A Lesson Re-Learned

It's been awhile since I had some free time to get out and hunt - this season has been hard on me because I haven't hunted as much as I usually do! Finally I had the chance to go yesterday and I took a rookie named Weev along with me.

On the first stand a coyote came in pretty quick and pretty fast, and I shot it with the shotgun. Coyote goes down, moves around a little, and then lays there for about 5minutes, moving around a little every now and then but not really that active. I'm scanning the area when I catch some movement - it's a coyote running away from the stand and into the thick brush. It took a second for my brain to realize that the coyote was the same one that was supposed to be dead! I jumped up and tried to head him off as I ran into the brush, and I could hear him thrashing around in the leaves, but after quite a while of searching in near impassable brush, we couldn't find him. Lesson Re-Learned: hit 'em until they stop moving.

A few stands later another coyote comes in, full steam ahead, and then comes to a halt about 30 feet in front of Weev. He shoots and misses, but then makes up for it when he dumps her running away at about 70 yards. Nice big furred out female coyote, too.



A few stands later we had crawl into a deep canyon and I just knew that a fox was going to come in. I tell Weev to get ready and then I start calling. Less than 2 minutes later BOOM! I hear the roar of a shotgun followed by the scream of a fox. A few seconds after that I hear a lot of scrambling and realize that Weev is running down the wash and BOOM! he shoots again. I get up and follow him - seems that the fox (who literally had the stuffing knocked out of him) laid there for a second and then got up and ran - he died in a rock hole but we couldn't get him out. Lesson Re-Learned (again): hit 'em until they stop moving.

Next stand we called in two foxes who wouldn't commit to shotgun range, and seemed to be more interested in chasing each other around in the rocks. Then on the last stand of the day we called in a coyote who slipped away into some brush downwind before Weev could take a shot. But all in all it was a good day - 3 coyotes and 3 foxes called in, and the new guy got to see everything and even got to pull the trigger with success.

But above all, I came away with this: no matter how many times you hunt, no matter how many animals you kill, you always have something to re-learn. In this case: hit 'em until they stop moving.

And as a side-note, I got the chance to use my new Pelt Pakker from Kettle Creek Calls yesterday to drag this big heavy coyote back to the truck. Weev says it was pretty comfortable, and I know it sure beats having my old drag, which was a piece of 550 cord, dig into my hand from the weight.

Coyote Clinic 2011 - Date Change

The date for the Coyote Clinic in January has been changed. It is now January 21st for the Class portion, and January 22nd for the Field Day. The same discount applies if you attend both days.

The reason for the re-schedule is to allow for my participation in a Veterans for Veterans (V4V) event in Tucson, AZ on Januray 15th. V4V was started by my friend and associate Matt Shozda, who owns Firearms Mastery in Tucson. My own training organization, Independence Firearms Training, is proud to be a sponsor and network partner of V4V.

The January 15th course is a Basic Handgun / Arizona CCW course, and will be followed by more courses in the months to come. What makes the V4V program so great is that 50% of all course proceeds and 100% of all raffle and gift proceeds to go a Veteran's organization. The next three V4V events will benefit Honor Flight, which is an organization which sends WWII Veterans to the WWII Memorial in Washington, D.C. It is out hope that through V4V we will be able to send 10 Veterans to D.C. through the Honor Flight program.

Please visit Firearm Mastery's website to learn more about V4V.

Coyote Clinic and Field Day

The predator season is in full swing, and if you've been struggling to put fur on the ground, or if you'd like to learn some new tricks to put in your hunting toolbox, then here's your chance to get it figured out!

I will be holding the Coyote Clinic Class and Field Day on January 14th and 15th in 2011, up in beautiful Dewey, AZ. Both dates are available separately, but if you get them together then you will get a 10% discount.

Students from February's and April's Coyote Clinic continue to call me and send me emails to tell me about their successful hunts. Here are a few blog entries immediately following the last Coyote Clinic which shows how some of the students got right to work!

Coyote Clinic = Success! AND Coyote Clinic students continue to drop fur!

Space is limited, so register today via PayPal or with check / money order. For information on payment, as well as full course details, click on the links below to open up the info sheets for both the Class and the Field Day.

Coyote Clinic Info Sheet (PDF)

Coyote Clinic Field Day (PDF)

See you there!

Teamwork

Four minutes of fox distress from the Griz-N-Gray and BAM! right in front of me stood a gray fox, hackles up and ready to fight. The shot was 25 yards and in a rush I centered my crosshairs on his shoulder, but as the shot broke I knew that I had made a mistake. 25 yards is too close for me to hold the shot right on, and just like I knew it would the shot was low and hit the fox either low in the chest or in the leg. Either way it didn't keep him from finding solace in the brush and rocks before I could get another shot, and as my calling partner Kelly watched the fox disappear, I figured he was gone for good. A few more minutes of calling produced no more animals, so I called off the stand and we started the hunt for blood. It wasn't hard to find, but after about 15 minutes of trailing, the blood became infrequent drips and then disappeared altogether as the fox made his way into the decomposed granite. I hate to leave a wounded animal behind, but we couldn't find anymore sign, and so we decided to press on to another stand.

I really enjoy hunting alone - it's my time for thinking and self-reflection. And plus if something gets screwed up, there's no one to blame but me! That being said, I also really like to spend time hunting with friends and family. Sharing the experience and the thrill of the hunt with others has its own fulfillment value, and my good friend Kelly is especially fun to hunt with. We always seem to find cool things when we hunt together, and today was no different.

With the bad shot behind me, we headed off for our next stand. On the way we found some very interesting mine sites and trash dumps. We decided to get a better look on the way back, and here's some pics I took of the trash dumps. Lots of old metal cans and mining equipment!



