In this episode Jon Collins and John Bair discuss hunting etiquette for coyote hunters.
welcome to the FoxPro podcast brought to you by Fox Pro game calls coyote stand and coyote hunting etiquette how's it going everyone welcome back to the FoxPro podcast i'm John Collins and today we have longtime Fox Pro staffer Mr john Bear joining us john it's good to have you back on buddy good to be with you brother always look forward to it yep you're uh you're up in Utah and you said y'all still having some of that typical back and forth spring weather in Utah snow pretty weather snow cold weather hot weather yeah it's crazy you know one day you're thinking man I better break out in the lawn mower and then uh about the time you walk outside to do some yard work it's snowing on you again and uh you know but if you don't like the weather this time of year just hang on for a few minutes because it'll change shortly so but it's you know it's a it's a great time of year things are starting to green up and everybody's starting to think about getting outside and getting in the mountains so turkey season's kicking off it's nice yep what about uh you going to be doing some uh you still got your dogs you still do season dogs yep still got the decoy dogs and uh yeah it's uh it's about time to get them going and they anytime I walk out early in the morning man they're bouncing on the gate wanting to go so it's about that time yep going to have to let them stretch their legs and stretch their legs on that X24 and all that good stuff that's right that's right yep get out and uh you know it's a great time of year to get out and do some locating and and uh see where they answer you and see where they might be den for the spring and just uh start making a plan yep well that kind of brings us to our uh topic for this episode and the topic of coyote stand and coyote hunting etiquette you know probably be a little touchy uh to discuss but um and first off don't take anything said in this episode people the wrong way we definitely don't want anything said here um I don't know to come off preachy or or anything like that but we're going to cover some things that are that are pretty cut and dry and we'll cover some points that are considered I don't know would you call them unwritten rules John i guess yeah maybe some unwritten rules and you know I I think probably anything we we talk about today about stand etiquette or hunter etiquette or any of that i think anything I can speak to in that in that realm is probably from mistakes I've made and uh things I wish I'd have done different so you know I I think we've all Yeah all had chances to learn from one side of the issue or the other yeah I'd say you know to be to be fair and completely honest we've probably all been on both sides of it you know no matter how uh proper of a person we think we are we'll probably rub somebody the wrong way maybe not even knowing it so I mean you know it uh like I said it it can be touchy uh and some of this stuff even though it you know like the cut and dry stuff and unwritten rule stuff some of this that we'll discuss is just going to be uh personal opinion as well wouldn't you agree with that oh absolutely absolutely i mean no no two guys do the do the same thing the same way you know ever but uh you know maybe we'll stir up some conversation give people something to think about and help them enjoy their their coyote hunting a little more exactly and first off I guess we've got to give the definition of etiquette and that is the customary code of polite behavior in society or among members of a particular profession or group well guess what our group is coyote hunters and uh many people might not know this but uh we're kind of viewed by by many uh as the red-headed stepchilds of the hunting world kind of the the land of misfit hunters did you ever watch the the old movie the land I can't remember what the movie was something about they ended up in the land of misfit toys the Christmas that's right that's right you know and uh it's uh yeah I mean you know I I have a lot of buddies that are diehard mu deer hunters and got buddies that are diehard houndsmen and uh you know I' I'd rather hunt coyotes than anything and anytime you're uh around a group of dieards there's definitely a a long list of unwritten rules and etiquette and the way you know people are kind of expected to go about things uh you know and you kind of learn that just from hanging out with that crowd and and hunting with guys and and just being involved so uh you know I've learned I've learned from a lot of a lot of good coyote hunters over the years and I've made a lot of really dumb mistakes and uh you know there's probably guys that could listen to this podcast and say "You can't say that because you did the exact same thing to me on this stand or this stand." And and I ain't saying that ain't the case but hopefully you know as we as we go through uh our hunting journey whatever it is that we're into and and uh make mistakes you know hopefully we're we're big enough people to uh learn from it and use it to improve and then we can pass that on to the next generation you know those that we're helping come along and trying to teach a little bit too exactly and uh you know I I said it there just a minute ago you know whether we want to admit it or not probably every single one of us has has you know crossed the line and didn't know it uh maybe hunting with somebody and made them mad you know stepped on their toes as far as etiquette goes um but you know it's one of those it's one of those things that it could be a friend it could be an acquaintance or somebody you don't even know that maybe you you cross the line on but anyway we'll talk about a few of these things you know and and that's just that you know even you know I use the term misfits you know even though we are misfits I I really do believe how a person conducts themselves and all aspects of coyote hunting or really all as aspects of any kind of hunting is probably a good indicator of his or her true character absolutely you know over the years I've shared stands with tons of coyote hunters all over the country and I've I've shared ground uh private ground with several other hunters um I've been on hunts where where someone's personality traits were you know came out in the field that resulted in absolutely awesome experiences hunting memories that I'll treasure for the rest of my life and I've also had experiences that I hope to soon forget i think we've all had a few of those but but we'll we'll go ahead and get right to the to the podcast right into the the heart of it we've got a we kind of got together and jotted down some talking points here so the first one this is one of those cut and dry deals right here uh and that is follow local hunting laws and regulations oh man that's self-explanatory right there you know and I think uh I think as coyote hunters you know I grew up out here in Utah and we're pretty mean to our predators out here and so there's you know we don't have any season on coyotes uh you can hunt them year round and the only real regulations is what time of day you can hunt them some counties have regulations on night hunting yep and uh you know if you can do it and what you can hunt with or if you can even shoot at night right so you know when you talk about local regulations you know make sure that you do a little digging and uh cuz there's nothing that'll you know throw dirt on your reputation like getting some some tickets and uh you know getting pulled over by the sheriff for hunting when you're not supposed to be or for trespassing or breaking any kind of law and sometimes you may not even know you're doing it you're just you know maybe a little lazy when it come to doing your homework yeah yeah you know a lot of states have the same hunting rigs when it comes to coyotes but there's a ton of them it is way different especially if you're talking about going from east to west um you know like you know a lot of those states not I shouldn't say a lot of states but there's some of those states out west there's no hunting license required you just go start making coyote stands but if you come here back to the east every single state probably has you have to at least have a hunting license uh to pursue coyotes and really it's just on you you gota you've got to know the rigs and you you need to follow them and just like you mentioned stuff about the night hunting rigs you know a lot of these places back east like in Kentucky I know some of the Midwestern states like uh um Kansas uh just to name a couple states that have night seasons are just part of the year missouri is one of them like KY's pretty much somewhere around six months of the year now and even though you might think it's a dumb law that's on the books and maybe it it could be a dumb law um you know if night season closes if you want to coyote hunt you need to start day hunting i hear stories or have heard of stories of guys that just continue to go and they'll be hunting with some very expensive rigs you know custom rifles with high dollar thermals on top of them and I tell you what you go out there and get pinched and you lose 10 or $15,000 worth of hunting equipment just over a dag on