Varminter’s Jackpot: Nevada Art Isberg
the edge of a black rock plateau several hundred yards away. The sun was just peeking over the distant upthrust of treeless buttes. Reaching the drop-off, I stopped for a moment to drink in the view of endless sagebrush fl ats, rock strewn canyons, and towering cliffs where golden eagles nested on stone shelves. The immense silence that hovered over that vast and wild land is always humbling, even though I’ve experienced it many times before. No bird sang, no wind sighed across the high desert fl ats. It was a perfect morning for calling. Then, far away, I did hear something, the sudden, pierc-
I
ing “yip, yip” of a coyote out hunting for its breakfast. Pulling on my facemask, I quickly sat down, resting the rifl e over my lap. I lifted the call to my mouth, breaking the awesome silence with a fast series of pitiful cries, shrieks, and howls that left me out of breath … wondering if that distant yodel dog had heard my invitation. It didn’t take long for an answer. Just as I ended my second series of calls I saw, from my elevated position, not one but two tan/gray animals running toward me from two different angles. Both coyotes were trying to see who would be fi rst to get in on the easy breakfast I was offering. I lowered the call while snicking off the safety, slowly
lifting the Model 70 as the pair of animals streaked closer until breaking into the open 60 yards away. One came to a sudden stop, looking around, but the second coyote kept right on coming, reaching the bottom of the rocky outcrop, and started climbing straight toward me. That’s when I realized he wasn’t going to stop and fi lled the scope like a magazine picture as I shot. Instantly the second coyote swapped ends, running back into brush as I bolted in another round double quick, trying to line him up in the scope as he fl ashed in and out of openings. I got off one more fl eeting shot but missed before the safety of cover swallowed him up. REGULATIONS
This little episode was not that unusual an event in what
has to be described as the most liberal varmint hunting state in the nation as far as hunting regulations and restrictions go. I’m talking about the Silver State of Nevada. It is, by any measure, a varmint hunter’s paradise for many reasons, all of which favor people like us. For example, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) administers nearly 48 million acres of land in the state and these acres make up almost 76 percent of the state’s entire land base. When you couple these public lands along with the United States Forest Service (USFS), 84.5 per- cent of Nevada falls in the public land category, and the vast majority of this is open to public hunting for both varmints and big game animals as well. Few states can match that kind of offering to today’s dedicated and frequently traveling hunters. The entire state of Nevada is what is considered a high
desert environment with little winter moisture except in its highest mountains. Thus it is made up largely of endless sagebrush fl ats, treeless black rock buttes, and boulder-strewn canyons twisting away to alkali fl ats where lakes once rolled
When sizing up mountainous country always look for old burns that clear off the land like this. Coyotes will be hunting in these more open spaces and that makes them solid places to set up for a stand.
www.varminthunter.org Page 81
’d parked my 4x4 rig off the rocky wheel track, then shouldered my .243 Winchester bolt rifl e, heading for
In thick cover a coyote decoy can turn the trick by staking it in any small opening. Today’s decoys even have furry tails that wave in the breeze to add that ingredient of life coyotes cannot resist.
Once approaching coyotes see a decoy they know dinner is on the table and move even faster to partake of it. Decoys can give you that important edge.
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