Hidenseekpro
Member
Well, (Mark)Singlecoil, Zack the dog, and I got out yesterday to test run the Jeep, which had gone down due to needing a new fuel pump.
The Jeep ran fine and took us on an approximately 115-mile round trip of fine calling.
We met up just after first light and set up the Jeep. Once we got going, we dipped off into some state land and called our first stand.
It was a blank, but a long one. I got into a heated argument with a group of coyotes that just wouldn't commit. They were running their heads for quite a while though; it was a really cool stand!
We continued on through the area we'd chosen and started getting signs that things were picking up.
At about 9:00, we were a couple minutes into a stand when two deer came tearing out of the sand dunes. They were running scared and we figured we'd have our first customer shortly. The wind indicator of the front of the rig said we'd been busted, though.
We put another mile or so behind us and swung into the next spot. A bit of rabbit distress had a coyote inbound, moving towards our downwind. He stopped briefly and Mark took the shot. The coyote dropped, but it looked like he got right back up and trotted off. he stopped once more and looked back, but neither of us had a good shot.
We walked the area, but didn't locate any blood. There was so much coyote sign in the area, footsign was useless. Zack worked the area and turned up nothing.
Oh well, looks like he got away clean.
Next stop had us here:
We set up on a well pad overlooking the sand dunes.
Almost immediately, a mule deer doe appeared to check out the calling. She din't stick around long though, because there was a coyote on his way in. He was trotting across our front from right to left, headed downwind.
We got him stopped in a spot where he was visible between the dunes and I took the shot. He bolted at the shot and I thought I'd racked up my first miss for the day. We both thought we'd heard a solid "slap" from the shot though, so we walked out to see what was up.
Once we located the spot where the coyote was standing, the blood trail was obvious. He had run off already dead and was down for the count about thirty yards away.
Happy to be "on the board" we quickly made for our next stand.
Next spot had us in a little more open country:
Maybe five minutes in, a coyote came bombing over the hill off to our left. He was maybe 150 yards out and running. As we watched him pass by, another coyote came running up from right to left at about 20 yards. Neither one would stop and they both crossed out of our shooting lanes before we could do anything with them.
I kept calling and we're still not clear on what happened next.
Either the same two coyotes, who had both already crossed our wind, turned around and each made another pass, or two more coyotes showed up!
This time the farther one was much farther out and moving from right to left. The close one followed just about the same path and came across from left to right.
The close one still wouldn't stop, but the further one did stop at about 250 yards.
This is a zoomed-in view of the stand. The coyote stopped just behind and to the right of the closest pole in the picture.
I pulled down on him and took the shot. That's pretty far for me and I didn't have a lot of confidence. The coyote ran off and I was sure he'd made it out unscathed.
Mark however, was sure he'd heard the bullet hit home and he convinced me to go out and look for the coyote.
It was a good thing he did. As we walked out to the area where I thought the coyote had been standing, Zack's head dropped to the ground and he went pounding off into the nearby sand dunes.
We looked all over, but found no blood. I was mentally resigned to gathering up Zack and heading off down the road when I heard Zack bay barking, way off.
We hoofed it in his direction and eventually he came running over to get me.
Zack led me even further through the dunes and took me to where he'd found my coyote! He bloodtrailed that coyote for about a quarter mile and led to a successful recovery. He's shaping up to be the perfect coyote dog for me.
That last recovery was at about 11:00 and the coyotes seemed to be turned completely off after that.
We called another couple stands and decided it must be the midday lull in the action you sometimes get. We decided to snap a quick picture and skin the ones we had before they hung out too long.
You can see the wind flag sticking up in front of the Jeep; the wind was picking up quite a bit, too.
Turns out, it wasn't just a lull in the action. The coyotes seemed to be done for the day. Those two hours or so were really good, though.
We had a great time calling some good country; thanks for reading.
The Jeep ran fine and took us on an approximately 115-mile round trip of fine calling.
We met up just after first light and set up the Jeep. Once we got going, we dipped off into some state land and called our first stand.
It was a blank, but a long one. I got into a heated argument with a group of coyotes that just wouldn't commit. They were running their heads for quite a while though; it was a really cool stand!
We continued on through the area we'd chosen and started getting signs that things were picking up.
At about 9:00, we were a couple minutes into a stand when two deer came tearing out of the sand dunes. They were running scared and we figured we'd have our first customer shortly. The wind indicator of the front of the rig said we'd been busted, though.
We put another mile or so behind us and swung into the next spot. A bit of rabbit distress had a coyote inbound, moving towards our downwind. He stopped briefly and Mark took the shot. The coyote dropped, but it looked like he got right back up and trotted off. he stopped once more and looked back, but neither of us had a good shot.
We walked the area, but didn't locate any blood. There was so much coyote sign in the area, footsign was useless. Zack worked the area and turned up nothing.
Oh well, looks like he got away clean.
Next stop had us here:
We set up on a well pad overlooking the sand dunes.
Almost immediately, a mule deer doe appeared to check out the calling. She din't stick around long though, because there was a coyote on his way in. He was trotting across our front from right to left, headed downwind.
We got him stopped in a spot where he was visible between the dunes and I took the shot. He bolted at the shot and I thought I'd racked up my first miss for the day. We both thought we'd heard a solid "slap" from the shot though, so we walked out to see what was up.
Once we located the spot where the coyote was standing, the blood trail was obvious. He had run off already dead and was down for the count about thirty yards away.
Happy to be "on the board" we quickly made for our next stand.
Next spot had us in a little more open country:
Maybe five minutes in, a coyote came bombing over the hill off to our left. He was maybe 150 yards out and running. As we watched him pass by, another coyote came running up from right to left at about 20 yards. Neither one would stop and they both crossed out of our shooting lanes before we could do anything with them.
I kept calling and we're still not clear on what happened next.
Either the same two coyotes, who had both already crossed our wind, turned around and each made another pass, or two more coyotes showed up!
This time the farther one was much farther out and moving from right to left. The close one followed just about the same path and came across from left to right.
The close one still wouldn't stop, but the further one did stop at about 250 yards.
This is a zoomed-in view of the stand. The coyote stopped just behind and to the right of the closest pole in the picture.
I pulled down on him and took the shot. That's pretty far for me and I didn't have a lot of confidence. The coyote ran off and I was sure he'd made it out unscathed.
Mark however, was sure he'd heard the bullet hit home and he convinced me to go out and look for the coyote.
It was a good thing he did. As we walked out to the area where I thought the coyote had been standing, Zack's head dropped to the ground and he went pounding off into the nearby sand dunes.
We looked all over, but found no blood. I was mentally resigned to gathering up Zack and heading off down the road when I heard Zack bay barking, way off.
We hoofed it in his direction and eventually he came running over to get me.
Zack led me even further through the dunes and took me to where he'd found my coyote! He bloodtrailed that coyote for about a quarter mile and led to a successful recovery. He's shaping up to be the perfect coyote dog for me.
That last recovery was at about 11:00 and the coyotes seemed to be turned completely off after that.
We called another couple stands and decided it must be the midday lull in the action you sometimes get. We decided to snap a quick picture and skin the ones we had before they hung out too long.
You can see the wind flag sticking up in front of the Jeep; the wind was picking up quite a bit, too.
Turns out, it wasn't just a lull in the action. The coyotes seemed to be done for the day. Those two hours or so were really good, though.
We had a great time calling some good country; thanks for reading.
Last edited by a moderator:
