Saturday was a pretty nice day for calling except that doggone south wind was with us again. I hate it when I have to look into the sun when calling. The temperature was moderate (started out around 28º in a.m. and got to maybe 50º for a high). The wind was light at about 5 to 10 mph. There was sunshine till about 10:00 and then some clouds rolled in for the rest of the day.
We stopped at Wildlife Management Area for our first calling stand. We drove in about ½ mile east off of a well-traveled highway and walked in to the SE to the top of a nice big rise. My calling partner called with the Tally Ho to start with and at about 10 minute mark he switched to the Austin Howler. He was really having problems with the reed on the howler and making lots of squawks, squeaks, and miscues. At about the 23 minute mark he turned to me and spoke out loud that he had turned the reed over and bent the reed trying to get it to work. I was looking out to the southeast and as he was speaking I noticed an object directly in line with the sun about 400 yards to the SE. I thought it could be a coyote. I slowly moved my rifle over to put the scope on it and sure enough, it was a coyote and he was looking right at us. I squeaked at Dan to let him know I had a coyote spotted. Just then the coyote started trotting away to the SSE. We tried coyote distress sounds, but he must have seen Dan moving and heard us talking and was gone in a flash never to appear again.
We drove south of there and spotted a coyote in a stubble field right alongside the highway. All the land was posted around there so that coyote got a free ticket. Then we traveled east off the highway for about 5 miles and called in two real nice looking places, but got no action.
Then we drove to the farm that belongs to the brother of a fellow my calling partner works with. We stopped in and talked to the rancher/farmer and his mother about where we could hunt. They directed us straight south of their place. They had seen a coyote down in that area that week. They own the 2 sections to the south and two sections to the west of their buildings. They also said they had talked to one of their neighbors and that we could hunt on his land as well. As we drove about a half mile south of their place we looked at the layout of the land and agreed that it didn't look too promising, but thought we'd call there anyway. We parked in a low spot, walked about 200 yards south along the trail and then crossed the fence line to the west and sneaked in about 25 yards west of the fence line. There was a real nice rock covered rise to call from. It overlooked a low lying area just south of a creek bottom. There was a nice clump of low-growing willows about a half mile west of us in an otherwise pretty bare looking pasture. This spot didn’t look like a real promising spot other than we had a nice elevation to call from and had been told there were supposed to be coyotes in the area. My parnter started out softly on the Tally Ho. About 2 minutes into the stand he whispered to me that he had spotted a coyote coming in from the WSW. I was watching to the SSW and south and didn’t dare move my rifle. I turned my head very slowly and spotted the coyote. My partner made a couple more low volume squalls with the Tally Ho. The coyote moved toward us and stopped. My partner then began to lip squeak and the coyote slowly moved toward us. When the coyote was about 150 yards west of my partner, it stopped and he started to squeeze the trigger, but the coyote began to move to the southeast. His left bipod leg was up against a rock and he couldn't swing the rifle far enough left to get the crosshairs on the coyote so he held off. It disappeared behind a little hill to the SW of us. I took that opportunity to swing my rifle around. My partner whispered to me to take the shot since the coyote was on my side. I told him I understood. I flipped off the safety and waited for the coyote to appear on the little rise to the SW of me. Sure enough, the coyote appeared and was looking right at us. I put the crosshairs in the middle of her chest and squeezed off the shot. The .17 Remington barked and the 30 gr. Starke RPV bullet did its job and down she went. I checked my watch and it had been six and a half minutes since my partner started calling.
