This past weekend Hunt

Carolina Coyote · February 08, 2011, 10:32:30 AM

I didn't get to go to the LBL again this year but Centerfire223 (Ronnie)and The Bluesman ( JB )and I went down to the Wanderosia in Georgia for a weekend hunt, we had planned for all of us to be there on Thursday and do some night hunting that night, Ronnie had a death in his family and so he had to change his arrival to Friday night. I got there about 3:30 pm Thursday and started the preparations for the hunt. JB Called about 8:00 PM and said he got a late start and would not be there until around 10:00 PM. I had checked the weather map and it looked to me like there was going to be rain but looked like it was going to be above us. Wrong! By the time JB arrived it was raining pretty hard so he and I sat around and Chatted f( this was the first time I had met JB in person )or a few hours hoping the rain would let up so we could go hunting, around 2:00 we decided to go out and do some locater Howls, The rain had slowed down to just misting, first stop when we cranked up the Howler the area lit up with Coyotes Howling back, some sounded pretty close, we were sitting on big field and JB started scanning very shortly he picked up two set of eyes at about 6 or 800 yards, we really did not want to call them in just locate them, it started raining pretty hard again so we packed up and went back to the cabin and went to bed.

When we got up Friday morning it was raining pretty hard so we hung around the Cabin until around noon and the Rain stopped, We packed up our gear and went out to make some stands on the fourth setup, RAIN! and coming down pretty hard so we went back to the cabin and put our gear up and I did not want to complain about the rain as we needed it real bad , really dry there in Georgia., I had been really looking forward to this Hunt to learn a little about the Night Hunting and JB wanted to call in Bobcat so we decided to go back to the cabin and wait for the rain to stop, It Didn't ! We did go back out and ride around to show JB the property and look for some possible setup sites for Saturday. Ronnie came in about 8:00 and said it was suppose to clear up on Saturday and any sign we found would have to be fresh , When we got up Saturday morning it was beginning to clear up, so we packed up and went out in the Golf Carts to look for fresh sign which did not take long to find Coyote tracks, this was an area that I see sign all the time and have called in Coyote on several occasions but had not killed one but had killed three Bobcats, this is a very good location so we made the setup and I was going to do the calling and I hate to admit it but I blew that setup, calling to loud so Ronnie and JB decided to do all the calling and we covered a lot of ground and found lot of sign, made 7 or 8 stands with no takers, we all were getting a little hungry and tired so we went in for lunch and a break. The weather was getting better but all the rain had the ground soaked and made moving around difficult.

After lunch we move to another area, found a lot of scat right off the bat, made a setup but no takers, I had Planed to Hunt in a new area that I don't think has ever been called but the wind was not right to go there so we moved around to the other side of the thicket we just called and set up on the place where I called in my first Coyote and where I had seen a nice Cat in January, Ronnie started calling with his Crackpot and after about ten minutes, the sound you always love to hear the crack of a rifle, I looked toward where JB was sitting and he was getting up and started walking down the edge of the tree line, A bobcat had come out of the thicket at about 200 yards and was working it way down the edge to the call, this was his second Bobcat and the first in daytime and he was thrilled to see him coming in, This was what he had come down for to get a Bobcat. We hunted on to dark and no more takes, so we went in and ate supper.

After eating and cleaning up the kitchen Ronnie and JB walked out on the front porch for a few seconds and then came running back into the house grabbing guns,Lights and calls, they said a pack of Coyotes had open up real close to the cabin, we cut all the lights off and went out and stared calling but nothing came in. we then got one of the golf carts and went out night hunting, on the first 5 or 6 stops we had eyes coming in but when the light reflected off of their eyes they bugged out and would not come close enough to get a shot, JB said the Eastern Coyote are very hard to get in close enough to get a shot. After a couple more setups JB picked up eyes coming in, I stared looking real close and saw the eyes at about 40 yards I though but it turned out to be about 70 yards, I shot and could still see the eyes and JB said shoot again and I did and I could see the eyes moving around a little bit so I shot again. We went down to find the Predator but after looking for several minutes we could not find any thing so we decided to continue on Hunting and we did until about 2:00, we all were tired and went in for the night but JB said several time we need to go back there in the morning and look again because I think you made a hit.

