shooting between the eyes

Kevin Steele

New member
What do guys aim at when you see eyes only? Having a tough time hitting them shooying between the eyes. Im not that good of a shot i guess. Lol. And yes I know that im shooting at coyotes.
 
whatch the way they come in sometimes you can get a good idea of their position, when I shot with a 250 I could jsut get an outline at 150 if there was no brush or tall grass, now I was using a 5x20 scope, what power scope are you using?
 
Originally Posted By: Kevin SteeleWhat do guys aim at when you see eyes only? Having a tough time hitting them shooying between the eyes. Im not that good of a shot i guess. Lol. And yes I know that im shooting at coyotes.

I never shoot at just eyes only!

Is it a horse, deer, antelope, cow, calf, swift fox, deer etc.....

I would suggest you have 110% positive ID prior to pulling the trigger!

I do a lot of night hunting and never, ever have i shot at eyes..........

Good way too lose your hunting rights!


I would also suggest going to Walmart and picking up a Stanley hand held LED spotlight for $40.00. This will help you identify the critter you are shooting.
 
I hunted on Wednesday night. We were set up in a corn stubble field and had two yotes come in and hold up at 120 yards. I put the crosshairs between the eyes and dropped down about an inch and squeezed the trigger. Thought I missed until we walked up and found it laying there with a hole entering its left nostril. Probably got lucky, but I don't know where else you could aim depending on the position of the body and the neck you are just guessing. I say aim between the eyes and about an inch lower. Not much room for error, but I think it is your best chance. You can see this coyote being air skinned in a video on the Great White North thread titled "Air Skinning a Coyote" My hunting partner was nice enough to take care of the dirty work for me!!
 
I agree with Dead Down Wind, I never shoot at eyes. Could be someones dog (ie. was calling earlier this year and called up the neighbors dog, could have shot it easily at 150 yards but did not have positive I.D. so I waited till I made sure it was a coyote and it wasn't.)
 
Originally Posted By: 250shooterI agree with Dead Down Wind, I never shoot at eyes. Could be someones dog (ie. was calling earlier this year and called up the neighbors dog, could have shot it easily at 150 yards but did not have positive I.D. so I waited till I made sure it was a coyote and it wasn't.)

In this day and age we have many resources available (Some Pricey) for hunting at night where legal.

I use a Flir PS32 and an AR mounted with a D740 Gen3 scope. I usually see more than eyes! I can only hunt with this in Nebraska so i drive the extra 20 -25 miles north. I am in the process of ordering a TNV/PVS-14 Gen3 Monocular with a Surefire M1 IR and a Ops Base Jumper Helmet.

When in Colorado i use my Laser Genetic ND3X50 Subzero on top of a Nikon Coyote Special scope and i can cleary identify a coyote out to 300+ yards providing no weeds or tall grass in the way.

I would reccomend the Laser and a CHEAPY spotlight such as the Stanley LED for night hunting on a limitied budget.

It works very well and i am sure you would be very happy with this setup.
 
Now I have shot at a lot of eyes, and there was a criteria that was determined on several factors such as where and how they act, being the primary two. If it walks like a duck and talks like a duck and on the water, at some point it’s a duck.

I remember my first triple on new property, first one came in 165 yards I thought coyote, dropped it, 5 minutes later another came in 5 yards behind the first, dropped it, 5 minutes later another comes in within 3 yards of the first, dropped it, and I thought , man I hope I’m not shooting this guy’s goats or deer? And called the stand quits just in case Lucky for me it was 3 coyotes. But may have been able to shoot 5 off it had I not stopped

Now hunting with thermal that I do a lot of now is very similar to a light as you don’t have the definition and clarity at times that you do with gen 3 and requires that you read the animals movement and mannerism’s to determine the species. Deer don’t respond to a call like coyotes, nor do family dogs and if you have 10” between the eyes you can bet it’s a cow and not a coyote, but watch out for those calfs .

I would not recommend a person new to night hunting shoot at eyes unless they are 100% positive, and that comes from experience of watching coyotes under a light or some other source of ID. Better to lose the shot than your privileges.

Even with the thermal when I spot a coyote if there is the chance I always have it confirmed with the gen3. Had a doe pop her head over a brush line that I was about 1lb from doing her when my brother said dee!, had a bull in a pond we thought was a hog wallering and about dropped the hammer on him till it turned its head and my brother saw the tag in the ear. Had a coyote the other night my brother questioned cause it looked like it had a collar in the thermal, I had been watching its movement and said coyote, the collar turned out to be the only fur on it.

Be safe not sorry
 
experience can fool you thats for sure, when I was with Tony Tebbe on the second day with him on the thermal he called three as coyotes coming hard at 500, turned out to be jackrabbits at 200. LOL now that guy can read coyote body movement as well as any one, but what fooled him was distance! again be safe not sorry
 
Thanks guys. All the shots that i have made have been coyotes we had snow until today and seen tracks but no blood. The eyes are alot closer on coyotes then deer almost evey one i have called in runs back in forth with the call on. Trying to catch wind of me maybe not sure. The area im hunting has bobcat, fox, and coyote all in season. There shouldnt be any stray dogs out 2 miles in the woods. Not trying to open up a can of worms. I just had a question where to aim.
 
If you can't see the face, or the body, for aiming purposes, then how do you know it's a coyote?

One time I called in a bobcat from 200 yards out on a lightly misty night. It crept in real slow and paused for several minutes a few times along the way. I almost shot it several times but I wanted it to come closer. I could only see the eyes but I was 99% sure it was a cat based on the eyes and movement and how low the eyes were to the ground. The whole time my buddy was telling me "Shoot it! Shoot it!" When it got to about 75 yards I realized it was a 4-pt buck, and I took my finger off the trigger. Fooled us both! I've called in lots of deer and none ever fooled me before like that. It can happen.

If you can't see well enough to aim, you should not be aiming. Certainly not shooting. If all you can see is the eyes, there is no possible way you can have 100% confidence in your target ID.
 
Kevin,
its an honest question we have all, that night hunt have had to ask ourself or others at one time or another! if you have possitive ID I hold for a high neck if I can't judge the body position. there are guys that hunt west texas with nothing on the land for several miles that shoot at nothing but eyes from high rig trucks, and there are those of use that have to deal with deer and live stock as well as stray pets

bottom line is when is doubt dont' pull the trigger
 
When all I see are the eyes after confirming coyote I usually can make the direction the body is from the head as they look and hold for a neck shot. I have not failed yet.
 
well if theres a chance its a bobcat or fox they are not open to night hunting. i had to let one go a week ago because it was 200+ yards out there and was not 100% on wat it was.
 
Originally Posted By: preddhunterwell if theres a chance its a bobcat or fox ...


... or lynx.
 
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Just to clarify, the one I shot the other night was positively identified by my brother prior to me shooting. He had it in front of him running to the caller and couldn't stop them. You definitely need to make sure what ur shooting at prior to taking the shot.
 
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