He began to do the coyote distress sounds and I chimed in. I asked him if he had seen another coyote and he said he thought he had seen another one. I scoped out the area toward the willows and spotted a coyote head looking at us from about 600 yards away just to the south side of a large cottonwood tree. I told him where the coyote was and he began to do a coyote challenge howl. I told him to quit doing the challenge howls and use higher pitched sounds. I worked the coyote distress sounds. After a minute, the coyote disappeared. We kept watching and after a couple of minutes we spotted a coyote way out on the horizon to the SW. We used the lonesome coyote howl and coyote distress sounds again, but the coyote traveled ESE away from us and disappeared to the SE. My partner thought that this was the coyote we had spotted down by the big tree, but I said I thought it was a different coyote. I didn't think there was any way the coyote by the big tree could have traveled to the SW without me seeing it somewhere along it travel route.
We picked up the nice light colored female coyote and loaded her into the blood box on the back of my partner's Suburban after we took a few pictures. There was a very small entrance hole and no exit hole.
We drove to the rancher's house and told them about bagging the female and seeing the other coyote. They told us to come back anytime and don’t worry about stopping in at the house anymore, just go right out and hunt!
We went back south again along the same trail and drove toward the SE end of their land. I spotted a coyote out in a stubble field to the SE of us. We stopped, got the binoculars out and watched the coyote amble to the SE. We decided this was the same coyote we had seen run in that direction after we shot the first coyote. We watched until the coyote disappeared, drove to the SE end of their land, and ate lunch. We decided there was no sense in trying to go after that coyote that ran away since the land it was on was posted.
After lunch we drove back north and to a spot only ½ to ¾ mile south of where we shot the first coyote. We walked in about 400 yards from the trail. I set up to call facing the SW and placed my partner to the NNW of me about 20 yards away. I set up the FoxPro about 40 yards SW of me and used the Rabbit Distress #2 sound off and on for the first 7 minutes. Then I did 3 lonesome coyote howls and waited a minute. I did 3 more lonesome coyote howls and then turned on the FoxPro again. I let the FoxPro play for about a minute or so and then turn it off for maybe 2 or 3 minutes. At about the 12 minute mark, Dan spotted a coyote coming in from the NW. I finally spotted it and turned on the Rabbit Distress #2 sound at real low volume. Once again, I didn't dare swing my rifle around because the coyote just sat there and stared at us. I started kissing the side of my index finger and the coyote started coming toward us. He came at a very slow but steady pace and when he’d stop, I’d give him a couple more squeaks and he'd start coming again. I noticed that he had a decided limp and that he was favoring his left front foot. When he got to about 125 yards NNW of my partner, it looked like the coyote was going to take a cattle trail straight to the east and maybe circle around the hills directly north of us to try to catch our scent, so Dan took the shot. He hit him just in front of the coyote’s right front shoulder and he went down right now. Dan had taken the shot with his M77V Ruger 22-250 about 16+ minutes into the stand. I did about 3 minute’s worth of coyote distress sounds and we glassed the surrounding area carefully, but we didn’t see any more animals. We stepped off the distance and figured it was 125 yards to where this coyote was laying and then carried this big boy to the vehicle, took some pictures, and loaded him into the blood box. We couldn’t see any visible damage to his left front foot, but thought he could have been caught in a leg-hold trap one time and got away. I would guesstimate that this big male would weigh in excess of 35 pounds.
My calling partner finally admitted that I was probably right, that the coyote we had seen way off to the SW after shooting the female was an entirely different coyote than the one I saw south of the big tree. We agreed that this big male was the coyote I had seen WSW of where we shot the female coyote. If it was the same coyote, I thought it was kind of amazing that I got it to come in after it more or less witnessed us shoot its mate about 2 hours earlier. Maybe it thought the howling was from it's mate and started in because of that. In the final analysis though, superior calling is what helped me bring him in--Hee Hee Hee! And a little luck doesn't hurt matters either!!! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
We also had to chuckle about our erroneous evaluation of the area. Our first thoughts that this wasn't a very good looking area proved to be dead wrong. The 3 coyotes we did see in this area were in about a 1 to 1.5 square mile area. I guess we all know what happens when we assume too much!
