Got one this morning, and this time I've got pictures!

moonshine44

Active member
My lovely bride and her mom have a small bunch of sheep, about a hundred ewes. I seems like about every other year a coyote moves into the river bottom and starts making a career out of eating lambs. This time I managed to put a stop to it before the carnage had a chance to start, or so she's hoping...

So the ewes are all lambed out, and the lambs and their mommas are turned out in the meadow that leads toward the river every morning, then brought in and penned up by mom-in-law's house every evening. Three or four days ago, my wife came home and told me that she'd been seeing a coyote in the field next door, where the cows are calving, almost every morning. Each time, it would head toward the river, cross a big drain ditch, and go into the neighbors field, which is kind of catter corner tucked in between the sheeps' meadow and the cows' meadow.

My weekend finally arrived, and last night Cheryl told me after dinner that if I "want to go coyote hunting in the morning, go down in Dale's field and see if you can get that dog before it starts eating lambs." Got my marching orders, don'tcha know. And this time I had the camera with me...

After she reminded me that the coyotes don't generally pay much attention to vehicles in the field since somebody drives through all the time to check cows, I parked at the upper edge of the field and hiked down into Dale's field to a large patch of dried out toolies and set up just down toward the river from the end of the toolie patch. I set my Wildfire out about 30 yards or so and stuck my Mojo Critter in the ground alongside of it and switched them both on...

I selected TT Little Dog (thanks, Tony!) on the remote and hit send, and pup squalls started drifting down through the field. It wasn't long before I saw a coyote racing through another neighbor's field across the river (blue arrow)...

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After a quick prayer that the coyote would come all the way in, I got on the scope and waited for it to come out of the river bottom. I didn't have to wait long. This critter was in a hurry to meet it's doom, I guess. It popped out into the field and right into my crosshairs at about 150 yards. It was pretty much wide open where I was sitting, except for the toolies behind me, so I decided to take the shot before the critter could get close enough to spot me.

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I had a good solid rest on my cross sticks, so I took up the first stage on the trigger, squeezed a skosh more and sent a 72 grain hollowpoint on its way. Thump! The coyote started spinning. I must have hit it a little far back, because just when I figured it was finished, it stood up and started to move like it was going to take off. I still had my solid rest with the critter in the scope, so the 6x45 barked again. Thump! Down and out, dead right there...

It turned out to be a big male. It looks kind of scroungy in the picture because it had just swum the river to get to the call...

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Stand details:

Caller: Foxpro Wildfire
Sound: TT Little Dog
Rifle: Omni lower, Rock River National Match trigger, DPMS upper, Black Hole Weaponry barrel in 6x45, MagPul stock, grip and mag, Leupold VXI 3-9x scope, Reb brass catcher
Load: Winchester brass, 25 grains Benchmark, CCI 200 small rifle primer, 72 grain Barnes Varminator
Decoy: Mojo Critter





 
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Thanks, all. Yep, Mama's a happy camper.

I usually end up setting up and sniping them when they come into the fields after they start killing lambs (got five that way a couple of summers ago) so it was nice to be a little proactive this time. Hopefully this will keep the death toll on the lamb crop down at least somewhat.
 
I tell ya, nothing better than when someone tells you about a specific coyote they want you to get, and you go whack it first try. It sure helps in validating the calling addiction.

I have one landowner in particular that calls or texts me every time he starts seeing coyotes in a particular place. Last winter he had one trying to get the little dogs he keeps by his barn, and I smoked that one for him. Things like that go a long ways in getting and keeping good coyote calling ground.

Great story!
 
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