Got a call Friday evening left message, Al call Mikes house the female voice said. I called about 6:00 got the female who’s voice I didn’t recognize on the phone.

Al I have heard about your butterscotch flap jacks I bought a bag of chips today while at the grocery store. Can you be at Mikes at 5:00 AM, I will have the door unlocked and the lights on for you.

I tell her OK see you at 5:00 then.


I arrived and true to her word the outside yard lite was on as was the hall lite when I stepped in the door. Carol gives me the silence sign and motioned me in the kitchen said Mike is still sleeping so we should shut the door so we don’t wake him. I have tea ready for you, made it when I saw your lites turn in the drive. We set at the kitchen table and drink tea and coffee as she starts the Chatty Kathy with me. Tells me that she has taken a 60 day personal leave from work but if the virus hits the county hard over whelming the staff to call and she will come to work. Put her house on the market Wednesday, hope she can find a place she likes quickly so she can have some thing ready to live in by fall.


I ask what she will do if her house sells right away and you can’t have any thing ready by fall.
She said well I really like Mike a lot but not ready to live with him even though he has asked me to and also offered to let me live here if that happens, my house sells and not ready for fall move into a new place.
I will put every thing in storage, rent a place if I can get a short term lease OR move home with my dad. Dad is still alive and active for his age 87, has a person come in and keep house for him and fix a few meals for him.


Getting to about 5:45 so I say I should start making the flap jacks. Mix the flour and milk grease the griddle and start pouring batter on, Carol is making bacon in a skillet and making a big pot of coffee too. At 6:15 Carol tells me to yell at Mike to get out of bed, I said you can’t go in and wake him? So she went in and I heard her say Mike time to get up, he says I’m hungry, kitchen smells SO GOOD.


As we set eating breakfast Mike says he didn’t have time to put his new rifle together before he went to work Friday night so will take the 244 again.

I tell him that Anderson called me yesterday afternoon, said the coyotes were singing at his place again. Maybe a memorial service for the ones we had taken out. We should go there and see if we can take any more out. Told him there was no need for him to come out with the gator if he hears shooting. The social distance thing, I supposed we should abide by.

He said but you guys are still doing things together, Ya but we are close friends if we start to feel ill we will not do stuff together.


After we ate Carol and I made sandwiches with supplies she had picked up in the grocery store while Mike did dishes. I admire him not liking dirty dishes in the sink. Killed a lot of my dating women after I saw their kitchen sink.


Carol takes Mikes truck keys. Mike doesn’t fight her or give me the bossy woman look either. Smart man didn’t get to bed till about 2:30AM and has a chance to take it easy.Carol goes and jumps on I 69 headed west as instructed to the M13 turn off north thru Lennon to M21 west.

I tell her where to turn off 21 to the south and Mister Andersons drive way, Point to the tool shed and say park there, Is 7:05 AM.


We dress in our camo and head out. Wind out of the North is right in our back but there are other bales where we will have a cross wind.

Sure is cold, truck read out said 25F not to bad but radio guy said wind chill is 17.

We get set up and had discussed the sounds we would use here on the way. Settled on Mikes challenge and if we got a bunch of answers I would turn my ever alluring female in heat loose to see it we got any takers.

Got good return barks for the challenge, 3 more challenges and they seemed to be moving our way. I started the female in heat for 4 reps, and waited. About 5 minutes Mike did the challenge and again sounded closer. I start the female in heat for 5 minutes this time and I see some bounding thru the brush looking at the decoys. There is 4 of them staying in a pretty tight group. Finally they are in the field Mikes zone so I watch him I am to take the tail Carol # 3

And mike will go for # 2 who ever should try for the first one to see if we could gather them all.


Mike waits till they are well out in the open giving us a better chance to get the 4th one. Mike drops the hammer we fire I rack and swing on the last coyote while hitting the ki yi sound. I see it stop but can’t get on it but Carol had, her second double. Girl is getting good At racking the bolt and getting the second round in and fire accrete.


We wait for nearly 50 minutes but no more coyotes are showing. A good scan into the woods didn’t produce any more either so we go and gather the gear. Coyotes had decent fur yet 3 males and a female on the younger side by their teeth.

Carol tells us to go ahead to the truck with our coyotes so we leave.

She knows we are not going to any restaurants so needs do do other things.


We go back east cross over M13 for a mile then a gravel road north. We are going to a hobby farm of a old work mate of mine and Johns. He and John were very fast friends and visited each other often till Johns death.


Dennis’s farm is 120 Acres has 25 head of beef cattle and two horses He had two boys that are grown and gone now. The woods is on the small side about 10 to 12 acres but not mature yet and has a lot of brush.

All of the farm is pasture or hay fields. Dennis also leases hay fields from the surrounding area to cut and bale.


We walk back across a pasture getting the eye from the mixed Angus stock till we reach a brushy fence line about 80 yards from the woods. Here the wind is in our face and is good we have our faces covered, the wind is raw. The sun is up and bright too.

It has been months since any one has hunted here so we expect to see some action. Unfourtenly a full 45 minutes and nothing is answering the challenge sound, nothing appears to see about the distressed pig sound.


Back at the truck we see Beth step out on the porch and gives a friendly wave and yells hello. At another time she would have invited us in for coffee and possible some thing sweet she baked.


We continue to head north about 5 miles then east a mile to a sheep farm of Tom Worden, big place kids own adjoining farms and they run close to 500 heard.

There is a nice big woods here the sheep are not allowed to pasture in the woods till after they have been sheared. We walk across a hay field them a small pasture to set up by a stone pile woods about 125 yards away. Here we get a couple answers to the challenge sound, they are moving also. I start the hot female going calling to them to hurry, took about 15 minutes for a pair of coyotes show up Carols zone and close to Mikes she signs he should take the lead. She drops the hammer and that little belch of flame comes from the barrel but no lift. She turns after the shot and a coyote down and gives me this big sly cat grin.

45 Minutes later we go pack and look at the coyotes a male and female. Both still have decent fur, the 12 deer we saw as we were walking across the hay field did show signs of shedding though.

Al