Whoda thunk it?

I made a trip to Boise this morning and had just crossed the state line into Idaho when I saw a white Rabbit lying in the road? I of course whipped a U turn and went back to make sure that my eyes were not deceiving me. It wasn't busted up, so I grabbed it up and tossed it in the back of the car. At first I thought it was a Snow Shoe Rabbit, but it looked too much like a Jack Rabbit. I called a friend to verify what I was seeing and he confirmed that White Tailed Rabbits do inhabit the area. It is all burned over grassland with little to no cover. The White Tails do turn white in the winter. It is the first one that I have ever seen. I guess this one got despondent over the lack of snow cover and committed suicide on the Hwy. I can imagine his life was a pure hell with all the raptors and Coyotes chasing him because he had no chance of hiding looking like a "Eat me beacon" shining in the sun.

 He did not die in vain however, Hope will appreciate the change in diet.

Coyotes and Sunrises

Things have been a bit slow. The winter this year is the best ( for me) that I have witnessed since moving here in 2006. It is the pits for the ranchers who need water and growing grass however. I suppose the old saying "Its an ill wind that blows no one ( or "Nobody", can't remember) any good". There has not been a single morning that got colder than 7 degrees. Normal would be a couple of weeks of -20. It hasn't really rained or snowed either. Perhaps an inch at a time is the most that we have gotten. The good news is that I am reading - a lot!

About 2 weeks ago the rancher whose land surrounds me pulled a dead Cow back up in the Sage across the creek from me. It is common for ranchers to drag their dead Cows back out of the way. It keeps the Coyotes away from the rest of the herd, and calving season will soon be upon us, so they wouldn't want all those Coyotes that will congregate to dine on the Cow, getting used to eating in the middle of a bunch of new born calves.

I had been gone when they did it, and was surprised when Josie, my Britt began her warning "burfs" at invading Coyotes. She doesn't bark, merely the quiet little burfs. I am surprised at how well she can see a Coyote moving through the Sage at 4 and 500 yards. It sometimes takes me a long time and a good pair of bino's to figure out where it is. She is never wrong however.

 The Cow was pulled in a little draw about 450 yards away. It was out of sight of the road there, but since I was up on a rise, I could see it. I made the mistake of trying to hit some of the Coyotes that were feeding on it, and although the gun is sighted in at 300 yards, I couldn't figure the drop of the bullet, so I educated three Coyotes before I quit trying to shoot them. The problem kept bugging me, so I took the Quad over there to try to drag the body into range. A bit foolish since the cow weighed three time what the quad did. So I waited until they had eaten the top half of the cow, then Connie and I went over and drug it to the 300 yard range.

My version of a "Cow-ote". I sat in a snow storm for about 15 minutes before I got a shot.

Check out the teeth on this one. He is obviously ancient!

With the movement of the Cow and the misses that I had already done the Coyotes were a little slow to come back to feed. The Eagles, Magpies and Ravens had a field day however. Eventually they began to come back, Early in the morning and in the dark of night. The first Coyote that I shot was unfortunately in the Guts, making a mess of the hide. He died on the spot since the bullet is traveling at 4000 fps at the muzzle, and the bullet is a 40 grain frangible, that blows up on impact. I left him lying there. I noticed a Golden Eagle feeding on him later in the day. The next morning he was gone completely. Someone had taken him completely away. I never did find any parts to suggest where they had taken him.

At first I didn't really take it serious, merely trying to eliminate some of the Coyote population. I have had little luck in selling my hides, so losing interest, I began to take the Coyotes that I shot to a friend and neighbor 25 miles away for him to skin them. After the second Coyote that I shot, I began to feel guilty about it, since he is swallowed up in work, while I live the life of leisure that I so richly deserve. I was interested in having the Coyotes for Hawk food for Hope. She doesn't seem to mind the meat at all, and it is nice rich food. I can also get enough from each Coyote to feed her for at least 25 meals. The cost for feeding Jessie is at least $1.75 each meal. Quite motivating actually, and worth a little effort on my part.

The table etiquette for Coyotes is quite simple. The biggest eats first, so the first few were pretty darned big. So far all I have killed are males. This is the breeding season for Coyotes, and it has been quite noisy at night, with the females calling, and every body getting together for a group sing along. Its starting to get a little more subdued, since I have killed 6 males so far. Some where there is a young male Coyote that had been on the bottom of the breeding ladder that is thanking me. If he can just resist the lure of beef steaks, that is.

The last two Coyotes that have fallen to my rifle showed signs of fighting, with lots of skinned areas on their legs. In spite of my "culling" efforts the carcass is getting pretty skimpy. I apparently still have Coyotes as there were two of them at the carcass this morning before daylight. I have a chair and some rifle shooting bags on the top of my hot tub. I sat there for about 15 minutes this morning before it got light enough to shoot the one that I got this morning. I am thinking that I will run out of lure, before I do of Coyotes, but it has gotten a lot quieter at night.