It must be bobcat season... Me and Tim went out calling all day today trying to get one and of course we didn't get a sniff at a cat, LOL!
But there were enough cooperative coyote customers to keep things plenty interesting! Called 9 coyotes and a badger today, killed 5 of the coyotes and the badger too. And we got to see the greatest Foxpro attack of all time.
First stand got a quick hitting hard charging pair. I dumped the one that stopped next to the call, the other one never slowed down and we didn't even get a shot at it. The one I got was a decent sized adult male.
Second stand had a single come in and catch our breeze, but she made the mistake of stopping to look back from high on a hill at what she thought was a safe distance. By then I had gotten prone and was tracking her in the scope, so when she stopped at about 275 yards, it was a pretty easy shot to put her down. Not a very big coyote, but the oldest one of the day with mostly white gums and worn amber nubs for canines and a lot of her other teeth missing.
Third stand was another single that posed pretty out in the sage brush. I was wanting Tim to shoot him, but he was taking too long so I dumped that one too. Another adult male. That put 3 coyotes in the Jeep for the morning.
We had a couple dry stands after that, then moved into an area with more trees and thicker taller brush. Shotgun country, except we didn't have any shotguns... First stand down in that stuff, we had a pair come charging hard. But neither Tim nor I ever got a sight picture on either one as they flashed through the tall sage, and they exited the scene unmolested.
Next stand, same kind of shotgun stuff, had a single do the same thing - charged hard right up to the caller and boogied. Tim and I each took a shot as the coyote zigged and zagged but we both missed. So much for our awesome called to killed ratio for the year, LOL!
Had a dry stand after that, but the next stand we had customers again. About 4 minutes in we got a nice big adult male coyote that came in from higher ground and stopped to reconnoiter from a hillside before dropping down into the heavy brush. He was about 175 yards out and Tim wasn't about to let him get down in that brush like the others so he dropped him right there. Turned out to be the biggest coyote of the day. The stand wasn't finished though, as always we just let the Foxpro keep running after the shot. Few minutes later we spotted another animal trucking in from a different direction. Looked like a coyote at first, but then it got down in that tall brush and just disapeared. Two minutes later a nice big badger popped up by the caller and Tim ripped him as well. Here's a pic of Tim with the both of them.
Next stand turned out to be the last stand, and also the most entertaining. The spot where we made the stand, Tim and I had real mixed feelings about. On the one hand, there was a ton of coyote track on the ground and we were highly confident of calling one in. But it was the tallest sage brush of any stand yet. Real big old growth sage. With no shotguns, we really didn't like our chances of killing what might come in. But, with that much sign, we figured what the heck, give it a try. I set the Foxpro up in the top of a great big piece of chest high sage brush that was probably 5 feet in diameter. Just a ginormous old piece of sage. Got settled and fired up the same sound we had been using all day, the one I call "Greatest Hits". Not 30 seconds into the call, a coyote comes streaking past me headed for the call. I jumped to my feet as that's how I shoot best on running targets and started trying to get the crosshairs into something that looked like a makeable shot without much luck. Within seconds, the coyote was all the way to the huge piece of brush the caller was sitting on top of. With no hesitation, that coyote leaped off the ground right up into that piece of sage. He hit the top all spreadeagled and was actually up in it with his hind legs off the ground and that's when Tim and I both actually HEARD the loud CLACK as his teeth clamped onto the FX5. There he was with all four legs spread wide wiggling around up in that brush, for a second it looked like he was humping it. Then he wiggled clear through and over the top and out of sight. But only for an instant, because he came roaring back around leaving the way he came. I got lucky and snaked a bullet into his guts as he flew by again through the brush. Had to run after him and finish him off. Not pretty, but exciting, LOL!
That sucker left some gnarly teeth marks in the Foxpro too! I took pictures, but they turned out all blurry. Anyway, here's me with the Foxpro mauler and the other customers from earlier in the day.
And one more gratuitious hero shot just because, LOL!
I got busy skinning after that and it was too dark to make another stand by the time I was done.
