That’s what we found out a couple of weeks ago when we called predators in the Sandhills near Mullen, NE.

The word predator is defined as: a carnivore, an animal that lives by capturing and eating other animals.

According to that definition, a predator can be any number of things.

When it gets right down to it, we humans are predators as are mountain lions, bobcats, coyotes, fox, badgers as well as lions and tigers and bears “OH My”.

Depending on the location you’re doing the calling from, you might be surprised by what comes to the call.

Of course these aren’t the only critters that, once hearing the sound of distressed rabbit, fawn or other animal, will come running to investigate, taking advantage of another animals unfortunate situation.

It’s not unusual for deer, which are curious critters to come into a predator call as it has happened to us numerous times, especially when you’re in Mule Deer territory.

There are numerous other animals/birds out there that are opportunists and will eat what ever happens to be available.

Raccoons and skunks are a couple of the furry critters that will come in if they’re within hearing distance as well as hawks, eagles and owls, so you need to be ready for almost anything.

I’ve had friends who were calling up north in a mountainous region that called in black bears.

In the upper Midwest, you’re more apt to bring in coyotes, fox, bobcat, raccoons or skunks.

Coyote and fox are the most commonly seen critter when predator calling.

Another predator that’s getting to be more common in the upper Midwest is the Bobcat,

It’s an elusive critter that’s pretty much nocturnal and is rarely spotted by humans, as they’ll spot you long before you see them.

Bobcats roam throughout much of North America, like other predators are very adaptable and can live in forests, swamps, along wooded rivers/streams, deserts and even in suburban areas.

Bobcats aren’t all that big, weighing in at 11 to 30 pounds or about as twice as big as our house cats. They’re long legged with very large paws.

Their tracks are easily identifiable, as unlike coyote, fox or other canine, whose claws are exposed when they walk, cat tracks show no claw marks.

They are brown or brownish red in color with an underbelly that’s white.  They get their name from their short, black-tipped “bobbed” tail.

Bobcats are Mother Nature’s stealth fighter, unlike coyotes, that will charge in, bobcats hunt slowly, sliding up on their quarry and then delivering a deathblow by pouncing on it.

They can be fierce hunters, which are able to kill prey much larger than they are, but feed primarily on rabbits, birds, mice, squirrels, and other smaller game animals.

On one predator calling trips that we made into South Dakota a few years back, we’d called in several Bobcats, one as close as 8 feet, since the cat season was closed, all we could do was film and take photos of it.

On our last trip to the Sandhills, we called in several coyotes including a pair that almost ran over the top of us.

The second afternoon of that hunt, we decided to move into another area we’d called coyotes in prior years.

The area we’d be hunting, also held cattle, which is one of the primary things that attracts and holds coyotes in an area.

We’d set up a couple of times, giving each spot 25 to 30 minutes and after having no takers, heading off for a different location.

Moving about ¾ mile across the prairie we stashed our pickup in a depression and headed up hill looking for a decent spot to set up.

Over one hill and then another we slowly trekked towards the Dismal River which works its way through the property we were hunting.

Topping one ridge then another, we eventually came to an area where the prairie started to level off into an area with a few scattered cedars over looking the river.

As we moved down the ridge we spotted two-cedar tress that looked to be a good place for a hide, giving us decent filming and shooting lanes.

As we proceeded along the upper side of the cedars, my partner Larry Myhre spotted the tell tale tracks of a cat in the snow. We paused for a second to take footage and pictures of the tracks so we’d have them for future reference.

Our other partner, Andy Glidden, Ainsworth, NE. had worked his away around the tree and was setting out the Fox Pro call and decoy below us as we got into position.

As we set up, we talked about the cat tracks along the trail behind us on the hill at which time Andy indicated if a cat did show up, he’d take it as he had the permit needed to shoot it.

He’d set up slightly above us in front of the first cedar while Larry and I would be just below him and off to his right.

I was on the camera with Larry on my right flank armed with his 243.

Because of the rough terrain we were in and the separation that was sometimes needed, we were equipped with Midland radios, which helped us to make sure that the camera was on the predator before one of the shooters fired.

