Interesting Day Coyote Hunting *Some Graphic Photos*

[Glock4ever]

I went out this morning to check out the coyote action, now that big game is over here it is nice to have much of the ground to myself. I saw a pile of coyotes (9 coyotes and 1 red fox) but most were just too far away to shoot (800m) and didn't seem to interested in coming to a call, mind you I was pretty lazy and only set up one stand. I was primarily just scouting out new ground and wanted to see what coyotes were out there. I am still waiting for my second e-caller before I try hunting them hard.

I sat and watched 2 coyotes chase a huge herd of whitetail - I don't know if they were playing or actually hunting them but it was interesting to observe. The coyotes would edge around a irrigation circle and the deer kept edging away. The coyotes then ran full sprint at them only to have a large buck chase them off. All I ended up getting was a cottontail rabbit that for some reason ran out from under my truck at my first stand. It is amazing how much damage a 22 Hornet 35 grain Vmax will do at 3m on a rabbit's head.

The whole skull was split in two:

Brains blown right out, couldn't find the right side of the head:

Meat was all good though, what little there was

On the way back, I decided to pop by the ranch to south of the property I hunt and see if I could get permission to hunt coyotes there. When I approached the owner, he got pretty worked up when I asked if I could hunt coyotes. I think he is the first rancher I have met that didn't want coyotes hunted. It was no big deal to me as I have plenty of properties to hunt but I did find it interesting that he felt it was necessary to talk to me for over 15 mins about how he didn't support hunting coyotes and that big game was just barely alright to hunt. I think he have felt defensive about his choice probably because it is quite an unusual view on coyotes in the middle of cattle country but it is his property so I wasn't going to argue with him. I thanked him for his time and headed back into town.

Definitely a fun day.

 

[nate18]

holy damn. nice brains bunny. kinda strange he didnt want you hunting coyotes on his land though. i would have imagined most ranchers eager to have help.

 

[MrSchultz]

hey! that's my bunny!!!

 

[Glock4ever]

Normally I don't bother shooting rabbits, they are more work to clean then you can get in meat off of them. I must have spent 15 mins cleaning this guy and there probably isn't more then 2lbs of meat on him if that. However, my in-laws are very curious about wild game meat so I promised I would bring any interesting wild game for them to try - They have had Jack Rabbit (those suckers are huge) but no cottontail. Most of the cottontails I see around here are pretty small and mostly they seem to be just a big intestine so you can't shoot them in the body with anything more then a 22LR othewise you are getting nothing but stinky goo. Headshots only! I also have some pheasant and grouse to deliver to them when I visit next. It's tough being their favorite son-in-law... it doesn't hurt that they only have one son-in-law though...

As for the rancher, he seemed a bit odd to be a rancher almost like he was transplanted in from somewhere else or married into the ranch. He was wearing a turtleneck shirt and kept telling me that there was a balance with the coyotes and some other interesting things about how the environment needed them and what not. I politely listened because I did come by at 930 this morning but it isn't going to change my outlook on coyote hunting... it almost felt like when you have a Jehovah's witness come to your door except in reverse. He kept telling me that they eat all the mice and are great for his ranch and that he didn't think it was right to shoot them. I told him that I collect fur (I like coyote pelts) and that I wouldn't come on to his property. He was pretty amicable about the whole business.