No April fooling.
04-03-2017, 02:59 PM
#1
Nontypical Buck
Thread Starter
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: MICHIGAN
Posts: 2,568
No April fooling.
Was not April fooling Saturday, Eric picked me up at 6:00 AM and we stopped at Tim Horton’s for coffee and a breakfast sandwich and a donut to go. We eat and talk as we go and arrive at the farm we are going to make our first stand of the day right at 7:02 AM. We can see a couple hundred yards in the light so we start slogging down the lane across a hay field to a fence line. We take 2 weasel ball decoys out in the hay field about 100 yards from us to the south east corner so the wind is in our favor.
I have never hunted this farm before but Eric has, they hunted it a month and a half ago after the farmer called and requested help with his coyote sightings. John, Dean and Eric went to get the important information, where to park, property lines, where & when they are seeing the coyotes and showing them the mug shots of the rest of us letting them know we are part of the group and may show up to hunt the place.
We start the day out with a squealing piglet in distress as the bright orb finally makes it over the tree tops. We have had 3.5 inches of rain in less than 7 days so figured the coyotes would be hungry. I know I have not seen to much moving about here at home except early deer returning from a feeding area and late afternoon heading back the same way. I think the call had been going only about 5 minutes and 3 come in hot from the south and stop to look at the decoys.
They are between Eric and my quadrant so easy shot for either of us, Eric signals I should take the lead one and he will go for tail in Charlie. I fire and hear two quick shots from Eric we had 3 coyotes down that quick but waited our standard 30 minutes never the less as some times another coyote or two will show up despite the rifle shots.
To wet to risk driving down the lane so we make two trips getting gear and the coyotes out all 3 females and still good fur.
We drive to another place about 10 miles away and once again it is so darn muddy walking back to make a set in a mature woods with a creek running below a cut bank and an old flood plain behind mostly flooded now.
Only set out one decoy down near the water’s edge where we know from past experience the coyotes like to skirt as they come to the call. We are running that pig again and was just about ready to pack it in when a lone coyote shows out of some bushes about 75 yards away in my area. I take the shot as it bent to get a drink coyote lost the top of its head doing that. We wait a little longer and see no more in 45 minutes so again we pack it in.
We drive another 25 miles to the next farm we are going to hunt getting there just in time to lend a hand doing some grunt work. Farmer had gotten his big John deer 4440 stuck earlier that morning spreading manure. Was in so bad he had to call the neighbor with his big challenger with duels and FWA to pull it out.
We helped him get his duels on so he could finish spreading manure***.
He had told us that they had been hearing some coyotes in the evenings for a couple of weeks. We asked where he was going to be spreading or if we should just leave and come back later. He said they were hauling the manure to his sons farm a mile and a half away so he would not be bothering us. We grab our gear and head out to a hay field not far from a wood lot that had a stone pile on one edge where we set up. Did our normal 30 minute set and saw nothing with fur.
Pack up and go about 30 miles this time and it is going to be our last set as Eric has a wedding to attend at 3:30 and it is almost noon by now.
This farm proved to be a good spot there were big round bales next to a fence line just a bit away from the wood lot. We set both decoys out in the field near some other hay bales and decide to go with a chicken in distress call with one call and a second with the coyote group play sounds. Took close to 10 minutes before a coyote show its self Eric’s turn. Isn’t but a couple minutes later another pokes its head out between hay bales and Eric collects that one too.
All in all it was a great day and all the fur had been in good shape.
*** These are stock tractor pictures.
Al
I have never hunted this farm before but Eric has, they hunted it a month and a half ago after the farmer called and requested help with his coyote sightings. John, Dean and Eric went to get the important information, where to park, property lines, where & when they are seeing the coyotes and showing them the mug shots of the rest of us letting them know we are part of the group and may show up to hunt the place.
We start the day out with a squealing piglet in distress as the bright orb finally makes it over the tree tops. We have had 3.5 inches of rain in less than 7 days so figured the coyotes would be hungry. I know I have not seen to much moving about here at home except early deer returning from a feeding area and late afternoon heading back the same way. I think the call had been going only about 5 minutes and 3 come in hot from the south and stop to look at the decoys.
They are between Eric and my quadrant so easy shot for either of us, Eric signals I should take the lead one and he will go for tail in Charlie. I fire and hear two quick shots from Eric we had 3 coyotes down that quick but waited our standard 30 minutes never the less as some times another coyote or two will show up despite the rifle shots.
To wet to risk driving down the lane so we make two trips getting gear and the coyotes out all 3 females and still good fur.
We drive to another place about 10 miles away and once again it is so darn muddy walking back to make a set in a mature woods with a creek running below a cut bank and an old flood plain behind mostly flooded now.
Only set out one decoy down near the water’s edge where we know from past experience the coyotes like to skirt as they come to the call. We are running that pig again and was just about ready to pack it in when a lone coyote shows out of some bushes about 75 yards away in my area. I take the shot as it bent to get a drink coyote lost the top of its head doing that. We wait a little longer and see no more in 45 minutes so again we pack it in.
We drive another 25 miles to the next farm we are going to hunt getting there just in time to lend a hand doing some grunt work. Farmer had gotten his big John deer 4440 stuck earlier that morning spreading manure. Was in so bad he had to call the neighbor with his big challenger with duels and FWA to pull it out.
We helped him get his duels on so he could finish spreading manure***.
He had told us that they had been hearing some coyotes in the evenings for a couple of weeks. We asked where he was going to be spreading or if we should just leave and come back later. He said they were hauling the manure to his sons farm a mile and a half away so he would not be bothering us. We grab our gear and head out to a hay field not far from a wood lot that had a stone pile on one edge where we set up. Did our normal 30 minute set and saw nothing with fur.
Pack up and go about 30 miles this time and it is going to be our last set as Eric has a wedding to attend at 3:30 and it is almost noon by now.
This farm proved to be a good spot there were big round bales next to a fence line just a bit away from the wood lot. We set both decoys out in the field near some other hay bales and decide to go with a chicken in distress call with one call and a second with the coyote group play sounds. Took close to 10 minutes before a coyote show its self Eric’s turn. Isn’t but a couple minutes later another pokes its head out between hay bales and Eric collects that one too.
All in all it was a great day and all the fur had been in good shape.
*** These are stock tractor pictures.
Al
