South Dakota Walleyes Unlimited have their 13th Annual Lake Francis Case Walleye Tournament planned for Saturday April 17th.

The rules’ meeting is scheduled for the evening before April 16th at 7:00 pm at the Americinn in Chamberlain.

Prizes will be awarded for 1st through 20th place with 1st place paying (based on 100 teams) paying $3,000.00.

There will be will be $17,700 in prizes awarded during the tournament (based on 100 teams).Entry fee is $225.00 per two-man team.

For more information on South Dakota Walleyes Unlimited, tournament entry forms and rules go to www.sdwalleyesunlimited.org

If you’ve never been up north, it’s quite a treat as it’s big water where there are hundreds and hundreds of icehouses on the ice, every size, shape and variety.

As a matter of fact, this year, the Zippel Bay Igloo made its appearance on the ice.

Resembling a large igloo, this large icehouse/bar is a big attraction as it has a full bar, big screen TV, tables and benches where you can not only eat a pizza, you have an opportunity to wet a line while enjoying your favorite drink.

The largest fish taken by anglers in the Igloo is a 48” northern that Desire, the young lady that runs the establishment took the first week in February.

Ice fishing is extremely popular on Lake of the Woods, part of the reason being that in the winter you’re allowed to use two rods and the limit for walleye and sauger is raised to eight (4 walleyes and 4 sauger).

Walleyes are the larger cousin of the sauger, reaching over 10 pounds with the average size probably being in the 2 to 4 pound class.

Walleyes are identified by their greenish gold color along with the white tip on their lower tail fin.

Sauger on the other hand are much more streamlined and more aggressive than walleyes. Primarily a river fish, the average size for sauger would be 1 to 2 pounds with a fish over 3-pounds being a real trophy.

Getting on Lake of the Woods out of Zippel Bay is easy as ice roads are plowed out onto the 30” of ice, allowing fishermen easy access to their houses.  Streets are all marked with street signs such as Perch, Big Fish and Walleye, making it easy for anglers to get to the right spot.

On this trip, we were filming with Nick and Deanna at Zippel Bay Resort. Joining us were Team Outdoorsmen Adventures members Larry Myhre, Sioux City, IA. and Jon Thelen, Crystal, MN.

Our plan was to start shallow in the morning, working deep during the day and then back shallow for the last light bite.

A cold front had rolled in the night before, which generally shuts the fish down or at least makes them a harder to catch so we knew that it could be a tough bite.

To combat the cold front, we went to live bait, (small hook, split shot and micro bobber) while downsizing our presentation using baits like the 3/16th Lindy Frostee Jigging Spoons.

We were using fat head minnows, going with the smaller minnows the majority of the time.

When using the jigging spoon, a whole minnow may be too much for cold front fish, so we went with a partial minnow (minnow head) as this worked best for us.

Every once in awhile, we’d drop down a Lindy Darter which not only caught a few fish, it also attracted fish into the area as several times our locators would light up below the darter and then our livebait rigs would take a fish.

We were fishing in icehouses placed over rock and rubble, fishing the shallower water on the top early and late and as the sun got brighter moving off the edge into deeper water.

Since it was such a lite bite, we needed to keep our live bait rigs at a minimum, going with a small hook, lighter split shot and a bobber.

When fishing cold front conditions, you want you bobber to verily float on the top of the water so that the fish feel no resistance when they mouth your bait.

I like to use a very small slip bobber, one that is just visible in the ice hole.

If you’ve ever had a fish pull your bobber down part way and then let go, that’s a pretty good indicator that your using too large of a float.

If all you have are the larger floats, you can add a larger split shot so that the float will suspend deeper in the water column.

A good locator is a must when ice fishing otherwise you’re fishing blind as all species of fish will move up and down in the water column and can be found a few feet below the ice at times.

If you’re fishing right off the bottom as many ice fishermen do and the fish are above you, you’re in for a long day!

Locators will indicate when a fish comes in under your transducer, which allows you to either bring your bait up or drop it down putting your bait where the fish are.

We all caught some nice fish and a lot of the smaller more aggressive sauger, which is a good sign for the years to come, as there will be a tremendous catchable sauger population in years to come.
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If you’re looking for a place to do some ice fishing yet this winter, Zippel Bay Resort will have icehouses out until the end of March.

We ended up taking home our eight fish limit on this trip and are patiently waiting for the soft water season when we’ll make another trip to Lake of the Woods, the walleye capital of the world.

For more information on Zippel Bay Resort and the excellent fishing on Lake of the Woods, go to www.zippelbayresort.com

With all the snow thats covering the upper Midwest, many are wondering if there will be many geese coming through our area.

Today the tempoerature is in the mid 40’s, which will help cut the snow as will the rain that’s predicted this weekend.

Right now it sounds as if a lot of Snow geese are stacked up in northern Kansas and Southern Nebraska waiting for the snow to melt before they head north.

Snow geese unlike their darker cousins don’t need open water as they’d just as soon set in a flooded field as on a lake or pond.

What they do require is food and all of the snow is now covering  their food supply, so they’ll have to set tight until some of the ground opens us.

We hunters who are waiting for the geese will have to do the same, just wait it out until the geese start to move.

I like many others are hoping it comes quickly!

Lake of the Woods features lots of eating-size

walleyes such as this one caught by Jon Thelen

Lindy/Little Joe representative. (Journal photo by Larry Myhre)

BAUDETTE, Minn. — The snow covered ice of massive Lake of the Woods stretched out before us like the surface of the moon.

The nicely manicured ice road was easy to negotiate. We were about five miles out from Zippel Bay to find the ice house where we would headquarter for our early morning fishing start.

Nick Painovich, owner with his wife Deanna of Zippel Bay Resort, guided us to the house which he said was located on a shallower rock rubble bar which had produced walleyes in the early and late hours of the day.

Jon Thelen, Lindy/Little Joe rep from Crystal, Minn., opened the ice house door and immediately took over the hole in the northeast corner of the shack.

I remembered then that Nick had told us last year that it always seemed the hole on the northeast produced the most fish.

Jon remembers details like that and after dropping the transducer of his Hummingbird flasher down the hole, he sent down a minnow-tipped Lindy Rattlin’ Flyer Spoon.

Gary Howey, Hartington, Neb, Nick and I were soon in operation as well.

But, we had lingered too long over breakfast at the resort and had missed the early bite. Nick soon had us on our way to another house in deeper water.

With Jon at the northeast hole, we began to jig and began to catch fish.

It was the little saugers that provided the first action. There is a huge year-class of 10-inch saugers coming on now that by next summer and winter will be in that nice keeper size. But, for now we sent them back.

Then the walleyes showed up. Jon scored first with a 15-incher on a Frostee jigging lure tipped with a minnow head.

It was a good way to break the ice (pardon the pun) and we were soon on the way to putting several eating-sized walleyes (known locally as “bucket fish”) in our bucket.

The hottest lure that day seemed to be the Frostee jig, but we also caught fish on the Flyin’ Rattlin Spoon, the the Genz worm in gold color. Minnow head or live minnow, it didn’t seem to matter.

We all kept a second rod down a hole under a Thill bobber with a minnow and took some fish on that as well.

We took a break about noon to visit the Igloo, a 20- by 30-foot ice house which Nick put on the ice for the first time this year. It features food and beverages as well as a large flatscreen TV and ice fishing holes. It has been very popular with both ice fishermen and snowmobilers.

Nick maintains nearly 40 miles of ice road and some 75 ice fishing houses, including sleepers. All told, there are probably up to 400 ice houses along his ice road. Street signs help anglers move around.

It’s been a good bite this year and that should continue through March when the houses will have to come off of the ice.

When Duane Filsinger, Butte Nebraska and his son headed out on their spring turkey hunt last spring, the farthest thing from their mind was taking the highest scoring Merriam ever taken with a firearm that was recorded by the National Wild Turkey Federation (NWTF).

Well that’s just what they did, putting Duane’s name at the top of the NWTF list for Merriam turkeys.

Like most of the state, Northeast Nebraska has as excellent turkey population, with the majority of the birds found in the area being Merriam.

Merriam turkeys are similar in many ways to the other species of turkeys such as the Eastern, Rio Grande and Osceola, which, all can be found in the United States.

Adult Merriam males are easily distinguished from these species, but closely resemble the Gould turkey of Mexico except that they have a blacker appearance with the lower back and tail margins on the Merriam are nearly white.

The Merriam’s original territory was Arizona, New Mexico and Colorado, but through stocking programs the birds were stocked out of their original Rocky Mountain terrain.

Because of this successful stocking program, Merriam turkeys are now found in 15 western states.

Merriams are now found from North Dakota south to Texas, (excluding Kansas) and west to Washington, Oregon, California as well as in four Canadian provinces.

If anyone is looking for Merriam turkeys, Nebraska and South Dakota are a good bet as the top eight birds registered with the NWTF come from these two states.

