50 Minute Coyote….
Shot this nice healthy male coyote at 240 yds after missing his buddy running away from me at 175 yds out….
Got up early this morning and made my way to the first farm and got setup just at legal light. With a very light wind and cold temps I had high expectation on the stand but after 30 minutes or so nothing showed up so I left. I hit and was ready to start calling on the second farm 30 minutes later. I started off with dying rabbit, after 5 mins or so a coyote sticks his head out over the rise in the field, he starts making his way to the caller but catches my movement or hears me move? (Very quiet out there this morning)…..The coyote decides he is not sticking around turns and starts trotting away. I wolf him but he starts to run, I wolf again but no he is not stopping I decide to take the running shot and at 175 yds out…. I miss….I see impact in the snow just above and behind him…er…. The coyote gets over the rise out of sight making his way to the bush….
Feeling a little bummed out I turn on my pup distress on the ec-aller as foxbang did not kick in (?) on its own… I play pup distress a few minutes and then go with dying rabbit again. I do this for about 5 mins (all the time thinking….I missed….Sh-t)….. Well wouldn’t you know it a coyote comes running across the back (behind the bales) turns and runs back into the bush. WTF….. I play coyote distress, pup distress, raccoon fighting, female challenge and then I hear the coyote start barking and howling at me…. I howl back with my hand caller, go to pup distress, follow by kitten distress… The coyote keeps barking (sounds like a challenge bark)… So I am thinking it was the female that came in first and I missed now the male is defending his territory?... Anyway we go back and forth for quite some time…Finally the coyote goes silent and so do I’m hoping the coyote’s curiosity will get the better of him but after 5 minutes of silence nothing happens. I think about leaving but decide to play a female greeting call and by chance I get the male to respond again…. I hit raccoon fighting, pup distress and I can hear the coyote barking way back in the field somewhere far enough away I can’t see him from my position. Part of me thinks about using the bale of hay as cover and try and sneak up but the smart side of my brain says no way to crunchy of a walk so I wait… 10 minutes later, just as I decide to pack it up, have been on this stand nearly 50 minutes the coyote exposes himself about 40 yds behind the bale of hay and he is challenge barking me….. He is broadside, I zoom the scope all the way up to it’s max (12x) pull my shooting sticks up tight against my knees, put the crosshairs just under his back as he is about 250 yds out….. I slowly squeeze the trigger, bang……I don’t see the coyote anymore…. All goes quiet, I wait a minute, pack up my gear and decide to go see if I hit him (look for some blood) because there is no way I killed him on the spot as he is about 250 yds away……I am thinking if I am lucky I hit him and there will be a blood trail I can follow-up…. As I reach the top of the hill I find myself in disbelief...There is my coyote dropped in his tracks, I could not of placed the bullet in a better stop, man was I pumped as this has to be one of my furthest coyote kills ever…
Shot this nice healthy male coyote at 240 yds after missing his buddy running away from me at 175 yds out….
Got up early this morning and made my way to the first farm and got setup just at legal light. With a very light wind and cold temps I had high expectation on the stand but after 30 minutes or so nothing showed up so I left. I hit and was ready to start calling on the second farm 30 minutes later. I started off with dying rabbit, after 5 mins or so a coyote sticks his head out over the rise in the field, he starts making his way to the caller but catches my movement or hears me move? (Very quiet out there this morning)…..The coyote decides he is not sticking around turns and starts trotting away. I wolf him but he starts to run, I wolf again but no he is not stopping I decide to take the running shot and at 175 yds out…. I miss….I see impact in the snow just above and behind him…er…. The coyote gets over the rise out of sight making his way to the bush….
Feeling a little bummed out I turn on my pup distress on the ec-aller as foxbang did not kick in (?) on its own… I play pup distress a few minutes and then go with dying rabbit again. I do this for about 5 mins (all the time thinking….I missed….Sh-t)….. Well wouldn’t you know it a coyote comes running across the back (behind the bales) turns and runs back into the bush. WTF….. I play coyote distress, pup distress, raccoon fighting, female challenge and then I hear the coyote start barking and howling at me…. I howl back with my hand caller, go to pup distress, follow by kitten distress… The coyote keeps barking (sounds like a challenge bark)… So I am thinking it was the female that came in first and I missed now the male is defending his territory?... Anyway we go back and forth for quite some time…Finally the coyote goes silent and so do I’m hoping the coyote’s curiosity will get the better of him but after 5 minutes of silence nothing happens. I think about leaving but decide to play a female greeting call and by chance I get the male to respond again…. I hit raccoon fighting, pup distress and I can hear the coyote barking way back in the field somewhere far enough away I can’t see him from my position. Part of me thinks about using the bale of hay as cover and try and sneak up but the smart side of my brain says no way to crunchy of a walk so I wait… 10 minutes later, just as I decide to pack it up, have been on this stand nearly 50 minutes the coyote exposes himself about 40 yds behind the bale of hay and he is challenge barking me….. He is broadside, I zoom the scope all the way up to it’s max (12x) pull my shooting sticks up tight against my knees, put the crosshairs just under his back as he is about 250 yds out….. I slowly squeeze the trigger, bang……I don’t see the coyote anymore…. All goes quiet, I wait a minute, pack up my gear and decide to go see if I hit him (look for some blood) because there is no way I killed him on the spot as he is about 250 yds away……I am thinking if I am lucky I hit him and there will be a blood trail I can follow-up…. As I reach the top of the hill I find myself in disbelief...There is my coyote dropped in his tracks, I could not of placed the bullet in a better stop, man was I pumped as this has to be one of my furthest coyote kills ever…
