Ramblings and Such From Hunting Coyote

On July 4th. 2011 I was working on a pair with their pups . It was around 3:00 P.M. I had worked my way up to and through a saddle over looking some bad lands . The draws were full of junipers real rough country 45 degree slopes with loose ground making slipping and falling a real problem , I've slid 20 or more feet down these hill sides before . As I crested the saddle I saw a large bobcat laying on a huge bolder just watching down into the draws . I decided to see how close I could get to him and began my stalk . Moving slow with lite steps I moved down hill about 100 feet when I stepped on some dry grass he looked around at me , I froze in place after 5 minutes or so he turned back to looking down into the draws . A few minutes latter I started moving toward him again . Slowly I closed in on him getting to within 20 feet . Slowly I squatted down and picked up a small stone and stood back up . I then pitched the stone and hit him in the rump . He nearly turned himself wrong side out leapt off the boulder and ran full out to my left about 200 yards along some rimrock . He got to an over hang and stopped to look back at me and gave me the evil eye . Later that year in December I caught him he weighed 44 lbs. and measured 47 1/2 inch's from nose to base of the tail .
 
DSheetz said:
nicholasJohn , it's called aura by some . It's the field that surrounds all things . You can train yourself to see it if you want . Set at a table with someone put the salt and pepper shakers in the middle of the table slowly move them toward the other person just move them a little then move your hand away from them . Soon you will find their space when you enter into it they will move them back your way . Animals are more aware of their space because they feel it more then you and I just to stay alive . If you want to see their aura squint at them with back light around them not a good habit to get into as it makes them very uncomfortable like your stripping away their body and looking at their inter soul . Some people get quite mad at you for it . I worked at power plants for most of my life , night shift so I could hunt coyote during the day , generators and transformers the transmission lines all are large are all huge electromagnets . The rate of prostrate cancer was high among plant workers as was skin cancer.
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DSheetz,

I have read that the aura can be of many different colors - some good; some maybe not so good. I personally have never seen this phenomenon, and I didn't know the squinting trick you mentioned. I'll have to think that through before I try it, though - if the first guy I try it on turns out to be an axe murderer, you may not be hearing from me again. Maybe the pepper shaker trick is the one to try first. It seems a little less aggressive, and less likely to get me into trouble. I also think this "social distancing" is going to goof up everybody's sense of personal space. This may take a while to correct itself ……..

It stands to reason that an animal would be way more in tune with this type of stuff, because it needs to be to stay alive. I have seen that I become more dialed in the longer I stay out in nature. On day #1 of a hunting trip, I'm kind of a bumbling fool - making noise, clothes rubbing on brush, stepping on twigs, etc. By the time I've been in the woods a few days, though, I find that I'm starting to notice things around me more, and am just more "aware" in general. Feeling the vibes almost never starts for me right away. It usually takes a couple of days just to get the airplane noise out of my head, but once that goes away I can tell the difference between the sounds that different animals make. Whenever I hear something walking in the leaves, I find it best to ID the sound of animal in my mind before I look in its direction. If I get busted when turning my head, far better to get busted by a chipmunk than by the lead hen of a feeding flock of turkeys. When that happens, all the time I've been siting there letting the forest settle down from my arrival is out the window. The whole mountainside goes silent when a dozen big birds freak out and scatter, whereas when the little chippy scurries away, it only takes a few minutes for the tweety birds to go back to normal.

