Monday—Day 1
I met Tony for breakfast at 5am here at the Lovington Inn....out to hunt at six, and we made about eight calling stands without seeing a coyote (there was lots of wind in the morning, bright and sunny)....we came in for lunch and a rest, and back out at 4:30 pm....made a couple of late afternoon stands, waited for dark, and made three night stands......and didn't see or hear a single coyote.
Sometimes nature doesn't cooperate in the way we'd like......
Tuesday—Day 2
This was a better day than Monday.......early, and then things sort of faded. The day started out very overcast with just a little breeze. On the third stand of the morning, we had a pack of 8 coyotes come rolling in. They were circling around to get downwind of us, and Tony stopped them with a bark. I shot at the closest one and missed. I think I had a case of “yote fever!” They more or less scattered but a couple stood off at a distance. I was able to try a couple more shots, but they were very far pokes range and were not successful.
At the next couple of stands we saw coyotes moving in the fields as we approached but in one case an oil company pickup truck drove close by and scattered them before we could set up and call, and in the other we saw one hunting in the field but by the time we stopped, he wasn't seen again and didn't respond to the call. We made some more stands before lunch at Taqueria Jalisco, and then went out at 4:30 pm with no response, and did three night calling stands without hearing or seeing a thing.
Wednesday—Day 3
We started hunting about 6:30 in a fairly dense fog and little or no wind. At the first stand, East of Lovington, we set up and Tony used the Foxpro. Sure enough, in just a few minutes one came trotting up the road toward the call….stopping periodically to look around. At about 75 yards he turned partially broadside and I hit him in the neck with a 39 grain Sierra BK. He was DRT, and turned out to be a well developed male….Tony guessed him to be about three years old.
At the next stand, in a field across the road from the first one, we set up near a windmill, and within a very few minutes five coyotes came flying over a hill to our left, heck-bent for breakfast. As they got closer Tony stopped the first one with a bark and I dropped her at about 100 yards (DRT). Tony’s dog Gunner was working to keep the other dogs close by, and I had shot on one at a little longer distance, but I think I shot right over him.
The third stand was just a few miles away. We set up next to an old pump house and Tony started using his hand calls. Pretty quick we saw one way off to our left, jumping up and down in the high grass. Tony turned and happened to looked to the right, and there was a coyote standing on the other side of the fence about fifty yards away. I shot her (DRT), and Gunner was able to hold her male partner in the area, and I shot him at about 125 yards. He was down with a shot to the spinal area and expired shortly thereafter.
By this time the wind was really picking up, so we made one more stand and then headed to Taqueria Jalisco for some first class Mexican food. We went out late in the afternoon after the wind calmed down and made one more stand....but they had apparently all retired for the evening.
All were shot with my Remington 700 LVSF in .204 Ruger, with 39 grain Sierra Blitz Kings over 25.1 grains of RL10-X, Norma brass with Remington 7 ½ BR primers. The scope is a Bushnell 6500 2.5 X 16.
A good day: my first coyote and my first double….what more could a guy ask for. Many thanks are due to Tony and his dog Gunner!!!
All three days of hunting were great, and the morning we had the icing on the cake!
First Kill
Second Kill
The Double
Back at the house
Tony & Gunner with the first coyote down
