Ramblings and Such From Hunting Coyote

Most likely I would try to tell her that I was the old male you killed . A longer lone howl and wait several minutes then if she hasn't answered or shown two half length howls and two barks wait a few seconds up to a minute and do those again several times . She will be missing him if you brought him out of the area with you if you left him laying she will have already found him and will be in mourning for him . In the case of her finding him then I wouldn't try those two sounds but would go more with saying that I was an invader coming into her area by doing two howls two barks and one howl after I had done the one long lone howl and waited several minutes . All of these would be done with a deeper sounding call not as high pitched as a younger or female coyote . Reemty J. you are 100% correct when a coyote sets and barks at you something isn't to their liking and they are not only telling you that they aren't coming any closer they are telling the other coyote in the area to stay clear of the sounds and area as well . Coyote have far more vocalizations then I know and use and several that I do . I'm not good enough with an E-call to be able to use one to make the coyote sounds that I find I need to work with the two that you are now working on so my hand calls would be my tools of choice . For me in this situation keeping it simple and doing just as you did makes the most sense . Lack of day light is one factor that I am not set up to deal with so going back in the morning of the next day ( if you can ) is your next best choice . Good luck with her and please keep us up to date on your hunts .
 
Buck I also ordered some of the hammer bullets to try out in my 06 as well . I will try some 4350 and 4831 sc powders with them as well as varying seating depths . Did you find the need to use a jump or near the lands for the best performance in your case ?

Mr. Sheetz, I have seen the Lehigh defense Bullets and have considered them myself. The hammer Bullets are very forgiving regarding seating depth. That is actually what got me interested in them. I have a 174 g seated to the same length as the 150 ballistic silvertips that fed so well in my 300 wsm. So they are seated very deep for my adl setup. I saw no significant change over .050 change in seating deeper. They like the jump. They are accurate and in most rifles guy's report working up a load in about 10 rounds. I have been very impressed so far. Customer service is great. I called Steve and he answered and we discussed my needs and requirements and he made recommendations and two days later Bullets were in my hands from Montana to Florida. I have shot the 166 and 174g. You need to pick the right Bullet for twist and most of the time they recommend going down to lighter Bullet to stabilize. They are long Bullets. I did go to crimping as I did not get enough neck tension with my die. It increases consistency with the drive bands. Shoot me a message or give me a call if I can help. Better yet give Steve a call


Thanks

Buck
 
Buck , thank you I go by Dave so you can call me that there are several names I have been called but Dave works for me . It is all good info that you shared on these bullets . I looked at his site and it has a rate of twist recommendation for each bullet as you said . I'm glad to hear about the seating depth as I have had issues with some bullets liking to be seated out near the lands thus loading from the magazine became a problem . I like the looks of them and the reduced bearing surface , lowered drag in the rifling , they look to be very well designed to reduce the drag in flight as well . Do you seal your loaded ammo after you crimp it to keep it from loosing or drawing moisture . I do that for mine just me , picked that up from military ammo . I saw a friend of mine have some older ammo that failed to fire it wasn't sealed and he had been carrying it in his carry pistol . Had to give him a hard time about just carrying a rock or big stick instead . Keep it changed out and fresh if you are putting your life or the hunt of a life time on it working properly is what I like . Thank You again for the info . Dave
 
Buck , thank you I go by Dave so you can call me that there are several names I have been called but Dave works for me . It is all good info that you shared on these bullets . I looked at his site and it has a rate of twist recommendation for each bullet as you said . I'm glad to hear about the seating depth as I have had issues with some bullets liking to be seated out near the lands thus loading from the magazine became a problem . I like the looks of them and the reduced bearing surface , lowered drag in the rifling , they look to be very well designed to reduce the drag in flight as well . Do you seal your loaded ammo after you crimp it to keep it from loosing or drawing moisture . I do that for mine just me , picked that up from military ammo . I saw a friend of mine have some older ammo that failed to fire it wasn't sealed and he had been carrying it in his carry pistol . Had to give him a hard time about just carrying a rock or big stick instead . Keep it changed out and fresh if you are putting your life or the hunt of a life time on it working properly is what I like . Thank You again for the info . Dave

I have not sealed any before as I usually just keep on hand what I will shoot relatively quick. I used to load a lot of 270 but there were three of us shooting them and they stay in climate controls area and never had a issue. I would rather be safe than sorry as I am sure you do too. I have also considered sealing primers. If I hunting in more harsh conditions or kept ammo very long I would for sure. We are about to get back on the road gonna try to make it to devils tower to let the wife see it as we are headed over to great falls MT. We hope to catch up with Reemty when we get over that way

Thanks
Buck
 
Devils Tower has changed and gotten more commercialized in the last few years but is still worth seeing enjoy the trip to see it . Yes I do the primers too . A controlled climate is important for the opened powder as well . I have seen people leave their ammo in the truck where it gets well over 110 in the summer and below freezing in the winter then wonder why it doesn't preform consistently why won't my rifle stay zeroed and the groups are so open ? One guy had a load that he liked and used the same can of powder that he had opened 4 years earlier left setting on his bench in the basement and had a round rupture the first time out on an antelope hunt locked up his bolt but didn't hurt him . I asked him what did your powder look like did it look kind of like it had rust on it turned a rusty brown . He looked at me and said how did you know that is what it looked like ? I've seen powder that was breaking down from moisture and oxidation before it isn't stable any longer . I talked with a guy from Hodgdon powder that told me all of their powders were coated with graphite and that if they didn't have the shinny silver color to them they had lost the stability that the coating had given them so then the burn rate wasn't reliable . I found that to be an interesting thought hum how many rounds have I carried in my truck vibrating getting hot and cold over the years have I just been lucky and had no problems ?
 
