HDC 2010 for Team Connor
"Help find a cure for childhood cancer."
2 Day 1-Person Colorado Predator Hunt 2009
"Hunting the Hunter"
Where Northern Colorado
Hosts Avery® Pro-Staffer Chris Jones
When Two Days late January or Feburary
Species Coyote, Bobcat, possibly Red Fox.
Equipment used: Avery Greenhead Gear equipment, FoxPro electronic callers, Dan Thompson Hand calls
Notes: Colorado is always been known as a farming and ranching state, with a plethera of wildlife spiecies. In recent years we have seen predator populations explode! Along with causing problems within the ranching community. We are now starting to see alot more animal vs. human confrontations. We have no shortage of coyotes and red fox on the plains and bobcats in the mountains. With very little true hunting pressure, this can provide some very exciting action.
The hunt will consist of two days hunting on both private ranches and public lands, with the use of electronic calls and remote control decoys. The success is nearly 50% of the stands. Most will produce at least an opportunity but you have to be ready. Because, once, you start the caller. You become the hunted. We have had coyotes at 5 FEET! The hunt will also be video taped and edited for you to take home.
Some video from last winter...
Click~> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HaOzXt_HY5I
Getting to know your host.
You were really the first person ever to
donate a hunt to the HDC benefit three years ago. Your Mother had a fight with
breast cancer. I know this means a lot to you. Can you tell us a little about
her?
I think anyone who has lost a mother will tell you this. She was
simply the strongest woman I have ever known. She raised my older brother
and I on her own, working as many jobs as it took to get the job done. Weather
it be hauling Tim to sports or taking me out and dropping me off at the lake all
day. She was always there for us boys.
To put it all in a nutshell she was a "NO BS" type of person. She
wasn't afraid to scold us for doing wrong, but, she was the first on there to
pick us up and dust us off when we fell. I have many memories of the bumps and
bruises of life and can recall every word she said during them. I think after
all those years.I can honestly say, "She was my friend".
We remained very close, even after, I was grown and gone. I will
never forget the days leading up to her death. Because I was the Baby. She
always wanted to protect me, by assuring me she was fine. When in reality, she
knew her days were numbered. My brother would call me with updates. As she
always seemed to dust them off when speaking to me about her
condition.
My brother Tim, called one Friday afternoon and said "You should
probably come". I jumped on the next flight to Iowa and spent the week there
with her. She wasn't the person I knew or grew up with. The fear and the anxiety
had overwhelmed to the extent of, making her ramble on and talk about "her make"
believe friends. She wasn't that strong person, she once was. But, more a bed
ridden, frail image, of someone I used to know.
Tim called me a week to the day later of my arrival back home.
He said come quick she's failing fast. I drove 800 miles at 95 mph to see her
one last time. I got to within 80 miles when I heard something under the hood
going wrong. I was putting in a waterpump in a AutoZone parking lot on a
Saturday afternoon, When I got the call that she was gone. I remember putting my
head on the fender of my truck and crying like I have never cried. The gentlemen
working inside came out to ask me, if I was okay? I told them I had just lost my
Mom to cancer. They pushed me aside and finished the job for me. I limped it the
rest of the way to see her one last time.
As much as it was sorrow, it was also relief. All of her misery,
anxiety, not sleeping for weeks on end, medications, people in and out saying
"goodbye". It was all over for her. So you miss the person in your life now. But
the humanitarian side tells you they'll be okay, they are peaceful now. They are
healed.
I still miss her and there is not a day that goes by I am not
thinking of her. I am sure she still checks in on me from time to time. She was
always one who wanted to see her job was finished. I am sure we will see each
other again someday. I bet she's still as full of it at she ever was and I hope
she knows she did a good job.
Over the last few years you have gravitaded from waterfowl hunting to more big game and predator hunting. Why has predator hunting captured you like it has?
I think hunting, as with life...things change. The bottom line is I
just love to hunt! With the diversity of species today to pursue, It is hard to
focus on one species impaticular. There were so many hunting seasons hunting,
Antelope, Elk, Trophy whitetail Bucks, Bears, Coyote, etc. going on that
something had to give. Unfortunately, waterfowl hunting had to be the one to get
cut back on. I still find the time to call a flock or two into the decoys ever
year. I still love the sounds that a goose pit has to offer. Good friends, good
calling, and back-flapping wings. Still make me feel like the first
time.
I have found that in today's society, farmers and ranchers have
fallen victim to the "lease dollars" for most species. But, with the predator
hunting, they welcome you with open arms. There is an open season on coyotes and
the populations are steadily on the rise. I have developed many friendships with
farmers/ranchers that I would not have been able to develop. If ,I were just the
"Average Joe" coming to ask permission. Predator hunting has opened alot of
doors for me. They feel that they owe you by you helping them out. Sometimes
developing friendships, go a long way towards securing places to
hunt.
What types of calibers and guns do you like to use?
While I have many predator guns. I perfer too shoot a Ruger M77 Mark II, standard stainless barrel, chambered in 22-250. The 22-250 in my eyes, is the "ideal" coyote round. Not only does it have the flat trajectory but it also carrys the knock down power to secure the deal. Normally I don't shoot coyotes much over a hundred yards. So, at those ranges there is alot of available calibers that will do the job. But, having the versitility is what the 22-250 brings.
When you set up on a location do you use a mouth or electronic calls?
I perfer to hand call, but, each situation is diffrent. If there is a sound I can't make on a hand call then I will use an E-caller. If I have called in the past in an area and I think they are getting wise to the game. I will change it up on them. For the sake of challenge and making the playing field a little more level, then hand call. If you are out for numbers then E-Calling is by far the most productive.
Can you call in more than one coyote on a stand?
For the most part 1 or 2 at a time I would say is the "norm". We have called in up to 7 coyotes at once, on a stand. They vary from sneeking in too often coming in on a dead run. I have personally been run over on a couple of occassions. I have had them come in from behind me and bark at me from near feet away. If they can't smell you then the cards are in your favor. if they catch a whiff of you, they are gone. GAME OVER!
What is the ultimate conditions (weather, terrain, season) you look for when scouting for coyotes?
Coyote season is open year around so you have to change with the time of the year and the weather conditions. Thats what sets a successful predator hunter apart from the rest. The ability to change with conditions is key.
Optimal coyote hunting weather is several days brutal cold, with
new over night snowfall. This will put the coyote's on their feet and looking
for a meal. Without the snow, they are able to scratch out a mouse or rabbit
from its den. But with the new snow, comes locked down conditions. The prey
animals are more apt to sit tight and wait out the storm. This is when the
predator is the most vulnerable and makes for a better chance of a successful
predator hunt.
For more information contact Chris Jones