As usual, Andy used a combination call to start with, our Fox Pro wailing out the dying rabbit call while Andy howled with his mouth call.

It didn’t take long for Andy to go to his old reliable, the Fox Pro, as it never failed us and if there were a critter that could hear it, it would come in to investigate.

About 10 minutes into it, he switched to the young pup yelp, the way he usually ended his calling scenario.

Just then, I noticed Andy turning to the right and the radio broke squelch with Andy on the other end saying,  “there he is.”

I moved the camera slowly and whispered to Larry that the coyote was directly in front of him.

It was setting on the ridgeline beside a small cedar, Larry had it in it’s scope and was trying to figure out just what it was when Andy’s 22-250 cracked, putting the critter down like a sack of rocks.

The first words out of Andy’s mouth were, “did you get it” of course my response was “about five seconds!”

When I turned and whispered to Larry, he’s thought that I said I had the camera on the critter and fired.

Oh well anyway, he’d made a nice shot hitting it dead center in the chest as it was starting to turn and hightail it for the river.

Andy indicated that the “Cat” was about to bolt when he shot. My response was “Cat!” as all I could see of the critter was what could be seen over Larry’s left shoulder and I’d assumed it was another coyote.

What a way to end a hunt, as we were able to call in another of those predators, a large male Bobcat, that had called Nebraska home.

It had come into the yelping pup call to see what was whipping up on the young coyote and to see if he couldn’t get a few licks in himself.

As I said, when calling predators, you best be prepared for almost anything, as you never know what might show up!

MULLEN, Neb. — Gary Howey spotted the coyote first. It was so far away it looked like a black spot moving across the snow.

Andy Glidden stopped the truck and we watched the dog cross the flat and disappear into the hills.

“We have permission to hunt that ranch,” Andy said.

We drove on, found a gate and entered the property.

We drove in about a quarter mile then parked the truck in a depression and began walking.

We were looking for a good place to set up, but that wasn’t happening.

We walked on.

Suddenly two doe mulies popped up on a hillside one hundred yards away.

We froze. If those deer spooked, our chances at the coyote would diminish. After looking us over for several minutes, the does trotted off, unalarmed.

Then we found the spot. The hillside dropped away onto a flatland and we set up the Fox Pro electronic caller and went to work.

“Coyote at 11 o’clock,” Andy said a few moments later. “200 yards.”

He had come in from our left side and managed to almost get downwind before we saw him.

I settled the crosshairs on him and squeezed the trigger. Down he went.

That’s how our coyote hunt in the Sandhills near Mullen, Neb., began.

We had hunted here last year with Andy, who is a Nebraska Game and Parks fisheries biologist stationed in Ainsworth. Our headquarters was Andy’s brother’s motel in Mullen.

Mitch and Patty Glidden, owners of the Sandhills Motel, also maintain blinds for viewing and photographing sharptail grouse and prairie chickens during the spring mating ritual. Gary and I were there last year to photograph the spectacle. They also operate canoe rentals and stock tank floats on the Dismal and Middle Loup rivers

Contact them at (308) 546-2206 or www.sandhills motel.com

The next day found us on a more than 20-square mile ranch south of town along the Dismal River.

We had been calling no more than five minutes when I saw a big coyote come in at a run no more than 50 feet in front of Gary. We were filming for his Outdoorsmen Adventures television show and I was on the camera.

The coyote ran right up to the caller and Gary shot and away the coyote went on a dead run.

“My bipod slipped,” Gary said.

But it turned out he was not aiming at that coyote another was sitting in front of him less than 50 feet away. It escaped.

Andy draped over a soapweed for a steady rest and fired at the first coyote which was now nearly 300 yards away. We heard the bullet hit and the coyote went down.

We shot another coyote that morning, but the most exiting action occurred at mid afternoon.

We spotted bobcat tracks where we were going to make a set. Bobcats have small territories, so I was confident we had a good chance of calling in that cat.

Sure enough. Ten minutes later, Andy whispered, “Cat.”

