Ramblings and Such From Hunting Coyote

It's not a true hibernation they will hole up for the cold weather, I have seen them stay in for a month or two depending on how long it stays cold.

That's interesting. I was told long ago that coons don't like the snow since thier feet are so sensitive. I don't think thats entirely true since I've seen ALOT of coon tracks in the snow and seen many out and about in all conditions.

I don't think much of anything likes to get out in subzero temperatures and especially if it's also windy, I know I for sure don't and I'm glad that I don't have to work in it now. I have taken a lot of fox, bobcats and coyote in cold weather, but not many racoons or skunks. I did see a bat out in January so turned it in for rabies testing it had white nose disease, a fungal infection, but tested negative for rabies .

This is a good example of why I told the control guys that when they knew the plane or helicopter was going to fly make sure that they had the fences set up with snares. I went out this morning and they were spraying with the plane this coyote ran from the plane and was in my snare maybe 5 minutes when I got there. It's a bigger mountain coyote standing between 24 and 26 inches at the shoulders and weighing around 50 to 60 pounds. notice how grey he is even on the sides and that his legs aren't the rusty red color of his face and ears. I love my trued and tuned Ruger SR 22 one shot at 10 feet hit him in the darker hair above his eyes centered in his forehead. If you visualize a Y from his ears to his nose tip with the vee coming together above the eyes that is a good quick killing shot for them using a smaller caliber round. As always, I talk like I am visiting with some guys that may not have had the experience that others might have had the opportunity to have had. I learned to shoot hogs in that spot when I was around 8 years old using a 22 rifle with longs or shorts as every New Year's Day, we butchered two to four of them for our year's supply of meat.

That is a pretty coyote

Thanks

Buck

I like that color phase myself; the Montana pale coyotes are really pretty coyotes also. I worked with a guy that asked me if I could tan one for him to take to his in-laws down in Arizona. I caught a beautiful mountain coyote the next day, so I tanned it for him, he took it to his father-in-law. He came back after his Christmas vacation and asked me was that really a coyote or was it a wolf? My in-laws said they couldn't use it, and they didn't think it was a coyote they were positive it was a wolf. He talked to them and assured them that it was a coyote, and it was just a different subspecies than they were used to seeing in Arizona, and they finally said it would be okay for their purposes. I really think that they probably do have some wolf genes in them.

What a pretty coyote and what a Giant?

Hal

DSheetz said:

every New Year's Day, we butchered two to four of them

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That is really interesting to me. We always butchered much earlier than that. Basically when the weather got cold enough. I remember us butchering hogs in November most years. This was the late 60s early 70s. Our butcher house definitely did not have refrigeration. Therefore, you had the butcher. when it was cold 'enough. We butchered hogs in the fall, and steers in the spring time. We too used a 22 rim fire to put them down.
Thanks for sharing that, Dave. Did anyone else butcher at different times than those?

We always butchered both the hogs and steers when the weather allowed. Usually in winter and normally around the holidays as we kids were off school and more help. Many times we would slaughter both the hogs and steers the same day, Saturday, would cut up the hogs on Sunday and yes rendered the lard and everything. The steers would hang the week in the barn and were cut up the following weekend. Had to be cold enough for all that as we didn't have a cooler. And yes a single shot Winchester .22 did the job and still does!

Yes, cold weather and enough people off work or out of school to get it done efficiently. We weren't the only ones doing it, so you had a place on the list where you fit in time wise, some were earlier, and some came after, Thanksgiving, was this person's day, ours was New Years Day nearly all of the Holidays except Christmas were butchering days. Sugar cured the hams, shoulders and bacon.

My grandparent's lived 70 miles out of town with no electricity when they were young in the 1920's and 1930's. When they needed meat during the summer months, they would shoot an antelope cut it up fry it all put a layer of lard in the bottom of a 25-gallon crock, a layer of fried meat a layer of meat and so on to the end of the meat. The lard kept the air and bugs off of the meat and cooking it kept it from spoiling very fast. Grandma heated the lard enough that it would be really soft and form to the crock filling all the voids, no air in it!! Scoop out some lard and fork out what meat you needed and fry it again to heat it through while frying your sliced potatoes for supper. Sliced salt pork and eggs for breakfast, not sure that I want to live that way today I'm pretty spoiled with my easy life of today's world!!!!!! Good old days my back side life was simpler they say bah humm bug you had to work hard just to stay alive then.

