February 2021

Snowshoes

Well-known member
This morning was colder than what I felt like dealing with, so I never bothered going out. With a wind-chill in the -40’s my enthusiasm had somewhat dwindled and the warmth of the house trumped coyote hunting.
This afternoon was much nicer, if you can call -15*F nicer. It didn’t seem like much of a breeze but when factored in, the wind-chill was still a cool -27*F.
A fairly short walk from the truck would get me to a slough bottom that has a thick bush bordering the northwest side of it. Set up on the slough with cattails at my back and an open reed distress call in my hand. Distress cries from the open reed flooded the surrounding area and a half minute after tucking the call away, I notice a coyote standing in the field on the other side of the slough. A bit of a shuffle was required to get the gun lined up and the coyote decided maybe it should head back to the bush. I stopped the coyote with a vocal bark and wasted no time sending a bullet its way. The coyote does a couple spins and then bolts for the bush. I can hear tree branches breaking as the coyote runs blindly into them. I was confident this coyote was running dead but it just didn’t realize it.
Walked over to where the coyote had stood and I can see a good blood trail leading into the bushes. The way the coyote crashed into the underbrush, I knew it couldn’t be too far away.

Ten feet into the thick underbrush, I find the coyote wedged between the fork of a tree branch.

Ranged back to where I shot from ( 94 yards ).


Its suppose to be considerably colder tomorrow morning and I likely will hold off hunting until the afternoon. Hopefully the temperatures will warm up some. The forecast wind-chill for tomorrow morning is to be -56.2*F ( -49*C). There was a time when I wouldn’t let those temperatures hold me back but no more!
 
Congrats Snowshoes on getting the Burrrrry cold one. Looks like a very young one with not so good fur. Even with all of your heating equipment you got to be careful on exposed skin. It was above 15 mph winds and wind chill -25F. Wasn't even going to try it. I have only gotten couple of coyote to come in when it gets below 0. Congrats on going out and getting one.
 
Thanks for the good read... That sure sounds cold.............
congrats on the getting the one....
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Originally Posted By: lockrotorCongrats Snowshoes on getting the Burrrrry cold one. Looks like a very young one with not so good fur. Even with all of your heating equipment you got to be careful on exposed skin. It was above 15 mph winds and wind chill -25F. Wasn't even going to try it. I have only gotten couple of coyote to come in when it gets below 0. Congrats on going out and getting one.
Sometimes there just isn't enough "R"'s in brrrrrr.
Originally Posted By: borkonGood job SS.

I'm getting to old n lazy to go out in these cold temps.
_27 here now.
Me too! Cold weather is one thing but extreme cold is totally another!
Originally Posted By: fratriThanks for the good read... That sure sounds cold.............
congrats on the getting the one....
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Didn't stick my nose outside until mid morning and it was still -29*F!
 

The Weatherman was true to his word for this mornings forecast. Minus 40*F with a wind-chill of minus 56*F confirmed my intention of staying indoors, which I guess made me true to my word also.
This afternoon was clear skies, relatively calm and -17*F, which seemed balmy compared to this morning. I had a spot in mind which would overlook a large slough and a half mile strip of trees that was interwoven with coyote and deer trails. On a previous scouting trip, numerous coyote beds had been observed and I could only hope that some of those beds might be occupied today.
Walked out to a round bale in the field and set up on the shadowed side.
A well used deer trail with the added bonus of a few paw prints ran just past my location.

With my cow horn howler, I inform the countryside that there is a new coyote in the area. After 3 or 4 minutes I switch the sound up with distress cries using a bite call which gets a response from an upset coyote on the far side of the slough. I was being scolded for being in the area and I let this coyote give me the gears for a few minutes before firing challenge howls back at it. To my surprise, I hear a coyote challenge howl from behind me which is basically in wide open fields. Two unhappy coyotes and me stuck between them may just play in my favour. The coyote behind me was much closer so I focused on it, which meant swapping direction of me and my rifle.
Both coyotes continued to show their disapproval of my presence but I couldn’t see either one of them. I decided to force their hand and I let fly with a short burst of coyote yelps which brought the closest coyote into view. The coyote continued to bark and howl as it trotted back and forth along the fence line and I figured it to be on its territory boundary. The coyote showed no intention of coming closer so once it was stationary, I placed cross hairs on its chest and sent a bullet on its 226 yard destination. The bullet flew true resulting in putting this big male coyote down.
 
