Baiting

David,
I think we have learned enough exchanging our experiences with baiting this winter that we will all have a little better luck next year.

There probably is at least one person on here that is going to be thinking more towards the line of turkey hunting before long. I mean, I am just guessing, but if you look up a couple posts you could find her user name and figure out who it is.

I had a coyote set off the alarm on my bait near my house about 1:30 this morning but when I lit him up with the XLR 250 red light he took off before I could get a shot at him. That is the first one that I have had spook from the red LED.
 
I got it from the butcher shop but it was wrapped up. Probably the same as from the store. The coyotes were all around howling last night. I took the tractor and mowed some of the pine rows down and we had put up a deer feeder about the same time that everything disappeared. I'm thinking that a combination of changes or maybe just one of the changes spooked them off. I'm inclined to get the deer feeder out of there. I always have a doe with a broken front leg eating corn. With all of the coyotes I'm surprised they haven't taken her down by now. She's been around for 3 weeks.
 
Finally got some action on my camera. I had that carcass out in the edge of a field for a week and no takers but buzzards. I moved it into the woods and BAM!

The date is wrong on my camera. If it says the 4th it's the 6th and when it says the 6th it's the 8th.

I just put another road kill deer down there about a half hour ago. That's when I pulled my card out and swapped it with a fresh one.

These are my first ever coyote game cam pics and I'm excited!

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sorry fellers I'm just tryin to figure out how to post photos, I started a photobucket acc but I still can't get my ing code to cpy and paste, any help.
 
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racer- those are some nice camera shots for sure. Hey, that yote looks dark or had it rained there?
Gary-whoever could you be refering too? April 18th and counting!
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I had a red fox bolt when I hit him with the XLR-250 tonight, also had a hard time seeing through the falling snow with the light.
 
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Originally Posted By: harryheadshotsorry fellers I'm just tryin to figure out how to post photos, I started a photobucket acc but I still can't get my ing code to cpy and paste, any help.

Just click the IMG line below the picture. Your browser should automatically copy it for you. Then just click your cursor into a post here and CTRL and V at the same time.

It should then show the link, then just hit post.
 
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I've got 'em coming to my bait pile, down to just one tis late in the winter, but I've killed quit a few on this farmer's property and a couple were monsters, I'll post pics tomorrow. thanks hsracer you finally made easy enough for my computer illitirate (bleep) to get it.
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Jackindistress,

I think you are right about next year being better. I hope to build a small shed of some sort that will work better than the blind. Maybe I'll have a few more coyotes next year too.

I've been somewhat afraid that lighting up the coyote would spook him also. He seems skiddish enough as it is, plus he is not coming to the bait as much now as previously. Maybe the change of bait site has caused him to be skiddish again.

Gobblergetter, nice looking stand. You did a good job on that one. I'll bet moving it was harder than building it, though.

Yea, there's something to be said for the fun of preparation. It's not just the hunt or scoring on a yote that is exciting. Everything leading up to it has it's rewards.

Nice trail camera photos guys. Hope you get 'em.

 
David- Actually that stand came down piece by piece, numbered all the pieces so when I rebuild it, it SHOULD be easier (HA! HA!)
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With all the new info. I've gotten from this post and from so many creative "baiters", I'm hoping to branch out with some of those ideas next year too! Looking forward to it . . .
 
I don't plan on quitting baiting all the way through spring gobbler season. The coyotes have been around in years past and I've still killed birds less than 100 yards from where my game cam pics are, so I'm just gonna roll with it.

There's two less foxes and one less bobcat here this year so that might help the turkeys relax just a tad bit.

Also, there's lots of turkey sign all over. I saw 39 the last week of muzzle loading season.

I'll just mulit-task. Turkey hunt till noon, coyote hunt at night
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hsracer201
From what the old timers tell me the best is yet to come. They say while hunting over bait its best from Feb-Apr.
After the last coyote I shot at my bait, there have not been many tracks within 1.5 miles from what I have seen until two days ago. Last night they were within 300yds from my bait. Maybe tonight...is the night...
 
Originally Posted By: Scalloperhsracer201
From what the old timers tell me the best is yet to come. They say while hunting over bait its best from Feb-Apr.
After the last coyote I shot at my bait, there have not been many tracks within 1.5 miles from what I have seen until two days ago. Last night they were within 300yds from my bait. Maybe tonight...is the night...

Did you do any good last night?


ETA: I should have been sitting out there last night but I was giving it a day or two or more with no pressure first. Wrong move.

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I counted 16 turkey in the field right beside where my bait station is, I was there this evening replinishing my bait and watched them through my bino's for about 20min. until they worked their way over the hill and out of sight.So they must not worry about the yotes much.hsracer that's a nice red, he'd look good mounted and in your living room, you've got some cool pics man.
 
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Today I finally got a chance to play around with the new night vision scope. It's an ATN Spartan 410, Gen 1, 4.5X.

I've read good and bad about Gen 1 scopes, and good and bad about ATN. I had to find out for myself to satisfy curiosity. The good thing is, if I don't like the scope, I get a full refund from Sportsman's Guide. That's a hard policy to beat so I figured it was worth a try.

The verdict is still out on the scope, but preliminary results indicate it will be effective at shorter ranges.

The last two nights I have viewed objects, including my dog, at distances up to 100 yards. Once sighted in and with a good shooting rest, I think taking coyotes to 100 yards is possible, and definitely at 50.

We have a snow on the ground and a half moon right now. That really helped with illumination and I really didn't need the IR illuminator that came with the scope. On bare ground and on a dark night, I'm not sure yet since I haven't tested it in those conditions. I have a feeling the IR illuminator will be lacking, but there are better ones available such as at TNVC.

The crosshair illuminates well and the fixed 4.5 power scope gives ample magnification. The crosshair seems to lean to the left a bit, but it could be the way I hold the rifle. My son and both tend to hold one differently and the crosshair always lean when we look through each other's scopes.

The scope is big and heavy, at over 3 pounds. However, after mounting it on my Dtech 6x45 and holding it for a while, it doesn't seem too bad. I wear eye glasses and had no problem with eye relief.

Today I sighted the rifle in at a measured distance of 58 yards, and groups are good enough right now to kill coyotes at that distance. My blind is 53 yards from the bait. Tonight I plan to shoot after dark and see if I can view the target better.

One thing to remember if you use night vision in daylight hours, is to keep the scope cover on, and use it very little, only for initial sighting. I will fine tune it tonight.

I know everyone says save your money and get a Gen 3. I have no doubt they are right that Gen 3 is far superior. I've never looked through a Gen 3 scope, but I imagine it is everything everyone talks about. However, I may have to save for a long time in order to afford a Gen 3, but the Spartan 410 is affordable. If it works for my intended purpose, then it's worth it. If not, then it goes back to SG.

After playing around a bit with the scope, I'll know much better about it's performance. I'll keep you posted.


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UPDATE: Time has passed and I thought I would sum up the review of the Gen 1 scope. After two years of using it and experimenting with a variety of IR lights,
I put 6 coyotes on the ground at the 60 yard site. The Gen 1 does work but it needs a lot of light. For close range shooting it will work, but the IR illuminator
that comes with the scope is essentially useless. The new illuminators available now (2015) will help it a lot.


 
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Danny, time will tell. It may be a joke, but I want to find out for myself. If it doesn't work well, then all I'll be out is some postage.

Correction, I think the magnification is rated at 5X.
 
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