My son and I drove out NE of town to do a little coyote calling after church on Sunday, 2-11-2007. The wind was fairly calm, coming out of the ENE at maybe 5 mph. We parked on the north side of the gravel road behind a hill that hid our pickup from any coyotes that might be lying up along a creek bottom to the north and east of us. We walked up north about a half mile. I set up the FX3 on a fence post and called up to the NE along the creek bottom for about 25 minutes, but there were no takers.
We were just about back to my pickup when the land owner and his wife pulled up in their vehicle. I talked to him for a bit and told him we hadn’t called anything in on our fist stand, but that we’d like to drive through his yard and head over to some old buildings east and south of his place to call one more time. He told us we were welcome to head out that way. So, we drove in there and parked the pickup behind a tree row to hide it from any coyotes that might be lurking out along the creek bottom to the east and southeast. We walked to the south, on the west side of the tree rows for about 1/4 mile. I set my son up on a little knoll where he could see to the south and west to guard the down wind side. I walked in to the east along the fence line to about 200 yards east of where Jeff was set up. I set the FOXPRO up on a fence post and aimed it to the ENE. I walked back west along the fence line about 65 yards from the FOXPRO and laid prone there.
I started the caller out on the Lightnin’ Jack sound at about half volume. About 3 minutes into the stand I saw a coyote coming my way from ESE of my location. It came out of the deep weeds along the creek bottom and was headed right straight towards the FOXPRO. She was still about 500 yards away, but coming at a trot. I turned the volume down on the FOXPRO. When she got to about 400 yards away, she stopped out on the ice of the little body of water she was crossing and was looking straight at the FOXPRO. She started back in. I turned the FOXPRO off when she was about 350 yards away and she stopped. She just stood there and I decided to turn the FOXPRO on again. When it started playing, she made a slow turn to the SW and started heading slightly away from me, in what looked to be an effort to make a big circle around to the down wind side of the FOXPRO. I tried to hand signal Jeff to let him know there was a coyote in the area, but he didn’t see me. I knew I had Jeff covering the down wind side, but if he didn’t see her he may not be ready to take the shot. I wasn’t confident in taking a shot at her through the tall alfalfa.
The coyote kept moving around toward the west. The tall alfalfa between me and the coyote only allowed me to see the top of her back and head intermittently. When she got straight south of me she stopped and faced my direction for just a bit and then turned and headed west again. I wasn’t sure Jeff knew she was even there and tried to hand signal him again, but wasn’t sure he saw me. I decided I needed to alert him in some way, plus I needed to get that coyote stopped in case he could see it and was ready to take the shot. I switched the FOXPRO to my wounded coyote sound to see if I could alert my son and also get the coyote stopped.
I looked over Jeff’s way and it looked like he had his eye to the scope and was aiming in the coyote's direction. Just then I spotted the coyote again—this time she was to the SW of me. It looked like she was straight south of Jeff and was standing facing west with her head cocked back towards the FOXPRO, which was to the ENE of her position. I got the scope up to my eye to watch her and about 5 seconds later I saw her tail fly in the air and her head looked like it moved around towards her right front shoulder and she disappeared. During that sequence of events, I also heard the report of Jeff’s rifle! I knew he had hit her! I let the FOXPRO continue playing the wounded coyote sound and I took out my Bill Austin Howler and started my own rendition of the wounded coyote sound. I kept that up for about 2 minutes and shut the caller off. I scanned the area to the NE, east and SE of my stand—nothing more was moving. I signaled Jeff to see if he saw any more coyotes and he signaled that he didn’t see any more.
I got up and went to pick up the FOXPRO and headed to where Jeff was set up. He was giving me the old thumbs up signal to let me know he had nailed her good. We stepped off the distance from where he had shot from out to where she laid in the snow and got 235 good sized steps. Jeff was shooting my Lilja barreled .17 Remington and using my coyote medicine load. I use the 30 gr. Starke Red Prairie Varmint bullets and a VERY STIFF load of N-540 that pushes those 30 gr. bullets out the muzzle at 3,900 fps. This coyote had been standing broadside to Jeff with her head to the right. The bullet entered her right side at what looked to be just below and left of the shoulder bone and probably caught the heart. When we looked for the bullet hole, there was a tiny spot of blood on the entrance side and no exit hole. Perfect performance!!! We did the high fives and I let Jeff tow her back to the fence line from where he had taken the shot. I got the coyote and Jeff posed for some “hero photos†and snapped a bunch of them.
Jeff has been complaining that I never let him take a shot. We have been out calling coyotes a few times over the last three winters and he has never gotten to shoot a coyote. Well, he can’t complain about that any longer. He made the best of his opportunity making a long shot in some side wind and bagged a real nice pale northern coyote.
She probably weighs in at about 22 to 25 pounds, but she has silky fine fur, she’s not rubbed, and very pale colored. She must have been in heat as there was a little blood spotting her female organ. After the photo session, we walked back to the pickup and loaded her up and drove up to the rancher’s house. I went up to the house and reported that we had shot one female coyote and he said, “Thank you for getting rid of that coyote and come back any time.â€
We drove about 12 miles to another place I have been meaning to call at this winter, but hadn't gotten around to it. By now, the clouds had really gotten thick and the wind picked up in speed. It was feeling real cold out. I set up and called to the NE and my son was guarding the back door again and set up about 200 yards to the SW of me. I called for almost 30 minutes and there were no takers. My fingers were getting a bit numb and the intermittant snow was beginning to sting my eyeballs. It was close to sundown and it was miserable outside. We decided to call it a day. Three stands and one very nice pale northern coyote in the pickup figures out to be a GREAT HALF DAY OF CALLING in my book.
