Rustydog
New member
………they just keep coming and coming and coming!
When someone thinks of predator hunting, there can be no better territory then the wide-open sage flats of West Texas! That was the setting for the most memorable hunting adventure I’ve been fortunate enough to be a part of. Last week, I was the sole guest of Mr. Skeet Jones, the coyote hunting guru who guides hunters from all parts of the country to some of the best predator hunting to be found anywhere in North America. And when I say the best, I’m talking about coyotes, bobcats, foxes, and feral hogs that are found everywhere on his “target rich” property.
Skeet met me on Monday evening in Mentone, Texas and we spent hours just getting to know each other and preparing for the next day’s hunt. (I should mention here that Todd Woodall and Jeff Tomason, who produce the great Texas Predator Pursuit DVD’s, were just finishing up a hunt with their guest Tony Tebbe, a master call maker so well known on this Forum.) I was very pleased that had a chance to meet and visit with them. (OK, so I was a little “Star Struck!) Skeet and I worked out our “signals, approaches, and set ups, and then headed out at dawn the next morning. West Texas in December features cool mornings and very pleasant days, and lots of chances to be very, very successful. You can imagine my delight when on the very first stand Skeet called in a “triple”. I was so surprised at my early good fortune that I only collected one yote, but I was “pumped” to say the least! I made up for my “poor” stand one production when on the next stand when I made a 70 yard running shot on a coyote who wanted nothing to do with “the little short guy from Portland.” Wow, I even impressed myself with that stroke of sheer luck! As Day 1 wore on, we just became more and more successful. Final total for Day 1 was 7 Stands made, 13 coyotes called, and 5 confirmed collected. Not too bad for shooting with a rifle that was “new” to me. (That’s another long story, but all did turn out OK by Day 2!)
Day 2
Because of the Full Moon phase, we chose not to Night Hunt on the first day, so at dawn on Day 2 it’s off to the sage flats, tank batteries, and cliché pits that abound in the area. I was seriously thinking that Day 1 was a fluke, things like that don’t happen to me, today will be a bust….wrong! Skeet’s knowledge of the area, coupled with his mastery of the wonders of an e-caller made Day 2 a carbon copy of our first day…..except for two “firsts” for me! On a stand near the banks of the Pecos River, I collected my first feral hog. Not a big old tusker, but a hog nonetheless. (We donated the meat to the local Food Bank and that made me feel good!) On our last stand of the evening Skeet had me set up in a little depression that reminded me of a bowl cut out of the endless flats that make up 99% of his area. I’m looking down a “shooting lane” that wasn’t more than 15 feet wide, with small mounds of gravel on each side. At the end of the “lane”, about 30 yards out, was Skeet’s decoy, a furry little bugger that resembles a rat on stick; or as I call it, “coyote candy”! Then out comes a big jackrabbit. He is sitting about 5 yards further out from the decoy just starring at the decoy. I raise my rifle and quickly identify him as just a “jack” and return the rifle to it’s resting position. At that moment, Skeet whispers, “Bobcat”. My mind says, “No, it’s a jackrabbit”, Skeet then loudly whispers, “Bobcat”. My mind says, ”Uh Oh, Skeet’s gone ‘around the bend’, he’s seeing things!!” But as I casually glanced towards him, just to make sure he was wrong, there stands a 28 lb., beautifully marked Bobcat ready to pounce on the unsuspecting decoy not 10 feet below him. Now what? My rifle is aimed down, no way to get a steady rest as the cat was clearly above me. No…I’m not going to pass up a chance at my first Bobcat. I simply raised the borrowed Model 700 Remington in .223 and shot completely off-hand at the cat standing about 65 yards away. Bang/flop! I hit him, my goodness, it’s over, and my 5-year quest for a cat finally ends successfully on sage carpeted plains of West Texas. What happened next was a mixture of joy and laughter. I look at Skeet, and he looks at me, and we both realize that the scenario was most humorous. I say rabbit, you say, Bobcat, I say Rabbit, you say Bobcat, until the reality sinks in; it is a cat, dummy, shoot! We laughed until our sides hurt. Day 2 ends with 8 stands made, 6 coyotes called, 4 collected, one hog, and one “special” Bobcat.
Day 3.
By now I’m in a state of shock. This isn’t really happening to me, I’m dreaming, I’ll awake soon and reality will sink in….wrong again, cowboy! Day 3 is even better! On ONE stand we called in 6, yes SIX coyotes, and together we collected four! In total, we made 9 stands and called in 10 coyotes, and another even bigger Bobcat than on Day 2. We even tried a few hours of night hunting, another first for me, and as before, the Energizer Coyotes just kept “coming and coming and coming” We killed 6 coyotes, and my second, even larger, 34 lb Bobcat. A “stunning” end to a trip that will forever be remembered as the best ever.
If anyone wants see how good the sport of Predator Hunting can be, get in touch with Skeet Jones from Mentone, Texas. This will be a trip you’ll never forget. As I boarded my long flight back to the Pacific Northwest I could only think of one adventure that compares to the success I just experienced. “West Texas is to Predators as Alaska is to Salmon” Incredible!
Rustydog
