Four more down today!

[Grayfox]

Well we finished off the year on a great note this morning with me taking 4 more coyotes which will put me at 23 for this year and Mitch is still at 3, so we've taken 26 by calling and got one trapping earlier this year so real happy with those numbers.

I'm pretty sure I'm done for the year so I'm glad we ended strong.

The first set was one of the quickest ever. Pulled in and parked. Walked out 40 yards and put the caller out. Mitchell was sitting in front of some round bales 10 yards SW of me and I was kneeling behind another(snow was deep). I let out a single howl and started scanning with the binoculars and see one coming in from right to left 200 yards out. I tell Mitch there's one coming straight out he's struggling to find it. I look back and there's a second one trailing it. I'm telling him there's two and get on the one on the right but he's locked on the one on the left. I look back and see the one on the left on a dead run coming in and the one on the right is 20 yards to the right of it and in the race too. I get on the right one and when it gets 50 yards out I give a couple barks and it stops. I'm waiting for Mit to shoot but don't hear anything and mine looks antsy so I dump her. I look to the left as his runs off. I saw it run into some trees 200 yards out, switch to pup distress and it comes back out. It starts working back in and it stops twice and I'm waiting for him to shoot as I can see he's aiming at it. I lose it behind a hill when I hear him shoot and off it goes again. I shut the caller off after it disappears into the trees again. I'm getting ready to go retrieve the one I shot when I see the other one come out the West side of the woods and start across the field again. I barked it to a stop and I'm telling him where it's at but he's not shooting. It turns to head back into the trees so I bark again, it stops, the 17 REMINGTON barks and down he goes. Just shy of 200 yards on that one. We go out to retrieve them and he says, I was just going to shoot when you shot and missed it the first time. I said I didn't miss, I shot both of them and the first one is 10 yards from the caller. He looks over and can't believe it. He never saw the female come running in on the right and thought I missed the one he was aiming at. He should know better than that, dad doesn't miss. We took some pics, load them in the truck and I look at the remote and it says 25 minutes!

2nd set was a dud.

We drive 5 miles to the next set which is down a dead end road and turn down the farmers driveway which is 1/2 mile long in the middle of his field. We're going slow and about 1/4 mile down Mitch says, dad, there's one in the road up there. I can't see anything so I keep driving and he says it's standing on that pile of snow up there. I see it but I can't believe the thing is letting me get this close. 60 yards down and 20 yards off the driveway. He says, get out and shoot it. So I get out, open the back door, load the gun and ask if it's still in the county. He says it's 80 yards out and heading North. I walk behind the truck and get prone on the ground with the bipods and can see her circling, trying to cross the driveway behind us. She almost made it to the driveway when I dropped the hammer on her and down she went. Missing some hair and had a big scar and rub mark on her right shoulder and smelled horrible. Mitch just about gagged when I put it in the tote in the back of the pickup.

I really wanted Mitch to get some more shooting in so we stopped for another set. We set up on the South side of a field just inside the treeline with the caller out in front and downwind about 40 yards again. I knew we could shoot farther than anything we could see so I started with some howls and a little distress then a few more howls. It had been about 40 minutes and I could see Mitch 10 feet to my left leaning back and yawning off and on so I figured I'd call it so I put my scope caps on and shut off my reticle and stood up to scan one more time. I had been silent for a minute when I heard a dog at the house next door bark a couple times and go quiet. I'm thinking that's odd it would bark like that and just quiet up and while looking through the binoculars, I see her come off the tree line and start heading down wind. I tell Mit there's one to the right and drop back down and get ready. It's moving right to left about 250 yards out. I'm following it and waiting for him to shoot. I start the caller again and she starts working in slowly heading down wind again. I told him shoot, she's getting down wind. I look over and he has his binoculars in his hands and his gun off to his left side and he tells me to shoot it. I get back on her, bark her to stop and center one into her chest. Drops in her tracks. Another nice looking female. I told him I really wanted him to get the shooting in but he said he didn't really care and had fun getting out anyway. We called it a night and more than likely a year, grabbed some breakfast and headed for home. He's asleep already and I'm just about ready to hit it too. We had a great time this year and look forward to getting back after them next fall.

Rob

[ozzie]

thats awesome!! good father/son time and thanks for sharing your season!!!

[wally243]

How long did the babies kick after you made the shot??? Just wondering.

[Hoey]

Great post and photos.

[leech~~]

Wow, keep it up! Can't you find some white camo gloves?

[Grayfox]

Wally,

The coyotes don't usually kick too much after getting hit with my

17 Remington. That's the great part about a bullet traveling 4000 FPS.

It turns the insides to jello. Great cartridge.

Leech,

By the time they get close enough to see the that those two brown things are attached to a human it's usually too late for them.

Rob

[DonBo]

Great job Rob! Glad to hear you and Mitch had another great season.

[leech~~]

Wally,

The coyotes don't usually kick too much after getting hit with my

17 Remington. That's the great part about a bullet traveling 4000 FPS.

It turns the insides to jello. Great cartridge.

Leech,

By the time they get close enough to see the that those two brown things are attached to a human it's usually too late for them.

Rob

I'm just thinking of the "Cool" factor! You already have about $2 bills or more of camo on gun and all!