“When John Glynn goes hunting, he means business,” ammoland.com reports. “He and his decoy dogs, Nuts and Scrap, are the primary protectors of 1800 head of cattle in S.E. Oklahoma, which roam freely on his 10,000 acres. So do the coyotes. Lots of them.” The goal: get the dogs to engage the coyote and ‘work it’ until the coyote gets ‘hooked.’ He wants the dog to bring the coyote back to within shooting range, but rarely do the coyotes respond alone.” So already we’ve got some controversy brewing; some might object to the idea of siccing dogs on coyotes, lest dog (and for some) coyote get injured. That includes the writer . . .
When I first saw a video of a hunt with a decoy dog, my concern was that the dog could get seriously hurt. I mean those coyotes are ultra-quick and mean! But, so are the hunting dogs. Big, tails bobbed, and tough enough to take care of themselves. But, if the coyotes are too numerous, John evens the score with a centerfire rifle.
Hunter Glynn defends the practice . . .
“As far as injuries to my dogs, they have had a few minor scrapes. I don’t know of any dogs personally that have been seriously hurt while working coyotes. I guess the worst thing that could happen is to have multiple coyotes on a single dog. That is why I run two dogs. Typically, my dogs chase the coyotes around and neither makes much contact. Every now and then, a coyote will want to fight. When one shows that much aggression, I will take him out before it gets a chance to hurt my dogs. My dog’s safety is my first concern!!! Always! It is my job to “read” the coyotes to determine how they are going to react to my dogs. My dogs are very capable of taking care of themselves though.”
“In the video above, John’s wife, April, finishes the job,” ammoland writes. Yes, well, not really. The coyote is alive as John’s dog rip it to pieces. Which is where Glynn lost a whole lot of support. As far as technique is concerned, the video above may not be entirely representative of an average kill.
“As far as firearms, he uses typical varmint centerfire calibers such as the .223, .22-250 and .243. He states that there isn’t near as much muzzle blast and it saves on the dogs hearing, as well as his. ‘The typical shot when using my dogs are from 25 yards to 100 yards. I have had coyotes close enough to actually touch many times’, explains John.
Both writer and subject are aware that this story will create controversy. Neither seems to care.
Certainly, this type of hunting is not for everyone. Cruel some will claim. But, John describes cruel as a neighboring sheep farmer having lost 40 lambs on a 30-acre parcel in a single night to crazed coyotes. And, that’s why John and his decoy dogs are in high demand in the 125,000 acres he hunts for others.
If only it had been a clean kill . . . Not always possible, of course. But desirable? Preferable? Definitely.