by a few short squeaks and coyote #2 is in the bag.
I like windmills too. Couldn't pass up this picture.
Wishing hour finds us overlooking beautiful wheat fields with several unbroken farrows between each field. Coyotes usually lay up in these unplowed rows and today was no exception. When I blew the howler, two separate pair rose up. One pair was almost 3/4 mile away and the other over a mile. Once the first series of rabbit squalls were completed, the furthest pair were no longer in sight. A 10 minute wait ensued and eventually two coyotes were within 300 yards. They had split up with the female directly to my left and it’s partner directly in front of us, but standing behind a fence. Both were statue still, neither closer than 275 yards. Bubba was barking his head off but for some reason they would not respond. When the female turned broadside she fell to the .204. By golly, a three dog day! I’m liking it.
The next stand proved to be the most interesting coyote event of the last 2 years. We found another series of wheat fields and when I blew the howler, a pair stood up and looked our way. They were only 1/2 mile away and I thought for sure they’d be in our laps in no time. It was not to be. I called, squeaked, called some more and howled but they just sat there. In the heat of battle, we tend to get tunnel vision. Having learned through the school of hard knocks, I try to force myself to look around even when coyotes are coming in. Upon looking over my left shoulder, I spotted another coyote and it was coming hard. I’m lying prone and immediately shuffle 90 degrees to face the coyote. Bubba sees this and looks in the direction I’m now facing and spots the coyote. Off he goes and the coyote immediately drops down. She’s 200 yards away and through the scope I can see her, chin flat on the ground, ears layed back and not moving a twitch. Bubba stops, and when I tone him to come back, she stands up and comes forward another 20 yards. Bubba turns back around and she flops on the ground and does the same thing. Hmm, this is really interesting. The second time Bubba is toned he comes all the way back to me. Now is when I see something I’ve never seen a coyote do before. She hunches up with all four feet almost touching, fur puffed out as much as possible, a horrible snarl on her face and pogo’s right to us! What do I mean by pogo? It’s hard to explain but with all four feet touching and hunched up, she bounced, kind of like a mule deer, 180 yards, right to us. When she’s at 10 feet, Bubba lunges and the fight is on. I’m frantically trying to get an open shot but they are way too close. The fight lasts a couple of minutes but before ending, I was a little worried that they were going to be in my lap. When they finally separate, she’s two yards from the end of the barrel. Bubba and she are snarling at each other, inches separating the two. I look through the scope and see nothing but fur, and won’t shoot because of the inability to see Bubba. I lift my head off the rifle to make sure he is clear, then pull the trigger. Thus ended the strangest calling episode in a long time.
There is now one hour of daylight left with 4 coyotes skinned and in the truck. As the sun was sitting we were overlooking a pond with a cow carcass on it’s shoreline. It had been there for awhile and mostly picked clean. Howling produced responses from two directions. One of which was directly into the setting sun. I kept calling and shortly saw a coyote several hundred yards out. He was slowly coming in when I saw Bubba jerk his head and take two steps to the right. I look into the sun to see an outline of a coyote walking towards us. Without binoculars or rifle scope the coyote was almost impossible to see due to the glare of the sun. But the field of view is limited through the optics, which reduces a lot of glare. I pulled the trigger when the coyote stopped and a great day got better.
We loaded up #5 and scurried to the last stand. Dusk is upon us now and things are tough to see. The initial howling session produced a single response. I faced in it’s direction and glassed. Sure enough, barely visible in a background of sage was another coyote. He took his merry time coming in. Bubba spotted the coyote while he was way out and was off to be the greeting party. As happened throughout the day, when Bubba would go towards the coyotes, they would stop. Whenever I brought Bubba back, the coyote would advance. With military like precision, Bubba advanced, the coyote held his ground; Bubba retreated, the coyote advanced. They played this game until the coyote was within 150 yards. Light is fleeting quickly and just when I’m ready to take him, the coyote ducks behind a knoll. We wait a couple of minutes but he’s a no show. Bubba runs out to where he disappeared and I see the coyote appear about 100 yards from where he was last seen, circling, trying to get a whiff of the hound. I don’t waste any time and drop him in his tracks. Like I said earlier, it had the makings of a great day.
What a fantastic hunt. Two coyotes at the end of a wonderful day, sacks full of fur and the best hound in the world. (my world anyway /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ooo.gif) I am truly blessed.
Six coyotes topped off a wonderful 25 coyote and two fox hunting trip. I realize not many of us have the luxury of hunting coyotes for ten days in a row. Coyote hunting is my passion. I would much rather be calling coyotes than deer, elk, or bird hunting. Therefore, I make my hunting plans around coyotes. Call me strange, better yet, addicted, but nothing else provides the excitement, time and time again! I’m hooked and have been for 30+ years.
Thanks for reading Bubba "The Wonder Dog" and my story. Hopefully they'll be plenty more to come.
HighPlainsDrifter
New member
Thanks for sharing your great adventure Mike. Bubba is looking as good as ever. I hope to make a trip up to your neck of the woods in December to do some calling. If not, I will have to wait until February when I go on my annual ice trip to Peck. My buddy who bought Nathan's old house there in Jordan now owns the [beeep] Creek Bar there as well. Take care Mike and thanks again for a fantastic read.
rockinbbar
New member
Mike, Looks like a great time was had by all! (Except the coyotes) /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
Thanks for sharing with us.
Barry
Thanks for sharing with us.
Barry
Orneryolfart357
New member
Great Story ! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinning-smiley-003.gif
mikegranger
Active member
Maumau,
Thanks for the positive comments. Bubba is strictly an outside dog and is either in the kennel or rides in the back of the truck.
Thanks for the positive comments. Bubba is strictly an outside dog and is either in the kennel or rides in the back of the truck.
mikegranger
Active member
HPD, try to make it over if you can. The coyote population appears to be on the upswing. Not much ice on the lake yet but by mid December their should be plenty.