Two down and two firsts!

NM_HighPlains

New member
Today was cold (upper teens), with < 10 mph wind so I did the logical thing and went hunting after church. Called one stand overlooking pure grassland just to see if anything was there and then moved on to the spot I really wanted to call. I parked at our windmill and walked 400-500 yards to a little rise overlooking a canyon where I'd seen coyotes. I sat in-between 2 yuccas so that I had one front and rear and put the NX3 out about 50-60 yards and started ravens/jackrabbit.

About 7-8 minutes in, I spotted a coyote coming upslope from the canyon. It was trotting in, not fast, not slow, just trotting. I eased over and the coyote stopped, then started again. He didn't look real confident and I had him in the crosshairs, so the next time he stopped, facing right at me, I cut loose. Down he went!

I sat still and a few minutes later, here comes a second coyote, trotting in from my right. This one was coming a lot faster, so as soon as I could, I moved the rifle on it and got it in the crosshairs. By then, the coyote was straight out from me. I barked once and twice, and the coyote turned and came directly for me! I barked again, but by now I was "seeing the whites of their eyes" in the scope and I figured I'd better shoot, so I did and bang-flop, DRT. A few more minutes and nothing else, so I went to check out my dogs.

As I moved, I saw the first dog flopping around a bit. I collected the FoxPro and Mojo woodpecker and the 'yote was still flopping. So, I went back to my pack and then eased up on the dog and took a rest. He got up and tried walking off and I put another 50 gr V-max behind his head. Upon checking him out, it looks like the first shot was a bit of a angle, entering the center chest but exiting on the far shoulder and taking most of that shoulder with it. There was blood everywhere but as we all know, coyotes are tough. I hit the 2nd coyote right in the nose and the bullet passed thru the side and into the thoracic cavity. She was dead as dead can be, no issues there.

I moved on to the rim and called 30 minutes for a cat, but no luck. Have never seen a bobcat there, was just "fishing."

The firsts? First major damage I've had with the 50 gr V-max out of my .223 (we've discussed this....) and the first double I've taken where the dogs didn't come in together.

Here's the terrain:
coyote-slater.jpg


First dog is the red dot to the right, shot was 89 yards. Second dog is just off my gun barrel, shot was 15 yards.
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Blood from first dog:
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Second dog down:
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Moderators though the picture of the first dog was okay, so for the sake of showing V-max damage, here it is. Personally, I wouldn't blame the V-max- it was just a bad angle that ended up exiting and taking the shoulder out, too. I think it's incredible that I had to put a second bullet in this dog. These are tough animals.:
12-06-09_1446.jpg


 
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Originally Posted By: PSYOPSI like your stand. Not much cover out there. Yuccas will break the outline..

I've been doing this a lot more this year- rather than getting down into the "country", I'm calling from on top before I ever get there. There's plenty of cover just off the rim and in the canyons, but that's also where the dogs are and I'll bust 'em if I move in too close. So, I grab the first available chunk of cover I can and call 'em out.

For instance, look at this one from last year... this is wide-open grassland. Me and my then 5 yr old hid in those rocks just behind him. I got a double here and had 2 more come up behind me.

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Same stand, but you can see the pickup back behind us.

10-16-08_1533.jpg


And here's our view. You can see one of the coyotes laying there right in the center of the picture. That was the close one- 22 yards, the other was about 150.

10-16-08_1528.jpg


The coyotes are bedded down in little draws here and there. I jump 'em all the time when checking cattle. The challenge is just getting into a stand undetected and success comes from knowing the country- finding little bits of cover where you can hide and approach points to get there undetected.
 
Congrats on the double!!!
I agree coyotes are very tough animals.A buddy of mine shot a yote two years ago with a .55gr HP out of his .223 and it left a hole exactly like that one and he shot his yote in the same spot as you shot yours oddly enough.The coyote was still alive until we got up there to shoot it again.I did'nt even attempt to skin that yote.
 
Great play by play pictures - Congrats on a very productive outing! Unfortunately, it seems as if any deflection of V-Max bullets onto bone seems to make a messy splash.
 
Originally Posted By: huntinzonaUnfortunately, it seems as if any deflection of V-Max bullets onto bone seems to make a messy splash.

I don't blame the bullet for that. Had I been shooting my .22-250 with 52 gr HP, it would've been just as bad or worse. I shot that combination for about 10 years and my number of "large holes" was much higher. This is the 19th coyote I've shot with 50 gr Vmax and the first with any kind of pelt damage. Well, okay, except for the one I shot at 400 ranged yards, running, from an uphill perch...I hit that one in the midback and it made a hole, but one that was still sew-able.

Anyway, I'm sticking with the Vmax. The second shot, for instance, did not exit.
 
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