possumal
New member
Fellow yoters: You may have read the details of this post on some of the other forums, as I have posted them several times. I want to make sure that everyone knows that "Whack em and stack em" isn't mandatory to have a great hunt. My recent trip to Iowa, Kansas, and S. Dakota did not produce a massive pile of fur, but I still consider it to be the best hunt of my life. I think you will agree when you read the details of my journal:
Posted: Thu Dec 28, 2006 3:23 am Post subject: Best hunt of my life
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Fellow yoters: If you are looking for a "Whack em and stack em" post full of fur, you will be disappointed, as my recent trip to Iowa, Kansas, and S. Dakota did not produce record kills. Still, I consider it to be the best hunt of my life, and you will readily see why when you read my journal:
Hunters journal for trip to Iowa, Kansas, and S. Dakota:
I will be posting these details on several of the forums, as I want to make sure that as many people as possible know the facts about some really great people and a really great decoy dog. Here is how my trip went:
1. Left Nicholasville, Ky. Dec. 15 at about 7:30 p.m. and drove straight through to the home of Rich and Mary Cronk in Council Bluffs, Iowa. As many of you know, Rich had gall bladder surgery a few weeks before my arrival, and was unable to go hunting. This was naturally a disappointment to me, as I had looked forward to spending some quality time in the field with him trying to fool Wylie, but that was the only disappointment connected to my stay with the Cronks. I have never been made as welcome anywhere, or treated any better than I was at their home. Rich went out of his way to help me on some of my “McGyver inventions”, and Mary kept us laughing and eating all the time it seemed. I was so hyper from all the driving and anticipation, that I sounded like I was vaccinated with a phonograph needle most of the time, trying to consolidate 6 months of discussions into 3 days. Rich and Mary both talked to my wife, Nedra, on the phone, and Rich asked Nedra how she could ever get me to shut up? Typically, she replied that she usually encouraged me to go hunting out in Iowa, Kansas, and S. Dakota. I made such a fuss over the buffalo horn howlers that Rich had been working on that he surprisingly put one together for me and presented it to me, and it was a winner right from the start. As much as I like my Cronk Cowhorn howler and my Killer call, I like this howler even better. So, even though I regretted very much that Rich could not go on to S. Dakota with me, I left there loaded for bear with a new howler and lots of knowledge gained through our conversations. I surely pray to God that Rich will recover fully and accompany me back to S. Dakota in the spring or fall of 2007. We need him active in the sport, as he is surely one of the quality participants we have. The support he gets from Mary sure doesn’t hurt him any either. She possibly feeds him too well though, but that woman can really cook, and it is next to impossible to push away from her dinner table.
2. Left Council Bluff at 3:00 a.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 19, and drove to the home of Jerry Hunsley at Pierre, South
Dakota. Most of you will recognize Jerry as the creator of the “Wiley One Female Howler”, one of the easiest and best howlers to blow available, and the owner of “Wylie”, a Ladner Blackmouth Cur who serves as a decoy dog. I was fully expecting to see a nice kennel out in the yard, but got introduced to Mrs. Hunsley, their two fat cats, and Wylie, who sleeps in his own bed in a bedroom in the house. He is just a big spoiled baby until you get the camo clothes out, and then he transfers into “Decoy Dog Supreme”. Jerry took me out to one of the many ranches he hunts for a couple of late afternoon stands, and it didn’t take long for old Wylie to figure out the new plan, which included me and my FX5 ecaller. For all you fellows out there who subscribe to the theory that dogs can’t think and reason like us brilliant humans, you need to watch this rascal operate and adapt to the method of hunting. We didn’t score that afternoon but old Wylie got adjusted to the new kid in town. Next morning, well before first light, Jerry and Wylie picked me up at my motel, we had breakfast, and then went out to face 35 to 40 mph winds, making the wind chill factor sort of chilly. The country is so beautiful and obviously made for coyotes to prosper, but it is overwhelming to an old central Ky. Possum as far as judging distance goes. What appears to be 350 yds is actually closer to 450 yards, etc.. When Wylie sees a coyote before you do, he lets you know in no uncertain terms, which he promptly did on a particular stand near a “Shelter Break”, which is typically a stand of cedars, and assorted cover that protects the various forms of wildlife and protects the land. The big old male was nearly a perfect match for the yellow looking tumbleweed and prairie grass, and he was giving us a wide berth due to the strong winds and possibly seeing a bunch of deer spook out ahead of us. By the time I got the coyote stopped, I thought he was about 350 yds, I held accordingly and dropped the hammer on my 243, resulting in a thorough dust bath to the coyote, as he was actually 425 yds. Away. When he took off, Wylie took off in the direction he was heading, and put on the dang show I have ever watched, trying to sucker that rascal into coming back to the only game in town. Later, we called in a big pair that I saw coming before Wylie did, at about 1600 yds, which is rare indeed to see them before he does. I told him “Sick em” and he got alert, and when they slid down the black dirt embankment into the ravine, and came bouncing up our side, heading for that delicious FX5 sound I was giving them, they were obviously responding with the though in mind of whipping the pair of coyotes who had the audacity to invade their happy hunting ground. Wyle went down that ridge like a streak and confronted them, and got into a serious “Discussion” about whose grounds it was. Here again, I misjuged the distance and did not shoot when I should have, and Jerry ended up shooting over the big male at about 400 yds, when I should have killed him at 275 yds. My new Bushnell binocular/range finders were not functioning at all which added to all this. So no coyotes stacked and whacked at this point, but great work by the Master Decoy Wylie.
We made our last stand down into the lowest part of one of those massive ravines that feed into the Missouri river eventually. The rancher had been losing pigs and turkeys to the coyotes, so Jerry and I set up in a good spot overlooking an area where the pigs were, and gave them a combination of the Wiley One Female Howler and my Cronk Buffalo Horn howler, with a howl off the FX5 mixed in for good measure. After about two minutes, I gave them about a minute of the FX5 sound “Baby Pig Distress”, which scared all those dang pigs up into the underbrush area. A few minutes later, I switched to one of my sound sequences on the FX5, Two coyotes catching a groundhog, which has a lot of loud, high pitched squealing coming from the groundhog. Two coyotes came so hard on Jerry’s watch that they sailed through the air over the edge of the drop off and slid down the dirt bank toward the FX5’s hiding place, with Wylie meeting them on the dead run, with a lot of vocal arguing going on, ended by the crack of Jerry’s 243. Then it really got confusing to this old Ky. Possum, as a big jackrabbit came bouncing up out of where Jerry’s dead coyote was laying. The female coyote had come up through a deep cut, and I couldn’t see her, and it got dark on us ending my S. Dakota trip far too early for my tastes.
So, in summary this is not a story of whack em and stack em, but it is a story of the nicest people any marsupial could ever meet, and the smartest dog anyone could ever meet. I look forward to training my two Ladner Blackmouth Cur pups, old L. H. Cronk and Possumal’s Ladner Sue, and having them with me next fall when I return to S. Dakota to introduce them to either cousin or possibly uncle Wylie.
I left S. Dakota on Friday morning early, with the intention of stopping at the big Cabela’s at Mitchell, S. Dakota, and then traveling on to Clay Center, Kansas to hunt a couple of days with Rick Paillet of Verminator Predator Calls fame, but he had so many orders for his calls from Cabelas and Bass Pro Shops that he had to work night and day to have a chance to fill the orders. He, too is a super individual and his den looks like the inside of Cabela’s showroom, with the monster elk, caribou, deer, turkey, and coyote he has killed, mostly with a bow. I am going back to hunt with him as soon as I recover from this last trip.
All of you interested in getting quality calls, get you a Cronk Buffalo Horn Howler to do your mail howls, a Wylie One Female Howler from Jerry Hunsley to represent the female and the best Ki-yi’s you could ever ask for, and look at the videos on Jerry’s site, www.Wileyonepredatorcalls.com, and you’ll be fascinated by old Wylie. He is my buddy forever, as is Jerry and his wife.
_________________
Possumal
Posted: Thu Dec 28, 2006 3:23 am Post subject: Best hunt of my life
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fellow yoters: If you are looking for a "Whack em and stack em" post full of fur, you will be disappointed, as my recent trip to Iowa, Kansas, and S. Dakota did not produce record kills. Still, I consider it to be the best hunt of my life, and you will readily see why when you read my journal:
Hunters journal for trip to Iowa, Kansas, and S. Dakota:
I will be posting these details on several of the forums, as I want to make sure that as many people as possible know the facts about some really great people and a really great decoy dog. Here is how my trip went:
1. Left Nicholasville, Ky. Dec. 15 at about 7:30 p.m. and drove straight through to the home of Rich and Mary Cronk in Council Bluffs, Iowa. As many of you know, Rich had gall bladder surgery a few weeks before my arrival, and was unable to go hunting. This was naturally a disappointment to me, as I had looked forward to spending some quality time in the field with him trying to fool Wylie, but that was the only disappointment connected to my stay with the Cronks. I have never been made as welcome anywhere, or treated any better than I was at their home. Rich went out of his way to help me on some of my “McGyver inventions”, and Mary kept us laughing and eating all the time it seemed. I was so hyper from all the driving and anticipation, that I sounded like I was vaccinated with a phonograph needle most of the time, trying to consolidate 6 months of discussions into 3 days. Rich and Mary both talked to my wife, Nedra, on the phone, and Rich asked Nedra how she could ever get me to shut up? Typically, she replied that she usually encouraged me to go hunting out in Iowa, Kansas, and S. Dakota. I made such a fuss over the buffalo horn howlers that Rich had been working on that he surprisingly put one together for me and presented it to me, and it was a winner right from the start. As much as I like my Cronk Cowhorn howler and my Killer call, I like this howler even better. So, even though I regretted very much that Rich could not go on to S. Dakota with me, I left there loaded for bear with a new howler and lots of knowledge gained through our conversations. I surely pray to God that Rich will recover fully and accompany me back to S. Dakota in the spring or fall of 2007. We need him active in the sport, as he is surely one of the quality participants we have. The support he gets from Mary sure doesn’t hurt him any either. She possibly feeds him too well though, but that woman can really cook, and it is next to impossible to push away from her dinner table.
2. Left Council Bluff at 3:00 a.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 19, and drove to the home of Jerry Hunsley at Pierre, South
Dakota. Most of you will recognize Jerry as the creator of the “Wiley One Female Howler”, one of the easiest and best howlers to blow available, and the owner of “Wylie”, a Ladner Blackmouth Cur who serves as a decoy dog. I was fully expecting to see a nice kennel out in the yard, but got introduced to Mrs. Hunsley, their two fat cats, and Wylie, who sleeps in his own bed in a bedroom in the house. He is just a big spoiled baby until you get the camo clothes out, and then he transfers into “Decoy Dog Supreme”. Jerry took me out to one of the many ranches he hunts for a couple of late afternoon stands, and it didn’t take long for old Wylie to figure out the new plan, which included me and my FX5 ecaller. For all you fellows out there who subscribe to the theory that dogs can’t think and reason like us brilliant humans, you need to watch this rascal operate and adapt to the method of hunting. We didn’t score that afternoon but old Wylie got adjusted to the new kid in town. Next morning, well before first light, Jerry and Wylie picked me up at my motel, we had breakfast, and then went out to face 35 to 40 mph winds, making the wind chill factor sort of chilly. The country is so beautiful and obviously made for coyotes to prosper, but it is overwhelming to an old central Ky. Possum as far as judging distance goes. What appears to be 350 yds is actually closer to 450 yards, etc.. When Wylie sees a coyote before you do, he lets you know in no uncertain terms, which he promptly did on a particular stand near a “Shelter Break”, which is typically a