The Big Drive

The company I work for is a little different from most. While many companies close down for Columbus Day, Presidents Day and Martin Luther King Day, ours doesn't. We do get Good Friday off though. Anyway, the plan was to go for a decent bike ride and maybe do a little coyote hunting. Since I don't have a Pugsley, the snow canceled my ride plans. That left coyote hunting with Jerry Engen as the activity of choice. We didn't want to go out while the snow was falling because the guns get too wet. I arrived at Jerry's house in the field and forest country of the east metro at 6pm. Jerry's grandson Zack joined us for the hunt. The first stop was a large tract of woods, fields and swamps. We made a drive through the woods and swamps trying to get the coyotes to move. It was tough going as the snow was pretty deep in places and the woods were thick. No coyotes after working the area for 45 minutes but I did flush a beautiful rooster pheasant... We had enough of that place... Next up, a large section of woods and fields further east. Another tough drive covering lots of ground. We started out in daylight and finished after dark. More tough snow made the drive a lot of work. I thought I spotted coyote tracks but they were deer. As I walked along the edge of a field next to a wood-line, I flushed a cottontail rabbit. I don't shoot rabbits but it would really be bad to shoot one Easter Weekend... After that drive we decided on one more. It didn't work out too well as we got separated due to circumstances... Zack and I walked back to the truck. I fired the shotgun to let Jerry know where we were. He arrived back at the truck and we took off. I think I'm 0 for 4 on the coyote expeditions... What a workout walking through swamps, deep snow and thick woods though...