Great story and accomplishment windypants! I fight many similar situations here. Can't get where I need to be very often and still very hard to not spook them on the way in. They ALWAYS have the upper had here lol.
Ramblings and Such From Hunting Coyote
- Thread starter DSheetz
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Urban-raised humans are about as in touch with their surroundings as an old woman's minature poodle.
The calls that I have experience with have a combination of both now if you want, depending on your selection. I at one time had recordings of Bill Austin howling with his howlers that I used in my Johnny Stewart MS512. There are mostly electronically reproduced sounds and as long as they are of good quality I can't see where it makes a whole bunch of difference. I just preferer natural made sounds by the animals but that's me. You did well setting your sights on a specific coyote and being persistent enough to get it. It sounds like you learned it's ways and then took the time to use them to your advantage. That shows professionalism and I have respect for that in people.
'but' is really 'and.' Situational Awareness is opposite of obliviousness. Comes natural to a man with a lifetime of paying attention to his surroundings. Even / especially when in unfamiliar places.
Oblivious urban dwellers exist in the late Col. Jeff Cooper's 'Condition White;' they're unaware of a threat until it's on them.
They also tend to vote liberal & think private ownership of weapons is dangerous. They truely are 'sheep' failing to grasp that predators exist and are the reason for guardians of the flock.
Rant On/ When every campus in the nation has trained & armed teachers & other everyday employees carrying concealed or with access to a weapon in a biometric safe, school shootings will cease. /Rant Off
HRM Johnny
Well-Known Member
I enjoyed, and agree with your rant. The libtards insist on making soft targets out of our schools.
As with hunting coyotes there is no one way fits all solutions for any other things in life. How do you all level your scopes to your actions, a string line and plum bob a set of levels or a different method? We all can accept that it needs to be as true as possible to the action to maintain accuracy at distance. For me I have a nice vice that I put my rifles in then level the action to the world, a plum bob is truer to it than a level, unless you have good accurate machinist levels, I have a really nice 4" Sterrett level, some rifles are easier to set up than others as you can go off of the action race ways, some you need to go off of the scope mounting rails. How accurate do you feel that you want your scope to your action how far do you shoot as a rule, are you particular about things like that, do you do it yourself or have someone else do it for you? For me it's all part of hunting coyotes and the way that I enjoy spending time when I'm at home as it is one of my pas times. Tools from other trades are handy to know about and apply to the trade and art of hunting coyotes.
Straight Shooter
Well-Known Member
I am not really hi tech with this. I set my rifle on sand bags with my rear rest on the kitchen table. I am looking out my sliding glass doors at my fence. I line the vertical crosshair up against a fence post. You must make sure the vertical post is plumb before you start.
windypants
Well-Known Member
Funny you should bring that up, Dave. It turns out that was a big part of my accuracy issues. I had changed scopes to send mine in to get checked out since something wasn't quite right with it. Maven ended up sending a replacement (Maven is awesome to deal with, BTW) and I put the new scope on with levels and didn't check it with a tall target test. Big mistake because I zeroed it at 1000+, but it hit 2 MOA left at 370 yards. That explains why I shot a coyote in the hind leg at 150 yards, but killed it with a follow-up. So I reset the scope with levels, and then verified by setting up a 4' tall target at 100 yards with a plum line on it. Now I can dial 40MOA up and stay on the line, and center punch coyotes again!
Edit: With the integral rail on my action, I can level the rifle off that, then level the scope with a 6' level hung on a tree at @ 100 yards. I tried to do my unsuccessful attempt inside the shop and it wasn't good enough. I should know better than to cut corners!
