I cannot believe that the year has gone by and I have not gone coyote hunting once until now! It has been a busy year.
This year, I decided to put an EOTECH on my AR for the coyotes that come in waaay too fast and wont stop. It is VERY nice for the up close and personal shots but shots past 150-200 yards can get pretty challenging. I went with this because most of my shots on coyotes are taken 100 yards and under. Also wanted this set up so that I would not need to take along the shotgun.
Went out Monday morning. Decided to do an easy hunt and just drive down a rural road and stop every mile or 2 and walk about a 1/4 mile off the road and set up. There are a lot of hills in that area so I just got on the other side of the hills so that my truck was not visible.
On the first stand, I set up and put the FoxPro Shockwave out and used Lightning Jack. In about 5 minutes of calling, a coyote came from my right and was a little cautious of the caller. He saw the decoy going but I had put the caller in a small Yucca plant and the decoy would make noise as it spun around and hit the plant. He started to circle around to get the wind first. When he stopped, I put a 120 gr ballistic tip in him from my 6.5 Grendel. He was about 120 yards away.
The second stand, I was also successful in calling one in. Just not to where I could see it. It came in from behind me. I called for about 18 mins and didn't see anything so as I was calling it quits, I got up and looked behind me and low and behold there was a coyote about 50 yards from me putting it into high gear! I try a shot at about 150 as he was running but I did not connect. At least I got to call one in though!
The third stand was a bust as I did not call anything in (that I know of). A lot of times you think a stand is a bust when it really isn't a lot of times. There is usually a coyote that has come in that you cant see that figures things out and takes off unseen.
The fourth stand was a fun one. I get set up and turn the caller on and not even 5 seconds after turning it on, I see this little brown spot racing towards me from about 600 yards out. This coyote is in high gear and all I can think about is that this coyote is not going to stop even if I yell at it. It gets about 50 yards from the caller and still in high gear when I yell at it. It doesn't even care that I just yelled. Head is down and looking at the decoy. I shoot and hit right in front of it. Now THAT got its attention! It spins and starts to take off but I put the 120 gr ballistic tip right in front of her shoulder and down she goes.
The fifth and final stand was also a success in calling a coyote in. I called for about 10 minutes and I see a coyote off in the distance. It was about 300 yards out and isn't coming in anymore. It just sits there and is staring at something off in the distance behind me. I try different calls but it just wont come in. I take a shot but as I said before, that is a tough shot through an EOTECH. So yes, I missed and he takes off. I get up and look back to see what the coyote was staring at and I could see my truck from where I set up! haha
4 out of 5 stands were successful in getting a coyote in range but I was a little limited with distance on the EOTECH. If I had a variable powered scope, I might have gotten all 4 coyotes although the one that came in full speed might have been a challenge. I will stick with the EOTECH and see how I do with it. It really makes close running shots an easy task.
This year, I decided to put an EOTECH on my AR for the coyotes that come in waaay too fast and wont stop. It is VERY nice for the up close and personal shots but shots past 150-200 yards can get pretty challenging. I went with this because most of my shots on coyotes are taken 100 yards and under. Also wanted this set up so that I would not need to take along the shotgun.
Went out Monday morning. Decided to do an easy hunt and just drive down a rural road and stop every mile or 2 and walk about a 1/4 mile off the road and set up. There are a lot of hills in that area so I just got on the other side of the hills so that my truck was not visible.
On the first stand, I set up and put the FoxPro Shockwave out and used Lightning Jack. In about 5 minutes of calling, a coyote came from my right and was a little cautious of the caller. He saw the decoy going but I had put the caller in a small Yucca plant and the decoy would make noise as it spun around and hit the plant. He started to circle around to get the wind first. When he stopped, I put a 120 gr ballistic tip in him from my 6.5 Grendel. He was about 120 yards away.
The second stand, I was also successful in calling one in. Just not to where I could see it. It came in from behind me. I called for about 18 mins and didn't see anything so as I was calling it quits, I got up and looked behind me and low and behold there was a coyote about 50 yards from me putting it into high gear! I try a shot at about 150 as he was running but I did not connect. At least I got to call one in though!
The third stand was a bust as I did not call anything in (that I know of). A lot of times you think a stand is a bust when it really isn't a lot of times. There is usually a coyote that has come in that you cant see that figures things out and takes off unseen.
The fourth stand was a fun one. I get set up and turn the caller on and not even 5 seconds after turning it on, I see this little brown spot racing towards me from about 600 yards out. This coyote is in high gear and all I can think about is that this coyote is not going to stop even if I yell at it. It gets about 50 yards from the caller and still in high gear when I yell at it. It doesn't even care that I just yelled. Head is down and looking at the decoy. I shoot and hit right in front of it. Now THAT got its attention! It spins and starts to take off but I put the 120 gr ballistic tip right in front of her shoulder and down she goes.
The fifth and final stand was also a success in calling a coyote in. I called for about 10 minutes and I see a coyote off in the distance. It was about 300 yards out and isn't coming in anymore. It just sits there and is staring at something off in the distance behind me. I try different calls but it just wont come in. I take a shot but as I said before, that is a tough shot through an EOTECH. So yes, I missed and he takes off. I get up and look back to see what the coyote was staring at and I could see my truck from where I set up! haha
4 out of 5 stands were successful in getting a coyote in range but I was a little limited with distance on the EOTECH. If I had a variable powered scope, I might have gotten all 4 coyotes although the one that came in full speed might have been a challenge. I will stick with the EOTECH and see how I do with it. It really makes close running shots an easy task.