We got to our next stand and I setup overlooking a large canyon while Kelly setup across from me at the top of a small draw where he could watch behind me. We had been really hoping to pull a bobcat out of this area, but with my luck at calling everything in with the Griz-N-Gray I started out with more fox distress. 10 minutes passed with no response and no shots from Kelly, so I switched to a cottontail distress. Just a few seconds later I heared Kelly's rifle bark and the familiar sound of a meat report. I knew we had one animal down but wasn't sure what it was. Another 5 minutes of calling and nothing else showed up, so I called the stand off. I whistled to Kelly but got no response. I whistled again to make sure he heard me. When I still heard nothing back I snuck around the bush I was sitting in and whistled one more time. This time I heard Kelly respond with a short blast from a hand call, and I looked around to find him with his rifle raised and his head to the stock, obviously keeping a bead on something. He gave me a hand signal that we use which means "keep calling" and I got back on the cottontail distress. That's when a seemingly simple stand suddenly became a sort of "tactical" operation.

I had no idea what was happening at the time, but Kelly had watched as three foxes came into my calling. They were on approach when I switched from the fox distress to cottontail, and they did not like that one bit! They turned to leave and presented Kelly with a good shot on one of them. Kelly made a 180 yard shot with his .243 to the neck of the largest fox, which turned out to be one big hog-of-a-fox, and the other two split. Or so he thought. As I continued to call, one of the foxes came back and began to run around the dead one, but Kelly could never get a shot on it. Once I stopped calling and started whistling the fox really lost its mind and started doing strafing runs on the dead fox. Then I started calling and moving towards the area where Kelly was pointing his rifle, trying to see if I could get a better angle on whatever it was he was aiming at. He continued to watch the fox as I slowly crept towards the area. I gave him a hand signal that means "you call" and as he started calling the fox stopped, looked in the direction of the new sound, and finally presented Kelly with a good target. Another 180 yard shot and that fox was down, as well. I still had no idea what exactly had happened, but when Kelly guided me to the spot where the foxes were down, I was happy to see such a big fox laying there!





With foxes in hand we headed back to the truck. We both had to get back to work (dang it!) and it was getting a bit warmer than we preferred. But on our trip back we wanted to check out the mines, and wow! We found some very interesting sites. Lots of long dark tunnels and big cuts out of the land, but the most interesting was one where there were still good timbers and even a door. This tunnel went way back, farther back than I could see. Underneath it about 20 feet down the hill was another tunnel which was filled with deep water and also went farther back than I could see.



And up on the hillside we found the throne room of the former miners - clearly a couple, though it's hard to guess the date of when they were last in the area.



That was it for our calling adventure today, but we plan on heading back for the cats - and maybe more foxes - and we'll bring a bright flashlight to see just how deep some of those holes go into the earth. Days like today remind me that even though I enjoy my solo hunting trips, it's also exciting and beneficial to share the hunt with a good friend! If I had made that last stand alone, and played it the same way, then I would have never know about the foxes that almost got away.

Rattle, Woof, Meow - Kettle Creek Calls Strikes Again!

Every month I spend a weekend backpacking with the Boy Scouts. On Friday night we stayed on top of Wilson Mountain, which is over in Sedona. As we were headed down the next morning, we found this guy right next to the trail:



He was a pretty good sized Black-Tailed rattlesnake - and I have a certain policy when it comes to rattlesnakes, especially near trails and public-use areas. One shot of .38spl CCI shotshell and it was lights out for this rattler. It was still about 4 miles to the vehicle, but I wanted to pack him out so I took off his head and loaded him in a garbage bag and down the hill we all went.

Once I got home and had the chance to lay him out, I discovered that he was 46" with his skin on, and once skinned he was 55" long - the biggest rattler I've ever killed. I got right to work getting him prepped and ready for display, and of course I kept the meat for a tasty meal at a later date. A little over a day later and the skin is already on the wall, soft and pliable as can be. Here it is compared to the big Diamondback rattler that I killed a couple of weeks ago:



I'm leaving early tomorrow morning with my family for a week of vacation in California, and I've been a little upset that I won't be able to call until next Monday, especially since I just got another bellows call from Kettle Creek Calls - the Big Pekker - and I wanted to try it out. In fact Curtis was kind enough to send me a few different calls, but I've been most anxious to try out the Big Pekker since it does a fantastic job of making a rapid bird distress noise. I figured I'd just have to wait until I came back from vacation, but then came my chance: I had to take my sister-in-law to meet a friend just north of Phoenix, and on my home I had just enough time for two stands before the sun went down. And they were good stands.

On the first one I walked close to a ledge overlooking a big dry riverbed, hoping that my new Big Pekker call would bring in some foxes. Just a few minutes into the stand and this coyote popped up directly in front of me about 40 yards away. Things got a little bloody - only one shot but I think he put his nose in it trying to bite it like coyotes will do sometimes. Not my best shot but he busted me and was trying to leave, had to shoot him on the move. Thank you Curtis and Kettle Creek Calls for yet another cool new bellows call!



And I wish I had a picture to show for this one . . . . on my second stand a good-sized bobcat came running in at around the 5 minute mark, headed straight in for a better look at what was making all that racket! It was my Kettle Creek Griz-N-Gray, and this isn't the first bobcat that I've had respond to a gray fox distress noise. The bobat stopped behind some behind some brush a mere 30 yards away, but my .223 is no brush gun and I was helpless except to sit there and have a staredown with the cat. I'm confident that if I would've had a decoy with me I could have sealed the deal, but I left both of my dekes back in the truck - dang it! He stared at me from behind the brush for about 5 minutes, and I could tell he was nervous and had seen me. Finally he decided to leave and did so through the brush - and there was nothing I could do but watch him slink off through the brush. That's okay, though - I know where he lives now. I'll go back for him, and even if I don't get him the heart-pounding thrill of our staredown is payment enough for my hardwork.

A Good Day

The simulated screams of a fox in distress echoed across the brushy terrain and into a nearby draw, bouncing off of rocks and traveling beyond where my eyes could see. It was early in the day and the sun was hidden behind a large patchwork of clouds; the cooler temperatures reminded me that fall was here. Not everyone's mind was on the cooler temps, however - some could think of nothing other than the screams of a fox. I was reminded of this as I watched a gray fox come bounding into stand, heading straight for me. He past my hunting partner's location first, but he was quickly beyond Daniel's line of sight as he crossed into my shooting lane. Hidden in an outcropping of rock, I raised my rifle, found the little fox in my crosshairs and squeezed off a shot. Drat! I missed! The fox was on the move towards the wash, and if he reached the safety of that brush I wouldn't get another chance. I found him in my crosshairs once again, and steady, steady now I placed the reticle at the front of his chest and swung the rifle at his speed as I squeezed off another shot. The fox cartwheeled a few times and came to rest in the sandy bottom of the wash. Another day of predator hunting was underway, and off to a great start.

