you got some good stuff Korey. appears you dont hunt like the mainstream facebook crowd who stand in an open field and shoot off a tripod.
I will mention later why I sit vs stand. A coyote's eyesight is hampered at night but they gather approximately 7x the amount of light compared to human eyes. Good daytime practices of hiding your truck, limiting movement, having a backdrop, etc still are a good idea. Just because a person can get away with more at night, it is still a good practice to limit it as much as possible. On dark nights with no snow could a person stand in the middle of a field and probably not be spotted. Yes, but probably and on brighter nights a person most likely will. My practices work on any night.
appears you setup more traditional in that i thought heard you say before that your sets are made mostly sitting down. how do you lug in all the extra gear, mainly a tripod?
its bad enough carry the stuff in, but then you add 3 or 4 coyotes you burn a lot of energy just getting back to the truck
Thanks for watching. I have always contemplated doing a video reviewing my entire setup including my chest rig, how I carry items, how my tripod is set up, etc.
Here is a list as a general overview of what I do:
1) I put my
Beard Buster Chair over my right shoulder. What I like about this chair is it weighs almost nothing, protects me from the cold of the ground, while providing a bit of back support. It does not swivel, but I want to be very mobile, so this is a nice compromise. When this seat is opened up, it comes with a carrying strap and the chair folds together, so it is flat.
2) I then put my gun over the same shoulder. The seat folds flat so my run rests against the seat. The chair serves as a cushion and keeps any pointy items from the gun from digging into my back.
3) I also wear a
chest rig which holds my TX1000 FoxPro remote, thermal scanner, scanner selfie stick, Coyote drag, Extra clip, a mouth call, an IR light flashlight, and extra batteries. I have a
Princeton Tec Charge white/red light on my harness for emergencies as well.
4) I use the Foxpro X24. The stand that is a part of the call also serves as a handle. I love how light it is and how easy it is to carry. I hold that in my right hand.
5) I have my
Night Stalker Pro in my left hand. I equip my NightStalker with a
Tripod King Attachment which keep all 3 legs together, and I have a
handle on one leg to make it easier to hold. In addition, on my tripod, I have a
shelf installed. This weighs nothing but allows me to set items such as my scanner or PVS14/helmet or other things and it keeps things out of the snow/dirt. Last but not least, I have an
E-caller Remote Holder.
You are correct that I sit 98% of the time. The exception is if I can stand behind a round bail or if the cover is too high that I have to stand to see over it. Sitting is more comfortable and easier on my body, provides a more stable shooting platform, and is warmer. I totally understand standing allows scanning 360° easier but there are pros and cons to each.
Very long answer but getting to the question. What do I do to drag out coyotes. I carry a drag that I made that has clips on it. If I am dragging out one or two, I put the X24 and tripod both in my left hand and then put the drag over my right shoulder along with the gun and chair. If I am dragging out more than two, I made a fur sled out of an old hard plastic toboggan. I take everything back to the truck, grab the sled and clip my drag to the sled. I can pull 4-5 coyotes at a time with that if there is snow on the ground.
I have tweaked this setup many times and am always looking for improvements. This works for me and is hard to explain in text form so will work on a video at some point. Some may have very different needs but hopefully some of these ideas may help some.