Opie and I headed up to the north country of Michigan for a long weekend of predator calling! The weather has been absolutely spectacular with bone chilling temperatures and light snow periodically throughout both days we’ve been up here so far. We set out this morning into the frozen tundra on snowshoes ready to hone our calling skills and challenge ourselves physically with the demanding terrain ahead of us.
We didn’t have any takers on our first set and it wasn’t long before we located another calling location several hundred yards away. Opie and I settled into our calling sequence, taking turns playing our Rare Earth Red-F (Bird Distress) calls. Opie hopped on his HSB at about the 8 minute mark playing some light cottontail distress and that’s when I noticed a coyote working towards us at about 100 yards. I got on my rifle just in time to see the coyote stop to take another look in our direction. I passed on the first shot opportunity as I wanted to see him work in closer to our location. There was a slight hill in front of us and when the coyote closed inside of 60 yards we were not able to see him until he crested the hill at 30 feet. My heart was beating like crazy when I lost sight of him and I still wasn’t sure if Opie had seen him closing in on us. I quickly got back on my rifle and waited in the location I thought he might show in. The coyote stopped at the top of the rise and gave a look right at Opie, allowing me to make my final adjustments and let the 22-250 bark.
This is a beautiful large male coyote with scads of battle wounds and a busted up face from fighting. One of my largest coyotes to date and one heck of a trophy from the north woods. We still have a couple days of hunting left, tons of predator sign and we are going to get back after em!
Tex