I met Daniel online through AR15.com, a shooting forum that we both frequent. He was serving our country overseas at the time and was very interested in giving predator hunting a try once he returned home for leave. I told him I'd take him out since he lived here in beautiful Arizona, and we setup a date and were both excited to get out there and whack some predators! It can be a little nerve-racking sometimes when you are taking someone out predator hunting, especially for their first time, because the predators don't always get the memo that they need to come running in to the call through an open shooting lane, and sometimes they just decide to not show up at all. Luckily that was not going to be the case today.

After that first fox we had the chance to get on two more stands that produced gray fox. The first was in a dry riverbed surrounded by rocky outcroppings, and that fox popped up right in front of Daniel. He quickly discovered that a 4x ACOG is tough in close quarters on small foxes, and the fox bolted back into the brush. Daniel was excited to see gray fox up close in the wild, and was determined to get one down with his rifle. He would get another chance about an hour later.

We settled onto the knob of a hill which overlooked two small valleys and one rocky hillside. I placed Daniel in a spot where he would be able to see anything that approached the stand. Just a few minutes into the stand Daniel fired a few shots, and I was hopeful that he had made contact. After a few more minutes of calling with no response, I called off the stand and headed over to Daniel. A fox had come racing down the hillside and Daniel had tried to get on him with his rifle, but that fox must have been wearing a kevlar vest and he made his escape to live another day.

We had a few more dry stands, and then the things became not so dry: rain rolled in across the mountains and poured down pretty steadily. This gave Daniel and I some time to sit and talk and enjoy the beautiful Arizona landscape. Once the rain stopped we hopped out and headed for some granite boulders, hoping for more fox, but just a few minutes into the stand we were again hit with rain. A few hundred yards from the truck, we decided to wait it out under a big oak tree, and had time again to sit and talk and enjoy the beautiful Arizona landscape.



Once the rain stopped again we headed back to the truck and decided to try a new area, as the wind had also kicked up considerably. The wind would decide to taunt us for the rest of the hunt, which we decided to call off a bit early, but not before we found ourselves at the edge of a big riverbed. I decided that the ol' FoxPro would work well in this situation, and set up with the e-caller in front of Daniel, and myself on the hill to his left. It wasn't long before a midday coyote decided to check things out. He was headed right for Daniel and out into a large opening when he suddenly decided to change course and get downwind of the e-caller. My scent was all over that caller and the surrounding area, and I knew that once the coyote smelled that he would be gone - but Daniel had no clear shot. As the coyote stopped and put his nose to the wind I drew down on him with my shotgun and put him to rest. Not exactly how I would've liked it to play out but we were able to bring this one last predator in and put him on the ground.

After one more dry stand and then Daniel's first called stand, we called it for the day. But not before we had one more visitor: a 44" western diamondback rattlesnake.



I always enjoy taking new hunters out, but it was a real pleasure hunting with Daniel. He is heading back overseas in defense of freedom soon, and I want to thank him for all that he does - God bless those that keep us free. I am looking forward to hunting with Daniel again when he returns to Arizona.



And if you're wondering about that rattler . . . . he got to come home with me and spend the rest of his days quietly hanging on my wall.

Fun Friday with the Griz-N-Gray

The morning's crisp air had a slight chill to it. Fall is almost here I thought to myself as I settled into a rocky outcropping which overlooked a small canyon. The freeway wasn't far off, but the few hills that separated that stretch of asphalt from my current position was enough to dull the sound of traffic as it raced by, seemingly unaware of the beautiful morning that I had just sat down to enjoy. The sun was up but not yet shining on me as I pressed the call against my leg and a slow but rythmic fox pup distress began to pour out from the wooden exhaust. I rose the call in volume and intensity, and the sound echoed throughout the rock walls and steep draws that made up the canyon that I was hoping to pull some gray foxes from.

It hadn't quite been 5 minutes when I caught movement from the right - two gray foxes were coming in, and coming in fast. They were leaping from rock to rock as they made their way towards me and towards what they thought was a gray fox pup in distress, and potentially a rabbit meal when they caught sight of my decoy. I dropped the call on my leg and moved my left hand to the forearm of my rifle, quickly getting a solid cheek weld on the stock and finding the farthest fox in my scope. They were 50 yards out, then 40, then 30, then BOOM! My AR barked and the first fox hit the dirt. The second fox looked confused, started to run to his companion then suddenly jumped the other way and headed back to the safety of the canyon. I grabbed the call and pumped it once against my leg. That was enough to stop the fox dead in his tracks, and as he started back towards me I found him in the scope and just like the first fox, this one hit the dirt hard. A few more minutes of calling produced no further animals, but as I walked to collect my foxes, I looked at the call in my hand and realized that the way I had been calling gray foxes into the stand was about to be changed forever.



There's a new hand call on the market, and I guarantee that it will put foxes in front of you! Kettle Creek Calls has released their Griz-N-Gray call, which is a hand call with bellows on it that you pump against your leg. I was skeptical at first, until my friend Scott Francom tried one out and called in 9 foxes on 4 stands during his first time out. After that I knew I had to get my hands on one.

I had stopped in to see Scott at his house and he had shown me a box of calls that Curtis Houser from Kettle Creek Calls had sent to him to support the Arizona Predator Callers club. That in itself is a testament to good character and the kind of company that I want to do business with. So I picked up one of the Griz-N-Gray calls from Scott and headed home. On the way I decided to do a few stands, and as you read in the story above, the very first stand was a real experience. Anytime I take a new call out into the field and it produces animals on the first stand, I am excited. But when I take a new call that has a unique design and a one-of-a-kind sound out into the field and it produces animals on the first stand, I am impressed. I have been looking for a way to create a gray fox pup distress sound with my mouth calls for a long time, and while it's possible it is not easy and certainly not perfect. But the Griz-N-Gray makes it easy and perfect, and I had to keep testing it.



