2 replies to this topic

[Haywood]

Hey guys, I'm not going to be able to take the day off for the opener (probably could as it's a family owned business, but we're feeling a bit of a crunch right now) so it looks like I'll be settling for an evening hunt for the opener. If anybody in Bakersfield wouldn't mind a tag along for tomorrow evening I'd appreciate an invite. I don't get out of the shop till around 6-6:30 and the place I usually go to is about an hour out. So I'm just looking for somewhere a little closer to town so I can say I have never missed an opener and be telling the truth lol.

[Haywood]

Update: My parents did me a solid by taking over my duties as a Dad and agreed they'd get my kid to school today, so I headed out at 0100 hrs this morning to a spot that has been decent for dove. I figured I'd get out there and take a nap till sunrise, but when I got to the place and turned the Jeep off I could hear yotes in the distance yapping it up. I did what any good predator hunter would do and started throwing calls back at them. For those of you that have a fox pro product you've more than likely heard the male coyote scream, well after the very first vocalization I had answers and they weren't happy barks lol. I was completely surrounded by some very pissed off yotes and I had a blast gettin them all riled up. I did this for about 20 minutes or so and decided I really need to get some sleep. I had just dozed off when a coyote started going apes**t (I dunno if my snoring did it or if he was just pissed that I was there but he wasn't a happy camper) so I let him go on his rant and just sat there as quiet as possible hoping that I'd be able to get a shot at him at sunrise. Just as the sun started coming up I got out my swivel bucket, vest and the 870, loaded her up and started scanning for dove and I hear a yote barking at me again. It sounds like he is only 50 yards or so away so I unload the 870 and put it back in the Jeep and pull out my AR load it up and start heading toward where the sound came from. The area I was in was pretty dense scrub brush but it opened up about 30 yards from where I was at so I figured that if I went slow and quiet enough I may be able to get a shot at him if he is in the where the brush thinned out. I make my way to the last available bush and the yote is still barking but had put a little bit of distance between us. I ended up "stalking" him for about a half mile, the damned thing never appeared long enough to get a good shot so I left him be and headed back to my bucket. I saw a lot of birds this morning, unfortunately only 6 of them were dove, and of those 6 only 2 were close enough for a shot. I know where I am going for quail season though lol. Had about 15 quail pass no more than 10 yards in front of me, it was as if they knew it wasn't their season and couldn't have given 2 poops if I was there or not. So although my opener for this morning was a bust for dove, it was a good scouting trip for yotes and quail, and will be hitting that spot as time allows.

[HOG]

always good to be scouting for the next hunt.