Predator Supreme Shooting Sticks Review
Upon returning to the truck I placed the two coyotes by each other. The smile on my face from the first stand was still frozen on my face. What a great premiere for these new shooting sticks. If you have done much coyote hunting, then you know things almost never go this well. I can't say for sure what brought on such good luck, but I can say the only variable to my normal setup was the Predator Supreme Shooting Sticks. I'm okay with attributing them with some good mojo.
Both coyotes together, with the second one on the right. He will bring a halfway decent price on the fur market this year. (Update: I got $106.00 for the coyote on the right.)
I never really got a chance to sit down and use them properly on a stand that first night. So I was anxious to get out and give them another try. The next time the wind was good for coyote calling I zipped out again after work. I only had time for one stand. On my way in I got busted by a coyote. I was a little upset with myself because I had considered setting up sooner, but had decided to hike a little further in. Now I was hoping I didn't just scare the only coyote within ear shot out of the canyon. When I reached my pre-determined calling stand I quickly set up the FoxPro Shockwave e-caller and then scurried back to my seat. Once there, I attached my rifle to the shooting sticks. One of the cool features I like on these sticks is the rubber snubber it has on the front V of the sticks. With it I can actually attach the sticks to my rifle. In the event I need to move for an incoming coyote I merely just have to lift up my rifle and set in back down in line with my intended target. No need to even touch the shooting sticks as they move with the rifle. This is pretty darn handy! The other nice thing about it being attached is that I can keep my rifle at the ready for shooting without having to always have one of my hands on it to keep it from slipping off the shooting sticks. To adjust the height all one has to do is simply widen or narrow the distance between the two contact points of the sticks on the ground. This can be done with minimal movement with your foot or hand. Bottom line, adjustments can be made quickly and with stealth. This will result in less movement on the stand, and that is a significant advantage, as those darn coyotes seem to be able to see a gnat blink at 200 yards.
Back to the hunt: I started off with a female howl. I hadn't even finished my second howl when I picked up movement on the skyline about 500 yards away. A quick look through my binoculars confirmed it was a coyote. I muted the caller and just decided to see what the coyote would do, or if I needed to try another sound to get it to commit and come in. Turns out no other sounds were needed. After about 30 seconds or so he dropped his head like a hound dog on a hot track, and came on a steady mosey towards me. Because of the lay of the land I didn't want him to get too close or I might have trouble seeing him. So at 180 yards I barked him to stop. He was facing me and I had the cross hairs just stupid-steady on his chest. I touched off the trigger and he flipped over dead. So the first two trips out with these shooting sticks had proven successful. The sun was falling fast so I had to quickly get the coyote, take a photo or two, and then boogie back to my pick up in the dark. It was a slippery dark walk back in the snow and ice, but I made it back without falling down. Again, I attribute the shooting sticks with the good mojo to keep me upright, and I did actually use them a time or two for support on a steep side hill.
Third coyote taken with the Predator Supreme Shooting Sticks.
It was fantastic to have such tremendous luck on the first two hunts with these shooting sticks, but like all good things the luck didn't last forever. In fact, after killing the third coyote Mother Nature unleashed her fury on my little part of the world and it became impossible to get around due to the deep snow. Even if I could, the high winds would have made calling a fruitless effort. I was kept cooped up for over 3 weeks, which is like an eternity during the prime part of fur season. When the weather conditions finally improved, I went out several times, and did not have any coyotes respond to my calling. I don't know remember how many blank stands I had in a row, but it was enough to give me inferiority complex. It made me really wonder if I knew anything at all about calling coyotes or not.
While in the pit of despair I scheduled a day off from work to hunt all day. I was hoping if I went all day that I could redeem myself. My day started before sun up. I went hard at it all day, blank stand after blank stand. I did have one stand where a coyote howled back close by, but within seconds a heavy fog settled in. Unless that coyote would have come within about 50 feet there was no way to see it. To add insult to injury it started to snow heavily. After 30 minutes I decided to give up on the stand and head for my pickup.
Upon reaching the truck, visibility had dropped to about 15 feet or less. It was horrible and I had a somewhat treacherous drive to get back to the county road. The barely perceptible two-track I had followed in was covered in snow and hard to discern. Making matter worse, the trail ran right along the edge of a thousand foot sheer drop off. Wandering just slightly off the road could have catastrophic results. Given the limited visibility and deteriorating weather I was a little stressed out. I decided to call a close hunting buddy of mine and put him on speaker phone while I drove out. I told him where I was and that if he heard me scream or cuss real loud to send a search party. Long-drive-story made short; I reached the county road in one piece and thanked my friend for hanging in there with me on the phone.
I decided to drop in elevation and hunt a little lower. The fog was not as bad lower so I made more blank stands, one right after the other. No coyotes responded in any way. Not even a howl or a bark. In the meantime the weather absolutely sucked. I got snowed on, rained on, sleeted on, and hailed on. The wind blew on and off as well. I was determined to hang in there and keep on going. I just figured if I made enough stands eventually things would work in my favor. Hiking a mile and a half to the last stand, and enduring about everything Mother Nature had to throw at me, I got a break and had some coyotes howl back.
The weather had settled briefly and there was almost no wind. I even had decent visibility. I spotted the coyotes at over 1000 yards away. I had to try several different sounds but I finally found one they liked and they slowly headed my way. The break in the weather did not hold and it started to snow. The coyotes were really taking their time and I was getting covered in snow, plus getting cold and wet. I figured it would all be worth it though if I could seal the deal and get at least one of the three coyotes headed my way. At 400 yards they dropped into a low spot. I got myself all arranged as to where I hoped they would reappear. It didn't go as planned. The lead coyote popped over the ridge much further to my left than I expected. He was only 75 yards away and I couldn't move. He quickly closed the distance to the caller, slinking in low like a cat creeping in on its prey. Unfortunately, he smelled the caller, spun, and vanished over the ridge with his two companions before I had a chance to get any of them in the scope.
Both coyotes together, with the second one on the right. He will bring a halfway decent price on the fur market this year. (Update: I got $106.00 for the coyote on the right.)
I never really got a chance to sit down and use them properly on a stand that first night. So I was anxious to get out and give them another try. The next time the wind was good for coyote calling I zipped out again after work. I only had time for one stand. On my way in I got busted by a coyote. I was a little upset with myself because I had considered setting up sooner, but had decided to hike a little further in. Now I was hoping I didn't just scare the only coyote within ear shot out of the canyon. When I reached my pre-determined calling stand I quickly set up the FoxPro Shockwave e-caller and then scurried back to my seat. Once there, I attached my rifle to the shooting sticks. One of the cool features I like on these sticks is the rubber snubber it has on the front V of the sticks. With it I can actually attach the sticks to my rifle. In the event I need to move for an incoming coyote I merely just have to lift up my rifle and set in back down in line with my intended target. No need to even touch the shooting sticks as they move with the rifle. This is pretty darn handy! The other nice thing about it being attached is that I can keep my rifle at the ready for shooting without having to always have one of my hands on it to keep it from slipping off the shooting sticks. To adjust the height all one has to do is simply widen or narrow the distance between the two contact points of the sticks on the ground. This can be done with minimal movement with your foot or hand. Bottom line, adjustments can be made quickly and with stealth. This will result in less movement on the stand, and that is a significant advantage, as those darn coyotes seem to be able to see a gnat blink at 200 yards.
Back to the hunt: I started off with a female howl. I hadn't even finished my second howl when I picked up movement on the skyline about 500 yards away. A quick look through my binoculars confirmed it was a coyote. I muted the caller and just decided to see what the coyote would do, or if I needed to try another sound to get it to commit and come in. Turns out no other sounds were needed. After about 30 seconds or so he dropped his head like a hound dog on a hot track, and came on a steady mosey towards me. Because of the lay of the land I didn't want him to get too close or I might have trouble seeing him. So at 180 yards I barked him to stop. He was facing me and I had the cross hairs just stupid-steady on his chest. I touched off the trigger and he flipped over dead. So the first two trips out with these shooting sticks had proven successful. The sun was falling fast so I had to quickly get the coyote, take a photo or two, and then boogie back to my pick up in the dark. It was a slippery dark walk back in the snow and ice, but I made it back without falling down. Again, I attribute the shooting sticks with the good mojo to keep me upright, and I did actually use them a time or two for support on a steep side hill.
Third coyote taken with the Predator Supreme Shooting Sticks.
It was fantastic to have such tremendous luck on the first two hunts with these shooting sticks, but like all good things the luck didn't last forever. In fact, after killing the third coyote Mother Nature unleashed her fury on my little part of the world and it became impossible to get around due to the deep snow. Even if I could, the high winds would have made calling a fruitless effort. I was kept cooped up for over 3 weeks, which is like an eternity during the prime part of fur season. When the weather conditions finally improved, I went out several times, and did not have any coyotes respond to my calling. I don't know remember how many blank stands I had in a row, but it was enough to give me inferiority complex. It made me really wonder if I knew anything at all about calling coyotes or not.
While in the pit of despair I scheduled a day off from work to hunt all day. I was hoping if I went all day that I could redeem myself. My day started before sun up. I went hard at it all day, blank stand after blank stand. I did have one stand where a coyote howled back close by, but within seconds a heavy fog settled in. Unless that coyote would have come within about 50 feet there was no way to see it. To add insult to injury it started to snow heavily. After 30 minutes I decided to give up on the stand and head for my pickup.
Upon reaching the truck, visibility had dropped to about 15 feet or less. It was horrible and I had a somewhat treacherous drive to get back to the county road. The barely perceptible two-track I had followed in was covered in snow and hard to discern. Making matter worse, the trail ran right along the edge of a thousand foot sheer drop off. Wandering just slightly off the road could have catastrophic results. Given the limited visibility and deteriorating weather I was a little stressed out. I decided to call a close hunting buddy of mine and put him on speaker phone while I drove out. I told him where I was and that if he heard me scream or cuss real loud to send a search party. Long-drive-story made short; I reached the county road in one piece and thanked my friend for hanging in there with me on the phone.
I decided to drop in elevation and hunt a little lower. The fog was not as bad lower so I made more blank stands, one right after the other. No coyotes responded in any way. Not even a howl or a bark. In the meantime the weather absolutely sucked. I got snowed on, rained on, sleeted on, and hailed on. The wind blew on and off as well. I was determined to hang in there and keep on going. I just figured if I made enough stands eventually things would work in my favor. Hiking a mile and a half to the last stand, and enduring about everything Mother Nature had to throw at me, I got a break and had some coyotes howl back.
The weather had settled briefly and there was almost no wind. I even had decent visibility. I spotted the coyotes at over 1000 yards away. I had to try several different sounds but I finally found one they liked and they slowly headed my way. The break in the weather did not hold and it started to snow. The coyotes were really taking their time and I was getting covered in snow, plus getting cold and wet. I figured it would all be worth it though if I could seal the deal and get at least one of the three coyotes headed my way. At 400 yards they dropped into a low spot. I got myself all arranged as to where I hoped they would reappear. It didn't go as planned. The lead coyote popped over the ridge much further to my left than I expected. He was only 75 yards away and I couldn't move. He quickly closed the distance to the caller, slinking in low like a cat creeping in on its prey. Unfortunately, he smelled the caller, spun, and vanished over the ridge with his two companions before I had a chance to get any of them in the scope.
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