I setup for another stand in a position similar to the first stand, but when I sat down I realized that my visibility was limited. I didn't call for the full 15 minutes that I usually spend on stand, mostly due to the difficult setup, but I couldn't shake the feeling that something had responded. Oh well, on to the next (and final) stand. I setup under some oak scrub brush and had a great view of lots of rocky terrain and some open brushy flats. I worked the Griz-N-Gray for about 10 minutes, and when nothing showed I switched to my mouth calls. I had just started to blow a cottontail distress when a young coyote came barging into the stand from my left, headed right for my Quiver Critter decoy. She was getting closer, and closer, and she was just about on top of me when she stopped behind a bush, but it was just a little bush, so I centered my crosshairs on her chest and pulled the trigger. Well it turns out that it was a kevlar bush, and my bullet was deflected off course. But instead of turning to run the young dog jumped forward, towards the decoy. This put her in the open, and about 15 feet from me. Should've brought the shotgun were the words that went through my head, but I couldn't miss at that distance and that young female coyote went down less than 2 feet from my decoy.

I can't say that it was only the Griz-N-Gray that brought that coyote in, but I hadn't been blowing long enough on my open-reed cottontail call to think that it did all the work. I attribute the kill to the Griz-N-Gray, and even though I was done hunting for the day I know I'll be out there again soon with my new "leg-thumping" call, putting more fur on the ground and enjoying every minute of it.

If you're interested in the Griz-N-Gray or in any of Kettle Creek Calls other amazing hand calls, visit their website at KettleCreekCalls.com. To hear what sound I was making with the Griz-N-Gray to draw in these foxes and coyote, go to the right sidebar of my blog under the "Hand Call MP3s" section. You'll also find an alternate sound you can make with the Griz-N-Gray, which is a Raccoon distress. I love versatile calls!

Can't get them all . . . . but it's always worth it.

I headed out with my son late this afternoon in hopes of catching a few coyotes before the sun went down. We pulled into some thick brush to hide the truck and then hiked up onto a ridgeline that overlooked several washes and some very thick scrub oak. As we nestled into the bush that would help to hide us, I leaned over to my son and said "We're going to call in a coyote - I can feel it." He smiled at me and then the calling began. About 10 minutes into the stand nothing had shown face, and the wind was really starting to pick up, so I switched to putting out some long and drawn out pup distress sounds. After 2-3 minutes of that yielded nothing, I was just about to call the stand off when close behind us a coyote started in with some loud and abrupt barks. I've heard this tune before - it means "you're busted." How he busted us, I don't know, but I started in with the pup distress again just to see if I could pull him in. His barking turned into short howls, which gained in frequency until suddenly they stopped. Figuring he might be on his way in, I got a solid grip on my rifle and got ready to make a quick shot . . . . but no dice. He never showed.

We walked back to the truck and headed on to the next stand. Our setup was a great view from a hillside overlooking a stand of juniper trees, but it produced nothing for us despite my best attempts at sounding like a pathetic dying rabbit, so we headed off for one more stand. The sun was now sinking below the horizon and I knew that shooting light would be fading fast. We climbed two ridgelines and setup in an open area underneath a juniper tree. I got right to work with a high-pitched cottontail, adding in some real raspy distress.

Just as I was figuring that the stand was done for, I see a pair of ears come bounding through the cactus and there he is - a nice dark-colored coyote is running right for us. He holds up at about 80 yards and I figure I better take the shot, so I line up on him quickly and shoot. He goes down in some tall grass, and I start in on some puppy distress for about a minute. Nothing else shows up, and the sunlight is now fading quickly, so we head over to collect our coyote and . . . . he's gone. No blood, no fur, nothing. I am almost positive that I connected with the shot, but there before me lies the evidence of either a poorly executed shot or a clean miss. I didn't see him get up after he went down, but clearly he did - or maybe he didn't actually go down. We looked for any sign of a hit nearby, but there was none to be found. Then my son cheerfully tells me "Well Dad, we got to hear one bark at us and we got to see one come in. That's not a bad day." I just smile, agree with him, and we head back to the truck.

As we're pulling into the driveway at our house I say to him "Thanks for going hunting with me, buddy" to which he replies "I like hunting with you, Dad." And just like that, the pain of an apparently missed shot is gone.

And since I didn't get to post a picture of a dead coyote here, I figured I'd share this picture. It's from the first stand we did today. Just before we left the stand I trotted out a few yards and took a shot of my son hidden in the brush. Can you find him?

Friday the 13th Foxes (with Ghost Fox!)

Had about an hour and a half before sundown on Friday (the 13th) so I headed out for some calling. Went out to a ranch that needs a little coyote thinning and setup on a ridge where I've dusted dogs in the past. My setup was great - sitting on the side of a hill with the sun at my back and a canyon rim in front of me. Just a few minutes into my calling this wee little gray fox comes in - probably the smallest fox I've ever called in. He's a little young and I want a coyote so I give him a pass. He runs around in front of me for a while making a big show of things and finally leaves. Nothing else ever shows so I head into the nearby canyon to see if I can draw out some dusk time coyotes.

As I'm walking in to the next stand, I look up on a rock about 80 yards away and see a fox laying there. I drop to a knee and look through the scope and sure enough, he's just laying there, but I swear he was dead. Laid out flat, head lolled over the side of the rock. How he got there, I couldn't tell right away, but I had more calling to do so I decided to investigate that later. I set up under a tree and start my calling and suddenly every cow in the area is on top of me in less than 5 minutes. All standing around me staring at me. I stop calling and lay my rifle in my lap - doesn't matter if anything does come in, I won't be able to make a safe shot. Then I hear a fox bark and look up on the hillside and about 300 yards out there is this fox barking at me. I put the scope on him and watch him bark out his nervousness about what I assume is the cows, and eventually he leaves. I'm still hoping that a coyote shows his face in a clear shooting lane when ANOTHER fox shows up about 200 yards out. He stands around barking and I've about had enough with all these curious cows and barking foxes. The cows have cleared away from being directly around me, and they're just milling around and 'mooing', so I line this very vocal fox up in my scope, make sure I'm shooting through a cow-free zone, and BAM! I dusted him. It was a rough hike to go get him straight up the side of a big hill, but he was a nice male. I was happy to have made a good clean kill at that range, which is well beyond what I normally have to shoot at.

