I finally got off my dead end and onto my dying feet for a coyote hunt today. I headed south of Williston to the National Grasslands. The wind was out of the SSE and the temperature was about 55º.
I picked up my HUGE butt pack and strapped it on. This butt pack contains my FoxPro, remote, and antennae; the Predator Enticer battery box and the stakes and feathers, and 4 extra C-size batteries; my Leica 1200 Range Finder; my Kodak 4800 Digital Camera; 2 SlyDog calls, 2 Brad Holzer Calls, my Tally Ho, the Bill Austin Howler and several other calls. I loaded a shell in the chamber of my .17 Remington, got my shooting sticks, and started walking. I had purchased one of those see through head nets with a nice area cut out and hemmed for your eyes. I had my heavy insulated coveralls on and they felt pretty good to start with. (I was roasting on my way back to the pickup.) I walked in about a half mile before I found a spot to set up.
I set up the Predator Enticer decoy and put my FoxPro right at the base of the feather stand. I hiked back up the hill about 50 yards and took out my Brad Holzer cow horn howler and my SlyDog Clasic II calls and began to call. I finally spotted a coyote at about the 13 minute mark. The coyote was coming from the SE and headed almost straight west and was maybe over a half mile away. I watched her through my scope until she disappeared in some trees at the bottom of the valley and also got in behind some hills. I set the FoxPro for the Rabbit Distress #2 sound and started playing that at low volume.
She came back into sight almost 600 yards straight south of me when she topped the rise. She stopped several times and looked back the way she came. I expected to see another coyote out there, but never did see another one following her. I turned off the FoxPro. She'd come a few steps and stop. She got to about 450 yards away and just stood there, but now she was looking off to the NW. I glanced over that way every once in awhile and saw nothing. At about the 25 minute mark, she turned around and started heading away! I changed the FoxPro to the Coyote Pup Distress sound. She stopped, looked, but continued walking away from me. I checked my watch and I had been on stand about 29 minutes. I took another glance to the west of me and almost dropped my false teeth on the ground. There was a coyote about 150 yards away to the west of me and heading slowly to the north parallel to me. I can't figure out where he appeared from--another one of those typical "gray ghost" coyotes! I slipped the safety off and waited for an opportunity to shift my rifle that way. He stopped and appeared to be looking at my Predator Enticer. Then he turned his head, looked north, and I was able to move my rifle around and get the cross hairs on him. He stood broadside to me and I had the cross hairs right behind his right front shoulder and about 4 inches below the top of his back and I squeezed the shot off. He yelped, stumbled a bit and took off running about 5 large steps and then stumbled and fell dead.
I turned up the volume on the pup distress sound thinking maybe now the other coyote to the south of me might come in, but she just stood up on the ridge, 585 lasered yards away and watched. I think maybe the coyote I shot was from another family and she was at the edge of her territory, but I'm not sure. I walked over to the coyote. It was a real big male. Probably weighed in excess of 40 pounds and the fur was in pretty nice shape. The bullet had entered at my point of aim or just a bit above and had exited. The entry wound hole was a pin prick, but the exit hole was about the size of a nickel. I did a photo op and left the coyote on the prairie.
All of the calling stands I selected today were brand new to me. That makes it somewhat time consuming to walk in, mosey around and try to pick a good spot to call from. I drove to my next spot and walked in about 3/4 of a mile and called for 45 minutes and drew a blank. Next spot was absolutely juicy. A nice stock dam to the north with lots of ducks and antelope around the area. I called for 58 minutes and drew a blank.
I drove to my next spot and finally found a spot to set up. I couldn't see to the down wind side at all, but it was a juicy looking spot and would probably be my last stand of the day.
I set the FoxPro and the Predator Enticer down below me about 35 yards. The wind was coming from the SSE yet and at a speed that made the feathers on the Enticer get tangled up in the spring. So, I just set the stake up with the motor and spring sitting at an angle to the East and didn't even hook up the motor. The wind made the feathers move pretty good. You can see the white feathers on the left and the FoxPro is inside a white ski mask. Both are at the bottom of the photo to the left of the date and the photo has you looking to the SSE. They were in the bright sunlight when I set up in this spot.