I saw him and looked through the scope. It was a big tom and beautifully marked. But you must have a fur harvester’s license to take a bobcat.

Andy had one so he took the shot and the big cat went down.

It was a fitting end to a good hunt in the Nebraska Sandhills.

After unloading our extra gear and changing into our snow camo, we pointed the pickup south out into the Sandhills where we’d look for areas the cattle were using as cattle always attract coyotes.

As we turned off the blacktop, proceeding through the Sandhills, I spotted something working its way across the alfalfa field to our left.

Through our binoculars, we spotted the first coyote of the trip hunting his way through the meadow.

He headed west into the hills, so we tried to figure out how far ahead of it we’d have to be in order to set up and call.

A gate ½ mile down the road was the only entry into the field, so we drove in, parked the pickup and proceeded to hike off across the hills looking for a spot suitable for calling.

Calling coyotes is not all that difficult; it all depends on the terrain you’re hunting and the number of individuals you need to hide.

In the Sandhills of Nebraska, the majority of the areas you set up in won’t have a large expanse of flat land out in front of you, as no matter where you look it’s one hill
right rolling into another.

After hiking about a ½ mile, we finally came to an area where the hills came down into another hay meadow.

In order to make this set work, we needed to find a place where two shooters and a cameraman could blend in and not be spotted by the keen eyes/nose of the coyote.

We set up with the wind coming into us off to our left, the direction the coyote should be coming in from,

Since there was a little snow on the ground, we were all dressed in snow camo, as was our camera.

Our Fox Pro Fury call www.foxpro.com would be placed below us along with a fuzzy decoy while Team Outdoorsmen Adventures member Larry Myhre, Sioux City, IA. and Andy Glidden,  Ainsworth, NE would be stationed on the hill above.

I’d be running the camera on the first set up so I was hunkered down below a Yucca in a small depression above them.

Since we could be separated from quite a distance or out of view if each other, we’d choose to use Midland GXT Radios www.midlandradio.comwith earpieces, letting the shooters communicate with the cameraman.

Andy started calling with a combination of a coyote howl and dying jackrabbit, he then proceeded to back off to the dying rabbit call and after 20 minutes or so to the hurt coyote pup yelp.

About 10 minutes into the hunt, my radio clicked, indicating that the shooters had spotted something.

Off to my left making its way across the meadow came a lone coyote heading west, as it tried to get downwind to wind what ever was making that mournful sound.

At about 140 yards, Andy barked at the coyote, it stopped dead in his tracks, giving Larry a good broadside shot.

His Howa 1500 barked and the 243 round dropped the coyote like a sack of rocks.

Our first coyote was on the ground as the sunset and at supper that night, plans were laid out for our next day hunt.

Day two started early as most days do when you’re calling predators, as it’s ideal to be set up before sunrise.

Unfortunately for us, a heavy fog had rolled in along with a fresh dusting of snow.  The snow was good as it allowed us to spot coyotes coming in, but it did us little good as the fog only allowed us to see out to about 30 yards in front of us.

There were coyote tracks all around the bales we were propped up against, but not a critter did we se.

Our second set up was different, as the fog had lifted with overcast skies, which would help keep any reflection off our gear to a minimum.

Once again we headed out across the Sandhills, looking for a good location to set up.

The area we chose didn’t give us the best view to the right or directly in front of us, but off to the right, in the direction we’d aim the call, there would be a good shooting lane coming in between several hills.

I was on the right flank with my Howa/Axiom Varmiter (www.legacysports.com) 243 while Andy, shooting his 22-250 set up slightly above me and off to the left.

Larry, manning the camera was position above and off to the left of Andy.

The call had just started when I suddenly noticed movement 20 yards off to my left.

A pair of coyotes had charged in over the rise, where the female immediately sat down to look the situation over while the larger male continued down over the rise trying to get downwind of us.

I knew it would be a matter of seconds before the game was over, so I had no time to use the radio to let Larry know the coyote had came in.

