wankerjake
Member
Well my wife and daughter left me for 5 days to visit grandma so since I had the morning off I figured today was as good as any to start the season. My dog Bootie used to go out hiking and squirrel hunting with me all the time when we lived in Flagstaff but now we don;t get out much and I was feeling guilty. I promised I'd take her out during dove season but it didn't happen last year and I think she was done hearing excuses. Anyway, we headed out to a spot relatively close to home and I thought I'd give her a shot at predator hunting. I hadn't been out since march and was chomping at the bit to go calling. Here's how it went down.
Stand 1:
We got a late start (thought I missed my turn, delayed us) so I turned off on a dirt road earlier than usual. Very thick palo verdes and cholla. Bootie ran in front of the truck like the good old days. She did what I expected on stand. Milled around eating grass and digging, ten yards away or less. I had high hopes for the first stand and it looked good but nothing doing.
Stand 2:
Around ten minutes in Bootie saw something behind me, she was growling and all ancy. Finally I got up and swung around the tree but didn't see anything. Wind was blowing that way, whatever it was must have smelled me. Here is "The Boot" in action:
Stand 3:
At 8 minutes or so I see a coyote coming thru the brush but held up at about 80 yards out of shotgun range. I think it saw Bootie, she was taking a break in front of me, but it never came in. It was upwind and I don;t think it saw me, but didn't take the bait (Bootie)
Stand 4:
One of those stands where the set-up was bad and I should have just gone back to the truck. I brought my rifle but it was too thick. Found a nice 4-point muley shed though
Stand 5:
This was gonna be the last anyway, I was sweating in my heavy field pants. There were some clouds blocking the sun but still getting kinda toasty. Bootie was tired by this time and was just laying next to me watching our backside. I started off with the green lil' dog mouthpiece, and switched to the TT extreme after about 5 minutes. Ten minutes in or so I'm slowly scanning the bushes around me, I'd had that "something is here" type of feeling for a few minutes. Sure enough, 90 degrees to my left I see a kitty face at about 30 yards. I slowly leveled my 870 at her and let some go. She levitated like 6 feet in the air, then began swatting her face. I knew she was hit well but kept flinging buckshot at her. Finally I ran down there and she laid up under a palo verde. My fourth shot was true and she was done. Heck of a way to start the season!
Bootie was fairly entertained but not too excited:
Needless to say I'm a happy camper. This is my second cat and my first with hand calls. It was just like old times too, Bootie loved the trip. Feels GREAT, thanks Tony for the call!
Stand 1:
We got a late start (thought I missed my turn, delayed us) so I turned off on a dirt road earlier than usual. Very thick palo verdes and cholla. Bootie ran in front of the truck like the good old days. She did what I expected on stand. Milled around eating grass and digging, ten yards away or less. I had high hopes for the first stand and it looked good but nothing doing.
Stand 2:
Around ten minutes in Bootie saw something behind me, she was growling and all ancy. Finally I got up and swung around the tree but didn't see anything. Wind was blowing that way, whatever it was must have smelled me. Here is "The Boot" in action:
Stand 3:
At 8 minutes or so I see a coyote coming thru the brush but held up at about 80 yards out of shotgun range. I think it saw Bootie, she was taking a break in front of me, but it never came in. It was upwind and I don;t think it saw me, but didn't take the bait (Bootie)
Stand 4:
One of those stands where the set-up was bad and I should have just gone back to the truck. I brought my rifle but it was too thick. Found a nice 4-point muley shed though
Stand 5:
This was gonna be the last anyway, I was sweating in my heavy field pants. There were some clouds blocking the sun but still getting kinda toasty. Bootie was tired by this time and was just laying next to me watching our backside. I started off with the green lil' dog mouthpiece, and switched to the TT extreme after about 5 minutes. Ten minutes in or so I'm slowly scanning the bushes around me, I'd had that "something is here" type of feeling for a few minutes. Sure enough, 90 degrees to my left I see a kitty face at about 30 yards. I slowly leveled my 870 at her and let some go. She levitated like 6 feet in the air, then began swatting her face. I knew she was hit well but kept flinging buckshot at her. Finally I ran down there and she laid up under a palo verde. My fourth shot was true and she was done. Heck of a way to start the season!
Bootie was fairly entertained but not too excited:
Needless to say I'm a happy camper. This is my second cat and my first with hand calls. It was just like old times too, Bootie loved the trip. Feels GREAT, thanks Tony for the call!
Last edited:
) Thorough Crock pot session tonight after work
