Coyote Hunting

 On Saturday I had the amazing opportunity to accompany my friend Susan on a coyote hunting adventure. It was the first time she or I had ever been coyote hunting. For me, it was the first time hunting at all. First time wearing camo too. I was the self-appointed camera girl. This day was all about Susan & I was just happy to tag along. (She won the coyote hunt at an auction. )

I'm working on a story about this adventure for the newspaper, but here's a little peek into the day...

We left right before 7 AM & returned home right before 7PM. It was a full day of adventuring.

And I am so sore today, mostly from clutching tightly to the 4 wheeler to prevent from getting bucked off on the crazy rides to & from each set all day. I woke up this morning with the most tired face I've had in a long time. I fixed that with a nap later on.

 This was my view at our first set. I just sat as still as could be (because that's all you do when you hunt coyotes) & stared at this for about 20 minutes, alone, in the cold, back against a rock face. If my day ended right here, & we had to pack it all up & head home, I would still be a happy girl.

 For most of the day Susan & I were separated. We each had our hunting partner & rode on our 4 wheelers from place to place. We would find a location, then walked a bit to our set, then sat still for 30-40 minutes, shot a coyote if we could, then walked back to our 4 wheelers, then rode to another location, then walked to a set, then sat still for 30 minutes, bang-bang-kapow, walked back to our 4 wheelers, etc. That's how our whole day went. There was a potty break in there, & some tuna fish sandwiches & cheddar pringles.

The craziest thing was that our day started out in this snowy terrain, surrounded by craggy rocks & bluffs & cliffs. (We even climbed some. I huffed & puffed my way around. And kep the whining to a minimum. Especially that one time I fell down the mountain. OK, not the whole mountain.)

 Anyway, next thing I know, we're driving to another location surrounded by grasses & hills & valleys. It was amazing. It was all still the same cold. But amazing to feel like you're in two different worlds in the same day, just mere miles apart. And, yes, those are tennis shoes. I borrowed all the other gear I wore that day, but no one had boots to share in my size. I doubled up on socks & was fine. I will admit they became painfully cold the last couple hours of our adventure. But a few cold toes couldn't have overshadowed the fun I was having. And, silly me, didn't think to take my snowboots.

This was, truly, a once-in-a-lifetime experience. And one I will never forget. I smiled so big & was in complete awe most of the day that I was surrounded by earth & sky & in the middle of pretty much nowhere, getting to be a part of something that I would have never imagined doing in a million years, or even been interested in doing EVER. And I got to do it. And I loved it.

My favorite picture of the day is this last picture. Susan & I explained that we wanted to take a jumpy photo before we left the snowy surroundings that morning. Leland & Roger (our coyote hunting tour guides) were like, "What kind of photo?" I'm 100% positive that Leland & Roger had never jumped in a photo before. And it's my favorite shot of the day.

♥