I finally had the opportunity to take some leave so the last two weeks of Feb I went to West Tx (home)for some hunting. A good friend and neighbor went with me to help with the driving. He is brand new to the sport (never been calling). It was also a great opportunity for me to break my new camper in. We took my camper and his truck and left on the 16th for 33 hours of straight driving (with a stop at Cabelas in Fort Worth).
Feb in West Tx is the windy season. I went into this trip knowing that but had to take the leave when I could get it. Temps got down in the teens at night then up to the 70's in the day with the occasional high of 50's. Very few clouds during our two week span.
I was hunting two ranches owned by the same person: One is in the Davis Mountains and is approximately 30,000 acres of rough mountainous terrain and his other ranch is in the low country plains 50 miles south of the Davis Mountains and is approximately 9000 acres of rolling grass plains.
Gear: I took my CZ 527 American in 204 topped with 3.5-10x40 shooting HSM ammo 33 gr Calhoon hollow points, Benelli Super Nova w/steady grip, FoxPro Fury, Mossy Oak Brush outfit. My bud also had a the same CZ in 204 but his is topped with 4.5-14x40 and was shooting 32gr Hornady, Rem 7600 270 and a Rem 11-87. We both had Stoney Point bipods. For all sets but the first I we were sitting together and I was always on the left.
Coyote #1:
Time of Day: Just prior to sunrise
Temp: 18 Deg
Time on set: 12 min
Distance of shot: 80 yards
Location: Lower Plains
I started off with Lightning Jack and switched back and forth between that and Snowshoe in distress (20 seconds of calling followed by 3-4 minutes of silence). I saw him coming from almost a mile and as soon as I saw him coming I muted the caller. He came hard without hanging up. The foxpro was a good 50 yards in front of me in a Yucca bush. The coyote stopped just prior to the Foxpro and I anchored him. The sun wasn't even up yet. You can tell by the long shadows that the sun had just peaked over the horizon when we got up to him and dug the camera out.
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Coyote #2:
Time of Day: Just after coyote #1
Temp: 21 Deg
Time on set: 6 min
Distance of shot: 40 yards
Location: Lower Plains
After I shot coyote #1 we walked 800-1000 yards and sat down and called again. I should add that after the first set my buddy decided to sit right by me so I could point out the critters as they are coming in...so the rest of the sets are with us sitting close together. This time I tried something new and put the whirling woodpecker on the FoxPro antenna (they were 30 yards out in front of us). After 6 minutes I saw her coming from a good 3/4 of a mile so I told my buddy to get ready (since he's never shot one) and at 150 the coyote saw the woodpecker and made a B-line for it. At 50 yards I gave out a little bark to stop him and when I did he whispered that he lost him in the scope so at 40 yards I dropped him. He ran 10 yards then tumbled. ....and no...I'm not giving gang signs...just numbering the coyotes to make the pictures discernable.
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Coyote #3:
Time of Day: Just after coyote #2
Temp: 25 Deg
Time on set: n/a
Distance of shot: 60 yards
Location: Lower Plains
After I shot coyote #2 we were walking to another set and a coyote jumped up right in front of us and I anchored him and my buddy Keith finished him off. It's what I call a "drive by".
Not a bad start to day # 3....the sun had been up a total of 45 minutes and we had 3 coyotes on the ground.
Feb in West Tx is the windy season. I went into this trip knowing that but had to take the leave when I could get it. Temps got down in the teens at night then up to the 70's in the day with the occasional high of 50's. Very few clouds during our two week span.
I was hunting two ranches owned by the same person: One is in the Davis Mountains and is approximately 30,000 acres of rough mountainous terrain and his other ranch is in the low country plains 50 miles south of the Davis Mountains and is approximately 9000 acres of rolling grass plains.
Gear: I took my CZ 527 American in 204 topped with 3.5-10x40 shooting HSM ammo 33 gr Calhoon hollow points, Benelli Super Nova w/steady grip, FoxPro Fury, Mossy Oak Brush outfit. My bud also had a the same CZ in 204 but his is topped with 4.5-14x40 and was shooting 32gr Hornady, Rem 7600 270 and a Rem 11-87. We both had Stoney Point bipods. For all sets but the first I we were sitting together and I was always on the left.
Coyote #1:
Time of Day: Just prior to sunrise
Temp: 18 Deg
Time on set: 12 min
Distance of shot: 80 yards
Location: Lower Plains
I started off with Lightning Jack and switched back and forth between that and Snowshoe in distress (20 seconds of calling followed by 3-4 minutes of silence). I saw him coming from almost a mile and as soon as I saw him coming I muted the caller. He came hard without hanging up. The foxpro was a good 50 yards in front of me in a Yucca bush. The coyote stopped just prior to the Foxpro and I anchored him. The sun wasn't even up yet. You can tell by the long shadows that the sun had just peaked over the horizon when we got up to him and dug the camera out.
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Coyote #2:
Time of Day: Just after coyote #1
Temp: 21 Deg
Time on set: 6 min
Distance of shot: 40 yards
Location: Lower Plains
After I shot coyote #1 we walked 800-1000 yards and sat down and called again. I should add that after the first set my buddy decided to sit right by me so I could point out the critters as they are coming in...so the rest of the sets are with us sitting close together. This time I tried something new and put the whirling woodpecker on the FoxPro antenna (they were 30 yards out in front of us). After 6 minutes I saw her coming from a good 3/4 of a mile so I told my buddy to get ready (since he's never shot one) and at 150 the coyote saw the woodpecker and made a B-line for it. At 50 yards I gave out a little bark to stop him and when I did he whispered that he lost him in the scope so at 40 yards I dropped him. He ran 10 yards then tumbled. ....and no...I'm not giving gang signs...just numbering the coyotes to make the pictures discernable.
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Coyote #3:
Time of Day: Just after coyote #2
Temp: 25 Deg
Time on set: n/a
Distance of shot: 60 yards
Location: Lower Plains
After I shot coyote #2 we were walking to another set and a coyote jumped up right in front of us and I anchored him and my buddy Keith finished him off. It's what I call a "drive by".
Not a bad start to day # 3....the sun had been up a total of 45 minutes and we had 3 coyotes on the ground.