SOMEWHERE IN CENTRAL MASS. — The hunter’s boots crunched through the snow as he walked slowly across the farm, headed toward a pile of meat in the far corner.
He’d been replenishing the bait for months now, using the pungent meat from beavers he trapped, and the ruse has been working. It’s coyote mating season, and a remote camera aimed at the pile has been hot with visitors.
At the opposite corner of the farm, a second hunter headed toward another mound of bait, armed like his friend with a rifle and an electronic caller — a portable speaker programmed with sounds to lure in the coyotes. The plan was to alternate calls, with one mimicking the sound of an injured rabbit while the other played the howl of an adult male, hoping to entice the coyotes into the clearing with the prospect of food, or a fight.
The first hunter arrived at his ground blind, a tangle of branches to hide behind, about 100 yards downwind from the bait pile. He rested his rifle against a tree, set a cushion down on the snow for just a hint of warmth, and was preparing to settle in for a sunset hunt when he suddenly springs for his gun.
A coyote was already feeding at the pile, its coat blended in with the bloody snow around the bait. But before the hunter could raise the scope to his eye, the coyote took off, and the hunter kicked himself.
But not for long. There will be more coyotes. This is Massachusetts after all.
Read the rest at Source: Coyotes are seemingly everywhere these days. And there aren’t many hunters standing in their way.
