When I am not filming my tool of choice is the shotgun. It is hard to beat the excitement and adrenalin rush you get from  an up close hard charger. It also lets me call in places I normally wouldn’t while running the camera. Good shotgun areas often get looked over by other callers, making for some good calling. Another reason I enjoy shotgunning is the ease of it, I can just grab a call and my shotgun and head into the thick of it. I will often even carry a shotgun in areas most would think is rifle country, in fact I would say 90% of all the predators we call could be taken with a shotgun.

Decoys,
A lot of new decoys have come out in the last few years. I personally use the Mojo critter, FoxPro’s jack in the box and the whirling woodpecker with great success. A decoys job is to add realism to a stand and keep the attention off you and these decoys perform there job well.  There are some people that say they have a negative reaction when using decoys, but I personally see them as a asset. Especially when hunting in tight quarters. They can provide you with that extra second that you need to get that shot off or help entice that hung up critter into range. Give them a try, they are worth the extra weight and are pretty affordable.

Calls,

Whether I am filming or hunting, I enjoy using electronic callers. There are a lot of advantages to these callers, they get the sound away from you which in turn can get attention off you. Most call companies have large sound libraries, so you will have no shortage of options in that department. Some people will say its cheating, but I cant see it. These tools are not magic weapons and they are not going to make you a instant success! Calling is only a small part of this sport, it takes a lot more to be successful then just going out and making some sounds. They might not be for everyone, but if you are serous about calling and have the funds I recommend checking them out.

There are a lot of great call manufactures out there and they all work. Some have different options and all have different sounds, so choosing one will come down to personal preferences. My choice is FoxPro. They are constantly improving there units and sounds, so I can have access to new quality sounds and upgrades for my equipment. Each season these calls get better and better and the competition for new options and better sounds is great for us.

Camo,

When calling them in close, a set of full camo is a great asset, but not a necessity. I mean from head to toe, face mask and gloves really help out a lot. But the most important thing is being still, the slightest movement can catch a weary coyotes attention, cats are even quicker to pick up on movement. So before you start calling get in a comfortable position and keep still. If you need to make any moments make them slow and fluid, refrain from jerky moment. Some times you can get a way with a lot, and others will catch the slightest twitch. With experience you will learn what you can get away with from reading there body language.

Shotgun hunting is a lot of fun so give it a try. These days you can get a lot more range out of that old scattergun.

There seems to be more and more black coyotes being seen or shot and I wanted to ask you readers your thought on the origins of these color phases. Do you believe it is a genetic trait ” Melanism ” that is just more prevalent in the eastern part of the country? Or a cross breed between domestic dogs or wolves or maybe both? There have been DNA studies that lead to believe they have crossed with wolves and that might explain why they seem to be more common in the east. I have been witness to one litter of Coydogs, but from what I seen the Coyote genes were more dominant with only a few noticeable traits from the domestic dog. May be these black coyotes are Dogotes ” Male dog and female coyote “, with the domestic traits not showing as strong or have been bread down a few generations. I am no expert but by going from what my eyes have seen, the Coydog seems to have a stronger Coyote look, with the Dogote having more of the domestic dogs traits. I have my own ideas on the subject but would like to hear others opinions. So, Coydogs or genetic traits?, and why does there seem to be more and more of these black coyotes turning up?

I have added a few more photos to my Pictures section. So for those of you who enjoy pictures, take a look! There are still a bunch that I need to get loaded, so check back often,

Thanks for looking,

Management

No telling for sure if it was a hunter or not, but a good reminder, that we all need to make sure and dispose of our carcasses properly. Things like this give our sport a black eye!

GGrand Forks, N.D. (AP) Police say they got a call after a worker taking out garbage at a Wendy’s restaurant in Grand Forks found a dead coyote in the restaurant’s trash bin. Officer Wilbur Speaker says someone apparently shot the coyote somewhere in the county and threw it in the garbage. Speaker says carcasses of animals, such as deer and jackrabbits, have been known to turn up in trash bins around the city, especially during hunting season.The Wendy’s manager said the city disposed of the carcass after it was found Monday. The restaurant owner’s administrative assistant worried customers might be “grossed out” by the find. She told the Grand Forks Herald: “It’s just a coyote in the Dumpster.” Information from: Grand Forks Herald, 

Due to high at the time gas prices, I had decided to put in for a unit close to the house for deer. I know the unit well, as it is right in the back yard and I have seen some real bruisers in there.But this wasn’t going to be a trophy hunt for me, It was a meat hunt. I had recently had a freezer malfunction and lost a great deal of meat. I have had a hard time getting into big game hunting lately, as another severe addiction has its grasp on me. But I was bound and determined to fill that new freezer. 

