I got the green light from my wife to go out hunting. It just so happens that I was able to head out with my calling partner, Steve, too. It's great when every thing just seems to come together. Even the weather cooperated. A part of the deal was that I had to take the oldest one to school, and pick her up, too. That left me most of the morning into early afternoon. Definitely better than nothing, which was what I had been doing.
Steve and I headed out to some local private land that neither of us has tapped yet this year. I decided to shoot the modded Savage .308 that I have that hasn't yet got any coyote guts on it. I also decided to shoot the 208 AMAX load that prints in the .4s and pokes along at a leisurely 2650 I think. Either way, I was going to break a yote.
We settled down to call in some sand hills. We set up on top of one of the hills, and we had a good view of the surrounding terrain. We let out some howls and some prey calls for quite some time before this big male decided it was time to eat.
This beautiful fellow came charging in. Steve spotted him a good 4-500 yards distant on the run. He was committed, provided we didn't screw it up. We must've done something right, because he crested the last hill toward us and was still coming. Steve said, "Tell me when you want me to stop him." I said, "Stop him!" Steve woofed a couple of times and then growled a couple of time with zero effect. I then yelled at the top of my lungs, "HEY!" That stopped him cold. I asked Steve, "how far?" He replied, "one eighty." With a two hundred yard zero this was an easy shot. I held dead center on his chest and carefully squeezed the trigger. The big Hornady found its mark and the coyote folded up in the scope as if someone had hit a switch.
Watching this happen through the Leupold was a treat. Hearing the meat report with the Pro Ears was even better! I figured this old dog was going to be toast, as the impact seemed to be rather violent. I didn't have a lot of hope of saving the pelt. As it turns out, the bullet didn't exit. The insides of the coyote however, were most assuredly liquified. It was instead of, "bring that coyote over here", it was more like, "pour me some of that coyote over here." Regardless, he was mangy on the belly and that kind of sealed the deal. Fun shot and memories though.
On an interesting note, Steve thought that the bullet may have splashed on impact, judging by the wound. Upon closer inspection, it appears as though due to the violent expansion inside, it somehow stretched the skin at the entrance point so much that the skin tore and formed a stellate wound. Pretty interesting stuff.
Coyote number two took his sweet time. We attempted to set up a few miles due south of the first stand. As we approached our stand, I spotted a couple of coyotes about a mile distant, dinking around in the sage. We elected to try and call them into us, but that didn't work. We mulled around and called again and again, and finally Steve said he saw one coming in. He never showed. We decided it was best to try and make it out to where we originally wanted to make the stand, because it offered a view of the areas where we had seen the coyotes earlier. With some sneaking, we made it there undetected.
After having set on the first part of this stand for at least an hour, it was nice to get up and move. I didn't take all my accoutrements, so just me and a rifle as this was the last ditch effort to bag a dog at this stand. I didn't expect much to happen, but after some really impressive pleading on the call, Steve says, "I got one!" He talked me into him as I rotated from a sitting position to prone. This big male was playing his role to a "T". I had a lot of trouble seeing the coyote in between the sage, as he was getting closer, Steve and I did the same thing as the first stand of the day and I ended up yelling at the coyote to get him to stop. When he finally did stop, Steve called him at "one fifty". I aligned the rifle ( the Armalite.243 AR10T this time) and squeezed one into his chest. He dropped at the shot, too. This coyote was a lot paler and without any mange, so he was skinned.
Launching some prairie dogs with the 208 AMAX was a bit of fun, too! Steve especially enjoyed a cold bore first round hit at 360. There is no mistaking a hit with the big Hornady. There were a few around the 375 yard range, and the furthest was 460. The best part was the golden eagle who flew right over the top of us while we were shooting to sample the fare. Sorry, no pics of the prairie dog foray. Enjoy, Eric
Steve and I headed out to some local private land that neither of us has tapped yet this year. I decided to shoot the modded Savage .308 that I have that hasn't yet got any coyote guts on it. I also decided to shoot the 208 AMAX load that prints in the .4s and pokes along at a leisurely 2650 I think. Either way, I was going to break a yote.
We settled down to call in some sand hills. We set up on top of one of the hills, and we had a good view of the surrounding terrain. We let out some howls and some prey calls for quite some time before this big male decided it was time to eat.
This beautiful fellow came charging in. Steve spotted him a good 4-500 yards distant on the run. He was committed, provided we didn't screw it up. We must've done something right, because he crested the last hill toward us and was still coming. Steve said, "Tell me when you want me to stop him." I said, "Stop him!" Steve woofed a couple of times and then growled a couple of time with zero effect. I then yelled at the top of my lungs, "HEY!" That stopped him cold. I asked Steve, "how far?" He replied, "one eighty." With a two hundred yard zero this was an easy shot. I held dead center on his chest and carefully squeezed the trigger. The big Hornady found its mark and the coyote folded up in the scope as if someone had hit a switch.
Watching this happen through the Leupold was a treat. Hearing the meat report with the Pro Ears was even better! I figured this old dog was going to be toast, as the impact seemed to be rather violent. I didn't have a lot of hope of saving the pelt. As it turns out, the bullet didn't exit. The insides of the coyote however, were most assuredly liquified. It was instead of, "bring that coyote over here", it was more like, "pour me some of that coyote over here." Regardless, he was mangy on the belly and that kind of sealed the deal. Fun shot and memories though.
On an interesting note, Steve thought that the bullet may have splashed on impact, judging by the wound. Upon closer inspection, it appears as though due to the violent expansion inside, it somehow stretched the skin at the entrance point so much that the skin tore and formed a stellate wound. Pretty interesting stuff.
Coyote number two took his sweet time. We attempted to set up a few miles due south of the first stand. As we approached our stand, I spotted a couple of coyotes about a mile distant, dinking around in the sage. We elected to try and call them into us, but that didn't work. We mulled around and called again and again, and finally Steve said he saw one coming in. He never showed. We decided it was best to try and make it out to where we originally wanted to make the stand, because it offered a view of the areas where we had seen the coyotes earlier. With some sneaking, we made it there undetected.
After having set on the first part of this stand for at least an hour, it was nice to get up and move. I didn't take all my accoutrements, so just me and a rifle as this was the last ditch effort to bag a dog at this stand. I didn't expect much to happen, but after some really impressive pleading on the call, Steve says, "I got one!" He talked me into him as I rotated from a sitting position to prone. This big male was playing his role to a "T". I had a lot of trouble seeing the coyote in between the sage, as he was getting closer, Steve and I did the same thing as the first stand of the day and I ended up yelling at the coyote to get him to stop. When he finally did stop, Steve called him at "one fifty". I aligned the rifle ( the Armalite.243 AR10T this time) and squeezed one into his chest. He dropped at the shot, too. This coyote was a lot paler and without any mange, so he was skinned.
Launching some prairie dogs with the 208 AMAX was a bit of fun, too! Steve especially enjoyed a cold bore first round hit at 360. There is no mistaking a hit with the big Hornady. There were a few around the 375 yard range, and the furthest was 460. The best part was the golden eagle who flew right over the top of us while we were shooting to sample the fare. Sorry, no pics of the prairie dog foray. Enjoy, Eric
