# Tales Of The January Scramble Hunt...



## Mark Steinmann (Jan 28, 2014)

Well even with above average temps we had a really good weekend of calling predators. The high was 79° the first day and 72° the second day. Tim and I were a team and my dad and brother were competing separately. We hunted separate and camped together. A really fun time was had by all! Tim and I ended up taking 2 Coyotes, 2 Bobcats, and 5 Kit Fox and we took home 1st place in the club hunt! Nathan and Dad got 1 Coyote and 1 Grey Fox and placed 4th. There were a few misses on each team throughout the weekend, but all animals that were hit we recovered fortunately! The Coyotes proved challenging to figure out but on the second day we found a sequence that had the males charging in very hard. I'll share a couple stands that were really unique...

In the early afternoon on Saturday we were driving to our next stand as we saw a jackrabbit fly past the road at full run around 50 yards out. No sooner did it cross the road as we saw a Kit Fox in hot pursuit! I threw the truck in park and we ran down to the edge of the wash. Tim had his AR-15 and I pulled out my new revolver. Tim lip squeaked for a few minutes with no luck and I asked him to try some rabbit distress. After only a minute on rabbit distress Tim spotted the Fox through a bush staring right at him. He pulled up his gun and let a round fly. Fox down!

On the second to last stand Saturday evening we setup about 150 yards off the edge of a thick wash. Tim was sitting on the ground in a depression holding his shotgun and I was manning the downwind with the ladder and my AR-15. A full 15 minute stand goes by and Tim ended on Coyote distress. We sat for another 3-4 minutes in silence and then Tim whistled to call off the stand. I had just gotten done scanning the area and whistled back that all was clear. As I jumped down off my ladder I looked left and saw a big Bobcat running in and he was already only 10 yards from me! He was the pudgiest Bobcat I've seen and as he turned and started to leave I positioned my sticks. He had made it back into some light cover but I had him in my sight. First shot was a miss but then my second connected in his rear quarter and sent him tumbling. A quick follow up shot did him in and we went to gather our second Bobcat of the day!

I also missed a Coyote because of a simple but costly mistake...
I would call this stand from my stool using my shotgun in the brush and Tim was in charge of shooting anything that skirted downwind from on top of the ladder. I began the sequence and sure enough about 7 minutes in a Coyote emerged from the brush at 60 yards on a full run right at me. I let him get to about 20 yards and then pulled the shotgun up as I growled at him. He froze in place and I squeezed the trigger....it wouldn't shoot! I checked the safety but it was off. I finally threw the slide forward and the chamber closed. I had forgotten to shut the chamber after pulling the gun out of the truck! By now the Coyote had already headed out of dodge and I attempted a shot at 50 yards quickly but shot just to the right. I sent another couple rounds downrange but none seemed to c7v connect. Hard lesson learned!

On this hunt Tim and I made around 30 stands. We called in a total of 14 predators and took home 9. We still see some issues that we need to polish up a bit but overall I'll count that as a huge success!

- Mark







































































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## Mark Steinmann (Jan 28, 2014)

Oops, left out the pictures of the first Bobcat!

- Mark
















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## hassell (Feb 9, 2010)

Congrats., great write up.


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## youngdon (Mar 10, 2010)

Congrats Mark. You're tearing them up


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## glenway (Mar 27, 2011)

Wow! Great pics!

That shotgun blunder reminded me of a similar mishap, when I eased the bolt forward to be quiet in the early morning set up. The round never chambered and I blew a chance at a standing coyote. Fortunately, my pal, Bullwinkle, popped it after my flub.

It all becomes part of experience and good hunters learn their lessons.

Great going with the club contest and thanks for taking the time to post the adventures.


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## azpredatorhunter (Jul 24, 2012)

Wow Mark... Congrats. So how do you like hunting from a ladder?


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## Mark Steinmann (Jan 28, 2014)

Thanks guys, I was a bit worried with how warm it was but luckily they still responded!

- Mark

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## Mark Steinmann (Jan 28, 2014)

glenway said:


> Wow! Great pics!
> 
> That shotgun blunder reminded me of a similar mishap, when I eased the bolt forward to be quiet in the early morning set up. The round never chambered and I blew a chance at a standing coyote. Fortunately, my pal, Bullwinkle, popped it after my flub.
> 
> It all becomes part of experience and good hunters learn their lessons.


Thank you Glen. Yep a lesson learned the hard way is never fun but it's also rarely forgotten. That one took me a bit to get past that day but you can guarantee I won't forget to chamber the round in my shotgun anymore!

- Mark

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## Mark Steinmann (Jan 28, 2014)

azpredatorhunter said:


> Wow Mark... Congrats. So how do you like hunting from a ladder?


Thanks Eric! I really like it and we are learning how to position it better on each outing. I can see so much further on it and have seen/killed predators that we never would've seen from a chair. This past weekend we had a Coyote come tearing into 12 yards directly in front of me on the ladder(sitting in full sun). I was looking away as I heard the footsteps. Even with me turning my head back that Coyote never looked up at me until I moved my sticks to shoot him. They just seem to not look up as they are approaching.

- Mark

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