My kids were still on Christmas break earlier this week and Cole wanted to shoot a coyote, so we headed out for one last try before he had to hit the books. We hooked up with a good friend of mine, and set up before sunrise to call along a creek overlooking a frozen reservoir. Cole and I sat on one side of a hill with my dog, Sage, and my buddy set up on the opposite side.

Before the sun rose Cole and I spotted a coyote on the edge of the ice looking for the coyote and distress calls my e-caller emitted.

Just as we thought the coyote was headed into our lap, it changed direction toward my buddy. To keep it in Cole's lap, I sent Sage out and the coyote immediately spotted her, but still veered toward my friend. Sensing the coyote was out of our range, my friend took the shot, but missed! Sage lunged toward the sound of the gunshot and the coyote stopped again to reassess the situation, giving my friend another try. He missed again! This time Sage took off growling and barking at the coyote, and the unbelievable happened. Even after being shot at twice, the coyote turned and ran straight for Sage, who was right beside my friend, giving him one last chance at redemption. Right then, the coyote ran out of luck as my buddy tipped it over.

Sage's performance was nothing less than amazing, giving me more confidence than ever that decoy dogs work, even before breeding season. As for my buddy, he learned a good lesson: Shoot your rifle before the hunt. As we ascertained, it was indeed shooting high. I'm off on another hunt, but there's still a lot of winter left to get Cole a coyote.