The Baron of Bufflehead
01-12-2008, 12:35 PM
Been burnin' the candle at both ends all week with work, but got out this morning with the Wood Duck Wizard. Hit one of his spots... a huge field set well back from the roads. Farmer had been seeing/hearing a pair in there recently... said the male was real dark, so we figured it was a good place to start.
It was a long stand, about 40 minutes of rabbit distress and some lonesome howls. I figured we can see a ton of real estate, so give 'em time to come. 'Wiz heard some response howls to our first howls, way across the field in the woods. I threw in some challenge howls and even a ki-yi at the end. We stood up to leave and wouldn't you know it we see a coyote walk out about 400+ yards across the field! We dropped back down and after some fumbling I got the remote out again and turned on some chirping coaxer. The 'yote had walked into the woods but came back out again. He turned broadside, then stretched out and did a few howls. That was cool! When he howled, his mate started yipping in the woods and then she stepped out... another pair! She was very light and he was dark - quite a contrast between the two. Anyway, the coaxer wasn't moving them, so I tried some ki-yi's. They seemed very interesteed, but still not moving. I was eyeing the female up and figuring I'd try that 350+ yard shot if need be. The male howled back a couple more times so I threw a couple challenge howls out. After a few second I switched back to the rabbit distress... and here they both come on the run!:hest: They crossed the tractor road over a deep ditch, then the female split off and started arcing around to the left to catch our wind, but the male stayed on the road at full charge. 'Wiz had a shotgun so he told me just shoot whatever/whenever I wanted. When the male stopped at about 125 yards facing us I plugged him and he went straight down. Then I turned my attention to the female. I quickly put on ki-yi's at full volume. 'Wiz said "there she is, going along the hill". I found her and got her in the scope just as she stopped at about 250 yards. I fired and saw the dirt fly. Kinda looked like I shot right through her, but she dropped her shoulders and kicked it into overdrive and disappeared below a rise in the field. I switched back to double check the male and the bugger was hobbling away! Two loads of 00 buck and one .204 in the guts later and he gave up. Tough buggers!
We found the female's tracks in the mud, but no blood or hair. Man I wish we'd had some tracking snow! She never spun, which seems to be the usual sign of a hit, and we hadn't heard the bullet hit her, so after a good look in the woods and around the field we concluded it was a miss. I'm getting closer to the elusive double... next time I'll have to stop goofing around and make the second shot.:rf:
This male felt like he weighed a ton, because I had to carry him instead of dragging him. Checked him in at a local contest and he tipped the scale at 41lb. 6oz. There's one less turkey/deer killer in the woods here. Note the lucky shooting stick. I'll never leave the truck without it again!
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y216/thebaron1/08-1-1203.jpg
Here's where they came from... they came out on that snow way across the field at the top centre of the pic.
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y216/thebaron1/08-1-1201.jpg
It was a long stand, about 40 minutes of rabbit distress and some lonesome howls. I figured we can see a ton of real estate, so give 'em time to come. 'Wiz heard some response howls to our first howls, way across the field in the woods. I threw in some challenge howls and even a ki-yi at the end. We stood up to leave and wouldn't you know it we see a coyote walk out about 400+ yards across the field! We dropped back down and after some fumbling I got the remote out again and turned on some chirping coaxer. The 'yote had walked into the woods but came back out again. He turned broadside, then stretched out and did a few howls. That was cool! When he howled, his mate started yipping in the woods and then she stepped out... another pair! She was very light and he was dark - quite a contrast between the two. Anyway, the coaxer wasn't moving them, so I tried some ki-yi's. They seemed very interesteed, but still not moving. I was eyeing the female up and figuring I'd try that 350+ yard shot if need be. The male howled back a couple more times so I threw a couple challenge howls out. After a few second I switched back to the rabbit distress... and here they both come on the run!:hest: They crossed the tractor road over a deep ditch, then the female split off and started arcing around to the left to catch our wind, but the male stayed on the road at full charge. 'Wiz had a shotgun so he told me just shoot whatever/whenever I wanted. When the male stopped at about 125 yards facing us I plugged him and he went straight down. Then I turned my attention to the female. I quickly put on ki-yi's at full volume. 'Wiz said "there she is, going along the hill". I found her and got her in the scope just as she stopped at about 250 yards. I fired and saw the dirt fly. Kinda looked like I shot right through her, but she dropped her shoulders and kicked it into overdrive and disappeared below a rise in the field. I switched back to double check the male and the bugger was hobbling away! Two loads of 00 buck and one .204 in the guts later and he gave up. Tough buggers!
We found the female's tracks in the mud, but no blood or hair. Man I wish we'd had some tracking snow! She never spun, which seems to be the usual sign of a hit, and we hadn't heard the bullet hit her, so after a good look in the woods and around the field we concluded it was a miss. I'm getting closer to the elusive double... next time I'll have to stop goofing around and make the second shot.:rf:
This male felt like he weighed a ton, because I had to carry him instead of dragging him. Checked him in at a local contest and he tipped the scale at 41lb. 6oz. There's one less turkey/deer killer in the woods here. Note the lucky shooting stick. I'll never leave the truck without it again!
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y216/thebaron1/08-1-1203.jpg
Here's where they came from... they came out on that snow way across the field at the top centre of the pic.
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y216/thebaron1/08-1-1201.jpg