How many times have assumed a miss.

tripod3

New member
How many times have you taken the shot and after recovery from recoil a coyote is running away. So it was a miss, how could that be, I was so confident!
Several times in the last couple years this scenario has played out and I leave scratching my head or looking at my gun.
Turns out several ranchers have called asking if I lost a coyote.
My after thoughts are two coyotes were approaching or one was laying down and I shot the visible coyote, only to see the other running off.
 
i have noticed the odd time that a coyote when hit in just the right spot in the chest will run for presumably the last few pumps of the heart and then expire like it hit a brick wall. i seem to get one or 2 a year like this and cannot explain it. they never run more than 40 yards.
 
Originally Posted By: tripod3How many times have you taken the shot and after recovery from recoil a coyote is running away. So it was a miss, how could that be, I was so confident!
Several times in the last couple years this scenario has played out and I leave scratching my head or looking at my gun.
Turns out several ranchers have called asking if I lost a coyote.
My after thoughts are two coyotes were approaching or one was laying down and I shot the visible coyote, only to see the other running off.

That is a good possibility. Had a night stand recently where I had eyes on the coyote and my partner was laying down lead, yet the coyote wasn't going down and I saw no dirt impacts. I lifted my head and saw that he was lighting up coyote #2.

As Yotarunner said, in some cases, you might have hit and the bullet has done damage but not enough to anchor them. In recent years we noticed a change in the Vmax bullets from Hornady. When I first started using them, they were one shot wonders, DRT. But then we started getting runners on SOLID impacts. I would see the coyote take the hit to dead center chest, it would take a single spin and run. Some died within a short distance while others vanished. Watching their reactions we concluded that the bullets were expanding slower than they used to, so that the bullet was almost halfway through the coyote before it started expanding so that we didn't get the full explosive reaction of the expansion. It got so frustrating that we shifted away from the Vmax. Now I run either SP's or SST's and we are back to anchoring them.
 
I never assume a miss and always go to look. My problem is not believing I missed, most of the time while searching I find where I cut a Twig before the bullet got there, once blew the end of the barrel from frozen snow in it.
 
Yes I have had a few heart shots where they sprint and drop.
These circumstances have been different and since I am not always physically able to check, it is a surprise to get a call. It also makes me feel better about a shot I was sure of.
Oddities like this are part of what makes this not always routine.
 
I have had this happen.

One time I shot at a coyote, and it appeared to run off, so I fired again as it went over the hill. For some reason, I decided to go check, and there was a dead coyote laying there. There was snow on the ground, and two clear beds, where the pair was napping together.

I also shot, and hit one just back of the shoulders, and it ran a good hundred yards before dropping...there was blood all the way from the bullet wounds, to the tail, both sides. .222 with 55 grain soft point, at about 75 yards.
 
Quote:
One time I shot at a coyote, and it appeared to run off, so I fired again as it went over the hill. For some reason, I decided to go check, and there was a dead coyote laying there. There was snow on the ground, and two clear beds, where the pair was napping together.

This is exactly what I have envisioned happening and have not been able to see it for myself.
 
Originally Posted By: tripod3How many times have you taken the shot and after recovery from recoil a coyote is running away. So it was a miss, how could that be, I was so confident!
Several times in the last couple years this scenario has played out and I leave scratching my head or looking at my gun.
Turns out several ranchers have called asking if I lost a coyote.
My after thoughts are two coyotes were approaching or one was laying down and I shot the visible coyote, only to see the other running off.
I guess I'm a tough guy.. I don't need to recover from the recoil of a 223.
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I always see my misses and rare hits.
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That’s why I love my 22-243 with 75g amaxs just drops them dead in there tracks. Heavier bullet going fast with a good amount of energy. I really need to get one with my 6x6.8 at still haven’t got one with that yet but I think that would anchor them pretty good too. I like using a bigger caliper then needed for them off shots or them not perfect shots.
 
I usually see my misses in the scope. I don't shoot anything that has terrible recoil. However I know I've hit a few and couldn't find them after seeing them drop so I had to count that as a miss. Last Winter I shot one in corn stalks after calling in a double. I heard the bullet connect and the coyote dropped. So I got on the other coyote. Dumped him at 362 yards and never found the closer one. I'm sure it was just blending in so well I couldn't see it but I had to assume he ran off or I missed. I don't think so though. I don't even know if I was looking in the right spot.
 
Got a double with a 308 doing that. Fired from kneeling with the zoom way high and was sure of a hit so I let the rifle down to reload and when I stood one was running at about 100 yards in the field so I took a knee and barked to stop it and bam. Down it went and I saw it doing a flop. Walking out to it I found the other in the weeds right where I had shot it. I was supposed to be bear hunting but couldn’t resist a coyote. When I’m actually hunting them I just miss and make up stories about shooting 6 times into a super coyote with rhino tough skin.
 
I recently hit one with a nearly straight on chest shot , it took off into a ravine. No blood for 50 yards , but then big blood trail . The exit wound was good sized and part of an organ , the liver ? , was laying there . A long sprint for a dead dog walking.
I used a 243 with a 55 grain nosler “ purple pill” , aka sleeping pills for yotes .
It can be amazing the distance they can travel with a fatal wound .
 
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