The cows and I team up.......

Talk about hunting the hunters and their prey.
Melvin Eades
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The cows and I team up.......

Post by Melvin Eades »

Yesterday morning I went out to a pasture that over looks a big creek bottom because the places I really wanted to go still had crops in the field. I got out there just as the first thought of light was on the horizon and headed down to the pasture. As I walked out toward the hill I wanted to sit on, I saw the dark shapes of the farmers Black Angus cows bedded down so I went a little to the right of them and got set up.

Curiosity got to them so they all got up, cows, new born calves and the bull and they strolled over to me, some as close as 15’ or less. I thought maybe they would get bored and move on, but no, they had to start grazing all around me. I waited for a while and at the risk of ruining my stand, stood up and shooed them off. This only lasted for a few minutes and here they all came back and stood there with that “What ya doin’” look on their faces.

Eyes and Ear tags.

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Between swatting mosquitoes and shooing the cows off two more times, I decided I would stand up and take a few pictures of the cows and the fog rolling across the bottom and then head home. I didn’t think it would be wise to start howling like a coyote when I was surrounded with cows that had new born calves.

Sunrise behind me.

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My "cover scent".
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I had just put the camera back in my back pack when I saw two coyotes coming beyond the gap in the trees to my right that are down by the ditch in the middle of the picture.

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When they went behind a tree, I sat down quickly and got ready. They had stopped and were looking at the cows for a few seconds and then crossed a small ditch and started up the hill toward us. I had a cow about 20’ from me and I was now watching the coyotes under the cows chin. The cow hadn’t seen the coyote and lay down. Now I could see the coyote as it was circling around the hill to the left and was going to give me a shot when it got past the cow. Wouldn’t you know it, her calf got up and started walking to the cow and I couldn’t shoot? The second coyote was circling around to the right of us but was back away. The calf finally got out of the way and I was able to take a clear shot on the coyote at 39 yards. It went stiff and fell over. The 39 gr. Sierra B.K. passed clear through with an exit hole less than a dime.

The cows all jumped up and ran at the shot and I quickly jacked another shell in my CZ 527 American and looked for the other coyote. It ran back down and crossed the ditch and stopped to look around but I couldn’t shoot because of some taller grass between us. It looked confused and appeared to be looking around for the other coyote. It stood for about 10-15 seconds and walked forward about 8-10 yards and gave me a 108’ yard broad side shot. The bullet on this one didn’t exit.

They were both males.

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I guess the story wouldn't be complete without the "hero" shot.

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What a way to start the season? That's the first time I've ever had cows for a decoy!
Last edited by Melvin Eades on Mon Mar 28, 2011 7:42 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Enjoy it while you have it, because things will change.

“Never trust the veracity of anything you read on the internet. That’s how World War I started.” — Abraham Lincoln.
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RUD
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Re: The cows and I team up.......

Post by RUD »

Great story! Gotta love the live decoys! Sounds like the 204 did and excellent job for you. Good luck on the next hunt. Rudy
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Joe O
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Re: The cows and I team up.......

Post by Joe O »

Great tale Melvin,and great shooting,as well as the pics.Thanks for posting
steve
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Re: The cows and I team up.......

Post by steve »

great pics and good shooting!!
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Clint E
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Re: The cows and I team up.......

Post by Clint E »

WTG Melvin thats the way to use the landscape to camofouge yourself.
And the decoys make pretty good steaks :lol: :lol:
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Song Dog
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Re: The cows and I team up.......

Post by Song Dog »

Amen on a good start! WTG!
Did Clint mention steaks????
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ryutzy
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Re: The cows and I team up.......

Post by ryutzy »

way to go!!!! I'm excited to start the coyote season myself. The crops around here are just starting to come off the fields. In about 2 weeks I will be able to start my coyote season. Hope I can hit a new yote count for this season.
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Keith in Ga
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Re: The cows and I team up.......

Post by Keith in Ga »

Good write-up and pics. Did you do any calling? I haven't had much luck with cows or horses in the pasture with me. My Foxpro seems like a cattle magnet. Glad someone is killing them, guess it will be a while before I can go.
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kenbrofox
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Re: The cows and I team up.......

Post by kenbrofox »

Nice story, good pics; lovely countryside, good result, all in all a perfect hunt. Thanks,Ken. :D
' Pay it forward buddy '
Melvin Eades
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Re: The cows and I team up.......

Post by Melvin Eades »

Keith in Ga,

I didn't do any calling. I didn't want to get Black Angus cows upset with me in the middle of them. I tried calling this location last year by placing my Foxpro in some brush along the ditch and called in the cows so I wasn't going to try that this time. If the cows would have been on the far end of the pasture I was going to do some calling with hand calls.

The anticipation of the crops coming out around here are more exciting to me than waiting for Christmas. I'm getting claustrophobia just driving down the road through the corn maze.
Enjoy it while you have it, because things will change.

“Never trust the veracity of anything you read on the internet. That’s how World War I started.” — Abraham Lincoln.
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Neil S.
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Re: The cows and I team up.......

Post by Neil S. »

Wow what a morning! Thanks for the pics and story!

-Neil
Guy M
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Re: The cows and I team up.......

Post by Guy M »

Good job!
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Silverfox
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Re: The cows and I team up.......

Post by Silverfox »

GREAT PHOTOS and writeup. That was an impressive outing--two coyotes without doing any calling.
Catch ya L8R--Silverfox
Jim White
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Re: The cows and I team up.......

Post by Jim White »

Thanks for the story, and nice write up too. That CZ-527 American sure is a sweet little rifle isn't it?
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