Deer season is over, exotic hunts are slowing down and the ranch owner wants us to continue working on the coyote population, which seems to have spiked this year. This is probably due to a combination of the drought drawing coyotes from surrounding ranches that do not have the game density that call this 11,000 acre ranch home. Another plus is the freshly roller chopped pastures makes spotting them a lot easier, as well as attracting neighboring coyotes & birds of prey to feast on “road kill” produced by the Cat.
I recently posted an easy fix for the Mojo spike
and was asked to update as to how it worked. Not only did the improved spike work as anticipated, the four legged critters seemed impressed during its three day maiden voyage.
By 4 o’clock Saturday afternoon, we had put our gear in the bunk house, loaded the jeep and were en route to an outer ranch fence which has produced well for us earlier in the year. This fenceline is grown up w/thick brush & runs five miles from a main gate before making a 90* turn toward camp. It is different than most ranch borders, as there is about a 40’ mowed shoulder between the road and heavy brush. Main problem is finding a gap in the heavy brush big enough to get the jeep hidden. The first stand was a blank so we moved a mile or so down the road.
The second stand failed to produce so I gave a short pup distress at 25 min. mark and had sat about 5 minutes when a coyote came through the fence about 100 yards from the call. He spotted the critter, ran across the road and made a beeline for it, holding close to the brushline. He was followed by two more coyotes. They ran behind a point of trees about 75 yards out, disappearing for a moment. I barked twice as the lead dog re-appeared, but failed to stop him for the shot. My partner was ready, however and knocked him down w/a 55 gr. HP from his 22-250. A second coyote, barely visible behind the protruding tree made a very low growling/bark as he stared at the decoy, but wouldn’t step clear of the tree to present a shot.
The next morning, we found lots of sign on a power line right-of-way and set the call and decoy crosswind on a small sandhill about 75 yards out. My partner set up about 30-40 yards farther to my right. Five minutes into the stand, two coyotes came in hot just to the right and beyond the call. I was about to bark to try and stop them when the lead dog stopped to inspect the decoy a bit closer. I fired and the coyote dropped to the 87 gr. Hornady HP out of Dtech 243 WSSM. While concentrating on the lead coyote, I had lost sight of the 2nd coyote, so hit the kiyi in hopes of calling it back. A minute or so later, my partner’s 22-250 accounted for the other one.
After my partner recovered his coyote, he asked if I had shot at the first one. He told me that he had also fired and thought he heard two impacts. We had both spined the first one right above the shoulder. As it turned out, both were females, probably a mother and one of her last year’s offspring.
It was slow Sunday evening until the last stand. Set up again w/call crosswind farther down the power line. Within ten minutes I noticed my partner raise his rifle. Looking in direction he was aiming, I spotted the head of a coyote peering out of the weeds. I got on it, but held off since he had spotted the coyote first. I saw it drop like a rock at his shot. We decided to finish that stand before recovering his coyote but had no more takers. When we went to pick up his coyote at dusk, we found nothing! I’d have sworn it was a good hit as I’ve never seen one go down any quicker. Other than a solid hit knocking him down, the only other explanation I can think of is a really close miss right over his head. He must have ducked from the sonic crack of the bullet passing very close by!????
A norther blew in about 10 PM Sunday with winds to 45 mph. Not sure when the wind died, but it was almost calm when we left camp thirty minutes before first light. Monday was a very long day, as we hunted all day without a single response.
We had to leave by 9:30 Tuesday morning but had time for two or three stands. First two were uneventful except for this young Nilgai cow which spotted the “critter” before I had a chance to start calling. She cautiously approached to within 15-20’ of the critter
Having only enough time for a short third stand, we were driving east, along the north fenceline when I spotted a coyote trotting north and crossing the road about 500-600 yards ahead of the jeep. He had crossed the fence onto the next ranch near one of our favorite calling spots. I didn’t think he had seen us so turned off the fenceline onto a parallel road about 100 yards away. Just as we turned onto the parallel road, another coyote trotted across that road, also headed north, no more than 150 yards away. I suspected that it was the first coyote’s partner and they were headed back to their core area for a mid-day siesta. This coyote never turned to look our way either, so we decided to set up as quickly as possible and hope to call it back for a shot.
I set up our chairs on the south end of a strip of brush which ends at our north fence. There is a mowed strip about 100 yards wide which adjoins a larger block of brush that also runs all the way to the north fence. While I positioned our chairs & shooting sticks, my partner placed the call & decoy about 35 yards southeast of us, slightly cross wind (call is located to right of the feathers on arrow, which indicates wind direction).
The wind could have busted us if the coyote was still between us and the fence but we hoped he had already crossed the fence and that turned out to be the case. Almost immediately upon first note of the rabbit distress, the coyote ran back through the fence into our pasture and hightailed it toward the decoy. I barked as soon as he was clear of the fence and brush line and shot as he slid to a stop (at point of white arrow in front of scope). He dropped where he stood and my partner turned and again asked, “Did you shoot?” I replied in the affirmative and he said he had seen the fur fly when he shot. Once more we had fired simultaneously, resulting in a very dead coyote. Neither of us heard the other’s shot.
Really happy with the "critter"; biggest problem was trying to stop the running coyotes for a shot once they spotted the decoy, but hey, I can live with that kind of problem!
Regards,
hm
