First Coyote & Story

[Firetwin3]

With all of the high school's wondrous joys and work I have yet to have a chance to sit down and write about my first coyote, and a memory I will not be able to forget. There were many lessons learned, and questions left unanswered in a solo 15 year old's mind.

Opening morning of 2014 modern deer I had selected a ridge on the thousands of acres of private property we had been allowed to hunt on, one that no one had been on for many years from our hunting party. About 8/10 the ways up the ridge was where I had chosen to sit figuring I would have good shot lanes both up and down the hill into 2 different bowls. For the first 15 minutes of opening light there had been no deer, especially when another hunter crossed the ridge directly in front of me, walked towards me within a hundred yards and continued down the bowl completely blowing everything I could see. I sat there dumbfounded that someone could get so close to me after glassing me up with his bino's, and continue in the direction of me. About twenty minutes later another man did the exact same thing, following the exact same path and eventually meeting up with his buddy and going over the ridge i had been sitting on.

Realizing that I had lost this particular section of ridge I chose to head on down as I was over a mile from the base and I had hoped that there was something grazing on a lower section, and was in possession of 3 or more points. Before i left i glassed a plateau nearly at the base, and found 2 bucks that I never got to fully count the points leaving me to this day wondering. As i side hilled continually dropping into the basin I constantly looked around hoping to find a big buck, but this would again leave more questions than awnsers. I got a half a mile down the hill when i watched a doe and a spike graze and then eventually head over the opposite ridge of me. Excited that these were the first deer i had seen in range, my excitement of this years deer season grew. This is when the story gets real interesting.

I stand up and continue to head down the hill. About 100 yards down the hill I once again see does graze over the hill opposite of me, when I look over to my left and see antlers, lots of antlers, coming towards me at 40 yards. I quickly bring my savage .270, but at 12 power all i could see was head. This antler mass struck me as it was too close and too fast to see points, but i remember seeing his tongue hanging out panting. He drops into the basin of the canyon and i sprint ahead to the cliff band in front me. From this point I could hundreds of yards both up and down the canyon, in front of me hundreds of yards on the opposite ridge, and most of my ridge up the canyon. Immediately i start searching for the buck with my gun on my pack ready to fire. But i could never find him again. The draw beneath me didn't have brush, and the brush on the canyon was lower than my knee height. He just vanished. So i sat there on that rocky ledge vantage point for half an hour hoping that he had just bedded down in the basin, but he never came up. During that half an hour, with hundreds of yards of visibility in all directions i saw a spike feed over the ridge opposite, and then back over again.

Finally a doe and 2 fawns came up from the basin, and settled in feeding and milling about. With a round still in the chamber I ranged the deer at 240 yards, just to practice my pre-shot routine as I have only shot 1 deer before, and this is year number 2 of hunting alone. Quickly the does and fawns snapped their necks around behind them, towards the opposite ridge and i dropped to prone and got my gun ready for the buck to come up out. The doe and fawns looked on edge, but kept feeding. And i kept looking over to hopefully see the buck coming up. Quickly the deer snapped their heads around and took off at a full sprint up my canyon, and i looked over just in time to see a flash of yellow in a full sprint towards the deer. The hunter was watching a hunt. I quickly snapped my rangefinder up, and the coyote stopped to look over his shoulder. 242. He then took off at a full sprint on the same path those deer took, and after about 30 yards i guessed, he stopped quartered towards. 270. I had my gun ready for him, lined up on the shoulder and boom. When i shot my gun was 2 inches away from my shoulder as where it was sitting put it at a perfect rest. For 5 seconds after the shot, because of the loud gunshot and slamming of the scope into my face i was stunned and unsure of what I was doing. Immediately I came to and saw a flash of yellow going into a small finger, and then severe shaking of the brush which quickly stopped.

I gathered my things, guessed about where the coyote entered the brush, and set off in hopes that i actually hit him at yards over 270. This was a scary thought as I had missed my previous deer twice at 282 and the third shot hit him in the head. I followed the brush line in the finger, and about 20 yards before where i thought he entered i found a pile of yellow in the black berry brambles. Success. Except his head was facing me, and i had to  reach in and grab him. A scary task for this boy, and i swear to god he moved when i first when to grab him. So i threw a big rock onto his head, and found that he didn't move when struck so i figured i was safe. I drug him out and found that i had put it just above the shoulder, and gutted him in 1 quick shot. A tear swelled in my eye as this was the first animal i had taken solo, and i truly believed i had saved a fawn I had been watching. It was a proud moment i'll never forget, but it left so many questions in my mind. Why did those guys walk so close to me when they knew I was there? Where did the big buck go? Did those 2 bucks I saw end up being legal? How did this coyote run 50+ yards with most of his guts hanging outside of him? Why did my 130 grain bullet do so much damage without hitting bone? What would my dad say taking a coyote on opening morning? And what was I going to do next with this dead animal? 

He was too far gone to skin, however i tried. I ended up cutting the head off for a European mount, but the camp threw the head away without knowing my intentions, they just thought i put the head in camp as a prank. He ended up being 3-4 inches from head to tail tip longer than my gun (savage 111). The only photo i have comparing his size is too graphic for Hunt Wa, but i might be able to black box it. The first photo is my opening morning spot before it was blown, and the rest tell the story. The story of this years deer (2 days later) will have to be written later.

[jayrod9528]

Way to go. Good story.

[BOWHUNTER45]

Right on ...do not stop there ..get some calls and continue on 

[MLBowhunting]

Great job. 

[jasnt]

Right on ...do not stop there ..get some calls and continue on 

ya that. Only thing more exciting than your first coyote will be your first called coyote!

[dmv9]

Great story!

[fast1]

Good job kid! This story will be told for years! Sounds to me like some one might get a bug for dog huntin!
I can tell ya my pops would probably have lost one of his whites boots up my ,,,any how,,, if I would have shot at a coyote opening day. Would have anyway but ya he probably wouldn't have been to happy. But Heck of a story.

[Firetwin3]

Good job kid! This story will be told for years! Sounds to me like some one might get a bug for dog huntin!
I can tell ya my pops would probably have lost one of his whites boots up my ,,,any how,,, if I would have shot at a coyote opening day. Would have anyway but ya he probably wouldn't have been to happy. But Heck of a story.

Thank all you guys for the wonderful responses. My dad gave me the thumbs up on this coyote since it was my first, but gave me a reminder that we were meat hunting. In fact the morning I shot my buck (Monday) I had a super fat beautiful coyote at 120 yards broadside, but his meat hunting speech reminded me to let him go which resulted in my deer coming into view less than 15 minutes later. 

[T Pearce]

Good for you!
Thanks for sharing.

[CoyoteWacker]

Loved the write up, thanks for the story!