JTPinTX
Custom Call Maker
Just kidding, I know they don't.
The good thing about having your caller on a tripod is that it really helps remote range, it gets the sound up off the ground where it carries good, and it is simple to set up. The bad thing is it puts the machine the same height as a coyotes vitals.
I never thought I would shoot my machine, but it happened this weekend.
I had a rancher text me Friday and tell me there was a pair of coyotes on a particular place of his that were hanging around his cows that were calving. Saturday the wind was blowing 30-40 mph so I thought it would be good to run out and scout it out. I call that place fairly regularly but where he was seeing that pair was a little different than where I normally call, so I wanted to scout for a new setup.
When I got out there I drove over a hill, and I'll be dang if one of those coyotes wasn't right there. I go to jump out of the truck with my AR and the wind catches my door and rips it out of my hand. The wind slams it against the hinges and bends the snot out of them. The coyote gets away in the tall grass without a shot. As I go to leave the place after doing my scouting my truck door won't open. I have to crawl out the passenger side to open and close the gate. The front of the door is hanging on the fender and has it in a bind. Crap.
I come back to town and get with a friend of mine that does body work. After about an hour of taking the door off, bending hinges back, shimming hinges, ect, we have it back working again and looking right. Dodged a bullet there.
So now it is personal with this pair of coyotes.
Sunday morning the wind has blown itself out and conditions are perfect for the stand I have picked out. I drive out and park. Go over one fence, across the pasture, and under another fence. Get all set up and figure out I left the remote in the truck. The remote lanyard also has my mouth calls on it. No choice, back to the truck I go.
Six fence crossings later I get back, all set up, and let my heart rate go down. Take a deep breath and fire up the caller.
Start out with a little Nutty Nuthatch, mid volume. Less than 20 seconds on first series of calling and here comes a coyote smoking over the hill in front of me about 250 yards out. He is coming hard and I immediately mute the machine. He never slows down. At 100 I start trying to check him up by barking, squeaking, whatever. No dice. He is committed and not slowing. I keep swinging on him but it is a hard crossing shot going back into my strong side and I can't seem to get my swing right. Finally right as he is getting to the machine about 35 yards out he slows up, but does not stop. My rifle catches up, sight picture looks good, I see the machine but think I have room to squeeze it by, things happening real fast, trigger breaks. I hear a loud "WHAP" and watch my machine go flipping into the air as the coyote crosses behind it.
I'm not gonna repeat what went through my mind. It wasn't nice. The coyote breaks and starts back the way he came, kicks it back up to 3rd gear. I throw the bolt and send one after him but he is moving faster than I though and I shoot behind. I throw the bolt again. Now he is hammering in 4th and probably 150 out. Coyotes like this I never miss in front of. It is nearly impossible to lead too much it seems. I give him what seems like 5 feet, and when the trigger broke I heard that "WHAP" again. Except this time Mr Coyote is does the endo flip as he skids to a stop in the grass. Down hard, no movement at all.
I would keep calling. But I have a dead machine. I could go to mouth calls. But I really want to know how bad I just screwed up.
I'm scared to even go look at the machine. It has sentimental value to me. It was Dad's, he killed a lot of coyotes with it. He passed away in 2013. I get up and start the walk of shame. I'm just hoping that whatever I hit wasn't that critical, but I'm really worried knowing that it took a very solid hit just from the noise and way it flipped.
I get up to the machine and relief washes over me. Battery pack and pouch is destroyed, but those are easy fixes. Main thing is that the electronics did not take a hit. The stainless steel bracket is bent, and it broke an ear off the aluminum case. Nothing a vise and some JB weld can't fix though. Looking around I only find one of the 10 batteries. The guts of the battery pack have just vanished.
It is with quite a bit of relief I walk out to find Mr Coyote. More important than a dead coyote is the fact I am pretty sure my machine will live to call another day.
I found him stretched out about 175 yards. Dead as a hammer, clean kill. But looking at him I don't think he is part of the pair I was after. Looks like another trip is going to be in order. As soon as parts get here and I get the machine patched back up.
IMG_5088 by [/url], on Flickr
[url=https://flic.kr/p/2dPMh4A t=_blank]IMG_5090 by [/url], on Flickr
[url=https://flic.kr/p/2dwXuLc t=_blank]IMG_5092 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/156517515@N04/, on Flickr
The good thing about having your caller on a tripod is that it really helps remote range, it gets the sound up off the ground where it carries good, and it is simple to set up. The bad thing is it puts the machine the same height as a coyotes vitals.
