2. Paws In The Snow

It wasn't hard for the three young coyote brothers to keep warm as they curled up in the dry grasses together under the low handing branches of the old Juniper tree.
The coldest part of the night would soon be here since it was almost dawn. There was a light skiff of snow covering the sage brush flatlands they had recently moved down too when the cold forced them down from the mountains. There should have been four brothers under the tree but one had chosen to stay in the mountains longer.
Some of the brothers fitful dreams included all four of them but the dreams soon ended as they awoke with the sunrise.

Stretching and yawning they greeted the day one by one. There wasn't much play among the brothers this morning. Their empty stomachs were their first concerns. The nearby bushes were marked to indicate their presence and then they lined out on a track to an alfalfa field not far away. The scent of rabbit had been all around that field the evening before.

The lead brother caught scent of some carrion upwind and decided to investigate.
They found the source of the scent in a clearing and cautiously observed the area from the tall sage brush on the edge. Finally the prospect of a meal prodded them into moving out in the clearing. Their paws barely made a sound in the new soft snow. The carcass was covered in white and they nuzzled it in anticipation of a good meal when the lead brother drew back. The carcas smelled too familiar and the other brothers also realized that it was their missing brother.

Loosing interest they decided to look for another meal. Heading down a draw the lead brother caught a new scent, one he didn't recognize. He had not been around humans and didn't know about coffee or the other odors coming from the old elk hunter's camp but he knew they were new and could spell danger.
He picked up the pace as they reached the bottom of the draw and lead his brothers down an old dry creek bed and further from the possible danger.

The old elk hunter finished up his breakfast and shouldered his rifle. He checked to ensure his calls were in his coat and headed for the nearby draw as he had planned.
A short walk and he was in the draw where he checked for movement before he started down it and then abruptly stopped when he saw the fresh coyote tracks in the snow. He grinned when he realized there were three of them. They were yearlings and he knew they were probably not wise to the calls. This was going to be a good day. He chambered a 6mm Benchrest cartridge knowing that the 55 grain Nosler would do its job very dependably. It had the day before.