First morning had me hiking into a area that has a lot of sign but I have yet to see a deer in it. I glassed all morning and never seen anything.

That evening, I decided to check another area, one that I new received a little more traffic. And man was I right, there were camps, truck, quads and hunters all over the place. That a firmed up my idea to just hunt the other area, rain sleet or snow. 

The next morning I decided to hike back into a area that I had seen a toad in during archery season. When I got back there it looked like it had been deserted, so after a little glassing I headed back down to glass a few finger canyons. Just as I got conferable, I glassed up a hunter still hunting his way up. At first I was a little irritated, but then thought to my self, he is going to spook up some deer. Sure enough, I glassed back over to him and 50 yards behind him were three Bucks and one was on the large side. I quickly packed up my gear and high tailed it over there. When I got down there I ran into the hunter, turns out there were 2 others with him. I asked them if they were chasing those bucks, there reply was what Bucks? I said never mind and headed to where I had last seen them. When I got down there I looked over and noticed those hunters had followed me. Then one of them raises there rifle and I thought O NO! He took two shots at one and missed them both. After that I headed home, 10 minuted away, for a nap and some grub. That evening, I went back to the same area and all I could glass up were the same three hunters. 

I was starting to feel a little discouraged the next morning, but I new if those hunters didn’t come back there was a good chance those Bucks would be back. On my way into my glassing spot I caught movement, I thought to myself, Its on! Then quickly realizing, nope all Doe’s. They new something wasn’t right and started walking away, right to the same area I was going to go and glass. So I crept over, and as soon as I crested the hill, I spotted some more Doe’s down in the wash below me, as I was glassing them I caught more movement to the right of them. When I panned over to the movement, our eyes locked, BUCKS. But I was pinned down, all eyes were on me and I couldn’t move and I couldn’t get a shot off either as brush seemed to be covering the vitals of every buck down there. As I was about to cry in pain from the jagged rock I had unknowingly decided to kneel on. I heard my salvation, and it came in the form of a couple loud mouthed hikers. There high volume conversation had gotten the attention off me just long enough to take two steps to my right for a clean shot. But at the same time had the deer on there way out, but not spooked. I quickly looked for my shot and found it, A decent forky had stopped just before the summit of the opposite wash bank. So I settled my cross hairs and released a 95 grain SST to do the dirty work. And it did, DRT after a short spill to the wash bottom. 

After the dust settled, I noticed the hikers on the next ridge over, I quickly thanked them for there unusually loud conversation. Then made my way down to collect my prize. It was a long hard drag out. After getting the FURHNTR loaded, jelly legs set in and I am feeling it today. My mission is over, Operation freezer filler complete!

Leupold Mark IV 1-3 X 14mm CQ/T Rifle scope

 It is my opinion that a lot of people top their calling rifles with way too much magnification for 90% of calling situations.  I’ve seen more often than not, most new guys to the sport carry more glass and they will likely ever need.  Even with the standard 3 X 9 power scope, how many times do you ever turn up the power of your scope while predator hunting?  I’m willing to bet not many.  The extra magnification is great for sighting in at the range and pinking targets out in the distance.  But for predator hunting the extra power is more of a hindrance than any help.  A great example of a negative situation would be, forgetting to turn the magnafication down after a range session and having a coyote pop out of the brush at 25 yards,  Or the new guy that has the high power scope and gets a hard charger and all he can see is fur. I know that my calling style and situation doesn’t pertain to everyone, but I do believe that a lot of callers would benefit from a lower power scope for some of there calling.

