Sometimes it is better to be lucky than good!

["JJ"]

I had a land owner call me this week telling me about the coyotes he is seeing around his cattle pens.
Despite the wind gusting over 20 MPH I made the 45 minute drive to his place!
It was a cold, windy sunrise! For us anyways!
With the temps in the low 20s and a 20+ MPH wind I questioned my mental condition more then once!
But I got set up where the land owner had been seeing the perps and started with some distress sounds on my Double Buck diaphragm from Reese Outdoors. I tried different tones and intensities and got no response!
Just over 20 minutes in I decide to try some vocals on my Double Reed howler diaphragm. I let go with a few high pitched howls and scan the tree line to my north. Nothing!
Now I am thinking either they are bedded down in this wind and don't want anything to do with me or they just can't hear me! So I give it everything I got with some high pitched howls and I get several coyotes howling back just over a levee to the north. After they quit I come back with a non threatening high pitched howl and scan the tree lined levee where I expect them to appear! Nothing!
Now 15 minutes after they howled I am thinking of the saying, "If you hear 'em you ain't gonna see 'em"!
I howl again and start answering myself with the e-call. I throw out a scenario that sounded good to me and I shut-up for a bit and watch.
About the time I am thinking about the wind and temps and how good it will feel to be back in the truck, three coyote come out into the field about where I had been expecting them for the last half hour! But they are about 250 yards out and cruisin straight south!
I do everything but yell stop and can't get no more then a glance my way! I decide that if I am going to drop some fur I am gonna have to launch some lead!
I plop down prone in the snow to get as steady as possible and let out a scream/kiyi! The larger trailing coyote that had been limping hard stopped and looked my way.
I hold high on it's back and account for the wind and send a round! The report and fur cyclone confirm a hit!
The other coyotes scramble but hold close to the spinning male. As soon as I get the shot I send another round. No report and all three coyote evacuate the area! The big male I shot isn't setting any land speed records but he is up and moving straight at me.The other two are moving across the field to the northeast and increasing this distance between us fast! I'm not sure if I finally bark or yelped on my diaphragm just right or if they couldn't run because they were laughing at me, but they finally stopped! A quick survey suggested they were just over 300 yards. I decided I didn't have anything to loose and held to accommodate the distance and wind and sent another round.
BANG! THWACK! FLOP!
Double down baby!!
Two coyotes found guilty and executed!
I stepped off each coyote and the first coyote and it was 259 paces and the second was 335 paces! Each one was my furthest kill shot with my .223 Savage. I was stoked!



The male was a beast of an alpha male weighing in at 40lbs 7ozs! He had a scar on his right eye, his teeth were worn to the gums and his bottom right canine was broken and worn smooth again. His right front ankle was broken and he was walking on the inside of his paw and his left rear leg looked like it had been chewed on a bit this morning!



The other was a nice looking female that tipped the scales at 30lbs 14ozs.

Two less coyotes aggravating this land owner!!

He and I both were happy!


~ JJ

[603Country]

Nice work. Nice shooting. Nice calling. I sure wish I was a good caller, but I think I'm just throwing out insults.

What bullet are you shooting in that 223?

My biggest coyote (central TX) was an even 50 pounds. Never shot one before or since that was even close to that big.

[Hunter Customs]

Good job "JJ", nice pair of coyotes.
Maybe there was some luck involved but I know you are a accomplished hunter so I would say there's a good deal of skill involved in this one too.

I myself had a pretty good stroke of luck a few mornings back.
It was just after first light and I was finishing up feeding and packing water to my mare.

On the way back from the barn heading to the house I look over in the picked bean field there's two coyotes heading East.
It's breeding season and I'm pretty sure it was a male and a female as the lead coyote had her tail up and the coyote behind her had his nose in her back side.

Seeing that I had to cross an open area before I got to the house I figured they would spot me and high tail it out of the country.
As it was I made it to the house, snatched up my old Remington 700 BDL 243 heavy barrel varmint rifle, got back outside, jacked a round in the chamber, lined up the crosshair in the scope on the coyote behind the other one, squeezed the trigger and drilled the coyote that was behind the first one right through the head.

The coyote I shot was a male that would go a good 40 pounds.
It was a standing unsupported 277 yard shot, I figure I had quite a bit of luck that morning in more ways then one.

Keep up the good work, as always I enjoyed the story about your hunt and the pictures.

Best Regards
Bob Hunter

["JJ"]

Thanks for the kind words guys!

Wow Bob! That is some shootin right there!

603Country I am shooting 55 gr V-Max reloads! The load will cut one ragged hole at 100 yards and I have it zeroed at 200 which allows me to pretty much hold on fur out to 300 yards. Much further and the .224 is running out of steam! That is where my luck came in! I am pretty sure I caught the spine at the base of the neck! I have had coyotes run 100 yards after being hit from about 100 yards!