Actually, I did know to expect- yet an open ambush, just kinda unfolds unexpectedly, sometimes... These were the first yotes of the fall season. I don't hunt fur, venison or bird, since '76. Fish and abalone have a kind master by me, as does, the wild azz Gualala coastal pig- and I always get my well reasoned choice. I do raise beef stock and will cull predators, without notice to anyone- just like all my good neighbors. We watch, talk and take good notice. Herd/Field watch is older than snot, but not as old as Mt.Shasta...lol
I took my family to Crane Flat mid August this year. Stayed for five days and had a great time. The first night we were there a pack of coyotes woke up the whole camp at 2:00am with an hour-long chorale of yipping and howling. They were at the edge of a meadow, probably 250yd from our tent, but it was plenty close enough. I grew up in the SoCal hills, and have heard em off and on at night, but never a whole pack of them like that. All of em, with their voices echoing through those tall fir trees...man it was totally primal. At once, majestic, eerie and beautiful.