Now the sun is down and the light is fading but I want to go check out the dead fox on the rock I saw coming in. What killed him? No one else really hunts this area, so was it a coyote? Unlikely up there in the rocks. A hawk? Natural causes? Nope - none of the above. When I shone my Surefire up on the rock . . . . he was gone! That little sucker was asleep and I thought he was dead! Must have been catching the last few rays of sunshine and didn't see or hear me, and then I woke him up and probably gave him a good scare when I started my calling. I find it so unlikely that I could walk past a sleeping predator in plain view, but that's how it went down.

It turned out to be a good evening for calling foxes in, and certainly provided me with some weirdness on Friday the 13th!

Kids + Hunting = What a Blast!

Everyone who knows me knows that I am a big advocate of getting kids into the outdoors. Hunting, fishing, hiking, camping, even just playing outside are some activities that so many kids these days are no longer experiencing. There are so many things to compete with - could be the XBox, could be the Internet, could be parental decisions, or it could be the influence of society. Whatever it is, don't let the kids in your life miss out on the excitement of the outdoors

My kids love the outdoors, and I attribute that mostly to the fact that my wife and I get them outside every chance we have. My youngest daughter cries when it's time to come inside, my oldest daughter loves to play in the mud in her favorite princess dress, and my son - well my son is a real outdoorsman in the making. This kid loves it all, whether we're hiking over a mountain, fishing at the lake, or sitting quietly on stand waiting for a predator. And that is where this story REALLY begins

Last December my son and I went out after a gray fox (A fox and my 6-year-old son) and things didn't work out as planned. Ever since then, we've encountered something we call "The Curse of the Gray Fox". Everytime he and I go out after a fox, something happens: the fox busts us and bolts, nothing shows up in areas where I normally don't strike out, or the firearm I am using has some kind of strange malfunction where the round just goes wherever it wants to (some people refer to this as a "miss"). However, last weekend we had a great rainstorm that cleared up in the evening and I just knew that the calling would be good. Plus it was time it break in the new predator hunting season! So we grabbed our gear and headed out to one of my "fox spots", bound and determined to break "The Curse".

It was muddy but the skies were clearing as we got to our first stand. My son is a real trooper - the mud was so thick and sticking to his shoes that he was at least 3 inches taller! Those shoes must have been extra heavy. We settled into position and I started a serenade of cottontail distress. Suddenly, out of the bushes busts this big ol' jackrabbit! He runs straight towards us and then stops about 6 feet out - sitting on his haunches and giving us a good lookover. Now I like when rabbits show up on stand because they can be great indicators of approaching predators, and this rabbit was no different. Not 30 seconds into the rabbit's staredown he gets a little nervous and decides to leave, just as I see a fox tail darting through the brush towards us. What happened next is still a little unclear to me, but I saw the fox stop behind a tree, get nervous, and then start to head out. He was partially obscured behind the brush as he made his escape, but I fired my shotgun once (okay twice) hoping to put some pellets through that oak scrub, but no luck. Grrrr - "The Curse" continues

My son was excited to have seen the rabbit so closely and to catch a glimpse of the fox, as well. He of course gave me a hard time about shooting (and not hitting) twice. But the sun was still high enough that I knew we'd have time for one more stand. I also knew that foxes aren't the smartest, and can often be called back even after some shooting or being busted. So we headed out, made a 100 yard circle so that we were now north of our first stand, and then tucked ourselves into some juniper trees. I told my son to sit extra still, as I was pretty sure we'd have another fox - and maybe the same one - come in quickly. Shortly after I began calling, a big falcon swooped us, which is always exciting especially when you see those big talons up close! He of course realized that we were not a 3 lb rabbit and veered off before trying to carry us away. Still recovering from the falcon's dive, my son almost missed the gray fox as he came bounding into the stand, looking excitedly around for the source of a possible meal. I can't say for sure if it was the same fox, but he sure showed up quickly! He stopped about 15 feet away and then sensed something was awry, and as male foxes will often do he did the sideways-hackles-up-tough-guy-dance, but that wasn't enough to stop the load of #4 buckshot that found its mark. Say goodbye to "The Curse"!

I turned to my son when the fox went down and from his eyes I could tell he was grinning ear-to-ear. He gave me a great high-five, and we waited a few more minutes to see if we had anymore customers. Both of us were getting anxious to take a look at the first fox we had taken together, so I called the stand off early and we retrieved the fox. I always take the time with my son to explain the circle of life and hunting ethics, and as we petted the soft fur I could tell that my son still retained the respect for animals that has been passed down through the generations of my family.

The sun was sinking low on the horizon, and we still had a bit of a walk to the truck. But as we trudged through the slippery mud, fox in hand, I couldn't think of anywhere I'd rather be. And looking at my son's wide smile, I knew he felt the same way.



If you want to get a kid in your life involved in the outdoors, here's some tips that I have:

-Take them out when they are ready, don't force it. Each kid will be different in the age they are ready and the level and type of activity that they may want to do.

-Make it enjoyable for them. Bring snacks, juice drinks, even small toys if need be. Bring a cushion or seat for them if you will be sitting for a long time. Make them comfortable and they will want to do it again.

-Chill out. Don't take your first-time hunter on a trophy elk hunt. Don't even expect to see / kill / catch anything when you take them out for the first few times. Give them an opportunity to develop their outdoor skills and to increase their level of excitement for it.

-Don't hassle them if they miss a shot or don't set a hook in time or don't want to climb a mountain. Let them learn from their mistakes, but also challenge them to overcome obstacles and then hold them to those challenges.

-Let them rest when they need to, and make time for breaks. Show them all the wonders of the outdoors, but also let them discover things for themselves. Let them wander a bit.

-Teach them to be ethical sportsmen and fair chase hunters. Be understanding if they are emotional about the first few animals or fish that they see dead. Give them the knowledge they will need to defend their position on hunting and the outdoors by explaining the need for hunting and fishing.

