Rookies Wilford and Little Will

[wilford]

  Hello

  My name is Wilford (Bill) and son little Will. 53 and 12 yrs old. Anyway, I grew up in Helz Canyon in Idaho then later Alaska. I'm in Central Washington now. 

  For some reason Little Will and I got bit by this Varmint thing. We watched some videos on Youth Tube and are smitten. One of the reasons is that where we live now has a Coyote explosion now. We live in a rural area outside of a town, and they are so common now, they wake us up at night some times. We are surrounded by apple orchards and rolling hills. I mean these 'Yotes are everywhere.

My nearest neighbor has a chicken coop, and walked out the other morning and seen the biggest, baddest, blackest 'Yote I ever seen 35 feet away sniffen' at them chickens.

Well, enough is enough, so we are going to try and put the hurt on the sniffers. So what I did was this, got a hold of Gary at TBO (Timber Butte Outdoors) and he is sending me some stuff.  So anyway, us two rookies are going to clandestinely do a setup at our house and try and zap the interlopers.  We have noticed 3 distinct groups in our area, and every night we hear them communicate amongst themselves. Took the 4-wheeler up on the canal and stumbled on a den not too long ago. OK, so  the hair on my neck stands up, and we just have to test our skills against these 'dogs.

  Then, after we see what we can do around here, we are going up to the cattle ranch our family homesteaded in 1888 on the Okanogan. My cousin will put us up with bedding and vittles. Then we will do a 3-day varmint hunt and see what we can stir up. My cousins and uncles have a tough time with these Coyotes come calving time. He says they are so brazen, he has had to shoot them actually pulling a calf out of a cow that was half-out just being born. They go around snap up the afterbirth too. He has had 5-6 'Yotes surround a group of cows calving, and at that time, he has to stay up all night guarding them from snatching new-born calves. So, he has no problem with us coming up and thinning them out a little.

  So anyway, we are just going to let you other veteran hunters know how us Rookies do, father and son. I will let you know what kind of equipment we used, how we used it, and if we were successful at it. We are going to try and get most of the equipment we need from Gary at IBO. He says he will guide us through the process, everything but pull the trigger of the .220 swift. 

  So with that, don't be afraid to set us straight here on this forum. We are hungry for advice and are excited about 'poppin some dogs. Hey, it's not like it's not a target-rich environment around here!  But we don't want to be the fools, so chime in and I'll give you all the information we have, pictures and setups so you can check it out and offer up advice...

Then we will report on all our 'doings and let you guys know. We are excited...

Thanks for your consideration,

Wilford and little Will

[Timber Butte Outdoors]

Wilford and Little Will,

Welcome aboard the IVH Forums. Make yourself at home, and enjoy yourselves.

We hope we all can help you out with helpful information about predator calling and hunting. There are a bunch of experienced caller here, just ask the questions you need, and then stand back for the answers!

We are glad to have you here. Hope one day to meet face to face.

BTW: Thanks for the TBO push! And your business! Good Luck calling!

One thing to remember, don't over call. A little goes a long way. Short sessions, like 3-4 minutes, then quiet for 5-8 mins, then play for 3-4 minutes, then silent for 5-8 minutes. KEEP YOUR EYES OPEN!

If nothing shows by the 25-30 minutes, break the stand and go somewhere else to call, a quarter mile or so, between stands. Don't slam the truck doors, stay as low as you can when walking to your stand (use the land to hide your approach), and don't call to loudly, a small amount of volume, if you can just hear the sound with the call at 25 yards from you, you are good! If nothing shows up, you can raise the sound level, on the next session.

Later,
Gary

[wilford]

  Thanks Gary for the welcome and advice.

  I guarantee you that it will be heeded and we will comply.

  Cousin from the Okanogan ranch called yesterday and says he has us all fixed up. He's scouted out 3 setup areas for us already and says he is ready for us to come up and dump some Coyotes. 

  He says he has identified several packs or groups, and he also says one chased his cow dog a few days ago. He says when they do that, the females are coming to, or are in heat or estrus. He lived there all his life and says he can tell whats going on by their yelps most of the time.  No snow in the area right now, weather fairly stable. 

  Little Will (12yrs) is all excited and has his checklist out and gathering gear. We want to keep it simple and straightforward. I've been working on gun safety with him for awhile now. Years ago, a hunter killed a family member of ours up there while he was hunting, and no one ever came forward to admit it. It's a sad tale. I'm sure it was a case of mistaken identity. I often wander how that guy feels after all these years killing a man and never admitting to it.  Anyway little Will and I are starting to try our hand at trap shooting too, he is starting to out-shoot me and running 10-15 clay pigeon runs without a miss. Plus the old man's eyesight is starting to go south too with age. Well then, it is as it should be I guess. Pass it on to the little feller. But, the 'ol man still has some tricks up his sleeve too..HA HA 

[wilford]

  Well Gentleman,


We are going to move down into the lower part of the forum here and make a few posts and ask a few questions about ammo and other stuff.

  Thanks, Wilford and little Will