First coyote of the season

[bullshop]

Yes its a bit early for best quality fur but still worth taking. Yesterday anxiety won out and I just couldn't wait any longer. I have never been good at putting things off until someday and have been focused on filling orders and domestic chores for such a stretch now I just had to have a taste of what coming up with my hunting vacation.
Yesterday after catching up on all current orders it didn't at all take much prodding from Diesel my coyote hunting partner to load up in the little old red Dodge Dakota Diesels favorite truck to ride in and head up to one of our favorite local spots. Infact we went to the exact same spot where we started the season last year and even sat at the same sage bush.
If any of you remember last year I used an lovely old 1892 Winchester in 25-20 . Though we did have some action there last year we were unsuccessful in harvesting a fur. No fault to Diesel though because he in his way let me know he spotted one but I was unable to spot it until it was too late and the coyote had already achieved low flying missel status.

This years first attempt was almost an exact repeat of last years accept the final score was hunters - 1 coyotes -0. It was almost a Daysia Voo experience where everything was repeating itself. We sat at the same tall sage bush with the setting sun at our back. While I was setting up the stand putting the 1898 Springfield 22 hornet on the cross stick and laying out the ammo calls and binoculars Diesel wandered about sniffing out evidence . Once we were ready to settle in Diesel took up his regular hunting position of sitting tightly beside me slightly angling our gaze to a wide field of fire.

We both sat quietly for about half an hour without ever attempting to call. It was a beautiful warm late afternoon and immensely enjoyable to just be there but Diesel did request my left arm around him for his assurance that yes indeed he is my full fledged hunting partner. To be honest that reassuring hug may be more for my benefit than for his.
When the sun was directly behind our gaze and just about touching the ridge line we decided it was about time to call. With one of my favorite duck bill calls on a lanyard around my neck I gave maybe only about ten seconds of distress calling then stopped and we both sat totally focused.
It was probably about twenty minutes before Diesel gave me his nudge to let me know he saw something. My response to his heads up is always to look at his eyes to see where his gaze is because at this point in our process he is locked on. Once I know about where he is looking I watch the spot for movement. Sure enough it only took a few seconds and I spotted the typical movement of a fur ghost weaving through the sage as if floating. It stopped for a second for a look in our direction then when it moved again I shifted the cross sticks and drew the Springfield stock into my shoulder pointing in the direction of last sighting. Then the coyote emerged from the thick tall sage with its front half exposed and seemingly looked right down my barrel and maybe even squinted from looking right into the setting sun.
With everything ready all it took was a slight swing to get the cross hair of the old Weaver K-10 on the shoulder squeeze the set trigger then touch the firing trigger. The 48 grain cast bullet scored a perfect hit high at the point of the on side shoulder and exited low just behind the off side shoulder from the steep downward angle of the shot. At the shot the coyote swapped ends and made about 25 yards up the opposite side of the ravine before collapsing and rolling back to the bottom. A perfectly executed success which I hope is a good omen for the season.

The 22 hornet loaded with our NEI #2 bullet at 48gn on 12.5gn of WC-680 for about 2400 fps cracked and the coyote kind if cringed swapped ends and headed back where it came from. I knew from what I saw through the scope that it was a good hard hit and expected to see exactly what I saw in the coyote making about 25 yards up the other side of the ravine and collapsing and rolling back to the bottom. I did think it a little strange that the coyote did not stay in the cover of the sage in the ravine but tried to go up the steep other side that was devoid of cover and had 75 to 80 yards of open until there was again some sage cover. That was unusual as they almost always especially when hard hit will just stay in the cover and sneak away.

Anyway its our first of the new season and not what I expected. What I expected was a new pup from this year which are typically the first to harvest because of their lack of experience. This one though was a big and heavy older female one with experience and since it was the same exact spot with the same exact set up I cant help but wonder if this one didn't already experience me and Diesel one year ago only this time came out on the loosing end.

 

[ALK]

Great hunting experience and thanks for retelling the story. Old guns and good huntin buddies make for great stories. Thanks and good shootin.

 

[jds holler]

Diesel sounds like he's a very good asset for this kind of work. I'm very interested in coyote calling with my dog, and need to get her up to speed for it. (or rather tune her down for it)-- she is a high energy type, but VERY visually oriented.

I've talked to guys who actually use their dog for attraction factor, and the right dog will actually lure the coyote in. I had this happen to me one time when quail hunting, and would like to improve on it. jd

 

[bullshop]

Diesel sounds like he's a very good asset for this kind of work. I'm very interested in coyote calling with my dog, and need to get her up to speed for it. (or rather tune her down for it)-- she is a high energy type, but VERY visually oriented.

I've talked to guys who actually use their dog for attraction factor, and the right dog will actually lure the coyote in. I had this happen to me one time when quail hunting, and would like to improve on it. jd

View attachment 1376764

A dog that wont sit still can still be an asset when coyote calling. The movement is a good distraction as long as it is not too near the caller. If your dog is snooping about at maybe 40 or so yards from the call that can be good because the coyotes will focus on the dogs movement so the shooter/caller can get into shooting position without being noticed. Diesel and I have been hunting coyotes together for a number of years now and he totally understands what we are doing. He sits on my left side and leans into me when I start calling and when he sees something he gives me a nudge and makes a little huff noise to get my attention. After that he keeps a visual lock on the coyote so by watching him I can tell about where the coyote is. We are both getting pretty old but we still hunt well together.