coyote i mean think about it take a step back and think about what you're doing i mean you're taking the risk of getting in trouble and like you said earlier tarnishing your reputation and losing a lot of money just over want to shoot a coyote in the dark oh yeah i mean that's you know cuz first you got the ticket you got to deal with you got to deal with the law and then you're the guy that got busted you know cheating the law so and that's Yeah it ain't worth it no coyote is worth that no no so that one's pretty simple and and the whole point of it is know your local hunting laws and regulations follow them if you're going to be a traveling coyote hunter no matter what state you go to make sure you know exactly what's going on before you get in there get in there don't rely on somebody else to tell you get in the rag books and read it for yourself that way there's no mish you know mis uh interpretation you know the know the regs and just follow them absolutely next one I got on here John is and this is a good one this is another it should be cut and dry if it's not and that is uh respect the land and respect the land owners that you hunt on you know I uh I grew up my dad was a worked on a sheep ranch and back then when I was a kid you know not very much of the land was posted most you could almost go anywhere you wanted and I never really worried whether it was forest or BLM or private land and things have changed things have changed a lot and uh you know it seems like now most private ground is is posted sometimes some states they don't even have to post it you're it's up to you to know if you're on private or public or or what the situation is there right and you know if if a guy will just do a little homework find out who the land owner is and uh do a little asking it's it's amazing the kind of property you can come up with to hunt right and one mistake I think a lot of guys make though when they get dealing with private land owners is they think that because they have permission once they have permission forever and you know I got some guys that I hunt on their place some sheep ranchers out here that have some great uh great property up high in the mountains and they have some great winter property in the desert and and uh if I ask them they're always good to to let me hunt it but I ask them every year i'll got them in my phone and I'll you know I'll send them a text i'll think well it's starting to get you know good dogging season and that high country is starting to snow's melting off and I probably ought to get up there and I'll you know I'll text him and uh say "Hey is it all right if I go shoot your coyotes again?" And uh he's always great you know absolutely but he always says "Thanks for asking." Yeah you never know when things will change yeah you know and and I think more than anything it's a respect issue you know just you're showing them that you respect that it's their property it's not yours that it's a privilege to be able to go hunt there and uh that you uh that you appreciate the you know the permission and uh I think if guys start acting like and I've hunted with a couple guys like this a long time ago uh you know we'd pull up and I'd say said "You know this land owner Oh yeah i talked to him a couple years ago we're good." Well I don't know if a couple years ago is permission right you know I I I don't know if that's permission maybe we ought maybe we ought to give him a call oh no it's good it's good well then then the rancher pulls up and says "Hey you know this is private." And you say "Oh yeah well I talked to Tom." You know well Tom hasn't owned it for two years oh man so it's like "All right." you know and then all of a sudden you're in a pinch so you know make sure you when you get permission and and uh make sure you get permission every year and that you and that you keep in touch that's that's a lesson that that I've learned and they appreciate it and you know it shows respect and another thing about dealing with with private land and growing up as a kid on a farm my dad even you know the way you climb the fence or where you park or where you park your truck or how you leave the gates that kind of stuff shows respect and that can get you kicked off a piece of property quicker than anything if you if you start disrespecting you know where you leave your truck or where you where you park or how you climb the fence my dad used to get on me when I was a kid about climbing the wrong end of the gate he'd always tell me "You climb the hinge end of the gate if you climb the loose end of the gate it makes the gate sag and drags on the ground puts a big metal gate you know." And he'd say "And then I got to go fix it." And he says "Ain't ain't no landowner ever going to let you come back in if you screw his gate up." Well I've sat there i was sitting there with the biggest smile on my face that's something my dad has always said was we kind of talked about you know there just a few minutes ago that you know the I can't I can't get over it's true though you know little things like that show respect and if these guys are getting hit up all the time for people to hunt their property yeah and if you're the guy that shows respect that he doesn't have to worry about that doesn't you know climb over the middle of the push his barb wire down and hop over the middle of it and leave the fence sagging you know they they care about those things you dang right it's what my dad has has said this numerous numerous times that you can tell a lot about a person on how they cross a fence
well you know you grow up you grow up on a farm or on a ranch and oh man you you learn those lessons in a hurry especially you know when you're the you're the dumb kid and you know your dad's the ranch hand to the farmer oh man yep so I think a lot of those things are really important yeah i mean just come it comes right down to um you know you you mentioned the story about uh you know went to the place and the guy said he had permission a couple years ago then you run into somebody and they said "Well you know whoever that was they don't they hadn't owned the place in two years." So yeah whatever happened um you know stuff other stuff like that happens too and I've run into uh this a few times over the years you might check in with somebody and they be you know man I don't care a bit for you to come hunt these coyotes i you know you'd be welcome anytime but my son or they could be their grandson or a nephew or something has really got into coyote calling and I appreciate you asking but they're having such a good time i just assume you stay off and let them have it yep hey that's that's that's you had a good conversation there and everything's good you can go on about your life but you might have just went in there and assumed that you had permission and run into the son or the grandson or the nephew or niece or whoever uh and then you have a confrontation it don't end very well you know and then people get mad well and then you're the dirty son of a gun that was trespassing and that didn't get permission and then they're telling their neighbors that you might have got permission on and now you don't lost yeah now that whole valley knows that maybe you're not the guy to be dealing with you know I had a a situation here last year i was driving down the road and I thought man that that draw right there looks kind of coyote i'm going to stop and it was in the middle of the day it was hot probably close to 1:00 i stopped stuck the X24 out on the cab of the truck and hit the siren and it didn't play for 10 minutes and that whole valley just lit up and I'm thinking "Oh baby that's it right there." Well I get on my OnX maps and I'm telling you if you're hunting coyotes without an OnX map on your phone you're missing out because it'll tell you you know everything it'll keep you out of a lot of trouble and it'll help you gain a lot of ground well I get it out and I look and I thought "Holy cow I know this guy i know this guy." So I call a buddy she says "Hey you got so and so's number in your phone and I know you're you know coaching football with him or something he says "Yeah of course." He says "I'm sure he'll let you on there but let's check." So uh shoot the guy a text "Hey you got coyotes on your place you mind if I hop the gate and go in there and shoot them?" And he uh he text me right back and says "Yeah no sorry." That's all he told me i thought "What how can you?" Well I just happened to run into his neighbor and he says "Well they're kind of going through some you know some family stuff and there's a little stress with the property and who's doing what on there." And so it it probably and I thought well you know it's not that the guy didn't like me it's not that uh he was you know anti- coyote hunter but they were dealing with some stuff on the property where he just couldn't be letting people on there yeah and uh you know if I would have just assumed because I knew him that I could hunt there and then you know the family shows up well so and so let me on well I just caused him a lot of problems and probably kept kept myself from ever getting on there ever again so uh you know you got to you don't know what people's situation is if they tell you no that's