HRM Johnny
Well-Known Member
Mr Sheetz,
Thank you for sharing your knowledge. We all appreciate it.
Johnny
Thank you for sharing your knowledge. We all appreciate it.
Johnny
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Ramblings and Such From Hunting Coyote
- Thread starter DSheetz
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HRM Johnny
Well-Known Member
Thanks David!
Johnny
Johnny
TRnCO
Well-Known Member
There's some great reading in this thread. As a long time coyote hunter, I especially enjoy this type of reading. I grew up around grey hounds and an airplane, in KS. When I moved to Colo. back in 87 is when I finally took up calling.
I do pretty good these days coming close to 100 coyotes per winter, called and killed.
One quick story of mine was when I killed one of the top 5 oldest coyotes that I've ever killed. It was just one of those stands that where I sat down was the right spot, that day. The ranch I was hunting was loosing at least one chicken a day, during broad daylight. Old rancher was very frustrated as he had tried to get the coyote killed, but just wasn't getting it done.
I sat up in a mostly flat pasture not more than 500 yards behind the ranch. I no more then got one series of rabbit blues out of my mouth call when the coyote stood up out of his bed, not 100 yards from me. He immediately started to circle me, but at that range, it was just a matter of him stopping for the shot, and I didn't miss when he did.
Old coyote didn't hardly have a tooth left, but catching a chicken was still easy for him and he didn't get far from the buffet.
Sure enough, the rancher stopped loosing chickens and to this day I still hunt that same ranch, and the hunt I just shared took place back in the early 90's.
Anyways, keep the good stories coming Mr Dsheetz.
I do pretty good these days coming close to 100 coyotes per winter, called and killed.
One quick story of mine was when I killed one of the top 5 oldest coyotes that I've ever killed. It was just one of those stands that where I sat down was the right spot, that day. The ranch I was hunting was loosing at least one chicken a day, during broad daylight. Old rancher was very frustrated as he had tried to get the coyote killed, but just wasn't getting it done.
I sat up in a mostly flat pasture not more than 500 yards behind the ranch. I no more then got one series of rabbit blues out of my mouth call when the coyote stood up out of his bed, not 100 yards from me. He immediately started to circle me, but at that range, it was just a matter of him stopping for the shot, and I didn't miss when he did.
Old coyote didn't hardly have a tooth left, but catching a chicken was still easy for him and he didn't get far from the buffet.
Sure enough, the rancher stopped loosing chickens and to this day I still hunt that same ranch, and the hunt I just shared took place back in the early 90's.
Anyways, keep the good stories coming Mr Dsheetz.
I don't get involved with bears , wolves and lion much . I did get a call once to see what was killing older ewes and their heads would be missing . A little tracking and looking revealed it to be a bear . The USDA wildlife services took care of it . It had been a problem bear in the park and was relocated , this time was a strike out for it they put it down . A couple of times I got calls on lion but for the most part people aren't sure what it is that's killing their stock as what they find is pretty well eaten up and strung around by the time they see it . It seems to me that when a lion is to blame they are either really old or have cubs for the most part I think they prefer deer and antelope . I have a lot of calls on beaver damming irrigation ditches or cutting down large trees , when you only have trees along creeks people want them left alone . I have had a lot of calls for coyote killing lambs that turned out to be bob cats doing it . That's where tracking plays a big part in control work . Good tracking skills mean a lot as if you can spend some time reading sign figuring out what when and where it saves you time and effort . When you know what it is doing the damage then you know how to go about taking care of it . When you know where it is coming from then you know where to do your work and spend your time wisely . When you know when and how often they are killing then you know when to be there if you have to snip them . I get paid per-animal taken so the faster I can get them taken care of the better for me and the livestock producer . Skunks, raccoons and feral cats are a big problem at times and in certain areas .
When I worked with wildlife services and for the county also they insisted that I kept a daily log . In my log I put down when I left and returned home , Where I went and the time spent at each ranch all of the sets I made snare trap ect. what lure if it was a trap or an M-44 . When GPS came out I used that and recorded all locations with that . I would mark all of the den locations on my county maps as well with the number of pups ,coyote , fox ect. . It got to be a habit and I found it to be very helpful to me as well . The wildlife services biologist told me once he really liked to read my logs as they had more details then most peoples I just smiled and told him they were my memory . The part of making good logs was learned in the service they wanted details for others to be able to follow and hopefully not make the same mistakes twice .
