Coyote John

Sometimes you just can’t see the forest for the trees.   Have ya ever been out calling and nothing seems to respond, then you get up to leave and right there in front of you a bobcat or a coyote takes off for parts unknown.   Well if so you know your doing something right, one of the ways to cure this little problem is to sit in an elevated position.  This way you should see anything that is coming in and gives you a better chance of getting into a shooting position.  I normally do not use shooting sticks and/or a bi-pod when calling as I like to be a bit more flexable than what “sticks” provide.  I also like to use as short of a barrel as possible.  I just recently purchased a ArmaLite www.ArmaLite.com  M15A4 in .223 with a 18″ barrel and may retire my little Sako Vixen.  Both of these rifles have provided me with the ability to swing on a fast moving target and in tight brush.  Another little tip is when you get to your calling location don’t slam the truck door, just kinda press it closed very gently.  I have also covered all the chrome on my truck with camo masking tape.    Try to park it up against a tree or large boulder or in the shade, or in a ravine if possible, but never on the skyline.  Only a couple of more months than coyote calling season will be in full swing for me, hope to have plenty of pictures and stories for you all to read and hopefully enjoy.

I’ll be leaving this weekend for a four state road trip through some darn good coyote calling country - New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming and Utah.  If I can get some access to a computer while I traveling I’ll give ya all an update, if not I’ll see ya about the end of July. 

Some folks will tell ya that an open reed call is by far the best call to use.  I’m no expert on open reed calls, let alone howling with one.  But I do use them and I do like them and I do have success with them.  The nice thing about an open reed call is that it can do it all, from a rodent squeak, or a bunny in distress to various howls and yips and barks.  When you buy your first open reed call just keep in mind that the key to mastering them is patience and practice.  I can’t began to tell you how many hours I spent on the back patio just making a bunch of racket.  After a few weeks I knew I was getting close to sounding like a coyote when the neighbor from down the road stopped by one afternoon and wanted to know if I heard all the coyote howling up on our mountain.  Like my closed reed calls most, if not all, of my open reed calls are custom made.  I think two of the best out there are Tony Tebb from IA www.CustomPredatorCalls.com and Ernie Wilson from PA www.EWCalls.com.  Both of these gentlemen make a quality caller at a very reasonable price.  I think that once you master the open reed call and have some success with it you will find yourself, just maybe, enjoying calling just  bit more. 

I am fortunate to have a wife who not only has bought me most of my guns and gun safes but she also has joined me on many of my hunting trips.   Could explain why we have been married for so long. 

Many years ago we decided to take the horses and hit the mountain for at least a week or maybe longer. We took two saddle horses and two pack horse and enough rations for six days.  It was probably one of the most relaxing and enjoyable weeks of our life.  No phone, no TV, ”no nothing” except a beautiful mountain and a lovely sky each night.  We saw everything there was to see on this particuliar mountain, coyotes, coatimundi, javelina, bear, gray fox, deer, bear, everything that is except a mountain lion.  On the morning of the sixth day we started our journey back down into the valley and civilization. We were on a very narrow path on the side of the mountain  which was iffy even on a good day, one miscue by the horses and it’s over the edge.  About a quarter of the way down we ran into what had probably been a mini landslide sometime ago.  A lot of loose rocks on the path and fairly deep.  We decided it would be better to dismount and lead the horse down rather than try to ride them through this treacherous section of the trail.    We decided she would lead and we tied one of the pack horse to the tail of her horse and the other to mine.  About halfway through this stuff I looked across the canyon and sitting on a rock about 300 yards away was a very big cat.  I pulled the rifle out of the scabbard and tried to get my wife’s attention, I didn’t want to shoot and have her horse goes bonkers and pull both of them off the mountain.  Although all of our horses have been shot off of I just didn’t want to chance it on this very dangerous mountain side.  Try as I might I couldn’t get her attention and in short order the cat got up and disappeared into the mountain.  When we finally got through it and was able to ride again I told her about the cat.  She said I should have shot as she could of handled the horses.  I told her I wasn’t sure and I didn’t want to spook the horses and have her and the two horses go over the mountain side.  As wives are a dime a dozen but a good horse is hard to come by.  Being the gentleman that I am I will not repeat what she said.