not a referendum on your character or that they don't like you necessarily don't be afraid to you know all right I'll check back with you next year if something changes you know exactly they might get in touch with you on down the road and say you know hey come up here and see if you can kill these coyotes if you're still a coyote hunter it's just like the situations where somebody in the family starts hunting and they would rather see them go out there and do it than you well if they get out of the sport for some reason or or move off or whatever it's pretty good chance you going to get back on there in the future so uh just just to make a long story short when it comes to to that topic is just take care of your land owners respect your land owners without land owners you don't you don't have no ground to hunt so you got to respect them and take care of them you know and sometimes too they'll say you know my kids are want to go out there and hunt i've had a couple guys say "Well you can hunt my ground if you'll take my grandson or take my nephew with you and kind of show him the ropes." Yeah and you know that's that's turned into several times some really fun hunts with some kids that were really excited about you know going coyote hunting and learning and and uh you know that that worked out great so yep and and I love hearing about stuff like that too cuz you're just helping the helping the sport keep going you're you're being a great resource for the community and you're passing a tradition on so anytime you got a chance to do that that's that's good stuff in my book believe you 100% buddy hey since we're since we're on we we mentioned respect there a few times i think that takes us right into our next one and uh that that is show respect to other hunters and have appreciation for their accomplishments you know a lot of times you see some bad you can see some dirty looking stuff on Facebook and Instagram places like that you know with this type of stuff you see uh you see resentment come out every once in a while and it's never a good look uh someone might be get mad because they see someone kills more coyotes than they do and it's can end up in some kind of jealousy type thing but I I think that I think that shows a lot about a person you know show show respect to other hunters and definitely definitely appreciate their accomplishments you know don't get on there and say something out of the way and negative for no reason at all just besides for for being negative either don't say nothing or tell them congratulations and keep it up you know I this is a this is one I wish more people would get on board with with what you just said you know it's easy to see guys that have gone to a bunch of contests or something they're having a good year on the contest circuit out here and you know they're just piling them up winning buckles and just having a good time and guys are just you know get on there and well he's hunting this ground or he's this or he's that and well dang it the guy put enough work in to go to all the contests to do his scouting and do I wish I'd went out and won you know three or four buckles like he did this last fall yeah but I didn't go to the contest i didn't I didn't go scout the ground around the contest so that's on me that's not on him he did his work he earned it so be happy for him there's nothing wrong with that doesn't mean you know does doesn't mean I'm a bad coyote hunter cuz I didn't win the buckle doesn't mean that you know me and my buddies are lesser people or whatever because that guy won the won the contest be happy for him he earned it yeah you know you see you see and hear it a lot in the in the contest world you know somebody wins or maybe they win several competitions that year a calling contest and always somebody's got to pipe up about them you know they had they had to have cheated they've been cheating had to or if I had all that ground they've got I'd have beat them by 10 coyotes and all don't say just tell them congratulations man heck you know yeah you know and and if we uh I had a partner once who's good good guy still a good friend of mine and uh we went and did a big contest man we had a we had a good day we had a really good day and right at the end of the day I uh I screwed up on a stand and I kind of set the wrong place we couldn't quite decide how to set that stand i set up the wrong place spooked the dang coyote came in got away well that one coyote had I killed him cost us probably six places in the contest and probably a couple thousand dollars and you know and then I pull up to check in and the two guys in front of me and the two guys behind us all had the same number of coyotes as we did and oh I was so mad because I kept thinking we should have done so much better if I'd have got that guy and it's pretty easy to get get bitter and get upset and you know start looking at the other guy well he probably got lucky this or lucky that right you know it's it's sad because it takes takes a lot of the fun out of it my buddy he kind of looked at says "Buddy we had a good day we had a really good day look how freaking much fun we had we're going to be talking about this for 20 years you know the could a would a shoulds whatever you know look at all the great guys we're hanging out with tonight at the awards banquet and you know we're He says "We're going to be we're going to be remembering this for 20 years." And man that's that's really what it's all about you know don't let the I totally agree don't let the you know the the jealousy or the negativity uh rob you of the fun that you can have whether it's at a contest whether you're just out hunting and you know there's guys down the road that are killing more coyotes than you that's all right doesn't mean you're a bad coyote hunter you know and be happy for people man if in today's world if we could learn to be happy and I'm not just talking in the coyote world either i mean it you know beard elk big horn sheep you know sports whatever it is be happy for people be able to look at people and think man that guy really accomplished something good for him doesn't mean you're less of a person doesn't mean you're less of an athlete or a hunter or anything else you know it just maybe they had a a better day than you good for them yep you know and totally agree if we can learn to be happy in other people's success and a lot of these guys you know that I'm hunting against whether it's in a contest or that I'm just keeping track of on social media and that these are good guys that I know that I see you know throughout the year and good for them if they've went out and figured out how to hunt a piece of ground and just kill a big pile of coyotes do I wish I could do that yeah well I can do that i just got to put the work in right right so you know be happy for them ain't a thing wrong with it be happy for him 100% couldn't Couldn't agree couldn't agree more we'll uh we'll move right on to the next one the next one's going to be probably falls in that personal opinion type stuff or it could be let's say personal opinions slash unwritten rule because I'd say a lot of people's going to throw it in this in the unwritten rule part and this one can be a little touchy uh so all right get right We'll get right to it all right let's do it stealing coyote stands or properties away from another hunter if a fellow hunter takes you to a piece of ground in a lot of cases
it's probably an extremely poor taste to go back to that property and gain permission for yourself what do you think about that well I don't think it's probably an extremely poor taste i think that's just flat dirty pool and uh you know and that that goes whether it's private ground public ground i mean I uh yeah just be grateful that they included you on their on their stands and you know that that kind of just comes down to being an honest person and showing respect it it it does i've I've been I've took people with me on coyote hunts or might have somebody that you know they they want to help you film or they just want to tag along or whatever it is and you start taking making coyote stands and it's it's the oddest feeling i don't even know how to explain it but you you catch them over there on their on their OnX and they're got their location turned there and they're looking right there on that property and they're marking it i've seen this happen that is not You don't know whether to say something to them right then or just see how everything plays out or or or what but that's that's that's not good well it's uh we've all taken new guys out coyote hunting for their first or second trip you know I've had I've had guys tell me "Well I went a couple times and haven't killed anything and come go with me and let's see what we can figure out." And and uh I got one real good buddy who's got all kinds of private ground and you know he's invited me to go and we've killed a lot of coyotes on his ground you couldn't give me enough money to go jump that fence and hunt that ground without him right because first off I don't need to because he's a good buddy and anytime I want to go he's game yep and second off what kind of a guy does that make you if you're willing to steal stands from your buddy yep you know