I took out the Brad Holzer cow horn howler and my SlyDog Clasic II again. I hit the Clasic II for about 2 minutes, then waited about 2 minutes and hit it again for 2 minutes and waited about 2 minutes. Nothing was coming so I hit the howler with three nice high pitched long drawn out howls. I waited about 5 minutes. Nothing moving and no answering howls. I made some male challenge howls, then some pup distress sounds and then more male challenge sounds. Then I wailed on the Clasic II for about 2 minutes. I waited for 5 minutes and nothing was showing up. I took out my Bill Austin Howler and did some deep male challenge sounds and started the Woodpecker distress on the FoxPro.
At about 29 minutes I was about ready to give up and go to another spot, but did one more careful sweep of the area around me with my eyes starting with the area to the NE of me and continuing on around to the south and finally to the southwest. When I checked to the SW, lo and behold, I spotted a coyote walking toward me about 150 yards away! My rifle is pointed to the SSE, so when the coyote went behind the little knob to the SW of me I swung the rifle around, flicked off the safety and turned down the volume on the FoxPro. The coyote topped the little rise in front of me and stood broadside at 94 yards from my position (I had lasered the distance to that little hill when I set up at this spot). She was right in line with the barrel of my rifle in this next photo. The gun is pointing SW. The way she was intently looking to the NNW, made me feel pretty sure there was another coyote circling around to the NW of me, but there was a big hill behind me and no way for me to ever get a shot at that coyote. So, I put the cross hairs just behind the right front shoulder about 4 inches and squeezed off the shot. She stumbled, yelped once, and started running down the hill to the right in this photo. After about 10 or 12 steps her nose bulldozed into the grass and she slid about 15 feet. She is just to the right of that dead tree top in the extreme right-hand side of the photo. That's my Brad H cow horn howler to the left of my rifle and my leather glove next to it.
In the photo below you can see the blood from the entrance wound. Just a little pin prick and no exit hole on this one. Her fur was not in real good shape, but she was a very light pale colored coyote. Wish I would have shot her when she was prime. No sign of any nursing pups on her teats--but I think it is still a little bit early for them to have their litter yet. Maybe more towards the middle or end of April.
This last shot is of me in full camo!!! It was too hot to wear my camo coveralls, so I just went with a brown jacket and blue jeans! I did wear my netting mask so my bright, shining smile wouldn't scare away the coyotes!
Hopefully, I'll have a few more photos after Easter weekend. I have a little predator damage control work to do for a couple ranchers, so I hope I am successful for them.
I picked up my HUGE butt pack and strapped it on. This butt pack contains my FoxPro, remote, and antennae; the Predator Enticer battery box and the stakes and feathers, and 4 extra C-size batteries; my Leica 1200 Range Finder; my Kodak 4800 Digital Camera; 2 SlyDog calls, 2 Brad Holzer Calls, my Tally Ho, the Bill Austin Howler and several other calls. I loaded a shell in the chamber of my .17 Remington, got my shooting sticks, and started walking. I had purchased one of those see through head nets with a nice area cut out and hemmed for your eyes. I had my heavy insulated coveralls on and they felt pretty good to start with. (I was roasting on my way back to the pickup.) I walked in about a half mile before I found a spot to set up.
I set up the Predator Enticer decoy and put my FoxPro right at the base of the feather stand. I hiked back up the hill about 50 yards and took out my Brad Holzer cow horn howler and my SlyDog Clasic II calls and began to call. I finally spotted a coyote at about the 13 minute mark. The coyote was coming from the SE and headed almost straight west and was maybe over a half mile away. I watched her through my scope until she disappeared in some trees at the bottom of the valley and also got in behind some hills. I set the FoxPro for the Rabbit Distress #2 sound and started playing that at low volume.
She came back into sight almost 600 yards straight south of me when she topped the rise. She stopped several times and looked back the way she came. I expected to see another coyote out there, but never did see another one following her. I turned off the FoxPro. She'd come a few steps and stop. She got to about 450 yards away and just stood there, but now she was looking off to the NW. I glanced over that way every once in awhile and saw nothing. At about the 25 minute mark, she turned around and started heading away! I changed the FoxPro to the Coyote Pup Distress sound. She stopped, looked, but continued walking away from me. I checked my watch and I had been on stand about 29 minutes. I took another glance to the west of me and almost dropped my false teeth on the ground. There was a coyote about 150 yards away to the west of me and heading slowly to the north parallel to me. I can't figure out where he appeared from--another one of those typical "gray ghost" coyotes! I slipped the safety off and waited for an opportunity to shift my rifle that way. He stopped and appeared to be looking at my Predator Enticer. Then he turned his head, looked north, and I was able to move my rifle around and get the cross hairs on him. He stood broadside to me and I had the cross hairs right behind his right front shoulder and about 4 inches below the top of his back and I squeezed the shot off. He yelped, stumbled a bit and took off running about 5 large steps and then stumbled and fell dead.