As slowly as possibly, I attempted to move my bipod and rifle in the direction of the coyote perched just a few feet in front of me; it was not to be, as at that short of a distance, a high power scope just doesn’t cut it.

As I slid to the left, the female suddenly realized that the snow pile directly in front of her was not what it seemed to be, bolting over the crest as my 22-250 round flew harmlessly over her head.

The shot startled Larry & Andy at which time, the male who was sneaking in on the decoy made a mad dash for safety, heading west, attempting to put as much distance between itself and the gunfire.

Andy, unaware of the coyote that had been perched in front of me thought the coyote beating feet west was one I’d missed, quickly dropped to the prone position trying to get a bead on the fleeing predator.

At 320 yards, as the fleeing coyote crested the hill he caught it in his scope and fired.

After a brief “conversation” thanking me for alerting the cameraman on the radio, I explained that there were two coyotes and how a shotgun, which was left in the pickup, would have worked best in this situation.

That was my story and I was sticking to it!

After Andy had fired, it sounded as if Andy’s bullet may have hit home, so he headed out to see where the coyote had gone while Larry and I headed back to retrieve my pickup.

Heading west with the pickup searching for Andy, he called on the radio, indicating that he’d found the tracks and a couple of spots where it tumbled and a small amount of blood so he was going to track it.

A minute or two later, he called back as he’d found the coyote, giving us a good start for the second day, a day that would work out well for us.

We set up several more times, calling in another coyote, giving us a total four coyotes called in and three on the ground.

Around 2:00, we decided to head down along the Dismal River to see what we might call there later that day.

But that’s a whole different story, which will go into next week.

I remember my first Nebraska predator-calling trip like it was yesterday.  A friend of mine from Omaha who works as a manufacturer’s representative for a call company was on his way north one afternoon and asked if I’d like to try calling coyotes.

I’m game for anything, so I told him why not. I figured we had a couple of hours of daylight left and with the new snow on the ground; we could easily spot the coyotes.

As the sun had just set he pulled into the driveway and I figured our hunting opportunity had just disappeared along with the sun.

Well, I was mistaken as he planned on hunting after “dark”, with the two of us sitting back to back on a snow covered hillside, calling and howling at the coyotes, using the light of the full moon to spot them as they came in.

Since I hadn’t gotten back from the military  all that long ago, I wasn’t too happy about sitting on a hillside in the dark, waiting for some outraged coyote to jump me.

Too make a long story short, on one of our first set ups, he howled in a “Pack” of coyotes, intent on kicking the heck out of whomever or whatever was making all that racket.

It was then and there that I remembered that my night vision sucked!

Several coyotes cane at us from below while the others tried to get at us by coming in over the top of the ridge.

As the sounds of the coyotes charging across the frozen snow got louder as they came closer, what little hair I had stood up on the back of my neck

Setting on the uphill side, with a shotgun loaded with buckshot, I wasn’t able to see the anything until they came over the rise 20 yards from me.

Looking at three nasty growling coyotes that were coming at me on a dead run and having only a split second to react wasn’t what I’d expected.

As they charged over the hill, I pumped and fired until the shotgun was empty, managing to take out one that came to rest right at my feet and wound another which we retrieved later

Mike who was armed with a 243 also took out a couple that had come running across the cornfield below us.

It wasn’t that I was a good shot, as at that range, it’s impossible to miss, as it was purely self-defense on my part and after I stopped shaking, I informed Mike that this was the first and last time I would ever try calling at night!

It was a great experience, but one that I would from that point on only experience by the light of day, not during the dark of the night.

When I talk about calling predators, in the upper Midwest, I’m not just talking about coyotes, because you’re apt to call in fox, bobcats, badgers or even a raccoon.

There’s also could be a slim chance that you might call in a larger predator that’s made its way into our area, the mountain lion

Just thought you might want to know that!

During the warmer months, these predators have had a pretty good life, rabbits, ground squirrels, mice and birds had just had their young and there’s a lot to eat.

Because of this, they didn’t have to work all that hard to come up with a good meal.