like that's kind of what I was saying earlier it it can sh show you your uh your true character can come out right there if you're doing stuff like that and you know if if you I've I've also taken guys hunting out on public ground and they're like you know couple months later hey my nephew's in town and he really wants to go and are you willing to you know take us and well I can't but you know feel free to go hit those stands again you know that's good oh man i appreciate it and uh usually just a conversation will ease a lot of angst when it comes to stuff like that i can't always go but if a guy that I took wants to go and I tell him go hunt stamps well that's fine you know and they handled it the right way yeah they handled it the right way he didn't try to didn't try to steal my my honey holes as we call them out here uh right you know I was talking to some guys on one of our Fox Pro meetings one time and they were talking about guys garhauling them and I'm like "What the heck is garholeing them?" And they're like "That's when you take somebody somewhere you know there ain't nothing." That's what Mark That's what Mark Larice says I do to him yeah he garhold him and so that's you know that's kind of a that's kind of a funny term that now we use you know I tell my dad we'll go hunting and and for some reason the last couple years me and my dad have had rough luck hunting together and I tell him you know and we ain't got gar out here so I tell him "You're garing me." He don't even know what I'm talking about but it's kind of funny that you know talking about you know getting on same ground and stuff like that sometimes it it it happens inadvertently with people and I think this is worth saying that you end up sharing private ground with an acquaintance or maybe even it is a friend you you know the friend just didn't know that you hunted this property uh and you didn't know they hunted it either i mean it comes down to the the amount of ground out there never changes you know they're not making any more of it well we're getting more and more coyote hunters all the time eventually in in you know it's a pretty good chance especially if you live in the east you're probably going to end up sharing ground with people you know you might have hunted a place forever and uh you know for for decades well and you've had it all to yourself or there might be a time when there's other coyote hunters start hunting it that gain permission and you you know you might you might know them you might not they don't know that you hunt it and you just run into them or whatever and that's that's a that's a total different deal uh like I said and you got to respect that especially if they didn't bump in on purpose you know like they said "Well I know John hunts that i'm I don't care i'm going to or you know John Bear hunts that i don't care if he does or not um I'm going to go in there and gain permission too." That's different that that's that's bad but if they didn't know that Jon hunts it you know and they gain permission and then all said now you've got a place that you're sharing ground and you know you've got to just be able to handle that in between each other there's nothing wrong with sharing ground and when it comes comes to it unfolding that way but that's just how it is the more coyote hunters we're going to have over the years the chances of you sharing ground with somebody in the future is greater because they don't make any more acres of ground out there in the world it's just how it is you know and I I think too if you're uh sharing ground with guys it's good to play nice as best you can because yes land owners and ranchers farmers they got a lot of work to do they got plenty of things to deal with if you're going to be a hunter that's going to complain and be negative about how they manage their land and who they let on there I can tell you who the first one that's not going to get invited back's going to be you're dang right and you run it for everybody yeah could ruin it for everybody well I've had you know I've had ground that was great and uh called the guy hey you all right if I go hit those stands again this spring well we we're not letting anybody on there we had some deer hunters shoot up our signs last year and we just decided as land owners that we're done with allowing access and it's like oh man you know so yeah could screw it up forever for sure and and this isn't just for coyote hunters too this is really for any kind of hunting it's just like deals like that that's poor etiquette to shoot up a dag on signs on a piece of property while you're out there deer hunting oh yeah i think you know I've always felt like if I go hunt somebody's property I don't want them to ever know I was there until I send them a kill picture with a couple dead coyotes you know off their fall ground or their turkey ground or their laming ground or whatever they got you know I don't want I don't want them to ever find any junk that blew out of my truck i don't want to ever tear up the road when it's muddy nothing like that i don't want them to ever know I was there unless I you know till I send them the kill picture yep yep yep hey I've got one it goes uh It made me think about it when you was talking about the term garholding uh this kind of goes right with stealing stands and properties and stuff you know intentionally taking you know coming in gaining gaining permission on properties have you ever heard of the term photo poaching photo poaching yeah have you ever heard of that well I've heard of it but is that a is that an eastern thing or what is it exactly it Well it could be anywhere what it is say say if say if you just say you go out kill some coyotes this evening all right and you post this beautiful picture that you framed up and there's this you know pretty run you know this rundown barn in the background it just makes for a good backdrop and you say "Man it'd look good with some coyotes laying there." So you put your coyotes there you get all posted up and showing off and snap a picture then you post it on Facebook Instagram yeah well now everybody knows where you're hunting well they then they take that P i I think I recognize that barn let me see then they they zoom in on that barn oh yeah that's how Terono Fitzpatrick's place i know that guy i'm going to go in there and see if I can't start killing coyotes too yep yep i They photo posted you yep i I do know what that is in fact I used to hunt with a guy who spent half of his life while we were driving around hunting scrolling through other guys Instagram and looking at their kill pictures doing just that and he wasn't so much looking to poach their spot but he was worried to death somebody was hunting his country now when I say his country it was all BLM so it's everybody's country right but uh Oh yeah i used to drive him crazy ah them buggers are out here hunting and you know and I've been hunting this for 15 years with my dad and what are they doing out here and I'm like well so you know we talk about poaching spots but on one hand if it's public ground and they're just out there and they don't really know where you hunt and they're just out looking for spots to hunt that ain't really poaching that ain't really you know and and we all got to learn to play nice in the sandbox but I definitely know of a lot of instances where guys have looked and thought "Oh I know that corral you know I know that gate I know that you know I know that mountain in the background or that water tower or whatever whatever." Yeah and and just like mentioned the uh public ground BLM national forest state ground whatever it is whatever you're hunting out there is public that everybody has access to it that we all own you know so to speak yep uh it's one thing that you're just going out there and making stands u just trying to find spots that hold coyotes or whatever and going on your own and finding these spots you're going to cross paths with people you're going to kill coyotes in the same stands that they've made them and they're both it's going to end up turning into your honey ho along with hers and stuff like that it's different when John Bear takes John Collins out there to Utah and we start hitting BLM and then every successful coyote stand that we have whether we kill coyotes or hear coyotes see see coyotes I'm over there marking those spots on my onx where John took me even though we both have just as much right to hunt those spots as the other it's in poor taste for me to be marking the stand that John showed me yeah yep it is it is but you know that's I guess that's how we all find out who our who our good hunting partners are and that because seems like if uh if you deal with somebody that does that kind of stuff they don't I've never hunted with somebody very long that I didn't trust to show a stand or you know didn't feel like would trust me with their stand either so I just you know was said that about public ground you know I've got you know there's private stuff at private ground stuff that happens along the way too it's like the the photo poaching stuff uh wasn't too long ago killed a killed a black coyote and of course anytime you do Ed pretty proud of it i like to show him off and and it's it's a place that