firefox117
New member
First time out solo hunting coyotes. Find a night spot of land here in Missouri, might not be much, but at least I can call it mine.
So after spending the night to make sure I had everything, including the kitchen sink, felt pretty good when I arrived. Showed up about 645, just a hair after day break, but still plenty of time to get set up before the sun really started to rise today. The first field I decided to head to was about 45 yards long, surrounded by forest on all sides, and had recently been plowed.
As I arrived, I set up all my stuff, and noticed my elevation was set to +7 clicks. Easy fix, set it back to zero, and off I went. Got my Banshee caller in the mail last week, first time using it as well.
Walked about 1/3 of the way into the field, placed the called about 75 yards from me, along with my decoy, walked back, sat in front of a hay bail, and went to town.
20 minutes in, no luck.
Now the field rolls slightly, so I don't have a clean shot all the way down. I packed up, and started walking towards the end, and sat up a little closer to the tree line. Again, called for about 20 minutes, using a mix of distress calls, no luck.
Well, figured I'd hit the ol'coyote pup distress call, and see if I would have any luck. I let it go for about 30 seconds or so, and turn it off. No sooner I turn it off, than a pair come running out off the trees, at most, 70 yards from me.
Now, these guys don't even stop to say hi to me, they could care less. They trot right out into the field without a care in the world, and beeline it to my decoy flopping around, then stop. What could I ask for, perfect broadside shot, 60-70 yards away, dog wasn't even moving. I line up, steady myself, and BAM.....
Now, this is where you enter your favorite string of cuss words. Bullet hits about 2 feet low. Dog just stands there and looks at me, trying to figure out what's going on, while the other one starts to trot off.
Ok, I think to myself "man you just got excited, shoot again dummy". I chamber another round, and Bam.....nothing. Again, hit about 2 feet low. By now, the gigs up, both dogs don't seem to really care, and trot off and head into the woods.
Needless to say, I'm heading back to the range to recheck my scope. For the life of me, I don't remember making a single change to it since I zeroed it, but I must have done something, and forgot to re-zero my elevation to reflect it. Rookie mistake.
Spent the rest of the morning looking and calling around, but no luck.
So after spending the night to make sure I had everything, including the kitchen sink, felt pretty good when I arrived. Showed up about 645, just a hair after day break, but still plenty of time to get set up before the sun really started to rise today. The first field I decided to head to was about 45 yards long, surrounded by forest on all sides, and had recently been plowed.
As I arrived, I set up all my stuff, and noticed my elevation was set to +7 clicks. Easy fix, set it back to zero, and off I went. Got my Banshee caller in the mail last week, first time using it as well.
Walked about 1/3 of the way into the field, placed the called about 75 yards from me, along with my decoy, walked back, sat in front of a hay bail, and went to town.
20 minutes in, no luck.
Now the field rolls slightly, so I don't have a clean shot all the way down. I packed up, and started walking towards the end, and sat up a little closer to the tree line. Again, called for about 20 minutes, using a mix of distress calls, no luck.
Well, figured I'd hit the ol'coyote pup distress call, and see if I would have any luck. I let it go for about 30 seconds or so, and turn it off. No sooner I turn it off, than a pair come running out off the trees, at most, 70 yards from me.
Now, these guys don't even stop to say hi to me, they could care less. They trot right out into the field without a care in the world, and beeline it to my decoy flopping around, then stop. What could I ask for, perfect broadside shot, 60-70 yards away, dog wasn't even moving. I line up, steady myself, and BAM.....
Now, this is where you enter your favorite string of cuss words. Bullet hits about 2 feet low. Dog just stands there and looks at me, trying to figure out what's going on, while the other one starts to trot off.
Ok, I think to myself "man you just got excited, shoot again dummy". I chamber another round, and Bam.....nothing. Again, hit about 2 feet low. By now, the gigs up, both dogs don't seem to really care, and trot off and head into the woods.
Needless to say, I'm heading back to the range to recheck my scope. For the life of me, I don't remember making a single change to it since I zeroed it, but I must have done something, and forgot to re-zero my elevation to reflect it. Rookie mistake.
Spent the rest of the morning looking and calling around, but no luck.