I know too many kids (and adults) who have had hunting, fishing, or other outdoor activities ruined for them because whoever they were with was too serious or too big of a jerk to allow them to enjoy the whole experience. Show your kids the passion you have for the outdoors through the enjoyment of what you do. They'll understand, and then you'll have many opportunities together to chase that big buck or watch that bobcat slink into stand.

And those are the memories that will last a lifetime.

Getting Fired Up

The heat of the summer is upon us in full force, but the heat of the predator hunting season is just about to start up! Now is a good time to look over your gear and make sure everything is in good working order - check the reeds on your hand calls, the batteries in your e-caller, the fit of your camo, and the zero of your rifle! In addition to going over your gear, it's also time to brush up on those skills that may have been collecting dust over the last few months.

First you'll need to practice those "rabbit eyes." Like most skills this is one that you can use for other things in your life, and that you should be utilizing everyday. But if you've gotten a little out of practice, a drive around your neighborhood at dawn or dusk, or a drive down a country road, can help you to revitalize your ability to spot movement and quickly identify the source behind it.

Next up on the list is your ability to sit still. Summer time finds us active and enjoying the outdoors, so sitting still is generally not something many of us do. But with hundreds of predator calling stands waiting for us in the coming months, it's time to remember how to go unnoticed. Take some time during the week, or everyday if possible, to sit by yourself and allow your body to relax. Now practice the movements you need to make on stand, whether manipulating a hand call, pushing buttons on an e-caller remote, or raising your rifle and getting a good cheek weld. Practice being swift and efficient, and minimizing the waste of movements.

Now it's time to work with those sounds that bring the predators running! Get back in tune with your hand calls by practicing the different sounds you plan to use (try not to drive your spouse crazy!). Check your reeds for wear or damage and replace them if necessary. If you are using an e-caller then it's time to make sure that the sounds you have loaded are the ones you will want to start the season with, and that your batteries are charged up and ready to go. You don't want to start the season and discover that your e-caller needs service by the manufacturer - find out now so that you'll be able to use your caller when you want to hunt, and not be waiting for UPS to bring it back.

If you haven't hit the range in a while, then now's the time! The sun shines longer this time of year so get out early or later in the day when the temperatures are cooler and you can schedule some trigger time around your job hours. Once you verify zero, practice shooting from different positions, and practice mounting your rifle quickly and shooting as fast as you can get on target. You should even spend some time shooting off-hand, as well as shooting from your support side. Check the patterning of your shotgun if you've changed your load or your choke, and make sure that all of your firearms are cleaned and functioning properly.

Think about the lessons that you learned from last season, how you plan to apply the new knowledge that you have, and some of the areas that you'd like to start hunting first. If this is your first season hunting predators then make sure you have gathered as much information as you can by reading books, watching good videos, talking with other hunters, and attending any local hunting club functions. But above all, get out there and get some experience!

Now is the time to plan out your season. Where would you like to hunt? Who would you like to hunt with? Do you have a specific goal in mind for this year? For example, if you haven't called in or killed a fox yet then you need to find out what sounds the fox you will be hunting respond to. Scout new terrain, set up some test stands, and map out other possible approaches or stand locations in the area. This is where keeping a small notebook handy can really help you get started when you are hunting a new area or a new species.

The most important thing is to remember to enjoy the time you have in the outdoors, whether scouting, hunting, or hiking back to the truck empty-handed. Best of luck to you this season, and please take a kid out hunting with you!


A young, late-summer coyote that came into the call back in 2007.

The most AWESOME pen that you'll ever own

I like to keep my blog as related to predator hunting as much as I possibly can. No politics, no current events, no religion. I'm going to stray from that a little today and tell you about an excellent gift that my broher-in-law sent both my father and I. It's a bullet pen made from two .308 cases, made by Junior's Bullet Pens.

But this isn't just any bullet pen - it has a fantastic and heartwarming story behind it, not to mention that it is very well-made with lots of originality. No parent should ever have to bury their son; however I believe that the greatest love a parent can give is not to spend the rest of their life mourning, but to remember and honor their son through their actions.

You can read more about SSG Falkel HERE and also read his Silvar Star citation HERE.
Spend $17 and purchase one of the most awesome pens that you'll ever own - give a few dollars to recognize the great sacrifice that this soldier made. Plus, 25% of each pen sold goes to the Special Operations Warrior Foundation, which provides scholarships to children of fallen soldiers.

What would YOU do?

Arizona, like many western states, sees a number of animal attacks every year. Most of these can be attributed to rabies, as opposed to aggressive behavior or hunger, and as the weather gets warmer the rabid animals really start to show up.

Last year in this area we had two rabid fox attacks in February, a rabid bobcat attack in March ("so this bobcat walks into a bar . . ."), and another rabid bobcat attack in April. Following in late 2009 would be a man who strangled a bobcat to death when the rabid animal jumped him while the man hooked up his boat at a local lake. Every person in every attack I just listed reacted differently; some with fear, some with determination, some with stupidity. This year is looking to be no different.

Nearly two weeks ago a man in Walker, just up the road from my town of Prescott Valley, was allegedly attacked by a mountain lion when he went outside to turn off his water after dark. You can read the story here and then read the aftermath and killing of a nearby mountain lion here. I say that he was allegedly attacked because Arizona Game and Fish Wildlife Managers were unable to determine whether or not a mountain lion had attacked him at his home. The man's injuries and the lion's behavior were also not consistant with a mountain lion attack; however I can do nothing but believe the man's story since I was not there when it happened. Aside from that and assuming that it really happened the way the man says, he made a fatal error when he encountered the lion - he turned and ran for his house. Bad move. An animal's predatory instinct will nearly always be triggered when you turn and run like a typical prey animal, and if the animal has rabies then it will make it that much worse since the animal's aggression will be much higher than normal, and the regard for its own safety will be lower than normal. Running may be an option if you are mere feet from your house or car, but if the animal is closer to you than you are to safety, then you're probably not going to make it if it decides to attack.