recently had some excavating work done on it okay when I posted the picture there was a spot back there in the on the next property over or in the back I should say in the in the background that you could see just a part of that excavation that had happened and I had a guy send me a message and said "Hey I seen where you killed that black coyote congratulations that happened to be on such and so's place." And I was like "Man wonder why he's asking that he recognizes something." So I you know I was going to lie to him i said "Yeah that's you're right that's it." Oh we were in there we We did some excavating work on that place i didn't know they'd let people coyote hunt i said "Oh boy." There you go man now I can't tell you if the guy ever went back in there and got permission or if he ever or even if you know whatever happened there i can't say that he went back but it sure made me feel weird made that comment to me i killed a I killed a triple once uh it was in the morning of Mother's Day and I uh went up on the mountain and and I killed a triple before I was headed down to my mom's for dinner and I posted a picture of my dog in that triple and there was a little uh kind of a water tank behind it and a water trough for the cows and some old wood fence there and I had a guy do the same thing he messaged me and says "Hey I recognize that water trough." I says "Oh yeah." He says "Yeah." And he kind of made this you know I he kind of made the smart alley comment he says "Yeah I guess I'm going to go have to call there." And I Oh man and I messaged him back i says "Well I just killed a triple out of there so if you think that's the place to go call now go ahead." Yeah yeah and you know and I've been on the other other end of it too i've just this past year our night season comes in December 1st and uh there's a boy here inside the county that's got he's turned into a really good coyote hunter and he likes he loves night hunting and has you know come rather proficient at it he really good gained a lot of properties he works hard at it does everything right i seen him he posted a picture he'd been hunting all night but took a daylight picture and of course I've been trying to keep up with them you know like everything they do congratulate them because I love seeing people's success i love seeing it well when he posted his picture up next he had a bunch of coyotes there you know i mean a bunch like 12 or 14 coyotes they did really good and I was like man look at that i was counting them all up man awesome of course I look see what caller running all that type of stuff and uh and in the background I was like wait a minute is that I recognize that silo back there i like oh no they've gained permission on you know on is on a place that I've hunted forever it's a rather large landowner and he's got stuffs dotted all over a couple counties and I was like you know what they they don't have a clue that I hunt there you know I wasn't mad about now i was like oh man that hurts you know knowing I'm sharing it with somebody but I did not take them in there i haven't ever took a picture that shows that silo on it you know what I mean so I mean it's not like they went there and purposely robbed it from John Collins or nothing he got it honest he got it honest he just gained access just like I did i'm fine with sharing ground like that with people there's nothing wrong with that that's just how that's just how it goes in the the life of a coyote hunter yeah i've I've ran up the canyon before to some of my favorite summer spots and ran into guys that were uh coming out and got I got up there late one day and they were coming out and they were all dressed up they recognized my truck they stopped talking to me and they're like "You up here hunting?" I did i just said "Oh I'm just looking around." You know I didn't didn't want they' killed the coyote and I didn't want to tell them yeah burned up one of my favorite honey holes i just told him "Yeah good job." You know and congratulations just go on go find another two track to hunt right yeah if any if anything I guess I learned I need to hit it earlier next year you know but it wasn't nothing they did wrong so no right right right well let's uh let's move right on along the line here this is this is a coyote stand etiquette one yeah yeah yeah if if you're hunting with friends do not take reckless or rushed shots just so you can be the one that shoots the
coyote you ever been in those type of situations Mr bear oh man you know and I've been on both ends of it i'm guilty of this i was hunting with a guy one time i don't hunt with him anymore but we uh we were in one of his spots and he even told me he says they usually come out right over there in the corner and this coyote was coming and I kept thinking are you going to shoot that thing or what and I look over and he was pedling around with his call and I thought well he ain't going to shoot and uh I leveled off and smacked that coyote and dropped it he looks at me he goes "Dang dude." I'm like "What?" And he goes "A little loud." And I muzzle blasted him oh no and I didn't realize that I guess that he was sitting kind of on the kind of on the edge of the fence with me there and I Oh man I felt like crap and uh he's probably he's probably sitting there thinking like "Mr bear you could have told me that there was a coyote over there." Oh man oh he knew that's the thing though he knew the coyote was coming and And uh and it was you know and I still think about that once in a while not a really you know like I said I haven't talked to the guy in a long time but I still think about that and thought you know that might have been when it comes to coyote stands that might have been my biggest screw up when it comes to to stand etiquette and and I thought you know I did I get the coyote i did did I feel really good about it not so not so much and so I uh I think you know there's really no coyote worse muzzle blasting your buddy having your buddy look at you going "What are you doing?" Right you know he's coming on my side what are you doing just And so I think this one this topic right here is the one that probably causes more arguments among hunting partners or more trouble hunting partners yeah you know and I I grew up hunting with my with my dad on hunting coyotes i hunted with my dad for a long time before I ever hunt with anybody else my dad was a sheep man and the most important thing to him was get the coyote dead and he would uh a lot of times he would set me up in what he felt like was a good spot and then he'd say "I'm going to watch behind us." Yep he says "Cuz sometimes you know we all know they circle behind you and depends on which way's the wind going and that." He always felt like the more country we can see the better and if by chance one of them comes up the draw behind us he says "I'm going to I want to get him." He said "So if you get a good shot you know don't worry don't worry about me if you get a good shot on a coyote you take it." Yeah and well then I started hunting with other guys and contest hunting and stuff like that and uh you know setting up on a stand and I always you know there's been times I've hunted with guys that were left-handed well that's pretty nice because they can swing one way a lot easier than I can you know when you kind of sit quartering away and that works out real nice and that but the one thing that I've kind of learned hunting with guys is if there's a coyote coming to your side uh you know just take your time make a good shot on him if there's a coyote coming to your buddy's side let him take his time and make a good shot on it don't get antsy don't think you got to jump the gun on him you know especially if it's a single and it's in good open country just let him do his thing man right right you know and now if he's calling in if I got a triple coming to my side I'm gonna hammer the first one and then when them other two break get them you know get them game in yeah yeah but boy jumping the gun shooting a coyote that's you know not coming to your side of the stand that your buddy clearly has a beat on he's you know clearly going to kill the coyote let him do it don't get antsy don't don't think you got to jump the gun and dog hog him because that will uh that I don't care how good a buddies you are nobody likes that nobody nobody likes it and uh you know it can be dangerous shooting across people anyway you know it's a safety thing uh even if there's no chance of of hitting them you got like what you were talking about earlier muzzle blast it rings ears or throws junk on them and stuff like that it that's not a fun situation to be in and it just it just pisses people off all it is just you know it's kind of if you're doing it you kind of laid it out right there if a coyote comes on your side of the call it's your coyote if it comes on my side of the call it's my coyote that way you're you're you're working as a team and everybody's having fun you know everybody's had fun in that situation yep you know and sometimes you'll sit uh you know a long ways away depending on how big the stand is and how big how much country you're covering you'll sit long ways away you can't always you know communicate once in a while we'll sit you