This is not the first record Merriams ever taken in Holt County as Michael Kluver took the number three bird, which scored 130.2500, in May of 2005.

In the spring of 2009, the Filsingers were hunting in late May in Holt County and had located a Tom and his hens that looked like might be callable.

As they glassed the bird through their binoculars, it didn’t seem to appear much different than other birds they’d seen except that the bird seemed taller than usual.

They set up and tried calling the Tom; unfortunately, he was satisfied with the hens he had, refusing to wander too far from them.

At one point, the hens moved off and Duane and his son were able to get in between the bird and his harem.

They happened to be set up in the right place and were able to take the Tom as he made its way back towards the hens.

The Filsinger Merriam became the Best Overall bird ever taken with a total score of 144.2050 points, which broke the old 2002 record of 136.0000 set by a North Carolina hunter in Meade, South Dakota.

The bird wasn’t all that big, weighing in at 22.08 pounds, but other factors entered into the equation put the bird well ahead of other birds.

It’s six beards totaling 45” and it’s spurs that measured 1.5625” and 1.5000 inches gave the bird more than enough points to put it on the top.

For more information on the Nation al Wild Turkey Federation you can go to www.nwtf.org

This is the painting of the Hooded Merganser
which will become the Iowa Duck Stamp for 2010. (Submitted photo)

Darren Maurer, Sioux City, has won the Iowa Duck Stamp Contest for an unprecedented fourth time.

Maurer’s painting of a Hooded Merganser drake was judged the best from entries from around the nation on Feb. 12 in Des Moines, Iowa. It will be featured on the Iowa duck stamp for the year 2011. The painting will also be the Iowa Ducks Unlimited sponsor print for the same year.

This win earns Maurer the honor of becoming the only artist in the thirty-eight year history of the Iowa art contest to win the Iowa Duck Stamp four different times.

Maurer was previously tied with artists Paul Bridgeford, Dietmar Krumrey, and the legendary Maynard Reece with three Iowa stamps each to their name.

“Winning number four is definitely something I will remember for a long time,” Maurer said. “Having four duck stamps and two Artist of the Year titles goes way beyond what I ever thought possible since sending that first painting off in the mail ten years ago.”

Maurer’s paintings of waterfowl have earned several prestigious honors in the Ducks Unlimited art competition. Maurer won both the 2001 and 2002 Duck Stamp contests, making him the only artist to win in back to back years before or since then. In 2007, he won the Duck Stamp competition and was named the Iowa Ducks Unlimited Artist of the Year. Maurer is the only artist to win both of those honors in the same year. He was also named Iowa Ducks Unlimited Artist of the Year for a second time in 2010.

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!

on the Red at Lockport, Manitoba, nets a catfish for a client. (Submitted photo)

Reprinted from the Sioux City Journal

LOCKPORT, Manitoba — When Holly Chow steps into her guide boat, she has to catch fish.

After all, anyone with the nickname, “Mama Cat” has to live up to her reputation.

And she does. A lifetime of experience in waters throughout the country sees to that.

But she didn’t really begin to fish for catfish until last spring. That’s when she began guiding full time for Stu McKay’s “Cats on the Red” resort.

“A typical day would be eight guys standing at the dock and they’d see two boats there and they’d see the girl and they’d go, ‘Oh, god, somebody’s got to fish with the girl,’” she said. “Then we’d come in with 24 fish and they’d go, “We were with ‘Mama Cat!’”

The Red River below the Lockport dam is recognized worldwide as a premier big catfish river in the summertime.

“The average size channel cat is about 20 pounds,” Holly said. “I would be ashamed if I took you out and we didn’t get three over 36 inches weighing between 24 and 26 pounds.”

In the fall, big walleyes (locally known as ‘greenbacks’) move up the river from Lake Winnipeg.

“In October the greenbacks begin coming in and life gets good,” she said. “The biggest in my boat was really big. It was three days after I had my hand surgery, I had 30 stitches in my hand, and I was fishing with my beautiful daughter,” she said.

“I passed her the rod and she set the hook into a walleye that went 31 1/2-inches.

“It was a great walleye fall,” she said. “And catfishing was good all summer long. It was so consistent. It’s all catch-and-release, but you can keep one under 24 inches. We supply all the equipment, all you bring is a smile.”

Holly’s outdoor background is extensive.

She grew up in Riding Mountain National park in southwest Manitoba. She was rodeoing full time at the age of 14, had her own half ton truck at 16 and a racing car.

When the family moved to Falcon Lake, located in the Whiteshell Provincial Park in southeastern Manitoba, she pursued the walleyes the lake is noted for.