Once the cold weather and snow arrives, they’re going to need a lot more to eat in order to stay warm.

Since they’ve made a meal of much of what was easily available before the snow arrived; getting enough to eat during the winter becomes a lot more work.

Because of this, predators will be out, on the move, looking for food and with the snow on the ground, they’re going to be easier to spot.

In the old days, predator calling wasn’t all that popular, but with professional callers like Randy Anderson from Butte, Nebraska giving seminars and producing calling videos, the sport of predator calling has grown big time.

This is part of the reason that the calls have improved, as has our camo clothing, mode of transportation and weapons we use to call and take predators.

In years past, there were just a couple of companies that manufactured predator calls.  Today almost every company that makes a duck call now puts out a whole array of predator calls.

Much of the old army camouflage clothing has now been replaced with numerous patterns that allow us to blend in with everything from sagebrush to junipers and even snow.

The new waterproof and lightweight insulation used on and in hunters clothing now give us the opportunity to hunt in the most sever weather conditions.

With the four-wheel ATV’s, hunters are now able to get back into areas that not too many years ago were inaccessible.

When it comes to calls, most predator callers use the cottontail or jackrabbit distress: bird distress calls, fawn bleat or mouse squeaker calls to bring coyotes and other predators into range.

When these old standbys don’t produce as well as they should, hunters now are able to use calls to howls, yelp and bark predators in.

These along with the electronic calls like the Fox Pro Fury; you’re able to throw all kinds of sounds out there; giving coyotes something they might not have heard before.

You can use a combination of both the mouth and the electronic calls, mixing in distress calls as well as howls and yelps.

By doing this, you can get the coyotes to believe that a group of coyotes are fighting over a rabbit meal.

I’ve found that howling doesn’t need to be used only during the winter months.  It works year round, but there are certain times of the year that a howl or yelp really shines!

This is especially true during the late winter/early spring, when the coyotes are dispersing or marking their territory and breeding.

Coyotes bark or howl to communicate with each other and if they don’t hear another coyote howl back they think that there are no others in that area.

If another coyote does howl back, the intruder has a couple of choices, one is to either head for another less populated area or two, stand his ground and take on the coyote or coyotes that will come to challenge him.

The more aggressive the howl, the more likely that the coyotes in the area will come charging in looking to kick the holy daylights out of the intruder

When I first set up, the first call I like to use is a howler.  A coyote may be resting just over the hill or in a blowout lying in the shade and when he hears the howl, he’ll poke his head over the hill to see what all the racket was.

Don’t over look any spot when calling coyotes as any wooded area, small creek bottoms or CRP field will hold coyotes.

In order to spot an incoming predator, I like to work off of a hilltop, ridge or some higher position that allows me to see a long distance.

This can be a ridge top, haystack or on top of a stack of hay bales.

If you’re going to set up on top of hay bales or a haystack you want to make sure that others know you’re there.

You’ll want to park your vehicle along the road where it’s visible or be far enough off the road where people driving by can’t see you.

The reason for this is that coyotes are notorious for lying on bales and stacks soaking up the warmth of the sun and you surely don’t want someone who is driving by to take a pot shot at you thinking that you were a coyote.

Most farmers and ranchers are happy to give you permission to call coyotes because coyotes can really be a problem, especially around calving time.

In most states, there’s no season on predators so they can be hunted throughout the year, which allows the hunter the opportunity to help control the predator population and keep your shooting eye sharp.

I like most predator callers feel that anyone can learn to call coyotes or other predators.

What you need to do is to learn as much as you can about the critter you’re after, then get yourself some calls and spend some time in the outdoors practicing with your calls.

Calling predators is an excellent way to take care of the excess predators that raise havoc with our upland birds and deer population.

You’ll also be able to recoup some of your expenses by selling the furs.  This year, it won’t be a lot, but every little bit helps now days!

Predator calling can be really exciting, a great sport that can be enjoyed year around!

They were nosebleed high and didn’t look interested in setting down, but I had to try them as it had been a slow day and this was the closest birds that I’d seen.

