Big Lou
Active member
I’m a touch salty while typing this. The sting is still fresh so, I best just capture it. I’ll preface this with how I approach calling and personal expectations. Every time I go out, my simple goal is to call and kill one coyote. If it’s a tough day and I can accomplish that, it’s still a win. That being said, I want to kill 100% of the coyotes that I call in. Yes, I know it’s just not exactly realistic but, that’s where I have set the bar. Another expectation, has been being a capable running shot. A large portion of the coyotes I take seasonally are runners. My tally over the years would be a whole lot smaller if I wasn’t able to do it. I have a lot of good days complete with the quality of shooting I’ve come to expect from myself. Today was not one of those days. I feel it’s important to disclose those moments when the wheels do in fact, fall off the bus.
The morning began, sharing a piping hot coffee with my wife. Looking out the window, it was near a pea soup fog and windy already. The forecast had the wind building in intensity throughout the remainder of the day. Not premium by any means. There’s a few spots I’ve yet to be able to hit this season. Lack of cover and long walks in negate them when it is clear. “Crunchy, loud snow. Heavy wind. Fog. I guess I may as well use what I can to my advantage”. I could use the fog for the long walks in the open and the wind to cover the noise of my intrusions. I was off.
My first set had me walking in nearly 2 miles. I had picked a new hide the last time I had called here and, today was the day to try it out. I got nestled in against a corner post with some sparse willows behind me. The caller deployed 25 yards upwind. As I surveyed the pasture and bush, I much preferred this to the last time. I opened up with a couple howls. I immediately had a response. Then another and another. One considerably closer than the other two. Squeaky Squeak. Maybe 10-15 seconds of it and paused for a minute. 30 seconds a bit louder and paused. For 5 minutes. I looked down at the remote and was cycling through, deciding on my next sound. Looked up, and there was a coyote just coming through the taller grass on fence line. He stopped upon entering the pasture, I could tell immediately that it was a large male. Mouse squeaks and a couple decoy flicks had him zeroed on the caller. One more flick and he advanced at a trot. I was ready on the shotgun. As he broke the 60 yard mark, he got low and started moving faster. Looking more like a cat in demeanour. 10 yards from the caller now and 35 yards from me, I figured I best keep my shot clear of it. BOOM! He went down immediately and then was trying to get up again. BOOM! He was motionless now. A quick blast of pup distress and I hushed up.
Three to four minutes later, I let rip with some MFK Cot-Tail Sauce for 15 seconds. A beautiful female coyote emerged from the brush. I again got on the mouse squeak and flicked the decoy. Like watching repeat, she also broke into a trot towards me. The shotgun at the ready, she closed to the exact same spot as the first coyote. When she spied him and dipped in for a smell, I let fly. BOOM! I immediately spied a streaking coyote that I hadn’t even seen prior to shooting. Dying coyote wailed and I got on the rifle. I will say, I really struggle with range estimation when it is foggy. I wasn’t sure how far it was as it came to a near broadside stop and looked back. “How far??? This crosswind is howling. Hold on its ass. You’ll either pound it or miss clean”. BOOM! CHOP! Screaming and spinning, I sent a finisher. BOOM! CHOP! All was still. Quite pleased with a shotgun double and two connections with the rifle, I collected them for a photo. Both coyotes with the shotty were at 35 yards and the rifle coyote was at 250 yards even. I had honestly thought it to be farther out. The first picture shows exactly as the shotgun double lay. I didn’t touch them at all.
My second set had me walking in a full mile through wide open fields. The cloak of the fog still thick. I actually walked up on a bedded coyote in corn stubble. The wind, obviously hiding my horribly loud footsteps. I opted not to shoot, knowing what the bush I approached conceals. Again, setting up the caller 20 or so yards away, I tucked into a post in the fence line. Opening up with a yodel, as soon as I muted, I heard some rather aggressive growls and howls coming from the timber. I estimated sub 300 yards. I got right into a fight sound and the coyote in the trees continued vocalizing and advancing. I knew it was a big male by the sound and knew I wanted him. I still hadn’t seen him and took a quick look around. “Oh noooo…”. 4 coyotes were advancing on me from that direction. I’m completely out of position for this group as I had shifted for where I anticipated the first one. Who is still advancing and vocalizing. Full on mad now. I turn my head back and see the first one now charging in. All puffed up and yes, he’s mad. He sees the other coyotes and changes course towards them. Supremely confident, he charges into the middle of the group. I use this brief chaotic moment while they are all scrambling to shift and get the rifle up. I settled on the big male. BOOM! CHOP! I dropped my remote on my shift and can’t see it. I settle into a lead and squeeze. Squeeze again. The rifle won’t fire! My glove or sleeve had caught the safety when cycling the bolt! I’m rattled. BOOM! Miss. In the chaos, I spy my remote and grab it. Firing up dying coyote. I see a fifth coyote break from the tree line. A big, dark, wooly male. He’s charging hard. WOOO! He piles on the brakes. Squeeze. Harder squeeze. “YOU FLICKED YOUR SAFTEY CYCLING THE BOLT AGAIN!!! FFS!!!”
