Coyotes were not moving today

[Jerry malbeck]

Ivar and i set out @ odark thirty , It was a freezing rain as we headed to the first stand .I had seen a pair in this area the last two times i went by it and figured they would be within hearing distance . no takers except a couple of crows, we moved to a local ranch and did manage to spook one from his bed as we were getting set up , fast runner and no time for a shot . as the day went on i was noticing all the tracks from yesterday had been filled in with last nights snow .The snow was alot deeper in the area we were calling and there just wasn't any sign to be found .Deep snow and a nice moon last night had them bedded down  early i recon .  @ about noon i figured it was time to pull the plug and head for a new area .
On the second stand i called in what Ivar said looked like a yoy but it wasn't meant to be as it slipped out as fast as it came in . The third stand in the new area turned out to be quite entertaining ( for me ) . I had Ivar set up down below me watching a juicy lil draw ( i figured they would use the low ground to get to the call ) about 20 minutes into the set i spotted a coyote about 4 to 500 yrds out on a ridge . He wouldn't commit and just paced back and forth ( territory boundary perhaps) .  This went on for about 10 minutes and i figured what the heck , lets change it up . I threw out a distress and here he came hell bent for election , I lost sight of him as he came off the hill and was patiently waiting for him to appear when i saw yet another coyote coming in from the far right out about 500 yrds . I sat back and waited for the first target of opportunity when all of a sudden two more coyotes came charging in from the right at about 200 yrds . I muted the caller hoping to slow them down and get on the squeaker to put them in front of Ivar but it was not going to happen . The farthest out would even slow down , and the other stopped for just a half second . The closest @ about 200 became the trophy .  worked hard all day and had all the coyotes come in on ONE STAND   We called a few more stands with no takers . Not a very good day of calling but i think Ivar learned a few things and i know we both had fun ,Hes kinda UGLY that's why he wears the mask he is a great guy to call with , looking forward to doing a little howling with him later in the year .  

[Rgrady35]

Nice story and dog.

[Machias]

Very cool, congrats to both of you!

[hoosier85]

pretty awesome story. nice yote

[FALFire]

Sounds like you guys had a great day. I think you are right about the dogs not moving about in the mornings, I have seen more of them out around noon or later the past few days. Good job 

[Wanttohuntmore]

Funny, I thought I was the only one that feels that they don't move as much on the cold mornings.  11 am is my favorite time though, I think I've killed 40% of my yotes within 10 min of 11am, and I usually hunt daybreak till dark.  Course, 11am is probably when I'm farthest from the roads too!

[Sidewinder]

Nice going. It is always exciting to call in some coyotes and play with the sounds that earn some good results. I called my last coyote at about 11:00 as well last week.

[ivarhusa]

Nice writeup, Jerry.  I couldn't have said it better myself.  You gave me some things to work on, and that was my ultimate motivation for hunting with you.  In fact, it makes me feel a little better about my stands where nothing comes in (or so I think).

You got me thinking again about my sticks.  How silent one has to be when getting on a coyote. I have very limited spinal flexibility, and that limits the contortions I can go through to bring the rifle to bear at the right location (that would be the chest cavity   )  I plan to get into my shop this afternoon to see if I can turn my imagination into reality.  I have in mind a pickle fork design. A monopod with two tines, about 8" apart, and a one-hand adjustable shelf to perch the rifle on.  It remains to be seen if I can translate this into something practical.

Some day I will share pictures of my history with home-brew shooting sticks.  It should be worth a laugh, if only for the absurd effort I put into it.

[Jerry malbeck]

I figured you would be out calling today  Your idea on the new set of sticks is a great idea . I would like to see a picture when you get them done .

[ivarhusa]

I almost did go out today, but I need to percolate some of what you taught me through my head.  I am planning to go out with Sidewinder on Tuesday.  Soon enough?   

[Jerry malbeck]

Probably will be better callin as the moon is going down .