I had a pit in my stomach when I first saw the photo. I was ok with the bobcat behind my house. I loved having the fox around. But that coyote was an unwelcomed sight. To make matters worse, it was walking past my camera every night and every morning. Sometimes even during daylight hours. What is it about coyotes that causes us to have such polarizing gut reactions? I have hunted coyotes and I have seen them in the woods while I have been deer hunting. There are few things more unnerving than walking into your stand in the dark and hearing a coyote howl close by. The coyote on my trail camera was just too close to my house and looked too comfortable coming and going. I am not the only one who feels like this. The fur bearer management...
On January 22nd of 2015, I semi-conquered my fear of coyotes. I went with Steve to his bait pile and we called in my beautiful 37lb male coyote. My coyote from 2015 A few weeks ago, we went back to the same spot. The coyotes had been staying close to the bait pile and their well worn trail ran just behind the shack. When we got there, the wind was blowing and the temperatures were dropping. It was a lot colder than it had been last year and for some reason, I had forgotten by good hunting boots and had to wear my 'normal' winter boots which were not big enough to get two layers of socks in. Getting ready to head to the shack There were fresh tracks when we got to the shack, which was promising. Steve set out the...
I don't know if I should have eaten more or less but my stomach was freaking out when Steve and I sat in the blind. I kept adding layers to keep warm and to see if I could muffle the growls. I hoped that nothing would hear me and run off. Steve and Lorri (who had taken me bear hunting) had put out deer carcases from a local butcher about a week before. The pile of bones were strewn all over the field by the coyotes that had been there. We got settled into the blind and watched the crows picking away at the pile furthest away. My stomach growled and they flew away. I hoped that something else scared them away but I wasn't sure until I saw this guy sweep in. The Red-tailed hawk flew down onto...
