Friends,
Shortly before dusk this evening I headed to familiar hunting territory, to see if I could locate coyotes to hunt later this fall and winter. I hunt along about a 15 mile stretch of several roads, where there is FFTH (Feel Free to Hunt) land most of the length.
It was past "shooting light" as I made my first stop alongside the road. I popped out of the car, listened for a minute or two, then started the e-caller with a group howl. I'd pause and listen, then howl again. I repeated this process every mile or so.
In the distance I could see the outlines of cloud that were briefly illuminated by flashes of lightning.
At about the sixth stop, I was at a place I'd never hunted, but I let the caller sing out. Lo and behold, I got my first howling response at 9:50 pm (O-dark hundred)! We barked and howled back and forth for about 5 minutes before I moved on.
I came back to the site about 20 minutes later (retracing my route home) and tried to howl him up again, but no luck.
I was disappointed that sites where I had taken coyotes last winter showed no current evidence of habitation. The site I
did elicit a howl from poses tactical problems. The land is nearly vegetation-free (stubble). Not a stick of sagebrush in view. Getting into a hunting position without being detected will be a challenge. Not being seen, when there is absolutely nothing on the ground to sidle up to is another negative factor. I will have my new M2D Camo going for me though. It blends very well with grassy backgrounds, even stubble.
A pleasant night. Perhaps tomorrow night I will cruise another hunting area with the same intent.
I found the Kanati Tek e-caller easy to use. I was feeling the membrane keypad in the dark, speculating on "what I'd like". I thought it would be a good idea to have a bump on the keypad to orient my fingers in the dark. As my fingers traced the buttons, I realized that it already had such a bump!
Sweet.
Tomorrow holds another fascinating diversion. I will be at a nascent woolly mammoth archaeological dig (
http://mcbones.org/), meeting with the lead paleontologist and other key supporters. The site is being set up for initial excavations in the coming months. I do the mapping for them.
Ivar
