Ramblings and Such From Hunting Coyote
- Thread starter DSheetz
- Start date
Help Support Long Range Hunting Forum
Over the years I have found that a good knife is a must have when hunting anything . When I was 5 years old I saved my 10 cents a month allowance till I could buy a small folding knife from the gas station in Midwest Wyoming where we lived . My dad worked as a pumper for Continental Oil Company there by the Tea Pot Dome Navel Reserve . It was a small two bladed folding knife that had stripped tin sides which were held on by tabs that were folded over to keep them in place . I remember this knife well as I had the small blade open and wasn't watching what I was doing and fell down a set of steps . The blade ended up just below my right eye . Mom didn't freak out too bad she pulled it out put a band aid on me . I didn't tell her that I couldn't see out of that eye as I was so afraid because I couldn't that I just kept it to myself . A week or so latter we went down to my grand ma and grandpas in Glenrock I was standing in their living room looking out the window when I saw a small pin hole of light in my eye . As I stood there the light grew bigger till I had my full vision back in my left eye . With all the silly things we do as kids I really can't understand how we lived to get as old as we are . So as we move along I'll talk latter on what I like in a good knife for differing jobs we want to preform with them as I can't see any one knife that fits all situations .
3 coyotes today all spot and stalk, made 3 stalks, got coyotes on two of them. 1st stalk I spotted a pair followed them for a little over a mile, they went out of sight right away but 1" of snow kept me in the game. Finally got into a canal and and kept going along. When I am stalking I have the 204 crossways on my back, shotgun on my right shoulder and a two legged trigger stick, works great all the way up and I use it to rest binos on, rock steady glassing, this is the KEY to getting in on the coyotes I have to spot them before they see me. I am constantly using the glasses to work the landscape over. After a while you get real good at spotting an ear or an outline in the stubble. For some reason these coyotes out west lay mostly in the stubble even though there is lots of brome grass water ways and canals. Wind was 10-20 today. Spotted the male at 600 yards and closed the gap to 268 yards, wind was full effect so I held off 5-6 " and hit him center mass, no exit, no blood, he was curled up sleeping with nHis belly towards me.
Next coyote was on a pivot walked 3/4 mile down a canal, my wind bumped a pair on the way and he ran when they did. There are so many coyotes here it's a challenge not to bump some sneaking on one. Didn't keep accurate count but saw 15 or more today. Burned up most of the day and at 3:30 I drove 1/2 mile spotted one on leeward side of a big hill in the stubble, he was a mile away, with 8 x56 Steiner binos. He was 200 yards off a winding canal, was able to drive 300 yards closer behind a hill and got in the canal, took a while to get there but was within 300 yards of him but the contour of the hill wouldn't allow me to see him. Was standing on side of canal glassing west when 300 yards north of me a coyote stood up and stretched, just got out of its bed, ranged it and got rifle ready, I looked to the right where the coyote was looking and spotted another one curled up in the stubble. The first one walked 75 yards parallel to the other one and I crossed the canal and went prone, ranged them again
Next coyote was on a pivot walked 3/4 mile down a canal, my wind bumped a pair on the way and he ran when they did. There are so many coyotes here it's a challenge not to bump some sneaking on one. Didn't keep accurate count but saw 15 or more today. Burned up most of the day and at 3:30 I drove 1/2 mile spotted one on leeward side of a big hill in the stubble, he was a mile away, with 8 x56 Steiner binos. He was 200 yards off a winding canal, was able to drive 300 yards closer behind a hill and got in the canal, took a while to get there but was within 300 yards of him but the contour of the hill wouldn't allow me to see him. Was standing on side of canal glassing west when 300 yards north of me a coyote stood up and stretched, just got out of its bed, ranged it and got rifle ready, I looked to the right where the coyote was looking and spotted another one curled up in the stubble. The first one walked 75 yards parallel to the other one and I crossed the canal and went prone, ranged them again
Last edited:
And they were at 310, wind was going down, both stood up and I put the 300 yard hash mark on one and touched off and shot a touch under, that coyote ran west the other one went 5 yards and stopped, ka-pow, I could see her drop in the scope and I turned on the runner, I barked 3-4 times and she stopped and looked back at the other coyote, all I needed to put the crosshairs on her and down she went. I am getting better at focusing on getting the second coyote while they are standing. That 39 grain SBK in that 204 just hammers them dead, instantly down hardly a twitch on any body shot. The coyotes today were a young male, young female and an old female, the old one was missing a lot of guard hairs on her hips, side and tail big time. Other two were great shape light colored coyotes. This spot and stalking is a blast, addictive as heck, and what little I have tried these coyotes sure are not interested in calling.......today was 27 coyotes since October 33 since spring all but one was 204, love the gun and now have a 6-24-50mm scope on it and it makes a difference on small targets.... like it better than the 4-12-40mm....
Last edited:
Straight Shooter
Well-Known Member
Scott, why do you think they are not coming to the call?
Cattle every where, 4-5 kill pits with meat in them, mostly warm temps so not hard up at all. Not much snow so mousing is easy. And I think a few guys have worked them a little. This morning while it was calm I spotted two pairs a mile away and one male was challenge howling the other pair. My guess is in the next couple weeks coyote vocalizations will get better. All of these coyotes are fat. I have never seen an area with so many coyotes and laid out for spot and stalk. Last few weeks I have taken 12 out of this area. And it has not put a dent in the population......one thing though, I know where they like to lay and how they like to move through the country. 
Last edited:
DMP25-06
Well-Known Member
ReemtyJ ,
Thank you for your daily hunt report . I really look forward to your posts that read like a play-by-play Major League Baseball report from the 1950's on the radio at 10:00 PM , on summer nights , when I was a kid .
Your line score today was 3 for 4 on hits , BUT 3 for 3 on DDD ( Dead Dogs Down ).
Impressive shooting .
Keep the daily reports coming in .
Dmp25-06
These coyotes just love to lay in the stubble and when possible to get higher you can spot them, I have howled some also and they will lift their heads but do not get up and I can key in on them. Stubble is about a foot tall some dry land some irrigated.
Thanks, every time I screw up I go home and analyze what I did wrong so I can improve, last Saturday wind was 35-40 and I missed 5 different ones......went home down loaded Sierra ballistic calculator with 10 mph wind drift at every 100 yards, Sunday I killed two for two shots.....the drift charts are spot on.....Saturday I burned up a bunch of shells cause I wasn't giving correct wind drift holds
This area will be good come calving season, feb-mar......hides won't be good but O well......still gonna Ka- Pow them
Straight Shooter
Well-Known Member
With 35-40mph winds you must have been holding off in feet.
What I have seen with that 39 grain SBK is it comes apart fast and gives that coyotes the full energy load, I probably have had a handful of pass thrus on body shots and not much comes out.... angle shots it's a mess but broadside or head on it goes right in, hard to find entry hole
