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View Full Version : Boonerbuck and Firebird team up for predators



todbartell
02-27-2006, 01:07 PM
I posted some pics on the Coyote Thread, but here's the full story for those interested

Booner came up from the Cariboo to hunt some fawn and calf eaters for a week, here's how it went :

Day one -

above 0 and windy as hell (30 km+)

first stand nothing

second stand we had 2-3 coyotes barking/howling at us from the woods a few hundred yards upwind, but they wouldnt come out

on the walk to the third stand, Boonerbuck spotted a wolf but it was out of sight within seconds and not offering a shot. I never did catch a glimse of it.

third stand was very windy and turned into nothing

...the afternoon was spent scouting a new area, but it never did pan out into anything promising

Day two :

+3 and gusty winds


getting out of the truck at stand one, I spotted 2 coyotes trotting across a field approx 700 yards from us. Decided to let them be and call in another field, planning to later go to the area they dissapeared in.

stand one proved nothing, but some howls at the end of our calling a half km or more to the north. we packed up and headed towards that area.

getting to stand two, we set up along a fence in a large plowed field. started with some howls and then snowshoe distress screams. about 15-20 minutes into the stand I thought I could hear something walking in the snow in the bush behind me. sure enough, a few minutes later I saw something move behind a small tree, directly downwind, and then dissapear. on the walk back to the truck, a coyote bolted across the trail 100 yards in front of us. most likely the one that snuck downwind of me on the stand.

we tried two more stands (the area where the two coyotes went to this morning), before driving to another portion of the property to explore some new area. there were fresh coyote tracks all over the road, looks to be approx 5-6 dogs working the road in the morning. we tried two more calling stands with nothing to show for it, so we headed to town to thaw Booner's frozen arse.

that evening we head four hours north for some spots that hold more wolves.

Day three, our first up north :

started in the morning by checking for some wolf sign up some mountain logging roads. It had snowed that morning so any tracks we'd find would be hours old. We went to a great looking field that had alot of promise, but nothing came in to our four calling attempts, and we only cut one fresh coyote track. After lunch we finally cut some tracks, a pack of seven wolves moving through behind some farmland bordered with swamp and clearcuts below a mountain. We set up in a small clearing behind the swamp bordering the field, and tried howling with the Fx3 at first, hoping they'd still be within ear shot. 30-40 minutes of fawn bawls & fawn distress calls mixed with some howls and it got dark on us. On the walk back to the truck, we found tracks of a coyote that had come in to the calls and hit the road just beyond sight around the bend from our calling stand. Must of been intimidated by the wolf howls, as it swapped ends and headed back into the bush.

Day four, second day up north :

we headed back to the area we found the wolf tracks the evening before, and headed further down the road in hopes of catching up to the pack. after 5 or more kilometers, the road turned into a overgrown trail and the tracks kept going so we turned around and checked out an area close by, hoping the pack had looped back over the night. we tried calling in a small landing in an grown up cutblock, but no luck. On the way back to town for lunch we hit a side road off the highway leading down to the railway tracks below some farm fields. there was one set of coyote tracks in the snow.
We set up facing opposite directions and started calling, with a mix of interrogation howls and jackrabbit distress calls. After fifteen minutes, a coyote popped onto the tracks approx. 500 yards upwind of us. perfect! I was watching it through my riflescope as it would charge in to us 50 yards at a time, stop, listen and watch us, then charge closer. what a sight http://www.vf11.com/doomedyote/images/smiles/icon_lol.gif
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/Skeena_06_004.jpg


At 200ish yards it swerved right then left and headed down the side of the tracks out of sight. A few minutes had passed when Boonerbuck lip squeeked, and seconds later the coyote pops back up onto the tracks, facing me at 130 yards. I was already sitting ready with my m700 260 Remington braced in my Steady Stix, crosshairs on its chest. I squeeze the trigger and down the coyote goes, bang flop! This was a nice relief for me, as I had not gotten a coyote since mid January, due to some bad luck hunting in late Jan, and not being able to go out all Febuary


We got my coyote and began dragging it to the truck, when Booner spots another coyote in the same spot coyote #1 appeared from! We sit down and I turn on the FoxPro to jackrabbit distress, and the coyote begins to charge in for us so hard that it really offered no shot until it darted into the bush the same spot that coyote #1 did, but sadly we could not lure this one back out for a shot.

We got some awesome chinese food in town for lunch http://www.vf11.com/doomedyote/images/smiles/eusa_sick.gif then headed out to another spot on the railway tracks later in the afternoon. After a few promising looking spots producing nothing, we headed and called in a gravel pit until dark, with no luck again. Oh well it was a good day nonetheless. http://www.vf11.com/doomedyote/images/smiles/icon_smile.gif

todbartell
02-27-2006, 01:12 PM
Day five, third day up north :

we head to an area that had reported fresh wolf sign, but didnt find anything that great. We then headed to a cattle ranch that had a big wolf problem the week before. We parked the truck and headed to calling stand number one, setting up in a field above a river. Shortly after the first blast of Snowshoe distress calls, a coyote below the field began barking and challenging us, and he was close! After a few minutes of him barking at our distress calls, Booner switched the Fx3 to the 'Coyote shredding a rabbit' call, basically alot of screaming and growling. Less than a minute later, I spot a coyote popping up over the bank, barking and howling. He trots forward 10 yards and stops, offering a shot. The 243 barked, sending an 80 grain Nosler on its way, and a great one shot kill was the result. I was watching the coyote through my scope, and just as my partner shot, the coyote was in mid howl. Pretty neat to see that http://www.vf11.com/doomedyote/images/smiles/icon_cool.gif

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a294/boonerbuck/northernyote004.jpg


