# Saturday afternoon with Lee



## alleyyooper (Jan 20, 2017)

At last Sunday’s the 8th’s breakfast meeting I was to pair with John and Eric for 2 weeks of coyote hunting. Seems a monster was made when John and Eric took Tom and Amy out on a hunt a week ago Saturday. John called me and asked if I minded finding out if anyone else wanted to team up with me as Tom and called and asked about he and Amy going out again this week. I told them I could do that and was fine with it. Saturday morning I went squirrel hunting alone in my woods, not even thinking about coyotes. 

When I came up Kare told me Lee had called wanting to talk to me. I call him back and he wondered if I wanted to go out with him Saturday afternoon and do a few sets. His partner Mike had got an offer to work some over time this week end so he took the bird in the hand over what a coyote might bring if one showed up for him. 
I quickly skinned my 4 squirrels and cut them up for the fridge till I could get time to cook them soon. Kare had dinner made so I sat down and ate some venison burger rice dish she makes. Gathered my back pack and cold weather wear and rifle the 220 swift since the wind was near calm. Hit the door running and fired up the pickup and drove to Lee’s house, Was met at the door by his wife who said he was out in the big pole barn about ready to go. I get out to the barn as he drives his suv out the door. 

Guess that settled who was driving, so I loaded my gear in the back. He was glad to see me and had to again say he was sorry his son in law was such a jerk. Said he thought we would go to the super family farm along the belle river where there is some grassy flood plains to pull coyotes from. Lee had called and was told they had been hearing coyotes in the evening but that was all. We get there and get our gear out, no snow but a skim of pellet type ice that was going to make walking without making too much noise difficult, but that is part of what we needed to do so we did a lot of stopping and starting like a herd of deer would do. Finally we get back to an area where the flats cut into a hill many years a go not in our life time even though we are old.


I am glad I had taken the time a few days back to cut a couple of 2”x6”x10” pieces I could put in my back pack to hold the decoy. The ground has been frozen solid for some time with well below normal temps and the occasional day of above normal temps. Worked perfect despite the wobbling of the Weasel ball. We get all set up and start the call going. We saw a couple specks up river in the flats I figure were 500 or more yard out after about 10 minutes of the call starting. They keep stopping and standing looking about them we could see, but they would start coming again slowly working their way toward the call and decoy. I decide if they keep coming to let them and motioned to Lee that is what we should do plus I signaled I would take the trailer of the two. At 20 minutes I lowered the volume of the caller and shut it down. They now are about 200 yards out and still slow casting back and forth and coming. Man they are painfully slow so I signaled to Lee as soon as they casted side ways to fire.
We fire almost at the same time and one coyote drops instantly the other turns to run as I rack another round in the 220 swift wondering how I had missed. I was about to fire a second shot when it fall over. We walk down to them I’m counting paces and at 142 I get to Lee’s coyote another 39 to mine. I had made a good hit but my coyote was a male I figure a little tougher than Lees female.

We drag the coyotes to the trail, walk back to the suv talking about where we would go next. We decided to go one of the beef farms where they had told Lee they had seen a Coyote right after Mondays snow/rain storm. 
We arrived; gather our gear start to walk back on the lane where they had driven the big tractor with duels to spread manure. We called our standard 20 minutes with a 15 minute wait after the call was shut down before leaving. As we are walking back tour ride we decided it will be dark before we can get to another place and set up. 

Get back to Lees unload our two coyotes, while Lee goes in to get us coffee I set the coyotes on the gambrels to hang and get the tubs around to catch the inwards. Note to self, call and ask the parsons if they would like the inwards for their pigs. Lee comes back out with the coffee so we decided to drink and talk before skinning. Job went quickly with both of us tugging and slicing. Appears I had hit mine a little bit too far to the rear but was still a killing shot, going to have to check the scope out maybe today. Set to go out Tuesday afternoon if the forecasted raining stops.

 Al


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