9 replies to this topic

[Bill D.]

With a break in the rain and a cool NW breeze this morning, I was ready for huntin'. I would much rather talk huntin' than politics! I returned to the big ranch where I killed 6 coyotes a few weeks ago because I couldn't make contact with the owner of the new place next door. On the third setup, I had been calling on and off for 15 minutes with the Utah Jack and was about to start walking when I caught the slightest glimpse of movement about 600 yards away at the base of a steep hill. A peek in the scope revealed two coyotes that were a pair.....the male nearly got his head taken off for sniffing her behind (typical). For the next 30 minutes, I used a combo of the Jack and young invitational howl at low volume which kept their attention but they weren't budging. Finally, the male trotted off to the left and disappeared in a low spot. I started reviewing my list of sounds on the remote and decided to give the challenge howl a try for one series of three howls/barks. The female immediately ran up the steep hill 20 yards and stared to the left looking for her mate. She was like a statue and not looking my way for two minutes so I tried the challenge howl again and her eyes fixed into a hard stare my way. At her elevated position, she could now see the twirling Jack-in-the-Box decoy and immediately broke into a run my direction.....adrenalin level rising! Every time she topped a shallow rise, she was still running but was in a fast trot on the final rise. When she was 50 yards from the caller and decoy and 100 yards from me, I barked but she angled to the right going into a bouncing lope. I never could get on her with confidence so waited......at 150 yards she stopped and turned broadside. The 55 gr. SXSP bullet from the 788 Duece shattered her spine....game over! The rest of the afternoon was plagued with new stocker calves surrounding the caller at every setup but I got a lot of exercise and really enjoyed the new green grass and running water in the draws.

[bzzrd feedr]

Great Report. Glad it's not too wet to get out. alot of the places I go I'd be messing up the roads and I learned along time ago about that. Keep up the good work. Dale

[A17Shooter]

good looking 'yote.A17Shooter

[Bill D.]

Great Report. Glad it's not too wet to get out. alot of the places I go I'd be messing up the roads and I learned along time ago about that. Keep up the good work. Dale

Know what you mean......this big ranch has no roads and little access to the edges. By the time I got back to the truck, I had probably covered 7 or 8 miles. Depending on wind direction, I sometimes have to walk 2 or 3 miles out of my way just to get the wind right before I start to hunt. This is the only ranch I have ever been on with no roads......they do it on horseback or quads or cross-country in 4 wheel. Kind of nice though....not disturbed much except by an inflicted coyote hunter!

[ShooterJohn]

Bill, I like the NEW hat! Nice coyote by the way, and I think those rabbit ears are the coolest.

[Bill D.]

Bill, I like the NEW hat! Nice coyote by the way, and I think those rabbit ears are the coolest.

The bunny is quite a combo....the tanned hide is from an Australian bunny, the styrofoam body and teddy bear eyes are from Walmart, the ears and tail are from a real west Texas jackrabbit......sometimes when things are going slow, I aim at it during the pauses in movement just to see if I can hold steady on the eye.

[ShooterJohn]

The bunny is quite a combo....the tanned hide is from an Australian bunny, the styrofoam body and teddy bear eyes are from Walmart, the ears and tail are from a real west Texas jackrabbit......sometimes when things are going slow, I aim at it during the pauses in movement just to see if I can hold steady on the eye.

I hope you don't forget and pull the trigger. If you do I'd aim high. That box gets expensive when you start adding vent holes.

[Thumper Dunker]

Nice story and yote.

[tomcat]

good job bill what # is this for you? man your good at coyote hunting

[Bill D.]

Thanks for all the nice responses.Tomcat - I don't keep track of the number of coyotes I kill but I am sure it averages between 50 and 100 per year including Texas and California hunting. I am not any better of a caller than the next guy except that maybe I walk more miles than the average varmint hunter which I think is key to calling lots of yotes. The real bottom line though is to have lots of undisturbed private country to hunt and it takes lots of driving and knocking on doors in both TX and CA to gain access. It has taken over 3 years and lots of gasoline to have what I now have in CA and I am still short 50,000 acres of what I would like to have. In Texas, I have more than I can cover in a year but I had 30 years to establish that access and working for the game dept. didn't hurt.