We called in two more places and struck out in both spots. Not a bad day though, but we were disappointed that we didn’t at least get a shot at the coyote that came in with the sun at our first stand. Talking out loud is something we know we shouldn’t do, but even the “experts” make mistakes sometimes!
We stopped at Wildlife Management Area for our first calling stand. We drove in about ½ mile east off of a well-traveled highway and walked in to the SE to the top of a nice big rise. My calling partner called with the Tally Ho to start with and at about 10 minute mark he switched to the Austin Howler. He was really having problems with the reed on the howler and making lots of squawks, squeaks, and miscues. At about the 23 minute mark he turned to me and spoke out loud that he had turned the reed over and bent the reed trying to get it to work. I was looking out to the southeast and as he was speaking I noticed an object directly in line with the sun about 400 yards to the SE. I thought it could be a coyote. I slowly moved my rifle over to put the scope on it and sure enough, it was a coyote and he was looking right at us. I squeaked at Dan to let him know I had a coyote spotted. Just then the coyote started trotting away to the SSE. We tried coyote distress sounds, but he must have seen Dan moving and heard us talking and was gone in a flash never to appear again.
We drove south of there and spotted a coyote in a stubble field right alongside the highway. All the land was posted around there so that coyote got a free ticket. Then we traveled east off the highway for about 5 miles and called in two real nice looking places, but got no action.
Then we drove to the farm that belongs to the brother of a fellow my calling partner works with. We stopped in and talked to the rancher/farmer and his mother about where we could hunt. They directed us straight south of their place. They had seen a coyote down in that area that week. They own the 2 sections to the south and two sections to the west of their buildings. They also said they had talked to one of their neighbors and that we could hunt on his land as well. As we drove about a half mile south of their place we looked at the layout of the land and agreed that it didn't look too promising, but thought we'd call there anyway. We parked in a low spot, walked about 200 yards south along the trail and then crossed the fence line to the west and sneaked in about 25 yards west of the fence line. There was a real nice rock covered rise to call from. It overlooked a low lying area just south of a creek bottom. There was a nice clump of low-growing willows about a half mile west of us in an otherwise pretty bare looking pasture. This spot didn’t look like a real promising spot other than we had a nice elevation to call from and had been told there were supposed to be coyotes in the area. My parnter started out softly on the Tally Ho. About 2 minutes into the stand he whispered to me that he had spotted a coyote coming in from the WSW. I was watching to the SSW and south and didn’t dare move my rifle. I turned my head very slowly and spotted the coyote. My partner made a couple more low volume squalls with the Tally Ho. The coyote moved toward us and stopped. My partner then began to lip squeak and the coyote slowly moved toward us. When the coyote was about 150 yards west of my partner, it stopped and he started to squeeze the trigger, but the coyote began to move to the southeast. His left bipod leg was up against a rock and he couldn't swing the rifle far enough left to get the crosshairs on the coyote so he held off. It disappeared behind a little hill to the SW of us. I took that opportunity to swing my rifle around. My partner whispered to me to take the shot since the coyote was on my side. I told him I understood. I flipped off the safety and waited for the coyote to appear on the little rise to the SW of me. Sure enough, the coyote appeared and was looking right at us. I put the crosshairs in the middle of her chest and squeezed off the shot. The .17 Remington barked and the 30 gr. Starke RPV bullet did its job and down she went. I checked my watch and it had been six and a half minutes since my partner started calling.
He began to do the coyote distress sounds and I chimed in. I asked him if he had seen another coyote and he said he thought he had seen another one. I scoped out the area toward the willows and spotted a coyote head looking at us from about 600 yards away just to the south side of a large cottonwood tree. I told him where the coyote was and he began to do a coyote challenge howl. I told him to quit doing the challenge howls and use higher pitched sounds. I worked the coyote distress sounds. After a minute, the coyote disappeared. We kept watching and after a couple of minutes we spotted a coyote way out on the horizon to the SW. We used the lonesome coyote howl and coyote distress sounds again, but the coyote traveled ESE away from us and disappeared to the SE. My partner thought that this was the coyote we had spotted down by the big tree, but I said I thought it was a different coyote. I didn't think there was any way the coyote by the big tree could have traveled to the SW without me seeing it somewhere along it travel route.
