2 yotes down today

mcseal2

WKR
Joined
May 8, 2014
Messages
2,671
I got out calling for the first time this fall today. I usually get started quicker but this year it didn't happen. With a SE wind I could hunt some spots I normally can't with the more common NW or SW winds we get.

First spot I went is a proven favorite. I saw a coyote on the walk in that I hoped didn't see me. I quickly dropped to a knee and readied my AR, tried some soft calls on the Catnip call in my pocket. I gave him 10 minutes and he never showed. I went on in and saw him on the far hillside, he either spotted me or never heard me I'd bet. He busted me before I spotted him and went on up the hill to mouse. He stayed up there and never responded before going out of sight. I started calling with the FoxPro, couple howls and then a bird distress. After about 15 minutes a pair of deer busted from the timber in front of me, signaling something was coming. I soon spotted a young, small coyote's head pop out of the grass. I immediately moved the gun to him as he watched the Mojo decoy and got him in the crosshairs just as he spun back into the grass. He didn't like something about the set-up, maybe he was coming to the howls expecting to see a coyote not a Mojo critter. He never looked toward me. He started barking and yipping soon after from back in the grass 100yds away so I switched to a pup distress. He continued barking and soon after a pair of adult coyotes started circling in at about 150yds. It isn't a good location to try to get multiple coyotes in the open at once, so when the female stopped I took her, the male never cleared the brush. I've tried to get greedy there before and paid for it.

Second spot was an alfalfa field next to a big timbered hill. I wanted to check my deer pop-up blind I had up from blackpowder season to make sure it was still usable for rifle season anyway, figured I should make a set while I did it and kill 2 birds with one stone. I set up the FoxPro and Mojo critter about 60yds from the blind in the alfalfa and started calling. I went with a standard rabbit in distress for 5 minutes, then 1 minute of silence, then a different more frantic screaming rabbit sound loudly, backing it off after 45 seconds. About a minute after the loud sequence a coyote appeared and started toward the decoy and call. It followed the field edge until it hit the terrace the call was sitting on, then started straight toward the call. It stopped quartering toward me at 180yds and I triggered the AR. I think it would have come closer but after the pup spooked earlier I thought I should just take the shot first time it stopped.

The DPMS Prairie Panther with the 55gr V max RAM ammo continues to do well. The chronograph shows 2964fps from the 20" barrel so they aren't a hot load but they shoot well. The rifle didn't shoot as well as I would have liked from the factory so my gunsmith lapped the barrel. Now it is a shooter. It has a Jard 2lb trigger and a stud for a Rapid Pivot bipod. The scope is a 2.5-10x50 Bushnell 3200 Elite with the Firefly reticle I traded for and had sitting around. The 50mm scope isn't necessary but isn't a problem either in the Burris PEPR mount. The power adjust ring on this scope turns about as easy as it does on any scope I've ever had so it's nice to quickly adjust from the 2.5 I keep it on calling to the 10x for longer shots when a coyote shows at a distance. It's been a pretty good combo. The Rapid Pivot bipod gets me to kneeling or sitting in a blind chair height so it's nice in our taller grass, and it pops off very quickly for unexpected shot angles. I also carry standard shooting sticks for tighter quarters where I don't want the bipod attached.
 
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