Baiting

The neighborhood is a little bit safer this morning. Young male last night made a mistake and picked on the wrong place. Nothing fancy, just shooting them when I see them. He showed up night before last but I couldnt get the rifle around enough to get a shot and he passed on the bait site. Last night he made a couple of steps towards me and that was it. About 60 yards. 223 40gr Nosler VMax, Rem Model 7, ATN 4K scope.

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In ways I envy you guys who have poorer quality coyotes. I'd love to hunt year around but can't bring myself to shooting a coyote that will bring $50 to $75 in the winter. Of coarse they torture me now that it's spring by showing up without a care in the world. lol

Good shooting guys!
 
Originally Posted By: SoftpointIn ways I envy you guys who have poorer quality coyotes. I'd love to hunt year around but can't bring myself to shooting a coyote that will bring $50 to $75 in the winter. Of coarse they torture me now that it's spring by showing up without a care in the world. lol

Good shooting guys!

I can see that dilemma SP. I dont care what they look like as long as they're dead but I hunt them for different reasons obviously. I suppose you let a few survive to shoot again so to speak out your way so thats a good thing.
 
Good shooting on another one Burn. Way to to keep them in check. Just wish I had some strays checking in yet, but no joy. Stay after em.
 

Good job, Burn.

Yeah, we all have our own thoughts about when to hunt or how to. It’s all good. For me, I don’t like to shoot them if they have pups in the den that might starve. That’s why I generally end my hunting in March, even though I can hunt them year-around if I want to. I know they are destructive, but still I don’t like the idea of pups suffering. An added consideration is that in the past coyote numbers have not been plentiful here, so wiping out pups lessens my hunting for the next season.

This season has been different than the past 10 or so years that I have been baiting. Numbers have been pretty good and they keep coming. it seems. I came out of retirement once and killed three, two of which were on the same night. Unfortunately for next year’s season, I think I may have taken out the alpha pair. The female was bred which means no pups from that particular group. Right now I have a regular visitor that does not appear to have pups, and another critter, coyote I think, coming to the bait. I stayed one night at the shack but it / they didn’t return. Rain is preventing me from hunting right now.

 
06, I don't think killing the alpha pair will hurt you at all. This opens up that particular turf for another pair to move in, and some cases bring coyotes with them. This happened to me a few years back. Had a pair show up in May, while I was ground hog hunting. Killed the pair, and my next fall/winter season was phenomenal. The most coyotes I ever had on the bait. I honestly believe it was the territorial shift that opened up for a whole bunch more critters. YMMV though.
 

Baitpile, I hope you are right and that I haven't hurt my next season's hunting.

Last night I took the opportunity to hunt despite the call for rain during the night. It was cloudy and drizzly when I went to the shack. By 10:00 PM it was raining and finally stopped around midnight. This female showed up at 2:25 AM. The brand new Ruger American Predator 6mm Rem. got christened, and the 58 V-Max was like a bolt of lightening at an estimated 3850-3900 fps. The manual says 49.7 gr. of powder equals 3925 fps. I am loading 49.4 grains, only .3 less than published max load. Not sure what length barrel was used for that data, but my Ruger American has a 22". Will chronograph it later.

The 58 V-Max is definitely not fur-friendly and left an exit enough to put a baseball through. But for drop-right-there performance, it is the choice - at least for this one sample.

The Pulsar thermal (Apex XQ38) sits a bit high on the rifle, more than I like. The D-lock mount is a good one with easy on and off, and return to zero, but it is higher than the factory mount. Trajectory will not be as good with this mount, I think, but for my intended purpose of hunting at the bait site and known distances, it is spot on.

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Scope sits a bit high with the D-Lock mount.

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My bait pile isn't producing anything, but the call is holding up.

I had to go it alone again last night. My hunting buddy had been on a trip and was tired from a long drive. Called in this double and was able to take them both DRT. Humidity was high at 89% since it had just rained a few brief showers. Wind was NNW at 4, and temp was 60 degrees. I was shooting the AR-15 with the 16" barrel and a Banish 30 suppressor using 50 gr. V-Max at about 3,200 fps.

I killed the male first. The pair looked like last year's pups, and the female had not been bred. They were sort of scrawny looking without the winter fur.

#54 by Double Up, on Flickr

Here is the video:

 
Had one dart across the road in front of me last night on the way home. Looked the same way. We've had a string of cool nights. (34 to 38 degrees.) I wouldn't want to spend the night out without a coat so to speak.
 
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