Your work in power plants was probably very similar to my work, in that it's pretty technical stuff. It also puts you right "inside the machine" where all the noise is working on you. This type of work environment really makes me crave the quiet time in the woods. I would have loved to be able to scratch that itch every day after work, like you were doing. My routine was to go to a hotel somewhere, earplugs & eye-shades, and go to sleep before I see the sun. A big city hotel is a far cry from a nice quiet coyote hunt. The sensory deprivation I needed to do to get some sleep was the polar opposite of having my senses "opened up" in a natural outdoor environment. You got your peace & quiet a little every day; whereas I took mine a week at a time between trips. As for the cancer thing, the incidence of prostate cancer is pretty high among airline pilots. I'm not at all surprised that it's right up there in your former line of work. In the aviation world, the ones who get it most frequently are the ex-military guys who flew the older fighter jets. They blame this on the target-seeking radar that puts out about 40,000 watts of power. I spent most of my flying career in the 767, which has a weather radar sending out about 40 watts. Hopefully this will enable me to dodge the bullet. The skin cancer thing probably relates more to UV exposure, and I did night-time operations for about 2/3 of my career. If it's the EMF thing an not the UV exposure, I'm probably toast.

The staying up all night may have helped me in another way. It was definitely less stressful to operate in a low-traffic environment than during rush hour in the northeastern corridor. Even flying Europe trips was pretty easy at night. We spent most of our energy just trying to stay awake. Funny how I can run at peak awareness all night long on a 'coon hunt, but struggle to stay awake in an airplane at altitude. Ditto for getting up at four AM to go stand belly deep in the freezing rain in a duck swamp at age seventeen, and getting up at 0600 to go sit in a classroom is like pulling teeth. I guess the night sounds were just easier on the ears than some screechy old nun's teaching voice.


Nick
 
We are at high altitude here , is one of the reasons for the skin cancer they considered us high altitude workers as we were above 5200 feet another is the amount of uranium in the soil and water here . So flying at higher altitudes with out uv and ir protection in your wind screens puts you at higher risk . The older fighter air craft also had more chemicals for the pilots to be exposed to then the newer ones as well as less insolation from the electrical wiring . In a fighter you are also setting on an ejection seat , nitrates in the propellents gassing off at your back side the whole time .
 
nicholasjohn said:
I have had to swallow that bitter pill many times, Sir. No sooner did I get done telling someone "Did you hear what that yo-yo just said about such & such ???!!!!" Then, in the very next breath, I hear myself saying "Can you believe what just happened ? Just like that guy said - I guess I know who the dummy is now, don't I." It seems like I needed to eat crow like that about a dozen times before I learned to just keep my mouth shut and see how it all settles out. I just HATE having to learn the same old lesson again for the umpteenth time.
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I have one for ya....I also grew up in northern Minnesota. When we were quite young, one cousin and I did a lot of small caliber hunting and roaming around my uncle's land in the country. We were generally of the "Hey, do you see that....what the hell is it....well we better shoot it" age in our lives....not even teenagers when we started. I must have been about 14 years old and Mike was maybe 16 when this occurred. We were walking around the area behind the house and woods where there was an old weather worn house tucked into a open area on the edge of a woods. There was also a rock pile there. From several hundred yards away we saw what looked to be a badger of good size so we sneaked up through the woods and tried to come up on it from the opposite side of the pile. As we got closer it realized something was up and went into a den hole. We both were carrying 10-22's with 10 round clips. We tried to get him to come out of the hole by raising some ruckus but without success. Mike, if nothing else, had a lot of balls, if not a lot of brains. He is still somewhat that way but he has slowed down considerably more than me. He tells me...."I'm going into that hole with my 22 poked in front of me and I want you to grab me by the legs...if I start hollering you haul me out of there fast." I told him he was out of his mind and I didn't think that would be a good move, but Mike is Mike and there was no way I could stop him. So in he goes with his rifle pointed in front of him and I've got him by the ankles. All I heard was a deep growl and the sound of 10 rounds going off as fast as he could pull the trigger and then I hauled him out. We stood around for awhile and nothing came out of the hole. At that point he headed back in there with a loaded rifle. Then he said "pull me out." Out he came with a very stout but dead adult male badger. As God is my witness he really pulled it off. He peppered that badger as he saw a flash of light in his eyes looking up the hole. One of the most foolish moves I have ever seen my life, but he got very lucky. I don't remember whether or not we ever told his dad about how we got that badger or not, more than likely not. I would not suggest trying this at home, boys...
Tens :cool:
 
DMP25-06 said:
My words of advice , from my own experience in reference to firearms and bullets chosen for coyotes , or any predator for that matter , is DO NOT SHOOT FULL METAL JACKETED BULLETS at these animals at .220 Swift velocities . The only 2 ways that you will stop them , in their tracks is by a brain shot , or severing their spine .

