This morning I didn’t get out before daylight like I usually do. It was about 13 degrees and the snow was crunchy so I did some things around the house and went out about 8:30.
I wanted to come in on the back side of one place I hunt just for something different and also because the wind was right. I had to drive about a mile down a dirt road that was partially drifted in with snow in some places and stopped about 400 yards from where I wanted to set up and do some calling.
I got my gear together and started to walk down the roadway when I saw a doe run up out of a draw ahead of me. I stopped to watch it and a coyote appeared where the doe had come from, and then another one. I thought I would let them disappear out of site and then get up to where I wanted to set up and see if I could call them back. A few seconds later, a third then a forth coyote came up out of the draw with a fifth one behind it.
I squatted down and ducked under a small Oak tree beside me and got my gun up and ready for a possible close shot. I could only see one of the coyotes along the far tree line when I sat down but the others were coming out into a low area in the field in front of me. I got on the catnip and started calling figuring I could possibly have a coyote or two pop up in front of me about 75 yards out. I had done a few calls and caught movement to my left. I had a coyote hard charging in and I barely had time to swing the gun when it stopped, quartering into me at 33 yards. I put the crosshairs on its shoulder and squeezed the trigger. The coyote went into a spin and went down. The 39 gr. SBK went through the shoulder and took out the lungs. I started throwing some injured coyote calls but the rest didn’t want any part of it. I decided with all of the excitement I would just back out of there and come back another day when things have settled down.
12/29/10
This morning I went out to a place I haven’t been to since last season. I have to approach this area when the wind is from the east or south east and that’s where it was today. A roadway goes down into the bottom where there are a couple CRP fields and a corn field to the south. I set the FoxPro up on a berm in the pasture I was in by the fence and then sat on the side of a hill overlooking the bottom downwind of the caller.
I waited for it to get light and started with some howls and then followed with some rabbit. No luck so I sat for a while and then stood up to stretch my legs. I had been standing about 2-3 minutes when I saw a coyote cross the field to the south about 400 yards out. I sat down and gave some howls and the coyote looked my way and then walked on up into the trees never to be seen again.
I sat for a while longer and again stood up again to stretch and have a look around. A few minutes later, a coyote came out into the far CRP field and started mousing. I sat down and got my gun on the sticks and started giving some rabbit distress. The coyote looked my way and went right back to hunting. I couldn’t shoot due to too many tree limbs between us. The coyote worked its way to the edge of the field and wouldn’t even react to some howls I threw at it. It disappeared into the trees so I sat and watched for about 15 minutes when I saw movement on the near side of the trees down by the creek. It was the coyote and it was heading back to the grass field. It started walking away from me so I watched and when I had a small hole to shoot through the trees, I took the shot at 171 yards and dropped the coyote on the spot.
I realized about halfway to the bottom from the truck that I had forgotten to bring my camera with me so I walked back to the truck to get it before going down to check out the coyote. I went back down to where I was sitting when I shot the coyote to take a picture and range it before going on down to cross the creek. The creek had fairly steep banks so I managed to slide down one side and then had to walk along the creek to find a place I could climb up. After a few tries, I managed to crawl up the bank. I eased up over the edge by a V trunked maple tree to scan the field just in time to see a coyote enter it from the far end. I leaned up against the tree and got the scope on the coyote just in time to see another one enter from the brush.
Between the exertion of climbing up the bank and the adrenaline rush I was having, I missed the first coyote at a little over 100 yards. It took off running quartering into me but I decided to get on the second coyote instead of the first one that was almost into the brush. I figured/hoped the second one would stop and look back when it hit the end of the field and it did. I was already on it when it stopped broad side and I shot it at 218 yards.
This picture was taken from where I was sitting when I shot the first coyote.
Zoomed in for a closer look.
