whitey21
New member
I only had a couple of hours to make a hunt Thursday morning, but I didn't want to miss the opportunity of a light wind and reasonable temps. I contacted the land owner that I wanted to hunt in the morning. He informed me that coyotes had killed a calf of his, and that he wanted me to kill 50 coyotes if I had the chance. I picked this plot because it only has about three stands available and I knew I'd only have time for a couple of stands and the wind was just right out of the NE.
So I get off work and swing by dad's house, he lives closer to the property, to pick up my gear. I get there right before daylight and wait in the truck for it to lighten up some. As I hear a train coming closer I decide its a good time to suit up with the train masking some of my noises I would inevitably make closing doors and such. I made the first stand and rattled off some rodent, rabbit, and bluejay distress sounds with no luck. I decided to forego the usual pup distress ending that I usually do to get a better setup and save it for the next stand.
Second stand is up on a hill with trees on three sides of a pasture. Bitter weeds covered the field and gave me confidence that a coyote would feel more comfortable coming out into the"open". I sat next to a clump of weeds surrounding the only telephone pole in the pasture and I set the caller about 70ish yards out in front of me. It was in a slight dip that run across the top of the hill, but I didn't want to get it out any further even though I was worried about the sound not carrying as far.
I started with the bay bee cottontail. I gazed around with the wind about at my 2o'clock. I was looking over to the side more expecting one to pop out of the woods after circling downwind. As I sat there I started thinking "hey these bitter weeds are nearly five foot tall, don't expect to see a coyote in them easily. "
I glanced down at the caller and I was at the eight minute mark. I pondered my next call, as I placed the remote back on the ground. As I sat there I noticed a flash from my right side. I moved the gun to get a better look and noticed a coyote trotting in. He came right in from the upwind side passing within a few yards of the caller before I even got a good look at him. He had came up the dip that the caller was in making it harder to see him so I threw my sticks to the side and stood up for a better view. At this time he had already circled the caller and started trotting back out to the right and going away. He hadn't seen me but knew the caller wasn't food. Free handed I had him scoped and barked once. With no change in his gait I decided to rack off a round. MISS! Now he's moving at a quicker clip so I lead him and fire again considering my old motto of "you wont hit him with bullets in the gun." MISS! At this time I saw the ears lay back. I think he's about to be into the wood line and how pissed is the farmer gonna be that I had a coyote here and he got away. So I lead him a some more and let it rip. All I saw through the scope was tail and feet tumbling. I yelled out "ON THE RUN!"
I glanced over the field quickly to see if he had others with him. I thought I saw him continue to move but with no clear shot I just ran that way to try to beat him to the woods. I looked but couldn't find him and started doubting what I had seen, was he really hit or was it just him dashing through the weeds that made it look that way. I went back to the stand and got a better look at where I last saw him. I soon found him lying in a pile with a hole right behind the shoulder at about 150+ yards from my stand. So I snapped a few pictures and rode over to Georgia to buy a lotto ticket cause it was only luck that brought that coyote down and hopefully it hadn't run out yet.
I estimate him to be 20lbs and only two years old. Just what I figure based on his teeth looked to still be sharp and not broken or worn down.
Red dot is my stand, green dot is caller, yellow arrow is wind direction, blue dots is the coyotes path leading to the x where he was found. I didn't see him till about five dots in.
This is looking back at my stand from the coyote. You can see the top of the pole in the middle of the picture.
So I get off work and swing by dad's house, he lives closer to the property, to pick up my gear. I get there right before daylight and wait in the truck for it to lighten up some. As I hear a train coming closer I decide its a good time to suit up with the train masking some of my noises I would inevitably make closing doors and such. I made the first stand and rattled off some rodent, rabbit, and bluejay distress sounds with no luck. I decided to forego the usual pup distress ending that I usually do to get a better setup and save it for the next stand.
Second stand is up on a hill with trees on three sides of a pasture. Bitter weeds covered the field and gave me confidence that a coyote would feel more comfortable coming out into the"open". I sat next to a clump of weeds surrounding the only telephone pole in the pasture and I set the caller about 70ish yards out in front of me. It was in a slight dip that run across the top of the hill, but I didn't want to get it out any further even though I was worried about the sound not carrying as far.
I started with the bay bee cottontail. I gazed around with the wind about at my 2o'clock. I was looking over to the side more expecting one to pop out of the woods after circling downwind. As I sat there I started thinking "hey these bitter weeds are nearly five foot tall, don't expect to see a coyote in them easily. "
I glanced down at the caller and I was at the eight minute mark. I pondered my next call, as I placed the remote back on the ground. As I sat there I noticed a flash from my right side. I moved the gun to get a better look and noticed a coyote trotting in. He came right in from the upwind side passing within a few yards of the caller before I even got a good look at him. He had came up the dip that the caller was in making it harder to see him so I threw my sticks to the side and stood up for a better view. At this time he had already circled the caller and started trotting back out to the right and going away. He hadn't seen me but knew the caller wasn't food. Free handed I had him scoped and barked once. With no change in his gait I decided to rack off a round. MISS! Now he's moving at a quicker clip so I lead him and fire again considering my old motto of "you wont hit him with bullets in the gun." MISS! At this time I saw the ears lay back. I think he's about to be into the wood line and how pissed is the farmer gonna be that I had a coyote here and he got away. So I lead him a some more and let it rip. All I saw through the scope was tail and feet tumbling. I yelled out "ON THE RUN!"
I glanced over the field quickly to see if he had others with him. I thought I saw him continue to move but with no clear shot I just ran that way to try to beat him to the woods. I looked but couldn't find him and started doubting what I had seen, was he really hit or was it just him dashing through the weeds that made it look that way. I went back to the stand and got a better look at where I last saw him. I soon found him lying in a pile with a hole right behind the shoulder at about 150+ yards from my stand. So I snapped a few pictures and rode over to Georgia to buy a lotto ticket cause it was only luck that brought that coyote down and hopefully it hadn't run out yet.
I estimate him to be 20lbs and only two years old. Just what I figure based on his teeth looked to still be sharp and not broken or worn down.
Red dot is my stand, green dot is caller, yellow arrow is wind direction, blue dots is the coyotes path leading to the x where he was found. I didn't see him till about five dots in.
This is looking back at my stand from the coyote. You can see the top of the pole in the middle of the picture.
