17 REM takes a Double today!

[Grayfox]

This moon has been the best for us in quite a while. Mitch and I headed out after midnight and tried to get in a couple sets a bit further from home.

1st set: Saw some tracks in the snow on the way in but called and heard nothing.

2nd set: Saw three sets of tracks where we set up. Need to try these last two spots earlier in the night if possible.

3rd set: Mitch set up on the North side of a grain bin 30 yards NW of me and I sat next to another bin with the decoy and caller 40 yards in front of me over looking a corn field. Wind was from the SW. I started with some howls and immediately had a pack light up SE of me across the road and another group West of us. I waited a bit and gave another howl. 10 minutes later I see a coyote coming across a corn field to the East of me. Then another and another. They came out of the corn and I barked them to a stop and dropped one at 175 yards. The others bugged out. I hit pup distress and 2 minutes later they started coming back to the downed coyote. They spooked and headed North and I barked another one to a stop at 200 and dropped another one. The single then ran North and proceeded to give me a good tounge lashing. I worked on him for 15 minutes but it looked like he finally left. We stood up and I checked one more time through the binoculars and the darn thing came back agian and was standing at about 230 yards behind the first coyote. We dropped down and I got him in the scope and squeezed the shot but shot a bit high as I found 1 spec of blood and 4 dark hairs. Tracked it for 60 yards but lost the tracks when it mixed up with a bunch of other tracks. Never saw any other blood or stumbles. 2nd career double. Felt bad for Mitch as he never saw the first two come in and when we dropped down for the third I told him the last coyote was behind the coyote on the right but he only saw the one coyote and thought I had missed one of the shots and was looking in the wrong direction. The first one shot was a big male. Probably daddy because the second was also a young male and by the challenge barks I was getting I believe the second was also a male. There's a couple hours of moon left the next couple of days and if it stays clear we'll try to take a few more out.

Rob

[picksbigwagon]

Nice looking yotes, very heavy coats, or so it looks

[certified jumbo]

Awesome.

You got it going in man. I love it.

CJ

[Dave S]

Those are some big 'yotes. The one closest to you in the last pic looks like he could be atleast 40 lbs.

Nice looking rifle too.

[SpitnArgueDuckClub*]

Nice job greyfox, may I ask what your set up consists of to hunt so efficiently at night? Night vision scopes and night vision bino's? Red lens spotlights?

[cbrooks]

That looks like fun.

[Grayfox]

Calvin,

We're just hunting with the remaining moonlight. Nightvision isn't allowed in Minnesota for hunting. Lights aren't allowed until Jan. 1st and with shotgun only. Our scopes have lit reticles and I always use my binoculars. It's a lot easier to pick them up at longer distances and it also helps with IDing. I've seen dogs running around with a pair of coyotes at night before but both times were during the breeding season.

Rob

[SpitnArgueDuckClub*]

Thanks for the reply, being from Iowa I was unaware of your states laws but intrigued by your ability to hunt so efficiently at night (out to 200 yards or so). Goodluck to you on the rest of the season!!!

[CFD200]

Nice job varmiting. I am taking out two of my boys to try it tonight. Hopefully we can get them a shot.

[Todd Caswell]

The 17 really puts em down???

[harvey lee]

I typically use a 223 or a 22-250 but this summer I went to the range with my 17 and that gun is deadly also at long ranges

[joekleinjr]

I used a sks last year with no luck, mainly cause it shot around trees,, this year i picked up a handi-rifle, with a .308 barrel, i'm ready now

[Todd Caswell]

I typically use a 223 or a 22-250 but this summer I went to the range with my 17 and that gun is deadly also at long ranges

Deadly on paper and DEAD Yote are not the same.. The 17 is a great rabbit round but it is by NO MEANS A YOTE ROUND at any range unless you plan on crippling the animale on anything less than the perfect shot ( perfect shot whith a 17? not sure if there is one on a yote)

[Jackpine Rob]

Todd, I think you might be confusing the .17 rounds a bit. There is more than one loading in .17 caliber, and the .17 Rem is a tried and true coyote gun for many, many years. The .17 Rem is a take-off on the .222 Rem Mag, and can scream downrange at around 4000 fps, pushing a 25 grain pill. At reasonable ranges (say under 300 yards) it is absolutely deadly with minimal pelt damage.

The various .17 rimfires are probably marginal in less-capable hands when dealing with the large 'yotes, but people who actually know how and when to pull the trigger still manage to thump a few even with those calibers. Of course, bullet selection and disciplined shooting are important.

[KyleM.]

Todd, I think you might be confusing the .17 rounds a bit. There is more than one loading in .17 caliber, and the .17 Rem is a tried and true coyote gun for many, many years. The .17 Rem is a take-off on the .222 Rem Mag, and can scream downrange at around 4000 fps, pushing a 25 grain pill. At reasonable ranges (say under 300 yards) it is absolutely deadly with minimal pelt damage.

The various .17 rimfires are probably marginal in less-capable hands when dealing with the large 'yotes, but people who actually know how and when to pull the trigger still manage to thump a few even with those calibers. Of course, bullet selection and disciplined shooting are important.

+1

[Grayfox]

Great explanation Jackpine,

I still think a few guys get the .17 HMR and the .17 REM confused. Great round with little recoil.

Rob

[Todd Caswell]

I did sorry my bad. The reason I posted that was because I have two buddy's that have farms and both have rimfire 17's that have crippled more fox and yote's than they have killed.

Thanks for the clarification.

[BigJakeL]

Gray fox! I live just south of Centuria in Osceola! I have a grandfather that has huge coyote problems! I myself have tried to call in and kill some of these elusive creatures. If you need some more land around the area to kill coyote I am sure he would be more than happy to have you come eliminate them!

[Grayfox]

Bowhuntking34,

We'd love to come down and try to take a couple out of the population for him.

PM me with a his contact information and I could come down and introduce myself.

Thanks a lot for the heads up.

Rob

[BigJakeL]

Let me know if you got that pm gray fox. Fairly, new to pming!

[Grayfox]

Bowhuntking34,

PM's don't appear to work here.

Email me at [email protected]

Thanks agian.