Enter subscriber Jim Helinger who has asked us to help him promote the upcoming World Coyote Shootout to be held in Medicine Hat, Alberta, January 27-28, 2006. The contest involves calling and hunting coyotes on private ranches throughout the area. Two-man teams will be assisted by local guides with access to the properties. The team that shoots the most coyotes wins a trophy and a pair of jackets sporting the World Coyote Shootout logo. "It's going to be incredibly fun," says Helinger, who is helping local outfitter Darryl Geisbrecht of Great Plains Outfitters organize the event.
Helinger says he has hunted for deer in the Medicine Hat area for the past nine years with Geisbrecht and has filed numerous reports about the quality deer hunting there. He says Geisbrecht does not expect to make any money with the contest but is hoping to expose hunters to his area while removing a large number of coyotes.
Contest participants are free to use their preferred hunting methods. The Medicine Hat area features wide-open, gently rolling farmland with brush-filled coulees interspersed by some wooded areas. Helinger says hunters will see lots of coyotes right out in the open and should be prepared to take shots up to 300 yards. Hunters are free to keep the pelts, which Helinger says are well primed in January. He says this is also when the coyotes come into rut.
The number of teams for the Coyote Shootout will be limited to 20. The registration fee is $1,250, but those who register before October 1 pay $1,100. That covers two full days of hunting with a local guide, transportation during the hunt, lodging for three nights, a welcome party, dinner each night and an awards banquet, plus official contest shirts and hats. The winning team will be invited back next........(continued)
