Snowshoes
Well-known member
As I looked across the valley from the comfort of the truck, I noticed the morning skies had a very wintery look to them. Dark low clouds & the odd snow flurry made for a gloomy start of the day.
I had gotten a phone call yesterday from a farmer informing me that there was coyotes feeding on a cow he had lost earlier in the week.
He said if I followed the windrow of trees for a couple hundred yards and then used a stack of round bales as cover, I should get within a couple hundred yards of the coyotes.
I’m always a little skeptical using someone else’s directions to try get close enough to snipe coyotes but not having a chance to check the area out for myself, I had to trust what I was told.
There was a pretty good breeze in my face as I made the quarter mile hike towards the windrow of trees and I figured this should help cover the sound of my footsteps.
From the windrow, I watched multiple magpies flying to the far side of the long stack of round bales. Although I would lose sight of my feathered informants, I had a pretty good idea where they were headed.
Once I had made it to the bales, I slowly worked my way to the far end of the stack but a short stop was required to settle the ole heart beat down. The possibility of nearby coyotes always seems to get my adrenaline pumping.
Slowly peak around the corner and I’m rewarded with the sight of one coyote feeding (ranged at 168 yards), one laying down, one standing but looking straight away and then a pair of scruffy ones hanging back 20 or so yards from the others.
With rifle & bi-pod in place, the cross hairs are placed on the chest of the feeding coyote.
The bullet flies true dropping the coyote in its tracks.
The other coyotes scatter in various directions but the one scruffy coyote slowly lopes straight away but keeps looking back to see what all the commotion was about. I swing the cross hairs onto this coyote and roll it at a distance that was later ranged at 201 yards.
The other scruffy coyote stops at the edge of the field to take one last look, which gave me enough time to swing the crosshairs onto it. The report of the shot is instantly followed with the sound of a hit. The coyote does a couple 360’s before making it into the tall grass a few yards. Ranged where it stood at 216 yards.
After dealing with the coyotes, I head west 3 miles to call a past proven spot in the same valley.
Lots of coyote tracks were observed as I made the long journey from the truck but my “calling efforts” never produced the culprits of those tracks.
I had gotten a phone call yesterday from a farmer informing me that there was coyotes feeding on a cow he had lost earlier in the week.
He said if I followed the windrow of trees for a couple hundred yards and then used a stack of round bales as cover, I should get within a couple hundred yards of the coyotes.
I’m always a little skeptical using someone else’s directions to try get close enough to snipe coyotes but not having a chance to check the area out for myself, I had to trust what I was told.
There was a pretty good breeze in my face as I made the quarter mile hike towards the windrow of trees and I figured this should help cover the sound of my footsteps.
From the windrow, I watched multiple magpies flying to the far side of the long stack of round bales. Although I would lose sight of my feathered informants, I had a pretty good idea where they were headed.
Once I had made it to the bales, I slowly worked my way to the far end of the stack but a short stop was required to settle the ole heart beat down. The possibility of nearby coyotes always seems to get my adrenaline pumping.
Slowly peak around the corner and I’m rewarded with the sight of one coyote feeding (ranged at 168 yards), one laying down, one standing but looking straight away and then a pair of scruffy ones hanging back 20 or so yards from the others.
With rifle & bi-pod in place, the cross hairs are placed on the chest of the feeding coyote.
The bullet flies true dropping the coyote in its tracks.
The other coyotes scatter in various directions but the one scruffy coyote slowly lopes straight away but keeps looking back to see what all the commotion was about. I swing the cross hairs onto this coyote and roll it at a distance that was later ranged at 201 yards.
The other scruffy coyote stops at the edge of the field to take one last look, which gave me enough time to swing the crosshairs onto it. The report of the shot is instantly followed with the sound of a hit. The coyote does a couple 360’s before making it into the tall grass a few yards. Ranged where it stood at 216 yards.
After dealing with the coyotes, I head west 3 miles to call a past proven spot in the same valley.
Lots of coyote tracks were observed as I made the long journey from the truck but my “calling efforts” never produced the culprits of those tracks.
