This thread is a copy of the "2 kills / pics" I posted. I was told to post over here . . .
Kill # 1 Evening of October 1st / early morning October 2nd:
My buddy, Kris, nailed his first coyote EVER with a borrowed 25-06 that he had never shot prior to putting a 50 grain lead lunch into the belly of a coyote. Kris and I stood in the back of my pickup and I ran the callers (tally-ho and Austin howler) as well as the Lightforce 170 spotlight with red lens. The time was approximately 11:15 PM. I was standing on a stepladder when I gave several distress calls on the tally-ho on and off for about 10 minutes with no response. I then went to the howler. We had a response IMMEDIATELY after I let one out with the howler. I was afraid we were outa’ luck because the response came from several hundred yards down wind. We heard at least 4 or 5 coyotes howling and yipping after that first shot on the howler. I had the skunk essence open and next to the pickup on the down wind side, hoping for the best. Kris had a night vision monocular (2nd generation) and was using that to try and detect the coyotes. He saw the coyotes through his monocular at almost the exact same time I saw their eyes. He was whispering his thoughts concerning the whereabouts of the coyotes and I thought for sure if they didn’t smell us they would hear him. We coordinated our efforts as I ran the light and he began trying to find them in the scope of the 25-06. He was worried because we could see the coyotes’ eyes from at least 250 yards out, but he couldn’t find them in his scope. So he whispered “I’m not going to get ‘em with the rifle, I can’t find him in the scope – I’ll have to take him with my handgun.” (he had .40 caliber on his hip). After I hushed him for what seemed like the 10th time, I asked him to keep trying because the coyote was working its way down wind and would certainly not come close enough for the handgun. I can’t put into words how exciting it was to watch the coyotes in the red light – they just kept coming toward us, angling to the down wind side. Two of the three coyotes hung up about 200 yards out while the third coyote kept coming. Lucky for us, there was a fence line guarding the down wind side, so he would have to cross the fence to get directly down wind, and he didn’t want to do that. Finally, Kris got a good image in his scope and I recommended he aim just below the coyote’s eyes (the gentleman from whom he borrowed the rifle told Kris it was sighted in for 200 yards and I figured this coyote was about 125 yards out). Well, Kris took aim and touched off a round . . . KHERRWHUMP and then no more eyes. I went straight to the coyote in distress, figuring we might have a chance at another if I could convince the pack to come take a look. No takers. We got out of the back of the pickup and walked out to find a dead coyote at least 150 yards away and nearly down wind of us. I can’t believe the coyote didn’t smell us or hear Kris. The wind was blowing around 12 mph, so maybe it was gusty enough to cover us up on both accounts . . . skunk essence must have helped at least a little. It is worthy to note this was Kris’s first coyote hunt and he shot like a pro. That’s an awesome shot at night, 150+ yards away and resting the gun on his knee. If it were me, I would have been shaking with excitement and certainly missed.
Kill # 2 Evening of October 1st / early morning October 2nd
After that first kill I figured, in silence at least, we better call it a night because it would be awful hard to top Kris’s kill. As we got closer to Kris’s house he suggested we take a quick drive a couple miles away and try another spot where he had heard of a lot of coyotes. What the heck, couldn’t hurt, right? We found a nice coulee and parked the pickup on a ridge. (BTW, I drove with all the lights off and Kris used the spotlight {with red lens} to light a path for me – we did it like this so we could be even more stealthy). Again I set the skunk essence on the down wind side of the pickup and prepared for the set. The wind had kicked up a bit and knocked the stepladder over “clank, bang, whack.” I apologized profusely to Kris, figuring we just lost whatever chances we had due to my lack of noise control. I folded up the ladder and we stayed quiet for about 5 minutes. I had the 12 gauge shotgun with Nitro Mag TT shot, just in case we got a real gamer in close. Chris again took his position with the 25-06. We got situated in the back of the pickup and just before I put the tally-ho to my lips we hear a whole lot of howling and yipping. It sounded like a pack of 5 – 6 coyotes to our left (wind blowing straight down wind to our 12 O’clock). We heard a loner on our 6 O’clock, but counted him out as he was at least 500 yards up wind and would require a lot of time to circle down wind before one of the others, we hoped, got shot. I let out a series of howls on the Austin howler and that all but silenced the pack. I whispered to Kris, “they’re running right for us, I guarantee it”. I was certain I had caught the interest of these crazy varmints and I wanted to believe we had a chance at them. After about 3 minutes of silence I went to work on the tally-ho with a coyote distress sound. Only a few seconds after that series a coyote shows up about 200 yards to our 10 O’clock and working his way down wind. Again, we were up on a ridge – I wasn’t concerned about the coyote catching our scent because he was below us in the coulee. Kris couldn’t get a decent look at him through the scope so I panned around with the Lightforce 170 spotlight with red lens . . . and here came a gamer. This guy was on a solid trot only 70 yards away and at our 10 O’clock working his way down wind, of course. Well, he got to within 20 yards of us and decided he should slow to a stop and consider his surroundings (at least, that’s what I figured he must have been thinking). Remember now, I was working the spotlight and the tally-ho . . . Kris was struggling to get this close up coyote in his scope. He was whispering (AGAIN) about his troubles and that was when I decided to give the shotgun a dance. With my left hand operating the spotlight and the shotgun in my right hand I did my best to aim at the top of the varmint and I touched one off. I’m here to tell you, that coyote tumbled like it was his job in life. (this was a lucky shot because I wasn’t using the proper stance – I should have been “resting” my gun on top of my left forearm like a pro; instead, I was literally one-handing the shotgun). I was sure I hit him solid, but he found his feet and trotted off. Kris by now decided whispering wasn’t loud enough – “shoot him again!” I couldn’t jack another round into the shotgun with my left hand still coiled around the spotlight, so I fell all over myself trying to accomplish that. Too late, the coyote was out of sight and down the ridge. (I must have looked like a half-wit clown) I gave a few coyote distress calls and then the pack let us know the jig was up . . . yip, yip, bark, bark, howl-bark, yip . . . “you’re busted guys, so pack it up.” Kris assured me I hit that coyote, and I had to agree . . . I had him dead to last rites when I squeezed the trigger. We hopped out of the pickup and looked around. That filthy varmint ran almost 100 yards after being peppered with TT shot before calling it quits.
Question: is 3 Inch TT shot the best round for coyotes? Regardless of what the wife says, I gotta buy the best round for coyotes!
Good luck & God bless,
~Scott