January , 1976 , was my first acquaintance with the .220 Swift . My cousin Billy and his college roommate Edgar had had come to town during mid-semester break , and the 3 of us decided to try to shoot some coyotes at night on the neighbor's large ranch , just drive out into pastures while spotlighting and looking for whatever that showed itself . Edgar had a Ruger M77V in .220 Swift shooting 40 grain FMJ bullets at 4000 FPS + . I asked Edgar why was he using FMJ bullets and his answer was so as not to damage the pelts .
Billy was driving , Edgar was shooting , and I was doing the spotlighting because I had the best eyes of the group .
I spotted the first coyote of the night at about 300 yards , and Edgar fired the shot . I watched the bullet impact through the ribs , just behind the left front leg . Going to be a dead coyote , unfortunately just not right there . I told Edgar "good shot" . Edgar's response was that he had missed , because the coyote had run away . We argued , but we did not try to track that dog , because I had highlighted him as he ran over the next hilltop several hundred yards away . So we drove on , until I spotted another coyote , again at a distance in excess of 200 yards .
Edgar shot again , I watched impact in same spot on the animal , and again the same result , a soon-to-be- dead dog running away . Again Edgar saying that he can't believe that he has missed . So we drive on until I spotted the 3rd coyote of the night , this one at about 100 yards , just standing . Edgar fired his 3rd shot , I watched impact behind the shoulder , and away runs the coyote .
I told Edgar that the bullets were just going through so fast with no shock and that was why the coyotes were not dropping in their tracks . Of course with me being an "old man" at age 26 , and him being an 18 year old who knows everything , Edgar starts arguing that his scope must have been knocked out-of-zero by the rough ride , so we were done shooting for the night .
The next morning before Billy and Edgar left to return back to college , I asked if I could shoot his rifle to check if it had been knocked out-of-zero . He allowed me 1 shot , and said that the rifle/scope combination had been zeroed at 300 yards before last night .
Out the back door of Billy's home , at the end of his pasture is a gate , attached to a large corner post that is just nearly 300 yards from the back door . Sitting on top of that post was a Meadowlark bird with a bright yellow breast marked with a black V that started on each side of the bird's neck and came to a point in the center of the breast , making a perfect aiming point . I dropped into a sitting position to shoot , squeezed the trigger , and nothing but a puff of feathers , when the bullet hit that bird . I sat the rifle down , said that there was nothing wrong with the zero , and we all ran a foot race to view the bird , or see if it had disintegrated .

Now , here is the part that I will receive a chorus of " That is total BS " , but I swear that the following statement is true , and was witnessed by 2 other people .
When we arrived at the gate and fencepost , the Meadowlark was standing on his feet on the ground , wobbling around about to die , with a hole through the center of its breast and out the backside that you could stick a pencil through , and it was still alive .

I told Edgar that his rifle was fine , and in my best impersonation of Perry Mason , TV lawyer , I said " I REST MY CASE on using FMJ bullets" .

DMP25-06
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Another great story DMP25-06. I fully believe this to be true as I have seen similar things happen. 1) This is main reason most military rounds are FMJ. Not just that they have some ability to penetrate hard surfaces but they aren't made to necessarily kill but to mame. 2) I have witnessed many times something as simple as a close range (less than 20yd) shots on varmints including snakes with .22 solid points take numerous hits with these bullets and seem to not even phase them but then put a hollow point in and game over. I agree with you that they hit so fast and with no expansion its probably more of a hard sting felt with no to minimum energy transferred to the target.
 
