Cover in open fields

LLWaterfowl

New member
Hey guys - this is for you folks that hunt farms. I'm in West Texas with very little in the way of cover, and hunt mostly wheat/corn fields. Even on the edges of the field, the grass isn't more than about a foot high at the most. I've found several places to set up stands with a hay bale, ditch, or similar for cover and they have worked out well but some fields have nothing.

I called several of these fields Saturday morning and was able to get one coyote at first light before it brightened up, but then late morning found me in direct sunlight with very little cover around. For those situations, should I be able to lay prone or sit against a pivot and be in good shape? I can see them coming from a LONG way off (we are talking 300+ yards) but can they see me that far off?

What are your flat land, low cover tips and tricks?
 
Sitting in front of pivots, trees, large fence posts, etc to break your silhouette helps a lot. 4' garden stakes and parachute cord make a nice set of shooting sticks, then hang some ghillie netting on the sticks w/cable ties if you want a bit more cover.

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Hiding your vehicle may be a bit more problematic.
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Regards,
hm
 
My solution to open cover hides is a ghillie suit. Mine is white to go with all the snow that is constantly blanketing the north country. I don't see why it would be any different in Texas with natural colors.
My method is to have the rifle on a bipod and to lie back on my elbows getting as low as possible while still being able to move my head side to side.
Many people like prone but I find it does not give the same range of motion as lying back.
 
I have always used the prone position when there is no cover. Even when the coyotes do see me they don't know what I am.

Shooting at standing coyotes from the prone position with a bi-pod works great for me.

IMG_2702 by [/url], on Flickr
My son and I were laying down prone when the coyote in the above picture ran right up pretty close to us. There was no cover. The coyote saw my son move his rifle when he was getting ready to shoot. The coyote saw the movement and stopped to check us out, the coyote didn't get away.

[url=https://flic.kr/p/2hXbLtQ t=_blank]IMG_0260 - Copy by https://www.flickr.com/photos/156463377@N08/, on Flickr
In the above picture is the rancher's son laying on his back on the left, my Foxpro caller in the middle and the coyote on the right in wide open country. I was laying prone about 60 yards back away from the Foxpro. I killed a coyote about 6 or 7 minutes earlier with my 243 Win.

Around here coyotes are not very concerned with things in open country that are only 2 ft tall or less.
 
Ok, thanks y’all. I’ll see if I can’t work some of this ideas into the field. I don’t mind hunting prone and can throw together a ghillie type blanket to cover myself with pretty easily.
 
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