The weather is HOT and uninviting for hunting, but I figured I could get a few stands in before getting too uncomfortable. I visited my "honey hole", a cattle CAFO (concentrated animal feeding operation) that has lots of coyotes hanging around. They hang for good reason. Here is a carcass I saw this morning that had been fed on by coyotes.
I'd been told (perhaps rightfully so) that coyotes respond to the call best in the cold of mid-winter. Given my modest success at calling in winter, I didn't really want to go out and be
less successful with summer hunts. But I couldn't stand the wait for prime-pelt season, and I "owed" it to the cattle rancher to take varmints off his property. So I went out.
I crept up to my usual 'hide', behind a stack of fence posts (just visible in the back-right of the previous image) and didn't see any coyote activity. This was discouraging, as I have almost
always seen animals here. The recent placement of portable corral fencing (also visible in the image) led to me choosing a different shooting point.
I chose a lonely fencepost near the top of the slope, overlooking my prime area, and set out my e-caller. After confirming with binoculars that there were no coyotes in view, I played rabbit distress. Within two minutes a coyote was perched on a dirt mound surrounded by dense green weeds. The mound is visible in the image below, centered in the dark green, in the shadow toward the left side of the image. This later lasered out to 220 yds.
That critter must have been bedded there in the brush, perhaps with a den. I was very fortunate that it didn't notice me taking my position on the hill. The sounds drew him out.
I might have taken the shot right there, but the adrenaline was pumping too furiously for me to make that shot. Besides, he came off the mound, headed in my direction in very few seconds. I watched and waited. And waited.
I caught a glimpse of coyote behind green brush moving to my left (that place is in the image above). I repositioned my rifle for a shot at the point where he would have come out, but I never saw him come out.
I consider myself "lucky" if a coyote hears my calls, even luckier still if he comes in and I see him. In the past, when I saw a coyote retreating, I considered my luck "played out", and would promptly find a new stand.
But this location is too beautiful. The hour too early. I had to give this site more time. I'd seen the pro's (on DVD) calling in a second or third coyote from a stand, so maybe I had a chance. Perhaps it was my new-found confidence in having an e-caller.
I called another 15 minutes, and a young dog popped into the corner of an open field. I was rested (adrenaline abated) and ready. A confident shot to his chest put him down in his tracks.
Here is the view back from the 'yote to my stand, at the base of that lonely pole. I can see, here, that I was sky-lined.
TL Bradford suggested I skin one of my summer 'yotes out, for the practice, and I intended to, but I didn't have any paper towels to clean up with. I saved the tail and left the rest for his brethren. Here is hanging from my scratch-built pole. I concluded that I got him up in the air
too much. I need to cut it down a bit.
A young one, don't you think? This season's pup? His hide didn't look bad. No mange, no ticks. One small bullet hole (no exit wound!)
A nice enough hunt to keep my appetite whetted until fall.
Ivar