He’s now running in retreat. WOOO!!! Again he stops. I hold just over the top of his back. BOOM! I see the bullet splash in the snow over top of him. Too stupid to realize that I’m estimating the range all wrong, I get him stopped again and you guessed it, hold over his back. BOOM! Splash of snow above him again. And he’s gone. Not just him - all of them. “You dummy. You just called in 6 and only got one. What in the actual F is wrong with you?” Mad. Ashamed. Humbled. I took a picture of him and slunk back to my truck in shame.
I blanked on my next stand and was off to a fourth. I’ve been having trouble with these coyotes. Unsure if they’ve grown wise to my usual plays, the cover of the wind afforded me a new hide to employ. Getting settled as before, caller 20 yards away and I’m nestled into a fence post and drifts.
I howled once and thought I heard responses but, the wind was ripping harder now and I couldn’t be positive. Either way, they were at least a mile off if they were responses. I worked through 15 minutes of prey sounds with no sightings. Breaking into a series of coyote vocals, it started snowing. “Oh good. Now it’s foggy, snowing and blowing like crazy. Whatever. You’re here already”. I kept going. At roughly the 15 min mark of the coyote vocals, I swear I catch movement 500 yards away. It’s there and then gone. There and gone. I can’t confirm anything. I go to an aggressive fight and I for sure catch moment along the trees. One, two, three and then four coyotes enter the field. “Oh yeah!” I really couldn’t ask for better. It’s wide open to my downwind side. There’s no cover at all. When this happens, they are screwed. I’m going to kill them all.
They are all sub 200 yards now. Each taking turn in the advance. I let them come. There’s now 3 between 65-90 yards and the fourth is sub 120 but, swinging to wind me. The other three lock up and start watching the fourth. They never cease to amaze me with their instinct. Completely content to wait and see what comes of #4’s investigation. I can’t let it wind me. I move up and get the rifle on the largest coyote. A reddish, brown male. BOOM! CHOP! He’s down. Pup distress is blaring. Nobody is stopping. I’ll just say this, my shooting felt like a broken lawn chair. Nothing felt good. I emptied my rifle and didn’t tickle a hair. An absolute disgrace in shooting. I’m not saying I should or even could have killed them all but, three of them should not have left that patch of earth. I didn’t even want to get a picture, but I did anyway. A somber reminder of how quickly things can go wrong. Adding insult to injury, the snow stopped the moment the action halted. That figures.
I pulled the pin after that. I was doing no good out there today and best regroup. Perhaps some Tai Chi? Yoga? Meditation? Maybe I need some time with Yoda to feel The Force again. 13 coyotes called in and all I have to show is a paltry 5 after a comedy of errors and poor judgement.
I promise you. I will be better upon my next posting.
The morning began, sharing a piping hot coffee with my wife. Looking out the window, it was near a pea soup fog and windy already. The forecast had the wind building in intensity throughout the remainder of the day. Not premium by any means. There’s a few spots I’ve yet to be able to hit this season. Lack of cover and long walks in negate them when it is clear. “Crunchy, loud snow. Heavy wind. Fog. I guess I may as well use what I can to my advantage”. I could use the fog for the long walks in the open and the wind to cover the noise of my intrusions. I was off.
My first set had me walking in nearly 2 miles. I had picked a new hide the last time I had called here and, today was the day to try it out. I got nestled in against a corner post with some sparse willows behind me. The caller deployed 25 yards upwind. As I surveyed the pasture and bush, I much preferred this to the last time. I opened up with a couple howls. I immediately had a response. Then another and another. One considerably closer than the other two. Squeaky Squeak. Maybe 10-15 seconds of it and paused for a minute. 30 seconds a bit louder and paused. For 5 minutes. I looked down at the remote and was cycling through, deciding on my next sound. Looked up, and there was a coyote just coming through the taller grass on fence line. He stopped upon entering the pasture, I could tell immediately that it was a large male. Mouse squeaks and a couple decoy flicks had him zeroed on the caller. One more flick and he advanced at a trot. I was ready on the shotgun. As he broke the 60 yard mark, he got low and started moving faster. Looking more like a cat in demeanour. 10 yards from the caller now and 35 yards from me, I figured I best keep my shot clear of it. BOOM! He went down immediately and then was trying to get up again. BOOM! He was motionless now. A quick blast of pup distress and I hushed up.
Three to four minutes later, I let rip with some MFK Cot-Tail Sauce for 15 seconds. A beautiful female coyote emerged from the brush. I again got on the mouse squeak and flicked the decoy. Like watching repeat, she also broke into a trot towards me. The shotgun at the ready, she closed to the exact same spot as the first coyote. When she spied him and dipped in for a smell, I let fly. BOOM! I immediately spied a streaking coyote that I hadn’t even seen prior to shooting. Dying coyote wailed and I got on the rifle. I will say, I really struggle with range estimation when it is foggy. I wasn’t sure how far it was as it came to a near broadside stop and looked back. “How far??? This crosswind is howling. Hold on its ass. You’ll either pound it or miss clean”. BOOM! CHOP! Screaming and spinning, I sent a finisher. BOOM! CHOP! All was still. Quite pleased with a shotgun double and two connections with the rifle, I collected them for a photo. Both coyotes with the shotty were at 35 yards and the rifle coyote was at 250 yards even. I had honestly thought it to be farther out. The first picture shows exactly as the shotgun double lay. I didn’t touch them at all.
