Fooling Bobcats and Coyotes

Fooling Bobcats and Coyotes

State-of-the-art equipment combined with professional calling techniques used on target-rich hunting grounds provides a memorable hunt.

Story and Photography by Bill L. Olson

There is no more exciting type of hunting than calling to a game animal and having it vocally respond as well as seek out your location. Elk hunters in the fall, and turkey hunters in the spring experience this type of hunting adrenaline rush.
Take that experience to another level by removing the vocal response from the animal, while becoming the hunted and the excitement increases exponentially. No longer is the progress of the called critter known — instead coyote, bobcat, fox and other predators’ silently move toward what they assume is their next meal.
In mid-January, Texas Outdoors Journal’s contributing hunting editor Tom Claycomb III and I experience this hunting sensation as many times our calling location was literally rushed by cagey coyotes and sneaky bobcats. This occurred while hunting with long time outfitter and friend Roy Wilson who along with his wife Becky own Krooked River Ranch — Texas Best Outfitters.
I have hunted with Roy and Becky for the better part of 24 years while their operation was located on the Hendricks Ranch. This 40,000+ acre rolling North Texas beauty has over 32 miles of the Clear Fork of the Brazos River. It was sold in 2013 to a private group that no longer wanted commercial hunting on the property.
At the time of the sale to say I was concerned for my friends and their ability to replace such pristine hunting grounds is an understatement. Little did I know that while conducting their outfitting operation on the Hendricks Ranch, Roy was also managing a 6,000 acre jewel further west, and a few miles north of Hamlin. The T-Diamond Ranch, complete with a spacious new lodge sits atop a mesa overlooking some of the most picturesque, game-rich break-country this part of the Lone Star State is known.

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