Finish Strong

[UphillDoc 278]

It was Dec 31 and I had to work... Im just hoping I can finish soon enough that I can get home and load the dogs for one last go in 09. Luck is on my side, so I get home and get the dogs loaded with a few hours of daylight left. Its snowing/raining and the wind is blowing. I decide to go out behind the house and have a look. There has been about 500 head of elk there the last few days, so Im hoping I might even see a Wolf or Lion... I head down the dirt road from my house towards the gate into that section, but before I get to the gate I hear "John" start calling for a coyote. He always makes alot of noise when we first start out, as he is so excited, so I figure thats the case again. That is until I glance over his way and spot a coyote standing about 50 yards off the road! He is on the downhill side, its broken sage but there is no fence on that side...

"T" starts to call for it as Im locking up the brakes...and the coyote starts to move out. I drop them and the race is on. The coyote trys to pour on the speed, to make the sage, but the dogs roll to him like he is tied to a post. "John" rolls him and they get him stretched. I consider going on to look for some more excitement, but figure I will just wait for the morning and start the New Year right.

Well its Jan 1, and its rainin like a b*****d...I cant go hunting and Im pouting like a lil girl. 09 was sure good to me, and I hope 2010 is as well. Still plenty of time to run the dogs...who knows maybe next race will be on something new!

 

Jan 2, 2010

The weather man cut us a break, and it froze up last night. I loaded the dogs, and Ty, and headed out. We go to the hill behind the house to empty out the dogs and see a bunch of ravens fly up. I hustle over half expecting to see a wolf but dont even spot a coyote. I go check where the birds were and its a calf elk. I get out and look for tracks and find a lion scratch. It would have been a rodeo if tom was still there when we rolled up, I promise you that! Im standing at the kill talking to Capps on the phone, and looking right at my back door...I cant help but think its gonna be a interesting year...

We get the dogs emptied out and start to head down the hill when I spot one way out front. Its heading for a rocky section so I just let him keep running. We get over to a section I have not run yet, and pretty quick Ty spots one. Its way out but not running. I hiss the dogs (John, Cookie), and when I think they know where to run I pull the rope. They head out and the coyote breaks. Its hilly and I dont know how far they will go looking. Luck is on our side as the dogs crest a hill at the same time the coyote crests another and they spot him. They have about 300 to make up, but hit high gear. I head around hoping to see them come out the other side. I get around but cant see either because of the hills. Ty shouts "theres one!" Its coming towards us, but I dont see the dogs so I figure its a new one. The other side sees it coming and I drop them. No sooner do they hit the ground than "John and Cookie" come into sight. Thats not the worst of it...as they head towards the same coyote another pops up even closer and sneaks out the back door without any of the dogs seeing it... "John" rolls the coyote just before the rest get there. They make short work of it.

We are getting loaded when the Cowboy calls and says he is headed out and wants to meet up. He hasnt been having much luck lately. He tells us where to meet and we are headed that way. About a 1/2 mile before we get to him I spot a coyote in a high sage section with some cattle. I call him and tell him what Im about to do! I drive off the road and drop the dogs over the barbwire. This coyote must think its seeing things as it dont break till the dogs (John, Cookie, T) are half way to it. Its so close to the sage it must think it has nothing to worry about. As he wheels into the sage, I decide to head around to watch the back side. Ty bails out and follows the dogs. I get around back but no sign of the dogs. I start back to where I dropped the dogs and stop about half way to have a look. I climb up on top the truck to get a better look across the sage. I spot Ty in the sage, and can tell he is with the dogs. I walk out to them and find them with the coyote a couple hundred yards into the sage. Its real tall and thick, and Im real happy with the dogs. As we are coming out with the dogs and the coyote, the Cowboy and his son pull up. They dont seem too thrilled that we already have two in the truck... We decide to go hit a spot where he says he has been gettin whipped at. Its rough ground and has alot of barbwire to contend with as well. We are coming down a fence line when I can tell he has one spotted on the other side. He beelines for the gate at the far end, and we are on his heels. As he heads into the next section we swing wide to haze if need be. He gets to the top of a big knob and by the way he accelerates down the far side I know he has one spotted. We see him as he crests each ridge, and at one point Ty says he saw the coyote out in front of him. We keep going way around and now are hoping to find one for ourselves. We make a half circle and are headed back towards where we last saw the Cowboy when I spot one way out. We put the hammer down and are skipping and bucking our way to him. He spins around and heads back towards a big sage section. I decide to drop and see if the dogs can make up the ground faster than we can in the truck. "Hoss and Reba" hit the ground running and have closed the gap to about 50 yards when the coyote hits the sage. We try to go around the sage, but its too big so we cut into it. I cant see the dogs and have no idea where they may be. Im not even sure they are still on the coyote. I stop and jump up top of the truck to have a look and spot "Hoss" hopping over some sage out to our left. I pick my way thru the rocks and sage to where I think I saw him, and get out and have a look again. I spot "Reba and Hoss" with one on the ground and not 60 yards from them is the Cowboy with his in the sage as well... I have no idea why the coyote ran back into the sage towards the Cowboy, other than that trick has worked so well in the past that he thought the sage ment saftey, even with another rig in it. We get up to the dogs and see its a big old dog. "Reba" must have knocked it down and held it long enough for "Hoss" to find her in the sage. The Cowboy pulls up and says his is a big old dog, and that there were two more with him. We tell him we got a big male to, so we figure the other must have been a bitch in heat or something. We check all the dogs over, get them loaded, take a tailgate shot with the boys, and call it a day. If the rest the year is this good, I wont have any complaints.

 

Take care.

[riohog 5,701]

good read

[Meerihunter 7]

Great read! It reads almost like I'm there and seeing happen!

[Wild_and_Irish 11]

double post

Edited January 4, 2010 by Wild_and_Irish

[Wild_and_Irish 11]

All your posts should be put up in the article section, they're all really good

[lofti 579]

good read that mate,

all the best for 2010

 

lofti.

[Tiny 7 1,694]

Likes been said good read that ,

[suffolkpoacher 219]

ANOTHER GREAT READ MATE,LOOK FORWARD TO READING YOUR POST ATB FOR 2010

[harvey 14]

good read mate

[Mickey Finn 3,012]

500 Elk!

Sound like your getting some good hunts in Doc. Thanks again for sharing.

[roofer 0]

cracking read mate atb

[darrell jnr 16]

cheers for sharing fella...atb for 2010 not that i think you,ll need it...darrell.

[UphillDoc 278]

Thanks for all the replys and well wishes fellas.

 

Take care.

[UphillDoc 278]

Thanks for all the replys and well wishes fellas.

 

Take care.

[tlewis 0]

How long have you had wolves around Doc? I think I saw one here a few weeks ago. Didn't think they had got this far, but I know there are two active packs in WA. The conservationers are aiming for seven. They could have worked down the Yakima Indian Res.