I adopted a Min Pen the 20th of April. Up till yesterday he was just adjusting to his new life with us. Over the weekend Michelle took him out for a walk in the back. She never saw the rabbit till both dog and rabbit was in full flight into the woods. Took her 20 minutes to find the dog. Then half way home it was a squirrel. That did not last long, just till the squirrel ran up a tree.
Yesterday morning I put a hunting DVD in and watched coyote hunting with a decoy dog. The little dog Prince, started barking at the coyotes, wanting to fight. Then Bang, the Coyote fell over dead, Prince looked confused. Pretty soon it happened again, then again, Prince was really taking it in. So we went for a walk out back, I carried the .17HMR. Saw a Red Squirrel, Prince took off after it. Squirrel ran up a tree, then started chattering at the dog. I shot the squirrel and it fell down next to the dog. He grabbed it and shook it, then brought it to me. I thought this is good.
At noon I loaded the Jeep and we took off going North. I drove up the Steese Highway, Northeast out of Fairbanks. I turned off on a trail and set up the caller, then backed off about 75 yards and sat down. About ten minutes after calling started Prince growled. I looked where he was looking and saw a Grizzly sow with two cubs heading down off the hill, about 400 yards away. Prince had keyed in on them fast. I shut the E-caller off, and the Sow soon changed directions. We went and picked up the caller and drove a few miles farther up the road. Took a second trail and made a set up. Started out with a squealing rabbit call, nothing after 45 minutes so we moved on.
Third location, started with a Coyote howl. Prince immediately growled. I put on my electronic ears and heard the howling Prince had heard. Less than five minutes later prince growled, and stared off to my right. It took a while before I saw the Coyote sneaking through the brush. Prince was getting excited and yelped. I scolded him and told him to settle down. Coyote started yelping back, but Prince was quite after that. Coyote hung up in brush about 200 yards out. Then Prince growled and looked off up the hill in front of us. If he had not been along I would not have seen the new arrival coming off the hill. Here came a small Grizzly about a two or three year old. It was just passing through, but headed our way. We sat and watched it for a while. As it approached Prince was getting so excited he could not sit still. The small Bear was close to the caller, I hit the Black Bear Growl. That was all it took to start that little bear to moving. Last time I saw it, it was still running hard as it went around the side of the hill. Prince and I sat there till dark, but had nothing else come in. Was hoping for a Black Bear or Wolf. When I went to pickup the caller Prince wanted to follow the bear. prince got excited and kept hitting the end of his leash, could not get him to settle down. He wanted to follow that Bear. Had to drag him back to the Jeep. he may be an asset for finding Bears that run off after being shot on the bait stations. A few more times out and I think he will settle down.
An interesting article in today's paper about a guy on Kodiak getting bit by a Brown Bear. Here is the link.
http://www.newsminer.com/view/full_story/18411305/article-Fairbanks-man-escapes-Kodiak-bear-attack-with-minor-injuries?instance=home_news_window_left_top_2
