My Wife and I drove down and picked up our Grandson Thursday evening . As we were driving I noticed how many deer and antelope were out grazing then at 5:00 I saw a pair of coyote trotting in a hay field along the highway . I told my Wife that the moon must be coming up . She ask why would you think that so I told her that I have noticed over the years that two hours before and two hours after moon rise I have seen a lot of animals being more active as well as two hours before and after moon set they get more active . Sure enough as we drove about twenty minutes later the moon peaked up over the horizon . I find it interesting how the land locked animals will still follow the moon cycle the same as do the ocean animals . Some years back I read an article where some marine biologist's took some sea urchins from Main to Kansas and with in a few days they had adjusted to the change in the moon rise and set for their feeding patterns so I started to watch how the animals did as well .
Ramblings and Such From Hunting Coyote
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74honker, Did you get your truck and trailer fixed or replaced or are you having to fight with the other drivers insurance company ? Did you get the harvest done before it got rainy or has most of the rainy weather missed you so far ? Hope that your dike didn't wash out again . My brothers live in southern Indiana and they have gotten some rain and cooler weather but not the cold we did it was down to -13 F last week here .
Well the wreck thing is a train wreck itself lol. Driver had no insurance and the vehicle wasn't registered to him either. Truck is plenty useable but our company probably gonna have to take care of it and they and we'll have to fight the other folks to get anything back. The farm I work for is all done with harvest except about 100 ac of late late replant beans, patches strung out all over in the wet holes, but we should clean those up next day or two. Had a few showers but nothing much to hold us up from work. In the tractor now as I type doing fall tillage. Modern technology is awesome, auto steering, gps mapping, allows a person to relax a little, look for coyotes, sending email, etc lol. Had a few cool days, 40s but supposed to be around 60 all this week. I found your previous post about the moon cycles very interesting and will agree whole heartedly. For years I've also noticed the same behaviors with waterfowl. Day or night if the moons in the sky that's usually when they move the most. At certain times I think they actually will make their long migrations with certain phases. Especially when a front coincides with them. Right now is a perfect example, our sunrise and moon set have been pretty much the same times these last few days. We get about the first hour of shooting time to shoot a few ducks then it's over and you won't see one in the sky till sunset, moon rise. We just hunt the AMs. Coyote activity is definately picking up around here which is fairly normal once harvest is over and they loosr their hiding places. Now I just have to get time with the right winds to give them a try lol.
I have put up a fair amount of fur and sewn more then a few holes back together . I started out with the regular sewing needles and thread . Graduated to curved needles and waxed thread . I ended up modifying a needle by heating a small diameter 2 " long needle and bending a curve in the first 1/2 " then sharpened it with a jewelers file so it had a 3 corner point and hardened it again, and waxed dental floss . I don't like any fancy stitches . I just double tie my first stitch then make running stitches by going through the skin on both sides , but not getting any fur under the thread , and back under the thread and pull the thread tight like a half hitch . Moving on to the next stitch till I get to the end of the straight hole and do a few half hitches to tie off the end . Before I do any sewing I wash the pelt wring it out leave it fur side out to dry some . I then turn it fur side in and stretch it taught but not over tight . I take a sharp knife and trim the hole so that it is smooth edged not ragged . Some of the bigger holes need to be trimmed to almost a diamond shape then sew the long straight side first . You then sew the two short sides by themselves to meet the first sew line . Now you can stretch the pelt tight and not rip the hole larger and when it's dry it won't have a big nasty looking hole in it .
Each animal has it's own sized and shaped stretcher . I like wooden stretchers for bob cats , coyote and fox . Bob cats have a nice rounded nose where coyote and fox have a longer nose and a fine shaped head . A bob cat should be 6 - 7 " wide for it's whole length . Fox are pretty much the same but a little wider at the hips . Coyote are around 8" at the shoulders and wider at the hips . I like to take two push pins and tac the lower lip up to the stretcher so it lays flat when I have them stretched . Then I pull the pelt down tight fur side in and make a small fold at the bottom of the back legs . Wrap the leg around the side of the stretcher so it is 50 percent on both sides of the stretcher and tac it with a #4 finish nail on each side . I then pull the stretcher open and fasten the cross bar so it stays open . Next I put a piece or nylon cord doubled in half and looped through it's self so I have two long tails . These I pull down around the cross bar and half hitch them to keep the back tight and flat . next I tuck the front legs back into the fur side . now I wait till the skin side is dry enough so as not to stick to the wooden stretcher . When it is I take it off the stretcher turn it fur side out and stretch it again . I pull the front legs out put some rags or paper towels in the leg holes and then use a piece of cardboard on the slit legs and tack them so they lay flat tie the tails down and tack the lower lip up . Now I comb the fur and take out any burrs or knotted fur hang it up and let it dry well on the stretcher . That is how I do bob cats coyote and fox . Skinning them is another story .
