Met Charlie at a restaurant with nice big truck parking lot 6:30 AM. I throw my gear in his truck along with the 243 this time also, so not worried about the wind with the Swift. Ask if he had breakfast, he answered in the negative. We go in and order breakfast, discuss a hunt strategy for the day. It is nice to not have the bone chilling cold to deal with, my truck had showed 20F, the big screen TV in the restaurant showed a 11F wind chill. Charlie said Eric had asked him if we would hit a dairy farm as they had called and reported seeing a pair of coyotes slinking around the barn. I had never hunted there before, so I had to rely on Charlie who had. We arrive at the Linquist farm at 10 to 7:00, it is just barely light but the scope will work fine plus by the time we hike back and get the decoys out along with the callers it will be even lighter. Charlie leads me down a lane between fields as this farm they don’t use loafing pens so much in the 3 warmer seasons. So have travel lanes between crop fields back to a big wood lot.They have cut some logs for lumber stacked where we set up on some high ground. Set the callers out along with the decoys about 125 yards up just out side the woods. Was about to think we had got a dry hole when a coyote pokes it’s nose from some taller grass to eye the decoys. It is in my zone and finally sticks more of the body out where I can get a shot. I miss how’d I miss a 125 yard shot I heard a rifle crack and a coyote drops, Charlie had got it. I shrug and hold my rifle out and shrug again. Charle points to a stub of a tree branch sticking out about 100 yards away and triggers it. I set the rifle back in the cradle of the shooting sticks and fire. The stub splinters with the hit of the hollow point boat tail. Had to have been me. We gather our gear then go check Charlies coyote, a male with a few years on it by the looks of the teeth. Wrap it in the plastic and head back to the truck. It has warmed to 25F by Charlies truck and the snow is really mushy, the road looks real wet slick as we turn out of the drive way. But the center is gravel so keep the left in the center of the road out to the paved road. We are going east then make a swing down the along the west coast of Lake Huron. Well about 5 miles or so in from the coast. Along the way Charlie asked if I had pulled the shot. Told him I didn’t know what happened. I had checked the tightness of the scope before putting it in the case. We make it to another dairy farm owned by a 3d generation Lambart. They have a wet land area and it is choked with Pampas grass. Lots of critters love this thick choke out just about every thing that try’s to grow there. This time I pull out the Remington 700BDL 243. I have owned this rifle since July 1973 bought it used. Dealer was our favorite gun shop in Cadillac Michigan who gave me two boxes of shells for it and told me to try it out. If I liked it to stop in and pay him and if I didn’t just return it Monday morning. Needless to say I liked it. I did how ever have a problem finding a load I liked to shoot in it. Took me about two years before I finally found one. I have hunted this farm before so knew the lay out and had even walked around the wet land to see how big it was and good spots to set up. We set the callers out and the decoys only about 75 yards out here. Wind in our face felt damp but warmer. Do the piglet in distress to start out then kicked in with a Yappy little dog on the other call. This time two coyotes responded and both fell to the shots. After thre gear was packed we go to look at the two female coyotes and wrap them for the drag out. We drive south another 5 miles to reach a sheep farm, Had been a dairy farm just two years before but they switched when milk prices kept dropping. Nothing showed to the calls there. As we are driving south to another dairy farm Charlie asked if I was going to the brunch Sunday. I said yes and he asked if I would hunt with him another two weeks and if so we just wouldn’t put our name in the hat or draw from the hat just be a team. Told him that would be fine with me. The next dairy farm was a dry hole again. When we left there we decided to stop at a small family diner in a small village, has a post office restaurant and gas station and a big Case IH dealer. Is Just after 12 when we left the diner and hit the road to a crop farm. They also have a wet land filled with Pampas grass. They had gotten in trouble in the 1970’s when they were attempting to dry the place out with drainage ditches. There are still a couple big dirt piles where they had not finished filling in the ditches. We set up on one of the dirt mounds where Charlie and Bret had made a make shift blind with Pampas grass stalks a couple of years before. We called in 6 coyotes here but only managed to get 3. When we checked it looked like we had gotten last springs pups . We worked some more places till we got to a road they would take me back to my truck near dark. We got 4 more coyotes between the two of us. We figure a good haul for the day enjoyed the company of each other. I now have a rifle I need to shoot a bit to get comfortable with again and try to figure out why I missed an easy shot? Al
