Son got 1st real coyote today!

NM_HighPlains

New member
Back in early summer, my 8-yr old got his first coyote- a young pup taken opportunistically with his Ruger 10/22. Now that he's 9, he's been chomping at the bit to go "real" coyote hunting. We have a Savage Youth in .223, so we shot that a few times, practiced a bit more, and finally started hunting a bit.

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Last week it snowed and we heard coyotes right behind the house and so I took a break from work and we walked 250 yds out and started calling. After 10 min or so, I decided that I was cold enough. We unloaded and got up and- of course- there was a coyote standing about 200 yds off watching us. We flattened back down, but he went into a draw. I really wanted my son to get this one, so I tried calling a bit more, but the 'yote decided to investigate other pastures. I took a 350 yard shot and missed. We should've looked around better before standing up and had we been really hunting, we would have.

Back at the house, I was warming up with a cup of coffee when son came into the office and said "there's another coyote out there!" I looked and sure 'nuff!!! There's a coyote in the spot we'd just vacated. We snuck out around the house, laid over the propane tank, and he took a shot. And missed. We rode an ATV out there, checked tracks, and discovered that both coyotes had come from behind us. We tracked the 2nd coyote all the way to the creek, found no blood, and called it a clean miss.

Now, the part of the story you're missing is that we'd switched ammo on our .223's. For the past several years, I've been shooting Vmax 50 gr in front of Ramshot Xterminator in my Savage PH, while the youth model has been launching 52 gr HP in front of BL/C2. Son decided he liked the feel of my bullets and I like the accuracy of the HP's, so we switched and re-sighted in. Since we'd both missed, I was questioning our sighting in. Today, the wind was calm so we set-up some targets and checked ourselves. I was 2" high at 150 and dead-on at 250. I pulled a 2 shot 3/4" group at 150 and 2" at 250 yards. Son drilled the 150 and hit 4" left at 250 (the farthest he's ever shot). We then went and ranged the places where we'd missed and discovered that I'd misjudged the distance and we both probably shot high.

That being done, we ate lunch (I had 2x cooked potato, sliced ribeye, and fresh sliced jalapenos- yummy!) and went calling. I was using the Foxpro this time instead of a hand call. After awhile of pup distress, Lightning Jack, and corvids, I spotted a coyote walking sideways to us about 500 yards out. He stopped and looked our direction. I ended up throwing several sounds at him with no response. Then I hit "prairie dog distress"... he stood up and started trotting toward us. Son positioned himself and we waited as the coyote cut the distance, stopping frequently. When he finally got out about 150 yards, he stopped again and started looking side to side. I tapped son's shoulder, he wiggled in a little, and BOOM!!!! Bang-flop, DRT. Perfect dead-center chest shot.

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Coyote's fur was good and we had some stretchers I'd bought back in the summer, so I hauled the stinky critter (smelled like he'd tangled with a skunk...) to the truck and we commenced to skinning.

As some of you may recall, we lost my 11-year old this year. He'd suffered from severe anemia all his life, started steroids just about a year ago, and died totally unexpectedly on Memorial Day. It's been rough on all us, but it's been very, very hard on my youngest son as big brother was his best friend. I'll never replace his brother, but I'm making an effort to get out and do things with him, and this helps a lot. He's the first to take a coyote with this rifle (sister shot it before him), it was a "real" hunt, and he made a great shot.

From a few years ago. Late son on the left, our hero on the right:
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We were really hoping to make the hunt in Las Cruces, but I just got a jury duty summons in the mail- Feb 4th- so we'll see.

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Wonderful story! I've found that most of my fondest hunting memories are filling up with adventures with my son.
 
Great story and congrats to the young man. Those days together is what lasts a lifetime of memories.

Thanks for sharing....
 
Originally Posted By: Hunter GathererBest story ive read here in years. Congratulations to your son.

x2 It was a pleasure to read Sir... The best to you and your family..
 
Really good story. I am sure dad was about as excited as son. Congrats to both of you. i am sorry for your loss.
 
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