I was at work...It was Friday Feb 15th at about 1:30 pm. I decided that i was going to go hunting that night even though Paul555 decided to abandon me to go hunt his secret fox spot. gETTING HOME AT 3, I called up the only guy i can trust. A new Team Worth member and soon to be familiar face to the PPHA........"THE CURSE"...... I asked him if he wanted to go hunting that night, and when he said "Sounds better than getting annihilated at Whiskey Dicks" I asked him what time he could be at my house. He said he'd be there at 5:30, so I had some time to kill. I started to surf some "over 18" websites, to pass the time, and I realized I was hungry. Looking in the fridge(yes this has to do with hunting..) I grabbed a tasty non-fat yoghurt, and when I opened the drawer to get a spoon, I saw a fortune cookie crumbled way back in the back of the drawer. Picking it up I decided that whatever the fortune was I would manipulate it in my mind so that I would have a positive outlook on the hunt coming up that night. I opened the cookie.... and i swear to Uncle Buck AND Buckwheat that it said.."Your present plans will be a success." God bless the Chinese! Anyway I called up THE CURSE, and told him about the cookie. He "seemed " genuinely impressed. My next call was to the landowner of my most promising spot. He said "c'mon up" but also told me that some fellas were recently hunting coyotes up there, and he thought they dragged a roadkill deer up to the top of the hill and were hunting over it.(Some peoples kids!) Since my plans were to hunt the valley below it, I didn't care and told him thanks, and I might see him later. THE CURSE showed up on time with a fish sandwich for the Pope, and we were on our way. We pulled into the farm, and there were no other vehicles. Everything was quiet. It had just gotten fully dark as we unloaded our gear, and started to get dressed. I was briefing THE CURSE on the safety features of the Marlin .17HMR when we were interrupted by headlights coming up the driveway. The truck parked right next to us, and out stepped the ugliest, roadkill huntin over-est, non callin-est, coyote contest contestant I ever seen. I played it cool. There were words. It sounded like Charlie Browns teacher when he talked. I played it classy, and told him "good luck". We would hunt elsewhere. He didn't say thanks. The drive was short to the next spot, and with THE CURSE already in the know about the .17 it wasn't long before we were in the cold tip-toeing into the wind. I set him up facing the downwind side about 40 yds from the woodline. The foxpro was set another 60 yds out in-front of me wind going from my left to right. !5 minutes later the rabbit started crying. A few minutes in, switching between the rabbit, and the Grey Fox pup, we heard steps back in the woods. Some deer came out of the woodline and circled the small pine trees we were sitting against by about 20 yds. As they moved off, I heard another, lighter footstep. I stopped the call, the Jack-in-a-box ran on quietly. The coyote slipped out of the woods right downwind of us stopping directly infront of THE CURSE and his now vibrating .17 HMR at 30 yds. I said "shoot" and I think a few other things i'm not proud of as THE CURSE fumbled with his gun, and tried to pull the trigger even though he never took the safety off. Seeing my window of opportunity closing, i picked up my bi-pod, and turning 180 deg to the right got the Encore on target, and shot . I remember hearing the faint crack of the .17 within a millisecond of my shot. We both shot the same dog! I tried to remain calm, and changed the sound to a ki-yi. A few minutes later we were standing over our foe. After basking in the glory of victory, and laughing about the fortune cookie, and Paul555's absence, we started back to the truck. Halfway back I noticed the Foxpro was still on, because the low battery light was blinking. I shut it off, and it wouldnt turn back on. We only had enough batteries for one spot that night, and thanks to the Chinese, and that scum-bag bait hunter THE CURSE will never be the same.
