Calling all Mamas

Yesterday morning we took our little guy out for his first hunting experience.  We hooked up with our hunting buddy and his boys for a little family competition.  Our family versus their family on a coyote hunt.  I still don't know the exact terms of the bet as many ideas were thrown out but none were agreed to (gas, lunch, loser walks home...).  Everyone met at our house for pancakes and eggs, I love cooking breakfast for the hunting crew so it has become a bit of a tradition.  We knew that a storm was rolling into the area so we arrived at our hunting spot right at first light hoping to beat the storm and catch the coyotes before they hunkered down.

To get to my husband's super secret coyote spot we had to walk a few miles through grass that was taller than our son (not to mention it was super soggy from three days of rain).  So my husband carried our son and I carried the guns and the pack...we joked that I had the better end of the deal because my pack didn't wiggle or lean over like a sack of potatoes.  On the way in we spotted a mule fawn moving through a little gully just below our trail.  My husband let our son down and they crept up to the edge of the gully to watch the little fawn.  From the moment our little trigger wakes up to the moment that he crashes at night he rarely stops talking or moving (a boy after his daddy's heart), so I was amazed to see both my guys crouched silent and motionless watching that baby frolicking around the gully.

Once they were done watching the fawn we started trekking again until we found a nice outcropping of rocks mid way up a hill that overlooked a large meadow surrounded by dense woods.  This is my husband's favorite spot for coyotes and has already served him well this year.  Once there we used the tall grasses as a make-shift blind and settled in with me covering the left side of the field and my husband covering the right side.  The night before the hunt we had gone to Cabela's to purchase a few extra coyote hand calls and it was then that our son named himself official caller for our team.  He has a real knack for duck calls and so we thought "why not?"  At home he had done a decent job learning his way around the calls with my husband's help.  However, in the blind he decided to try some new tricks (him being a professional hunter and all) and started using the Ki-Yi (by Primos) like a duck call instead of a predator call.  Unfazed my husband joined in with his Hot Dog call (also by Primos) hoping to either salvage the hunt or entertain our son, I love that man!

I assumed that the calling coming from our little crew would scare off every animal within a five mile radius.  So I was shocked when, five minutes into their sweet serenade (heavy sarcasm), a big ol' mule doe came walking into the clearing 300 yards away on my side.  I elbowed the boys to get them quiet and pointed out the doe.  As soon as he spotted her little trigger shouted "shoot her mamma!" and was positively shaking with excitement.  He was very disappointed when I whispered that it was not deer season.  My husband had me sight in on her to see if I thought I could shoot a coyote at that distance.  My shooting sticks (again Primos...if you can't tell I love them!) felt a little awkward so we readjusted our set up.  My son thought that meant that I was going to shoot and was all worked up again; until I put the covers back on my sight.  To cheer him up my husband said, "watch what she does when I blow the coyote call."  He picked up the Hot Dog call and did a perfect imitation of a coyote.  I don't know what my husband expected the doe to do, but I was expecting her to run back into the woods.  So I received quite a shock when she charged right at us!  The more hubby called the faster she came in (Mule deer can really move!) until she was 30 yards away near the base of our hill staring straight up at our little crew.  She sniffed and snorted for a few minutes; realized we weren't a coyote and slowly made her way back towards the gully that the fawn had been in.  I guess she was one protective mamma.  In total yesterday we called in 3 does with the coyote calls but we unfortunately did not see any coyotes.  I wish I had thought to bring our camcorder, those does came in very close and our little guy's reaction to them would have made a great little video.

After only two hours in the field the storm finally made it to us so we booked it back to the truck trying, and failing, to beat the heavy rains.  We came home sopping wet and empty handed
 but with a fun story to tell.  As many hunters know that is the nature of the beast and it's all worth it!  As for the bet...it was a draw, though I still say we won because we had the best story to tell.  Our little guy excitedly told the story to the other team several times on the drive home.  Unfortunately, I fell asleep in the truck (we have a strict no sleeping rule) so I was subject to jokes and small pranks, including having licorice thrown into my mouth as it hung open.  It was all in good fun and I am plotting my revenge for the next trip.