It is as of yet unknown if this lion was rabid, but whatever the animal's health you need to stand your ground and make yourself to appear as large as possible. Put your arms out, wave them, and get loud. If you can appear more menacing and dangerous than they are, then you will often frighten them away. This may not be the case if they are rabid, however, as they will often not retreat and may become more aggressive, attacking without warning. A rabid animal will appear confused, lethargic, and may be heavily panting or growling. Nocturnal animals, such as foxes, will become suddenly active in the daytime, and their fear of humans will be all but gone. If you find yourself squaring off with a rabid animal, then your best option is to fight. Running, as we've already determined, is not an option. If you have a firearm, then prepare to use it, but if you lack a firearm then you need to find a weapon. A knife, a rock, even a big stick will enable you to defend yourself if needed. First-aid scissors or a writing pen may be used as improvised weapons if you have them in your pack or in your pockets - even your pack itself may be used as a weapon or as a shield.

Our first official rabid animal attack for this year in Yavapai County comes from Cottonwood, a town just a half hour away from where I live. You can read the news story here about the fox who attacked a woman after attempting to attack two other people nearby and then being fended off with a clipboard by a UPS driver. There may or may not have been anything this woman could have done to avoid being bitten, as it seems the fox caught her by surprise. However, the woman's husband said that they knew the fox was active next door and that it had begun to act strangely the last few days. Had they called animal control with that observation, his wife could have avoided a nasty situation and the joy that is the rabies vaccine treatment.

My point here is that you need to maintain situational awareness when you are in the outdoors or even in your own neighborhood. Wildlife, and especially predators, can adapt easily to living amongst humans, and we need to be aware of their activity and their behavior. Bats, skunks, raccoons, and household pets are the most common carriers of rabies, a virus for which there is no cure. There are prevention measures and certainly there is a vaccine which can eliminate rabies if given within the incubation period, and you should always seek treatment immediately if you feel you've been bitten by a rabid animal. It is especially important to inform your kids about the possibility of rabid animals and what they should do if they think they encounter one.

You should never be scared to go into the outdoors, but you should always be informed about and prepared for what you may encounter.

Something old into something new

This time of year, while I'm taking a hiatus from predator hunting, I find myself fishing with my kids, hiking with my buddies, and camping with my family. But the one thing concerning predator hunting that I am ALWAYS doing is thinking about and looking for gear. Be it better ammo, different calls, or a more efficient shoulder bag, I am constantly on the lookout for something new to try out. A great place to find new gear is at yard sales, which can be found aplenty throughout any town or city in America during these warm summer months. I recently picked up a new shoulder bag for $2, a buddy of mine just picked up a brand new ghillie suit for $80, and my Dad recently scored a tremendous deal: a Mossberg 500 12ga pump shotgun for $50!

I generally try to buy only lightly used or brand new equipment when I can, but sometimes, as in the case of my Dad's new shotgun, the deal was too good to pass up but the equipment was less than beautiful. The pump action was stiff and the chamber was filthy, but a little Hoppe's No.9 and some elbow grease fixed that problem, and soon my Dad had it working smooth as glass. A little stain and a good cleaning job on the wood stock and that was fixed as well, but the finish on the metal left a lot to be desired. Since I had painted a number of my own firearms and a few others for friends, my Dad turned the shotgun over to me for a little "Rizzo Pinestraw Paint" - and the results were pretty good.

I removed all the wood and sanded off all the rust, then wiped the whole thing down with alcohol. Normally I paint the stock as well, but my Dad wanted the contrast of the wood stock. I taped up everything that shouldn't have paint on it, like the action and chamber. Then out came the cans of Krylon Camo spray paint!



I started off with a base color of Khaki, and let it try for a good 10 minutes. The warmer the weather, the less dry time you'll need. Krylon dries especially quick, at any rate.



By applying small pine boughs and spraying through them, you can achieve a "pinestraw" look. Fake grass from a hobby store or an old straw broom will also work well. I applied the OD Green color second, then the Brown color after a 15 minute dry time, followed by a few spot touch-ups with Khaki.



Put it all back together and install the stock and voila! My Dad's got a great looking and great functioning predator hunting shotgun.



A can of this paint can go for around $5, but you can do a couple of firearms with each can and still have some left over. It's cheaper than Duracoat, and certainly cheaper than having it dipped or professionally painted. If you let it harden for about 24 hours before taking it out into the field then you'll get a good life span out of the paint. And when it starts to chip or wear off from use, just touch it up from the comfort of your garage!




To see more of my paint jobs, as well as get some design ideas from other hunters, and to read a full report on some other camo processes, please visit my thread on AR15.com, titled "The Disappearing Firearm". Then get your rattle can out and get to work!

They Live Among Us!

If you're not hunting predators around urban areas, suburban housing developments, or farmland, then you're missing out on some prime hunting opportunities. As long as you are aware of local laws and regulations, and stay within them, you will find some exciting and plentiful new hunting areas where animals are rarely bothered and which are overlooked by most hunters. Every season I kill a lot of predators just outside the city limits, in the brushy washes outside of a rural community, and in the outlying fields of ranches and farmhouses. But more on that another time.

It seems that more and more predatory animals are coming in contact with humans. A lot of this contact can be attributed to rabid animals, such as the bobcat that walked into a local bar right here in Arizona (sounds like a good joke!) and attacked a man, or the bobcat that was strangled to death by a man locked in mortal combat with it near Lake Pleasant, AZ. But beyond rabies encounters, with which I have had a few, there are predators popping up more often in subdivisions and downtown areas. We all know that predator numbers need to be kept in check, otherwise you'll end up with too little prey, leading to reduced small game numbers, or starving and desperate predators which can lead to attacks on humans. As stewards of the land we need to ensure that all animals have a healthy environment in which to thrive. We are also humans with a will to expand, and as we expand into new territory we find ourselves displacing animals. While prey species may run and find new homes, predators act more like the U.S. Marines - they adapt, they improvise, and they overcome.

Most times when I see a coyote dash across the road in my neighborhood I can think of nothing else than the thrill of tracking it through the streets and narrow roadways until I finally get it in my sights. One night I chased a bobcat through the checkerboard layout of a local subdivision, moving as fast as I could in the moonlight as the cat zigged and zagged with ease around cookie-cutter houses. It finally leaped a 4 foot wall, landing in someone's backyard and thereby ending the game. On another occasion I was visiting family in Colorado. My brother-in-law and I were playing with our kids in a city park when a large red fox trotted by us in the grass, nice as could be but certainly bound for some other destination; apparently these kind of sightings are normal around the area. While these types of wildlife interactions are harmless and fun to see, especially for kids, they can lead to problems if not kept in check with proper animal management.

