Mike and I made a day of it Saturday pretty much. I picked him up at 6:30 didn’t go far to a small farm for these days. They have a couple milk cows for their own use, and about a dozen head of beef cattle they sell by quarters to a whole beef to a few locals. They farm 240 acres of land for animal food and pasture.
We have been hunting the Jackson place for about 8 years.


We work our way back to a fence line with a stone pile and lots of trees & brush walked out and set our callers and decoys out where we several times in the past have called coyotes from the neighboring wood lot.


Had just finished setting up when it started to snow hard. Forecast was calling for a trace to a inch today. We stayed never the less, started out with the Yappie dog and chicken squabble.

About 20 minutes when a coyote showed up to my left, it’s attention was on the decoys so I was able to twist around to shoot. One coyote down but we wait till the full 30 minutes are up and do not see any others.

Snow has stopped so maybe the weather guessers are right about a trace.



Next stop is the Dennis Kirk place a crop farm where the lady of the house keeps a nice flock of chickens and few other fowl. They are long term coyote hunting farm one of our first 18 years ago. Farm is pretty much one level field and come a month and a half be all soybeans. They how ever have not leveled the wood lot nor buried all the stone piles on the farm yet.


We walk back to one such stone pile and walk out set up our decoys and callers about 100 yards away. We go with the yappie dog and the chickens again. Took about 10 minutes and we had a pair of coyotes working along the wood line toward the decoys. Mike signs I should go for the trailer and he would take out the lead coyote. I see his finger make the trigger sign and fire. Another coyote down for me and Mike has his first.


Leave there with the Idea we will try to keep the driving to a minimum so hit a farm 5 miles up the road. A sheep farm with a very clean wood lot, sheep seem to keep brush and weeds down in and around wood lots they pasture in.

We waited 30 minutes and it is a dry hole.


About 10 more miles up the road is another sheep farm and another dry hole. Mike even ran the siren locator before we left to see if we could get some coyotes howling, Nothing.


I was a bit bummed as I had talked to Eric Thursday night had him send me the list of complaint calls they had gotten in the last two weeks where no one else had responded to yet.

Erics wife takes the calls, wrights them down then if any one calls and wants complaint calls where they can go set ups and pretty much be sure of seeing coyotes.


15 miles up the road we come to the Ron Cass farm established in 1937 by Rons father. They run about 300 Holsteins milking cows, farm near 400 acres of their own place and lease about another thousand acres. They raise mostly hay on their place chop a few loads every day for the cattle in season and grow corn and other grain crops on the lease land.


They have a nice 80 area wood lot with some thick brush in it. We set up near some round bales with the callers and decoys out about 125 yards. Decide to go with our piglet in distress sound. Had hardly started and here comes a small flock of turkeys I counted 26 Mike said 27 of them. Worked their way out to a field being covered in manure so once they could be plowed, under it would go to feed the crop they plant in it as a cover crop for some nice alfalfa. Another dry hole I assumed but as we’re just about ready to grab our gear and go here comes a lone coyote Mike shot, a male long in the tooth but still nice fur.

Drive another 15 miles to another big crop farm where they have not leveled every fence line nor buried every stone pile on the place yet.

Doug Conclin is a crop farmer and leases several thousand acres in two counties. He is working in the yard on a big cat so fence lines are in danger of becoming instinct as well as stone piles soon.
Still they have their wood lot I am guessing close to 120 acres, they cut wood for a OWB to heat the house and shop with every year. We make our way back there, set up about 50 yards from the woods and set up in a fence line about 125 yards back. Turn our distressed piglet loose and about 20 minutes later 4 coyotes sneak out of the woods work along the edge watching the decoys. Mikes zone so he signs I take the # 3 coyote He will take #4 and if I can try for a second shot on #1. Didn’t work out the way we had hoped, I got #3 Mike took out #4 and #2 the angle for me to get a shot at #1 was to great of a twist for me to make.

We had got 3 nice appeared to be young Females with some every nice fur.
If the weather guessers are right we are going to behaving some nice fur for about month yet.


Time for a mid day meal so we hit up hungry Anns dinner for a hot turkey sandwich, all the coffee Mike could drink and ice tea for me. The girls who work there know us and stop by and ask where we have been it has been a while. Our Waitress Joan keep coming by and filling our drinks till we hold our hands over the top of the cup and glass. She is a good waitress and a pleasant lady also. Asked how the weather was out there told her holding at 30F roads are OK as they were warm enough from Fridays sun shine to melt the snow on the black tops and the side roads had broke up on Thursday and Friday so only a few slick looking spots. Nope not working us for a good tip, knows talk doesn’t cut it if we run dry on our drinks plus she doesn’t hover she is keeping people happy in about 10 other tables too.


