Saturday, April 22, 2017

Hike-hunt





After checking cows and calves this morning it was time to check the bulls, which are housed in a pasture several miles south of where the cows and calves are presently domiciled.

I decided to check the bulls on foot. Couple of reasons for that. I wanted to scout grass in the pasture, and I always do a better job of it on foot. And of course a nice little prairie stroll would fit neatly into my exercise routine.

It was just a beautiful morning. Yesterday's rainy weather system was passing and the dreary gray overcast was breaking into blue skies and cottony-white puffball clouds. There was a bit of a south-southwest breeze, and while it wasn't much of a breeze it combined with the 40 degree air temperature to make it just a bit chilly. I wore a sweatshirt.

As usual on these hikes I carried a 25-pound pack along with my trusty rifle. Mostly for the weight and complexity, but also because reasons.

After yesterday's rain the milk vetch decided to boom into bloom.


The winter wheat was lush and emerald green. In only a few weeks it will head out and flower, then begin making grain. In about 75 days it'll be harvested.



As I caught a good hiking rhythm I began to appreciate how beautiful the morning was.







The bulls were in fine shape.


Birds and ants were busy as well.



After I checked the bulls I continued my hike. At about the four-mile mark I noticed some activity up ahead. Something was slinking up out of a gully and moving into the tree line about 300 yards to the south of me.


It was a pair of coyotes.

There's been quite a bit more coyote activity this spring than there's been for several years. I understand why. The last several years of above-average rainfall have produced a lot of green stuff, which prompted an increase in hares, rabbits, ground squirrels, mice, voles, and other prey animals. Which prompted an increase in predator numbers. It's nature. That's how she rolls.

The coyotes have been pressing the cows and calves a bit more than I like this spring. They haven't predated any calves, and I don't expect them to. That doesn't mean they don't go through the stalking/hunting process, nor does it mean that they won't take a calf if they get an opportunity.

My response is to help the coyotes decide to look for better/less dangerous hunting grounds. I do this by shooting coyotes when the appropriate opportunity arises. Which it did this morning.

Now I'm not a spray and pray guy. I don't shoot to frighten, and every round I send downrange I own. When I decide to kill a coyote I have a responsibility to kill it as cleanly as possible.

This morning I had the breeze in my favor, blowing from the coyotes to me. I also had the sun in my favor, casting a lot of tree shadows about and making it hard for the coyotes to see me clearly. They knew I was there, but they didn't know what I was. They cautiously approached to about 225 yards and paused. One turned her profile to me and squatted down on her haunches, nose up and testing the breeze.

I eased over to a fence post, switched the optic on, and flipped up the magnifier. I peered through the optic, and keeping in mind where 55 grain pointed soft point bullets shoot compared to M-855, placed the point of the chevron about two inches above and just behind the coyote's shoulder. I took my time and squeezed off a well-placed shot.

At the moment I fired, however, the coyote bolted. My shot took her through the hips, and she dropped immediately. I hoped that the shock of the hit would be enough to kill her outright, but it wasn't. She flopped about a bit and then dragged herself off into a plowed field.

I followed her into the field and finished the job with a close range heart shot from my .40 S&W. I was disappointed that I didn't get an instant kill. Even though I'd done everything to the best of my ability and made a perfect shot, I'd failed in my responsibility to cleanly kill. That's the way it goes sometimes. You do the best you can.

I feel neither good nor bad about killing the coyote. Those kind of feelings really don't come into play. I'm part of nature, the coyote is part of nature, and today was just another of nature's give-and-take episodes.




12 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. Indeed. Paradise is really nice, when it's nice! ;)

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  2. Didn't know that you kept bulls. How much tinkering do you do with breeding? I guess you aren't getting mail order seamen but I'm curious if you do more than turn them loose at the correct time.

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    1. We've done artificial insemination (AI) in the past but I was never involved in it. We don't do a lot of tinkering with genetics. We buy and/or raise cows that are appropriate for our operation. We buy bulls which have the genetics we want to pair with our cows; genetics for calving ease and good growth and feed efficiency. So we do some thinking and planning ahead of time and try to buy cows and bulls which will thrive in our environment and produce strong calves that will grow well and sell well. Then at breeding time we put the bulls in with the cows and let them do what they're good at.

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  3. Thanks for the post and further insight into your life.

    Paul L. Quandt

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  4. See a coyote den along Hwy 71 about RD 16 dug in under the right of way fence. Didn't know coyotes dig dens. Maybe a female with pups?

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    1. Could be. Coyotes are pretty adaptive and do a lot of things you might not expect. There are also quite a few foxes around who more typically dig dens.

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  5. It was still a good shot. 225 yards on a moving target over irregular ground.

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    1. Thanks Scott. Red dots to the rescue when it comes to old eyes.

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  6. Thanks for sharing another snippet of your life. Your panning of the horizon reminded me of my hike yesterday in a good sized area that has become part of a NC Land Conservancy tract held in trust for future generations. About 600 acres, so ~1 sq. mile- decent sized for a semi-urban area. Large enough that when I was in the middle of it admiring the songs of the birds, the turtles sunning themselves, geese with their goslings gliding along on a pond I could neither see or hear signs of civilization and was able to just soak in the tranquility of nature. I had thought of your land and figured that you must have hundreds of square miles to hike in. I have to drive quite a way to see the stars unaffected by light pollution. Agree with Scott that it was a good shot.

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    1. That sounds like a cool place to hike! I do have lots of hiking room and there are places where if you ignore REA lines, windmills on the horizon, and contrails in the sky you can imagine you're walking the prairie 15,000 years ago. As for the shot, thanks. A flat shooting rifle and a sound optic make it pretty easy.

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