Foggy Hunting

[1Shooter]

A friend and I went looking for some song dogs a week or two ago, and after two dry stands we decided to pack up and go to a different area. Light was failing and when we got set up at our last spot, the snow looked almost blue because of the low lighting. Wind was from the north-west about 5-10 mph and we were looking west. After about 15-20 minutes of calling and seeing and hearing nothing, we were about ready to call it a night. There was quite a bit of fog rolling through. My hunting buddy Jon quickly turns to the south with his gun and then I see it - jogging away from us at a slant. I lip squeak and the coyote stops broadside. Jon shoots, misses, and the coyote takes off running. Another one barely escapes with his life A couple of days later, Jon, another friend, Nate, and I go out hunting. We were sitting up on a hill overlooking a few good draws, a frozen over creek and about a half-mile of stubble field. We see about 15 mulies walking in to our stand, and after calling for about 10 minutes I see a yote about 300 yards out. Nate had been dumping his goose carcasses in one of the stubble fields we were looking over and this coyote was sniffing around on the edge of the stubble field for goose. I finally get it to commit to the call, and it gets to about 150 yards. The wind was 5-10 mph from the east, and we were looking west, so the wind wasn't ideal. It winded us and took off. I took a running shot but missed...BAD. I forgot to turn the power back up on my scope from last night's foggy hunting. No wonder it looked so small 30 seconds after I miss my shot Nate points out another one coming down just about the same path as the first coyote. He stops, looks at us, and I hear a BOOM beside me. Nate's .257 hit it square in the front of the chest and exited out it's side. Here's Nate's yote:

I went out southwest of Watford City this weekend. Got set up before sunrise and started calling as soon as I could make out shapes. Had one come in to about 150-200 yards. Once again, pretty darn thick fog kept the power on my scope down because otherwise it doesn't seem to focus well or I can't see well through it. Took my shot and missed. I hit the Ki-Yi and after about 10 seconds of that I had two coyotes howl back at me from farther back in the hills. I tried howling them in but with no luck. They sounded like mature yotes, had a deeper howl than most I've ever heard. We talked back and forth for about a minute then they stopped responding to my calls. I stopped calling for awhile and just looked around. Nothing showed up after 5-7 minutes, so I just packed up and took off to go help with chores. The badlands sure look pretty right now!

[Daryl]

Nice job. You should get ahold of me if Sunday looks good. Maybe we can get out in the morning for a couple stands.

[Tbush]

1shooter sounds like its starting to work for ya..soon you won't miss ( we all miss)

[1Shooter]

1shooter sounds like its starting to work for ya..soon you won't miss ( we all miss)

It's expensive to shoot the .30-06 too! Need to pick up a .223 soon...

[bucksnbears]

i like it that your not getting discouraged and still trying. things will click for you soon take Daryl up on the offer. he can't hit the broadside of a barn either but he may show you a few thing about set-ups

[Daryl]

spot on bucks

[lyonch]

keep it up we all started somewhere

[1Shooter]

Daryl I sent you a pm. It seems like I've been having a lot more luck calling lately, just need to get a gun that I can afford to shoot and make into a real tack driver. The .30-06 is great for deer, but they're a much bigger target than a coyote.