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Coyotes

are prey in B. Bow calling contest

Kearney Hub

The hunt is open to anyone interested in hunting. Wilkie said

women and children have hunted on some of the teams. Hunters must find their

own areas to call ...

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Coyotes are prey in B. Bow calling

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Photo by: Courtesy

Danal Wilkie enjoys coyote calling because the hunter becomes the hunted. His

passion for the sport led him to organize a contest in Broken Bow.

 

Posted: Saturday, January 9, 2010 9:40 am

By KRIS WILLIAMS Hub Regional Correspondent | 0 comments

BROKEN BOW —

The thrill of being the hunted rather than the hunter is one of the reasons

Danal Wilkie loves coyote calling.

“I’m a coyote

caller from the word go,†Wilkie said. “It’s in my blood, and I’d rather do

that than hunt deer, actually. It’s an adrenaline rush.â€

Callers

imitating the sound of an injured rabbit, turkey or deer draw coyotes to come

looking for them, he explained.

To feed his

passion, Wilkie organized a coyote-calling contest at Broken Bow. The

sixth-annual contest will be from 7 p.m. Friday to 6 p.m. Jan. 16. Two-person

teams will attempt to call and kill as many coyotes as possible. At check-in

time, the team with the most coyotes wins.

For years,

Wilkie and a buddy traveled to other coyote-calling contests.

“We decided,

‘Why not have some of them come to Broken Bow?’†he said. “Since then, some of

the others have ended, but ours is still going strong.â€

The first

event in 2004 drew 10 teams and produced six dead coyotes. All previous hunts

were 12-hour hunts. This time, he’s expecting 25 to 30 teams for the hunt.

“My contest is

actually a pretty small contest compared to some,†Wilkie said. “We’ve grown

over the years; 25 to 30 teams is kind of a nice number in my book.â€

Sign-up is

between 6:15 p.m. and 6:45 p.m. at the Tumbleweed Café in Broken Bow. A list of

rules will be read before the 7 p.m. shotgun start. Both team members must be

present. Hunters must return with their trophies not a minute later than 6 p.m.

to Trotter’s Service station, along Highway 2 in Broken Bow.

“If you can

stand going 24 hours nonstop, that’s great,†Wilkie said. His own plan includes

making a few attempts in different locations, taking a nap and starting again

right before daylight.

“Right before

and after dark and at first dawn are normally the best times to hunt,†he said.

“All those coyotes that didn’t catch anything in the night are looking for

something (to eat) in the morning.â€

“I’ll probably

try and get a little bit of sleep before the contest, hunt into the night, take

a three-hour nap in the night and, hopefully, hunt from 4 a.m. to 5 a.m. all

the way through the end of the contest,†he said.

The hunt is

open to anyone interested in hunting. Wilkie said women and children have

hunted on some of the teams.

Hunters must

find their own areas to call coyotes and must get permission from landowners,

but hunting is allowed anywhere in Nebraska. Hunters must abide by all local,

state and federal game laws.

“My main thing

is making safety the No. 1 priority,†Wilkie said. “Get permission (to hunt) on

grounds so we don’t ruin it for future hunting. Watch your boundaries.â€

One of the

rules is that all coyotes must be called, either electronically, vocally or

with mouth calls.

“It’s an honor

system,†Wilkie said. “Don’t just shoot one you see and then say you called it.

We keep an eye out for cheaters.â€

Wilkie said

pen-raised and trapped coyotes will not be accepted. Neither will those that

have been chased down with an all-terrain vehicle.

He said he’s

been taught some of the tricks that cheaters might try and will use a

thermometer to check the core temperature of questionable ones to determine the

time of the coyote’s death. They must have been killed during the 24-hour hunt.

There will be

a $40 bounty for the heaviest coyote and cash will be paid to the top four

teams. The amount of winnings depends on the number of entries, Wilkie said.

Last year’s first-place team earned $400 and second place earned $300. The team

entry fee is $40.

Wilkie hopes

to get enough prizes so that everyone gets something. He has received donations

from companies such as Cabela’s and Hornady Manufacturing.

Check-in is

Wilkie’s favorite time of the entire hunt.

“That’s when

you hear everybody’s little stories of things that happened throughout the

contest,†he said. Over the years of contests, he has met a lot of new friends.

“We’ve always

got new faces coming in, and I like to meet other people that enjoy doing

exactly what I like to do. We’ve used (the hunt) to get other people interested

in coyote calling,†he said. Wilkie has a new partner, Chris Rudichar of

Ansley, this year.

Not only does

coyote hunting reduce coyote overpopulation, which helps ranchers and farmers

that are raising livestock, it helps control mange, Wilkie said. His goal in

killing coyotes is to prevent suffering in the animals with mange.

The disease is

extremely contagious and affects as much as 70 percent of the coyote

population. It is caused by a mite that burrows into the skin and causes

irritation. Coyotes with mange can lose their fur, which makes it difficult for

them to control their body temperature.

“It’s a slow,

painful death,†Wilkie said. “A coyote loses his fur, develops sores and,

eventually, he’ll die from that.â€

For more

information about the hunt, contact Wilkie at 308-870-0942 or co-chair Dusty

Rasmussen at 402-540-7359. Wilkie hopes hunters will eat a $9 pre-hunt buffet

at the Tumbleweed Café as a way to thank the cafe for letting the group use its

building as a starting point.

e-mail to:

betsy.friedrich