know really close together and you can talk hey I got a coyote coming you know when he gets to this spot I'm going to shoot him and then you take the second one or whatever and that always that always works out nice but uh you know if you're sitting 50 60 yards apart and there's a you know there's a coyote coming dog hoging is a good way and like I said I'm not I'm not saying this as a totally innocent individual i mean it happens and I've you know there's shots that I've made where I thought geez I should have let the other guy shoot that one probably i definitely shouldn't have shot that one and you know rang his ears cuz I'm telling you once you're once you get old like me and your ears start ringing and they never stop you wish you'd have took better care of your ears you know hey hey what if you're in this situation where uh say you got you're with a you and Jana are out there both of you on a rifle well I can tell you right now she's shooting the coyote so let's just Well let's give you some Let's say you and Al Moore hey we'll get you second wife after how about Alam Morris all right all right we got you and you and Al Morris are just like six foot apart okay just And you've got the Y'all put the X360 right out in front of you guys it's right smack dab right out there in the middle here comes a coyote through the sage or prairie or wherever you guys are hunting and it's just right smack dab in the middle just trottting right straight to the call so it's dead in the middle who's who's shooting at that coyote well if we're sitting close enough to to uh talk back and forth one of us will you know probably whoever seen him first is going to say "Hey I got one." And then I'd say "All right well you know take him and I'll back you up." Yes yeah if uh if I seen him first and I'm you know I got my my and I'm sitting in a good spot now sometimes you know I'm sitting my gun's pointing one way or the other and the other guy can shoot him without moving well then then that's okay but uh you know if I if I have to move to get to him and risk spooking him then it's probably better to have the other guy do it but if it's you know if we're both kind of sitting facing the same way and that coyote's coming right up at the call right up the middle and you know and Big Al seen him first well then I'm going to let Big Al shoot him if I seen him first and he's right in the middle I'm going to tell him I got him you know and and keep your eyes open you know because a lot of times there's another coyote coming that you don't see or you might miss you know believe it or not contrary to what it looks like on social media every single one of us misses it doesn't matter if we've been on Pro Staff for 15 years or you know we've won this contest or that contest every single one of us misses and uh so you know it looks like your buddy's got a slam dunk coming in and he's going to take that first shot be ready to back him up yeah I that's with Al and I I joke with Al about this all the time al miss one standing still at 60 steps and then as that sucker's running off he'll tip it over on a full run at 520 yards oh yeah we were in We were in Canada last year and these coyotes come in and it was almost the you know the exact scenario you just laid out we had the 360 sitting out there and the coyotes came from outside and we had Richie on the camera yep and one thing about hunting with Richie don't tell him I'm bragging about him i don't want to get a big head but that little sucker can see man like he's got eyes like a dang hawk and he he's sitting behind the camera you think it's got something to do where he's so low to the ground i always thought it was elevation it might be it might be you know what and it was flat country out there maybe the air is thicker down there and he can see a little better but he was sitting there behind the camera he's like "Man I got a pair coming." And these coyotes I mean they are coming well the rise of the hill in the field there kind of dropped off and the coyotes went below the rise of the the hill and and so Al's kind of watching his direction and I'm watching my direction and that coyote popped up and I mean all I had to do was lean down and look through my scope and that coyote was standing right in the scope mhm yeah and uh walked right into it oh walked right into it and so I shoot and hit that co right in the chest drop it like a rock the other one that was still behind the rise of the hill takes off running and at we both launched a couple shots at it at you know 200 300 and at like 460 yards Al launches a shot at that thing and it just flipped i mean it looked like he electrocuted him yeah that sucker just goes in the air and does two or three flips hits the ground and the first thing he does is look at Richie and say "Tell me you got that on film." Richie just film i know exactly what it is yeah of course I got it on film he said you know Richie he's a ninja on the camera and uh he's really good on the camera and he's like "Of course I got it." So you know that stand worked out just beautiful they came in the one walked right up in front of me you know I shot him and uh I was ready to roll when the other one took off i mean he was on his gun and ready to go as soon as that coyote came into sight you know he was ready to ready to go and earlier on that same trip we had uh in fact it might have been the first stand of the well it was the first stand of the second day and a pair of coyotes come in and they all came to Alside and the first pair comes in and he uh he dumps the first one the second one takes off i got lucky and hit that one on the run and uh then another coyote pops up right in front of Al he hammered that one and then another one pops up and just takes off running and and uh I think he stopped it he looked back or something like that yep al hammered that one and uh you know that's when they all come to that side that's you know that's how it goes i I b clean up yeah that's that's how it that's how it plays out and I back clean up on the on the second coyote that was getting away and then you know a few minutes later another one comes in then a few minutes later and you know they come outside he shoots them that's okay you know because once sometimes that's how it plays out well you know later on in the later on in the hunt a couple of them come to my side then I get to shoot and that's that's okay that's how it works out one time Al we had one burning through the through the field i mean it was just flying and I'm sitting there and Richie sitting right over my shoulder with the camera and Al wasn't very far from us and Richie spins the camera on it i mean that coyote's coming and I never even put my gun up al dumps it richie goes "You never even put your gun up." I'm like "Dude it's coming to side." You knew it was his yeah yeah yeah it's his and you know if he misses it and it takes off well then I'm on him but uh when it comes to his side it's his coyote and that you know that's a simple rule that I think if everybody kind of kind of sticks to it uh it keeps everybody on good terms and you know it helps you think a little bit about how you set up and you know that's that's hunting that's that's what's awesome and you know the you mentioned hunting with Jana and uh man the first time I ever took her coyote hunting the first stand this coyote comes be tell everybody who Jana is they might not know who John Bear's married to uh so Jana's my wife uh we've been married for a couple years now and I took her coyote hunt we dated for several years long distance jana Waller yeah the great Jana Waller she's had her TV show on uh Sportsman's channel for like oh nine or 10 years now she's on Carbon TV and she's Yep she is a very very accomplished hunter and the real the real deal she is the real deal and and if anybody wants to know what I mean when I say the real deal well we went grizzly hunting last year yeah my my grizzly bear was like 7 foot 6 7 foot eight something like that and I killed him like two hours from camp uh two days later Janet killed a 9 ft interior grizzly that was 22 hours from camp oh my goodness you know and so yeah she's she's a she's a killer and she's a goer and if any of you guys think you're in good shape and can hike good I would pay money to see you try to keep up with my wife so the first time me and her ever went coyote hunting together we set up in a spot and it was it was new country neither one of us had been there i set up and I see this coyote be boppinging through the brush at a pretty good lick she she's shooting my 250 and she gets down on it and I said "He's coming he's coming." And the second he stopped I was just about ready to tell her "Shoot him." And she just tipped him over yeah and uh and uh then the next uh coyote comes and he kind of comes to my side we had a a double on that stand and he kind of comes to my side and I looked and I thought man I want to get her a double i want to see if she can clean up this double and he ran out and he stopped i mean I could have could have shot him he was on my side but I told her "You got him." She says "Oh yeah." I says "Well get him shoot him." She tipped him over and I'm here to tell you she was so excited you know cuz yeah a double's