Huntin when it's HOT, HOT, HOT!!!

Jeff Mock

Jeff Mock

Active member
"Will Coyotes come to the call when it's really, really hot, or do they just lay up in the shade"?

This is a question often asked, and one that has many differant answers.

Last weekend, Jay Nistetter and I decided to test the theory.....agian. We'd done this once before about 8 or 9 years ago, and we just so happened to have chosen about the hottest day of the year...in Yuma Arizona. If memory serves be correctly, it was about 118 degrees. The callin was good, but we were DONE by noon!

Well, this past weekend, we weren't going to Yuma, but to a ranch in Southern Arizona, and yes, it was HOT! If I had to guess, I'd say around 110-112 degrees, and we were going for the whole weekend!

On one of our first stands, Jay is playing the FOXPRO Prarie Blaster, and we have a visitor. She checked up at about 50 yards, and just stared at the decoy mounted to the FOXPRO.

I just ordered a brand new DPMS LR-243L, and let me tell you...The .243 cuts them ZERO slack!





A few stands later, Jay is making the FOXPRO sing, and we have another visitor! This dominant male came in ready to scrap! He starts raking the ground with his hind legs, and then all of a sudden, squats and drops a load right there, and begins raking his hind legs lettin every other dog in the area know that this was his turf, and he was ready to mix it up.

Little did he know, the "newly broken in" .243 had his number. 164 yards, BANG...FLOP! DRT!

As I was walking up to collect him, the first thing I noticed about this dog was just how long his legs were! He was all legs and head!



As I returned, I asked Jay if he had a scale cause this dog was just a little heavier than usual. Jay broke out his scale, and we weiged the dog.

32.9 pounds! Not to bad for an Arizona Desert dog.



We made a few more stands that day, and missed a few coyotes, but we braved the extreme heat, and survived the day! We went into town and had supper at a great BBQ joint, and talked about what a day we'd had, and how hot it had been.

The next morning, and about 4:00 a.m., Jay was driving us out to make our first stand by sun-up, it's dark! Up ahead in the road, I see something being lit up by the headlights of Jay's truck. It's black with a big white stripe laying in the road, dead.

I just knew that Jay saw that FRESHLY killed skunk in the middle of the road...I just KNEW IT....WRONGO!!!

CRUNCH!!!

JEFF: "JAY, didn't you see that dead skunk in the road"???

JAY: "No...but I felt it"...

Needless to say, we had PLENTY of coverscent for the truck for the remainder of the trip!

We made a few stands, but it got quite a bit hotter, ALOT sooner that day, and we didn't get the cooperation from the dog's that we were hoping for...

By about our 4th or 5th stand, it is HOT! Off come the leafy wear suits! We are down to our t-shirts and hats, and desparately seeking any bit of shade we can find.

On about our 6th stand, I break out the FOXPRO FURY and my MOJO CRITTER decoy.

Jay and I are sharing the ONLY shade tree winthin a quater mile of us, and the FOXPRO is wailing!

About 3 minutes into the call, I hear Jay move a bit, and I peek over my left shoulder where Jay is sitting.

12 yards or so away, I see a coyote turn and start hightailing it our of the area! Jay begins to bark at it, and it slows down, just a bit, and begins "hopping" away from us!

Now I have been witness to some MIGHTY FINE shootin in my time, but let me tell you boys and girls, I do believe that Uncle Jay was showin off just a bit!

As this coyote is "HOPPING" away from us, Jay is steady lining up his own DMPS LR-243L, topped with an EOTech red-dot & 3 power maginfier, and on about the 4th hop, Jay let's one fly, KABOOM!

This coyote is in mid-air when Jay's bullet hit it!

My only response to the shot was "WOW"!

Jay's response to me was, "AND he was running away"! SHOWOFF!!!

Seriousy though, Jay made a great shot on that dog, and I felt lucky just to be able to have seen it!





We madew a few more stands, but very soon reched the conclusion that the coyotes weren't interested in seeing Uncle Jay perform any more trick shots, so we decided to call it a trip, and head home.

It was a great trip, and we had a very good time, and YES...the coyotes will come in to the call when it's HOT outside, unless they know that Uncle Jay and his "trick shooting" are there waiting for them.

Thanks for the great time Jay, I had a blast!


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Fine job!!
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I am glad somebody is seeing something. I have been out every Fri. AM for the past two months and haven't seen a single coyote.
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Of course here in Tenn. we don't have the numbers that you guys have. I have managed to call in quite a few deer but that is about it. And yes, it has been extremely hot back here.
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I was just in Phoenix and Prescott a week ago and it was hot there (95-115) but when I got off the plane here in Tn. (temp. 98) the humidity just hits you like a ton of bricks. Again, great job and maybe some "veteran" coyote hunter out there may be willing to tell me how to hunt them in the East during these hot spells.
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Love the story and pics. Congrats to you on the coyotes and love the AR. I shoot a DPMS-223 and its a tack driver but haven't put the smack down on a yote yet. Its been 95-110 in SC and the wx man tells us that he can't see any change in site. At least somebody is whacking them. What call were you using when the coyote marked his territory?
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Great replay Jeff!! Looks like you guys had a great time
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That new 243 is one good looking AR. I dont know how you guys can take that heat!!
 
What a hunt Jeff!!! Very cool!! Looks like you got that .243 on paper like you wanted , and on some fur.

I am soo excited for next week, the days here at work are just going by WAY to slow!

Good to know that those yotes will still come to the call in the extreme heat.

I messaged ya on F.B. about my arrival time and such.

See ya soon.
 
