Made a good coyote today

[Thumbcocker]

I was up a tree on the family hunting land this morning hoping for a deer to wander by. I am convinced that the squirrels and the turkeys have ganged up on the deer and forced them out. Just before 8:00 a coyote wnaders by. I squesked at him and he stopped facing me at 44 steps. I held for his face and squeezed one off with my favorite Bisley. Group buy 429421 HP acww over 22 of IMR 4227 popped him right in the snout. Almost blew off the lower jaw. He flopped and yipped around and I shot at him twice more. One hit just behind the ribs. Another coyote came to him and I shot at it but missed low.

Pics show entrance hole in snout and exit hole from second shot after teh varmit was skinned. Looks like I got some expansion even allowing for the streaching during case skinning.

[RugerFan]

Good shooting. I've had close calls on two coyotes, but couldn't quite get a shot. Once when carrying my M39 and the other when I had my No. 4 Mk 1/2 Enfield. Those rascals do like to eat turkeys and fawns, so it is good to take them out when given the chance.

[home in oz]

That should help your fawn crop a bit.

[richhodg66]

One wandered in front of me during our muzzle loader season last year and I shot it with a saboted RCBS 250 grain Kieth bullet cast soft. Load was 70 grains of 777 and it made an exit hole the size of a softball basically eviscerating the coyote. The thing still kicked and thrashed for a minute or two, amazing how much life force one of those has.

Good shooting, by the way. I need to start hunting with some of my revolvers, just need more range time with them which seems kinda short these days.

[roverboy]

Glad you got the yote. Its wierd, I've not seen any coyotes this deer season for some reason. I've heard them barking and howling, but thats it so far. Saw 2 bobcats, but no coyotes.

[x101airborne]

i like to consider myself a "novice" professional song dog pounder. I use a tape call and have quit the rifle. i carry a Charles Daily 12 ga full of #4 buck and my always ruger redhawk 44. i practice in the off season by shooting milk jugs out to 200 yards. Did it last week with my wifes Christmas 41 mag. SHHHH..... Dont tell her. Anybody taking a sounder is good in my book!

[jmsj]

x101airborne,
I too have gone to using a shotgun for predator calling. And like you my favorite load is a #4 buck in a 12 gauge.
At times in my life, thinning/eradicating coyotes from a ranch was part of my job. I have trapped, shot on site, called and ran them down on 4 wheelers and used dogs on them. Even after all this I have a lot of respect for the coyote. They are smart, resourceful and cunning.
The problem I see with coyotes is that they are too smart, resourceful and cunning. With the top predators gone and pelt prices down there is no limiter on their population.
They are smart enough to learn to live in areas that they never were before and within close proximity to humans. They will scavenge from the waste of humans and they'll eat our domesticated pets. They are merely doing what we do- breed and expand our territory.
I believe it is our job as stewards of the land to keep wildlife populations in check, whether prey or predator species. I still love to hunt coyotes, they are a very challenging advesary and I'm teaching my children how to.
We have a neighboring ranch that has used cyanide traps/bombs on coyotes for the last few years and they have been extremely successful. We rarely see or here coyotes anymore but the red and gray fox, bobcat, bear and lion population numbers are up. We never had red fox around here before. Cause and Effect ?
Now that all our meat hunting for the year is done and pelts are in prime, the kids and I are going to try some coyote/fox calling. Wish us luck.
Merry Christmas to all of you, Jeff

[jmsj]

Sorry I forgot to say Thumbcocker, that was a great shot!

[reloader28]

Wow, thats a big hole.
You must have got good expansion.
Thats better than I would have thought on a "soft" coyote even with hollow points.

[JIMinPHX]

Those squirrels can be like miniature alarm bells, alerting every other critter in the forest that you are there looking for them. I know more than 1 hunter that brings along a pellet gun to quiet the theater of operations before setting up on post for bigger game.

[Thumbcocker]

I have had a long standing truce with Brother Squirrel. He has on more than a few occasions sounded the alarm when deer were heading my way. I also admire his work ethic, love of life, and prodigious tree planting. I once watched a gray squirrel stay on station and call a hawk all mannner of bad names to warn the rest of the woods. He could have hid in his nest but he did his job. A noble rodent.

[meadmkr]

I once watched a gray squirrel stay on station and call a hawk all mannner of bad names to warn the rest of the woods. He could have hid in his nest but he did his job. A noble rodent.

Truce with a treerat? Rather sell my soul to the devil!
The local urban treerat population raids (and sometimes destroys) my birdfeeders and seem to have developed a taste for the cayanne pepper I mix with the seed. Always funny to watch the new kids eat the pepper-laced seed :)

I live about .5 miles from the Potomac River and the coolest thing I've ever seen was watching an immature bald eagle snag a yearling treerat sitting 'guard' at the top of my feeder post. The squirrel was focused on a redshoulder hawk up in a tree about 50' away and never saw the eagle! Wish I could have snapped a pic but it was all over and gone in about 5 seconds. The occasional snake, mouse and mockingbirds all fall victim to the raptors but its far too fast to shoot pics.

[piwo]

Very nice shooting indeed! I've sort of "truced" with the tree rats, though the next one to rat me out for an hour or two will undoubtedly test my resolve.

On the 'yote" topic, the farm in Columbia MO I hunt on has seen FAR too many coyotes this year, and no deer taken. In seven trips to the woods, I've seen 4 coyotes, and my buddy in the only two days he hunted saw two (and made friends with one ;) ). None came into Flintolock range for me, he with a 30.06 had no such limitation. We've discussed the dog situtation and are discussing a January expedition to the farm to seek them out. Never actually tried to do it, so I guess I'll spend some time on the puter and "google" the topic........ Them vermin gotta go. I swear the one I saw on Monday this week looked more of the wolf size and not the coyote size: yet it was most certainly coyote..........

hopefully open a thread later this winter with some good stories....

Job well done Thumbcocker!