good i don't care how good of a coyote hunter you are a single is awesome a double is just next level fun and then a triple's even that much you know on up the ladder so Yes sir oh she was so excited and you know I've taken I've taken my kids out and had coyotes come in that I could have shot a dozen times but I wanted them to shoot him and I told him when he stops you know well I can't see him my youngest daughter I first time I took her out and this coyote come in I could have shot that coyote 20 times and she just but she was cool on the trigger and and finally got to a position where she felt good about it and she shot and tipped that coyote over and I would have watched that coyote get away 30 times just to just to have that experience with her killing that her first coyote you know and having that first hunt with Jana I could have I could have shot that other coyote and we each you know each got one on double but wanted her to get a double and you know see how it played out well it didn't take me very long to realize that uh that girl was a killer and if I wanted to kill a coyote I didn't have to let her shoot him you know she was more than capable of getting them dead on her own that I was going to have to I was going to have to fight for my own coyotes then so that uh that's good stuff just like I love stories like that every you might not have been one pulling the trigger but you was having just much fun as everybody else was oh yeah you know what now with uh with uh with her show we do a lot of filming with her show we were in Colorado filming a filming an episode and I uh we were dogging you know you asked me about my dogs we were dogging this was in just a once in a while you'll have those stands where you always think you know that's just the prettiest looking stand but it's just never really worked out right well we had this big old grass field i've actually got plenty of those oh yeah you know and you you'd think that that' just be the best stand well Just keep trying it yeah just keep trying it well one day we were coming down the road and she goes "Let's try right there." And I says "I've called there 20 times and having killed a coyote." She goes "Well let's make it 21." I said "All right." We get out set up i I was on the camera she was on the gun i had my gun too but you know in case you call in a triple or a quad and well so I'm on the camera and we call for it probably took seven or eight minutes and here come a pair of coyotes right across the flat right out of the draw just like where they're supposed to right where they were like they'd read the script and they run out into the flat and my dog sees them and my good dog takes after them and they run them off back and forth well Jana she uh every time that coyote had stopped she's like "Should I shoot him?" I'm like "No don't shoot him let him dog he's working good." You know and we're getting killer footage they're getting all this on film which is not an easy thing to do and so I'm getting killer footage and I kept telling her "No no no." Well finally the coyote stops and first shot she's excited and shoots over it and I don't know why but most most misses on coyotes seem to be people are shooting over them you know I've shot over Oh I've done the same and the coyote takes off and the dogs are right on it and she's looking at me like "Man you should have let me shoot at him five minutes ago." Too much too much build up yeah i'm like "Don't worry he'll come back." And minute later here they come back stopped and I told her "All right go ahead and shoot him." She dropped him and the dogs run out and pile on that coyote here comes the other one out of the brush to defend his dead buddy yeah runs right up and standing right in our face screaming you know and she dumps that one and I'm here to tell you that was so much fun she was so excited and uh she ke you know we're videoing and she kept telling me "Hurry up let's get some footage so we can go make another stand." You know it's Man you almost y'all almost drove by that pair of coyotes i you know well if it was up to me we would have absolutely drove by those coyotes because You know I got other stands that I feel like produce better down the road and it's getting dark you know I'm going to go to the ones I have confidence in but she's like "Let's do it." That it's a gorgeous stand let's do it and I mean it's set up perfect for calling because there's a wood fence and a little corral there you can sit against and it's open i mean it's just perfect and so you know when you're uh when you're out hunting with people you know we talk a lot about well whose coyote is it and whatnot there's not a dang thing wrong with letting somebody you know whether it's your wife or your kids or your neighbor that's never done it let them shoot let them shoot even if you know even if you can shoot it or you think it's coming in on your side man let them shoot and if they miss that's all right totally all right i tell people all the time and you know if I when we go on coyote hunts places and if with somebody that I've never hunted with before I just tell them right off the bat say "Listen I don't care if you shoot every single coyote that comes in i'm not here thinking that I've got to pull the trigger on everything i don't have to pull the trigger on none of them i like being on coyote stance i like seeing coyotes run in i like seeing coyotes work like they're supposed to i like getting them called up close and I like washing them i like watching the fur flies off of them when a bullet hits them or a big load of TSS hits them and then they hit the ground that's what I'm there for i don't care if I'm the one that pulled the trigger that made that happen or if John Bear was the one that pulled the trigger and make that happen i'm there to make coyote stands and be in on the action just because if you're part of that coyote stand if you help pick the stand if you help place the call if you did the calling if you did you're the one that did the shot it don't matter what part of it was you're part of that coyote stand you're a coyote hunter you're coyote hunting just as much as as the person that pulled the trigger you all killed that coyote you know what I mean that's how I always look at it if I'm going on a coyote if we're hunting for three days I don't never go tell somebody when we get back you know say we killed 12 coyotes on film i don't come back and say "Well John Bear killed nine coyotes and and I killed three." Yeah i say we we k we killed 12 coyotes they ask me "We killed 12 coyotes." I don't never say who killed what it's just we killed 12 you know I can uh I was talking about that contest I did with my good buddy and when we had a really good day i can remember a couple of the shots that he made cuz they were really good shots i remember one crazy running shot that I made but there's probably seven or eight coyotes from that day that I don't remember which one of us killed them right because it's just a I mean it's a team sport a lot of the time when you're hunting with somebody you know and and like you I I really like the way you put it if you're the one you know that uh help choose the stand running the call help line up the ground whatever it is you're part of it and pulling the trigger is probably the funnest part of it but it's still just one part of it yep that's exactly right you know just just one part of it you know and I I mentioned my hunting with my dad my dad just turned 80 years old and he is still a goer i mean he is still a goer and he uh he'll go out and locate and then call me and say "Hey there's coyotes up here in this in this draw buff town we need to go get them." Or you know and if I tell him "Well I ain't going to be down there for a couple weeks better go get after them." You know he still go out and takes my nephews and he'll go out and make a stand with them and I'm here to tell you if you think watching your buddy you know go out and shoot a coyote and and get excited is fun take a nephew take your 80-year-old dad that still giggles like a little school girl when he shoots a coyote and you know I' anymore especially when I'm hunting with my dad or my nephews my kids I'd almost just assume them pull the trigger so I could I could uh have that experience now if I'm hunting with Richie or Big Al you know I'm I'm getting my share hey if I'm if I'm hunting with Al I purposely try to dog hog on him i think he deserves it big Al definitely deserves it you know we were uh we were he's going to listen to this and get a kick out of it we were in Canada you know and I told you when we were talking about stand etiquette that I've I've made my share of mistakes well we were in Canada and we seen these three coyotes out in the field we each had a cameraman that time and these three coyotes Al goes out in the field and sits against a rock and I went up the hill and sat against another rock and I could see these coyotes coming well two of them dropped off way back and the other one's like walking up and I mean it's about ready to kiss Al on the nose and he's looking at his at his uh remote don't even have his gun up and the c my cameraman's like "What in the heck is he doing?" Right what is he doing and that coyote just