Saturday morning triple

JTPinTX

Custom Call Maker
I'm gonna start off by saying I am no kind of expert coyote caller. There are plenty here with way more experience than I. But I have called a few over the last 25 years and like all of us I have reasons I do things the way I do, whether that is right or wrong in someone else's eyes. As I read the stories on here I always try and glean tidbits of knowledge here and there, things that can help me along. Maybe there will be a few of those in here for some new folks.

I had to run over the Childress Saturday morning to be a Volunteer Examiner for a HAM radio test our club was giving. Since I had a little time before the test started at 10, I wanted to go call a good stand I have over there. It is one of those stands I don't call very often, maybe once a year. But it produces pretty much every time I call it.

I pulled in the equipment yard at my FIL's cattle pens and parked the truck. From there it is just a short little hop over a low mesquite ridge to where I sit. I always sit on the edge of the ridge, looking SE over several miles of CRP. That gives me good visibility out over the grass, but the mesquite behind me breaks up my outline and conceals me good. There was a very light wind out of the ENE, a perfect crosswind to call this stand. It was also overcast so not really any sun to deal with either.

I started out with Nutty Nuthatch, one of my top 6-8 sounds. About 5-6 minutes in I see a pair coming from the SE, just the way I expected. I muted the machine, and a couple hundred yards later they checked up, out about 250. I hit the machine again, and here they come, the male in the lead. Once they got about 175 I muted the machine again since they were coming in pretty hot. The female stopped at 150, and I shot her with the 243/87 VMAX.

Now here is one of those tidbit things. Folks ask why I shoot suppressed, and what difference does it make, when the rifle is still plenty loud even with a can. The can really helps mask the muzzle signature, but does nothing for the sonic crack of the bullet or the impact noise. What happens sometimes, as it did in this case, is that causes confusion. The male heard the crack of the bullet, and the loud slap of the VMAX hitting the female, back behind him. The muzzle blast in front of him, not so much. He took off running, but straight towards me instead of away. As I ran the bolt on the rifle he saw me and veered west giving me a crossing shot a bit over 100 yards. I swung ahead of him and shot, and at the shot he rolled. Even so, I didn't lead him enough, the shot was too far back. He bounced back to his feet and was doing the spinner/runner thing, I had to rack another round and hit him again. I honestly feel the suppressor is what caused him to initially run at me, and not away. That gave me a running shot at 100 instead of 200, a much easier shot for me.

Run together, die together, lol.



I picked up my brass and topped off my magazine from my pocket. I really figured I was done with this stand. Called 2, killed 2, I was pretty pleased. But since I still had some time, but not enough time to call another stand, I decided to just keep calling. I swapped over to coyote pup screams and started the machine rolling again. By the second series I could see another pair coming in. They were following nearly the same path as the first pair but maybe a bit more west. I played it exactly the same.

This female checked up just a bit west of where I killed the first female, and I was on her. And that, is where I screwed up. Mentally I "put her in the bag" before I killed her (a big no-no), and was already thinking about #4, and how to handle him. I wasn't focused the way I should have been and missed the sign she was about to start heading in again. Right as I was breaking the trigger she took off and I shot where she was, but she wasn't there any more.

She spun in her tracks and headed back the way they came in. The male did similar to the first male and swung around for a front crossing shot. I couldn't get solid on him, he got in some taller grass and I lost him. Then I saw the female hold up a pretty good distance out there. She turned and looked, watching for her mate.

I had checked a bunch of distances with my rangefinder when I sat down, before I started calling. I knew from that she was pretty close to 400. That is 1.5 Mils elevation on the 87 VMAX I am shooting in the 243. When I am calling I leave my scope dialed to 200, or .4 Mil up. Knowing that I took the 1 Mil diamond and held it on her face, shifted a couple tenths left for the wind, and squeezed it off. I heard the bullet slap, and saw her fold. It went in right under her chin, broke her neck, and right out the back. She ended up being 387 yards, so my guess was pretty close.

Just for Infidel 762, I will include the bloody boot photo. I know he likes that.



My 243 is not what I would call a dedicated LR rifle. It is a factory barreled, sporter weight R700. But I shoot the highest BC varmint bullet I can find, the load is well tuned, it has scope that dials repeatably, and I shoot it regularly out to 800. I have good dope for it and know where it shoots at distance. That makes a 400 yard shot like that relatively simple (as far as holds go), instead of just a WAG. I may not need that capability very often. But several times a year it nets me a coyote I probably would not have gotten otherwise.

There are some other tips from this stand too. Don't count your chickens before they hatch, like I did on that female. Always focus on the coyote you are shooting, don't be thinking about the next coyote before you have the one in your sights down. That is generally a recipe for a miss. It is something we all know, but a hardhead like me has to be reminded of every now and then. Also don't hesitate to keep calling some more, even when you think a stand is over. It changed my double to a triple in this case. And if you have one of those really good stands that always produces, treat it special. Don't over call it. Try and think about what factors make it special, why it works the way it does. Take that information and apply it to other stands.




