Muzzle loader 4 - 9 December

Well how did everyone fair that hunted last week. The guys that hunted up at our camp didn’t fair well. Four guys partook in the hunt and each one said it was the worst hunt they’ve encountered in the past ten years or so. The weather was too warm compared to years past and most of the movement was after dark as per the trail cams over each bait pile.

They did see a couple of bucks and does while out on their stands but no shooters. During muzzle loader season bucks only eight points or better are considered shooters. The only animal that was taken was a coyote. Seems that our area is infested with Yotes. On two of the cameras every evening just like clockwork the deer would come into feed at 9:30 and five minutes later the coyotes would show and chase them off.

The amount of tracks that were seen during rifle season confirmed that the amount of coyotes in the area are at an all time high…. and as soon as the ice freezes over making travel safe we will be on a mission to seek and destroy…

I am one of the few whose application for the controlled hunt got lost in the system. I was told if I had recorded the confirmation number I would have been OK, lesson learned and point to note to all for next year when applying to the controlled hunt to record the confirmation number.

However, I did get out to check my spots and discovered some fresh scrapes (surprising to me) and some recent tracks, I am lucky to have access to a spot that has year round deer activity. A few yotes were heard howling on the adjacent farm, mostly I will go through an entire year with no yote evidence (howling or visual). A few shots were heard but they could have been bird hunters as there were three in a row.

What is the plan with the pelts? Our group of seven harvested four deer this year and one coyote. We felt like the coyote was a pain to have to deal with and regretted all the work associated with ensuring the pelt did not go to spoil.