How far have you followed a wounded coyote?

kaniac

kaniac

New member
I shot a pretty good sized yote this morning at about 40 yards. When I pulled the trigger i saw a puff of fur come out of its ribcage and it ran off like it'd been hit pretty good. When I started tracking it I was only finding little flecks of blood in the snow. I followed it for about 3/4 of a mile and decided I'd let it lay down and come back for it tomorrow, because I had to meet my dad to hunt in the afternoon. It's also worth noting that I came up with a brainstorm to load some 55 grain hornady softpoints at 2900 FPS in my 22/250 because i was sick of walkin up to coyotes with grapefruit sized holes in their chest. I was just wondering how far have you followed up after a shot before a coyote died? I've heard some stories of yotes being pretty tough.
 
In all the coyotes I've followed 2-3 well over a mile to find the coyote, none of them were dead at the time but that was resolved. One a front leg hit, the other behind the diaphragm.
 
Tracked one that my bud broke a back leg on with his 22-250 .It was running away approx 400 yards when it happpened. I followed it for an easy 5-6 miles,jumping it once in awhile. Got 2 hits on it with 4 buck as it busted brush. Finally got it out in the open and one more 22-250 round to put it down.

I was about ready for a bullet myself after than day!
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I tracked one for half a mile until I lost any sign of blood. He was poorly hit in the back leg. Found where he stopped, pooped, and then kept going. Definitely not a mortal wound, so I'm sure he went for a long way. They are tough customers for sure.
 
I tracked one around 3 miles a couple of years ago after a poor placed shot., through about 18" of powdery snow. It would stop and set down every so often and leave a huge spot of red snow. When I finally caught up with her I was soaked with sweat and I put her down. Then the 3 mile drag back to the truck. After that I was done for they day.
 
Oh I think I hit him just a little far back. Not sure if i'll find him or not. He definately acted like he was trying to keep just enough ahead of me so i could'nt see him. I decided to lay off and give it a night before he led me into the next county.
 
Mile and a half, gut shot, good blood trail, but never recovered. Look like we just keep bumping it. Finally just sat and glassed but we never saw it.
 
I had a bad hit (front leg running shot) on one last year close to a mile of tracking to a log pole thought he went threw but could not find tracks coming out so I started pocking around and found him as he growled at me and shot him at less than a foot.
 
Alot further than I liked. My buddy shot one a few weeks back we tracked in the snow for over two miles. Bad hit. We finally found it but it killed the rest of our day. We would not have found it at all if is wasn't for the snow.
 
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Well, I never found him. Tracked him yesterday for about 3 miles through some of the thickest miserable country Maine has to offer, not only did he not lay down but he was actually hunting probably only a few hours after I shot him! Kind of amazing considering I saw the fur fly from the back of his ribcage when i pulled the trigger. Maybe the bullet hit a whip on the way to the target, or possibly I was suffering from a hallucination.
 
Spent all day yesterday tracking a buddies wounded coyote. With a couple more guys we would have had it all over in a couple hrs. Google earth or good gps info and a few people make perceived choke points pretty easy. Hands and knees about 1/3 mile yesterday.
Was a full time tracker for wolves the last 6 years and we've developed the MOTO "none get away". Retired from that though.
Longest retrieval day and a half full out.

Wolves the younger ones are worst, females are smarter than males, big males are the first to bust out always.

Believe it or not a shot to the paw is one of the easiest to retrieve.
 
400 yards. It is a coyote for gosh sakes. I am not skinning them anyway and if they get away, I'll call another one in sometime. I admire you guys that spend days but I am sure not going to.
 
I shot one two years ago with a 223 at 120yds with a 52gr hp and it must have spun 5-8 times and then ran over the hill. I got to the spot where I shot him and there was blood everywhere, I new he would be just in the timber but after two miles of tracking blood the whole way, he made it to a huge brush pile and I was unable to dig him out.
 
Originally Posted By: Lonnie400 yards. It is a coyote for gosh sakes. I am not skinning them anyway and if they get away, I'll call another one in sometime. I admire you guys that spend days but I am sure not going to.

+1
Not saying there's anything wrong with the extra efforts to recover an animal,....personally if I haven't put my hands on it in a half hour,..safe bet I won't be putting my hands on it.
 
It was kinda fun trackin it. He took me through some country I'd never seen before, I found a couple new spots I mite take a peek at next deer season. I probably learn a lot more going on these unexpected little adventures than I ever learned from following a predetermined game plan. Also I started reloading this fall so everything I shoot has to get the full autopsy, I was really hoping to find this one so I could figure out what went wrong.
 
Gut shot one right at the diaphragm and chased him for 4 miles the first day. He was bad off, bleeding and stopping every 5-600 yards and throwing up blood. Second day we found where he had bedded up. Lots of yellow green liquid right where the bullet entered. We heard him howl and bark a couple times, but, NEVER caught up with him. Dead? for sure. You don't survive a 50GR VMAX with that kind of hit. Didn't like the fact we didn't touch him. Lost him on barren ground where we ran out of snow.
 
I tracked one in the snow 4 miles once before losing his trail. Seemed to be a good hit. When I hit him, he spun, rolled and kept screaming. The snow all around was covered in blood for about an 8 foot diameter rough circle- along with a big turd. At one point he crossed a road which was good for me. I bummed a ride back to my truck from some guy driving by- he actually picked a guy up with a gun
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This was about 4 years ago. I'll never forget that.
 
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