We finally got a morning when it wasn’t actually raining or snowing, although pea soup fog. I thought that if I wanted to get out with the dogs, this was the day to do it, so I decided to take a little walk to a spot behind a local ranch and set up a calling stand.

As I drove past the rancher’s house there was a little bunch of deer out in the field. I would have liked to have shot some video, but I’ll have to do that some day when I don’t have Chigger along. He is at the stage now when anything he sees is fair game. Bear was in the back of the truck, but Chigger was up in the cab with me. When he saw those deer he went into orbit! He wanted out in the worst way, completely out of control. I didn’t stand a chance with the camera as he tried to claw his way out. We have some work to do. I can’t blame him entirely, as I have been turning him out on anything that crosses the road, which up to now has mostly been squirrels, but I obviously need to get a better handle on him. Saying he was wild is an understatement. Airedales are terriers, and the terrier blood sure boiled this morning.

Farther along the road I parked the truck at the gate and turned the dogs out. It would be a little walk, so I left the electric caller in the truck. I thought the video camera and tripod would be enough to carry, and I always have an assortment of mouth blown calls in my pack. There were still patches of snow, and I saw a few deer and squirrel tracks. When I reached the spot I wanted to call from there was a bobcat track.



The track was to old to do anything with it, but I set up to see if I might call something up. I kicked the snow off a down log and put a plastic grocery bag on it so I would have a dry place to sit. The last time I had called from this spot a coyote had come in behind me from a field, so this time I set up with the camera facing that direction. I had the dogs tied to a couple of trees, and Bear was watching in more or less the same direction while Chigger paid more attention to the timber behind me. I thought I had the area pretty well covered, but nothing showed up.

There was another spot that I would have liked to have tried, but the ground wasn’t frozen and was water logged from rain and melting snow. I knew the rancher wouldn’t appreciate me tearing his road up, so we called it good for the day and poked along home. Now the clouds are rolling in thick, and it is beginning to sprinkle. Looks we are going to get it again.