My First Coyote!

Crosswire3

New member
Well, I was hoping I would get to post one of these...I just didn't think it would be this soon. The idea of calling coyotes appealed to me about a week ago and I thought I would get started in a month or so when I got back to school. Since I've been at home on break I have been reading as much as I could on the forums; trying to prepare for my first stand. I didn't have much else to do last night, so I made a simple little E-caller out of some old computer speakers. The speakers, amp, battery, and MP3 player are enclosed in a short length of 3" PVC pipe with caps on both ends.

This evening I decided I would give it a try at a local farm where I hunt groundhogs. I got out a little late (6:00PM), and I thought it was already too dark. I decided to lie down on the top of a little hill in front of a bush so I would be harder to spot. I put the caller about 100 yards out in a bush next to the cattle pond. This gave me a wide view of the countryside including the tree line where I had seen coyote tracks in the past. About 5 minutes into the call I thought I saw something against the snow in the tree line about 400 yards away but I couldn't be sure because it was so dark. After another 10 minutes passed I could just make out an animal trotting low across the tree line towards the pond. It disappeared behind some bushes and then came flying at the call. I could tell it was a coyote by its lopey run, and as soon as she realized it wasn't a rabbit she bolted across an open field back toward the tree line. I tried yelling to get her to stop, but she just kept going. I knew I had one chance at the running shot, so I aimed right at the nose and fired. She instantly crumpled up and rolled to a stop. I stepped it off to just over 200 yards and carried her back to show the farmer. I think he was more excited than I was. Apparently a coyote recently took one of his lambs, so he asked me if I wouldn't mind coming back for more and even invited me to his New Year's party. I had to politely decline as it's my 21st birthday on the new year and I am celebrating with family. I am ecstatic that I got my first dog and I couldn't have asked for a better present. I think I'm in for some fun hunting. Thanks to everyone on these forums for the wisdom shared.

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I hit her just behind the right shoulder with a hand loaded 50gn Nosler ballistic tip at about 3750fps from my Remington 700 BDL in 22-250. You can hardly see the entrance and there is no exit. I couldn't have asked for a better hit. I finally decided that I needed some better glass, so the other day I picked up a Nikon Monarch 4-16x42. Comparing it to the Tasco I had previously, there's no way I could have made the low light shot without the new glass.

...I'm going to visit all my other farms tomorrow /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinning-smiley-006.gif

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Way to go on a running shot no less your one of the few lucky ones to get one right off the bat. took me about three years
 
great job with a home made caller to boot!
welcome to the addiction you are defiantly on the right track. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinning-smiley-003.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinning-smiley-003.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinning-smiley-003.gif
 
Good job! I was lucky to get one killed on my first stand, ended up calling in 3 within 5 minutes and we killed 2 of them. Talk about getting hooked! One of the only triples we have called. Anyway good job.
 
Congrats on the first of...what I /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinning-smiley-003.gif have the feeling is going to be many.
 
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Wow, didnt take you long to catch on! Now I want more details on that home made call!



I started with a USB-Powered computer speaker. First I removed everything from the plastic case. I had to trim the speaker housing to fit the 3" pipe, and then I wrapped the back (magnet) of the speaker with masking tape until it was 3" in diameter so it had a nice square fit into the pipe. For power I decided to make a 9.6V (3500mah) NiMH battery pack since it's a standard voltage and was a perfect fit. I made a 2x4 long stack from loose cells, but you could make any size...this one will just last me all year on one charge. Since the speakers run on 5V and my battery is 9.6V I used a standard PNP 5V voltage regulator to cut it down. I made a battery connector with an in-line switch for the power and soldered a 3.5mm audio jack right to the amp's circuit board for simplicity. Once everything was set up I wrapped the electronics in bubble wrap, stuffed them inside the tube, and left the switch and audio jack accessible with a ~4" cavity at the rear of the pipe which is just enough room for the little flash-based MP3 player. The front cap is open to the speaker with a bunch of 1/4" holes, and the rear cap comes right off with some thumbscrews. I simply turn on the switch and press play.

I have to give credit to Varmint Al for his rabbit calls. I would have used one of his sequences, but the only prey we really have around here are rabbits, so I went with it. I used the 2 minutes of initial silence to get back to my stand (another great idea from Al) and alternate between 15 seconds of calling and 1 minute of silence.



I've got a box full of old computer speakers...I think I'll make a few more of these cheap and simple callers.
 
Hey, congrats and nice shot! Another electronics guy, eh? If they drag you into the electronic call forum, they'll ask you all kinds of questions. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
thats amazing. You made that sound easy as [beeep] lol. You are extremely lucky to get one on your first try. I really like that ecaller, great setup.
 
Awesome job Crosswire3 looks like you did your home work from optics to rifle, hand loads, and the knowledge you picked up here.Happy birthday as well.Look forward to your future post.Post a picture of your ecaller for us.Thanksfor sharing.Rick /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinning-smiley-003.gif
 
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