Arrive at Carols ahead of any one else park near the barn and wait, it is 6:50 AM. Do a check with the binocs and I can see a couple deer back near the woods but not much else.


Pour a cup of tea and listen to the weather guesser on the radio saying it is going to be a gorgues spring day above normal for this time of year by a couple degrees.
They go to a old song summer in the city, isn’t summer and isn’t the city but beats tip toeing thru the tulips.


I see lights turn in the drive isn’t high or wide enough to be Mike, It is Carol who pulls up beside my passenger door and gets in my truck. Says beats yesterday morning doesn’t it? Was snowing a wet sticky snow yesterday till about 10:30 was melting as fast as it fell but still got to a measurable 2 inches.


I tell her congrats are in order I hear. Happy for you and your I am sure are going to like living here. Then say sleepy head just turned in the drive it is 7:05 by the trucks clock.

Mike pulls up on the drivers side idles a bit then shuts down walks around and climbs in the back seat with Hi Good looking, hair cut didn’t do much for you, hope you didn’t have to pay. Carol had said she was going to get her hair cut yesterday.
Hi Grumpy he says to me what is the game plan.

Carol tells him to shut up he starting to sound foolish and laughs.

I tell him we are going to dress gather our gear and walk back to that big Hickory tree with the big rocks around it and set up. Shoot a dozen coyotes and then do a proper walk about of the ladies property.


We walk back and set up the decoys and callers in hay stubble, a farmer had taken the hay off for a couple years Carol had been told. We are close to 100 yards from the woods ranging later showed 87 yards. Mike started the challenge and got no return answers back. A wait then another challenge and there is a close return and one a bit farther out. I start the female in heat sound going and sign where ever the coyote shows except in an extreme angle the first coyote is Carols, Mike agrees.


Takes ten minutes and two coyotes peek out of the wood line mid way between Carol and Mike is Carols call how ever how it is handled, she signs Mike to take the trail coyote on her trigger. Coyotes are separating a bit but focused on the decoys. I can bet they have not been called before the way they act not to awful leary. I see Carol drop the hammer and fire, nearly sounded as one with Mikes shot just a tad behind Carols, two coyotes down.

Mike runs the challenge sound again and gets another answer. Turn on the female sound again run it about 2 minutes and wait Mike does another challenge and they were still back closer but still a ways off.

Run the female in heat for 5 minutes turning the volume down a bit hoping the incoming coyotes will think the female is walking away trying to get them the hurry a bit more. Ten more minutes and a coyote is seen working across inside the wood line comes out almost the same spot as the other two had. Carol knows it is her coyote but waits till it is beside the dead one and sniffing. She fires then and has a double from a set again. We are in no hurry so mike runs the challenge again and gets no return barks. We wait a full 50 minutes none the less. Go gather the decoys and callers Carol goes right to her coyotes and spreads the plastic.
Mike and I walk up and she says two males here I think Mikes looks like a female.


Get them back to Mikes truck, Mike says love the Mag Na Porting on the new rifle. Shot 200 rounds yesterday and not sore at all and I saw the puff as the bullet hit the coyote.
I had not seen the new rifle so looked it over, very nice for a tupper ware stocked Weatherby.


We change out of our camo and walk to the big barn door is is fastened shut inside so try the entrance door and it opens. Walk in and there is evidence of fire wood having been stored there. There is a hydro pump head but no power to the well so no water, smart left a big square we suspect thinner concrete in case.

Walk to the basement foundation is full of debris, leaves and such from a couple trees in what would have been the front yard. Tell Carol to get rid of them if she is going to do a house there, way to close only about 20 feet from the foundation.


Walk to the North west property corner and good solid post for the fence corner, woven wire. Posted property all the way around the place. Walk back to the woods inspecting the fence along the way not seeing any major problem with it. Enter the woods, a trail had been cut thru there wide enough for a tractor. Still a bit farther back there is a dead Ash tree fell and the top hit the fence and crushed it a bit. Fence is good all the way around but had Ash tree tops laying on it in several places.

Tell Carol once she closes I will come over with my trailer and saw and cut the trees out of the trail and fix the wire.


There is a tractor trail near the center of the woods also about half way is a home built ladder stand in a big Maple tree. Carol says that needs to go, I don’t want a wooden stand in any of the trees. Woods is a good mix of Oak, Maples Hickory, Bass wood, wild cherry and some iron wood.

Back at the barn Carol goes inside and looks around and says. Will put my skinning room back here and points to the south east corner. Asked how hard to put a entry door in a spot near by.

Shouldn’t be to hard.
Think I want a room like Erics where you filthy slugs can set around and not track crap into the house. Still the female showing.

Time to leave for Mikes to unload the coyotes and fix a lunch we had spent a lot of time walking the property.


We get to Mikes and Carol says for us to go out and skin coyotes she would call us in when she had dinner fixed.

Mike and I are busy working and talking about his job and seniority. Been a really long time started working there fresh out of high school on the day shift assembling lock/latch assembly and went to college for 2 years getting a degree in Metal machining. Applied for a job setter job there when he was 22 then moved up to a job setter/repair tec.

Said he has been there 34 years.

Said he met his ex while in college one cold blustery day, he was finished for the day and walking out to his pick up, a girls was standing looking under the hood of a car wondering what all that stuff under the hood was. As Mike said she was as dumb as a box of rocks and vain too.

Turned out she had left her lights on, he go the car started with the jumper cables and truck. She invited him out for dinner on Saturday as a think you. Then turned into dates. Said he saw she was a gold digger right then always wanting to go to fancy places but got a snoot full of the perfume and it clouded his thinking.

His folks gone now were married for 63 years so getting out of the marriage was never some thing he would do till he woke up in the hospital and discovered how close he came to dieing for her. Then when she came to see him in the hospital all that was on her mind was how soon he could be back to work.

We had all the coyotes combed out and 2 of them skinned when Carol called us in for dinner. That girl can cook real well. We had Baked Walleye, roasted potatoes and for me mashed Cauliflower instead of potatoes.

A Krogers Pecan pie was set out for dessert.

After we ate we had a final cup of coffee/tea then went out and finished skinning and sewing. Carol joined us a short time later to help flesh them.
Tom had said for us to tag them with our names and leave them in th leanto. would send us a check if that was Ok.

We decided we would give hunting a rest till Friday at least. Went back in the house and listened to Carols wishes for a house and things she wishes to do there. Plans on doing the rifle range but back it up to the woods so she can sell the standing hay.
2000sq foot house a Ranch similar to what she owns today and hopes she sells soon now.

I excused my self and told Mike to come out to my truck with me. Gave him 60 rounds of once fired 243 cases. I have had them since around 1988 when my son got a Rugar 77 243 and 3 boxes of ammo at a near by gun shop.

He was worried I would need them, I laughed and said I have a thousand and would have brought him 500 of them but they are all loaded my way for my rifle.

I was back home at 2:30 PM.


Al