Called a dog, a coyote and a bobcat.

[coyote101]

We got our first real snow last night, so I took off this morning to see if I couldn't get that first coyote. 
My first setup was in a permanent ladder stand overlooking a large field and the edge of a treeline.  I set the speaker of my Preymaster out as far as it would reach and stuck a dead branch in the ground to put the Whirling woodpecker on.  I climbed the tree stand,  got settled and played the housecat distress sound.  After about a minute, I heard something to my right rear and almost immediately saw a large white dog coming through the woods at a run. He ran straight for the decoy and pulled up short about eight feet away.  He studied it for 5 to 10 seconds and then took off back the way he came.  I wasn't sure if that would ruin the place for me or not, so I decided to stay for a bit longer.
I played the housecat distress a couple of more times and then the flicker a couple of times.  Nothing showed, so I played the gobbler distress.  About thirty seconds into the call, a coyote comes busting out of the wood line about a hundred yards away, headed towards the decoy.  I'm expecting him to get twenty or thirty yards from the decoy and stop to check it out or something.  He never broke stride, but ran to within 12 feet of the thing and then turned and headed away.  I "woofed" at him a couple of times hoping to get him to stop, but no luck so I took a running shot at him at about 65 yards as he was headed back into the woods. I missed and he was gone.  DAMN!
I stayed on the stand for several more minutes hoping another one might come in, but it never happened.
No luck at my second set, so I move to a third spot.  I setup along the side of a path overlooking a small clearing in some thick woods.  I put the preymaster speaker at the base of a small pine tree and clipped the whirling woodpecker to a stick I jammed into the ground through the tree branches. 
I started with the housecat distress again. I had just started it for the second time when a BIG bobcat came out of the thick stuff to my left.  He approached to within 9 feet of the call and decoy and stood there for 20 to 30 seconds checking it out.  Bobcat season is over in Kentucky so I just looked at him through the scope until he took off into the woods.
I tried another setup later on, but saw nothing.
So I came home empty handed again today, but I'm happy none the less.  That's the second bobcat I've called in the past couple of weeks and the first coyote I've seen all year. And I learned a few things too. First, the calling is working.  Second, once they lock onto that decoy, they'll come in close; everything that I have SEEN has come within twenty yards of me.  Third, a shotgun might be as good a choice for me as a rifle since they're coming close and I'm not that great at those running shots anyway. Fourth, that Whirling woodpecker uses batteries like they're going out of style!   


The view from the tree stand.  The coyote came out of the wood line near that blue dot and got as close as that second blue dot near the center of the picture. The speaker and decoy were just a few feet from there, but are hard to see because of the branches.


Looking back from where the coyote turned to the tree stand.  Straight line distance is about nineteen yards.


This is where the bobcat showed up.  The decoy is just above the red arrow, the speaker is at the base of the tree by the blue arrow, and the cat stopped and checked things out near the green arrow.


Fresh bobcat tracks.

[KySongDog]

Hey, congrats, Pat!  Nice pics and story.  You were in the right place at the right time for sure!   

Semp

[Bills Custom Calls]

  Sounds to me like ya had a good day

[Hawks Feather]

Nice write up and it sure sounds like you had a good time.  The Bobcats around here have a long tail and are about the size of small dog.  The best way to call them is Here Kitty, Kitty.   

Jerry

[coyotehunter_1]

Sounds like a good day !!! 

[bushmaster]

man, my heart would have popped!!

[possumal]

Great pictures, good story.  You're getting close to that first yote, so don't give up.

[Bluesman]

Thanks for the post.  Those are great pics too.
I've had very similar luck to yours this year minus the coyote response.  What I'm getting at is this:
I got a Foxpro FX3 for Christmas.  While Iv'e had some great success at night up in VA, I have had zero in my home area around Charlotte NC.  I've also been using that whirling woodpecker.  I have had several large birds of prey actually attack it and more than a few crows go bezerk around it.

On one occasion a hawk was lit up in a tree right next it as several crows were flying and raising cane up above.  Out of nowhere comes another hawk at full speed down through the skyline, into the trees like a bullett.  In less than a half a second he had slammed the whiriling woodpecker and vanished.  He never broke his flight path.  I finished the stand but when I retreived the woodpecker from the ground he had no more wing.  Only the spinning wire was left.     I had to rig a turkey feather onto that wire.

....and I've also been through a bunch of those batteries.  I need a four legged fur bearer to come in to the decoy like you experienced before I decide to put it on ebay. 

Keep pluggin,
JB

[ErictheRed]

Nice pictures.  Sounds like that decoy did the trick!