The Colonel isn't dead

View · by **FJ540** on Wed May 30, 2012 3:57 pm

He lives in my woods. :lol:

E-calling and traditional calling proved ineffective, so I stepped it up to the next level with live bait for the coyotes.

I've got a camera on him, so hopefully we've got some good video of the predators in the area trying to get at him (the cage has wire on all sides so they can't tip it). I plan to use the info gained from the video (times and critters) to ambush the yotes.

The wife got a free duck for bait too (I pick him up on friday). I had to buy The Col. from an asian co-worker.

View · by **JoeH** on Wed May 30, 2012 7:17 pm

This should be interesting. I hope to see some good footage and hope that the bird doesn't die from stress.

Joe

View · by **FJ540** on Wed May 30, 2012 8:43 pm

He seems pretty happy in there.

Over the long weekend, the only visitor he had besides us was a doe eating. Of course we got 7" of rain too, so that's probably slowing down the scent propagation.

View · by **xd ED** on Wed May 30, 2012 9:18 pm

JoeH wrote:This should be interesting. I hope to see some good footage and hope that the bird doesn't die from stress.

Joe

That was my thought. The first time something gets on top of the cage the chicken will self destruct.

View · by **FJ540** on Wed May 30, 2012 10:41 pm

I built the cage trying to ensure the bird would be safe. I had no idea they'd freak badly enough to harm themselves.

View · by **user293** on Wed May 30, 2012 11:07 pm

owls will use their talons to dry to get through chicken wire if they want something bad enough, as will other animals.

View · by **FJ540** on Thu May 31, 2012 4:53 am

The top is welded wire hardware cloth for exactly that reason (and hawks and eagles).

View · by **xd ED** on Thu May 31, 2012 5:20 am

FJ540 wrote:The top is welded wire hardware cloth for exactly that reason (and hawks and eagles).

I had a rabbit in a similar cage. The cage held up fine with a dog jumping around/ on top trying to get at the rabbit. The cage held up, the bunny- not so much.

View · by **FJ540** on Thu May 31, 2012 6:08 am

We'll find out tomorrow night how he held up.

It's entirely possible he's been left alone the whole time. The yotes don't come around too much until the turkey come back, and the thunder chickens are still mostly AWOL this year (I've seen one since last fall). I do have a fisher who's been very active (tracks), and I welcome it because I found a porcupine needle at a mineral site a couple weeks back - I hope the fisher eats well on the little tree munchers.

We also have a pair of grey fox, but they tend to hunt about 1/4 mile away from where this bird is, on the opposite side of my lot (I have several video's of them catching small prey). I'm not sure where they're denning, but I welcome them too.

It's fawning season - so even if the bird gave it's life (due to stress) and distracted some predators for an evening, that's worth it if it meant a fawn got a break for the night. Not the outcome I intended, but still ok by me.

I personally hope he's alive and well when we return. It's not a pet, and will end up someone/thing's food by Sunday no matter what.

View · by **sgruenhagen44** on Thu May 31, 2012 6:43 am

Be sure to post your results. I always see predators deer hunting and nothing the few times I have tried predator hunting. Maybe this will tip the scales in my favor...

View · by **ex-LT** on Thu May 31, 2012 8:20 am

gruste wrote:Be sure to post your results. I always see predators deer hunting and nothing the few times I have tried predator hunting. Maybe this will tip the scales in my favor...

There's no law that says you can't shoot predators when you're deer hunting. Our clan has a standing rule - if you see a coyote, you shoot it.

View · by **photogpat** on Thu May 31, 2012 8:38 am

ex-LT wrote:
gruste wrote:Be sure to post your results. I always see predators deer hunting and nothing the few times I have tried predator hunting. Maybe this will tip the scales in my favor...

There's no law that says you can't shoot predators when you're deer hunting. Our clan has a standing rule - if you see a coyote, you shoot it.

Small game license?

View · by **Holland&Holland** on Thu May 31, 2012 8:43 am

photogpat wrote:
ex-LT wrote:
gruste wrote:Be sure to post your results. I always see predators deer hunting and nothing the few times I have tried predator hunting. Maybe this will tip the scales in my favor...

There's no law that says you can't shoot predators when you're deer hunting. Our clan has a standing rule - if you see a coyote, you shoot it.

Small game license?

Nope, no license required for unprotected species including yotes. At least that was true in the 2011 regulations. 2012 is not out yet but I really doubt that has changed.

View · by **Pinnacle** on Thu May 31, 2012 10:36 am

If the bird CROAKS from the stress, well, there is always the fryer.

View · by **FJ540** on Thu May 31, 2012 2:29 pm

It's dying Sunday if it makes it that long, and I'll be eating it. If it's already dead by then, the critters will get it.

I have a standing rule on my land - you see a yote, you shoot it (every day of the year). If the yote is around, the deer aren't, so that's the only hunting you'll get any way. We don't have a high yote population (thanks in part to a very good neighbor who also shoots them on sight - even pups, and he's a forestry teacher), but we have enough to annoy me in archery season.

If they were denning on my land, I'd ambush them. Since they den on someone else's, I have no idea where it is and have to take alternate measures. I wasn't able to hunt them this winter (due to the neck problems), so now I'm playing "catch up."