Well this trip was much different from last month, headed farther East and hunted all new country, had the camera ready and was excited to at least see some coyotes. Started out with 3 late afternoon sets , first set up was new ground, looked good had heavy sage for cover and a 1000 gallon stock tank full of water close by, I set up in a cross wind with camera and gun ready for a upwind approach since anything downwind will scent me before I ever see them ( right?) oh no, after several min. I slowly turn to the downwind side just to check and there it was a nice bright shinny dog sitting in the sun watching me, I slowly turn the camera, the coyote slips into the tall sage, while undercover I try to get the rifle turned, as I slowly look there it is again stopped and looking at me, as I get ready the smart old dog had to scent me and bolted out of sight, the next 2 sets where just the opposite , got set up had the cross wind figured out dog comes in on the other side of camera and rifle, it seemed like everything I have ever learned about the wile e coyote was thrown out the door, tomorrow had to be better. Was up at dark headed out had no idea where I was going, but I new I would know when I saw it. After driving for about 30 mins. I found a nice spot with small rolling hills with heavy brush water near by and small openings, great spot, this time no camera had a belly full of it and needed a kill, started out with tys close reed distress call, went to the small horn with a growl, then back to gentle distress with some short squeaks, 15 mins. later, off to my left, there he sits shinning in the morning sun like a beacon of light , I have my new decoy spinning downwind 30 yds from me, the dog is looking at the decoy, I let out a small chirp, he heads into the brush, I turn and set the circle on my coyote special right in the middle of the next opening, sure enough he stops looks at the decoy, I take a nice deep breath, calm myself down and squeezed off a round, old painless drops another one. that was worth the whole trip right there, the decoy worked great, the calls are the best, and I was able to control myself for a great experience. Well the rest of the hunt was almost as good, called in 4 more had no shot at 3 of them, but the last set had the sun at my back wind in my face heavy sage all around with a little elevation to see over the brush, no sooner let out a distress call and in charges a big old gray looking dog, he checks up looks to the right and disappears into the sage, I lose him for a few mins. all of sudden there it is, way out on top of a bare hill top barking at me, I know that familiar bark, he has me spotted and is letting me know, I sit still, wait for 5 mins, ranged him at 450, another 5 mins. go by, I decide to let him know who's boss (haha) I steady myself, anchor in the rifle, he's standing broadside still barking at me he's not going to budge, I put the small dot right on his head and squeeze , off he goes to live another day, all is quiet the sun is setting, and as I walk back to the truck, I'm thinking, boy I showed him( hahaha). I always try to learn as much as I can on each trip, what I discovered this time was running the camera and shooting just don't work for me, new country is fun but ya got know where to set up, and most important of all the song dog, the grey ghost, the wile e coyotes instinct will always be a challenge, thats why I always go back for some more.
