Skull cleaning - what a hobby!

Much to my wife's dismay, I clean animal skulls as a hobby. I use a colony of dermestid beetles to do the cleaning, and they are very efficient. To learn more about my skull cleaning operation, check out my skull cleaning thread in the NPHA forums.

You can also click on the coyote skull picture below to see more pictures of my cleaned up animal skulls.

Staredown at 20 feet

I settled in under the juniper tree as the sun rose higher in the sky. The surrounding area was thick with junipers and scrub brush, giving approaching animals plenty of safety routes from which to approach my call. I watched my homemade feather decoy blow gently in the breeze as I began a low but high-pitched rabbit scream. My first set of calls produced nothing, and during my momentary pause I looked around to take in the beauty of the land. I had hiked over a mile to get to this location so that I could be far away from where other hunters had attempted to fool the local predators. I started my second sequence with a higher volume, putting more emotion into the sound as if I really were a dying rabbit. Suddenly I saw movement in the juniper to my right, and a young pup stepped out from the shadows to get a better look at me. The way I was sitting allowed me to be able to raise my rifle so I could get a shot, but this young dog stood there about 20 feet from me, eyes locked on my exact location. Any movement on my part would alert him to my presence, and he would retreat quickly to the protection of the thick junipers. For now I had to sit completely still, and wait for the moment when I could move my rifle into a good position. We stared at each other for about a minute before the wind suddenly shifted direction and blew directly to him. I felt the change at the same time that he got a nose full of my scent, and as he turned to bolt I shouldered my rifle, but he was gone before I could find him in my scope. After a little more calling to try to entice him or his friends back for a second chance, I ended the stand and when I stood up I realized that my Ace-in-the-hole, the feather decoy, had been blocked from the pup's vision by my body. Oh well, you can't get them all - but he'll live a little wiser now and be a little tougher to convince next time!

Pup coyotes are such odd looking dogs, with huge ears and seemingly undersized bodies. This time of year finds them with a short coat, just starting to get their thick fur. Here's a picture that a fellow predator hunter named John got of one such pup:

My book is now available on Amazon.com!

Amazon, one of the largest online bookstores, now carries Ready For Anything. Shopping is very easy if you have an Amazon account and you can read the first chapter of the book online! Plus you also get FREE shipping with any Amazon order over $25. Link to Amazon.com listing

National Predator Hunters Association

The National Predator Hunters Association (NPHA) is here! The first organization to combine good online forums and an actual productive association launched the beginning of this month. There are many NPHA events on the horizon, and the staff is made up of many very experienced and helpful hunters that have been on the predator hunting scene for many years. Check them out at http://www.thenpha.com/.

As always, you can find me in the forums under the name "rizzo".

A Man and His Dog

I have called in a lot of different animals while calling for predators. I've called in hawks, deer, cows, domestic dogs, javelina, rabbits - the list goes on. Most of the animals respond out of curiosity; obviously a deer isn't coming in to eat a dying rabbit. They usually show up, check things out, and leave without incident. Today I got a bit of a surprise, though.

I set up in a small clearing, and decided to use a digital caller for the stand. I was also using my ladder, backed up into some junipers, so that I could get a great view of any incoming animals and also to keep myself above their usual line of sight. About 5 minutes into the stand, I hear something coming from behind me, but I know it's not a predator; well, not the kind I'm after, anyways. Pretty soon I see him - a man has heard the call! I stop the dying rabbit sound and he pauses at the edge of the clearin, not even 30 feet from me. I'm a little out of sight, though, and well camouflaged. He looks around the area, then turns to leave so I hit the call again. Instantly he spins on his heels, searching once more for the source. Finally he leaves and I figure that's that, but oh no - he's coming back. And this time he brought his dog!

His young Queensland heeler trots eagerly behind him as I really turn the call up, then shut it off just as they are about to breach the brushline. As they step out into the clearing, the man is trying to nudge his dog out into the area, presumably to find the screaming animal. The dog is less than interested, however, and is just kind of trotting around. They are now less than 25 feet from me! I almost call out to them, but decide to let the man's mind wonder as he takes his dog back from whence they came. I wait for about 5 minutes, then turn the caller all the way up and un-mute it! You could probably hear that thing for a mile! But the man and his dog do not return, and I head off to another stand, to try and fool another predator.