I fired up the electronic call, a Fox Pro Fury and cranked the volume up as the wind was really churning things up.

As they approached, it appeared as if they were loosing altitude, getting closer with every wing beat.

I kept the call going, changing back and forth between several different Snow Goose calls.

As they neared our spread, I cut back on the volume as the racket the geese were making was deafening and they wouldn’t be able to hear the call above all the racket they were making.

With each wide swing they made, they dropped a few more yards and then the lead geese folded its wings, dropped twenty yards and then made the final approach into the spread.

The lead geese gilded over our pit blind, just clearing the top of the blind landing directly behind us as the remainder of the flock set their wings sliding into position to land in our decoy spread that laid out in front of us.

What happened next will be one of those memories that I won’t forget!

In one swift motion, we popped through the Dura-Cover, guns blazing as the geese frantically backpedaled attempting to gain altitude.

The hunters on the left side of the blind had the closest shots, dropping three geese with as many shots. The hunter in the center of the blind was doing his best to take out those that were flaring in front of him and I was banging at those on my side.

We had seven birds on the ground as the remaining birds scattered in all directions. That’s when I fired up the Fury again, aiming it at the departing geese, they regrouped and swung over our spread one more time, allowing us to take three more birds out of the same flock.

Since then, this scenario has been repeated numerous times as we brought in birds that were so high that we had trouble spotting them at first.

Without a good quality call, we would never have been able to get the birds attention little alone draw them into shooting range

The Fox Ro Fury digital game call is programmable, has a 24-bit audio that really performs and with dual speakers each individually amplified you get plenty of volume producing crystal clear sound.

I’ve also used this unit for calling coyotes and bobcats, having excellent luck.   On one trip we were able to call in numerous coyotes and four bobcats.

It comes with a remote allowing you to place the call well away from the hunters. With the call located out in front of the hunters, when the critters come charging in, their eyes will be searching the area the sound is coming from and not looking right at the hunters.

The unit has 10 sound presets so if one sound doesn’t get the predator’s attention you can quickly change from one sound to another with just the push of the remote button.

If you’re looking for a great call around game call, check out the Fox Pro Fury available at local sporting goods stores, mass merchandisers and on the Internet.

If you’d like more information on the Fury, check out their web site at gofoxpro.com

Anyone who’s spent much time in the woods, setting and waiting for that big Tom or buck to appear knows the key to filling your permit is your ability to set still for long period of times.

Setting in one spot can be awfully hard on your posterior as well as being cold and damp.

On a recent turkey hunting trip, I had the opportunity to use the Air Saddle, a compact inflatable hunter’s seat that packs in and out easily. Since it doesn’t need to be inflated

until you reach your hunting spot, you aren’t lugging any extra weight.

Shaped like a saddle, this camouflaged seat, allows you to set for extended period of times comfortably, insulating your bottom from the cold wet ground.

If you don’t need to deflate the Air Saddle, it has an elastic strap allowing you to transport it while inflated.

If you’re looking for a comfortable easy to transport hunting seat that will make your next trip to the field or deer stand, then the Air Saddle is the answer.

It also has an unheard of  guarantee as it’s  guaranteed for life due to manufacturer’s defects or natural causes (rocks, briars, twigs etc.) you can return it to Air Saddle for replacement.

For more information on the Air Saddle, check out their web site at www.myairsaddle.com

Our Mini-Supreme-Extreme decoy had caught his attention and since he wasn’t quite sure about this little fuzzy creature was; he paused to take a better look.

Andy Glidden, Ainsworth, NE was manning our right flank with his shotgun ready for any coyote that charged the decoy and our caller while Larry Myhre; Sioux City, IA covered the left flank with the 243 rifle.

I was perched in the blowout just slightly above them manning the camera.

The coyote was cautiously checking things out and about the time the coyote looked as if he was ready to bolt; Andy called the shot letting Larry know it was time to take the coyote out.

The crack of our Howa 243 echoed through the valley as the coyote dropped down, then shot straight up and then spun around in the air making tracks in the direction from which he’d first appeared

The shot had caught the coyote a bit low, but enough to put it out of commission.

