Coyote-outing #2...
I was laying down along the ridgeline, enjoying the feeling of being outside rather than back in the office. The sun was out, strong enough even this early in the spring that the radiant heat was a welcome contrast to that dry foohills wind slowly sucking the heat through my cloths and the moisture from the skin of my exposed face. The odd large, late-afternoon cloud was blowing through and when this happened I could feel the grip of winter wrestle with the warmth of spring.
I'd been up there for about 2 hours, watching the rancher's pile of dead calves in the hopes the coyotes would show. I was under dressed for waiting like this, and passing time got harder and harder as I became colder and colder, starting to shiver. To try and pass the time easier, I would glass the open country side around me, slowly studying as much as possible, concentrating on the detail of how the light changes as the clouds move through. Part of this routine involved rolling over onto my back so I could glass the countryside behind me - and there it was...that little difference, just a speck, but a speck with movement!!
Movement - among the birthing cows and their calves in a stubble field across the valley gently rolling valley - yes, movement! About a kilometer and a half away. Careful study revealed a lone coyote dropping out of the willowy scrub that covered the top of the hill, a couple of ravens in close orbit. The coyote approached the cows, and began to test them and their calves for weakness while patrolling with experience for scraps of afterbirth.
I rolled back over and had one last look at the dead pile. I was cold enough that a stalk across the valley would be a welcome change yet did not quite want to give up on the dead pile. Then...another coyote!! This one appear in front of me about 500 meters out, clearing the scrub and moving away from the setup. I gently squeeked the variable pitch predator call to see if she was interested in a free meal. Ha! The coyote did not even stop to look, instead breaking into a loping trot away as she turned to look, laughing as she went. "I've heard that before!". Oh well...maybe I'll get you later at the dead-pile.
Decision made - a stalk across the valley!
I slid down the off the ridge and planned my route to keep me masked by terrain as much as possible. It would add about another kilometer to the stalk, and I would need to crawl the last few hundred meters to get within comfortable shooting range. I was carrying my Robinson Armament XCR set up in .223 Remington. It was still equipped with the Elcan Spectre DR as per my last outing and offered either true zero power or fixed 4 power. Couple that with the accuracy of me and my rifle - about 2 and a half inches at 100 yards from field positions - and I was looking at a maximum effective range of about 250 yards.
Once out of sight I got to jogging and 15 minutes later I was in position to begin the final stalk. I was sucking wind pretty hard from the run, but still able to close the gap quickly with some butt-scooting and sideways crawling, then down into the final commando crawl. Mental note to self....next time pick a slightly longer route that avoids all the cow pattie land mines. Their density was tight enough that I was almost unable to avoid them and talk about some nasty smells!
I crested the gentle swell I'd been using for cover and was rewarded with the perfect sight picture. There he was...a small-ish but well furred coyote chowing down on some afterbirth. Out came the laser range finder - 300 yards...d'oh! Need to get a bit closer! I inched back behind the swell and quickly crawled up the hill a bit to the edge of the field where the grass was a bit taller and the terrain was broken with the odd scubby willow. I slipped along the edge until I crested the swell again which should put me about a fifty meters closer to the site, but DAMN!!!! The coyote was on the move!!
He was moving parallel to the route I had taken up the hill, along the top of a terrain feature that was big enough to mask him if he moved just two or three meters back. Fortune was on my side though and he just kept moving straight towards the scrub. The range was approximately 225 yards. If he hit the scrub though there would be an excellent chance I'd lose him, so I got ready to shoot and when he was just a meter or two away I made the desperate lip squeek....
He stopped to give me "the look" as I gently stroked the safety lever down...
Proned Out....
Perfect Natural Point of Aim...
Perfect Sight Picture...
Broadside Coyote....
Stop Breathing....
Leg moving forward on coyote....time to hurry....
CRACK!
The wet-sounding return-report was distinctive, and he crumpled on the spot - dead right there. I kept him in the rifle sights for about 5 minutes to make sure before turning to glass the cows prior to standing up and approach the coytote. After detecting no other opportunities I got up and went to collect my fur.
He was a great looking coyote with a beautiful pelt. Despite being young (his teeth were pearly white), his face was super-scarred up from a massive amount of fighting. Bad enough that he had a nasty abscess on the bottom of his jaw. Picking him up though was surprising....despite his relatively small stature he was heavy! About 35 to 40 lbs.
Terminal Ballistics Report - I'm shooting a 50gr Barnes Varmint Grenade. This is my first season coyote hunting with them and I have to say I'm impressed. I have not bigtime-blown-up a pelt yet in the exit wound department, depsite my initial concerns that the 50 grain bullet would be too much (as it is with the hornady and nosler offerings). This particular shot was at around 225 yards and at this range, albeit with perfect shot placement, the bullet made a .22 caliber hole going in with no exit hole. Liquified boiler-room internals. Awesome terminal performance, great accuracy, and relatively fur friendly....A+++!!
Range report on the XCR?? The sling setup I've rigged up works great. It's a two point sling that uses HK style hooks to attach to parachord loops I've passed through the hole in the back of the FAS stock and the hole in the side of the Troy Fixed Front Sight. A couple of sliding buckles allow me to easily adjust it's length, and the rifle lays nicely along my back and side when walking or running.
Crawling with the rifle - many of the ways I crawl (and butt-scurry) involve placing the rifle sideways on the ground and transfering my weight to it as I scoot along. If I hold the rifle such that the ejection port is facing the ground this is not a problem as the rifle lays pretty flat, but if I hold it such that the charging handle faces the ground (as is my preference as I like to keep the ejection port clean), the charging handle is what makes contact with the ground. It's flimsy enough that I'm scared of breaking it, so I had to make a mental note to make sure the rifle is ejection-port-down when crawling. A good design fix for this would be to make a hinged style charging handling...like what is on the FAL.
Accuracy - well within my expectations and on-par with my ability.
Fasteners on the XCR - I check this every time I go out and every time I come back. While only one round was fired on this outing, there was a considerable amount of rifle handling throughout the stalk. All fasteners stayed nice and tight.
FAS stock - no issues with it coming un-latched despite all the rough handling. Love the Cheek Weld and face position with the ELCAN.
Elcan Spectre DR as Optic for the XCR - Perhaps a little light in the magnification department for coyote hunting, but not seemingly a limiting factor. I really do love it's versatility though...at 1 power it is an awesome CQB sight especially in conjunction with the fixed front post. I'll get it out to my steel range in the next month or two and report back on what it's like with silhouettes out to 450 meters.
Thanks for reading!
Cheers,
Brobee