Judd Cooney's article in fur-fish game>hunting the high country.

M

Mike Eversole

New member
Anybody got any stories on hunting coyote and bobcats way up in the winter wilderness.

That sure looked like alot of fun but also alot of planning.I guess you have to really be on top of the weather and ready for the worst of coarse.

How many of you rocky mountain guys have did it?

Mike in Ohio>but moving to Colorado...
 
I haven't read the article but I do like to read the stories from Alaskan trappers out of FF&G they run lines across the wilderness staying in cabins/shanties they built in summer along the way. Running on top of frozen rivers and crossing paths with a wolf pack or two, wild country without telephones or anyone else around for miles..... makes for a good read but I'd probably end up as a pile of wolf scat. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

A book you might enjoy is "Alaska's Wolf Man" by Jim Rearden it's the 1915-1955 widerness adventures of Frank Glaser, a predator control agent.
 
Haven't read the article yet but one day i will be doing a hunt up there i can guanantee that. pack in for two weeks into the great unknown and see if i can get a pack of those wolves to come to the dinner bell. There is something about a hunt that if you get into trouble your the only one for miles to get you out of it. what a rush that must be ahhhh the simple life!
 
Tom64,

I'll look up the month the article Judd wrote and post it,I was being hurried by someone wanting the computer.
Also >do a search for that book,as a matter of fact I had looked over an article similar to the one you spoke of.It was a guy who ran a trapline using sled dogs>>sounded mighty adventurous.

I figure some of the rocky mountain hunters have some stories and insight on hunting in the high mountain wilderness.

Your comment of ending up a pile of wolf scat /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif reminded me of a friend/co-worker i worked with on the offshore drilling rigs in louisana.He had a saying after returning to work after a week off[work schedule 7 days on 7 off]said he felt like a wolf ate him and s*** him over a cliff.In other words too many cocktails /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif .Mike

edited to say>>
ND coyote killer,
I want to do a pack in hunt someday just like the big game hunts,go way >>way in yonder> walk in Jeremiah Johnsons old foot prints.Yuup the good life..ME
 
Sorry. Tried to post a link to "Alaska's Wolf Man", but it isn't working. Go to Amazon.com > books, and type in the title. Good book. Tells it the way it was.
 
I met Judd Cooney in 1970 when he was a Game Warden for the state of Colorado and lived in Pagosa Springs, Colorado.

He has a world of knowlewdge about hunting and the outdoors that is probably hard to find in this day and age. Any article written by him is well worth reading.

I know I have always read articles written by him over the years when I have found them in various outdoor publications, and have never been disapointed. - BCB
 
Ditto on the book by Jim Rearden "Alaska's Wolf Man" One of the best outdoor adventure books I've ever read... A must read if you have ever dreamed of of being out in the "real" wilderness.

Mike, One of the best hunts I've ever been on was spending two weeks in an area that required a 50 mile snowmobile ride and than hiking in on snowshoes. We never saw another soul during that time and had hundreds of square miles to ourselves. No phones, TV, newspaper, etc.. nothing but the occasional jet trail in the sky to remind you that there was civilization somewhere. I've never felt so free in all my life. A hot shower did feel pretty good after being out in the sticks that long though. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif
 
Was that a recent article?? I'd love to read it, if u can get the info to us.

I hunt big game often close to Pagosa Spgs., and Judd still lives down there somewhere-- i hope to meet him 1 day, as he sure helped put the bug in this misplaced easterner years ago, when i read of his coyote hunts in the mtns. of CO.

I hunted a couple of ranches close to Westcliffe, CO 2 years ago, and had some fun encounters-- i was hunting with a guy who had never taken a coyote before-- but his gun wasn't sighted in, and he missed a couple i howled in for him that day. Shame too, they were nice dogs (judged on the hoof-- that is). He was looking to put one on the wall-- but didn't happen that day. I tell you tho, there's nothing quite like ending the day in the lower mtns. chasing dogs. It has a particular appeal to it that gets right into your soul.
 
Guys,

My nephews have been rooting thru my hunting reading materials again"bless their hearts"the article was about 4 months ago.It shows 2 red fox on the cover i think.
I read about Judd in Jim Daughtery's varmint hunting digest book in the 70's.I bought my first real varmint hunting rifle based on his article in the book.A remington 700 varmint special in 6mm,sadly it was stolen sure wish i still had it of coarse.

Thanks Bob Mc,
It's 17.95 on Amazon.
Bayou,
yuup Judd speaks of Pagosa Springs in the article,of how, when he moved there the gov't trapper had the coyotes well under control until they outlawed poisoning>>then the coyotes all but wiped out the fox and bobcats.

Lonny,
That sounds like a cool hunting place>50 miles on snowmachine then start hiking...Where did you sleep out yonder?

sscoyote,
Do you do some stalking in the mountains?seems like i remember that.
I'm moving to Boulder, Colorado in the spring,hopefully i can get down to meet you someday.ME
 
Mike-- i'm a backpack hunter, and as such have switched to the specialty pistols because of their portability. The area we hunt is quite aways back in, and we have most of it to ourselves. We're almost 90% on elk there, and it's as much a wilderness adventure as any wilderness i've hunted.

I remember that book u're talking about-- in fact i've still got it-- it's called Varmint Hunter's Digest-- terrifically written by 1 of the best in the business for sure.

If u get Varmint Hunter Mag. i had an article on spotting and stalking coyotes in it awhile back-- maybe that's where u got the spot and stalk idea from.

Be glad to meet u-- look me up when u get out here, i'm in the book-- Steve Hugel, Pueblo.
 