Congrats Snowshoes, it sure is nice when they follow the script that you wrote for them. Still looks cold out there. Again congrats and thanks for sharing.
 
Originally Posted By: lockrotorCongrats Snowshoes, it sure is nice when they follow the script that you wrote for them. Still looks cold out there. Again congrats and thanks for sharing.
It's nice to have the option of which one to pick an choose.
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Originally Posted By: todbartellwell Snowshoes, you're only up on me by one this month so far haha - closest I've ever been
Now that's good Mark lol
Your successful wolf hunt puts you way ahead in my books!
 
Good stuff as usual.
When are you pulling the pin for the year?
Always sucks waiting g on next years hunts/pics.
 
Originally Posted By: borkonGood stuff as usual.
When are you pulling the pin for the year?
Always sucks waiting g on next years hunts/pics.
Typically I go to the end of February and maybe a week into March if the fur still looks decent.
I haven't been too hard on the coyote population this year so there should be lots around for a continuation next fall
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Thanks again for your comments!
 
Was on my way to town yesterday morning.
Took a backroad no one had been on foe awhile.
Seen lots of tracks on the road.
Spotted a coyote laying along a grassy ditch which i thought was about 400 yards curled up.
I idled up expecting it to run but it didn't.

Got out, put in a round ,held a bit high n let go.

It barley twitched.
I was not dressed proper for a retrieve so I called a buddy that had the day off.

Gave him directions.
He came out later, called me up but even though he seen it, it was farther then he wanted to walk.

Seldom do I get an opportunity to shoot a bedded coyote. Especially from the road.
 
Keep those stories coming please. Great stuff. I'm amazed how you guys in Canada can just sit in a field and watch a trail for coyotes and kill them. Here in Ohio you seldom see a coyote in a field anywhere in the daytime. In four years of visiting our son in Cincinnati from Cleveland I can remember seeing three of them in the daytime along the interstate. You guys must have tons of them up there. Keep on posting, it's amazing stuff. Thanks.
 
Originally Posted By: borkonWas on my way to town yesterday morning.
Took a backroad no one had been on foe awhile.
Seen lots of tracks on the road.
Spotted a coyote laying along a grassy ditch which i thought was about 400 yards curled up.
I idled up expecting it to run but it didn't.

Got out, put in a round ,held a bit high n let go.

It barley twitched.
I was not dressed proper for a retrieve so I called a buddy that had the day off.

Gave him directions.
He came out later, called me up but even though he seen it, it was farther then he wanted to walk.

Seldom do I get an opportunity to shoot a bedded coyote. Especially from the road.

Well done on stretching that shot out there.
I got up this morning and looked outside to the spruce trees swaying back and forth. Checked my weather station and it showed -23*F with a wind-chill of -44*F. My plans of calling coyotes was put on hold. ( It was worse yesterday
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Originally Posted By: crazyyoteKeep those stories coming please. Great stuff. I'm amazed how you guys in Canada can just sit in a field and watch a trail for coyotes and kill them. Here in Ohio you seldom see a coyote in a field anywhere in the daytime. In four years of visiting our son in Cincinnati from Cleveland I can remember seeing three of them in the daytime along the interstate. You guys must have tons of them up there. Keep on posting, it's amazing stuff. Thanks.
We do have a healthy coyote population in certain areas but they also can be almost non existent just a few short miles away.
For years I used to sit and watch coyote trails near a feedlot operation and would shoot 15 to 25 coyotes a season from there. The feedlot has since shut down and now I'm hard pressed to even see a coyote track in that area. What few coyotes are in that area now, would be basically living off rodents.
 
After a week of wind-chill temperatures well in the minus forties, this mornings temperature of -17*F and a wind-chill of -36*F, seemed almost bearable. I decided to venture out and brave the elements. Really hard to say a guy is roughing it when, a heated vest, heated kidney belt, heated gloves and heated socks are all powered up.

One of the guys at work said I needed to thin out some coyotes around his yard site and after seeing the trails throughout the bush north of his house, I had to agree.
Got there a few minutes before sunrise and set up in a small slough bottom.