DSheetz said:

My grandparent's lived 70 miles out of town with no electricity when they were young in the 1920's and 1930's. When they needed meat during the summer months, they would shoot an antelope cut it up fry it all put a layer of lard in the bottom of a 25-gallon crock, a layer of fried meat a layer of meat and so on to the end of the meat. The lard kept the air and bugs off of the meat and cooking it kept it from spoiling very fast. Grandma heated the lard enough that it would be really soft and form to the crock filling all the voids, no air in it!! Scoop out some lard and fork out what meat you needed and fry it again to heat it through while frying your sliced potatoes for supper. Sliced salt pork and eggs for breakfast, not sure that I want to live that way today I'm pretty spoiled with my easy life of today's world!!!!!! Good old days my back side life was simpler they say bah humm bug you had to work hard just to stay alive then.

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Life may be easier, but the food isn't nearly as good, as it was when grandma cooked it.

Grandma didn't get in a rush when doing anything. Time had a different meaning to them. My granddad always told me you need to take a break at noon time but when you are using mechanical equipment it doesn't need a break like a good team does, so we keep on going instead of resting at noon. We don't stop in time to take care of the team before it gets dark now either. If you take your time and cook your food slower and don't get in a rush, use some bacon grease, instead of some other oils it will taste differently. The presiritives we have today do change the taste, the cooking oils or lack of them change the taste. Take a bag of pinto beans wash them and sort out the bad ones and small rocks, put them in a pan of water to soak and rehydrate, for a couple of hours before cooking them rinse them, put them on a low heat till they get some wisps of steam coming off of the top of the water not a boil, add in some ham hocks of just some good cured ham. Start in the morning just after breakfast and let them simmer all day and your beans will taste as close to grandmas as you can get. We have as varied a diet today as there has been since we had to scrounge for food and were nomadic with our diet changing with the seasons and terrain we were in. Food always tastes better when it's prepared with love, by someone you know instead of a stranger that doesn't care about anything but a paycheck and getting it out to the table as fast as they can. But even in our homes we are in a rush to cook, we get home, get the family home we are tired from working all day everyone is hungry we open the fridge take out a meal open it pop it in the microwave or oven, do some things around the house start a load of laundry, the timer goes off we sit down gobble our food not really taking the time to taste it as we have things to do before we fall into bed for some rest, we finally stop thinking about the butthead we have to deal with at work and fall into a sleep but not a good restful sleep. We wake up and rush to shower brush our teeth make sure everyone is up and cleaned then rush to the freezer pull out box of frozen premade, precooked muffins with a sausage patty, egg and slice of soybean cheese, pop in the micro and rush out the door hoping that we don't get in a traffic jam that makes us late while we stuff the sandwich in our mouth as we navigate traffic then gulp down a mouthful of lukewarm coffee to wash it all down. I actually got up at four and cooked my morning meal made me a lunch and got to work early enough to have a cup in a relaxed manner. that is when you would hear the coyotes telling you where they were and making your day better. Then I would get home about 1:30 or 2:00 grab a nap of 10-15 minutes before going to the job that paid the bills. I got home around midnight from it and did it all over again, I didn't learn how to sleep till I was in my 60's I self-medicated with work instead of drugs or alcohol but I did smoke two packs a day for forty-two years and about four packs a day in 1975 and 1976. Life is a learning experience, and I might just learn something new again today, my grandma learned new things till the day she died, I hope to also.

Today we have winds of 30 mph with gusts over 50 mph, but it's warm and partly cloudy, not a good day for hunting or calling but a good day to catch up on homework things and as it's Sunday there are other things that we should do as well, depending on our own way of thinking! I hope you all take the time to enjoy family and friends today.