Steve (SSCoyote),
I saw your picture a while back with you and your 900+ yard coyote taken with one of your hand rifles. Good shooting. Your artical on stalking coyotes was an enjoyable read. My first notice of your hunting exploits was when your late friend, Earl, wrote about all those sitting coyotes in a piece that was published in the July 99 issue of the VHA. Thanks for keeping us informed and entertained.
 
Steve is the one to ask about long range (handgun) shooting. Maybe he'll share some of his exploites from the International Tactical Rifleman's Championship. He and his partner did an outstanding job. Wish I could have been there with an XP or two.
And a camera! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
I sure have to agree that the handgun is much lighter to carry around than a rifle. I would like to do some longer distances but I only have 200 meters at my club but there is a 500 in Wausau WI.
A backpack hunting trip sure would be the ultimate hunting trip. One of these days! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
 
So, if I lived in Alaska, hunted the great white wilderness and killed a wolf, moose and bear, would that make me the envy of most??? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
 
Mike you have to use only a dull knife that you made yourself. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif As usual the kill is not important I think being self sufficiant (sp? right word??) is. And getting away from the "rest of the world" is a thought that crosses everyones mind once in a while.
 
Mike Granger, How about telling the story of your new bow and the bear? Please. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
 
Thks. guys-- hey, Chris-- that article Earl wrote was called, "The Sittingest Coyotes". I'll never forget it, 'cause i hated the title-- sittingest was one "word" i never could get used to. But it was a good read, i thought. In fact Earl began writing another one that he read to me from a hospital bed several yrs. back now, that literally had me laughing out loud. He actually had some pretty good writitng talent, although he never knew it. When he died a few yrs. ago i looked all thru his notes and couldn't find it-- darn shame too, i thought finishing it would have been a good tribute to a hell of an outdoorsman/personality.

Hunting with the specialty pistols is my favorite pastime these days-- pretty amazing what they're capable of. My hunting partner and I went to a sniper-type match called the ITRC mentioned by TCU above. It's a roving silhouette-type match where targets are engaged at unknown distances out to 700 yds.(perfect practice for hunting). Ernie's XP is a 17" Gre-Tan Rifles tight-necked 6.5-284. Mine is very similar also by GTR. They both are shooting the 140 A-Max @ around 2750+2800 fps. respectively (260 Rem rifle velocities). WE're both using the 3-12X Burris B. Plex reticle/target turrets. To show u what these rigs are capable of, at 1 of the stations Ernie had to shoot 4 8" diameter steel circles @ 585 yds. twice. He hit all 8 shots in a row. Then 1 685 yarder 2X-- both hits again. It still amazes me what's possible when u adopt a tactical sniper-style shooting system afield.
 
All right, I just had to turn around from my computer chair and pry my yellowing copy of Jim Dougherty's Varmint Digest book out of the shelf too! Great book, my first predator hunting book too. Couldn't find Judd Cooney's writing in it though.

I hunt deer/elk just north of Pagosa on the west side of 160, lots of coyotes in there. We hear them howling late at night when in hunting camp out Jackson Mt. Road, usually between us and the highway. A couple of seasons back I was sitting on a small open ridge on a hillside just off 160 when a coyote loped right in front of me, not 30 ft. away. I am thoroughly ashamed to admit that I only nicked his lower chest with the first shot out of my .35 Whelen (225 Nosler partition) and just missed over his back on the second shot. Surprised the heck out of both of us. Blood-trailed him for quite a way until he stopped bleeding. At least that was first blood for that rifle, which I've had for 27 years. I've tried calling them in that area when deer hunting, but no dice. Lots of them in there though.

I have seen scat and heard howls up around 11,000+ feet in the Collegiate Peaks wilderness. Between Leadville and Buena Vista off the west side of route 24, you can take a dirt road west past Clear Creek reservoir to the old ghost towns of Winfield and Vicksburg. Proceeding southwest on a jeep trail past Mt. Huron, you'll be in a high valley about 10,000 ft. elevation. Hiking in a few miles from the wilderness boundary to Lake Ann (about 11,200 ft) right up against the continental divide ridge, I've found yote scat next to the lake and heard them howling in the valley just below. Did try calling them once but of course, saw nothing. The scenery here is stunning though.

You have to worry about things like lightning, hailstorms, lightning, snowstorms (even in summer), lightning, etc. way up there. Not to mention heart attacks if you're way out of shape. Mighty thin air, and for you lowlanders you have to worry about altitude sickness (pulmonary edema - lungs fill with fluid, can be fatal). Any lowlanders heading out here for a trip up there should plan about 2-3 days in town to try to acclimate a little bit first.
 
Het Pete-- just took a goat out of that country just no. of Cottonwood Pass a couple weeks ago up Waterloo Gulch, in the Sawatch Range. What an experience. Saw 3 or 4 piles of coyote scat along the trail. Only heard 1 rockchuck up there tho. That piece with Judd Cooney's just a short deal-- i think--close to the front--got a good pic. of him in there tho.

Had a chance to meet Dougherty once several yrs. ago at the Colo. Bowhunter's banquet-- but couldn't get off work to go. What a mistake. I was gonna have him autograh an article i wrote once in PS mag, entitled, "Through Their Words" detailing the motivation he and other writer's of my youth had on me back then. The 1st part of the article paraphrased one of Cooney's stories he told about a 600 yd. shot on a coyote. He's 1 of my favorite writer's, and i still look for his stuff whenever i pick up a copy of Fur, Fish, Game.
 
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