Snowshoes
Well-known member
I am pretty sure I was the only coyote hunter out in this area today. Hard to spark interest in fellow hunters when you mention minus 40!
Colder temperatures were predicted for today and that they were. The actual temperate of -20F( -29C) wasn’t too bad but it was the wind-chill of -41.8F(-41C) that a guy had to be prepared for.
Once again I dressed for the weather conditions and today my calling areas would be spots sheltered from the winds.
First spot I set up, was sheltered by a patch of trees with the heavily treed river valley 165 yards to the north of me.
Start off with a closed reed fawn distress call which brought a fair number of ravens and magpies my way. The birds flew straight over and continued to the northwest where there is a feedlot. With steady traffic and sheer number of birds headed that direction, I figured there was likely a new addition in the dead pit. After 3 series of calling and not seeing any action, I chalked this up to, coyotes feeding elsewhere ( a dead pit, ¾ mile away to be specific )
With another spot in mind, I packed up and made the journey back to the truck. As I marched across the open field of swirling snows, I was thankful for the face mask and fur hat & even though dressed for the conditions, the truck was a welcomed sight.
I drove four miles east and the next location would have me tucked in a slough bottom with a windbreak from a heavily treed hillside to the northwest. As I made the 250 yard walk directly into the wind, I found myself tugging the zipper on my jacket up that little extra, trying to trap any extra possible warmth.
I set up in- front a clump of cattails and once again start off with fawn distress. Even though the call had been tucked back under my jacket from the first set, the reed was partially frozen this go around. A bit different sounding distress but it didn’t seem to bother a quick arriving coyote from the sheltered bush. It runs onto the ice and stops to look for that newly injured prey. I swing the crosshairs onto its chest and send a 64 gr bullet its direction, dropping it where it stood.
I tried ranging the coyote but the cold electronics didn’t want to give me a reading. Stepped off the distance at 151 paces.
Coyote # 52
My weather station never really changed from the time I left this morning, to the time I returned!
Suppose to be cold all week which just might make for hungry coyotes come next weekend.
Colder temperatures were predicted for today and that they were. The actual temperate of -20F( -29C) wasn’t too bad but it was the wind-chill of -41.8F(-41C) that a guy had to be prepared for.
Once again I dressed for the weather conditions and today my calling areas would be spots sheltered from the winds.
First spot I set up, was sheltered by a patch of trees with the heavily treed river valley 165 yards to the north of me.
Start off with a closed reed fawn distress call which brought a fair number of ravens and magpies my way. The birds flew straight over and continued to the northwest where there is a feedlot. With steady traffic and sheer number of birds headed that direction, I figured there was likely a new addition in the dead pit. After 3 series of calling and not seeing any action, I chalked this up to, coyotes feeding elsewhere ( a dead pit, ¾ mile away to be specific )
With another spot in mind, I packed up and made the journey back to the truck. As I marched across the open field of swirling snows, I was thankful for the face mask and fur hat & even though dressed for the conditions, the truck was a welcomed sight.
I drove four miles east and the next location would have me tucked in a slough bottom with a windbreak from a heavily treed hillside to the northwest. As I made the 250 yard walk directly into the wind, I found myself tugging the zipper on my jacket up that little extra, trying to trap any extra possible warmth.
I set up in- front a clump of cattails and once again start off with fawn distress. Even though the call had been tucked back under my jacket from the first set, the reed was partially frozen this go around. A bit different sounding distress but it didn’t seem to bother a quick arriving coyote from the sheltered bush. It runs onto the ice and stops to look for that newly injured prey. I swing the crosshairs onto its chest and send a 64 gr bullet its direction, dropping it where it stood.
I tried ranging the coyote but the cold electronics didn’t want to give me a reading. Stepped off the distance at 151 paces.
Coyote # 52
My weather station never really changed from the time I left this morning, to the time I returned!
Suppose to be cold all week which just might make for hungry coyotes come next weekend.