Gary Saurage and I went out to do a little calling this morning. Gary and I met here at PM, and he was kind enough to extend an invitation to hunt some his coyote rich calling country. Gary lives about 2 hours away, so I went down early last night and stayed at a buddy of mines house about 25 minutes away from Gary's. After getting up early I went and met Gary for the mornings hunt. It was cold with a little breeze to start the morning, but the the first 2 stands did not produce anything despite the fact that there was fresh sign everywhere. By 8:00 am the north wind had kicked up to 20-25 miles an hour. We made 4 more stands without seeing anything. Again, the sign was everywhere, but the wind was giving us fits. Gary was doing the calling with his new JS Prey Master call with a few hand calls thrown in. By the time we made our 7th stand, it seemed that the wind had died down a little. Gary started is calling and was mixing it up a little. After about 12 or 13 minutes, I had about given up. I glanced to my left for only a second and when I looked back to the shooting lane I had been watching there was a coyote broad side at about 60 yards. She had stepped out with her nose down and was walking across the lane. It took me a second to snap to because it was like "oh crap...Kaboom! With the slight recoil of the .243 NEF, and the fact that she had almost made it back into the brush, I lost site of her. I didn't know where she went, but Gary assured me she went right down. Sure enough, Bang-Flop. This was the first coyote that I have shot with my new NEF. I was using factory Hornady 58 gr. V-max's at 3750fps. Not fur friendly! I shot a little high due to the rushed shot, and the hole was the size of frisbee right in the top of the back. This was by far the biggest hole I have blown in anything using any caliber. I'm going to give them another chance to see it they continue to produce this type of carnage. If they do, I'll likely try a different bullet.
My thanks to Gary for a great hunt and hospitality. I hope to get to go on a few more hunts with him. I've offered to take him spring turkey hunting, and I hope he takes me up on it. The thing of it was, WE ONLY SCRATCHED THE SURFACE of his calling area. He is loaded with coyotes, at least until he thins the population down.
Gary and I both hope to meet a few more fellow predator hunters in the area and go on some hunts.
My thanks to Gary for a great hunt and hospitality. I hope to get to go on a few more hunts with him. I've offered to take him spring turkey hunting, and I hope he takes me up on it. The thing of it was, WE ONLY SCRATCHED THE SURFACE of his calling area. He is loaded with coyotes, at least until he thins the population down.
Gary and I both hope to meet a few more fellow predator hunters in the area and go on some hunts.
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