Straight Shooter
Well-Known Member
Dave, don't you comb before you flesh?
I do but on cats , coyote and fox I just trim the fat when I stretch them I don't use a fleshing beam as they normally only have some fat on their bellies and it's easer for me to just use my knife and skin it off . Coons , beaver and badgers need fleshed the most and I stretch them and flesh them with my knife also I can skin them clean and not cut holes in them that way . Most of the buyers I've sold to comment on how cleanly my pelts are fleshed and no cuts in them . Mink need only a little on their bellies also . I brush and comb the fur before I turn it inside out to stretch it and dry the flesh side .
so-so day yesterday, two coyotes and then a fox this a.m. Called the 1st coyote into 150 yards with mouse squeaks as I saw it go into some tall CRP and walked up within 500 yards of it. Second coyote saw in a stubble field hunting into the south, so got a head of it in a shallow draw, set up caller and moved a 100 yards down wind as the ground was uneven and a coyote could easily get my wind without being able to see it. Took that coyote 20 minutes to come in, it was an older female, she came slow and circled the caller by 300 yards, I could just barely see her head and back, getting ready to shoot and she bolted, got my wind. Ran straight away, popped her once she started the spin o ramma, one more shot and she was dead......nothing but a ball of hair on the end of her tail, mange...............looking at her teeth, she could have been a 3 year old or a hair more.
made 5 stands yesterday, had coyotes show up on 3, the one I did not get was 1/2 mile away or more and the coyote had hunted thru the area I approached it from, I knew better, I should have gotten in front of it......a lot of times if they have hunted thru and area, they seem to be reluctent to come back for a call................or they just arent that hungry.
But it did stand there and look back a while...
made 5 stands yesterday, had coyotes show up on 3, the one I did not get was 1/2 mile away or more and the coyote had hunted thru the area I approached it from, I knew better, I should have gotten in front of it......a lot of times if they have hunted thru and area, they seem to be reluctent to come back for a call................or they just arent that hungry.
But it did stand there and look back a while...
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TRnCO
Well-Known Member
"I should have gotten in front of it......a lot of times if they have hunted thru and area, they seem to be reluctent to come back for a call..."
That's been my experience as well. Almost impossible to call them back to where they just left. On contrary, usually a good bet to call them in if you can get in front of them.
Finally going to get a chance to get started this weekend. Although the wind forecast isn't the greatest, just gotta go.
That's been my experience as well. Almost impossible to call them back to where they just left. On contrary, usually a good bet to call them in if you can get in front of them.
Finally going to get a chance to get started this weekend. Although the wind forecast isn't the greatest, just gotta go.
well TRnCO you give us an update, a detailed update........the 1st one I called in, 150 yard shot, prone with a tripod, coyote was facing me, pulled the set trigger.............clean miss (WTH) second shot running a miss, third shot I got serious, pulled the legs down on the bi-pod to sitting position, took my time "ka-pow" coyote was running right to left, gave it 3' or more lead, cart wheel city, I just recieved a gift from GOD. Coyote was dead as heck, hit behind the diaphram, no exit. Went over to my range that was a mile away, at 200 yards gun was 3" to the right...............how the heck that happens is beyond me, just shot a fox a week ago and it was on (or so I thought) . Almost always, when I miss its me and not the gun..........I will tell you what a gift HE gave me, the coyote ranged out at 353 yards..........couldn't make that shot again to save my life. 
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thats what I was wondering will check tonight, but I used that FAT wrench and torgued it to what they said to do, may have to go a hair higher..........I was thinking on that fox a week ago, it was at 200 and I hit it a hair farther back than I was aiming, I just thought it was operator error...........lucky for me the fox was broadside and not facing me head on.............they are some skinny little rascals. .
On coyotes, you get that 39 grain SBK in the body cavity and you got a dead coyote.......in front or behind the diaphragm......
On coyotes, you get that 39 grain SBK in the body cavity and you got a dead coyote.......in front or behind the diaphragm......
I like it when all of the energy is expended in the animal and that is what it sounds like the 39 grainers are doing for you . I had to send one scope back this year as it wouldn't hold zero . I'd get it zeroed and shoot a couple of times then it would be off target . The company sent me a whole new scope .
dont tell me you bought a tasco....................... for $40?? 