looking at him looking at him and he's looking at his remote thinking you know "How am I going to call all these three coyotes?" Well two of them weren't coming and one of them standing there so close i'm surprised he didn't smell its brass well I've seen enough of this show so I kept that coyote over oh my heck you could have heard old Al cussing for an hour it was hilar we get back the truck she said "I was going to call in that triple." I says "There wasn't a triple coming buddy the other two dropped off you were taking too long it was going to get away." So yeah I I plucked that one out from under him a little bit he still reminds me of that once in a while but that's all right you know he's talking about you know don't dog hog and all that stuff make sure everybody's having fun you do have groups of hunters you know those buddies that that love to go coyote calling and they are in a competition they're hunting together but they're both they're also in a competition with each other see who can kill the most coyotes they're soon as coyote they're be shooting at coyotes while they're still running in and all that stuff hey as long as y'all having fun doing that both of you cutting up laughing having a blast by all means do all that you want to long as you being safe but anytime you start getting in those situations and somebody's getting pissed off and mad and y'all about to come to blows it's probably time to start thinking about well if the cow's to the left you get it if it's on the right I get it yeah yeah that's right that's right you know and and uh that's one thing I love about the you know all the Fox Pro guys all of them that I've ever hunted with you know they're all they're all pretty good sports and that and and uh it's all about having fun and getting good footage and you know teaching people about what we're doing and how to go out in the hills and and have a good time but yeah there's there's been times where we've been driving down road to a says "You wait buddy next next one comes in I hope he comes on your side and I'm going to shoot him right in the face." You know I'm going to shoot him right in the face and I'm going to laugh at you what What are you say what are you saying al shot shot your coyote before oh Al shoots my coyotes all the time and he knows it he knows it but that's all right i I got to share some stands with Al in Arizona and there was one stand he kind of shot you know on co that was on my side and we laughed about it i said I was gonna kill it he thought I was gonna let it get away but anyway after that we'd be on the next few stands there' be a coyote come down the middle soon as I'd hear Al snap his his uh safety off I'd hear a click soon as that click went off I' right on that click buddy yeah got him again Richie well yeah you know but that's the that's the fun about having guys that you've hunted with i mean I've hunted with Al for years and years and years and years and years and uh man he's taught me a lot about hunting and a lot about coyotes and you know I I've shot some coming to his side he's shot some coming to mine at the end of the day we're all still buddies and you know it's all right we're we're out there having a good time and uh and uh it's uh it really is all about having fun yes sir and making sure that uh we're being good stewards and that we're showing people that uh you know as much as I think coyote hunters are kind of the the misfits that uh there's a right and a wrong way to do it you know there is there's a right and a wrong way to do it and we need to especially those of us you know that have have been doing it for a while not that we're any better than anybody else but uh you know set a good example and uh don't be the guy on the on the internet just boohooing and whining and you know I have guys all the time I drives me nuts on some of our local coyote pages saying "Well I can't kill a coyote because all these rookies are out there wising them up." Yeah yeah i see that stuff yep yeah kind of so the other day I did a little math with one of them i says "Well," I says "You know we all blaming the rookies." I said "Let's say let's say me and you go out hunting and we call in a double and we kill one of them." I says "We're going to be pretty happy but we just ed educated 50% of the coyotes we called in." I said "Say you call in a screaming hot triple there ain't nothing get your blood pumping like that." And you shoot the first one and the other two get away well guess what buddy as happy as you are that you called in a triple and killed one you've educated 66% of the coyotes you called in that day yep it it ain't just the rookies every single one of us is educating coyotes probably every time we go out so sometimes I think we need to kind of get off our high horse and realize that we all make mistakes educating coyotes is 100% part of being a coyote hunter and we ain't no better than anybody else so you know show respect do your best to have good etiquette and and uh you know be a good buddy be a good friend be a good hunting partner and you're going to have a lot more fun if if you take it too personal you're going to have a hard time finding guys to hunt with 100% and I think that's a good way to end this one but I want to ask you one more question because I don't think I've ever asked you this but I think I already know the the answer you ever listen to our podcast and we do the what if your life depended on it drop you out of a helicopter deal yes sir well you're in that situation all righty and taking you off to some lost civilization no civilization there anymore only kind of civilizations there is coyotes all right nothing else and I mean it is hundreds of miles from any kind of human civilization and if I drop you off air there's no way you can get out unless I come pick you back up all right okay i'm going to give you a rifle of your uh cartridge choosing okay it's what it is chamber you chambered in anything you want you get one bullet i'm going to hand you an X24 you're going to be equipped to call in any coyote on the planet i'm going to drop you out of that helicopter you get one bullet what cartridge are you choosing to make sure you kill a coyote you've got to kill a coyote before I'll come back and get you now if you shoot one in dead in a chest and he takes every bit of it runs off and you can't find him i ain't You just going to have to live it out buddy you're just going to have to eat dirt and rocks and all that kind of stuff so what did you take and what caliber well if my life depended on it if civilization depended on it and I had to kill a
coyote so there I'm there's a couple things that I think go into this decision what are you confident with what have you used in the past that you feel good about what gun do you know will get it done if I had to kill a coyote and make sure I found him and made sure he was dead and I had one bullet I think I'm gonna take my good old trusty 243 243 so you fooled me i didn't think he was going to choose the 243 but I Hey I like your answer you can't beat that can't beat that you know and it it's a it's a now I' the I'd say the guns in the running that I got to choose from you know everybody loves a 22250 they're an excellent coyote cartridge you know I I hunt with a 22250 probably more than anything yep my 22 Creedmore is right there with it yep yep but I've hunted and killed so much stuff with a 243 and I just have so much confidence in that round shooting a you know an 85 grain bullet if I hit a coyote I feel like I'm going to 99% of the time I'm going to find him yeah and it still reaches out there a good long ways and uh I would I'm if my life depended on it and I had to kill a cow i think I'm going 243 with it with the 22 Creedmore probably right there neck and neck i don't I don't think you'll have to worry too much i say I'll be coming back in there and getting you now what gun are you taking in that situation uh probably 22 250 kind of for the same reason I've shot I've actually right here in this room right here u not 8 foot from me is a 22250 and a 243 two of the three that you that you mentioned and I've hunted with a 22 Creed quite a bit years ago and there's one of them in the next room over so I have experience with all three and I've shot a lot of coyotes with all three um but I'm taking a 250 just because of what you just said i've probably killed more coyotes and spent more time with the 22 250 than anything else and I just have 100% confidence in it now I pretty much got 100% confidence in the other two as well yeah that's like I said that's a tough choice but you know all three of those have took very very good care of me in the past and still do today and I trust all three of them but yeah I'll grab a I'll grab that 250 just because I know it and it knows me can't go wrong buddy can't go wrong well I appreciate you coming on here John oh it's always a good time talking with you my friend and thanks for all you do and uh you know it's uh I love being part of the Fox Pro family and you know it's uh it's almost time to get out there and get dogging and my favorite time of year yes sir well good luck this season we hope everyone enjoyed this episode we hope you join us again here on the Fox Pro podcast