Started off with a couple howls but never received any responses. After a few minutes I switched to an open reed call and let fly with a few distress cries which brought a coyote almost immediately into the slough bottom. I stopped the trotting coyote with a vocal bark but it was bad timing on my part. The coyote stopped behind a thin stand of cattails. I could still see it well enough to try thread a bullet through.
Fired the shot and I see the coyote does one full revolution before tearing off towards the trees. It however managed to get just into the trees before expiring.
I followed up with coyote yelps using a diaphragm reed but no other takers. The shot would have been roughly 40 yards.


 
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Congrats Snowshoes, glad you took, and had all the batteries charged up for the outing. Is it the picture or does its left ear look frozen? Went out saturday evening and called one in the cattails too. It is the first time we have come across coyote trial that look like cattle trails. Buddy shot over it, but very cold. We will be going back there to try again. We are hoping this weekend with temp changing we get some action. Again congrats.
 
Originally Posted By: lockrotorCongrats Snowshoes, glad you took, and had all the batteries charged up for the outing. Is it the picture or does its left ear look frozen? Went out saturday evening and called one in the cattails too. It is the first time we have come across coyote trial that look like cattle trails. Buddy shot over it, but very cold. We will be going back there to try again. We are hoping this weekend with temp changing we get some action. Again congrats.
I never really noticed whether it had a frozen ear(s) but it did have frosty whiskers. With the cold temperatures we had, nothing would surprise me.

I made sure every battery was freshly charged prior to the morning hunt
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Hope you and your buddy have a successful hunt this weekend. It's to be above the freezing mark here by the weekend also. What difference a week can make!
 
This relentless cold blast of Arctic air which covered a good portion of North America looks to be on its way out. We are expected to see temperatures around the freezing mark by Saturday which will be very much welcomed. I know winter isn't done with us yet but I've seen enough -40*F & colder wind-chills to last me for the rest of the year.
February 2nd doesn’t really matter if the groundhog sees or doesn’t see his shadow here in Alberta, we just know there will be 6 weeks or more of winter left. I’ve never taken Mr. Groundhog’s forecast to heart
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. The old saying, 3 snows after the crows, is one that is more suited for here. Pretty well guaranteed we will see at least 3 snows after the crows arrive and those crows won’t likely show up until the end of March or early April.

This morning was considerably warmer than what it has been but still chilly out. The weather network showed it to be -9*F and a wind-chill of -20*F but my weather station showed it to be a tad warmer at -8*F and a wind-chill of -12*F. I went by my weather station and dressed accordingly.
Drove west of home a couple miles and then walked into the field to a spot where I could see the livestock operation and surrounding area. There was a few coyote tracks here and there but nothing real encouraging. After sitting for twenty minutes and not seeing a coyote, I decided to hike northwest to a small slough bottom and see if I could call a coyote from the bushes to the south and/or west. As I was walking towards my intended calling spot, I see a coyote to the west of me. The coyote is headed south and never does see me which was good but the coyote itself wasn’t a nice looking one. Dark neck and shoulders, a sure signs of shoulder mites. Once the coyote was out of sight, I continue to a spot on the slough that would have me tucked in front a clump of cattails.

From under multiple layers of clothes I pull out an open reed
call and got straight to distress calls. I had high hopes that any nearby coyotes with rumbling bellies might venture over to see about getting a quick snack.
Very mournful sounds were sent across the field and into the far bushes. I almost felt sorry for that poor phantom rabbit.
Tucked the call back under my jacket and within a half minute I see a coyote almost directly south of me. It trots out of the bush and is heading my way but suddenly stops and looks to the west. Likely another coyote to the west but I figured why wait when I know I have a nice coyote right in front of me. After 4 or 5 tries, I get a range of 183 yards to the trees and this coyote is closer than that. I zoom the scope to 14X , settle the cross hairs on a coyote who is now sitting down but still looking to the west. With a touch of the trigger, the 64 gr. bullet flies true resulting in a tipped over coyote.
I get right back on the call with yelps but nothing else shows. There was a bit of a ridge between me and where the coyote was looking but I never did see what that coyote was looking at.
 
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You are a master slayer and story teller!! I need to get off my arse. I haven't killed a one in my living room.
 
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