Dog Show

[coyotemaster]

Finally we received a decent snow, I am likely one of the few that actually look forward to snowstorms. We had a small storm in December and I managed to turn in 11 Coyotes to the buyers. It was short lived and melted off in about a week. No snow for the entire months of January and February to speak of and in early March they called for a pair of storms about a few days apart.

The snow stopped on Friday evening and early Saturday found me cruising the backroads looking for a dark spot on a distant slope. About 9 am I spotted a pair lying in a corn field about 600 yards from a farm house. The farmer told me that he had a freezer failure and had dumped all the remains out in the field and the Coyotes were feasting heavily. After securing his blessing I suited up in all white and developed a plan that I hoped would put me within rifle range of the napping dogs. I took a round about approach that enabled an approach up a low draw and after some crawling I emerged straight downwind atop a small rise in the field. The Leica read 348 yards to the nearest Coyote and I settled down with my shooting bag after dialing 3 minutes of elevation into the scope. Most often I shoot the female first as the male will usually run a short distance and look back, but in this instance I chose the male first as he was much the larger and I assumed more wary. I centered the cross hairs on his chest after increasing the magnification to 10X and slowly squeezed the match trigger on the AR. The bullet smacked soundly into his ribcage and after a couple of rolls he lay still. The female jumped up at the shot and ran 30 yards crosswind and stopped looking back for her mate. He was lying still and she was puzzled having been sound asleep. The rifle cracked again and the second dog was down. I lay still and waited as during breeding season Coyotes tend to run in small groups of 2-5 animals with one or 2 dominant males and the rest females. I was rewarded in this case with a third dog that slowly trotted up the ridge from a draw to see what the fuss was about. He approached to within 25 yards of the downed Coyotes and stopped looking thoughtfully around. Again the AR barked and a third Coyote was down in about 5 minutes.

After dragging 2 of the 3 out of the field to the truck I resumed the hunt. A few uneventful hours passed while I scanned the fields with the Oberwerk 15X70 glasses. About noon I located a single lying near a small ditch after a careful stalk I emerged 300 yards from the sleeper. The gun is dialed in for 250 yards and I set the cross hairs right on his back and squeezed and heard the whack as the bullet found his chest. Pretty well haired Coyote so I dragged him back across the snow pack to the truck. By then it was nearing 2 pm and I was needing refueled so I headed for home.

Sunday found me out bright and early and I endured a rather uneventful day until about 4 pm when I spotted what I thought was a lone Coyote in the middle of a huge section. This is where the higher magnification glass really shines, an 8 or 10X just doesn't pick out the spots at .5 miles. A quick verification with the Nikon spotter confirmed the spot was a Coyote but the wind was completely wrong for the approach I wanted. I drove around the section and parked cross wind and very far from the sleeping dog. After a very careful and slow approach I came to the fencline that I knew was where the dog was sleeping. As I eased along slowly I noticed a spot emerge from the grass waterway about 250 yards from my location. Good luck prevailed as it was a young dog and he just studied me for a bit too long.He gave me just enough time to ease the down filled bag onto the snow drift and assume a prone position. I didn't bother to range him as I had been shooting jugs for 2 months and had a pretty good idea he was around 250-275 yards away. I settled the crosshairs on his chest and at the report he flopped and regained his feet ran a short distance and dropped. At the shot another Coyote emerged from a near bed near the first Coyote. I shifted the crosshairs to her and squeezed once more, she dropped after a short sprint. Again I lay still and waited, slowly a third Coyote walked into view being awakened by all the noise. He had probably been asleep there all day and was somewhat disoriented by the proceedings. I eased the scope onto his chest and squeezed again, this time the animal collapsed on the spot without a kick.Again one of the three had been rubbing and the hide was unsalable.

I was a little confused as I looked back toward the vantage point I had on the distant road and couldn't even see the road from where I stood. On a hunch I left dogs and eased over the rise to the south into the wind. There on a distant rise laid the Coyote I had seen from the road. I laid down and ranged the sleeping dog and Leica said 650--- a lot too far. I walked and crawled to within 500 yards and setttled into the back after confirming the yardage. I checked the cheat sheet on the stock and in my haste dialed in the windage for the elevation at 500 yards giving the scope turns for 7 minutes. I had the wind in my face as I squeezed the trigger once more. This time the result was a spray of snow and a quickly departing Coyote. I suppose you must leave some for seed. The next day found myself at the range with some jugs and discovering my error. 9.5 minutes of elevation put the bullet squarely in the water filled jug at 500 yards.

Seven animals in 2 days is far from usual and often I spend days between stalks but sometimes you turn the right corners and find the animals-- particularly if the conditions favor them laying out in the sun.

The 69 SMKs are not the ideal bullet for Coyotes but are the best shooting bullet in my rifle and carries energy well at distance. They seem to vary with their effect sometimes coming apart and sometimes sailing right through. At this juncture bullet choices are scarce here and I may shoot the Hornady 60 Vmax when available seeking a more humane dispatch.

Edited March 10, 2013 by coyotemaster

[simon6ppc]

well done there pal, thats some good shooting at them ranges, ive obviously never shot at coyotes but one day who knows,cheers simon...

[galkoi]

Nice write up and some good shooting

Garry

[silver pigeon 3]

Good write up, just out of interest what are the pelts worth?

[browning123]

Well done & an excellent write-up, what's the weight of one of those big dogs?

[kent]

its been a while since pelts were worth anything here I am very envious, well done!You could have had some of my snow if you had only asked "LOL". Ever tried a tape wrap around your top turret marking the std drop dope in pen? it don't allow you to precisely compensate for half ranges and slopes etc but it can however get you there in a hurry and its not to hard to feel the extra clicks up and down if you need them and those yotes look fair big beasties with their jackets on at least.

Edited March 10, 2013 by kent

[chrispti]

A good read and very well done Timothy

[coyotemaster]

Thanks guys!

 

I have been averaging $18 for Coyotes in the carcass,(almost pay for fuel costs) I refuse to skin them as they are very stingy parting with their hair and smell really doggy this time of year. The larger males will weigh between #30 and #40. The 2 on the right weighed right around #36. The largest I have taken weighed #44 and his teeth were all worn down--probably a 8-10 year old dog.

Thanks for the tip Kent, the numbers on the scope turret seem pretty small at times and some tape would make it quicker. The 69s drop like rocks after about 350 yards and require a lot of correction.

[mad1]

Brilliant write up cm ...500 yds !! I'm impressed with my 150 yd shot :-0

[Highbird70]

Really nice writeing Coyotemaster, enjoyed it and its nice to know what goes on the other side of the pond, well done.

 

Mark

[pigeon controller]

What a write up, brilliant shooting, well done good result.