# December PVCI Club Hunt



## Mark Steinmann (Jan 28, 2014)

Well this hunt sure came at a good time for us. Tim and I only have been out once since the last club hunt and we got skunked! Time for redemption and the weather looked great to head up north. Been wanting to do a snow hunt for some time now!

At O-dark 30 I picked him up and we made the LOOONG trek up to our first destination, an old Elk honey hole of my families that I've always wanted to call! As we made the way in on the long dirt road it was covered in a few inches of snow and frozen solid. The high that day would hit 45° and we were hoping we'd be able to make it back to pavement without issue in the mud. Surprisingly on the first 4 stands of the trip we couldn't seem to turn up any type of predator despite the abundant sign! Perhaps the elk hunt that just ended 2 days prior still had them on edge? Or maybe they were filled up on the gut piles. As we made an attempt for 1 last stand in the area we neared an old dry tank surrounded by thickets, shotgun country!

I parked the truck and we made our way along the edge of the opening and settled on a spot 30 yards into the thicket. We setup with our backs to the tank and had a crosswind blowing from right to left. I placed the caller and decoy straight out from me and sat down 10 yards away. Tim was another 10 yards behind me watching the back door routes. I began calling. Shortly into some bird distress we were surrounded with no joke, some 50 or so birds all freaking out. Had a great feeling about this one and went onto another sound. All the sudden we heard the crunching of snow as a large Coyote came bouncing into our zone from the right side! It paused just 10 yards away from me and studied the decoy. With its nose in the air he tried to wind it, but too bad for him because he was upwind. He walked forward all the way until the Coyote was directly in front of me at 7 steps. Tim and I were ready to surprise him like a pre-wound Jack-In-The-Box and finally something caught his eye as he quickly turned his head at me. His yellow eyes grew and he turned to run. I bailed off my chair and as my knees landed on the rocks I shot and rolled the Coyote! If I would've missed Tim had also begun squeezing the trigger right as my gun went off. There was no getting away from that trap!

We called the rest of the day and simply couldn't turn up any more predators. Very strange considering the weather system that just cleared out the day before. One good thing that was coming up was a night in Tim's family cabin, no sleeping out in the 18° night for us! We made our way to the cabin and enjoyed bear chilli as we watched the classic Red Green Show.

After a full 9 hours of sleep we woke energized and ready for some new country! We decided to hit some Juniper flats and then move into the canyons later that morning in search of bear and fox. We had no luck calling Coyotes that morning so after just a couple stands we decided to see if the Grey Fox were active. We did call in a nice 5x5 Mule Deer and his Does on the first stand that morning which was neat!

We found a road that looped us towards a canyon and back to the main road so we headed in, grabbed the shotguns and tried for Fox! On the second stand I saw a Fox run out of the area due to the wind flipping on us. We decided to go after it and try to get it back in. After penetrating the area another 200 yards we setup again. I was using the ecaller but had left my decoy in the truck. After a few minutes of calling Tim saw the Fox approaching but I had no clue it was there. I muted the call which made the Fox pause where Tim couldn't get a shot. Shortly after that I started on another sound and the Fox started to swing wider towards the downwind side. Tim was able to get a shot off and after a follow up shot with the 22 we had our first Fox of the trip, a big Female with excellent fur! Tim kept the Fox and skinned it out for a wall hanger at the cabin.

We went down the road just a few hundred yards and he began to skin it as I headed in for a solo stand. I walked another 400 yards or so and found the edge of a slope towards the canyon. I setup my call in front of me about 10 yards. The wind was a crosswind going from my right to left. The sun was directly behind me shining towards the call. I started the decoy and call and once again almost immediately had birds all around making a ruckus. Good stuff! A few minutes in I saw a Fox working it's way into the call directly out in front. An easy shot through a bit of brush put her down at 15 yards. I kept calling and in another 6-8 minutes caught movement at my 10 o'clock, another Grey coming in hot! It paused as it came over the rise and studied the decoy. I pulled up the shotgun and layed that Fox out at 10 yards. I kept the call going and it took a bit, but I caught movement again. This time the Fox was working its way in almost directly downwind at my 8 o'clock position. It was directly behind the thickest Juniper and I could barely see it. It walked into the only "shooting lane" I would have and I slowly raised my shotgun as it sniffed the air. I lined up the ghost sight on a 2" gap of the branches and placed the bead on its head. The gun sounded off and the Fox was down at 25 yards. A triple on Grey Fox, it hardly gets more fun than that! I made my way back to the truck where Tim was finishing up the skinning and yelled out, "Well, my decoy works!" It was a bummer he missed out on the triple!

After lunch we decided to do a couple more Fox stands and then head to his bear spot for a hail mary to finish the weekend. We worked up to the canyon edge and setup just 50 yards or so off of it. He was manning the ecaller and decoy and was watching the downwind. I was posted up just off to the right side of the decoy watching the upwind side. 8 or so minutes into the stand I heard what sounded like something large in a tree. As I swung my head to my far right there was a Fox trotting away from the tree! He was watching the decoy which had me pinned. I hoped that Tim was watching my way at the time and I simply pointed at the Fox and kept my finger moving to draw Tim's attention. He saw it and spun off his chair to attempt getting a shot. The Fox paused for a moment and looked his way but he must've not seen him move. The Fox took 2 more steps which gave Tim a perfect shot and the Fox was down at 15 yards! I really was surprised that we got that one!

We didn't have anymore predators show that day and perhaps we should've stuck to the area that was producing, but you just never know. We killed every predator that we laid eyes on that trip and we are very happy with the 100% kill ratio. What a fun time out in the beautiful high country of Arizona! Thanks for reading and enjoy the videos and pictures!












































































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## glenway (Mar 27, 2011)

Lots of close-quarters action. Heck yeah. Shotguns! Good work. That cabin had to be a welcome treat. Guess so. Slept 9 hours!


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## Mark Steinmann (Jan 28, 2014)

Thanks Glen. Yep, great action and plenty of sleep! The first time I haven't come home wiped out in a long time.

I failed to mention that we pulled off a 1st place win with the Coyote and 5 Fox. Second place had 3 Coyotes and 3rd place brought in 1 Coyote. One other team brought in 1 Coyote but was beat to checkin by the 3rd place team.

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## SWAMPBUCK10PT (Apr 5, 2010)

*Thanks for your hunt story---Congrats on 1st place----Beautiful Pic's WTG BUD------------------------*

*svb*


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## Mark Steinmann (Jan 28, 2014)

SWAMPBUCK10PT said:


> *Thanks for your hunt story---Congrats on 1st place----Beautiful Pic's WTG BUD------------------------*
> 
> *svb*


Thank you, a fun trip!

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## hassell (Feb 9, 2010)

Congrats., lots of fox action - great.


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## azpredatorhunter (Jul 24, 2012)

Damn Mark... Congrats!!!

Do you think they would have responded the same with the original black fur???


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## Mark Steinmann (Jan 28, 2014)

azpredatorhunter said:


> Damn Mark... Congrats!!!
> 
> Do you think they would have responded the same with the original black fur???


Thanks! I guess there's only 1 way to find out huh?! Lol. Maybe I'll give it a shot if we go for more Fox up there.

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