Your right LW.....I always watch which trees I stop under when the wind is howling like it is today. We call them "Widow Makers" around here, and my dad has know people who got killed by them. A kid he went to school with way back when got killed by a widow maker in his own back yard!
I went out on about a 2 mile trek around the property here close to the house, down by the river, up through the cedars, and all along the edge of the pasture......about a 3hr. round trip.
My legs feel like limp noodles right now and no sign of rabbits moving about. Them little buggers are buried in lick a tick on a hound dog!!
I did however......find multiple sets of coyote tracks and started following them. They got fresher as I went and after about 400-500 yards of tracking, I started thinking to myself that I might want to start watching up ahead of me.
So I would glance up ahead, then look for more rabbits while following the coyote tracks which had turned into just one set by this time. I don't know where the others had split off, but this set was getting fresher the farther I went.
Just about the time I looked up again a coyote took off running up the draw that I was skirting.....Dang it!!
When he busted outa there he was only about 50yrd. from me!
I literally walked right up on him.......so there's something to be said for snow camo. I've done the same thing on deer before while there was snow on the ground and I was wearing my snow camo.
Then after busting the coyote out.......I came across fresh turkey sign. Scratchings every where and multiple sets of tracks going all different directions. So I followed those until they ended at the edge of the river bank. I'm thinking that they must have flew across to the other side?
They do that alot around here. It ain't nothing for these turkeys to fly back and forth across the river several times a day.
It's good to know that they are finally starting to come back to my side of the river again. They disappeared on me back in October and hadn't seen any sign of them since until today.
It was tough walking, and the wind was howling steadily at about 25-30mph with huge wind gusts that had to be 40+ mph......but I really enjoyed getting out and especially getting that close to a coyote.....that was cool.
I think I'll put my blind out down there where all the coyote tracks were and maybe hunt it tomorrow and do some calling.
Even though conditions were tough, it still beats sitting in the recliner and getting more fat than I already am.