Back on the road again we hit a another beef operation score another dry hole. I would think if they had made the complain list coyotes would still be in the area. Thursday and Friday were bright sunny days Thursday was 27F for the days high Friday was 34F so I am sure they just laid up during the day and hunted at night with the nice warm coats they have been wearing.


This time we drive about 5 miles to a Orchard owned by the Porter brothers. They are not crazy about the buck deer in the fall rubbing on their trees so allow a lot of archery hunters on the place but when deer season is closed we are allowed to hunt coyotes there. We walk back thru the trees and find a pile of brush from pruning where we set up then take the decoys and callers out about 75 yards set up hopping to pull coyotes from the neighboring wood lot.


We pull 2 coyotes from there that came right down between the trees nearly strait for us. About 25 yards from the decoys they turn to go for them Mike takes the lead coyote and I take the trailer. Two females appear to be about middle ages by their teeth and foot pads.


Leave there and hit the sheep farm of George Androff Nice fellow told me once was hard for him to make his way to the USA from one of the war torn countries, Albania I believe in the 1960’s. Had worked at a steel mill near Detroit for 10 years and bought the farm in Michigans thumb and stocked it with sheep like where he and worked at home country. This is his 28th year of owner ship and has given up his steel mill job where they worry every day the place will shut down.
It was a dry hole again.


Is 3:00 PM when we hit the next farm a dairy operation, we work back thru the fields to another thick brush choked wood lot that had been clear cut about 5 years before. We get set up about 25 yards out from the edge then back off to some stacked round bales. We go with the piglet in distress sound once again and once again pull a single coyote out in Mikes zone. Another youngish male.


We drive 20 miles this time to another dairy operation owned by Dave Clark and family. It is about a medium operation and they have a nice wood lot about 80 acres that supplies them with a bit of lumber every so many years. We have to walk thru a narrow finger of wood lane to get to a 20 acre open field. We had just entered it when a bunch of deer came charging from the woods & field they see us about 15 yards away and split into two groups 3 going south and 4 going north to climb a ridge line next door.


We continue on to the field and set up. We had decided we would try a female mating call here. Has to be getting close to that time of year when it becomes the hot sound.
But it wasn’t the hot sound today there.

Back at the truck Mike and I discuss the deer coming thru there like that. Both of us had the first thought coyotes and jumped them bedding down. But when no coyotes had came to the caller decided there were probably a rabbit hunter across the fence line doing some evening hunting only 28 days left in the season.


We hit another crop farm about 35 miles up the road after this. It is a challenge to hunt as they have no fences no stone piles they do have a sloth full of weeds and brush. But we have to set the callers and decoys out about 200 yards away from the sloth just no way to get close with out our scent blowing into the brush and grass. We like to work cross winds or winds right into our face.

We start out with a lamb in distress sound about medium volume and get the second caller going with a yappie ankle biter. There is a sheep farm near by is why we choose the lamb sound.


As the sounds are going I am thinking I wish I had a snow camo gillie suit for this type of area where there is nothing to break up our out line so lay prone. I my self do not like laying prone as I myself feel it is hard to see into the sloth.

We were just about to leave when Mike points and a single coyote is working thru the brush to his zone. Another single male to Mike.


Back at the truck is is getting darker as we get out of our camo and is snowing again as we climb in the truck.
I ask Mike if he wants to hunt Sunday. Told me no he had been invited to church by a lady that had been coming into the auto parts store. Mike works part time there covering sick people and people on vacations.
Said the first time they had met her dad told her to come into the store and price a car part and ask about a good reliable auto repair shop. Told Mike she was single and didn’t know any thing about repairing cars just the oil, tires and light check her dad had taught her to do.


We did one last set before we quit due to darkness. A sheep farm again about a 40 acre wood lot with manture trees and kept clean by the sheep. But there is an extension across the fence line that was full of brush and good hiding cover for coyotes.
Set the callers out at the edge of the woods run the sound of distressed lamb, but nothing come of it.


Took Mike back home , happy he was going to attend church with a lady. We as a group were worried he was spending way to much time trying to help Cheryl out.



Al