Filming and Calling Coyotes (There's more than one way to shoot a coyote)

Filming and Calling Coyotes
There's more than one way to shoot a coyote


Besides calling or stalking coyotes, don’t overlook a stand on live stock kills. Farmers and Ranchers are always losing animals for one reason or another, and coyotes in many cases, just can’t past up a free meal. First, be sure to get permission to hunt over such kills. If asked, most Farmers and Ranchers will let you hunt coyotes, in some cases they are more than happy to have someone volunteer to eradicate their varmint problems.
Once permission is obtained to hunt over a kill, go look the area over to find an approach in which you are not likely be seen or heard. Look for a position where you have a good field of view and plenty of shooting lanes. It is a good idea to check wind directions. Down wind or cross wind is preferable for your positioning. Try to get a spot that allows you the closest shot possible. I like it to be under a 100 yards, for me, the closer the better.

One of the local Ranchers recently let me know that they had a horse die and he had dragged it off into an area about 400 yards from the barn. The coyotes had been on it and he wanted them thinned out. The first thing I did was to locate the kill and look for the best shooting position. I found a spot about 150 yards away with about a 20 foot elevation on the kill. The only problem was that the ground dropped off pretty steeply just past the kill, so any coyotes below would not be seen. That was the only real drawback to this spot, other then it was 150 yards away, but, I would be able to shoot in a prone position and could steady my gun for a good shot. The wind was blowing from west to east, which was the direction I would come in from. I was up early the next morning and drove to just over a ¼ mile from the kill and walked the rest of the way. I had no sooner left my truck than coyotes erupted in howls all over the place, some, very close. I climb up a small dirt mount to get a look up the road and glass. I soon saw two coyotes walking toward me at about 250 yards. I was not in the best spot for a shot, being in the open. I slowly sat down, got my shooting stick ready and my gun on them. I located the two coyotes in my scope and could tell that the male had seen me. He didn’t know what I was but I could tell by his body language he did not like it and was getting ready to leave. With the cross hair on him I squeezed the trigger and watch them both go from 0 to 100 in 1 second! A miss! So, off to the kill I went, only to see another coyote leaving after he'd spotted me. The next morning was clear and cold as I approached my stand. I began to glass the kill and could see one coyote on it. The coyote was tearing at the hide and chasing away magpies. I crouched as low as I could and crept up, then crawled the rest of the way in to my shooting spot. The cross hair rested right behind the shoulder when the trigger was squeezed. The report of the “whop” told me I'd hit my target. I could see through my scope, the coyote drop, and almost as quickly, jump up and ran down the hill and out of sight! He only went 50 yards then dropped. This is the first coyote I shot with the 17 Rem and the 29 gr bullet that ran off, but over a four day period I killed 3 more coyotes. They all dropped in their tracks. The 17 Rem has been, by far, the easiest on hides of any caliber I have used and the 29 gr bullet has just been lethal on all the coyotes I have shot.
T.Martin