In Wyoming, hunting after a 2 day hard snow storm and the 3rd the morning breaks clear works great for calling that 3rd day especially if it is below zero degrees.
Those bellies are empty and the coyotes need calories to warm up and keep going.

Years ago, I was about 9 miles south of Glendo , WY and about 3 miles East, near the North Platte river. It was twelve degrees below zero and the hoar frost was on all the trees and grasses that remained exposed above the snow. Daybreak was coming on and I hustled to the top of a ridge and facing South, sat down in the snow. I was head to ankles in US Army surplus over-whites snow camouflage . Also had white gloves and a white balaclava on. The slot for my eyes was where the only part of my body was exposed.

I was packing a Weatherby Accumark Ultra Lightweight .243, the six lug action that scales 5 3/4 pounds bare and empty. Also had a pair of handmade shooting sticks. The chamber held a Hornady 58 grain VMax over a heavy charge of W-760 Powder. The load clocked just at 3850 FPS. The gun wore a Leupold 4.5-14x50 scope with an Illuminated Mil-Dot reticle. I had also used white vet-wrap to wrap the rifle and scope combo. I was set for an ambush!

I sat on the crest on the west side of a small cedar tree, more of a bush really. I could see a draw coming downhill from my left, another meeting it to my front left. The bottom of the draw went out of my sight for about one hundred yards, then reappeared to my right heading downhill gently. Where I sat down I was just a little short of where I could clearly see into the bottom of the draw. Light was still low, wind was calm. The sun would come up in about 10 minutes.

When I sat down, I put the sticks up and dropped the fore end of the rifle into the 6" V at the top. The chamber was loaded and the safety off. The butt of the gun was by my right thigh where my hip started.

I pressed a Dan Thompson Riverbottom Coaxer (Closed reed in a hand turned wood body) to my lips and sent out a short, low volume, low urgency call. I leaned back a bit and slowly looked left to check that draw. I looked back to my front and was surprised to see a coyote come into view at about my 1 o'clock, about 30 feet in front of me from just over the edge where it dropped down to the draw. This was about the 10 second mark after the initial call.

It had been laying there curled up asleep and when I called it stood up and walked uphill about ten feet up to where I first saw it. I was caught flat footed and on it came. It looked like it was still groggy and needed to rub it's eyes to wake up. I sat still as a snow bank, squinting my eyes to keep from being identified. I didn't even have my hand on my rifle.

The coyote kept steadily coming at moderate walk, veering to my left and stopping at three (3!) steps away from me at about my 10 o'clock. She dropped her head, tucked her tail, gaped her mouth open, rolled her eyes all googly and with every hair erect on her body went into a full blown threat display.

She just stood there, and I slowly reached with my right hand to the pistol grip, grasping it from the left side and raised the butt of the gun and slowly pushed it away from me while the sticks supported the fore end, bringing the muzzle to bear on the still threatening coyote. She had her left profile facing me and when the muzzle looked to be pointed about right at her chest I pulled the trigger with my right thumb.

The ensuing carnage of that 6mm Hornady at nearly muzzle speed impact was pretty incredible. It blew a hole on the backside of the impact that was, well, NOT fur friendly. Instantly dead, she flipped over sideways and landed about 2 feet from where she was standing in the snow.

Let me tell you, that was one of my most memorable stands.
 
Reemty J said:
I am going to buy that HECs outfit and wear them this coming year, will let you know, I believe it will be worth the sheckles laid down, as they are not that expensive...........
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I'm interested in knowing how that works for you. I think that a lot of guys might try something like that for a while and not even know if it works or not. The fact that you're so well schooled on animal behavior gives you a leg up on really being able to tell if something like this is making a difference in how well it camouflages that particular phenomenon. This whole discussion also makes me wonder how many other "intangibles" there are in the equation. We can only account for the variables we are aware of, and the ones we aren't aware of are the ones that goof us up.
 

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