Kirsch
Active member
Sorry for the long read, but this was a truly unique experience for me. Let me start by saying this has been a tough coyote season. Everyone I know who hunts coyotes in my area has said the same thing. My fur buyer is seeing it as well. It seems to be a trifecta of lower numbers, standing corn everywhere, and 4+ feet of snow that arrived already in October and has never left.
The action seemed to be getting a little better recently and I was off to Shot Show. Upon my return, I was greeted with a nice warm spell but it has led to foggy nights. January 30th rolled around and the fog was finally supposed to lift. I hit the road on a 2+ hour drive excited for my highly anticipated night. About 1 hour into my drive, the fog set in and persisted all the way to my first stop of the night.
A long time friend and cattle rancher told me they had seen as many 6 coyotes in the area recently. I wondered if it even made sense to try and hunt with all the fog. Thermals are impacted by fog/humidity but I knew I could still see far enough to shoot with my equipment. The negative is I wouldn't see them until they were fairly close. Since, I knew the layout of the area, I decided to give it a try. As soon as I stepped out of the truck, my optimism increased as I heard 2 separate packs of coyotes howling.
My thoughts with 2 different packs nearby was to start with some low volume prey distress, and then if nothing showed up, switch to some very aggressive vocals. I wasn't more than 30 seconds into the stand when coyote #1 rolled in. Over the next 45 minutes, it was what coyote hunting dreams are made of with 7 coyotes laying on the ground in front of me. This stand will always hold a special place in my heart because it is where I harvested THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN!
Stand Recap:
The first 5 coyotes all responded to prey distress. After coyote #5, nothing showed up for another 5-10 minutes and I heard a coyote in the distance howl, so it was time to switch. I moved to vocalizations and harvested the final 2. In total, I shot at 7 coyotes and got all 7. All coyotes were DRT with the exception of the last one. It probably wasn't going anywhere but after squeezing the trigger, I wasn't confident in the shot, so followed up quickly just in case.
The fur was good on most of the coyotes with the exception of coyote #5 which is the one on the far right. It appears to have mange. It will be very evident when you watch the video.
10 coyotes showed up in total. A pair appeared as I was just shooting #2, and never would recommit. After shooting coyote #5, I repositioned back towards the call, when I looked back and saw another coyote on the bale pile where I just shot the last two. I quickly swung over, but the coyote had disappeared, so it was almost eight.
What was so odd, is all the coyotes I shot at came in very controlled and as singles. Normally, the whole bunch comes at once and on fire.
I may hunt the rest of my life and never experience a stand like this again. Some may be thinking I wonder how the rest of the night went. The fog continued to get worse but I did manage to get 4 more for the night to end with 11. I will post the final 4 in a future video. Thank you for bearing with my long story, and I hope you enjoy the video.
The action seemed to be getting a little better recently and I was off to Shot Show. Upon my return, I was greeted with a nice warm spell but it has led to foggy nights. January 30th rolled around and the fog was finally supposed to lift. I hit the road on a 2+ hour drive excited for my highly anticipated night. About 1 hour into my drive, the fog set in and persisted all the way to my first stop of the night.
A long time friend and cattle rancher told me they had seen as many 6 coyotes in the area recently. I wondered if it even made sense to try and hunt with all the fog. Thermals are impacted by fog/humidity but I knew I could still see far enough to shoot with my equipment. The negative is I wouldn't see them until they were fairly close. Since, I knew the layout of the area, I decided to give it a try. As soon as I stepped out of the truck, my optimism increased as I heard 2 separate packs of coyotes howling.
My thoughts with 2 different packs nearby was to start with some low volume prey distress, and then if nothing showed up, switch to some very aggressive vocals. I wasn't more than 30 seconds into the stand when coyote #1 rolled in. Over the next 45 minutes, it was what coyote hunting dreams are made of with 7 coyotes laying on the ground in front of me. This stand will always hold a special place in my heart because it is where I harvested THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN!
Stand Recap:
The first 5 coyotes all responded to prey distress. After coyote #5, nothing showed up for another 5-10 minutes and I heard a coyote in the distance howl, so it was time to switch. I moved to vocalizations and harvested the final 2. In total, I shot at 7 coyotes and got all 7. All coyotes were DRT with the exception of the last one. It probably wasn't going anywhere but after squeezing the trigger, I wasn't confident in the shot, so followed up quickly just in case.
The fur was good on most of the coyotes with the exception of coyote #5 which is the one on the far right. It appears to have mange. It will be very evident when you watch the video.
10 coyotes showed up in total. A pair appeared as I was just shooting #2, and never would recommit. After shooting coyote #5, I repositioned back towards the call, when I looked back and saw another coyote on the bale pile where I just shot the last two. I quickly swung over, but the coyote had disappeared, so it was almost eight.
What was so odd, is all the coyotes I shot at came in very controlled and as singles. Normally, the whole bunch comes at once and on fire.
I may hunt the rest of my life and never experience a stand like this again. Some may be thinking I wonder how the rest of the night went. The fog continued to get worse but I did manage to get 4 more for the night to end with 11. I will post the final 4 in a future video. Thank you for bearing with my long story, and I hope you enjoy the video.
