My youngest daughter really wanted me to take her out calling for coyotes this past Saturday. My main fishing partner outside of my own kids likes to coyote hunt as well. So between the two of them I figured I better dust off the caller and my rifle. To be honest I sort'a had the itch to go anyway. It proved to be a fun day overall. On our very first stand of the morning, right as it was getting just light enough to shoot, I let out a howl. I had no sooner finished and my daughter exclaims; "Dad there is one right there on the ridge in front of us!" There were two ridges in front of us, so I assumed she meant the far ridge. I asked which ridge and was surprised when she said the close one. It took me a second to pick out the coyote in the dim light. Even when I did find it, it wasn't easy to see because of the brush and lack of daylight. I remember thinking I sure hope it looks brighter in my scope. It did, and one quick shot later the coyote was dead. That entire stand from when we sat down to when I put the coyote on the ground was less than one minute. That almost never happens. He obviously was really close and when I let out that howl, he wasn't having it, and wanted to know who was in his territory.
My daughter had to go to work so we dropped her off and headed back out. I decided to stop by a rancher friend's house and ask for permission to hunt. He wasn't home so I called him on my cell phone. He gave me the green light to have at'em. So I jump in my truck to leave. His parking area was covered in ice from driving his ranch and feed trucks all over the place. It was relatively flat so I wasn't very concerned. My tires started to spin so I reached down to flip the switch to go into 4 high. My sissy Ford F150 decided to have the 4 wheel drive go out in that moment. So there I am stuck in this guys drive way. Thank goodness my partner is a big fellar at around 6'3" and 340 lbs. He gets out and helps push me out far enough to get on some non-icy ground. I can't say I have ever loved this F150 and that relationship just fell another notch. I have got to figure out how to afford another Toyota Tacoma. I need Toyota-Tough, not Fussy-Ford. I'm struggling between repairing the truck or just burning it to the ground for being such a pain in the rear over the years.
Enough about that. We get to the next stand and I was able to call in a pair of coyotes. The female held back about 300 yards or better, but the big male came within 150 yards and Big Mike was able to put the smack down on the coyote. Boys, this is a big sucker. Remember my partner isn't a little fellar so that should give you some perspective on just how big this coyote really is. The wind picked up after this stand and pretty much shut us down for the day.
Despite the truck issue it was a great day spent with my daughter and a good friend. As we were hiking back out I took this photograph. I like how it turned out and think it's a great parting shot to close out this post.
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Originally Posted by Chicken Dinner