I felt just like a kid at a candy store the minute I heard the deliveryman at my door, I knew he was there with a new Leupold scope for me to try out.  I’m sure most of you get the same feeling of anticipation when you get that knock.  Doesn’t get much better, then when you receive something you’ve been waiting for.  After signing for the package I made a beeline straight for the man room, I quickly removed it from its package and peeled back the cellophane wrapper.  As I opened the box I almost felt as if I was cracking open a treasure chest, it was beautifully packaged with everything having its own place in a well laid out foam nest. Its not often a scope comes with everything you need to use it. It comes with a mount for a Picatinny Rail and a mount for a A2 style AR 15, Plus flip open lens covers for the objective and eyepiece. Leupold left little to nothing necessary to purchase afterwords.

 A low power scope has a bunch of advantages, One being, on the bottom end is there super fast target acquisition. With the high end being enough power for most hunting situations. Have you ever looked in a area you plan to do a stand and couldn’t decide weather or not to bring a shotgun or rifle? Well a low power set up would really shine in that situation. How about a hard charging coyote that just wont seem to stop for you? With a scope on 1X its like swinging a shotgun on them. 

 Now all I needed to do is chose a rifle worthy of being crowned with such a noble cap. Being I had initially wanted the scope for a close to mid range predator hunting instrument, It would need to ride atop something of similar grade. It just so happened that I had a qualified associate. Its partner would be a custom built AR 15 carbine, one of my favorite calling rigs. It is a 16″ side charge upper riding on a DPMS lower with a Rock River two stage trigger. A decent shooter considering the barrel is fairly inexpensive.  

After getting it mounted onto its new home, I hit the range. The ease of mounting this scope was refreshing, no trouble leveling the reticle, Just put her where you need for eye relief and tighten it down. I was very happy when it only took me a few shots to get her where she needed to be. Even more so after I shot a few groups. Most groups I shot were at or under 1″, not bad for a scope on 3 X. One thing I really liked during sight in, was that the lighted dot is the same size as the center bullseye on my targets, so that made for a good sight picture for aiming. Leupold has always been known for quality, and there Mark 4 line is no exception. keep an eye out, I am sure you will see and hear a lot more about this scope and set up on future hunts.

I hope that it isn’t going to take loosing a child for Califonians to understand that predator numbers need to be managed through hunting.

RCADIA – Officials believe a mountain lion killed Wednesday night may have been the same cat that’s been preying on domestic pets in foothill communities over the past few weeks.

Arcadia police shot the cougar about 8 p.m. in the backyard of a home in the 2200 block of Canyon Road, a residential community that abuts the Angeles National Forest.

Officers said the mountain lion had just mauled a dog to death and was charging at police when they shot the cat with an assault weapon.

Arcadia police Sgt. Dean Caputo said the mountain lion – believed to be a 140-pound female – may have been the same cat that killed a dog in Arcadia a few days earlier and attacked two dogs in Glendora last week. One was killed.

“They are travelling quite a wide area hunting, so this one could have been anywhere up in the mountains,” Caputo said.

“You pretty much have an unrestricted area in the San Gabriel Valley mountain range.”

At least three Arcadia police officers responded to the Canyon Road home on Wednesday night after a resident reported a mountain lion sighting.

Officers found the mountain lion standing over the resident’s dead dog, an Australian Shepherd.

“She had huge paws, and she wasn’t very intimidated by our officers,” Caputo said.

The cat was being housed at the Pasadena Humane Society’s morgue and was expected to be picked up Thursday evening.

I loaded up a few more clips to my video section. If you get a chance to take a look, I Would love to hear your feed back, I am very interested to hear any opinions or ideas you might have. I will be getting a few more new clips loaded up here shortly, so keep your eyes out. 

This is a clip from early this season, down in southern AZ. We had another fox come in from the left, and I never even new the one on the clip was there until my partner let me know. So I didnt get zoomed in and he had to wait on his shot, But we got her done.

Thanks for looking,

Yup, I am bad. I decided last night I would head out in the morning to scout for my deer hunt that’s coming up. But I never even got a chance. Soon as I grabbed the rifle, I new that I was in trouble. Next weekend I might have to leave the rifle at home. I called this male in on the first of two stands. He came in down wind after about 8 minutes of calling. And my little fireball got its second coyote. The jury is still out on the little round, but if it keeps killing them like it did today, It will see a lot of action. Its accurate, easy on the ears and a pleasure to shoot.