Mitch breaks in the new Xbolt!

[Grayfox]

Mitch and I got out last night for a couple of sets and he was able to connect for his first of the year.

First set we had them howling a long way off and across the street. Called for 45 minutes and finally noticed one standing 500 yards out in the field. Then a truck drives by and it busts out of there.

Second set nothing.

Third set we had them howling at us from across the road agian. The horse over there was snorting and running around the pasture so I knew they we're coming. I told Mit to watch the South side and 5 minutes later I look over and see a head pop up on the other side of the ditch. Then his gun goes off and it's gone. I look back and there's another one bugging out, it ends up running in front of me at 300 yards. I couldn't pick him up due to the small hill it was on and the trees behind it. I finally pick it up and proceed to miss it. I head over to Mit and we're standing by his coyote and Mit says there's something standing on the road, so I look and sure enough there's another one. I howl once and see it take off. I thought it went across the road, so I'm watching to the left and start to howl agian when I see it standing out in the field 100 yards away. Don't know how it got there so fast. It starts to bug out and we just couldn't get it to stop good for a shot, so we took a couple trotting ones and managed to hit it but after a long trailing job (1 mile) we gave up. Never layed down and was trotting when we left it.

Fourth set we tried a new spot that I hadn't scouted. We set up on an East/West fence line with a pond to the West. There was an open pasture to the South but just 30 yards West of Mitch was a patch of woods. The wind had been coming from the SE and I had the decoy and caller directly downwind of me. After calling for 5 min. I tell Mitch that I see one on the lake heading downwind. It never shows. Then the wind switches around to the NE and that's when I here Mit lip squeeking. I never saw the coyote but he said it came along the edge of the woods and was 20 yards from him and on the other side of the fence by the time he saw it. It was looking at him and the decoy but I had the decoy too close to us and not far enough West of that tree line to give him a chance to move without being seen. It turned and disappeared into the woods and we never saw it agian.

We called it a night, or morning,and headed home. When we got home I decided to go check a few cable restraints I had put out behind the house. First one we checked had this mangy little female in it. Good to get that thing out of the population.

[harvey lee]

Lokks like a fun evening.

[DonBo]

Dang, you guys are on a multi species roll this year. Glad you got such a good hunting/fishing partner. Good going guys!