I'm telling you guys, calling predators is just too much fun!!
- DAA
But there were enough cooperative coyote customers to keep things plenty interesting! Called 9 coyotes and a badger today, killed 5 of the coyotes and the badger too. And we got to see the greatest Foxpro attack of all time.
First stand got a quick hitting hard charging pair. I dumped the one that stopped next to the call, the other one never slowed down and we didn't even get a shot at it. The one I got was a decent sized adult male.
Second stand had a single come in and catch our breeze, but she made the mistake of stopping to look back from high on a hill at what she thought was a safe distance. By then I had gotten prone and was tracking her in the scope, so when she stopped at about 275 yards, it was a pretty easy shot to put her down. Not a very big coyote, but the oldest one of the day with mostly white gums and worn amber nubs for canines and a lot of her other teeth missing.
Third stand was another single that posed pretty out in the sage brush. I was wanting Tim to shoot him, but he was taking too long so I dumped that one too. Another adult male. That put 3 coyotes in the Jeep for the morning.
We had a couple dry stands after that, then moved into an area with more trees and thicker taller brush. Shotgun country, except we didn't have any shotguns... First stand down in that stuff, we had a pair come charging hard. But neither Tim nor I ever got a sight picture on either one as they flashed through the tall sage, and they exited the scene unmolested.
Next stand, same kind of shotgun stuff, had a single do the same thing - charged hard right up to the caller and boogied. Tim and I each took a shot as the coyote zigged and zagged but we both missed. So much for our awesome called to killed ratio for the year, LOL!
Had a dry stand after that, but the next stand we had customers again. About 4 minutes in we got a nice big adult male coyote that came in from higher ground and stopped to reconnoiter from a hillside before dropping down into the heavy brush. He was about 175 yards out and Tim wasn't about to let him get down in that brush like the others so he dropped him right there. Turned out to be the biggest coyote of the day. The stand wasn't finished though, as always we just let the Foxpro keep running after the shot. Few minutes later we spotted another animal trucking in from a different direction. Looked like a coyote at first, but then it got down in that tall brush and just disapeared. Two minutes later a nice big badger popped up by the caller and Tim ripped him as well. Here's a pic of Tim with the both of them.
Next stand turned out to be the last stand, and also the most entertaining. The spot where we made the stand, Tim and I had real mixed feelings about. On the one hand, there was a ton of coyote track on the ground and we were highly confident of calling one in. But it was the tallest sage brush of any stand yet. Real big old growth sage. With no shotguns, we really didn't like our chances of killing what might come in. But, with that much sign, we figured what the heck, give it a try. I set the Foxpro up in the top of a great big piece of chest high sage brush that was probably 5 feet in diameter. Just a ginormous old piece of sage. Got settled and fired up the same sound we had been using all day, the one I call "Greatest Hits". Not 30 seconds into the call, a coyote comes streaking past me headed for the call. I jumped to my feet as that's how I shoot best on running targets and started trying to get the crosshairs into something that looked like a makeable shot without much luck. Within seconds, the coyote was all the way to the huge piece of brush the caller was sitting on top of. With no hesitation, that coyote leaped off the ground right up into that piece of sage. He hit the top all spreadeagled and was actually up in it with his hind legs off the ground and that's when Tim and I both actually HEARD the loud CLACK as his teeth clamped onto the FX5. There he was with all four legs spread wide wiggling around up in that brush, for a second it looked like he was humping it. Then he wiggled clear through and over the top and out of sight. But only for an instant, because he came roaring back around leaving the way he came. I got lucky and snaked a bullet into his guts as he flew by again through the brush. Had to run after him and finish him off. Not pretty, but exciting, LOL!
That sucker left some gnarly teeth marks in the Foxpro too! I took pictures, but they turned out all blurry. Anyway, here's me with the Foxpro mauler and the other customers from earlier in the day.
And one more gratuitious hero shot just because, LOL!
I got busy skinning after that and it was too dark to make another stand by the time I was done.
I'm telling you guys, calling predators is just too much fun!!
- DAA
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