The next morning we went out and set up at first light on the side of a hill where we could see a big, wide open grassy draw that led down to a wooded draw the farmer said he had seen coyotes in. We didn’t call anything so we walked about a quarter mile on over the next hill and tried again but no luck.
Later in the day we went to another place overlooking a cedar covered draw where we were hoping to pull in a bobcat. Even if we didn’t get a bobcat, we were hoping that we could at least see one. Dave set up his e-caller out in front and to the right of us and we settled in by a lone tree near the top of the draw and started calling. In about five minutes we had a coyote coming in from the draw. He was dedicated to the call and came in straight for the call. Shot him at 71 yards.
We left there and headed back to town to meet Charlie and then headed out west of town to meet another farmer and look over his ground for the next mornings hunt. The farmer had lost a dog last year to a mountain lion and some of his neighbors had also lost some to a lion. He said he had trapped a few bobcats in the past years and every once in a while he would catch a glimpse of one. At the end of one of his fields he said there was a bluff just inside the tree line so we decided to start the next morning sitting there.
The next morning at first light we were spread out along the bluff overlooking a wooded bottom and a field beyond. About fifteen minutes later, a coyote was walking up the creek toward a deer carcass we didn’t know was there until now. The coyote was almost to it when Dave started up the caller and the coyote stopped and looked up toward the sound. Apparently it didn’t like it and turned to leave. I took a shot through some brush and hit the coyote and put him into a spin only to see him come out of it running away holding up one of his front legs. I later tracked it for about 200 yards before I lost the track. Just before I shot, Lamar was about to squeeze the trigger on a coyote coming in on his side but my shot turned the coyote back. When I got back to the top of the hill after tracking the coyote, Dave and Lamar had found where a bobcat had climbed the bluff with a piece of the deer and had ate it.
We then headed over to another property the farmer owned where he has recently taken a dead calf. We got out of the truck and two big Pyrenees dogs were on the calf and letting us know we weren’t invited to join them. They ran off as we approached so after we looked the area over, Dave and Lamar set up on the south end of the wooded patch the calf was in and I set up next to an old shed on the north side where I could watch the open field. We hadn’t been there but about 20 minutes when I saw a coyote working its way along the creek west of me coming toward us. It disappeared in the brush and I was waiting to hear a shot from Dave or Lamar when the coyote came back out into the field. It smelled around on the ground some and acted like it was going to leave so I got on it and gave a couple howls. It stopped and looked at me broadside and I shot it at 186 yards. What I didn’t know at that time was that Dave had also been watching the coyote and there were four more in the brush I hadn’t seen but they took off when I shot.
Coyote is right over the end of the barrel.
A closer look.
The next day we had snow coming in and set up on a draw and Dave had a coyote coming in when the farmer came driving into the pasture to check his cows and that ended that setup. We made another set only to have a coyote come in downwind and pick us off. The next morning it was 11 degrees and clear so Dave and Lamar dropped me off so I could sit over the deer carcass and they went over to the other farm to sit over the calf carcass. After about two hours and nothing, we headed to another part of the farm that looked promising and made a set but produced nothing.
There was snow on the ground the whole time we were there and we were all a little disappointed that we didn’t see more coyote tracks than what we did considering the country we were in so we decided to head back to the motel and pack up to head home. It was a good trip, got to do some visiting and got to see some real interesting country.
Lake Milford at sunset.
This is a 70 mph picture of the Flint Hills.