“I’d spend literally 15 hours a day on the water,” she said. “I guided a little, fished a few little tournaments in the area and was placing high in them. If I was not working, I was out on the lake.

Then she began fishing tournaments seriously.

“I’d be home on Sunday night, work Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, and pull out for a tournament. I did that for 18 years,” she said.

She fished both walleye and bass tournaments including the PWT trail down south and bass circuit up north as well as a bunch of unsanctioned tournaments.

“I think the first year I fished 18 tournaments,” she said.

Then came a stint with Bass Pro Shop.

“I was the first woman on the Red Head Pro Hunting Team,” she said. “I was treated very well by that company and was able to hunt Africa and around the world with bow and occasionally the muzzleloader.

She did a lot of competition shooting with the bow representing the Red Head team.

“But I found targets were boring and they were so hard to cook,” she smiled.

She really enjoys promoting women in the outdoors.

“It’s not really as tough as many women might think,” she said. “The worst thing you can do is give a woman men’s used equipment or take her out to a place that is cold, wet and nasty.”

With the right equipment anyone can be comfortable in the outdoors.

“And it’s a whole lot of laughs,” she said.

On a previous trip, we’d caught fish in an area where the river channel rose up onto a “slight” hump.

When I say slight, I mean slight as one minute my locator read 15’ then up to 8’ and a few seconds later, back into deeper water.

As our baits started coming out of the deep water, banging into the upstream side of the hump, one of our trolling rods went crazy!

It was obvious by the way the rod was bent that we had a good fish on and after a short battle, a fat 5-pound walleye came into the boat.

Back then, the only way to get back to that Sweet Spot was to pick out a couple of landmarks on each shore and use them to attempt to come back to that spot again.

I’d lined my two landmarks up and then searched vainly for that hump, needless to say, I couldn’t find it, we were close, but when you’re fishing close doesn’t cut it!

I knew it was there, but after trolling through the area a dozen times, we gave up and headed for a spot that was a lot easier to locate, one where the channel ran along the shoreline.

That was the day that I decided that I had to have a locator/GPS unit, so I could find that sweet spot again and again without guessing.

On my next trip to Cabela’s, I picked up a Lowrance Locator/GPS and a LakeMaster Pro Master series Digital GPS Fishing Maps Chip.

These map chips are compatible to numerous brands of locators/GPS units including Lowrance, Humminbird and Garman.

With my locator/GPS and map chip, I’m know within inches where the drop offs, the humps along with other fish holding structure is located and will be able to check out those exact spot every time I’m on the lake

Never again, will I not be able to get back to those sweet spots, avoid deadhead submerged logs and to know where the shallow water are as I now have icons marking all of these sweet and not so sweet spots.

Since we do much of our fishing and filming in the Dakotas, Minnesota and Iowa, it just made sense for us to go with the LakeMaster chip.

Their new North and South Dakota map card are really sweet as they include High-Definition 1-foot Contours for 15 lakes in North Dakota, South Dakota as well as some of those that form part of the South Dakota and Minnesota border in N.E. South Dakota.

This new LakeMaster’s edition in amazing 1-foot and 6-inch Hi-Def contours expands your map coverage, letting you see much more of what’s down there.

Several of the lakes in N.E. South Dakota, my hometown are mapped with 6-inch definition, allowing me to see the lakes that I fished as a kid in a whole new way.

The accuracy of the maps in my locator GPS unit helps me to find and avoid those shallow water areas.

With the mapping chip, areas running from 0 to 15 feet will appear shaded, allowing you to be cautious or avoid the area, as they’ll eat a prop or your lower unit if you aren’t careful.

Their new LakeMaster Insight 3D Shaded Relief maps became available the first of the year and are available for Lowrance HDS GPS units.

This map chip allows you to view the bottom several different ways including 3-D Shaded Relief with Contours, Shaded Relief only and the traditional 2-D viewing.

Their shaded Relief & Contour 3-D mode is amazing, giving you a view of the bottom like you’ve never seen before allowing you to quickly locate those fish holding areas.

The Shaded Relief only mode allows you to see the bottom with out the contour lines gives you the ability to find those spot on a spot areas.

The old days of lining up a tree on one shore and a barn on the other to help you to return to the area where you located fish on your last trip are gone!

The locator/GPS units with map chips know make it an easy chore for you to find fish, allowing the angler to return to an area and be within inches of the area where they had preciously visited.

For more information on LakeMaster products go to www.lakemap.com

Until the ice leaves us, we open water anglers have a lot of spare time on their hands.

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.