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Wow! That is awesome, especially this time of year. You helped the fawn population out for sure! Great write up, felt like I was sitting beside you. You get my vote!! Rudy
 
Extremely well done JTP.
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Like your rig & load.
Envious of that long range stand & terrain, average long look here is 150 yards.
Kudos on VE duty, great day in my book, rich in fulfillment.
Bob
 
Way to go, Jeff! Great writeup and pics....

Quote: There are some other tips from this stand too. Don't count your chickens before they hatch, like I did on that female. Always focus on the coyote you are shooting, don't be thinking about the next coyote before you have the one in your sights down. That is generally a recipe for a miss. It is something we all know, but a hardhead like me has to be reminded of every now and then.

...not to mention lots of good tips. This one is probably the #1 cause for most of my misses.
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Regards,
hm
 
great story, and good shooting, impressed by your attention to detail. I am interested in putting a can on my sporter barrel, 22-250. I do not see many stories or see pics on this site where the guys are running cans on sporters.
I would be interested in hearing any tips you may have on putting a can on a sporter.
 
That's quite a poke... here in Oklahoma I don't have access to hundreds of thousands of acres of public land to hunt... I have a few of those honey holes and most of the places I hunt, I fear I over call... I hit those places more than once a year to say the least.. when I kill I go back sooner, especially this time of year I try to go back fast and get the mate. As always, I see your signature paw print.. you the man Jeff.. congrats;)

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Originally Posted By: Schod03great story, and good shooting, impressed by your attention to detail. I am interested in putting a can on my sporter barrel, 22-250. I do not see many stories or see pics on this site where the guys are running cans on sporters.
I would be interested in hearing any tips you may have on putting a can on a sporter.

I run cans on pretty much everything I shoot. Doesn't matter if they are heavy or light barrels. Most will have a POI shift from can on to can off. Lighter barrels are worse about that than heavy barrels. Sometimes you might have to re-tune your load (if you reload) for the changed harmonics of the barrel with the can on it. But all that is just part of it. Generally, in my experience, having a can on a sporter weight barrel damps the vibrations down some and makes it easier to tune loads as well.
 
hm1996- If anyone needs a list of all the potential mistakes you can make on a coyote stand I could probably put one together in short order. It seems I go through phases with that. I might go a couple months knocking them down like a pro. Then out of the blue I will get lazy or lose my focus and pull several rookie mistakes in a row. Probably the two I am most prone to commit are not being patient enough on a coyote coming in, and getting sloppy on the trigger with the easy shots.

Something I have been working on pretty hard is getting more properties to call in different areas. 2-3 years ago I was doing lots of calling in the NE part of the county. Really good country, lots of coyotes. I was having really good success. But the last year or so not so much. Numbers are down, they have been flying it hard with helicopters. Instead I have swapped more to the west side of the county where my BIL has quite a bit of land. Numbers are really good over there right now and I am killing coyotes in the same areas I couldn't buy one a few years ago. Funny how the hot spots tend to swap around sometimes. Good calling ground is good calling ground, the numbers will come back on my northern spots. It might just take a couple years to happen.

This stand was in the next county over. My FIL has a decent amount of calling area over there. Coyotes are thick over there this year too. My FIL was telling his neighbor about me killing 3 on one stand, now his neighbor wants me to come over and call his place too. You got to love word of mouth with these ranchers! Only thing is, it works both ways. If you disrespect their land, trash it, leave gates open, cut a fence wire with a bullet, or God forbid shoot a cow, you can lose ground so fast it will make your head spin.
 
Originally Posted By: JTPinTX, now his neighbor wants me to come over and call his place too. You got to love word of mouth with these ranchers! Only thing is, it works both ways. If you disrespect their land, trash it, leave gates open, cut a fence wire with a bullet, or God forbid shoot a cow, you can lose ground so fast it will make your head spin.

I agree with that. Gain some loose some. I recently had a land owner die and his family is selling the place. I hate loosing places I have hunted for a long time. When I know in advance I am loosing a place I go out and hammer it beyond the point of over calling. All the land owners that let me hunt know good and well I am grateful for them letting me call their place. I'm a land owner and I would tell someone who wanted to come on my place to educate the coyotes to get %ucked, in tactful way with a smile. I treat it like they are letting me in their house, I wipe my feet, close the door and don't leave trash on the floor. While we see it can benefit both the hunter and landowner, I let them know I see it as a privilege. Good ground is as good as gold.
 
Thanks for the reply...I do reload and stick to the old school 38 grains of H380 pushing a 55 grain Nosler Ballistic Tip Spitzer.
Shooting a Savage Axis that can shoot way better than the guy behind it...Questioning my sanity spending around 1K for an add on to a $500 rifle.Tweeking the load is a small price to pay for tha advantages gained with the can. Hoping the can will also reduce the barrel jump/flip.
Thanks again for sharing you knowledge.
 
GREAT story, thanks for sharing. I know more than one time I have been thinking about #2 and #1 isn't even dead yet. That usually makes it a miss.

Congrats on the triple!
 
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