Well, today was quite a day, absolutley beeeutiful with a light breeze blowing from the east presented us a cool sunny morning as the sun slowly peered over the horizon and the dogs were singin' from hilltop to the valley floor.
VarmintV and I started out at dawn but sometimes even on the best of days things just don't go well. So we came in early so he could go to church. I grabbed up one of my wifes fresh baked brownies and a quick swig of hot coffee then switched up rifles, putting the 6.8 away I grabbed up the Savage 308. Somehow I was able to talk my wife into tagging along with me. We only have to walk a very short distance to be in some very good hunting ground, so out the door we went.
We walked about a mile and setup on a rock bluff overlooking a nice draw letting things kind of calm down for about 15 minutes or so we listened to a woodpecker pounding away on a nearby tree. We watched the geese lifting off from the pond only a 1/2 mile away, we glassed several of the local mulies meandering through the trees, what a morning.
I started things off with a good long howl, then a few more along with a couple of yips to get the attention of anything with fur and paws. After about 10 minutes my wife spots movement several hundred yards out, through the binos we confirm two coyotes and they are headed our way.
Minutes later I switch over to a few pup yips and before long these two have covered a fair amount of ground in short order. I go silent and whisper to my wife if she would like to try her hand at one of these dogs, surprisingly, she agreed. So I set her up behind the Savage 16 and told her to wait until she has a standing shot if at all possible.
Now I switch up to my little blue coaxer and watch as they continue coming our way and reassuring my wife to take her time but get up on glass and be ready. They round this small rock outcropping and one stops behind some brush not offering a shot. I laser the one I can see and whisper 89 yards get ready. I call out again with the coaxer and the male appears from behind the rocks and trots up to 78 yards and looks back at his mate. I whispered to my wife do you have him, she said yes, I said take him when it feels right.
As I watched the young male through the binos, the 308 roared to life sending the 125gr Speer TNT spinning with full force at a chrono'd 3100 FPS, smashing through fur and splattering on the rocks behind dumping the young pup where he stood. The female turned and ran for dear life never looking back I was so pumped, just like the day when she killed her first deer a couple of years ago, she is pretty darn good behind the trigger, must be all the excellent training I gave her
Here is a photo of the pup she shot, it really don't matter if it gets in the count for SBA, but it was a test for her and I and it seemed to come together at the moment. I guess patience and good calling really does make a difference some of the times. VarmintV are still shaking in our boots after being almost trampeled the other day when two came screaming into us only to stop at 15 feet for a quick stare down then a fast boogie exit stage left.
Here is my bride and the 78 yard coyote....she makes me proud.
Later on this afternoon VarmintV and I went back to the same general location and we spotted one dog at 416 yards but just couldn't get him to commit. All we had was a Foxpro E-caller and only used a couple of howls as the night drew to a close. Nothing for either of us ending todays hunt with a spectacular sunset indicating a final hunt of this seasons contest.
Again I would like to thank Big10guage and Bullelk for their kindness in allowing VarmintV and I the opportunity to hunt with such a class act. I want to congratulate all those that really put forth the effort to call and kill coyotes, my hat is off to each and everyone of you. Great job guys
maybe we can do this again with you all next year.
Till then, happy callin'