Jeepdude, I ain't gonna lie, it's definitely a heavier gun to carry than the .223. The .243 being the AR10 platform is a heavier, beefier setup, but the extra weight is worth the results!

Chazwho, we sweat like a couple of pigs, but I'd say we drank about 1 1/2 cases of water, gatorade & iced tea in those two days. Besides, me losing a couple of pounds isn't gonna put me in any danger! That male wasn't the biggest desert dog I've killed, but he was much larger than average.

Teamroper, ya just gotta keep after it! Just follow the basics, and sooner or later, it'll happen! I may have also forgot to mention that while it was extremely hot, we also had a bit of humidity ourselves with the monsoon storms blowing all around us, but we got no rain on out hunt. I agree, the humidity can be a BEAR back East for sure!

Locoutryhunter, the FOXPRO was playing "Waning Jack" when the big male came in ready to scrap.

Kerry, just come on down before it cools off, and we'll show you first hand how we deal with the heat.
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Screech, I'm glad you're excited! We'll be ready for you! The weather this week has been cooler than usual, and cloudy! It's been just at or under 100 this whole week, but it been VERY humid, and STILL no rain. We'll see you when you get here bud!
 
Can't remember if we called in 6 or 7 on day one plus a Javelina. We saw a couple more driving in and had opportunity on one but passed.

Day 1 was cloudy and decent. Slight breeze condditions but swirling and could depend on direction. My philosophy on wind direction is that it is around 5th on the importance list. Number 1 on the list is minimal movement and 2 sight distance shooting lane. 3 is the ability to work the coyote. 4 is to plan your calling location in advance and it is better to get out, get down and start calling as quickly as possible (no wandering around looking for the perfect spot to call).

First stand day one. Called a spot I always get coyotes on. No takers this time. This told me that it would not be a good idea calling this area so we took a 30 minute drive to another area.

Stand 2 new area. Jeff makes a fine shot on a female coming hard from his 3 O'clock. DRT no twitching.

Stand 3 and 4 dry.

Stand 5 Jeff made a great shot on a large male at 160. Said it weighed a ton by the time he carried it back to the truck.

Stand 6 and 7 dry.

Stand 8 callen a pair. Jeff barked one to a stop and after it hopped to a halt it was directly behind a large bush between him and Jeff.

I couldn't shoot because I was with camera that stand.

Tip for guys using video cameras: REMEMBER NOT to wear polarizes sunglasses when filming. The viewscreen and view finder is very, very hard to see. As lond as I've been doing this, I still forget that tip quite regularly. Did get some so-so footage.

stand 9 had one circle us at 300 yards out. Not really sure if we called it or it was just passing through. Had its attention though.

I tink we called in one more but can't remember the details. If we did, it got away so it's not important.

2 more dry stands and then off looking for arrowheads and broken pottery.

Day 2 no clouds.
First stand, day two had a rocket coyote do a fly-by. He/she got away unscathed.

Stand 2 called in a Javelina.

Stand 3 called in a single from behind. I heard it before I saw it.

Stand 4 dry.

Stand 5 called in one to 100 yards and it stopped to watch the FP topper for a second and then boogied. I was waiting for it to come on in because I was using a shotgun but the coyote didn't want to tangle with the topper.

We did find some shade in an oak grove with a nice breeze. Made a 30 minute stand and not 100% sure if we called anything in as I think both of us we nodding off.

We called in 3 before we called it quits around 10:30.

The waft of the cover scent lasted three days in the neighborhood after I got back to Phoenix.
 
Too much fun, guys!
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I noticed it musta been too hot for the bullsnakes because there's not a picture of Jay holding one by the tail...
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I may have to look at one of those DPMS .243s. Great little rifle.
 
Originally Posted By: rockinbbarToo much fun, guys!
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I noticed it musta been too hot for the bullsnakes because there's not a picture of Jay holding one by the tail...
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Funny you should mention that Barry. We did run across a bull snake... Literally.

Forgot to add because of lack of time that if we had all our ducks lined up we should have had 3 more dogs.

If Jeff would have had a shotgun instead of a rifle, he would have taken the Fly-by coyote.

If I would have had a rifle instead of a shotgun, I could have taken the dog that was spooked by the FP topper.

If I would have had a rifle instead of a camera, I could have taken one of the doubles we called in.

Oh well.

The trouble with coyotes is that some never read the ROE.
 
very nice job on the summer time dogs. I have the itch to get out there and havn't gone because of the heat, it looks like I need to load up some water in the jeep and get out there.
 
Originally Posted By: TeamroperFine job!!
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I am glad somebody is seeing something. I have been out every Fri. AM for the past two months and haven't seen a single coyote.
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Of course here in Tenn. we don't have the numbers that you guys have.

Georgia's pretty much the same when it comes to #'s vs. out west. I've found that when it's hot here, late afternoons are better than mornings. I think they hunt all night while it's cooler, but are relatively inactive during the hot of the day. When the sun starts sinking, it seems their bellies start growling. So far this summer, I've averaged a coyote per 2 afternoon stands, which is pretty good for me.
 
Jeff and Jay,
Sounds like we must have passed each other going the opposite direction on the 8!!! I went down to Tucson 2 weekends ago (kid going back to school) and decided to stop just east of Gila Bend and all the road resurfacing............it was 108 and after 2 stands and no takers it was smarter of me to get back into the AC and head south towards my house in Tucson.
I did manage these 2 in Jeff's backyard in 28M. Looks like it's cooling down some and I'm coming back down again this weekend...........a margarita at Mi Nidito's and a steak at Abners will be part of this weekends trip. Good hunting fellas!
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Kevin
 
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