We all slept a little late Sunday morning and decide we would not hunt but, I had some traps I needed to check and reset so we ate a little Breakfest then sat around and discuss the hunt and the I went out to check my traps . When I got back Ronnie and Jb had cleaned the cabin and was packing up to go, JB want to skin his Cat and shoot his rifle as he felt it may need a small adjustment, he also mention several times we need to go look again where I had shot, which I wanted to do so after Skinning his Cat and he check out his rifles he and I rode over to where I had shot, we no more than stepped off the road when JB hollered they he is and he is still alive, he ran back to the car and grabbed his pistole and put the poor Cat out of his misery. This was my fourth Cat this year and the 10Th Cat that has been killed on the Wanderosia this season with only one caught in a trap.

This has been kind of a long story but it turned out to be a great weekend for me and I was really impressed with JB and think I have a new friend for life,His persistence in going back to look for the Cat meant a lot to me. Ronnie as always was pleasure to hunt with.

The Bluesman with his cat

Centerfire223 and the Bluesman with the cat

The cat I killed

CC and his cat

Frogman · February 08, 2011, 10:44:06 AM

Great story and pictures. Congrats on the cats! Thanks for sharing!

Jim

pitw · February 08, 2011, 11:03:35 AM

Carl that was an awesome read

. Thanks for taking e along on the hunt with you. Sure would be fun to watch a cat come in once but I guess I will just have to depend on you to keep explaining it for me.

KySongDog · February 08, 2011, 11:24:14 AM

That's a great story! Congrats on the cats!

vvarmitr · February 08, 2011, 12:18:18 PM

That is just excellent Carl!

Glad you fellers didn't let the rain dampen your spirits.

HuntnCarve · February 08, 2011, 01:02:42 PM

Great story Carl! It was like I was right there with you fellas. Congrats on the cats too!

Dave

FinsnFur · February 08, 2011, 02:00:32 PM

That was a nice little read Carl. Thanks for taking us along.

Congrats on the cats...... hey I made a rhyme!

Tell Ronnie that I said he's not getting any better looking

HaMeR · February 08, 2011, 03:35:23 PM

Great write-up Carl!! Congratulations on your cat!

Congratulations to the Bluesman on his cat as well!!

securpro · February 08, 2011, 03:53:34 PM

Congrats on the cats guys wish you could have made it to LBL

Hawks Feather · February 08, 2011, 04:00:05 PM

Thanks for the write up - it made me feel like I was right there in the rain.

Jerry

bambam · February 08, 2011, 04:47:46 PM

Great story and good looking cats !

centerfire_223 · February 08, 2011, 06:39:41 PM

Quote from: FinsnFur on February 08, 2011, 02:00:32 PM
That was a nice little read Carl. Thanks for taking us along.

Congrats on the cats...... hey I made a rhyme!
Tell Ronnie that I said he's not getting any better looking

Now Jimbo you know that is a lie!!!!!

Carl I had an awesome time once again, couldn't think of any better guys to hunt with. Can't wait till next time. By the way how long did it take you to type that story up. Good read!!!!

Bluesman · February 08, 2011, 09:35:44 PM

Carl,

What a great post. I was there and it's accurate. :) Thanks for taking the time to write up our swell weekend. I'm not exaggerating when I say it wouldn't have mattered if we hadn't killed a thing. I had a great time with you and and Ronnie. If I could complain about anything related to this trip (and I won't) it would be about how long it's taken us to all hunt together. Ronnie had bragged on you for a few years now and I was looking forward to meeting you. I thought it would happen two years ago! I really want to thank you guys for having me along on the hunt. I am grateful and can only hope I behaved well enough to get invited back someday. In hindsight, it was actually my luck that we got rained out for some of those hours. It gave us time to talk about reloading and calling and all that other stuff. Since we solved all but a few of the world's problems, maybe next year we can solve the mystery of those GA coyotes...and figure out how to call them in.

My appreciation to centerfire_223 and Carolina Coyote for including me in on an incredible weekend. Thanks for putting that Arky Crackpipe to good use on my behalf Ronnie. I owe you one....and you too Carl. I'll see you guys in a few weeks. I'll be down your way so I'll look you up.

JB in NC