We picked up the nice light colored female coyote and loaded her into the blood box on the back of my partner's Suburban after we took a few pictures. There was a very small entrance hole and no exit hole.
We drove to the rancher's house and told them about bagging the female and seeing the other coyote. They told us to come back anytime and don’t worry about stopping in at the house anymore, just go right out and hunt!
We went back south again along the same trail and drove toward the SE end of their land. I spotted a coyote out in a stubble field to the SE of us. We stopped, got the binoculars out and watched the coyote amble to the SE. We decided this was the same coyote we had seen run in that direction after we shot the first coyote. We watched until the coyote disappeared, drove to the SE end of their land, and ate lunch. We decided there was no sense in trying to go after that coyote that ran away since the land it was on was posted.
After lunch we drove back north and to a spot only ½ to ¾ mile south of where we shot the first coyote. We walked in about 400 yards from the trail. I set up to call facing the SW and placed my partner to the NNW of me about 20 yards away. I set up the FoxPro about 40 yards SW of me and used the Rabbit Distress #2 sound off and on for the first 7 minutes. Then I did 3 lonesome coyote howls and waited a minute. I did 3 more lonesome coyote howls and then turned on the FoxPro again. I let the FoxPro play for about a minute or so and then turn it off for maybe 2 or 3 minutes. At about the 12 minute mark, Dan spotted a coyote coming in from the NW. I finally spotted it and turned on the Rabbit Distress #2 sound at real low volume. Once again, I didn't dare swing my rifle around because the coyote just sat there and stared at us. I started kissing the side of my index finger and the coyote started coming toward us. He came at a very slow but steady pace and when he’d stop, I’d give him a couple more squeaks and he'd start coming again. I noticed that he had a decided limp and that he was favoring his left front foot. When he got to about 125 yards NNW of my partner, it looked like the coyote was going to take a cattle trail straight to the east and maybe circle around the hills directly north of us to try to catch our scent, so Dan took the shot. He hit him just in front of the coyote’s right front shoulder and he went down right now. Dan had taken the shot with his M77V Ruger 22-250 about 16+ minutes into the stand. I did about 3 minute’s worth of coyote distress sounds and we glassed the surrounding area carefully, but we didn’t see any more animals. We stepped off the distance and figured it was 125 yards to where this coyote was laying and then carried this big boy to the vehicle, took some pictures, and loaded him into the blood box. We couldn’t see any visible damage to his left front foot, but thought he could have been caught in a leg-hold trap one time and got away. I would guesstimate that this big male would weigh in excess of 35 pounds.
My calling partner finally admitted that I was probably right, that the coyote we had seen way off to the SW after shooting the female was an entirely different coyote than the one I saw south of the big tree. We agreed that this big male was the coyote I had seen WSW of where we shot the female coyote. If it was the same coyote, I thought it was kind of amazing that I got it to come in after it more or less witnessed us shoot its mate about 2 hours earlier. Maybe it thought the howling was from it's mate and started in because of that. In the final analysis though, superior calling is what helped me bring him in--Hee Hee Hee! And a little luck doesn't hurt matters either!!! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
We also had to chuckle about our erroneous evaluation of the area. Our first thoughts that this wasn't a very good looking area proved to be dead wrong. The 3 coyotes we did see in this area were in about a 1 to 1.5 square mile area. I guess we all know what happens when we assume too much!
We called in two more places and struck out in both spots. Not a bad day though, but we were disappointed that we didn’t at least get a shot at the coyote that came in with the sun at our first stand. Talking out loud is something we know we shouldn’t do, but even the “experts” make mistakes sometimes!
