March Update

Well let's see...... this month:
been sick since Saturday
microwave stopped heating last week it was only 1 year and 11months old had to get a new one
all of the march madness fixes on my honey do list are complete
trying to get boat out of storage for bearing change but been too wet
and blueberry Eggo's are awesome.... have you tried these tasty little morsels?

2014 stats... the hunting season was good and bad

Well it's the end of another season, at least until Turkey starts. So as in seasons past the only thing I have going this month is honey do list stuff. That is until fishing season starts next month, so with that in mind this will probably be the last entry for a while.

As the title says I had a pretty good hunting season with only a couple bad spots. The bad was not so much bad, as missed opportunities. I didn't get out to do field hunting as much as I could've because I was trying to "save" the field until I could get a couple buddies to go with. Lesson learned there was go when the waterfowl is there, they might not be there when you want to go. Also the coyote I missed, (yes still kicking myself over that one....) and I popped a couple coons that I didn't find. 

Those are the bad spots, the good was all the time I got to spend afield with the friends I got to spend the time with. All in all it was an outstanding year. Thank you to everyone that made it possible especially my wife for allowing me to chase my passion.

2014  Hunting Season Breakdown

Species    |  Days Afield  |  Number of Critters taken

Turkey                  1                           1

Deer                      1                           1

Dove                    2 1/2                     11

Pheasant               1                            2

Coon                     5                           6

Coyote/Fox           6                           3

Waterfowl           51 1/2          35 ducks/29 geese 

Total                   68                          88

Scored again

This was the last day for me to coyote hunt; I stop at the end of February because fox season closes. Let me explain: it would drive me nuts if I called in a fox and wouldn't be able to shoot it.
As it was yesterday I actually saw 5 coons just walking around in corn fields eating... season has been closed for a while. They must have known it was closed because they didn't even care what I was doing they just kept doing their thing.
Coyote hunting this year has been spectacular, I can't remember ever doing this well on public property which leads me to ask the question, what's different? It's either I'm getting better at the coyote game, my new caller has magical powers (foxpro), or there are just more coyotes, of course I hope it's not the last one. (more coyotes = less critters)
Anyway I went to Mississinewa yesterday and scored on a dog on my 2nd or 3rd stand. She actually came in hot from down wind side, and ran within 5 yards of me. I have a 3x9x50 Leupold scope on my Remington and I keep it on magnification 4.5, so half way. This coyote was so close all I could see was hair, so I got ahead of her and fell back a little then squeezed the trigger. She dropped like she hit a truck, again the exit hole was the size of a baseball. I guess 50 to the 150 yard mark is the optimum for pencil entry holes and no exit holes. Not that it really bothers me I just try to put fur in the truck.

picture taken from where I was sitting

Still kicking myself

I should be spending this time telling you about the coyote hunt I was on yesterday, and showing you the pic of the yote that I shot. Instead I have to tell you about the missed yote I shot at.
It was going to be pretty chilly yesterday so I of course decided to go coyote hunting. Midday found me walking into my 5th or 6th stand, when a coyote stepped out from behind the corn row @ 50 yards. I stopped, shouldered the rifle, took the safety off, fired and ..... saw the snow kick up in front of the coyote. That's right I whiffed on a 50 yard chip shot at a broadside coyote.
Of course since this happened midday I have been replaying it in my head ever since. And it will probably stick with me until I have a chance to put some fur down next week. Hopefully if I get another chance I'll be able to seal the deal instead of reliving the ghosts of misses past. Why is it I can't remember what I went to the Walmart for, but I can't shake the memory of this to save my life?
Anyway going to get on the best I can and look for next week to give me a stack of better memories.

Coyote down

Third day coyote hunting and another coyote down. I was calling at a spot that, just like the last coyote spot, that I have never called in anything. This time I had 2 come in and the closest yote didn't go home, she was at 20 yards and I put the 50 grn V-max center mass. Unlike the last yote which had only a pencil sized entry hole, this one has an entry hole the size of a baseball. The good thing is, there were no exit holes in either coyote. The other cool thing that happened to me was, when I was walking into a stand I had a red fox take off up a ravine. I saw him too late and didn't get a shot off but it was really cool cause it was the first fox I've seen in more than a couple years.