Dave, when we met and talked you said we had to keep this thread going and I need to write some of my experiences. I hate to type, but here goes. I will give it a try.
The Story of a Coyote Named "Lucky"
The story of Lucky began four years ago. I was calling a sagebrush flat just off the Missouri River where the sagebrush met some badlands like hills that ran for a couple of miles. Once you got up on top of the badland hills it was rolling pasture again. The coyotes like to bed and den in those badland type hills. I had tucked myself back against a clay bank on the hillside and started squealing. After a couple minutes here he came around the base of a knob that didn't quite jut out into the sagebrush. He was coming so hard I could hear his feet slapping the ground as he ran. He ran right at me and without even breaking stride or changing his speed he did an about face and ran away as I was barking trying to get him to stop. He ran around the knob into the next coulee and proceeded to bark at me. Should have taken him on the run. Lesson learned.
The next year I went to the same spot and set up and here he comes again. He does the same thing and I don't shoot. Lesson learned, again. I am a slow learner. Two years ago went back and set up in the same spot. However, he changed up on me. Instead or running around the knob which is only about 40 feet tall, he climbed it and also up came his girlfriend. There he was sky-lined, broadside, and looking down on me from about 80 yards away. I don't know how I could have missed, but I don't take shots on sky-lined animals especially when I am pointed directly at a farm. I was hoping he would step down below the skyline, but he didn't. He and his girlfriend bailed off the backside and took off. I called for a few minutes hoping I might entice a different coyote in, but no such luck. Strike three. That coyote is living a charmed life. Before I packed up I looked off to my right and about 600 yards away was his head stuck up just over the hill looking at me.
Now you might ask how do I know it is the same coyote. Lucky is a very big coyote. I have never seen a coyote that is as long from his hips to his shoulders. Looks like his mom putting on a stretching machine when he was younger. His length definitely sets him apart.
Well, last year the first morning at the farm I got up and decided to try the coulee next to the house as they have coyotes in the yard about every night. Walked up about a half a mile and set up at the head of the main coulee which is the result of three smaller coulees coming together off the flat. I sat with my back against some buckbrush and had a great view of everything. However, there was a short 30 yard long side coulee right at the top off to my left that if a coyote came down that he would go out of sight below a little rise off to my left and I wouldn't see it again until it was right on top of me and I hadn't brought the shotgun. You guessed it. After calling for about ten minutes a coyote comes out of that side coulee and stops on the hillside. When he charges down the hill toward me I can see it is Lucky. I notice his length right away. He goes out of sight and I scoot up a little to shoot around a piece of sagebrush. I can see his ears as he is trotting through the tall grass. My gun is up on my sticks. All of a sudden there his head is filling up my whole scope at 20 yards. I say to myself, "don't shoot him in the head you will make a bloody mess when you skin him. He will take a step up to get a better look and then I can just shoot him in the chest. You better shoot he is getting antsy". He was starting to look to his right and then his left and I knew he was going to take off. "You had better shoot. No don't make a mess". And then he was gone. I watched him run back across the skyline and by his length knew it was Lucky. Is there such a thing as strike four?
Well, I am headed back up there in a couple of weeks to see if Lucky and I can renew our relationship. I hope he is still alive and hasn't been run over, shot, trapped, or died of a disease. I sure look forward to another encounter. The saga of Lucky continues. Wish me luck.
