Baiting

Temps finally cooling down here, 50's all next week with high 30's low 40's at night. Just put out a beaver carcass to test the waters. Having said that, the coyotes have seemed to vanish from my trail cam pics. Hopefully we can pull some back in.
 
Interesting night here out back by the bait pile...

[video:youtube]https://youtu.be/AFoKduzmLXg[/video]

Fairly large coyote for around these parts. 60gr VMAX slammed into lower chest area and exited out the rib cage area midway down the body. Hit him hard about 30-35 yards away. He got up and ran ~150 yards before giving it up.

Got me thinking I might need to step down to 50gr VMAX for increased velocity, or perhaps it was just a fluke he got up. Oh well, it worked out ok as I've been using the 60gr bullets for several years now with nothing reacting like that to date.

Super Hogster for the win out of suppressed SBR AR. First night out with the new BO Phenom. Quite the nice scanner indeed.

2nd one of the "season", although my season never ends...

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Great video Burn! Good work on the coyote! Don't go switching up just yet on the bullets. I've seen the same thing one hit with a .308 168 gr Amax. Completely emptied his chest cavity, and that coyote ran about 75 yds with the sense to change direction and hide in a brush pile. Incredible will power. I run the 60 vmax out of a 20" .223 and have had great results on lots of critters. None the less, dead coyote. I'd keep running them, especially with your past history with them. Good work Burn! Stay after em!!
 
Nice job Burn. I agree to stick with the 60's if you like them. There are lots of bullets that will all work great. No matter which bullet you run, you will likely get an occasional runner.

I ran 50 gr vmax's for a few years from a 22" bolt .223 near max load. Shot about 60 coyotes with them. Most dropped in their tracks. Probablly 5-10 of those 60 got up and ran anywhere from 10' and dropped, to 1+ miles and no recovery. Most runners were shot in the front shoulder. I think the bullets just didn't penetrate enough.

This spring I picked up a box of Sierra Gameking 55gr HPBT .224 bullets to try. Still running near max load in my .223. Haven't had a runner yet, though several flop around on the ground for a few seconds before expiring. This is a much more stout bullet. I shot one broadside, the bullet went through the coyote, exited, and then lodged in an alder tree behind it. It looked like the tree had been shot with a .22lr. There was no observable expansion. I have shot a couple coyotes in the front shoulders, as they were standing quartering toward me. These bullets seem to punch through the shoulder bones and get to the vitals, which is what I wanted. These bullets have a pretty wide hollow point and poor ballistic coefficient. For the 50-100 yds shots i've taken with them, i'm very happy with them so far. If I go hunting over fields where i expect to possibly take shots over 200 yds, i'll probably grab a box of 50 gr Vmax's for the higher BC.
 
Zero one inch high with the Sierra 1390's and you are good to 200 yards. You need not switch to the Vmax. The Sierra will get it done. Same math for the Sierra 1365. I like the HP so it will destabilize some after impact. I hunt areas that have houses around in some spots. Both are highly thought of here on the forum.
 

Good job on both, Burn. As to the 60 Vmax, if it’s been working well for you until that one coyote, then there may not be any need to change. Vicfox and I hunted New Mexico a few years ago and took maybe 6 coyotes with the 60’s. They worked just fine, but limited experience with them. Any bullet and caliber can sometimes have less than ideal results, but generally speaking the 60’s worked fine for me. Also, there’s nothing wrong with experimenting with something new.

This has been the slowest beginning season I have had for the last 5 years. I got one coyote at the end of August but didn’t post it due to having computer issues. I have seen a coyote three or four times since, and think it’s the same one. It has been on other parts of the farm, and recently crossed the field at maybe 75 yards from the bait but did not come to it. Last year and the year before I shot a male coyote and the females got away. Makes me wonder if this coyote might be one of them. It will just not come to the bait. Maybe things will pick up as winter approaches.
 
Unusual to get an exit on an under 40 yard shot, you should be seeing exits all the time. I don't like or want exits on coyote. When I use the 223 for short range(less than 200 yards) I use a Hornady 50 gr SX. No exit, no weird plastic tip wound channels, easy to tune(especially in AR's) and no splashes.
 
Well, I can't seem to find the edit button. Was going to try and reduce this billboard size post. Working through the hiccups...I like the
format though!
 
6mm06 no bobcat here, but the 50sx is fine for Red fox, raccoons and occasional feral cat. I used to day call in the winter for raccoon near old buildings, best centerfire (only 17 rem better) for short range, minimal fur damage.
 
Well, I finally broke a very dry spell. Haven't been seeing many coyotes at all throughout the summer. I began hunting in August and got one on the 30th but since my computer was down, I didn't post it. Early morning of November 13 I got another one, a male. Both were taken with the 6.5 Grendel and 90 gr. Varmageddons, and the old Pulsar Apex XQ38 thermal scope. The scope is still going strong, though the night of higher humidity did lessen the clarity somewhat.

The August coyote ran (unusual for a Varmageddon) on me and I fired two more shots at he quickly departed the field. He made it maybe 40 yards over the knoll.

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The November coyote dropped on the spot, as is common with the Varmageddons. He weighed 34.5 pounds. Distance for both coyotes was 60 yards.

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I have been packing gear to the shack via my truck, then driving off to the barn to park about 300 yards away and then walking back.
The last two hunts I have taken the 4-wheeler just to change things up a bit. I park it behind the shack. This is an old 1996 Honda Fourtrax 300,
still in great shape since I have taken good care of it.

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Way to go 06! Great video as usual. Congrats. I've had beaver out now for a month and finally a deer carcass for about a week and absolutely no coyotes. I hear them in the valley almost nightly, but no takers. Still very warm here, in the 60s. They aren't hungry yet...
Stay at em!!!
 
There has been a female coyote on the farm numerous times, and came down wind of the bait within 30-40 yards, and would not go to the bait. I think it is one that got away after I shot the male last year, or the same from the previous year.
 
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