JTPinTX
Custom Call Maker
Last weekend my oldest son and I had a few hours to go out and call a bit. My son and I have hunted together a pretty fair amount for deer, turkey, hogs, and dove, but it was the first time he had ever gone predator calling with me. Even though I did a lot of calling when I was younger, it wasn't until last fall that I started getting back into predator hunting after a long hiatus. As it turned out we had an awesome time, and he really enjoyed himself a lot. He has always been kind of take it or leave it when it came to hunting, but after last Saturday I think he has a new addiction. He is really excited about going out again.
I was calling using my CS-24, and carrying the old standby Savage 110 FP in 25-06 for those long shots. Both of them used to belong to my dad, who was an avid caller that passed away suddenly last summer. I might as well have been carrying a stick though for all the good that rifle did for Saturday, it turned out to be all abut my son! My son Mason was carrying my little CZ-527 in .223, using a load of 27 grains of W-748 pushing a 50 grain Dogtown spitzer. That load is a nail driver and the rifle is zeroed dead on at 200.
We (meaning I) messed up the first stand. With less than a minute running on Lightning Jack, a big dominant male streaked across the front of my sons shooting zone before he could do anything about it, and then it back-doored me on my off side. I never knew that coyote was there until I heard him bark from 40 yards out. I tried to spin the wrong way and got busted, then smooth missed him as he hit high gear going away. At the shot coyotes started running everywhere back down in the mesquites 200-300 yards away. We actually saw 5 coyotes on that first stand, but couldn't get any other shots. It was a very exciting start to the evening, but we didn't put any fur on the ground on the first stand.
On the second stand we called in three dogs, but it took a little while. I had played lightning jack intermittently for the first 12 minutes on stand, and with no takers swapped over to coyote pup distress #3. That did the trick, and we could see them start coming from a long ways out, charging hard. They hung up for a few seconds around 400 yards, but I hit the call again and here they came. I passed a shot on the first one trying to let my son get a shot. It worked out just right for him, and he busted a young female at 180 yards. He was really pumped up about it. His first coyote, and he smoked her!
Then we moved on to our third stand. It was on the end of a large canyon where a local rancher had been seeing alot of coyotes hanging around his cows that were calving. We had to set up watching two directions because once we got on stand we could hear coyotes howling way back behind us in the opposite direction from where we were intending to call. I covered the back side while Mason covered our main area. I had killed a female not far from where we were calling the week before, so I went with a different sound, adult cottontail. I cranked up the machine and about 6-7 minutes in I look over and my son is pointing and holding up two fingers. He raised the rifle and I hear him shoot, and then about 20 seconds later he shoots again. I couldn't see down the ravine he was watching, but he gave me a thumbs up sign, so I knew it was good. It turned out it was a pair that came in. The female had stopped at 140 yards, that was his first shot. When he shot her, the male came over and started sniffing her, and he busted him too.
It was all pretty awesome for his first day calling. He got a single, a double, and we called 10 coyotes on three stands. His dear old daddy got skunked, but that is no problem, I would lots rather him shoot than me. I can go any time. I told him that days like the day we just had don't come around very often, and he should remember it. It might be a long while before he has another one like it! He looked at me and told me that this is the first kind of hunting that has ever really excited him, and he can understand now why his grandpa was so addicted to it. I believe we have a new convert!
I was calling using my CS-24, and carrying the old standby Savage 110 FP in 25-06 for those long shots. Both of them used to belong to my dad, who was an avid caller that passed away suddenly last summer. I might as well have been carrying a stick though for all the good that rifle did for Saturday, it turned out to be all abut my son! My son Mason was carrying my little CZ-527 in .223, using a load of 27 grains of W-748 pushing a 50 grain Dogtown spitzer. That load is a nail driver and the rifle is zeroed dead on at 200.
We (meaning I) messed up the first stand. With less than a minute running on Lightning Jack, a big dominant male streaked across the front of my sons shooting zone before he could do anything about it, and then it back-doored me on my off side. I never knew that coyote was there until I heard him bark from 40 yards out. I tried to spin the wrong way and got busted, then smooth missed him as he hit high gear going away. At the shot coyotes started running everywhere back down in the mesquites 200-300 yards away. We actually saw 5 coyotes on that first stand, but couldn't get any other shots. It was a very exciting start to the evening, but we didn't put any fur on the ground on the first stand.
On the second stand we called in three dogs, but it took a little while. I had played lightning jack intermittently for the first 12 minutes on stand, and with no takers swapped over to coyote pup distress #3. That did the trick, and we could see them start coming from a long ways out, charging hard. They hung up for a few seconds around 400 yards, but I hit the call again and here they came. I passed a shot on the first one trying to let my son get a shot. It worked out just right for him, and he busted a young female at 180 yards. He was really pumped up about it. His first coyote, and he smoked her!
Then we moved on to our third stand. It was on the end of a large canyon where a local rancher had been seeing alot of coyotes hanging around his cows that were calving. We had to set up watching two directions because once we got on stand we could hear coyotes howling way back behind us in the opposite direction from where we were intending to call. I covered the back side while Mason covered our main area. I had killed a female not far from where we were calling the week before, so I went with a different sound, adult cottontail. I cranked up the machine and about 6-7 minutes in I look over and my son is pointing and holding up two fingers. He raised the rifle and I hear him shoot, and then about 20 seconds later he shoots again. I couldn't see down the ravine he was watching, but he gave me a thumbs up sign, so I knew it was good. It turned out it was a pair that came in. The female had stopped at 140 yards, that was his first shot. When he shot her, the male came over and started sniffing her, and he busted him too.
It was all pretty awesome for his first day calling. He got a single, a double, and we called 10 coyotes on three stands. His dear old daddy got skunked, but that is no problem, I would lots rather him shoot than me. I can go any time. I told him that days like the day we just had don't come around very often, and he should remember it. It might be a long while before he has another one like it! He looked at me and told me that this is the first kind of hunting that has ever really excited him, and he can understand now why his grandpa was so addicted to it. I believe we have a new convert!
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