November 1980 was short sleeve tee shirt weather un-till the day after Thanks Giving . We woke up to a foot and a half of snow and 20 degrees . It stayed cold through December with a couple of weeks not getting above zero at all . I got a strange call the first week of December . The guy said he had coyote killing his sheep and wanted me to come out . The strange part was what he said next I'm only going to charge you the bounty , half the fur and you teach me how to trap snare and call these coyote for coming out as it's my land and sheep. My reply was I think you may be a little confused here you called me I didn't call you and ask if I could come out and work coyote . Yes but it's my land and sheep he says . You are exactly right I said back that's why you called me to save your sheep normally the owner pays me to help them I wouldn't be in business long paying people for what I do instead of them paying me for my services I'm sorry but I don't think I can be of much help to you . Thanks for calling and good luck finding some one to help you good bye .
man was he a dork..................wow...........
nicholasjohn
Well-Known Member
November 1980 was short sleeve tee shirt weather un-till the day after Thanks Giving . We woke up to a foot and a half of snow and 20 degrees . It stayed cold through December with a couple of weeks not getting above zero at all . I got a strange call the first week of December . The guy said he had coyote killing his sheep and wanted me to come out . The strange part was what he said next I'm only going to charge you the bounty , half the fur and you teach me how to trap snare and call these coyote for coming out as it's my land and sheep. My reply was I think you may be a little confused here you called me I didn't call you and ask if I could come out and work coyote . Yes but it's my land and sheep he says . You are exactly right I said back that's why you called me to save your sheep normally the owner pays me to help them I wouldn't be in business long paying people for what I do instead of them paying me for my services I'm sorry but I don't think I can be of much help to you . Thanks for calling and good luck finding some one to help you good bye .
Was this yo-yo thinking that he was renting you live decoys or something ? Maybe he needed to lose a few more of his flock to the marauders to help him figure out how it works ........
nicholasjohn
Well-Known Member
My thought was he wanted to get lessons and be paid for them instead of paying for them . There is a really good instructor in Montana but he charges for his time he and his wife are nice people .
That's all fine & dandy, but not a very realistic expectation. Any worthwhile lessons I've gotten in life have cost me something, and as often as not it was dollars. A good instructor often takes his reward for his work in the satisfaction of seeing his student apply the lessons he has learned, but this is usually reserved for family members and a few really close friends. A caring father or uncle will do this, of course. But some guy you don't know from Adam ? I don't see that happening very often.
Before I retired, I was happy to pass along the tricks of the trade to the young guys I was working with. This was largely because I was indebted to the crusty old guys who had done the same for me over the years, and taught me what I needed to know. The "pay it forward" concept at play. There was also a somewhat selfish motive there as well - if I taught the young guys all the good tricks & techniques, they would do a better job while I was working with them, and I wouldn't have to do their job in addition to my own. In short, having a more competent co-worker made my job that much easier. It didn't take as much effort to teach them how to do it right as it did to clean up their errors. The other thing was that I had good guys to work with, who really wanted to do it right, and they appreciated my efforts to help them. I wonder what the guy with the sheep thought you were getting out of the deal. It has to be a "you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours" deal, or it just doesn't work.
nicholasjohn
Well-Known Member
nicholasjohn , wise words my friend .
That's not my wisdom, Sir. I learned most that from the old guys, over a long period of time. Some of it was passed along intentionally; some was learned by just paying attention and keeping my mouth shut. A lot of it is just observations I've made about human nature.
I don't think that there is any new wisdom being manufactured out there. It's all old wisdom that keeps getting recycled, over & over again. I try to be a good recycler of wisdom. The wisdom I have gleaned from teaching has been especially rewarding to me. Some of it has been "feel good" personal satisfaction stuff; some has brought tangible rewards. Often the lessons aren't passed along intentionally, but the guy who is paying attention can scoop a lesson from darn near any situation - or, darn near anybody.
One of the most valuable lessons I have ever learned came from a guy who was the dumbest guy I knew at the time. He wasn't trying to deliver any wisdom, but he inadvertently let slip a line somebody had laid on him. It came while we were discussing the matter of asking somebody for something you don't think he is going to want to do for you, or give you. George said to me "If you decide not to ask, the answer will most definitely be NO." This really rang my bell, since this guy had so far impressed me as being a full-blown moron, and spent most of his time higher than a kite on pot. Well, every now & then ..........
Anyhow, there are actually two lessons there - the one just described, and the more important lesson to never assume that I've got the other guy figured out and that I am smarter than he is. I could be mistaken. Just because I thought I was so smart doesn't make it so. Getting out-shined by a stoned moron will do wonders for one's humility.
