Couple Yotes
Posted: Fri Feb 08, 2013 1:04 am
Hi guys!
Well, last weekend I wasn't too swamped with homework so my good friend Wade and I headed to Dillon, MT. We arrived at our destination around 3:00 P.M. and met up with Robert (a buddy who goes to school out there) and we were runnin out of daylight so we geared up and headed out! Our first spot was a piece of state land that over looked a river bottom.
1st stand-dry.
2nd stand- we got to a spot that was right at the junction of the open, sage brush flats and the river bottom. After about 4-5 sets of cottontail distress, we hear a very deep guttural howl about 200 yards away. My buddy Wade turns around and was grinning ear to ear (he has a wolf tag in his pocket and wolves have been spotted in this area). At this point my heart is pounding out of my chest and I am expecting to see a big gray wolf loping in. Finally, I spot the source of the howl and it is coming in on a string but it is not a wolf, but a little female coyote! I was baffled to say the least. I get my cross hairs on her at about 70 yards and send a 35 grain berger out of my CZ 527 American .204R and dump her on the spot. During this ordeal, I had my fox pro and my buddy Robert says, "I thought to myself 'why the heck is he playing a wolf howl when we're hunting coyotes?'" We all got a laugh out of this little dogs butch vocal cords. This coyote must have been hit by a car a few months prior, it's back left leg was atrophied and she was not using it at all.
At this point the sun was setting so we call it quits and head back into town. Friday was a late night so we didn't get out until noon on Saturday. But we ended up getting skunked!
Saturday night we call it a night early and get plenty of sleep. We leave the house around 6:00 A.M. to try a new spot. Our first stand we call in the center of a pivot over looking a river bottom but the cows were in our face the whole time so it was uneventful.
Next we call a big open valley and don't manage to call anything in. Then, Robert whispers "we got a coyote about a 1/3 mile out, he's just mousing and can't hear the call!" So, Robert keeps glassing this coyote and watches him go into a cooley. We make our move and close the distance about 600 yds and set up for a call. Wade blows on the cottontail distress for about 10-15 minutes with no response from this coyote (the coyote is out of sight but we know he is in the area). I decide to give some female invitation howls since it's mating season. About 6-7 howls later and the coyote comes loping in to my right. He gets to about 350 yards and stops to look for the "female" that was howling, but knows something's fishy. He turns around and starts to head away from us but Wade gives a few wails on the cottontail distress and he stops for one last look. I click my safety off and guessed him to be at about 350 yds, but in perfect timing Robert ranges him and whispers "he's at 408 yards" (.204 times two
). Luckily, there wasn't a bit of wind, so I hold about a foot and a half high and let the berger fly! There was a little delay and I had the coyote in my scope when I heard the satisfying "thwack" of the bullet. Woohoo! The coyote drops and that was my farthest shot to date with ANY caliber on a live animal. I was pumped. Thank God Robert ranged that coyote or I would have probably missed! I did give the coyote a finishing shot on the walk up to him. The first shot was definitely fatal but I wanted to put him out of his misery. This was a nice male.
Overall, I couldn't have asked for a better weekend. Good buddies, good times and a couple yotes!
Talk to ya later!
Well, last weekend I wasn't too swamped with homework so my good friend Wade and I headed to Dillon, MT. We arrived at our destination around 3:00 P.M. and met up with Robert (a buddy who goes to school out there) and we were runnin out of daylight so we geared up and headed out! Our first spot was a piece of state land that over looked a river bottom.
1st stand-dry.
2nd stand- we got to a spot that was right at the junction of the open, sage brush flats and the river bottom. After about 4-5 sets of cottontail distress, we hear a very deep guttural howl about 200 yards away. My buddy Wade turns around and was grinning ear to ear (he has a wolf tag in his pocket and wolves have been spotted in this area). At this point my heart is pounding out of my chest and I am expecting to see a big gray wolf loping in. Finally, I spot the source of the howl and it is coming in on a string but it is not a wolf, but a little female coyote! I was baffled to say the least. I get my cross hairs on her at about 70 yards and send a 35 grain berger out of my CZ 527 American .204R and dump her on the spot. During this ordeal, I had my fox pro and my buddy Robert says, "I thought to myself 'why the heck is he playing a wolf howl when we're hunting coyotes?'" We all got a laugh out of this little dogs butch vocal cords. This coyote must have been hit by a car a few months prior, it's back left leg was atrophied and she was not using it at all.
At this point the sun was setting so we call it quits and head back into town. Friday was a late night so we didn't get out until noon on Saturday. But we ended up getting skunked!
Saturday night we call it a night early and get plenty of sleep. We leave the house around 6:00 A.M. to try a new spot. Our first stand we call in the center of a pivot over looking a river bottom but the cows were in our face the whole time so it was uneventful.
Next we call a big open valley and don't manage to call anything in. Then, Robert whispers "we got a coyote about a 1/3 mile out, he's just mousing and can't hear the call!" So, Robert keeps glassing this coyote and watches him go into a cooley. We make our move and close the distance about 600 yds and set up for a call. Wade blows on the cottontail distress for about 10-15 minutes with no response from this coyote (the coyote is out of sight but we know he is in the area). I decide to give some female invitation howls since it's mating season. About 6-7 howls later and the coyote comes loping in to my right. He gets to about 350 yards and stops to look for the "female" that was howling, but knows something's fishy. He turns around and starts to head away from us but Wade gives a few wails on the cottontail distress and he stops for one last look. I click my safety off and guessed him to be at about 350 yds, but in perfect timing Robert ranges him and whispers "he's at 408 yards" (.204 times two
). Luckily, there wasn't a bit of wind, so I hold about a foot and a half high and let the berger fly! There was a little delay and I had the coyote in my scope when I heard the satisfying "thwack" of the bullet. Woohoo! The coyote drops and that was my farthest shot to date with ANY caliber on a live animal. I was pumped. Thank God Robert ranged that coyote or I would have probably missed! I did give the coyote a finishing shot on the walk up to him. The first shot was definitely fatal but I wanted to put him out of his misery. This was a nice male.Overall, I couldn't have asked for a better weekend. Good buddies, good times and a couple yotes!
Talk to ya later!