The forecast was calling for a super nice day today so I limited myself to just a couple drinks last night and went to bed at a reasonable time of 2 am so I could get up in time to make the hour drive to a huge tract of public land, in time for first light.
My goal was more hiking than hunting but as I was gearing up I could hear several coyotes howling not too far away so after about 1/2 mile of hiking I set up against a large boulder with a good view of some wide open prairie to my left and some decent tree cover to the right. I didn't call long as I wanted to get going so after about 15 minutes I stood up. After standing up I did a quick scan around me and was dismayed to see a coyote running about 400yds away. I was calling myself an idiot for getting up so soon and scaring it away but after getting the scope on it I realized it was running towards me! Within seconds I spotted another one cresting a hill behind the first coyote, then another after that one! I now had 3 coyotes running towards me. I quickly sat down with my back to the boulder and let them come. I was hoping to get all 3 in range but the first one was quite a ways ahead of the other 2 and as he got closer and closer I was beginning to get concerned that he would bust me. I was not concealed well at all and when he as at 50 yds I let out a few squeak sounds with my mouth in hopes of stopping him but no luck, he just kept running towards me. At 30 yds I figured it was now or never and pretty hard to miss at that range, even on a running target, so I fired. A big cloud of fur drifted off with the wind and he dropped on the spot. I quickly swung over to the other two but they were now in over drive and quickly vanished into little draws and buck brush so I didn't have much chance for a clean shot at either.
I retrieved my coyote and buried him in the snow to pick up later and continued on with the hike. After about 2 1/2 miles I heard more howling and there was an ideal set up spot, so I sat down and called again. After maybe 10 minutes a huge coyote crested a small hill about 200 yds away. I had a nice steady rest against a dead tree and when he stopped, facing me, I dropped him on the spot as well. Of course it had to be a big one when I was that far from the truck but he slid along the snow nicely and I needed the exercise any way. Soaked with sweat I stopped to take a pic with the two of them then dragged them together the last 1/2 mile.
I also saw a couple others during the hike but they were a long ways off and didn't respond to the call at all. Overall, I think 2020 has started off ok. Hopefully my luck continues on.
My goal was more hiking than hunting but as I was gearing up I could hear several coyotes howling not too far away so after about 1/2 mile of hiking I set up against a large boulder with a good view of some wide open prairie to my left and some decent tree cover to the right. I didn't call long as I wanted to get going so after about 15 minutes I stood up. After standing up I did a quick scan around me and was dismayed to see a coyote running about 400yds away. I was calling myself an idiot for getting up so soon and scaring it away but after getting the scope on it I realized it was running towards me! Within seconds I spotted another one cresting a hill behind the first coyote, then another after that one! I now had 3 coyotes running towards me. I quickly sat down with my back to the boulder and let them come. I was hoping to get all 3 in range but the first one was quite a ways ahead of the other 2 and as he got closer and closer I was beginning to get concerned that he would bust me. I was not concealed well at all and when he as at 50 yds I let out a few squeak sounds with my mouth in hopes of stopping him but no luck, he just kept running towards me. At 30 yds I figured it was now or never and pretty hard to miss at that range, even on a running target, so I fired. A big cloud of fur drifted off with the wind and he dropped on the spot. I quickly swung over to the other two but they were now in over drive and quickly vanished into little draws and buck brush so I didn't have much chance for a clean shot at either.
I retrieved my coyote and buried him in the snow to pick up later and continued on with the hike. After about 2 1/2 miles I heard more howling and there was an ideal set up spot, so I sat down and called again. After maybe 10 minutes a huge coyote crested a small hill about 200 yds away. I had a nice steady rest against a dead tree and when he stopped, facing me, I dropped him on the spot as well. Of course it had to be a big one when I was that far from the truck but he slid along the snow nicely and I needed the exercise any way. Soaked with sweat I stopped to take a pic with the two of them then dragged them together the last 1/2 mile.
I also saw a couple others during the hike but they were a long ways off and didn't respond to the call at all. Overall, I think 2020 has started off ok. Hopefully my luck continues on.
