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Footprints Logo
By J. Chism
It was Saturday Morning and we struck out at dawn for a morning of dove hunting. Son-in-law, David and Grandson, Trey and I were bent on getting some good dove shooting. Actually, I didn’t want to shoot any dove because the grandson had been taught a hunting etiquette “If you shoot it, you have to eat it!” I don’t like dove meat, so I certainly wasn’t going to shoot any!
Sitting around the pond for about an hour, we watched the dove sit on a nearby electric wire.
The dove were obviously watching us! They didn’t bother flying! About an hour into the hunt, a lone coyote loped over a rise in the nearby wheat field and seemed to ignore our presence.
We all sat quietly and watched a ballet unfold, except for son-in-law who never saw the coyote!
It was just as if someone had announced that breakfast was ready! The coyote made a b-line for the pond, unaware of our presence! He covered the 200 yard distance to the pond in a time that would have made a sprinting ballerina proud!
In the flash of an eye the coyote was at the pond and within ten yards of son-in-law! Now this could be a deadly situation for a coyote, in the middle of three armed men! Son-in-law never saw a thing! I certainly wasn’t going to shoot a coyote; they might make me eat it! Besides if I hit nearby son-in-law, my daughter would have never forgiven me!
Son-in-law was watching me when I pointed to the nearby coyote. Coming up was the oddest ballet ever viewed by a part time dove hunter!
Son-in-law must have been startled by the Coyote and vice versa, both reacted similarly! When son-in-law finally saw the coyote only ten yards from him, every muscle in his body must have reacted! I’m sure this is an exaggeration, but I believe son-in-law must have jumped six feet in the air!
The coyote, also having a muscle reaction performed a similar ballet move, jumping six feet in the air! By the time son-in-law could compose himself, the coyote had covered the 200 yards over the rise. We only saw his dust cloud as he got well out of shotgun range in the matter of what seems to be only a second! We certainly learned how fast coyotes can run!
We shot no dove that day, but son-in-law talked for three days straight following the sudden shot of adrenalin his body had given him!