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I brought it up because I am setting up a couple of rifles with scopes and as my wife and kids will tell anyone I am OCD about truing the scopes as well as several other things, they have a little different terminology for it. I think it stems from some of my past training and being told often what do you mean half a thousandth of an inch is close enough. you may not be building a piano, but that turbine is going to run at 3600 RPM and weighs 15 tons you better get your machining better than that. That kind of stuff followed me around in all aspects of my life especially hunting coyotes. In the end I love it being that way it just makes me feel good about myself to know I did the best that I could. It probably kept me alive more than once or at least out of trouble. And again, it depends on your distances as to how finicky you have to be or not be.
windypants
Well-Known Member
I went back up to look for a pair of coyotes I'd spooked out of a draw with my scent the other day, on my way to get the 3 legged coyote. I had a better wind this evening, so I just set up on a saddle looking into that drainage and watched. I just had my 60 yo colonoscopy this morning and didn't have a lot of energy after two days of fasting, so it was just good to relax and be thankful
for my good health.
After a bit I saw a coyote go through a clearing and disappear into the brush at 1150 yards. I did my rendition of the interrogation howls (2 short howls, 2 barks?) but never saw that coyote again. Then a movement caught my eye and there was one at the edge of brush at 450 yards. He was looking, moving a little and stopping, so pretty easy to get a shot and I centered him. I was hoping it would be the female but it wasn't. I took him out of there when I left, hoping to get the female in the morning. So, Dave, now I go back about mid-morning and do long male howls from a vantage point?
Anyway, when I walked back to my truck the rancher was there waiting for me. He said he was sure glad to see my truck there, as the coyotes had grabbed a calf a couple of days ago. So now I'm not just hunting coyotes, I'm on a mission to get killers. I'm pretty sure I got one tonight , but not the most important one. Sure glad I have all your wisdom to draw on. Thank you!
for my good health. After a bit I saw a coyote go through a clearing and disappear into the brush at 1150 yards. I did my rendition of the interrogation howls (2 short howls, 2 barks?) but never saw that coyote again. Then a movement caught my eye and there was one at the edge of brush at 450 yards. He was looking, moving a little and stopping, so pretty easy to get a shot and I centered him. I was hoping it would be the female but it wasn't. I took him out of there when I left, hoping to get the female in the morning. So, Dave, now I go back about mid-morning and do long male howls from a vantage point?
Anyway, when I walked back to my truck the rancher was there waiting for me. He said he was sure glad to see my truck there, as the coyotes had grabbed a calf a couple of days ago. So now I'm not just hunting coyotes, I'm on a mission to get killers. I'm pretty sure I got one tonight , but not the most important one. Sure glad I have all your wisdom to draw on. Thank you!
Being me, I would go back in the morning when I had good shooting light or a little later and yes I would do some longer male howls one at a time and wait a good amount of time between them anywhere from one minute to a couple of minutes. Your rendition worked for you he was wanting to know who was in his home talking. They don't always talk especially if they are close at hand, if you are near a den with pups, they will often just look at you like that and be really cautious, that time is coming close. When they have a den full of young pups, they often will take a while to talk as they want to get where they can see the den and not be right at it but be heard when you aren't on top of the den or out of their territory. How far were you from where the calf got taken? You are good at setting and spotting and listening for them the killers are more of a challenge just because you want them more. For me tracking at the site was what I did so that I know who it was, where they were coming from. It tells me if I am looking for a pair, three a single male or female or both. The size of the footprint tells you so much, the number of tracks says a lot also. You have a lot going for you now just don't let it overwhelm you. Keep track of the things they teach you and apply it to future use on them.
That was my version of a where are you call looking for mom or the pups after I have taken the pups, the male or the female. My interrogation is two average length howls two barks and one more howl. It worked for you, and you took out one male, that you needed taken. Those calling sequences are very similar and aren't a threatening sound to them. There is a time and a place for the challenge howls and barks but I have had more luck not using them except for early in the breeding season.
windypants
Well-Known Member
I shot this one about 3/4 mile from where the calf was killed. Any readable sign from there would be gone by now I'm sure. It's supposed to snow all day tomorrow but hopefully I'll have enough visibility early in the morning to find the mate. There's been three of them running together, plus the cripple, so two to go. I'll give it a go in the morning and report back. Thanks for your help!