We try a few more stands but had no luck in that spot. We then headed to the fields close to where the fresh wolf sign was found day earlier, and called in between two fields. Nothing but a big flock of beautiful crows showed up to our calls, so we headed back to the fields we called on day one. Not soon after parking the truck and walking to our final stand of the hunt, we round a bend in the field and Boonerbuck spots a coyote dozing in the sun on top of a small hump in the field to our right. It must of woke up and felt something wasnt right, as it lurched to its feet and offered me a broadside shot at 100 yards. One squeeze of the trigger put him back down, but I hit him high in the spine and the dog was doing the funky chicken. Shot #2 sailed high and missed, and shot #3 connected, the 95 gr. Hornady Vmax sending a big cloud of red mist drifting in the evening breeze. Very tough dog, determined to cling to every last bit of life it had.
Our final stand produced nothing, and at dark we walked back to the truck, finding coyote prints on top of our boot tracks from 45 minutes earlier http://www.vf11.com/doomedyote/images/smiles/icon_lol.gif We pack up and head back to my place, 3.5 hours south, for one last morning hunt together.

http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/Skeena_06_015.jpg

todbartell
02-27-2006, 01:13 PM
Day six, back in flatland farm country http://www.vf11.com/doomedyote/images/smiles/icon_lol.gif :

We set up at daybreak in the same area where we had a handful of coyotes barking and howling at us on Day one of our hunt. the wind wasnt good, swirling around, but we tried anyways. After 20 minutes or so we decide to move on and try another spot.
I see something heading across a big field about 3/4 of a KM from us, and sure enough it is a coyote. We pick the pace up and get to the fenceline and set up with the sun at our back. On the first set of FoxPro interrogation howls, two coyotes respond right away to us. A few howls are exchanged between us, and then we go into Jackrabbit distress calls. A few minutes later from my position slightly higher than my partner, I can see not one but TWO coyotes heading for us from across the big wide open field. What a beautiful sight with the morning sun shining on them like that. They split up at approx 300 yards and one starts to head off to the side, and the other keeps coming right for us. I flicked the safety off on my 223 when the dog in front came in to 250 yards, but I wanted Booner to get the shot, as it was his turn for a dog. Sadly from his low lying position, he couldnt see the second yote coming around on his side, but he could see the one out front. Focused on the action out front, I am suprised when a coyote barks loud at my position from what had to be less than 50 yards, from a swampy marsh to my left. I look back to the front, and the dog out front stopped broadside after a challenge bark at us, the Ballistic Tip from his Savage 243 screamed across 217 yards of flat field and anchored that dog on the spot with a solid WHOMP http://www.vf11.com/doomedyote/images/smiles/icon_mrgreen.gif The yote off to the side kicked into afterburners and was in the trees within 10 seconds, offering nothing but a hail mary running shot which I decided not to bother with. It was a nice male with very little pelt damage from the shot, a keeper for sure.
We try one more stand 1 km to the north, we had a pack barking and howling at us from across a small lake, but nothing came in for a closer look, although Boonerbuck did see a coyote and possibly two skirting the edge of the marshy lake below us.
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a294/boonerbuck/northernyote009.jpg


all in all, a good hunt despite no wolves http://www.vf11.com/doomedyote/images/smiles/icon_cool.gif Oh well, that's the way it goes

boonerbuck
02-27-2006, 01:21 PM
Great job on the story FB. It was lots of fun and we hunted hard. Still time to laugh a lot though.

Too bad we were a week late on the wolf problems those land owners were having. Two separate farms too. I'm sure we would of had a pretty good chance.

mark
02-27-2006, 01:33 PM
hey booner yer last dog looks like hes wearing a collar, did you phone the owner and break the news about his pooch!

ianwuzhere
02-27-2006, 05:23 PM
hehe, yup definately looks like a collar in that last pic.

Ive shot about 4 yotes in my life- hopefully more this winter-reading all these sweet stories firebird and booner. Got a new 3x9 leupold scope have to mount as soon as i back to ol peegee. havent had a shot yet on a wolf but hopefully this will be the year.
Seems to be decent -lotsa action over around the hoof.
~ Anybody heard of any statistics of how many fawns/calves that coyotes might take down in a year. I watched a documentry on people in yellowstone park who thought that the wolves were soley to blame for the death of all the young ungulates but with the hardcore studies that they performed over a long period of time- the coyotes killed as many as the wolves did. Makes me wanna go hunt down a few...

CanAm500
02-27-2006, 05:38 PM
Good story and really good pics.

What do you do with the collar on the one yote?

boonerbuck
02-27-2006, 05:56 PM
Anybody heard of any statistics of how many fawns/calves that coyotes might take down in a year.

Randy Anderson mentions in his one DVD that they found a den that had 13 fawn skulls in it. Just imagine how many skulls didnt make it in there? Imagine how many dens are out there?

ianwuzhere
02-27-2006, 07:25 PM
wow, yeah glad they are open when not much else is- focus more on the callin in them...

Gus
02-27-2006, 08:10 PM
Good story there guys. I could imagin that coyotes take more than people relize. What really did it for me was hearing stories of, and seeing it on t.v, yotes pulling the calf or fawn right out of the mother while she's in labour :mad:.

todbartell
02-27-2006, 09:30 PM
~ Anybody heard of any statistics of how many fawns/calves that coyotes might take down in a year


for sure, in BC, wolves, coyotes, cougars, and bears take a WHOLE lot more deer/elk/moose/sheep etc down then hunters do.

:-o

ianwuzhere
02-27-2006, 09:56 PM
i know id rather see more deer in the bush then yotes anyday. Good luck on the yote huntin!!! lets see who can post the most pics of em, cheers!!!