I was out at the rifle range south of Williston on Wednesday morning working on loads for my.17 Tactical. After firing off a couple of groups, it didn’t look like I had the right recipe, or maybe I had a carbon ring just ahead of the chamber. This rifle was shooting itty bitty groups with fire forming loads, so I’ll bet it’s a carbon ring problem. Anyway, I decided to case up that rifle and go try to call some coyotes. I had been planning on using the .17 Tactical, but since wasn't shooting accurate enough for coyotes, I decided to use my Savage 12VLP in .204 Ruger and my 39 gr. Sierra BlitzKing load. No guarantees I’d even see a coyote, but I wanted to make sure I had a rifle that would hit exactly where I was aiming.
I arrived at a juicy looking area and began calling around 10:30 a.m. I called in three places before lunch and didn’t get any takers. I was calling on some P.L.O.T.S. land (Private Land Open To Sportsmen). I usually use a mouth blown howler and my FX5 FOXPRO e-caller together and that’s what I was doing again. I didn’t get any any answering howls. I did see coyote tracks and coyote scat though. I drove over to another rancher’s place and meandered the pickup way back into some back country south of this fellow’s ranch buildings and stopped to eat lunch. After lunch I walked in to the south and called in two more spots, but still no coyotes. The weather was really nice, sunshine, about a 5 to 10 mph wind wafting out of the SW, and temperatures had to be around 50 degrees. Nothing came in. I had some chores to do back home, so I needed to head back around 5:00 p.m.
I didn’t call anything in all day and I was in some nice looking coyote country. Then, on my way out of the last area I had called in, I’m driving on a private road from the ranch I was hunting on trying to get to a main road and a coyote crosses the road about 200 yards ahead of me traveling from east to west. I began to slow the pickup down so I could stop and take a shot at the coyote if it stayed around the area. I stopped the pickup, shut off the engine, got out, took my .204 Ruger out of the jump seat area, flipped down the bipod legs, chambered a shell and rested the bipod on the hood. The coyote had stopped about 150 yards from the pickup while I was getting the rifle ready. About the time I got the rifle up on the hood, the coyote began a slow trot away to the west. I got the scope on the coyote and barked at her with my voice about four or five times. She stopped, turned sideways and looked back at me. I squeezed off the shot which was aimed right behind her right front shoulder. WHAP!!! Down she went. I could see her pick up her head a little ways, then her head went down, and then she laid still. I grabbed my camera and range finder and hiked out there.
It was a big, very nicely colored female coyote. I took some photos and then ranged the distance from the coyote back to the pickupâ€â€205 yards. I guess it pays to be lucky sometimes when you are out coyote calling!!!
Here's the "Hero Photo" for this outing. The index finger is held up to show this is the first coyote for the 2009-2010 coyote season.
The bullet entered behind the right shoulder and it did exit, but the exit wound was very smallâ€â€smaller than a dime. Here’s a look at where the bullet came out.
That’s my story and I’m stickingg with it!!!�
