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The inaugural F-Troop Coyote Hunt
Next weekend we’re going to add a new annual tradition
to the F-Troop Camp calendar, a late-winter coyote hunt.
Gary and Brett Peterson, Todd Puleo, and I will travel
up Friday evening, and Brad Isles and possibly one or
two others will arrive on Saturday. Gary has crafted a
new rifle for the occasion, a .243 caliber, for its long
range flat shooting. He has also acquired some
predator-attracting audiotapes to play out loud in the
woods to try to lure in one of those crafty old wild
dogs. We’ll hike in before daylight deep into State Game
Lands 86, climb the mountainside, and post in full
camouflage, then broadcast our wounded rabbit and other
calls. We’ll hunt both days of the weekend, since
coyotes are one of the few animals legal for hunting on
Sunday.
I’ve read several articles on coyote hunting, and all
writers agree that our chances of killing a coyote are
not good, because of the animal’s keen senses and
extreme wariness. Even if we’re lucky enough to take a
coyote or two, we’re not going to make much of an impact
on the general population. Americans, especially western
Americans, have been trying to eradicate these
livestock-haunting and fawn-killing predators for 150
years with little success. Still, we’re going to give it
a try. We do have one coyote kill in our camp record
books, a big male that Billy shot four years ago on the
opening day of deer season. Maybe we’ll add to that
record, but if not, at least we’ll experience a winter
weekend outdoors in the big woods.
Good luck out there. And have a great week outdoors.
~ Don Feigert, 2-18-08
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