I've alluded to this story in a few other posts, so - here goes...
Tonka's first night camping was a last-minute 'throw some crap in the jeep' trip. It was a long weekend (Labor-Day) and I needed to get out of the city, and into the woods.
It was a long trip - but Tonka loves riding in the Jeep - he was confused about why I had put the top on, and he couldn't stick his head out the side, but there was plenty of air coming in through the front windows, so he took his position in the back with his head over my left shoulder, almost, but not quite out the window.
The trip was a long one, about 2 hours until we got off the pavement - at this point, we stopped, leashed up and got out for a walk, to stretch the legs and do some business.
The trip on the fireroads to find a campsite was much less distance, but still about an hour long. It was already dark, and the roads were out of maintenance, not to mention all the wildlife running around, so we took it slow.
We got to a Y in the road, and found this sign:
Decided to keep pressing forward to find a place to camp, and finally did.
Got out, it was probably 11:30pm by now, and very dark. In the pines, hardly any moonlight at all...
When we got out of the Jeep, before I even herd anything, I felt Tonka tense-up...when I reached down to pet him, all the hair on the back of his neck was standing straight up. Then, we started to hear the coyotes.
I've hunted coyotes - and this was exhilarating - hunting a predatory species will do that to you. I'd heard and experienced first hand their hunting sounds and techniques.
What I heard was nothing to be concerned about yet - they were sounding locator howls - but I heard between 6 and 8 distinct animals in different locations.
So, I tied Tonka's lead up to the front of the Jeep, right in the headlights and floodlights, and started to pitch the tent about 10 yards away. About halfway through pitching the tent, I realized that I didn't hear Tonka's collar/tags jingling anymore. At almost the exact same instant, the coyotes changed vocalizations from the locator howl to a hunting yip/bark.
When I looked over at the Jeep, the leash ended with his collar still attached, but no Tonka.
My heart sunk, then jumped into my throat.
Without sinking, I dropped my flashlight, grabbed my shotgun and took off in the direction that the yips were moving, running through the dark woods, basically blind.
When we first started hearing the 'yotes, they were in a basic circle around us - on all sides. At this point, all the yips were coming from one direction - and it's that direction that I was running towards.
Nary a sound from Tonka, but all the 'yotes seemed to be in one place, and getting VERY excited, more frequent, louder, higher-pitched vocalizations every minute. I couldn't run fast enough.
About 2 minutes later, I heard the two loudest, deepest barks I'd ever come from my dog - clearly from my dog.
"RUFF - RUFF"
Then nothing. Silence.
I could hear nothing moving, no fighting, howling, yipping, barking, nothing in the woods in front of me.
I called out to Tonka once, then sat down next to a tree and waited.
About 10 minutes passed, and I finally heard something running towards me - head on, and FAST. I stood up and shouldered the gun, but still couldn't see anything.
When this something got what sounded like about 20 yards away, it started growling. I was so relieved.
This wasn't a growl, growl, but a "Hey pops, missed ya, how are ya!" growl...from Tonka...
We walked back towards camp, I used my belt as a slip-lead to get him back...
When we got back, I made 2 new holes in Tona's collar, and cinched that puppy up REAL tight.
The rest of the weekend, he was tethered to my side, and we hiked, hunted, fished, sat by the fire, and had a great time - although he didn't sleep well. Come to find out, my dog is an incredible sissy when it comes to the cold weather...
Now - hopefully this give some context to the questions I ask about camping, and how to break him of running off after many more, bigger, meaner animals than he is...
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