Last season, SSCOYOTE and I were hunting together and we had already had a successful hunt, and shot one coyote within 200. We went looking for another stand, and heard some howls in the distance. We ran to where we could look down into a canyon bottom and spotted them. There was a big male standing in a patch of snow and Steve lasered him with the BRF's at 785. I was already proned out and had my iPod already up and running with the ballistics program. I ran the yardage and made the elevation correction. I told Steve I was going to shoot, but just before I did, I felt the slightest wind on the left side of my face. I made a hasty decision to hold the crosshairs onto the coyote's nose.
The shot broke and I was able to see the impact through the Leupold perched atop the AR 10. The 87 VMAX hit just behind his shoulder and he spun once and flopped over dead. The rest of the pack was sent running off into the pinon/junipers. Steve was ecstatic. I was upset because I didn't get to shoot the movers, scattering off.
The rifle is an AR10T 24" .243 WIN 10 twist. I shoot the 87 grain VMAX at 3200 fps with H4350. I use the Varmint hunter's Reticle in the 6.5-20 VXIII for 650 and less. The firing position was on the canyon rim, about the middle of the frame, in between two clumps of trees. Just like big game hunting, the work begins after the shot. Carrying a big coyote uphill for just shy of a half mile is some work indeed. A labor of love. I think Steve still has some fleas from that one though.
If it looks like it is cold out, that's because it was -14
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