Yotarunner
Custom Call Maker
Seems these days whenever the inevitable "best caliber for coyotes" talk comes back around there seems to be an overwhelming trend in heavy long range style cartridges and bullets to the point where some people's coyote guns are what I would consider more deer medicine.
Let's not get started on the Facebook threads talking about whether 223 is "big enough" for coyotes
These threads and conversations went through my mind as I walked to my stand toting my lowly little 222 and it's slow 40gr vmax.
this stand has become tradition as one of the first stands of the season. It was here I killed my first ever triple and I always make a point to try here early ever since.
With the call setup and the breeze kissing the left side of my face I scanned one final time and straight downwind a big fluffy white streak crested the hill. "Haven't even made a sound and I'm already spooking coyotes...great
"Not feeling the hand calls today and with sun beaming right on me I went straight to nutty nuthatch on the FoxPro. It wasn't long until ears and then a nose poked up dead in front of me looking over the knol for the source of the sound. Almost at the same moment another coyote flashed far to my left.
I could have shot the first coyote which was only 150 yards away but nowadays I'm greedy for shotgun kills so I held tight.
For a tense few moments I scanned back and forth looking for my left coyote over the grass and watching the one in front make up its mind on coming closer.
Suddenly I looked over and leftie was right on top of me! 20 yards away trotting in to get downwind of the caller.
Shotgun out of position I scrambled but by the time the gun was up the coyote had spun and was right on the edge of my range. Blam! Blam! Blam! She stumbled but wasn't hit hard enough to drop.
Ol reliable was then turned on the FoxPro and the sounds of pup distress 3 echoed across the pasture.
By the sounds of the racket they made my first coyote had found a friend and neither of them were happy about me being there. They yipped and barked behind the hill but never came closer. It was here that things got a little crazy. Directly downwind the first coyote I had spooked setting up in was at a dead run wind-be-damned. it circled back around and met up with the 2 noise makers behind the hill and they all came in!
Coyote number one trotted in and stoped on top of the hill to dance and bark at me. boom-WHOP she went down and let out a brief YIPE! Which brought in coyote number two who walked up and looked around for it's fallen comrade. boom-WHOP! The FoxPro shut off briefly and I keyed it back on and cranked the volume. Here came contestant number 3. The big male was not happy. He barked and howled and yipped the whole way but stopping at 200 to paw the ground he opened his mouth to yell again "bark bark bark awoooo....BOOM-WHOP" all 3 coyotes died with nary a twitch.
Funny how some people say 223 is too small for coyotes yet the smaller 222 with 3000fps 40 gr vmax does an amazing job.
I made one more stand and called another one right to the outer edge of shotgun range and didn't get it put down. Another itty bitty pup came in and got the 222 at 70 yards. I'd tell the story but at this point I have wasted too much time at work typing this so il end it there
Last edited by a moderator:
