bushpilotmexico
New member
I sure hope I'm not boring anyone with my ramblings but this tale has to be told.
You'll remember that after I shot #3 Saturday I decided to make a sage brush blind on the way driving out. I kind of figured, after that female walked down the road, that the yotes seemed to be coming in from the south east and not from the north as I expected.
Yesterday wasn't supposed to be very nice so I decided to treat myself and sleep in until 4:30 and then stick around and have breakfast with the wife. The weather was true to the forecast and I stuck around the house Sunday.
This morning it was up at my regular 4:00 am, had coffee and a bite to eat and slipped out the door around 4:45.
Anyway, do you remember the Kevin Costner movie The Field of Dreams? Do you remember "Build it and they shall come." well in my world of yote hunting I have often said "If they hear you they will come."
I have shot a few dogs over the years but every trip out, for me, is a learning experience. I have often told people that a coyote is a nomadic hunter....a yote just doesn't sit on it's rear end in a field all day waiting for a mouse to come along.
I'm not sure just how far a coyote roams in any given day (maybe someone can clue me in?) but even though they appear to be territorial my guess is any where between 5 to 6 miles in a sort of circular path in any given day.
Now back to my tale....blame it on old age (but the total darkness didn't help) it took me almost 15 minutes to find my sage brush blind. I got settle in, put the Mojo puppy out with the Foxpro beside it.
Back in the blind and waited for daylight, I was sort of disappointed that I couldn't hear any packs of coyotes howling or making noise off in the distance.
At around 6:15 am I started the Foxpro (Mojo was already wagging it's tail). I let that puppy dog squeal for about 15 minutes, then I decided to switch over to a distressed jack rabbit. I kept that up for 10 minutes or so and then switched back to the puppy.
At 6:45 (45 minutes into my stand) my rear end was getting sore and I was reminded about "T'was the night before Christmas and nothing was stirring not even a mouse!"
I got up went down and picked up the Mojo and the Foxpro and went back to my stand. But you know a six sense just told me that there had to be a coyote somewhere in the area. So I sat down and pulled my old faithful PC-1 out of my shirt pocket and started pretending to be a critter in distress.
Five minutes of caterwauling and out of my left eye (he must have come out of a hole in the ground!) I saw a yote to my left. Here are two photos, I added the caption to the large picture and then figured out that it was to small to read so I blew it up.
He or she disappeared down the road to my left, I kept up the noise thinking that it hadn't seen me and might pop up it's head.
Then in front of me I spied yote # 2 and just about choked on my PC-1. I leveled the crosshairs on him and squeezed off my shot. He was dead when he dropped but rolled down the hill about 30 feet or so.
Nice male about 2 years old. I continued making noise and then I spotted a third yote directly in front of me but later ranged it at 350 yards.
Should I have taken the shot? I guess the way it turned out I should have but I was convinced I could call it closer. Unfortunately it never happened but what the heck one yote in the hand is worth 2 in the bush!
This brings up the old question "How long should I stay in my stand?"
Everyone has a different answer, I have heard from 10 minutes to 2 days but most people generally pack it in after 15 or 20 minutes. It goes back to "If they hear you they will come!"
If there's scat and lots of sign in an area don't abandon it too soon, especially if you've got good camo and decent cover and the wind is working for you. I was almost 1 1/2 hours in my sage brush stand.
That pack of 3 dogs didn't hear the Foxpro because they were out of hearing range. What brought them in was me wailing on the PC-1. If I had continued to pack up and leave when I dismantle the Mojo I would have missed # 4 of the season and lots of fun.
You'll remember that after I shot #3 Saturday I decided to make a sage brush blind on the way driving out. I kind of figured, after that female walked down the road, that the yotes seemed to be coming in from the south east and not from the north as I expected.
Yesterday wasn't supposed to be very nice so I decided to treat myself and sleep in until 4:30 and then stick around and have breakfast with the wife. The weather was true to the forecast and I stuck around the house Sunday.
This morning it was up at my regular 4:00 am, had coffee and a bite to eat and slipped out the door around 4:45.
Anyway, do you remember the Kevin Costner movie The Field of Dreams? Do you remember "Build it and they shall come." well in my world of yote hunting I have often said "If they hear you they will come."
I have shot a few dogs over the years but every trip out, for me, is a learning experience. I have often told people that a coyote is a nomadic hunter....a yote just doesn't sit on it's rear end in a field all day waiting for a mouse to come along.
I'm not sure just how far a coyote roams in any given day (maybe someone can clue me in?) but even though they appear to be territorial my guess is any where between 5 to 6 miles in a sort of circular path in any given day.
Now back to my tale....blame it on old age (but the total darkness didn't help) it took me almost 15 minutes to find my sage brush blind. I got settle in, put the Mojo puppy out with the Foxpro beside it.
Back in the blind and waited for daylight, I was sort of disappointed that I couldn't hear any packs of coyotes howling or making noise off in the distance.
At around 6:15 am I started the Foxpro (Mojo was already wagging it's tail). I let that puppy dog squeal for about 15 minutes, then I decided to switch over to a distressed jack rabbit. I kept that up for 10 minutes or so and then switched back to the puppy.
At 6:45 (45 minutes into my stand) my rear end was getting sore and I was reminded about "T'was the night before Christmas and nothing was stirring not even a mouse!"
I got up went down and picked up the Mojo and the Foxpro and went back to my stand. But you know a six sense just told me that there had to be a coyote somewhere in the area. So I sat down and pulled my old faithful PC-1 out of my shirt pocket and started pretending to be a critter in distress.
Five minutes of caterwauling and out of my left eye (he must have come out of a hole in the ground!) I saw a yote to my left. Here are two photos, I added the caption to the large picture and then figured out that it was to small to read so I blew it up.
He or she disappeared down the road to my left, I kept up the noise thinking that it hadn't seen me and might pop up it's head.
Then in front of me I spied yote # 2 and just about choked on my PC-1. I leveled the crosshairs on him and squeezed off my shot. He was dead when he dropped but rolled down the hill about 30 feet or so.
Nice male about 2 years old. I continued making noise and then I spotted a third yote directly in front of me but later ranged it at 350 yards.
Should I have taken the shot? I guess the way it turned out I should have but I was convinced I could call it closer. Unfortunately it never happened but what the heck one yote in the hand is worth 2 in the bush!
This brings up the old question "How long should I stay in my stand?"
Everyone has a different answer, I have heard from 10 minutes to 2 days but most people generally pack it in after 15 or 20 minutes. It goes back to "If they hear you they will come!"
If there's scat and lots of sign in an area don't abandon it too soon, especially if you've got good camo and decent cover and the wind is working for you. I was almost 1 1/2 hours in my sage brush stand.
That pack of 3 dogs didn't hear the Foxpro because they were out of hearing range. What brought them in was me wailing on the PC-1. If I had continued to pack up and leave when I dismantle the Mojo I would have missed # 4 of the season and lots of fun.
Last edited by a moderator: