Suggestions for calibre and platform

when you create a vacuum someone will flow in to fill it the time of the year dictates how fast that will happen .
I noticed that. I see that happen with rattlesnakes. People up here kill every rattlesnake they see. There will just be another that comes the next day. I found putting bull snakes in that area seems to drive out the rattlesnakes. The bull snakes out compete the rattlesnakes. When the rattlesnakes aren't getting any luck they move on. The neighbors that kill them all, are constantly at it until fall. I just collect the bull snakes and never see rattlesnakes after May. But I can't convince them at all.
 
Where do I get these?
Just make one out of plywood or press board. Have a hole at the bottom that the foot goes thru, the rest blocks the critter, the foot is thru the cutout so you can press the springs & release the critter
Put a handle on the board. 2'x3' is plenty. Then the critter can't see you while you release it
 
Calling this time of the year I mostly use coyote howls that aren't any kind of threat sounds, so not many barks included, a lone howl higher pitched like a younger coyote, or a female would make, give it a minute or two before doing it again as they do that so they can hear a response, two howls then two barks and a howl, is called an interrogation call, wait for up to a minute or more before you do it again, they may just show up or they may answer if they answer go quiet and when they stop talking they are heading your way. When I want to release any animals from a foot hold trap I use a catch pole like the dog catcher uses they are expensive any board that you can put on an animal to hold it down and not get bitten is what a lot of people use, you don't want to try it with a skunk, unless you have a skunk in a live trap they will spray, and if you mess around with skunks in live traps you are going to smell like one. The size of a coyote's area depends on the amount of available food, traps need to be prepared for coyote work, cleaned rusted, dyed, pan leveled dog and pan notch filed to make a gun sear, jaw tips turned up, so the coyote doesn't pull them out of the frame, swivels added to the middle of the chain and the stake end, I like around 16"of chain so they can't pump the trap stakes out of the ground, pan covers made so dirt doesn't get under the pan when you set it and bed it solid. When trapping for a specific coyote I preferer to use red fox gland lure on my backing with my trap bedded 8"or 9" and to the right of my lure that is in the up-wind position from the trap, fine dirt is sifted and packed around the outside edges of the jaws so that if you push on any part of the trap, it doesn't tip or move, except for the pan. Winter trapping is a different matter completely because of the freezing and thawing and wet making your trap pan covering sag showing where it's located.
 
Here's a thread you may find interesting. This guy is real knowledgeable. And instead of hunting one at a time. Take out the dens. It will have a bigger impact. He explains what to look for, etc. I have yet to read the whole thread for it's long. But you may find some helpful tips along the way.
https://www.longrangehunting.com/posts/1883214/bookmark
 
Coyotes in my area don't have dens unless they have pups, the pups here only use the dens till early summer, they have a home range now and if they are heavy with pups, they soon will be looking for a den and cleaning out a few holes that are prospective dens for the pups to be born in. I have seen coyotes have pups as early as April 8th but the average is around is the end of April, I don't start denning here till April 25th. Soon they will be very territorial and start to defend their home range so they will respond well to some coyote vocalizations, there are some inexpensive e-calls that would have a few coyote vocalizations that are mostly howls with few barks involved as I find the barks to be warnings or threats to them. Locator or interrogation howls female in heat female calls that aren't a challenge at this time works well in a few weeks they will respond to get intruders to leave their area. Before long they will just tell you where they are if you can wait for them to talk on their own.
It was your thread I was trying to post. Somehow I posted a worthless bookmark. I was in a hurry to get ready for work. So I assume that's where I got messed up. lol So I attached your thread. I found it quite interesting myself.
 
I tried using a thermal. I bought an ATN Thor. I sited it in as per their instructions. The problems started there. I had it mounted and sited it in this put the horizontal cross hair down near the bottom of the image. Like almost at the edge.
There was still enough there for me to try hunting with hit once. The next day, I contacted ATN and there was not much help at all. I ended up sending the scope back.
But thermal would have been great if it had worked.
Years and years ago I tried night vision. This is back in the 90's. I had to site it in with a lens cap on it that had a pin hole in there. I sited it in and the first time I used it at night the muzzle flash took out the scope.
So I haven't had a lot of luck with night vision or thermal.
Believe you me though, it would make a major diff for me.
I know two friends who had ATN night vision they are junk. Try AGM thermal. And the six arc works great.
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So I tried a Thermal once. It was an ATN Thor. I can't remember the exact model. I followed the directions for site in and mounted it on an AR platform. It fired very low on the target at 100. So I adjusted it as per instructions to have it firing dead center at 100. Unfortunately the reticle is what moved in the image when I adjusted it. So now my horizontal cross hair was very low in the image. Like almost at the bottom edge of the image. I fired over and over to make sure it was still on at 100 but I did not like that. Imagine looking through your scope and the horizontal cross hair is at the bottom edge of your field of view.
I tried consulting with ATN about it and I got very poor customer service. They did not seem interested in helping me and just suggested I didn't follow the directions well enough.
Honestly a thermal or NV scope would help a lot if it worked well. I hunted with it anyway but just didn't feel right with that horizontal way down there like that.



Those thermal scopes seem pretty cool but I must not have gotten a good one. I sent it back.
For what it is at its price point ATN works or should work, at least to 250-300 yards with your 700 SPS. I have a couple ATNs as I'm, shall I say frugal, and just couldn't spend an extra $1-2000 extra on a tool that I only use occasionally. My Thor thermal sits on an HBAR 223 with QD rings and the scopes get switched out for day/night use, Sig 4.5-14 for daytime, and Thor for night shooting. And the 4K ATN sits on a dedicated .22 PCP for night ratting.
Your problem with the crosshairs at the bottom of the ocular end is your mount/ring setup on your rig. The rear of your scope needed to be elevated/shimmed and from what you describe probably more than with a 20 MOA base.
I could be wrong and you actually got a bad thermal from them, but I would suspect rings/bases initially.
So the horizontal cross hair ends up way down at the edge of the image?
Something is probably wrong with the mounting system if you cannot center the reticle on the target in the scope.
 
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I noticed that. I see that happen with rattlesnakes. People up here kill every rattlesnake they see. There will just be another that comes the next day. I found putting bull snakes in that area seems to drive out the rattlesnakes. The bull snakes out compete the rattlesnakes. When the rattlesnakes aren't getting any luck they move on. The neighbors that kill them all, are constantly at it until fall. I just collect the bull snakes and never see rattlesnakes after May. But I can't convince them at all.

I noticed that. I see that happen with rattlesnakes. People up here kill every rattlesnake they see. There will just be another that comes the next day. I found putting bull snakes in that area seems to drive out the rattlesnakes. The bull snakes out compete the rattlesnakes. When the rattlesnakes aren't getting any luck they move on. The neighbors that kill them all, are constantly at it until fall. I just collect the bull snakes and never see rattlesnakes after May. But I can't convince them at all.
If you kill the snakes watch the rat population explode. I'm a snake lover. Have had and caught my whole life. I had a 17 ft. Burmese Python I had to give away when moved. 200 lbs. and tame as a dog. Fond of rabbits 😉
 
I've got a 6.5 PRC and I am loving it more and more... but honestly, it is sure hard to beat the venerable .243 Win with the right round.

Cartridge243 Winchester
Grain Weight58 Grains
Quantity20 Round
Muzzle Velocity3925 Feet Per Second

The round above is still flying over 2k fps at 500 yards.

I've got a Winchester XPR in .243 with a 10 twist barrel and it sure is nice.


.......
 
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If you kill the snakes watch the rat population explode. I'm a snake lover. Have had and caught my whole life. I had a 17 ft. Burmese Python I had to give away when moved. 200 lbs. and tame as a dog. Fond of rabbits 😉
The mouse population is what explodes here. Cats don't work because coyotes can get cats easily. I don't know why the cat just doesn't climb something but cats don't last out here. Our snakes are pretty small compared to places like TX or FL. That being said, I can't believe the weird myths concerning snakes that persist. I hear people talking about having to cut the head off of a rattlesnake after killing it and burying the head separate from the body. ?????
I've also heard people truly believe a mosquito could bite the dead rattlesnakes and then have a venomous bite themselves. (NO, cannot happen)
I see a lot of irrational fear too. I've tried to get folks to conquer their fear of many things but with snakes its not easy.
Dogs are another issue. Some dogs will bore in and try to attack a snake. Our English Mastiff got curious and stuck his face near a rattlesnake and got tattoed in the face. He yiped and headed for the house. There was no swelling and no apparent wound. I watched him for awhile and was not worse for wear. The snake gave him a dry bite. I went to where he was looking and the rattlesnake was still there. So I moved it out in the back and tipped my hat to the snake for not costing me a 600$ vet bill. From then on, our dog avoided snakes at all costs.
Here we have the small Western Rattlesnake, the Gopher or Bull snake, the Western Yellow Bellied Racer and the occasional Rubber Boa.
 
For what it is at its price point ATN works or should work, at least to 250-300 yards with your 700 SPS. I have a couple ATNs as I'm, shall I say frugal, and just couldn't spend an extra $1-2000 extra on a tool that I only use occasionally. My Thor thermal sits on an HBAR 223 with QD rings and the scopes get switched out for day/night use, Sig 4.5-14 for daytime, and Thor for night shooting. And the 4K ATN sits on a dedicated .22 PCP for night ratting.
Your problem with the crosshairs at the bottom of the ocular end is your mount/ring setup on your rig. The rear of your scope needed to be elevated/shimmed and from what you describe probably more than with a 20 MOA base.
I could be wrong and you actually got a bad thermal from them, but I would suspect rings/bases initially.

Something is probably wrong with the mounting system if you cannot center the reticle on the target in the scope.
So a taller mount?
 
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