I never thought I would shoot my machine, but it happened this weekend.
I had a rancher text me Friday and tell me there was a pair of coyotes on a particular place of his that were hanging around his cows that were calving. Saturday the wind was blowing 30-40 mph so I thought it would be good to run out and scout it out. I call that place fairly regularly but where he was seeing that pair was a little different than where I normally call, so I wanted to scout for a new setup.
When I got out there I drove over a hill, and I'll be dang if one of those coyotes wasn't right there. I go to jump out of the truck with my AR and the wind catches my door and rips it out of my hand. The wind slams it against the hinges and bends the snot out of them. The coyote gets away in the tall grass without a shot. As I go to leave the place after doing my scouting my truck door won't open. I have to crawl out the passenger side to open and close the gate. The front of the door is hanging on the fender and has it in a bind. Crap.
I come back to town and get with a friend of mine that does body work. After about an hour of taking the door off, bending hinges back, shimming hinges, ect, we have it back working again and looking right. Dodged a bullet there.
So now it is personal with this pair of coyotes.
Sunday morning the wind has blown itself out and conditions are perfect for the stand I have picked out. I drive out and park. Go over one fence, across the pasture, and under another fence. Get all set up and figure out I left the remote in the truck. The remote lanyard also has my mouth calls on it. No choice, back to the truck I go.
Six fence crossings later I get back, all set up, and let my heart rate go down. Take a deep breath and fire up the caller.
Start out with a little Nutty Nuthatch, mid volume. Less than 20 seconds on first series of calling and here comes a coyote smoking over the hill in front of me about 250 yards out. He is coming hard and I immediately mute the machine. He never slows down. At 100 I start trying to check him up by barking, squeaking, whatever. No dice. He is committed and not slowing. I keep swinging on him but it is a hard crossing shot going back into my strong side and I can't seem to get my swing right. Finally right as he is getting to the machine about 35 yards out he slows up, but does not stop. My rifle catches up, sight picture looks good, I see the machine but think I have room to squeeze it by, things happening real fast, trigger breaks. I hear a loud "WHAP" and watch my machine go flipping into the air as the coyote crosses behind it.
I'm not gonna repeat what went through my mind. It wasn't nice. The coyote breaks and starts back the way he came, kicks it back up to 3rd gear. I throw the bolt and send one after him but he is moving faster than I though and I shoot behind. I throw the bolt again. Now he is hammering in 4th and probably 150 out. Coyotes like this I never miss in front of. It is nearly impossible to lead too much it seems. I give him what seems like 5 feet, and when the trigger broke I heard that "WHAP" again. Except this time Mr Coyote is does the endo flip as he skids to a stop in the grass. Down hard, no movement at all.
I would keep calling. But I have a dead machine. I could go to mouth calls. But I really want to know how bad I just screwed up.
I'm scared to even go look at the machine. It has sentimental value to me. It was Dad's, he killed a lot of coyotes with it. He passed away in 2013. I get up and start the walk of shame. I'm just hoping that whatever I hit wasn't that critical, but I'm really worried knowing that it took a very solid hit just from the noise and way it flipped.
I get up to the machine and relief washes over me. Battery pack and pouch is destroyed, but those are easy fixes. Main thing is that the electronics did not take a hit. The stainless steel bracket is bent, and it broke an ear off the aluminum case. Nothing a vise and some JB weld can't fix though. Looking around I only find one of the 10 batteries. The guts of the battery pack have just vanished.
It is with quite a bit of relief I walk out to find Mr Coyote. More important than a dead coyote is the fact I am pretty sure my machine will live to call another day.
I found him stretched out about 175 yards. Dead as a hammer, clean kill. But looking at him I don't think he is part of the pair I was after. Looks like another trip is going to be in order. As soon as parts get here and I get the machine patched back up.
IMG_5088 by [/url], on Flickr[url=https://flic.kr/p/2dPMh4A t=_blank]IMG_5090 by [/url], on Flickr[url=https://flic.kr/p/2dwXuLc t=_blank]IMG_5092 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/156517515@N04/, on Flickr
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