ALLEN
MORRIS AND PREDATOR HUNTING
Predator Hunting 101 – The Beginner
EDITOR’S NOTE: What does it take to become a
professional hunter, and get to travel the country doing
TV shows, putting on seminars, making videos and spending
most of your life as a hunter? What gives a predator
pro the credentials to stand before a group and speak
as an expert? Allen Morris of Springville, Utah, a Hunter’s
Specialties’ pro, has hunted coyotes for 28 years.
He has placed in the top 10 in the last nine World Championships
of Predator Hunting and came out second place in 2002.
Although Morris and his partner had the same number
of coyotes as the first-place team - 13 taken in 1-1/2-days,
the first-place team returned to the tournament site
10 minutes ahead of Morris. Since the contest is judged
on who takes the most coyotes the quickest, those 10
minutes were the difference between first place and
second place. However, no one can dispute that Allen
Morris is one of the best predator hunters in the nation.
This week, we’ll talk with Morris about hunting
predators.
When
I was a boy, every fall my dad and I would go and collect
hay in a little town called Delta, Utah, which was about
60 miles from my home. We had to bring home 30 to 40
tons of hay to feed our 12 to 20 horses throughout the
winter. When I arrived home from school one day when
I was 12-years old, Dad said, “Allen, get that
lever action .243 out of the gun cabinet and bring the
clip with the shells also. We’re going to get
this last load of hay today. When I was at the hayfield
earlier, I saw a coyote mousing in the field. If we
see that coyote, I’ll let you shoot him.”
When my dad told me to get that gun, and that I might
have a chance to take a coyote, I couldn’t have
been more excited than if he had told me that we were
going to the fair. That was the most-exciting ride I’d
ever had to Delta, Utah. I was anticipating that there
might be a coyote mousing in the hayfield, and that
I might have an opportunity to take a shot at it. When
we arrived at the hayfield, I looked out in the field,
but didn’t see anything. Naturally, I was a little
depressed. I walked over to the cowboy gate to open
it, so Dad could bring the truck and trailer through
the gate to get the hay. Just as I opened the gate,
I saw the coyote standing in the edge of the field in
the high grass that hadn’t been cut.
When
the coyote spotted me, he started loping across the
field. I was so excited. I hurried back to the truck
to tell Dad. I put the clip in the .243 gun and worked
the lever action on the Model 88 .243 Winchester. Then
I saw the coyote loping across the field at about 100
yards. I’ll never forget how nervous and excited
I was as I aimed and fired. I shot that coyote in the
back of the head right between the ears. The coyote
had been running straight away, and I couldn’t
have made a luckier shot. My dad could hardly believe
I’d killed that coyote. I don’t know who
was the most excited, me or my dad. Loading the hay
was postponed because Dad and I spent the next two hours
skinning the coyote. Because I’d heard that you
could get paid money for those coyote hides, I took
the coyote hide to a fur buyer, who gave me $22. That
was big money for a 12-year-old. That $22 financed five
or six boxes of shotgun shells with duck loads. That
one coyote bought me enough shells for quite a few days
of duck hunting. I never lost my love for hunting those
coyotes since that first one I took. I made the video
“Operation Predator 1,” and I just finished
“Operation Predator 2,” for Hunter’s
Specialties. I’ve helped create the Coyote Dog
Howler for Hunter’s Specialties too.
To learn more about Hunter’s Specialties’
predator products, go to www.hunterspec.com.
TOMORROW: GETTING STARTED PREDATOR
HUNTING
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