Predator Call

Matt Martinez of Dallas, Texas passed away on March 13, 2009 after a lengthy battle with cancer.  Matt had been one of my closest hunting partners over the last ten years.  While most will remember Matt for his culinary skills, I will remember him for his quick witt and love of the great outdoors.  To my knowledge, he is the only world class chef who hunted coyotes.  He understood that it took more hunting skill to trick a coyote on his turf than to kill a monster buck from a blind.  He was patient and understood that hunting did not necessarily mean killing.  No matter how slow the hunting or brutal the weather, Matt would not complain. I had the honor to visit with Matt a few weeks ago.  Walking with the aid of a walker, Matt never mentioned that we might have hunted our last hunt, rather talked about how good the hunting would be next fall.  He was eternally optomistic and had a special way of making everyone around him feel you were important to him.  While I cherish the time we spent in the woods, it is the time we spent in camp that was most special to me.