Any time we take out some coyotes it is a great time. Met Charlie at a truck stop, and as instructed Friday evening ate breakfast at home. He had did as he had said and went out in the freezing rain Thursday then ran his Locator call. Then Friday durning the high wind event he mapped out a route where we could do the maxim hunting and the least driving between sets. He had also knocked on doors and gotten permission to varmint hunt 5 farms. I threw my pack and gear in his truck about 6:15 AM off we went to the first farm. It was not a new place but had been hunted by the group for about 8 years. We arrive just as the huge orange ball is not breaking the sky line yet but was reflecting off the clouds bright. This is a sheep farm be longing to Crushanks family. We hike back a lane to a fence line about 125 yards from a wood lot. We set the decoy out at 75 yards. Charlie runs the lamb in distress sound. At about 10 minutes 3 coyotes show up my zone, I sign Charlie can he get a shot off, signs yes so I say take the tail one. He picks up the rifle butt it up to his shoulder so I trigger and fire the swift, quickly rack another round in and can’t find a coyote. We have two down so wrap the females in plastic and drag them to the truck. Charlie tells me the third coyote just bellied down and moved out of there. We just drive 5 miles to another sheep operation. Again a farm we have hunted 6 or 7 years it belongs to the Crushanks son in law married oldest daughter, Burton Scott. We work thru several gates and fields to a brushy swale. Find a row of Round bales where we set up. Put the decoys out about 50 yards near the caller. Charlie again ran the lamb in distress sound, we were about to pack it in when a single coyote appears out of the brush Charles zone, Charles coyote. Back at the truck he told me he had not located any coyotes there but since it was so close decided to map it on the off chance none wanted to sing in the freezing rain. The sun is up bright NO WIND either so the 20F temps felt good on us as we set up the next farm a dairy farm a 15 minute drive from the Scott farm. They use loafing barns in their operation of 250 Holsteins and Guernsey cows. Fields are laid out a lot like a crop farm no fences but a few brushy drainage ditches and some stone piles provided a place to set up and see about drawing a coyote thru the ditch system. But that wasn’t to be today. We make another 15 minute drive to a old fashion farm on the west edge of the Saginaw Valley. Most any one who lives in south eastern Michigan who knows farming knows the valley is famous for sugar beets, wheat, corn and soy bean production. The sugar beets are really the king how ever. But the edge is where small acreage 100 acre homestead farms thrive. It is one of Charlies door knocking farms. They had had problems in the past with coyotes raiding their free range chickens. At the time they had no idea there were people like us around to call for help. They had a 40 acre wood lot we could hunt that day as they were about to get ready for syrup season. Charlie told them we would get in and be gone in 40 minutes. We set up in a fence line walked about 40 yards to set out the decoys. Charlie used the Yappy ankle biter chasing chickens to pull two coyotes from the woods. Both became jingle in our pockets. As we were loading them in the pick up the family came out to see them up close. The lady Nancy Belcom asked who was buying the fur, we told her we had a Michigan buyer who took his hides to Canada to big auctions in the spring and Russians bought a lot there. By now Charlie had mapped us in for a lunch at a little village family type restaurant. Food was good place was neat and clean, service good. I had a hot roast turkey sandwich which came on home made bread sliced thick. Came with a cup of chicken & rice soup plus ice tea for me $7.85 minus senior discount for a total of $7.06. left the girl a $6,00 tip. We continue north along the edge of the valley hit another small 120 acre place being held onto by a retired coupe who raise there own meat animals and a large garden Plus U Pick apples in the fall. Another Charlie door knock place. Fred and Margret Patz owners. There is a wood lot the other side of the large orchard so we set up the decoys just inside the orchard slide off to the side and use tree trimmings piled to hide our shapes. About 10 minutes in Charlie added another big male coyote to the collection. About 20 minutes more up the road we arrive at another farm a small dairy operation. Made me think of Johns except the cows were Holsteins instead of Angus. But I could see the nice looking sugar shack at the edge of the woods and see the fire wood stacked near it just like John used to do. Roy and Emma Mack owned the nice neat place. You guessed it another of Charles knocking conquest. We walk back and around the corner from the sugar shack so we can see down the wood lots side and set up the decoys about 100 yards out from a fence line. Charlie ran the piglet in distress sound. Another pair of coyotes responded to be added to our haul. Both Females with very good fur. I am thinking the coyotes are liking the sun shine now too. Still only 21F but no wind and the snow is getting mushy So much for thinking we hit 3 more farms with out seeing another coyote. Time we hit our Home town bakery for a after dinner snack. As we are munching Charlie asked if I want to go again on Sunday. I say sure what time and where should we meet. He says being Sunday we can meet in a little village of Capac and leave one of the trucks at the bank parking lot. Zig & zag north and east of there. We make it to the limit of where we want to turn today and start back to my truck. Stop and a old time farm we have been hunting for almost 20 years now Robert Zinger farm Beef is what they deal in free range beef. They have a nice sized wood lot we walk across a pasture to a fence line with a few bushy tress set up the decoys and wait for the piglet to call coyotes out. Four show up and they are being cagy holding back in the woods and not giving us a good clean shot at any of them. Charlie changed to a challenge call and they had heard enough and disappeared back into the brush. We hit 3 more farms and couldn’t seem to call any more out so Charlie says we should just call it a day maybe they scence the up coming storm. I wasn’t so sure, seemed to me if they thought a storm was coming they would be hunting hard to stock up. Any way I wasn’t going to argue with Charlie as he had put us on some coyotes did the locating Knocked on doors and maped a route out. We get back to my truck just as it turned dark transfused the gear and coyotes. I got home and hung them in the skinning room for later in the week. Al
