A week with Kye and Tiff (and Ratkilla)

[unlacedgecko 1,466]

Ive recently been working in Canada. I was given a week off in country and decided to see some of the USA, and hopefully some American hunting. A quick pm exchange with Tiff later and I was on my way to Lincoln Airport, Nebraska. Kye, Tiff and Ratkilla had been at the Loomis Coyote Dog Sale (see Tiff's post in the Running Dog Section) and picked me up on their way home. This was extremely generous of them. But even more generous was them allowing me to stay with them for a week.

 

Lincoln Airport was very pleasant and the weather was lovely after the freezing plains of Alberta.

 

The fountain at the enterance to Lincoln Airport. Clear blue skies were a feature of my trip.

 

A short (!) 5 hour drive later and we were at Kye and Tiff's property in Missouri. I have to admit that I fell asleep in the car on the way, and woke up alone in total darkness, extremely confused as to where I was. The next day was spent sorting myself out and looking at Kye and Tiff's dogs, horses, goats and chickens. It was a lovely spot. The birdsong on te first morning was unforgettable. Flocks of red wing blackbirds gathered in the walnut tree not far from my room each day at dawn. It was really nice to hear, something which I had very much missed on the treeless wastes of Suffield.

 

Later on Kye, Ratkilla, Ben and I went racoon and possum hunting with Kye's two terriers. Monkey and Chimp are half brother and sister, 1/4 Pitbull and 3/4 Patterdale. Bonny looking dogs with wonderful natures, their noses were soon put to the test in one of the many derelict houses on Kye's permission. Monkey has a hell of a head on him, and I was most impressed to see him go 'to ground' in the small space between the floor boards of an upstairs room. His collar had been removed so as not to snag on the flooring, so we located him by sound. Using a prying bar to break through we found him in contact on a very dead possum.

 

From left to right; Chimp, Me, Ratkilla, Monkey and a dead possum.

 

It was the first time I have seen one of these creatures in the flesh and they are truely bizzare. At first glance they look like a large rat, but the 'thumbs' on their feet and dentition mean that they are definitely not rodents. Kye told me that they have more teeth than any other North American land mammal, and their body temperature is too low for them to catch rabies. Mostly carrion eaters, they smell pretty nasty. They also have the strange defence mechanism of pretending to be dead when attacked, hence 'playing possum'.

 

The roof space of this house contained a racoon. This was the first racoon I had ever seen in the flesh and I was surprised at the size of them. Kye estimated the weight of this fella at 18lbs. I saw first hand the ability of racoon to 'wrap' on a dog, bringing their hands and feet into the fight. After a furious minute or two the racoon evaded the terriers and escaped, jumping from the first floor window. A brief search revealed nothing, and he was given best. It was excellent to see Chimp working her first racoon with such enthusiasm. I came away with a new found respect for the ferocity and resiliance of the racoon. Comic relief was provided by Ben falling through the ceiling as he moved through the loft space.

 

Another abandoned house later and again we were digging to Monkey. This dig was much harder as the action took place on the ground floor of the house. Trying to break through carpet and underlay with a digging shovel is no laughing matter. After a bit of knife work and a lot of floorboard breaking with the prying bar we broke through to a large possum. Due to the extremely tight tube Monkey was unable to close with his quarry. Once we opened it up Monkey drew the possum and I witnessed it 'playing possum'. It was very strange. One moment trying to bite the dog and still the next. It was like he suffered a fit or went into a coma. Monkey was removed with the use of a break stick. This was the first time I have seen one used. It is definitely something I will be investing in. The possum was then humanely dispatched using the 45. cal pistol Ben just happened to have lying around in his truck!

 

from left; Ben, me, a very very dead possum, Ratkilla

 

Time was getting on and we called it a day after this. The sunset was amazing, truely a beautiful part of the world. I am extremely jealous of Kye and Tiff for being able to live and hunt in such scenery.

 

[mattydski 560]

Well written chap, a good read. Always good to share a hunt with someone.

[unlacedgecko 1,466]

The next day was spent relaxing around the property. We arranged to go lamping that night, but suffered a mass attack of narcelepsy. I woke to bird song at 0530. I breifly worried that I had been left behind before thinking 'f**k it', turning over and going back to sleep. The day after we resolved to lamp. After another delicious massive meal, this time BBQ, (thanks Tiff!) we headed out in Ben's truck.

 

A brief stop for supplies and gas saw me buying some crisps (chips) and milk. After seeing the label I had second thoughts, but quickly decided that the extra protein would do me good.

