Today I was walking along the bluffs here in Nebraska hunting the last day of rifle season. I was hunting a new area, I guess you could say it was spot and stalk. The air was cold and snow flurries were around all afternoon.
I found some good spots to sit tomorrow when the shotgun/muzzleloader season starts. I walked down a saddle to look in the gully across from a high ridge. I had bumped several deer on the way up.
About halfway down I started hearing a deep howl. A lot deeper and lower than any of the coyote calls I usually hear at dusk and at night. It continued for a couple of minutes then stopped as I got lower down the saddle. This was a heavily wooded area. At first I thought it might have been a local trying to scare me but I also heard a deer wheezing at me from the same general area across the gully. I doubt if that deer would be around if a human was anywhere near it on that side. I think it was annoyed that I was disturbing it.
The people here on the rez are pretty superstitious and believe local folk tales of creatures that inhabit the deep woods so these areas are not traveled very often except by visiting hunters who don't know any better.
I was planning on going to that side of the gully and scouting that ridge but it was getting late and I didn't want to be back there alone in the dark with no flashlight so I headed back to the truck. Although it was cold I was getting overheated from the heavy coat I had on. I barely made it back to the truck before dark.
I'm thinking that the howl I heard was a wolf looking for it's mate or the rest of the pack. About 15 years ago I was with my nephew a few miles away and we saw a large canine in a cornfield and chased it in his truck. It was light brown and way bigger that any coyote. It disappeared down a hole in the ground and we lost sight of it.
I'm going to hunt the wolf I heard yesterday along with any deer. I know now that if I do shoot a deer I'd better make sure I get it out of the woods before I leave.
I found some good spots to sit tomorrow when the shotgun/muzzleloader season starts. I walked down a saddle to look in the gully across from a high ridge. I had bumped several deer on the way up.
About halfway down I started hearing a deep howl. A lot deeper and lower than any of the coyote calls I usually hear at dusk and at night. It continued for a couple of minutes then stopped as I got lower down the saddle. This was a heavily wooded area. At first I thought it might have been a local trying to scare me but I also heard a deer wheezing at me from the same general area across the gully. I doubt if that deer would be around if a human was anywhere near it on that side. I think it was annoyed that I was disturbing it.
The people here on the rez are pretty superstitious and believe local folk tales of creatures that inhabit the deep woods so these areas are not traveled very often except by visiting hunters who don't know any better.
I was planning on going to that side of the gully and scouting that ridge but it was getting late and I didn't want to be back there alone in the dark with no flashlight so I headed back to the truck. Although it was cold I was getting overheated from the heavy coat I had on. I barely made it back to the truck before dark.
I'm thinking that the howl I heard was a wolf looking for it's mate or the rest of the pack. About 15 years ago I was with my nephew a few miles away and we saw a large canine in a cornfield and chased it in his truck. It was light brown and way bigger that any coyote. It disappeared down a hole in the ground and we lost sight of it.
I'm going to hunt the wolf I heard yesterday along with any deer. I know now that if I do shoot a deer I'd better make sure I get it out of the woods before I leave.
