Posted at HBC but they got the slow, drawn out, 4 post version....LOL
If you recall last weekend I fanned on the drive by double:
So with BC having the Family Day long weekend I figured this would be a good time to get out a few times and call some Coyotes. I had a good spot picked via some reconnaissance work on Google Earth and knowing that the entire area holds a ####load of dogs.
Saturday:
Up at 5AM, truck fueled up, breakfast in hand and on the hwy at 5:47.
Thermo in the truck says -24C.....perfect.
So I get to the road head (gps said so) about 6:40 (Thermo now reads -30C....brrrrrr), get my gear together and start walking . I walk, and I walk, and I walk some more and now I'm thinking "I should have come to road/trail that was supposed to head left about 800m from the main road" . Well a short while later I come across a 1K marker and know I'm on the wrong road. Well I'm already a K in I might as well keep going and see if there are any good spots up ahead.
I find a nice wide draw at about the 1.75K mark so I figure this is as good a spot as any. The wind is in my favor, bonus. I set out the e-caller, get cozied up under a tree and just sit for 15 mins to let things cool down from the walk in. I start with a few Howls on the hand call, wait a few mins then follow up with some rabbit distress. Wait another few minutes and fire up the Foxpro with a Female Long Howl, let it run for about 2 minutes and went to switch to another Female call when the Foxpro quits making noise all together, the jack decoy keeps moving but no sound. I move back to the hand calls with rabbit and pup distress sounds but nothings coming in. I pack up to go and I'm halfway up the small hill, heading back to the road, when I hear a Coy group chattering a few hundred yards to my right.
My toes and fingers are numb but I sit for a few minutes and try and draw them out but no luck.
I walk back the 1.75K to the truck and make the decision to head up the road to another spot just to see if anything's movin over there. I park the truck in the trees, walk up to a place I had called from before and started calling, about 5 minutes in there's barking and howling where I didn't expect it to come from (those things can be anywhere). I relocate to try and get it to come in but I think it busted me and saw the truck in the trees as the next bark/howl came from quite a bit farther away than the previous one did.
Heading home I decide to take the long way and lo and behold I get a drive by on the side of the road, I feel better about the day but it's still a drive by.
Sunday AM:
Planned to head out to the ranch I have permission to hunt on, alarm goes off at 5:30, I reach over to hit the snooze button but apparently I turned it off completely, get up at 9:30. Screw it, I got work around the house to do. I'll go out tonight.
Sunday PM:
Head out again to the same area, only this time I plan to park at the right road. Well I get there and there's a car parked at the road head. "Damn". I find another unknown road a little further up and decide to walk in. I come to a beautiful little swamp area with a great spot to sit under a willow, set out the call, get under the bush and let things settle.
Called for about an hour, had 3 groups of dogs around me but just could not get any to come in, that is until almost dark. I had decided to pack up.....I got 20 paces from my gun heading out to grab the Foxpro, in knee deep snow, and of course I spot a Coyote cutting across the far end of the marsh. I tried to race back to the gun but by the time I got on the scope he was gone.
Monday AM:
5AM, coffee and smoke, get dressed, on the road at 5:25. Finally get to the spot I had been trying to get to all weekend, grab my gear and start the walk in.
I get to the edge of the lake about 50yds in from the end, find some nice cover, light up a smoke and try and figure out a game plan. There was little to no wind but what wind there was happened to be coming more off my back than what I would have like, so the plan was to leave the Foxpro out in front of where I was and move back the 50yds to the end which would put the wind from my left side and the caller upwind and 50yds in front of me.
From where I was sitting there was a small peninsula to my left that rose up from the lake and another straight out from me that also rose up putting me in a small bay, as I was moving my stuff around figuring out what to leave at the spot (had my snowshoes with me that I had actually carried in) and what to take to the end with me, I look up on the peninsula to my left and something doesn't look quite right. I grab my bino's and sure enough there's a Coyote staring right at me, I had ranged the hill top earlier at 217yds.
Here is a Panoramic View from the spot I was about to move from, you can see the rise on the left hand side:
I slowly get the gun into position, get on the scope, 1. I am elated that he is still there and didn't run from my movement, 2. He now has a friend with him.
Knowing they are 200yds+ away I am hoping I can get them in closer, I let out a few lip squeaks and away they come like they were on a string and reel. They run in about 100yds and slow up, I put the crosshairs on the chest of the farthest one, BANG-FLOP, it's mate turns to run so I let out a few barks and she stops and doubles back a few steps, BANG-SPIN-RUN....dammit!!!!
I watch her run up the hill to the left of the lake but couldn't get a shot at her through the trees. I know I hit her so I figure I will make some pup distress sounds, see if any others come in, and track her after a bit.
I sat and called for another 10 mins and nothing was coming in so I grabbed my gear and headed off to get some pics of the downed Yote, fix up a dragging rope, and then go track it's mate down.
Bad pic of me, my baggy eye's and a dead (30lb) male Yote:
Turns out, in my excitement, I must have pulled the shot because it didn't go into his chest as I had planned, it hit him square between the eyes:
So I get him sorted out, go over to where his mate was, and sure enough there's blood on the snow. I drag him up the hill a bit, leave my Foxpro and the Snowshoes and head off to find the walking dead, or so I thought.
She was spraying blood pretty good while she was on the run up the hillside:
I could see where she had sat and rested as she zig-zagged through the cut block but as she slowed...so did the blood trail until it was slow drip every few feet. After following her tracks for about 800yds I am about 200yds from the edge of the cut block where the thick stuff starts when I spot her coming out of a valley in the cut.
I put out the bipod legs (did not extend them, just put them down), gave a bark and she stopped, I hit the belly to get into the prone position and I can't see her due to a rise between her and I. I sit up and quickly get the legs of the bipod extended, get her in the scope......now by this time I have been walking 800yds, in crappy snow, with several layers of clothing on so I am sweating, completely out of breath and my heart rate is through the roof (I really need to exercise more and quit smoking)......so she's in the scope and on the move, I do my best to keep the crosshairs on her and let one fly. Well I see the bullet splash in the snow just below her.....dammit again!!!!!
I track her to the edge of the cut block where she had gone down an embankment into the thick forest which I was not about to follow as the embankment was quite steep and I was not about to hurt myself trying to track her into it. I hate to leave an animal wounded like that but I did my best to find her and put her down.
2nd week in a row I blow a double, but this guy has an awesome coat and only 1 non-natural hole in the pelt (no exit wound) so I think he's a great candidate for a rug.
If you recall last weekend I fanned on the drive by double:
So with BC having the Family Day long weekend I figured this would be a good time to get out a few times and call some Coyotes. I had a good spot picked via some reconnaissance work on Google Earth and knowing that the entire area holds a ####load of dogs.
Saturday:
Up at 5AM, truck fueled up, breakfast in hand and on the hwy at 5:47.
Thermo in the truck says -24C.....perfect.
So I get to the road head (gps said so) about 6:40 (Thermo now reads -30C....brrrrrr), get my gear together and start walking . I walk, and I walk, and I walk some more and now I'm thinking "I should have come to road/trail that was supposed to head left about 800m from the main road" . Well a short while later I come across a 1K marker and know I'm on the wrong road. Well I'm already a K in I might as well keep going and see if there are any good spots up ahead.
I find a nice wide draw at about the 1.75K mark so I figure this is as good a spot as any. The wind is in my favor, bonus. I set out the e-caller, get cozied up under a tree and just sit for 15 mins to let things cool down from the walk in. I start with a few Howls on the hand call, wait a few mins then follow up with some rabbit distress. Wait another few minutes and fire up the Foxpro with a Female Long Howl, let it run for about 2 minutes and went to switch to another Female call when the Foxpro quits making noise all together, the jack decoy keeps moving but no sound. I move back to the hand calls with rabbit and pup distress sounds but nothings coming in. I pack up to go and I'm halfway up the small hill, heading back to the road, when I hear a Coy group chattering a few hundred yards to my right.
My toes and fingers are numb but I sit for a few minutes and try and draw them out but no luck.
I walk back the 1.75K to the truck and make the decision to head up the road to another spot just to see if anything's movin over there. I park the truck in the trees, walk up to a place I had called from before and started calling, about 5 minutes in there's barking and howling where I didn't expect it to come from (those things can be anywhere). I relocate to try and get it to come in but I think it busted me and saw the truck in the trees as the next bark/howl came from quite a bit farther away than the previous one did.
Heading home I decide to take the long way and lo and behold I get a drive by on the side of the road, I feel better about the day but it's still a drive by.
Sunday AM:
Planned to head out to the ranch I have permission to hunt on, alarm goes off at 5:30, I reach over to hit the snooze button but apparently I turned it off completely, get up at 9:30. Screw it, I got work around the house to do. I'll go out tonight.
Sunday PM:
Head out again to the same area, only this time I plan to park at the right road. Well I get there and there's a car parked at the road head. "Damn". I find another unknown road a little further up and decide to walk in. I come to a beautiful little swamp area with a great spot to sit under a willow, set out the call, get under the bush and let things settle.
Called for about an hour, had 3 groups of dogs around me but just could not get any to come in, that is until almost dark. I had decided to pack up.....I got 20 paces from my gun heading out to grab the Foxpro, in knee deep snow, and of course I spot a Coyote cutting across the far end of the marsh. I tried to race back to the gun but by the time I got on the scope he was gone.
Monday AM:
5AM, coffee and smoke, get dressed, on the road at 5:25. Finally get to the spot I had been trying to get to all weekend, grab my gear and start the walk in.
I get to the edge of the lake about 50yds in from the end, find some nice cover, light up a smoke and try and figure out a game plan. There was little to no wind but what wind there was happened to be coming more off my back than what I would have like, so the plan was to leave the Foxpro out in front of where I was and move back the 50yds to the end which would put the wind from my left side and the caller upwind and 50yds in front of me.
From where I was sitting there was a small peninsula to my left that rose up from the lake and another straight out from me that also rose up putting me in a small bay, as I was moving my stuff around figuring out what to leave at the spot (had my snowshoes with me that I had actually carried in) and what to take to the end with me, I look up on the peninsula to my left and something doesn't look quite right. I grab my bino's and sure enough there's a Coyote staring right at me, I had ranged the hill top earlier at 217yds.
Here is a Panoramic View from the spot I was about to move from, you can see the rise on the left hand side:
I slowly get the gun into position, get on the scope, 1. I am elated that he is still there and didn't run from my movement, 2. He now has a friend with him.
Knowing they are 200yds+ away I am hoping I can get them in closer, I let out a few lip squeaks and away they come like they were on a string and reel. They run in about 100yds and slow up, I put the crosshairs on the chest of the farthest one, BANG-FLOP, it's mate turns to run so I let out a few barks and she stops and doubles back a few steps, BANG-SPIN-RUN....dammit!!!!
I watch her run up the hill to the left of the lake but couldn't get a shot at her through the trees. I know I hit her so I figure I will make some pup distress sounds, see if any others come in, and track her after a bit.
I sat and called for another 10 mins and nothing was coming in so I grabbed my gear and headed off to get some pics of the downed Yote, fix up a dragging rope, and then go track it's mate down.
Bad pic of me, my baggy eye's and a dead (30lb) male Yote:
Turns out, in my excitement, I must have pulled the shot because it didn't go into his chest as I had planned, it hit him square between the eyes:
So I get him sorted out, go over to where his mate was, and sure enough there's blood on the snow. I drag him up the hill a bit, leave my Foxpro and the Snowshoes and head off to find the walking dead, or so I thought.
She was spraying blood pretty good while she was on the run up the hillside:
I could see where she had sat and rested as she zig-zagged through the cut block but as she slowed...so did the blood trail until it was slow drip every few feet. After following her tracks for about 800yds I am about 200yds from the edge of the cut block where the thick stuff starts when I spot her coming out of a valley in the cut.
I put out the bipod legs (did not extend them, just put them down), gave a bark and she stopped, I hit the belly to get into the prone position and I can't see her due to a rise between her and I. I sit up and quickly get the legs of the bipod extended, get her in the scope......now by this time I have been walking 800yds, in crappy snow, with several layers of clothing on so I am sweating, completely out of breath and my heart rate is through the roof (I really need to exercise more and quit smoking)......so she's in the scope and on the move, I do my best to keep the crosshairs on her and let one fly. Well I see the bullet splash in the snow just below her.....dammit again!!!!!
I track her to the edge of the cut block where she had gone down an embankment into the thick forest which I was not about to follow as the embankment was quite steep and I was not about to hurt myself trying to track her into it. I hate to leave an animal wounded like that but I did my best to find her and put her down.
2nd week in a row I blow a double, but this guy has an awesome coat and only 1 non-natural hole in the pelt (no exit wound) so I think he's a great candidate for a rug.