Better to be lucky than good! Went back out later this afternoon, that main drainage runs East and west, wind was out of the southeast 15 mph or better, I walked out on the west side of a toe ridge, west of where the female was last night. I did as Doctor Dave advised, nothing, sat there 20 minutes or more. On the way back to the pickup I walked on the East side of the toe ridge, keep in mind the side drainages we're 300 to 400 yards long, I like to walk so I am peeking into the draw but not skylined any more than I have too. Some light color caught my I and I looked down to see the female laying there curled up looking my way. I crouched lower and belly crawled to the lip, put the crosshairs on her and sent her to Valhalla. That was just pure dumb luck. When I went down to get her I could see numerous old beds, they like that coulee. She was only 250 yards from my pickup.
From where I was calling she was only 200-250 away but between the wind and her tucked in low in the coulee she never heard a thing from the hand call.
 
Well done Reemty J. did you make note of that draw for future hunts ? There is a reason they like that draw I would put my interest in figuring out what it is . The way the wind passes by , the way the sun shines or doesn't , ect. . Most likely the replacement coyote will find it just as likable as they did for the same reasons . That is why I would want to figure out why they liked it so well because there will be other places in your area that are similar and most likely be used the same way by others . Bedding areas are like denning areas they are used by others that come into that area for the same reasons . Maybe not so much that you got lucky as you made your own luck with your knowledge and skills ! 74honker , you are right on with the fact that the puppy factory is now closed for that one and the one that in control work I strived to take out of the equation .
 
I got a call one evening and asked if I could go up and locate for the plane the next morning . I had checked out this place several days earlier and had a good idea were there was a pair that had a den and another that was running by it's self . The denning pair are not as hard to work as the single coyote , they have an area that they will fight to protect . I got up there in the dark turned my headlights off and made my way to where I wanted to park my truck . I got my truck out of sight shut it off and got out to just listen to the world . I have never burnt out a bulb in my dome lights as I turn them off and leave them off . every thing has it's place and is kept there so I don't need to see it well lit to find it but I still have real good night vision . If you don't try a red lens in your flashlight . So then I got out of my truck and stood just listening to what was being said , to my far left I heard a lone coyote howl out in front of me a pair answered her . she had a higher pitched voice and the time of the year told me that it wasn't a pup . the ones to my front had high and low pitched voices so that told me it was a pair male and female . Way off to my right another pair answered them . They were down in the timber and rocky ridge not a place you tell any one flying even a helicopter to go after them . The sun was up and the shadows long when the pilot came on the radio for my location and if I had any thing located for him . I gave him my report and he came in he was off the mark on the pair as he buzzed the flats where they were I gave him some corrections and he came around again only to see them running up into the rocks and some scattered trees . He tried to get them to run back toward me into the open but being coyote they didn't corporate and laid low . I told him it was ok I would get them in the evening or the next morning and gave him the directions to the single coyote . She was in the open but ran into the bottom of a draw with a bunch of willows in it he kept circling while I got over there and went in on foot to push her out . I heard him slow the engine and glide in then a couple of shots the engine rev up the plane move up and circle come around again and the pop of the marker flags being deployed so I knew he had gotten her . I got back to the truck he asked me if I had any others located I told him of the other pair but that they weren't in a good or safe place to fly them . He went over that way and caught one out in the open that just stood there looking at the plane as he came in on him . They got it and marked it for me to go get it . You want to pick them up so you know what sex they are and if they have had any pups that year so you know what you have left to deal with . Knowing that information will give you an idea of how to go about working on the remaining coyote . You also want the coyote not to be able to find the dead coyote so they search for them , it makes your job easier if they don't know what happened to their mate . I ended up going back two times to clean up the left overs .
 
Reemty thank you , there is information for others to learn from but it's not always standing out like a flag . That sometimes is intentional and sometimes just the way I write . Unfortunately that pilot was lost a few years ago he came around and lost sight of the ground paying more attention to the coyote he was after and caught a wing tip on the ground spun in and the plane caught fire . Both the gunner and he were trapped in the plane . Flying for coyote is a lot of fun weather you are in the plane or on the ground locating it's interesting but a high risk job you know that going in and accept it . If you don't make it you went out doing what you enjoyed doing knowing that there was that possibility when you went out that morning . I am darned glad to have worked with those two people they defiantly made a difference in my life .
 
Back in the early 1950s my dad was the gunner for a farmer friend in a piper cub. They got into a tight turn over a creek and couldn't make it so the farmer dumped it right in the creek. Nobody got hurt. It was on the farmer's land. He went and got a tractor and winched it out. Never reported it to the FAA. I didn't find out about it until I was about 30 years old. He never told my mom.
 
Top