Here’s the view of the last area we called looking to the NE. Desolate looking country, but there are coyotes around here. They just weren't close enough to hear my calling--that's my story anyway
We were just about back to my pickup when the land owner and his wife pulled up in their vehicle. I talked to him for a bit and told him we hadn’t called anything in on our fist stand, but that we’d like to drive through his yard and head over to some old buildings east and south of his place to call one more time. He told us we were welcome to head out that way. So, we drove in there and parked the pickup behind a tree row to hide it from any coyotes that might be lurking out along the creek bottom to the east and southeast. We walked to the south, on the west side of the tree rows for about 1/4 mile. I set my son up on a little knoll where he could see to the south and west to guard the down wind side. I walked in to the east along the fence line to about 200 yards east of where Jeff was set up. I set the FOXPRO up on a fence post and aimed it to the ENE. I walked back west along the fence line about 65 yards from the FOXPRO and laid prone there.
I started the caller out on the Lightnin’ Jack sound at about half volume. About 3 minutes into the stand I saw a coyote coming my way from ESE of my location. It came out of the deep weeds along the creek bottom and was headed right straight towards the FOXPRO. She was still about 500 yards away, but coming at a trot. I turned the volume down on the FOXPRO. When she got to about 400 yards away, she stopped out on the ice of the little body of water she was crossing and was looking straight at the FOXPRO. She started back in. I turned the FOXPRO off when she was about 350 yards away and she stopped. She just stood there and I decided to turn the FOXPRO on again. When it started playing, she made a slow turn to the SW and started heading slightly away from me, in what looked to be an effort to make a big circle around to the down wind side of the FOXPRO. I tried to hand signal Jeff to let him know there was a coyote in the area, but he didn’t see me. I knew I had Jeff covering the down wind side, but if he didn’t see her he may not be ready to take the shot. I wasn’t confident in taking a shot at her through the tall alfalfa.
The coyote kept moving around toward the west. The tall alfalfa between me and the coyote only allowed me to see the top of her back and head intermittently. When she got straight south of me she stopped and faced my direction for just a bit and then turned and headed west again. I wasn’t sure Jeff knew she was even there and tried to hand signal him again, but wasn’t sure he saw me. I decided I needed to alert him in some way, plus I needed to get that coyote stopped in case he could see it and was ready to take the shot. I switched the FOXPRO to my wounded coyote sound to see if I could alert my son and also get the coyote stopped.
I looked over Jeff’s way and it looked like he had his eye to the scope and was aiming in the coyote's direction. Just then I spotted the coyote again—this time she was to the SW of me. It looked like she was straight south of Jeff and was standing facing west with her head cocked back towards the FOXPRO, which was to the ENE of her position. I got the scope up to my eye to watch her and about 5 seconds later I saw her tail fly in the air and her head looked like it moved around towards her right front shoulder and she disappeared. During that sequence of events, I also heard the report of Jeff’s rifle! I knew he had hit her! I let the FOXPRO continue playing the wounded coyote sound and I took out my Bill Austin Howler and started my own rendition of the wounded coyote sound. I kept that up for about 2 minutes and shut the caller off. I scanned the area to the NE, east and SE of my stand—nothing more was moving. I signaled Jeff to see if he saw any more coyotes and he signaled that he didn’t see any more.
I got up and went to pick up the FOXPRO and headed to where Jeff was set up. He was giving me the old thumbs up signal to let me know he had nailed her good. We stepped off the distance from where he had shot from out to where she laid in the snow and got 235 good sized steps. Jeff was shooting my Lilja barreled .17 Remington and using my coyote medicine load. I use the 30 gr. Starke Red Prairie Varmint bullets and a VERY STIFF load of N-540 that pushes those 30 gr. bullets out the muzzle at 3,900 fps. This coyote had been standing broadside to Jeff with her head to the right. The bullet entered her right side at what looked to be just below and left of the shoulder bone and probably caught the heart. When we looked for the bullet hole, there was a tiny spot of blood on the entrance side and no exit hole. Perfect performance!!! We did the high fives and I let Jeff tow her back to the fence line from where he had taken the shot. I got the coyote and Jeff posed for some “hero photos†and snapped a bunch of them.
Jeff has been complaining that I never let him take a shot. We have been out calling coyotes a few times over the last three winters and he has never gotten to shoot a coyote. Well, he can’t complain about that any longer. He made the best of his opportunity making a long shot in some side wind and bagged a real nice pale northern coyote.
She probably weighs in at about 22 to 25 pounds, but she has silky fine fur, she’s not rubbed, and very pale colored. She must have been in heat as there was a little blood spotting her female organ. After the photo session, we walked back to the pickup and loaded her up and drove up to the rancher’s house. I went up to the house and reported that we had shot one female coyote and he said, “Thank you for getting rid of that coyote and come back any time.â€
We drove about 12 miles to another place I have been meaning to call at this winter, but hadn't gotten around to it. By now, the clouds had really gotten thick and the wind picked up in speed. It was feeling real cold out. I set up and called to the NE and my son was guarding the back door again and set up about 200 yards to the SW of me. I called for almost 30 minutes and there were no takers. My fingers were getting a bit numb and the intermittant snow was beginning to sting my eyeballs. It was close to sundown and it was miserable outside. We decided to call it a day. Three stands and one very nice pale northern coyote in the pickup figures out to be a GREAT HALF DAY OF CALLING in my book.
Here’s the view of the last area we called looking to the NE. Desolate looking country, but there are coyotes around here. They just weren't close enough to hear my calling--that's my story anyway
