DoubleUp
Well-known member
Yesterday at lunch when the fire siren sounded I heard a pack of coyotes sound off in the woods to the south side of my house. It sounded like 3 or 4 of them. My house sits on the east side of a 400 acre corn field with woods to the south about two hundred yards and to the west about 1,000 yds. The field runs about another 800 yds from my house to the north where the highway separates it from another cornfield of similar size.
When I got home last night after Church at about 9:30 I told my wife I was going out in the back yard and try to call those coyotes. It was slick calm and the moon had not come up so it was dark, ideal in fact. I got my stuff together and setup at the back of the yard right across the ditch from the corn field.
I decided to open up with baby cottontail at half volume. As soon as I did I got eyes about 500 yds to the west. I let it play for maybe 4 minutes and switched it off. The eyes didn't appear to be getting any closer but now there were two pairs. So I waited a bit and turned on lightning jack at half volume. Immediately I could see the eyes start moving coming my way. I let it play about 4 minutes and shut it off. I could still pick up the eyes working my way. The wind was perfect so they could not get my scent and could not get downwind because that was toward the house.
I decided to go to Vole squeaks at half volume. Those two were coming in from the west but angling slightly toward the southwest. Somewhere in that movement they picked up another set of eyes, so now there were three. Then as I was swinging the light slowly in an arc, I had one much closer coming in from the south. I could see this one clearly with the xlr 250 so I figured about 100 yds. I let that one have it. Then the FoxPro kicks into pup distress and here come the others, things get a little fuzzy here as coyotes were running all over the place and I'm trying to get off another shot. I let one go and not sure whether it's a hit or miss, bolt another one in and pretty sure I knock that one down as I see it spinning around and then eyes going up and down. Pup distress has coyotes answering from all over. I let it run a few more minutes but now I'm down to only one bullet shooting the 243, so I'm feeling like Barney Fife. I don't see anymore eyes and things sort of settle down, so I turn the FoxPro off and pick up my gear. Then another one in the field opens up barking at me a few hundred yards off, so I prop on my utility trailer and get his eyes in the scope and let my last bullet fly. I don' know if I hit that one or not. What a time, I don't know at that stage how many that I can find in the field. This morning I go out and find the first one that came from the south. She was 75 yds from the stand. Evidently the 243 with 58 zmax hit her right between the ribs. The entry hole was very small and the bullet did not exit. That one was a white-tip two pointer, (my third this season).
You can see the general layout of the field in this picture. The yellow line and arrows represent the direction of the first one I shot. The two red arrows show where I first saw the eyes and the general direction of their travel, and the green arrow represents where I took the shot on the one barking at me. I searched long and hard for the second one I shot that was doing the spins and then putting it’s head up and down, but could not find any sign of it. I did find the third one that was barking at me. I lasered that distance at 315 yds. She was hit right in the eye.
Here’s the pair together. The one to the left was shot first.
As you can see in this picture the second coyote the one shot in the eye was somewhat larger and teeth appeared more worn than the first one.
I was very pleased to call four and collect a double in the dark.
When I got home last night after Church at about 9:30 I told my wife I was going out in the back yard and try to call those coyotes. It was slick calm and the moon had not come up so it was dark, ideal in fact. I got my stuff together and setup at the back of the yard right across the ditch from the corn field.
I decided to open up with baby cottontail at half volume. As soon as I did I got eyes about 500 yds to the west. I let it play for maybe 4 minutes and switched it off. The eyes didn't appear to be getting any closer but now there were two pairs. So I waited a bit and turned on lightning jack at half volume. Immediately I could see the eyes start moving coming my way. I let it play about 4 minutes and shut it off. I could still pick up the eyes working my way. The wind was perfect so they could not get my scent and could not get downwind because that was toward the house.
I decided to go to Vole squeaks at half volume. Those two were coming in from the west but angling slightly toward the southwest. Somewhere in that movement they picked up another set of eyes, so now there were three. Then as I was swinging the light slowly in an arc, I had one much closer coming in from the south. I could see this one clearly with the xlr 250 so I figured about 100 yds. I let that one have it. Then the FoxPro kicks into pup distress and here come the others, things get a little fuzzy here as coyotes were running all over the place and I'm trying to get off another shot. I let one go and not sure whether it's a hit or miss, bolt another one in and pretty sure I knock that one down as I see it spinning around and then eyes going up and down. Pup distress has coyotes answering from all over. I let it run a few more minutes but now I'm down to only one bullet shooting the 243, so I'm feeling like Barney Fife. I don't see anymore eyes and things sort of settle down, so I turn the FoxPro off and pick up my gear. Then another one in the field opens up barking at me a few hundred yards off, so I prop on my utility trailer and get his eyes in the scope and let my last bullet fly. I don' know if I hit that one or not. What a time, I don't know at that stage how many that I can find in the field. This morning I go out and find the first one that came from the south. She was 75 yds from the stand. Evidently the 243 with 58 zmax hit her right between the ribs. The entry hole was very small and the bullet did not exit. That one was a white-tip two pointer, (my third this season).
You can see the general layout of the field in this picture. The yellow line and arrows represent the direction of the first one I shot. The two red arrows show where I first saw the eyes and the general direction of their travel, and the green arrow represents where I took the shot on the one barking at me. I searched long and hard for the second one I shot that was doing the spins and then putting it’s head up and down, but could not find any sign of it. I did find the third one that was barking at me. I lasered that distance at 315 yds. She was hit right in the eye.
Here’s the pair together. The one to the left was shot first.
As you can see in this picture the second coyote the one shot in the eye was somewhat larger and teeth appeared more worn than the first one.
I was very pleased to call four and collect a double in the dark.
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