stand of cedars, and assorted cover that protects the various forms of wildlife and protects the land. The big old male was nearly a perfect match for the yellow looking tumbleweed and prairie grass, and he was giving us a wide berth due to the strong winds and possibly seeing a bunch of deer spook out ahead of us. By the time I got the coyote stopped, I thought he was about 350 yds, I held accordingly and dropped the hammer on my 243, resulting in a thorough dust bath to the coyote, as he was actually 425 yds. Away. When he took off, Wylie took off in the direction he was heading, and put on the dang show I have ever watched, trying to sucker that rascal into coming back to the only game in town. Later, we called in a big pair that I saw coming before Wylie did, at about 1600 yds, which is rare indeed to see them before he does. I told him “Sick em” and he got alert, and when they slid down the black dirt embankment into the ravine, and came bouncing up our side, heading for that delicious FX5 sound I was giving them, they were obviously responding with the though in mind of whipping the pair of coyotes who had the audacity to invade their happy hunting ground. Wyle went down that ridge like a streak and confronted them, and got into a serious “Discussion” about whose grounds it was. Here again, I misjuged the distance and did not shoot when I should have, and Jerry ended up shooting over the big male at about 400 yds, when I should have killed him at 275 yds. My new Bushnell binocular/range finders were not functioning at all which added to all this. So no coyotes stacked and whacked at this point, but great work by the Master Decoy Wylie.
We made our last stand down into the lowest part of one of those massive ravines that feed into the Missouri river eventually. The rancher had been losing pigs and turkeys to the coyotes, so Jerry and I set up in a good spot overlooking an area where the pigs were, and gave them a combination of the Wiley One Female Howler and my Cronk Buffalo Horn howler, with a howl off the FX5 mixed in for good measure. After about two minutes, I gave them about a minute of the FX5 sound “Baby Pig Distress”, which scared all those dang pigs up into the underbrush area. A few minutes later, I switched to one of my sound sequences on the FX5, Two coyotes catching a groundhog, which has a lot of loud, high pitched squealing coming from the groundhog. Two coyotes came so hard on Jerry’s watch that they sailed through the air over the edge of the drop off and slid down the dirt bank toward the FX5’s hiding place, with Wylie meeting them on the dead run, with a lot of vocal arguing going on, ended by the crack of Jerry’s 243. Then it really got confusing to this old Ky. Possum, as a big jackrabbit came bouncing up out of where Jerry’s dead coyote was laying. The female coyote had come up through a deep cut, and I couldn’t see her, and it got dark on us ending my S. Dakota trip far too early for my tastes.
So, in summary this is not a story of whack em and stack em, but it is a story of the nicest people any marsupial could ever meet, and the smartest dog anyone could ever meet. I look forward to training my two Ladner Blackmouth Cur pups, old L. H. Cronk and Possumal’s Ladner Sue, and having them with me next fall when I return to S. Dakota to introduce them to either cousin or possibly uncle Wylie.
I left S. Dakota on Friday morning early, with the intention of stopping at the big Cabela’s at Mitchell, S. Dakota, and then traveling on to Clay Center, Kansas to hunt a couple of days with Rick Paillet of Verminator Predator Calls fame, but he had so many orders for his calls from Cabelas and Bass Pro Shops that he had to work night and day to have a chance to fill the orders. He, too is a super individual and his den looks like the inside of Cabela’s showroom, with the monster elk, caribou, deer, turkey, and coyote he has killed, mostly with a bow. I am going back to hunt with him as soon as I recover from this last trip.
All of you interested in getting quality calls, get you a Cronk Buffalo Horn Howler to do your mail howls, a Wylie One Female Howler from Jerry Hunsley to represent the female and the best Ki-yi’s you could ever ask for, and look at the videos on Jerry’s site, www.Wileyonepredatorcalls.com, and you’ll be fascinated by old Wylie. He is my buddy forever, as is Jerry and his wife.
_________________
Possumal