Gentlemen, I have journaled an early season coyote hunt with a good friend of mine. I have done my best to relate to you the facts as I remember them.

Unfortunately, the length of this story may be more than some of you want to read at one time, so I will break this into two installments.

The Coyote Chronicles, Part 1

It�s 11 pm Mountain time. I dial Tail-in-Pants phone number from the motel room. From my end the conversation went something like this. �Hey dude, how�s things going, want to do some calling?�..................�OK, what time do you want to get going?�................�5 O,CLOCK!!!!! You mean in the morn�in type 5 o,clock?? Hey man, the �yotes need some sleep too!!!�.............�Oh all right, I�ll be ready, pick me up, room 107, can we stop for some coffee before we leave town?...................�ya, I�ll get a go cup�.

On my last prairie dog trip this summer, I met up with a good friend who I have nicknamed Tail-in-Pants to protect his already questionable reputation. Our goal was to locate some �yotes and see if we could have some fun with them. I am not up to his level yet with a howler (I would guess there are few that are) but I usually better him with a gun, so we decided I would do the shooting and he would do the calling although I did have my calls in my back pack just in case I needed them.

We did leave town at 5 am. I am sure there was still some whiskey coursing through my veins but luckily the drive gave me enough time to gulp some coffee to clear the head and eyes. We pulled off the road, went through a gate and traveled down the trail for about a mile. We stopped overlooking a cottonwood valley, howled, and got an answer right away. The �yote was down in the timber and had spotted us, so all he did was yip at us. We drove down into the valley and tried to jump him out of the timber, but he had disappeared by the time we got there.

We traveled on, howled again and located another one in the next valley. We sneaked over the ridge, set up and started calling. Along with some good cottontail tunes, Tail-in-Pants let me hear his woodpecker imitation. Of course I didn�t let him know how good it sounded, but I looked around and could not see a tree anywhere. Nothing showed so we packed up. Back in the pickup I had to let Tail-in-Pants know what I thought of the brain dead �yote that would be looking for a woodpecker and the idiot caller that would try anything like that when there isn�t a tree in sight. He said something erroneous about my sexual preference, but I wasn�t paying attention all that well as I was practicing the woodpecker sound on my own calls.

We traveled down the trail again and set up high on the next ridge. Tail-in-Pants howled just after setting up and then started with distress calls. About 15 minutes passed and I heard Tail-in-Pants whisper, �coyote comin� in�. I whispered back to him, �where?�. �About 700 yards out, at 12:30�. I whispered back, �Oh ya, that one, I spotted him 10 minutes ago�. When I finally picked him out against the mostly brown prairie I could tell the �yote was relaxed and taking his own sweet time coming in, unlike Tail-in-Pants who was giving me updates every 50 yards, and asking me if I was ready. Tail-in-Pants has to learn how to relax a little. The �yote disappeared behind a rise in front of us and we had no idea where he would crest the rise. Finally the �yote came over the crest about 75 yards to the left of where we expected him. He was still out there about 300 yards, but had picked up speed and was trotting right towards us. Tail-in-Pants started squeaking and the �yote kept on coming. There was a draw below us that we didn�t want the �yote to get into, so about 100 yards out, Tail-in-Pants whistled him to a stop. The �yote was down below us and coming at us from the 10 o�clock position. I located the cross hairs on the top of his right shoulder and squeezed the trigger.

I will post the rest of the story in a few days. Look for The Coyote Chronicals, Part 2.

So far so good, Thank you for the entertainment PDhunter and well written. derf