What leads to these animal and human contacts within what we consider our established territory? First of all, predators don't see property lines or city boundaries - they see opportunity and survival. Easy prey species living in peace within the confines a neighborhood, be it quail, squirrels, or house cats, are a tempting target and certainly worth the risk. Garbage left out, food scraps not disposed of properly, and a generally neutral stance towards predators within our neighborhoods are some of the other reasons that a predator will move in. A few years ago here in Arizona, coyotes became so emboldened by the lack of response to their aggression that they finally set up shop near the ninth hole of a major golf resort. The coyotes began chasing golfers off and prancing around like they owned the place, yet local residents balked at the idea of a "removal service" for the coyotes, preferring for "nature to take it's course". When the coyotes nearly bit a golfer, finally the resort relented and hired a removal technician, who took care of the problem using air guns and live traps. A more extreme example is a red fox who was allowed to cruise a neighborhood, taking small pets and chickens at will, because the homeowners didn't want to harm the fox; that problem was never resolved and continues to this day. "He's just doing what he needs to do to survive" is a phrase often stated by those who don't approve of a predator's actions but don't want him removed. Sometimes it can be done with live traps but let's face it, that just temporarily solves the problem or moves it into someone else's backyard. There are ways to effectively control predator numbers in urban environments, including creating an environment that is not hospitable to predators by keeping pets at hand, garbage contained, and not feeding wildlife. In my opinion one of the best ways to keep them in check, and a method which I have used to great success, is to hunt them where we can, as close as we can, and as often as we can.

We hunt them in the name of conservation, fur harvesting, and just good fun, but still they manage to escape us. And what's more, they thrive where other animals would run! This should teach us something about the capability of these animals, and gives us the opportunity to learn more about them. Observing them in the wild, far from houses and concrete, is a great way to learn their behavior, but do not pass up the chance to watch a coyote mousing in a field in the middle of town, or to watch an educated fox watch cars as they pass before crossing the road, or to see a bobcat stalk the bushes at the edge of a waterway downtown as he looks for lost pets and stray ducks. Every time you see a predator you should be watching and learning, observing everything about how they move, act and react so that you can apply that knowledge to your hunting setup. They never stop learning, so why should you?

I have a genuine interest in predators - of course I love to hunt them but I also love to study them. Discovering what makes them tick, how much they can endure and best of all where they can endure it never ceases to amaze and amuse me. Here are just a few examples of what my favorite quarry is capable of - I find it hard to believe that most of us could adapt and survive so easily and readily in their environment!

First up: A badger goes postal - on video!



This wiley coyote caught the train in Portland after it was chased off the airport tarmac before being able to board a flight.


When it gets hot in Chicago the best place to be is the drink cooler at the local Quiznos sandwich shop.


Having your kittens in a cave is for suckers - find a nice warm attic instead.


And if that attic happens to be on 'Wildcat Dr', all the better!


Running around in the brush chasing mice is hard work, but catching them underneath porches in a suburban backyard is much easier.


This mountain lion doing a horror movie 'peek-a-boo' through the back window is just one of the many reasons you should never leave your young kids unattended.


With all the wildlife, and especially predators, that we find ourselves living around on a daily basis, we have to do a little adapting ourselves. We need to pay attention to our surroundings and watch our pets, children, and where and how we dispose of our garbage. Be like Andy Samberg and team-up with wildlife in your local area and keep it wild - don't provide them with opportunities to become accustomed to living with humans. (WARNING: attempting to high-five a bobcat is not recommended, though it would be pretty cool.)

Oh what do I do in the summer time?

As most of you know I do not pursue coyotes during the summer time even though Arizona has a year-round coyote season. Other predators are now out of season, but coyotes are always available for hunting here. There are many ideas from many different hunters on this topic, and whatever you do I'm sure you have a good reason for it. I will hunt coyotes at a rancher's request or during antelope fawning periods during the spring and summer, but other than that I leave them alone until August. This allows the pups plenty of time to grow and gives me more targets for next season - not to mention that it's gettting hot out there right now!

With all that said, I often find myself in a discussion with other hunters about what I do during the summer time to prepare for the next predator season. Well where do I begin?! There's equipment to maintain, rifles to clean, calls to practice with, new terrain to scout, staying in contact with my hunting buddies, and my personal favorite, shooting! Staying well-practiced with your chosen firearms is a necessity for making quick and well-placed shots next season. Whether you choose shooting paper, steel targets, or soda cans, you should be spending a good portion of your range time focused on quick and accurate shooting. I prefer a mixture of all of them, so I utilize life-sized animal targets, steel swingers, and paper targets when I go shooting.



However, it's my opinion that nothing can beat the fast paced shooting that you can get while hunting rabbits! You'll need to check your local hunting regulations to make sure that you are within the correct season, but here in Arizona we have a year-round season on rabbits. If you can place a precision shot on a small game animal at long ranges or while they are on the run, then you will find that making clean kills on predators when the season rolls around will be a snap. Focus on making one-shot kills and shooting from different positions. Practice moving quietly through the brush and spotting them hiding in the brushlines (just like a predator will do). Try out any new gear that you'll want to use next season, such as ghillie suits, packs, or rifle slings. This type of hunting is a perfect way to field test your gear, practice your shooting, and have a good time doing it.



So don't just sit around in the A/C all summer - get out there and get ready for anything! And with warmer temps and beautiful days, don't forget to take a kid out into the field with you!

Boy Scouts and Scout Camp

I am the Scoutmaster for Boy Scout Troop 95, and this year we will be attending a special Scout Camp at the Grand Canyon - we are really excited about it! The Scouts are doing a fundraiser for this weeklong event by selling shirts. These shirts are really awesome! Please check them out at our Online Ordering Site. When you order your shirts please put "Rizzo" in the "Special Instructions to Merchant" field when you are about to checkout. And please visit our Troop Blog to see what we're all about and what we've been up to.

We are a very active Troop with a huge focus on the outdoors, so please help us get to Scout Camp! Here are some of the cool things we've been up to lately: