I spent a day last week with my partner Steve, looking for some coyotes. We found a few. Something else we found is that I still have a lot to learn.
Our first dog of the day was a mangy sob that had us pinned down. We had to crawl a ways to get into a shooting position. I suppose I should have taken the head (head/neck) on shot at this guy at a reasonable 425 yards, but I instead elected to wait. The coyote decided something was amiss, and trotted off. He ended up at a 485 yard broadside shot. The problem is that the VH reticle in the Leupold, (according to my ballistics profile) is that it has a stadia that equals 400, and one that equals 535. It's a big gap. I guessed and guessed quite wrong at the amount of holdover, and got to watch a coyotes' ass bounce away.
Lesson learned: Dialing is WAY more accurate than holdover, especially as the distance grows. If presented with a shot that is closer in yardage to what the reticle subtends, take it. If it is not close to reticle value, then quickly dial. Chances are, the situation will not improve, only get worse and leave you scrambling in the wake. The coyote is quite a small target and the margin of error is not in your favor regardless of inherent rifle accuracy or supposed marksmanship skill.
Before we left this ranch, we decided to shoot at 600 yards. This is about the limit for Steve's AR15 shooting the .223AI and 65 SGK load. We shot at a cow pie on a barren hillside. The pie was small and would fit into a hat. Steve's holdovers nearly got him to the target. I used the fifth subtention on the VH and it equals 600 yards. I missed the pie by about an inch. The elevation was perfect. I held NO wind. The AR10T in .243 and the 87 VMAX combo in conjunction with the 6.5-20 VXIII LR VH reticle is quite the long range system. It is rather heavy, but the utility and accuracy more than make up for the extra weight in my opinion.
The next stand was a completely different ranch. We called out over a ridge and came up with nothing. We walked to the next ridge line over, called, and spotted a coyote coming in from over a mile away. He ended up at a leisurely 300 yards away. He was looking right at us. I sent an 87 VMAX his way and it cruised right past him. WTF?! I tried to get back on him as he tore off, but the next couple of shots were totally in vain. He ended up crossing a fence and stopped in the open to mark his territory. He seemed to be rather upset with the fact that the "coyote" that had lured him there had treated him so unaffectionately. To top that off, the ki-yi's after the shots, appeared to have him believe that the encroaching, trespassing coyotes, were now packing heat. This was unacceptable.
I watched him squat, cock his tail up into the air, and squeeze a turd out while he threw his head back and yapped away at us. Steve tells me, "650". I held the 600 yard stadia (9.35 MOA) on his nose and let one fly. Neither of us heard the meat report, but the now spinning coyote piled up a few seconds later. He was a beautiful blonde male that unfortunately had quite the mange going on the underside. Here's a couple pics of that fellow:
Lesson #2: Sometimes I'm capable of some pretty remarkable shooting when I actually pull my head out and realize that no shot is a given. Every shot counts, especially the first one. Keep your head in the game.
We tried a third stand on yet another ranch, and come up with nothing.
Our fourth stand was on a sand hill that has overwatch on miles of prairie. After some calling, we are responded to by three coyotes over a mile away. They are situated next to a calving heifer and are annoyed by "our" presence, but are definitely not leaving the veal buffet. We decide to close the distance and try calling again. We make it to about 825 yards to the heifer and set up and begin to call. What appears to be the alpha pair begin to make their way to us. A dark manged dog remains with the cow.
The pair make their way to within about 625 yards, but drop down into an arroyo, and out of sight. I reposition and send a greeting out to Mr. Mangy at 825 and miss. The elevation is perfect, windage, not so much. I missed by about a foot and half or so. It's tough to feel any sort of wind when you are prone in the brush. The maximum ordinate puts the round up where it gets buffeted pretty well. He takes off too.
I had a feeling that none of these dogs would be vacating the area for long. That calf was just too tempting. I called some more and discovered that the first pair had made their way more than a mile south of us. We again decided to close the distance and they ended up about 850 yards from us. No amount of howling would get them to respond. We did a little ki-yi and they came in to us, flat out. I was caught out of position, (prone) with the scope nearly zoomed all the way out, and my spotter and I did not communicate which one I should shoot at. I never sat up until the last moment and shot and lost both of them.
Lesson #3: The coyotes are not telepathic and don't understand your planning and wouldn't knowingly commit suicide anyway. They follow an entirely different script that may or may not work out in your favor. Adapt to the evolving situation, because that is what the coyotes will do. In the end, learning is sometimes frustrating, but it can be fun too. It's the nature of the challenge of the hunt.
