17cal Fan
Silver $$ Contributor
24/25 season was pretty brutal. The weather just would not cooperate. I went a lot but ran from thunderstorms, bailed on trips because of high wind, winds shifting while on the stand. Just all kinds of strange situations that are not "normal".
In Missouri, February and March are open for thermal/night vision. I had basically quit for the season when I got a text from a landowner at 9:15PM on March 31st. Asking for help, said the coyotes were driving him crazy and all of his calves had not dropped yet. Told him I'd be there by 10:30PM and I was. Got situated best I could on a steep slope with a view east/north east and fired up the electronic call. In under 7 or 8 minutes 3 coyotes trotted single file out of the timber and headed north west. They never broke stride or looked my direction, got the 3rd one in my scope just in time to watch him vanish behind rise in the ground. And they never came back, at least not that I saw anyway.
I contacted MDOC, requested and received authorization to continue hunting through April on this property. Went back out on April 2nd and this guy showed up after a few minutes. Lip squeaked to stop him and then he came even closer. Barked at him and pulled the trigger. He might have been 75 feet from me.
Tried a couple more times between wind and rainy weather. Made one last trip on April 29th. Didn't take the electronic with me but took a mouth call as always. Was planning to just watch for a while and see if I could spot one out in the pasture. Noticed a funny looking patch on a slope about 150 yards out. So I watched it for a few minutes. It wasn't black (hot) just darker than the surrounding grass. Then a coyote head pops up in the middle of it and then went back down. Then I'd see part of a body and then gone again. This went on for probably 10 or 15 minutes but apparently it was messing with something in a depression in the ground. 98% certain it was a yote and not a dog, I decided to squeal a couple notes on the mouth call. It bolted toward me and the cattle bedded down about 40 yards in front of me. After it wandered through the cattle it seemed to have lost its bearing and was headed off to my right. I had already put the mouth call away but had a dog squeaky toy squeaker in my outer chest pocket. I bumped my pocket with the back of my hand and the yote spun around and headed right back at me. I barked at him when he had no cattle behind him and he stopped on a dime and died right there. Less than 50 feet from me.
Used my 1st 221 Fireball build exclusively for night hunting this season and am thrilled with it's performance. Shooting a 34 grain DogTown HP. Will try again in the daylight sometime in the next couple of weeks. Den Raid should bring em running.
In Missouri, February and March are open for thermal/night vision. I had basically quit for the season when I got a text from a landowner at 9:15PM on March 31st. Asking for help, said the coyotes were driving him crazy and all of his calves had not dropped yet. Told him I'd be there by 10:30PM and I was. Got situated best I could on a steep slope with a view east/north east and fired up the electronic call. In under 7 or 8 minutes 3 coyotes trotted single file out of the timber and headed north west. They never broke stride or looked my direction, got the 3rd one in my scope just in time to watch him vanish behind rise in the ground. And they never came back, at least not that I saw anyway.
I contacted MDOC, requested and received authorization to continue hunting through April on this property. Went back out on April 2nd and this guy showed up after a few minutes. Lip squeaked to stop him and then he came even closer. Barked at him and pulled the trigger. He might have been 75 feet from me.
Tried a couple more times between wind and rainy weather. Made one last trip on April 29th. Didn't take the electronic with me but took a mouth call as always. Was planning to just watch for a while and see if I could spot one out in the pasture. Noticed a funny looking patch on a slope about 150 yards out. So I watched it for a few minutes. It wasn't black (hot) just darker than the surrounding grass. Then a coyote head pops up in the middle of it and then went back down. Then I'd see part of a body and then gone again. This went on for probably 10 or 15 minutes but apparently it was messing with something in a depression in the ground. 98% certain it was a yote and not a dog, I decided to squeal a couple notes on the mouth call. It bolted toward me and the cattle bedded down about 40 yards in front of me. After it wandered through the cattle it seemed to have lost its bearing and was headed off to my right. I had already put the mouth call away but had a dog squeaky toy squeaker in my outer chest pocket. I bumped my pocket with the back of my hand and the yote spun around and headed right back at me. I barked at him when he had no cattle behind him and he stopped on a dime and died right there. Less than 50 feet from me.
Used my 1st 221 Fireball build exclusively for night hunting this season and am thrilled with it's performance. Shooting a 34 grain DogTown HP. Will try again in the daylight sometime in the next couple of weeks. Den Raid should bring em running.
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