 

[bullshop]

I am just going to ramble a little on something that has been amusingly occupying some of my time. After taking the first coyote of the season recently using a cast bullet in the 22 hornet I started thinking about what might make a better bullet for use in the hornet specifically for use on coyotes. The little 48 grain flat nose cast bullet worked perfectly for taking that first of the season coyote but it was a perfectly placed shot that carried it through the most vital anatomy . What though if the little non expanding bullet was not quite so perfectly placed ?

When mortally wounded I have seen coyotes cover a lot of ground fast and without snow can be awfully hard to track. A slightly off shot with a fragile expanding bullet might end things more quickly and make the tracking less difficult. There is a balance though in that a 22 caliber bullet that expands too violently may not penetrate to the vitals with a hit to the shoulder. They may kill like dynamite when the hit is broad side just behind the shoulder to the ribs but put that hit just a few inches forward in the shoulder and again the chase is on.
After mulling these thoughts and remembering from many years ago when I first got our 22 Cooper rifle how a soft swaged bullet using an annealed 22 RF case for a jacket and pure lead core acted like a controlled expansion bullet in the 22 Cooper at the 2000 fps velocity of the cartridge. I once shot a fox with the Cooper rifle using one of those swaged bullets and it performed perfectly making only one 22 cal hole in the tender hide and stopping under the hide on the off side expanded to the classic mushroom shape.

Now coyotes are one heck of a lot tougher than fox and the 22 hornet adds another 500 fps velocity to the same 54 grain bullet so what is perfect for the 22 Cooper may be somewhat lacking in the 22 hornet. Another issue for me with my hornet rifle having a 1/16" rifling twist rate is that of stabilizing the 54 grain bullet. The old 22 swaging set up I have is made with a 6-s ogive for about a 55 grain bullet that when fully drawn up to a nearly pointed tip has the lead core right up to the mouth of the jacket. That fully drawn bullet makes a bullet too long for my 1/16" twist so my rifle shoots them poorly that way.

Considering all these things I wondered what would be the result if using the same components I didn't draw the bullet up fully in the form die. Well to get right to the point it worked great. The result is a shorter length bullet with a large hollow point very much like the old Speer 52 grain silver match HP bullets, ballistically poor but wonderfully accurate. When done this way the top of the core is recessed somewhat from the mouth of the jacket which changes the balance point of the bullet and makes them wonderfully accurate from my 1/16" twist possibly even the most accurate this rifle has ever done.

The next test was to test these bullets for expansion to get a feel of what can be expected on game. The test was simple, an 8 oz paper cup filled with water backed by two 1" dry red fir boards set at 100 yards. The load is using 11.6 grain of little gun for an estimated velocity of 2500 fps. The result was a very noticeable thwop sound of the bullet impacting the cup of water then into the first board evidence of very rapid expansion in what looked like about a 1" shotgun pattern of tiny jacket and core fragments. Both boards were penetrated completely so even with the rapid expansion there is still significant penetration. I tried the same test with these bullets loaded in the 22 Squirrel and found again that at the 2000 fps velocity the bullet stopped in the second board expanded to the classic mushroom. With the shot from the 22 Squirrel I had put up three boards wanting to catch the bullet and there was a slight dent between the second and third board showing that it might have passed through the two boards as did the hornet with only two boards.

So the hole afternoon was fun interesting and educational and yes I sure do have a box of hornets loaded with this bullet ready to try in the field. My thoughts are that this bullet will be perfect for certain shots as in broad side in the ribs but not so with angling or shoulder shots in contrast to what is a perfect shot for the 48 grain NEI flat nose cast bullet as with the first coyote of the season. Guess I should carry both !

 

[LAH]

Great story.

 

[sw282]

Very interesting bullshop. l'm a caster of 50yrs with handgun calibers ONLY. A couple yrs back l picked up a 43gr 22cal and a 55gr 22cal Lyman double cavity round nose molds. l have not tried casting these but this thread has inspired me. Both these molds have been modified by removing the gas/check groove. This should not hamper my casting or shooting because l powder coat all my cast boolits now. From the data l have l should be getting around 2000fps using 4198 or 4227 in a 222Rem

ps: 43gr Lyman is #225438. 55 is a #225462

 

[bullshop]

Your round nose bullets are very good accurate designs but for game shooting weather for small edible game or pest control I prefer a flat nose. Not saying the RN's wont work just stating my preference. I have the two molds you mention my 438 being unmodified and my 462 being modified the same as yours with the gas check portion of the mold being milled off.
I am going to dare a prediction as to your intended velocity with your powder coated bullets that accuracy much over 1500 fps will be very difficult especially if your rifling twist rate is faster than 1/14"
My modified 462 runs right about 50 grain depending on the alloy used. In my 22 hornet rifle with 1/16" rifling twist with the modified 462 I load 2.9gn of AA#2 for 1550 fps exactly duplicating the velocity of the original BP loads for the 22 WCF the parent case for the 22 hornet. It will be interesting to hear from you about your results and weather my prediction was correct or full of water.
I would encourage you to go ahead and start casting those 22 cal bullets. Once you perfect your casting technique you can make quality castings that can shoot extremely well if not pushed to chamber pressures beyond the structural integrity of your alloy.
Over my 40+ years of casting I have likely shot tens of thousands of cast 22's the caliber being my favorite especially in but not limited to the 22 hornet.