Eric
Our first dog of the day was a mangy sob that had us pinned down. We had to crawl a ways to get into a shooting position. I suppose I should have taken the head (head/neck) on shot at this guy at a reasonable 425 yards, but I instead elected to wait. The coyote decided something was amiss, and trotted off. He ended up at a 485 yard broadside shot. The problem is that the VH reticle in the Leupold, (according to my ballistics profile) is that it has a stadia that equals 400, and one that equals 535. It's a big gap. I guessed and guessed quite wrong at the amount of holdover, and got to watch a coyotes' ass bounce away.
Lesson learned: Dialing is WAY more accurate than holdover, especially as the distance grows. If presented with a shot that is closer in yardage to what the reticle subtends, take it. If it is not close to reticle value, then quickly dial. Chances are, the situation will not improve, only get worse and leave you scrambling in the wake. The coyote is quite a small target and the margin of error is not in your favor regardless of inherent rifle accuracy or supposed marksmanship skill.
Before we left this ranch, we decided to shoot at 600 yards. This is about the limit for Steve's AR15 shooting the .223AI and 65 SGK load. We shot at a cow pie on a barren hillside. The pie was small and would fit into a hat. Steve's holdovers nearly got him to the target. I used the fifth subtention on the VH and it equals 600 yards. I missed the pie by about an inch. The elevation was perfect. I held NO wind. The AR10T in .243 and the 87 VMAX combo in conjunction with the 6.5-20 VXIII LR VH reticle is quite the long range system. It is rather heavy, but the utility and accuracy more than make up for the extra weight in my opinion.
The next stand was a completely different ranch. We called out over a ridge and came up with nothing. We walked to the next ridge line over, called, and spotted a coyote coming in from over a mile away. He ended up at a leisurely 300 yards away. He was looking right at us. I sent an 87 VMAX his way and it cruised right past him. WTF?! I tried to get back on him as he tore off, but the next couple of shots were totally in vain. He ended up crossing a fence and stopped in the open to mark his territory. He seemed to be rather upset with the fact that the "coyote" that had lured him there had treated him so unaffectionately. To top that off, the ki-yi's after the shots, appeared to have him believe that the encroaching, trespassing coyotes, were now packing heat. This was unacceptable.
I watched him squat, cock his tail up into the air, and squeeze a turd out while he threw his head back and yapped away at us. Steve tells me, "650". I held the 600 yard stadia (9.35 MOA) on his nose and let one fly. Neither of us heard the meat report, but the now spinning coyote piled up a few seconds later. He was a beautiful blonde male that unfortunately had quite the mange going on the underside. Here's a couple pics of that fellow:
Lesson #2: Sometimes I'm capable of some pretty remarkable shooting when I actually pull my head out and realize that no shot is a given. Every shot counts, especially the first one. Keep your head in the game.
We tried a third stand on yet another ranch, and come up with nothing.
Our fourth stand was on a sand hill that has overwatch on miles of prairie. After some calling, we are responded to by three coyotes over a mile away. They are situated next to a calving heifer and are annoyed by "our" presence, but are definitely not leaving the veal buffet. We decide to close the distance and try calling again. We make it to about 825 yards to the heifer and set up and begin to call. What appears to be the alpha pair begin to make their way to us. A dark manged dog remains with the cow.
The pair make their way to within about 625 yards, but drop down into an arroyo, and out of sight. I reposition and send a greeting out to Mr. Mangy at 825 and miss. The elevation is perfect, windage, not so much. I missed by about a foot and half or so. It's tough to feel any sort of wind when you are prone in the brush. The maximum ordinate puts the round up where it gets buffeted pretty well. He takes off too.
I had a feeling that none of these dogs would be vacating the area for long. That calf was just too tempting. I called some more and discovered that the first pair had made their way more than a mile south of us. We again decided to close the distance and they ended up about 850 yards from us. No amount of howling would get them to respond. We did a little ki-yi and they came in to us, flat out. I was caught out of position, (prone) with the scope nearly zoomed all the way out, and my spotter and I did not communicate which one I should shoot at. I never sat up until the last moment and shot and lost both of them.
Lesson #3: The coyotes are not telepathic and don't understand your planning and wouldn't knowingly commit suicide anyway. They follow an entirely different script that may or may not work out in your favor. Adapt to the evolving situation, because that is what the coyotes will do. In the end, learning is sometimes frustrating, but it can be fun too. It's the nature of the challenge of the hunt.
Eric