 

 

The nature of the country and Kye's extensive permission make lamping on foot impractical. Ben had wired the lamp up to the truck battery so we could lamp all night. I rode on the truck bed with Ratkilla and dogs Feather (stag hound), Apollo (stag hound) and Marley (bullx). The quarry that night were racoon and coyote. After reading posts from the likes of Dan Edwards and UpHill Doc I was really looking forward to seeing these stag hounds in action.

 

A few racoons were spotted but none were runnable. The dogs were slipped on one, but he quickly evaded them in the tall bean fields. The crops were still high when I left, so it was a matter of finding a fallow field with a coon in good position to run. A tall order, but eventually we managed it. Apollo and Feather quickly treed this particular coon on a telegraph pole in the centre of the field.

 

Treed Coon

 

After a bit of 'pole humping' by Chris and I, the coon was shook to the ground and dispatched by the dogs. We moved back to the truck and continued lamping.

 

A while later the beam fell on a skunk, which Ben shot with his .22LR rifle. I was able to see the green spray pumping out of the skunk's arse, and got just a hint of the smell. It would be truely horrific to be actually sprayed by one of these creatures. I saw my first coyote shortly after this. The dogs were slipped, but he evaded them. It was nice to see a coyote on my first night lamping.

 

Later another runnable coon was spotted. This one was treed by Marley. A bit of smart climbing from Kye saw this coon knocked to the ground, where Marley dispatched it in short order.

 

From left; Ratkilla, Marley, Me, dead Coon

 

The power of this dog is very impressive. Not the biggest of coon, but its pelt was in a better condition than the other one. I decided to skin out this one, in the hope of making my own Davey Crockett hat. The damage to the rib cage looked like someone had treated it to a close range blast from a 12 bore. Definitely not one for eating.

 

Feather being encouraged to rag on the coon carcass.

 

Another coyote was spotted mousing along the side of a drainage ditch. The way he listened and pounced was very fox like. Kye and Ben agreed that he was one of this years pups from his small size and the way he didn't flinch when the light fell on him. An excellent quarry for young dogs Feather and Apollo, and all 3 were slipped. The course lasted 5-600m and felt like hours. Despite Marley getting close early on and Feather making rapid gains towards the end, the coyote made it to the tree line and evaded the dogs in a nearby bean field. I didn't mind though, as I had seen a truely magnificent run. It was an excellent end to the nights hunting and we returned to Kye and Tiff's, getting into bed about 0600.

 

 

 

[unlacedgecko 1,466]

Although I didn't do anymore hunting during that trip I thoroughly enjoyed the rest of my time. It was really nice to spend time in the company of like minded people and see some quality dogs work. I also saw some amazing wildlife. Most of the time I was so excited I forgot I had my camera with me, but here are some of the other photos I took.

 

 

These tubes were on the under side of a bridge. Kye told me that they are built by some kind of wasp. The wasps shape these nests out of mud for their larvae.

 

This was a large cricket which spent a lot of time watch Ratkilla and I in the yard one day. We thought it was only fair that we watched him back a little.

 

For several days we had live catch traps set under the bridge with the wasp nests. We hoped to catch a racoon, but the traps were empty every morning. A final check on my last day revealed a large possum. He was not out intended quarry that day, and he was doing no harm so he was relased. After a short swim across the stream he treed and enabled me to take a few close ups of him. This photo really shows the thumbs on his front feet.

 

 

I had an excellent time visiting Kye and Tiff. I am truely grateful to them for taking me hunting. It was extremely generous of them to put me up for a week, especially as they didn't know me and had never met me before. This was illustrated when Tiff asked what my second name was after I had been staying there for 4 days. My one regret is that I did not see Kye's top terrier Agro work. This dog is 6 and a demon on all quarry. Amazingly, he also has no left hip joint following a car accident.

 

Agro looking a truely evil b*****d.

 

Thanks very much Kye and Tiff. I hope to come and visit you again some time soon. I definitely had the time of a lifetime.

 

cheers

 

Ug

[skycat 6,173]

Now that's what I call a post! Thank you so much for putting up such a detailed account of your trip: I'm always fascinated to hear more about different quarry in foreign lands. Tif and Kye are lucky to live in such an incredible place, and sound like great people as well.

["Earth!" 503]

Excellent post you jammy baastard

had ratkilla at my place 2 nights before he left for the states and was telling me of all the things them yanks get up to,i was particulary interested in the coyote side of things..

ratkilla did tell me to go out there for a hunting break but until he has saved up enough for my flight tickets etc,i will have to put up with our sport

[.terrier man. 193]

good read that, nice one butt.

[staffs riffraff 1,068]

awesome hunting and excellent write up bet your having a fucckin wicked time out there selfish fooker lol

[IanB 0]

Excellent post unlacedgecko, now thats what this site is all about...like minded folk sharing days out hunting... I like it !

[Tiff 36]

Gecko we were MORE than happy to have you, likeminded, hardworking folks are always welcomed here! There was no fannying about ... you pm'd me, we spoke once, you got your tickets (which must have cost a fortune for a next day departure from a small town to another small town!), and were here after making 3 plane connections the very next day ... THAT is dedication! We had previously pm'd about transporting a dog, but other than that you only had what we had posted previously to form an opinion of us ... very brave of you to trust us The sushi on the way home in some little podunk town in Nebraska was a nice bonus (thanks for the treat!), who would have known they even knew what sushi WAS in Nebraska (haha to all you Huskers out there!) When we'd gotten home all of the dogs were absolutely SCREAMING so I took care of the house dogs while Kye and Ratkilla (and I thought you!) were dealing with the kennel dogs. About 30 minutes later when Kye and Ratkilla came in without you, I asked and was told you were sleeping in the car I asked Kye to go and get you, but then you materialized and I could only imagine what you'd thought ... that you'd gome all this way only to be abandoned somewhere Or worse yet ... Deliverance!

 

House hunting can be hazardous, I can only imagine the image of Ben hanging by his one foot upside down through a 2nd story cieling must have been hillarious, but he was lucky that day! He is too good a friend to lose, especially at the beginning of the season Monkey (from Hoss) is a special dog, and is learning the few tricks coon have, and not many will get away from him as he matures. Actually Monkey and Chimps (from RC1) dad Spade is the one who is 1/4 bull, making those two 1/8 bull, but you wouldn't know it to see how small they are, and Spade is similar in size to Monkey so again, who wouldda thunk it? Chimp still has a long way to go but she is learning. Size will be her problem, she is just SMALL and since Kye doesn't really dig chucks, we aren't too sure where she will end up.

 

Marley is learning the ropes of American Quarry ... any of you lads and lasses who think they are a piece of piss need to put their money where their mouth is and bring their dogs here ... you WILL change your mind.

 

Feather (mine) and Apollo (Bens) (they are belly bro/sis from Tomkat) are coming on well, a lot will be learned by those two this season. When the crops are down (predicted to have 100% in within 8 days of today with the degree weather we are having with NO rain!), things will be absolutely humming around here!

 

The Tia pups are coming on well, that one really saluki looking one was acting completely differently the past few days, so we will have to see what happens with her ... still don't know what or how many I'm keeping!

 

STILL nothing in the traps! I guess there is just so much food everywhere that nothing we are baiting with is more attractive than that ... of course I think he should use marshmallows but since when does Kye do what I say?? :kiss:

 

Gecko you are welcome back any time, and I don't say that lightly. I've had a couple of other lads visit me who I would not say the same about. You get one chance with me, use it wisely Folks he ws instrumental in fencing in an additional pasture for me with electric tape, something I've been asking to have done for months ... and just having another person here to appreciate my cooking for the few days I was actually here put me in a good mood for the week! And since I'm a stroppy cow, that means a lot!

 

I guess the point here is that #1 don't let a negative guest experience prevent you from giving other lads and lasses a chance at a day (or week) out ... #2 keep an open mind ... #3 don't leave 3 boys together with a tube of lube, you don't know what shock you'll have when you come home early

[Tiff 36]

First Jugs wanted me to tell you "hi!"

 

 

Anubis too

 

 

and the horses are grateful for the new feeding ground on the other side of the fence!

 

 

here is an example of the floor they had to bust through

 

 

and the corner of the attic where the coon was up under the eaves

 

 

feather and apollo

 

 

and the coon has apollo

 

 

 

[atuddy 179]

top read good on yous kye and tiff :thumbs:

[Mars 42]

:clapping: :clapping: :clapping:

[Waz 4,224]

Very very nice to see nice minded folk getting it together. Funny photo that with the spade on the floorboards! lol, u need a battery powered skillsaw.

[staffs riffraff 1,068]

seen a bit of the quarry over there now and by no means does it look easy far far from it especially those big racoons they could do some damage i bet. what terriers were used over there before patts thanks