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My second set had me walking in a full mile through wide open fields. The cloak of the fog still thick. I actually walked up on a bedded coyote in corn stubble. The wind, obviously hiding my horribly loud footsteps. I opted not to shoot, knowing what the bush I approached conceals. Again, setting up the caller 20 or so yards away, I tucked into a post in the fence line. Opening up with a yodel, as soon as I muted, I heard some rather aggressive growls and howls coming from the timber. I estimated sub 300 yards. I got right into a fight sound and the coyote in the trees continued vocalizing and advancing. I knew it was a big male by the sound and knew I wanted him. I still hadn’t seen him and took a quick look around. “Oh noooo…”. 4 coyotes were advancing on me from that direction. I’m completely out of position for this group as I had shifted for where I anticipated the first one. Who is still advancing and vocalizing. Full on mad now. I turn my head back and see the first one now charging in. All puffed up and yes, he’s mad. He sees the other coyotes and changes course towards them. Supremely confident, he charges into the middle of the group. I use this brief chaotic moment while they are all scrambling to shift and get the rifle up. I settled on the big male. BOOM! CHOP! I dropped my remote on my shift and can’t see it. I settle into a lead and squeeze. Squeeze again. The rifle won’t fire! My glove or sleeve had caught the safety when cycling the bolt! I’m rattled. BOOM! Miss. In the chaos, I spy my remote and grab it. Firing up dying coyote. I see a fifth coyote break from the tree line. A big, dark, wooly male. He’s charging hard. WOOO! He piles on the brakes. Squeeze. Harder squeeze. “YOU FLICKED YOUR SAFTEY CYCLING THE BOLT AGAIN!!! FFS!!!”
He’s now running in retreat. WOOO!!! Again he stops. I hold just over the top of his back. BOOM! I see the bullet splash in the snow over top of him. Too stupid to realize that I’m estimating the range all wrong, I get him stopped again and you guessed it, hold over his back. BOOM! Splash of snow above him again. And he’s gone. Not just him - all of them. “You dummy. You just called in 6 and only got one. What in the actual F is wrong with you?” Mad. Ashamed. Humbled. I took a picture of him and slunk back to my truck in shame.
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I blanked on my next stand and was off to a fourth. I’ve been having trouble with these coyotes. Unsure if they’ve grown wise to my usual plays, the cover of the wind afforded me a new hide to employ. Getting settled as before, caller 20 yards away and I’m nestled into a fence post and drifts.
I howled once and thought I heard responses but, the wind was ripping harder now and I couldn’t be positive. Either way, they were at least a mile off if they were responses. I worked through 15 minutes of prey sounds with no sightings. Breaking into a series of coyote vocals, it started snowing. “Oh good. Now it’s foggy, snowing and blowing like crazy. Whatever. You’re here already”. I kept going. At roughly the 15 min mark of the coyote vocals, I swear I catch movement 500 yards away. It’s there and then gone. There and gone. I can’t confirm anything. I go to an aggressive fight and I for sure catch moment along the trees. One, two, three and then four coyotes enter the field. “Oh yeah!” I really couldn’t ask for better. It’s wide open to my downwind side. There’s no cover at all. When this happens, they are screwed. I’m going to kill them all.
They are all sub 200 yards now. Each taking turn in the advance. I let them come. There’s now 3 between 65-90 yards and the fourth is sub 120 but, swinging to wind me. The other three lock up and start watching the fourth. They never cease to amaze me with their instinct. Completely content to wait and see what comes of #4’s investigation. I can’t let it wind me. I move up and get the rifle on the largest coyote. A reddish, brown male. BOOM! CHOP! He’s down. Pup distress is blaring. Nobody is stopping. I’ll just say this, my shooting felt like a broken lawn chair. Nothing felt good. I emptied my rifle and didn’t tickle a hair. An absolute disgrace in shooting. I’m not saying I should or even could have killed them all but, three of them should not have left that patch of earth. I didn’t even want to get a picture, but I did anyway. A somber reminder of how quickly things can go wrong. Adding insult to injury, the snow stopped the moment the action halted. That figures.
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I pulled the pin after that. I was doing no good out there today and best regroup. Perhaps some Tai Chi? Yoga? Meditation? Maybe I need some time with Yoda to feel The Force again. 13 coyotes called in and all I have to show is a paltry 5 after a comedy of errors and poor judgement.
I promise you. I will be better upon my next posting.
now and then I can channel my inner shotgunning skills and drop one on the run but normally if it's running it's safe. 