I turned up the volume on the pup distress sound thinking maybe now the other coyote to the south of me might come in, but she just stood up on the ridge, 585 lasered yards away and watched. I think maybe the coyote I shot was from another family and she was at the edge of her territory, but I'm not sure. I walked over to the coyote. It was a real big male. Probably weighed in excess of 40 pounds and the fur was in pretty nice shape. The bullet had entered at my point of aim or just a bit above and had exited. The entry wound hole was a pin prick, but the exit hole was about the size of a nickel. I did a photo op and left the coyote on the prairie.
All of the calling stands I selected today were brand new to me. That makes it somewhat time consuming to walk in, mosey around and try to pick a good spot to call from. I drove to my next spot and walked in about 3/4 of a mile and called for 45 minutes and drew a blank. Next spot was absolutely juicy. A nice stock dam to the north with lots of ducks and antelope around the area. I called for 58 minutes and drew a blank.
I drove to my next spot and finally found a spot to set up. I couldn't see to the down wind side at all, but it was a juicy looking spot and would probably be my last stand of the day.
I set the FoxPro and the Predator Enticer down below me about 35 yards. The wind was coming from the SSE yet and at a speed that made the feathers on the Enticer get tangled up in the spring. So, I just set the stake up with the motor and spring sitting at an angle to the East and didn't even hook up the motor. The wind made the feathers move pretty good. You can see the white feathers on the left and the FoxPro is inside a white ski mask. Both are at the bottom of the photo to the left of the date and the photo has you looking to the SSE. They were in the bright sunlight when I set up in this spot.
I took out the Brad Holzer cow horn howler and my SlyDog Clasic II again. I hit the Clasic II for about 2 minutes, then waited about 2 minutes and hit it again for 2 minutes and waited about 2 minutes. Nothing was coming so I hit the howler with three nice high pitched long drawn out howls. I waited about 5 minutes. Nothing moving and no answering howls. I made some male challenge howls, then some pup distress sounds and then more male challenge sounds. Then I wailed on the Clasic II for about 2 minutes. I waited for 5 minutes and nothing was showing up. I took out my Bill Austin Howler and did some deep male challenge sounds and started the Woodpecker distress on the FoxPro.
At about 29 minutes I was about ready to give up and go to another spot, but did one more careful sweep of the area around me with my eyes starting with the area to the NE of me and continuing on around to the south and finally to the southwest. When I checked to the SW, lo and behold, I spotted a coyote walking toward me about 150 yards away! My rifle is pointed to the SSE, so when the coyote went behind the little knob to the SW of me I swung the rifle around, flicked off the safety and turned down the volume on the FoxPro. The coyote topped the little rise in front of me and stood broadside at 94 yards from my position (I had lasered the distance to that little hill when I set up at this spot). She was right in line with the barrel of my rifle in this next photo. The gun is pointing SW. The way she was intently looking to the NNW, made me feel pretty sure there was another coyote circling around to the NW of me, but there was a big hill behind me and no way for me to ever get a shot at that coyote. So, I put the cross hairs just behind the right front shoulder about 4 inches and squeezed off the shot. She stumbled, yelped once, and started running down the hill to the right in this photo. After about 10 or 12 steps her nose bulldozed into the grass and she slid about 15 feet. She is just to the right of that dead tree top in the extreme right-hand side of the photo. That's my Brad H cow horn howler to the left of my rifle and my leather glove next to it.
In the photo below you can see the blood from the entrance wound. Just a little pin prick and no exit hole on this one. Her fur was not in real good shape, but she was a very light pale colored coyote. Wish I would have shot her when she was prime. No sign of any nursing pups on her teats--but I think it is still a little bit early for them to have their litter yet. Maybe more towards the middle or end of April.
This last shot is of me in full camo!!! It was too hot to wear my camo coveralls, so I just went with a brown jacket and blue jeans! I did wear my netting mask so my bright, shining smile wouldn't scare away the coyotes!
Hopefully, I'll have a few more photos after Easter weekend. I have a little predator damage control work to do for a couple ranchers, so I hope I am successful for them.