Our headquarters on this trip would be Mullen, Nebraska, which is located in the central part of the state in Nebraska’s Sandhills.

This is cattle country and we were hunting during the calving season which meant that the majority of the coyotes found in the area would be hanging around the cattle, hoping for an easy meal.

It was late winter, coyote mating season, so our chances of calling in multiple coyotes at each set were pretty good.

Andy was a seasoned predator caller with numerous coyotes and bobcats to his credit.

His preferred method of calling and taking predators was to use his remote controlled Fox Pro digital caller (www.gofoxpro.com) to entice the critters into either shotgun or rifle range.

We’d arrived at Mitch & Patty Glidden’s Sandhills Motel (www.sandhillsmotel.com) in Mullen, around lunchtime, changed into our camo; grabbed a quick sandwich and then headed south into the hills.

We weren’t set up more than a few minutes when the first coyote poked his head out over the rise.

I was the shooter on this set while Larry filmed and when he indicated that he had the coyote on camera, I centered the cross hairs on him and fired,

Both Larry and I saw the coyote go down and then a split second later what we thought was another coyote took off behind him.

My shot looked good and when we walked over the rise we were both surprised to find that there was no sign of it.

The only thing we could figure out was that the light load that I was using had been deflected by the vegetation in front of the coyote.

As Andy put it, “those coyotes can humble you, can’t they?”

Yes Andy they can and I’m afraid it won’t be the last time.

Our next set was about ½ mile across the pasture, where we brought in three coyotes, one poking his head over the ridge while one tried to skirt around us to the north and the other held back waiting for his buddies to make sure that everything was OK.

This is the way it went the first afternoon with 7 coyotes coming to our calls and because of all the coyotes we’d seen, we really thought we were into it!

The weather man indicated that our second day would be a carbon copy of our first with a slight wind, unfortunately the weather mans idea of slight breeze and how the wind blew weren’t even close.

All day, the wind pounded us, making it all most impossible for a coyote to hear us unless he was right on top of us.

We did see three coyotes, but these were ones we spooked while we were moving from one set to the next.

On our final day, the weather was perfect, just enough wind to make it a perfect for calling.

Our first set up was quick, with the one coyote I mentioned earlier coming in so quickly that I’d hardly had time to turn the camera on.

The next set up was a different from those we’d encountered previously as Andy needed to run through the Fox Pro calls numerous times before anything appeared.

We had been there over ten minutes when Andy spotted him, a big coyote coming over the rise at least a quarter mile away.  At that point, he sat down, taking his time to carefully look things over

He was taking his time and looking back off to his right, which was an indicator that another coyote was near by.

Andy tried another series of calls and about half way through them, the coyote heard something he liked and dropped off the hillside into a valley.

With the Fox Pro wailing away, we waited as we knew he was on his way, but we weren’t sure where he’d make his appearance.

In most cases, predators seem to appear directly in front of the call, where the sound is coming from, but not this coyote and it seemed that perhaps he’d either winded us or spotted something he didn’t like as he took forever to get tom us.

Then it happened, I saw Larry, who was situated below me and off to my left, slowly move his rifle off to his left side.

The coyote had came in about two hundred yards off to Larry’s left side and was looking things over, trying to decide if it was safe to come in.

After a few minutes, the coyote turned and started walking away, at this point I figured that the jig was up and this was the last we’d see of this coyote.

Andy quickly changed the Fox Pro over to a pup yelp, causing the coyote to stop out at 250 yards and look back.

This was her last mistake as Larry’s 243 barked along with the tell tale thump indicating that Larry’s shot had hit home.

The larger male that we’d seen on the hillside had also came into the call and had been below the female out of sight behind a rise and upon hearing the shot put it in high gear and headed east into the hills out of harms way.

We tried a couple more sets after that, but once again the wind started to gain speed, so we decided to close out this trip, saving a few coyotes for our next outing.

If you’re looking for an exciting hunt, where the critter is hunting you, give coyote calling a try, it’s a howl!