My most successful day so far! Second triple of my life!
Posted: Mon Jan 18, 2010 5:33 pm
I haven’t posted much here this past winter, because I haven’t been calling much. However, on Sunday I had my most successful calling day I have had in the 5 seasons I have been calling predators.
First I need to share this photo from two weeks ago. Papapete and I were out hunting when we stumbled across a great stand that had been within a mile of some land we like to hunt. After a few series a deer comes out of the trees in the background and started stomping and blowing air, while looking back at the trees. We knew something was there, we just couldn’t see it. Finally we see the coyote, but he is walking away from us, and sits down about 400 yards out. I tried some ki yis and some distress and he doesn’t budge. I gave him about 8 minutes of silence, then did a quiet lip squeak. He heard the sound at 400 yards even with my facemask on! He comes in to about 120 yards and gives me a pretty shot. He would have come closer but my bipod got stuck in the snow and I was committed. My 243 87 Grain BTHP reloads entered his brisket and never exited. Nice 33 pound male with a prime coat. Notice the mad bomber hat as it was -18 at the time of the kill.
Ok, now on to what I consider my most successful day up to this point in my calling career. Sunday I was home alone as the wife and kids were out of town, so of course I had to get out calling. Papapete and xdeano were also gone, so I had to go by myself.
First stand was dry. Second stand I went to the place where I lip squeaked the male you just read about. Played some cottontail on my PM-4 and did some ki-yis, and after about 20 minutes this coyote pops up over a hill downwind of me. He disappears in a low spot and pops up over a snowdrift. I can only see the middle of his brisket and up but I quickly get on him and pull the trigger since he was directly downwind. In the picture you can see the hill in the background where I was calling from. It was about a 60 yard shot I figure.
Here is a photo of my Lure The Fur custom howler with my Lil Dog mouthpiece. Papapete made me this call and it did the job Luring the Fur on this stand!
Next I did another stand which was dry.
Then on to a stand where I took a double with Brad T a few years back and a single this past fall.
It was snowed in pretty bad so I had to snowshoe it in about a mile. Since I had never called it in the winter I had to wander around a little more than I like to find a nice elevated spot, and so I could see through all the brush. At the time I was worried I had already messed up the stand.
I get situated and start with a few lone howls. Within seconds a coyote crests a hill about 300 yards in front of me and to my left. He walks down the hill and sits. I try some lip squeaks and he stays still. Then something catches my eye, and I look about 50 yards below me and I have a coyote jumping up and down, left and right, trying to see through the brush to see the howling coyote (me). It must have been bedded down in the reeds which were no more than 100 yards in front of me. I never saw it approach, as I was watching the other one. I let this one have it at about 60 yards. As soon as I take the shot, another coyote crests the hill and joins the sitting coyote. They get up and walk to my left and out of view.
In this picture you can see my vantage point to my left. The one I shot was in the middle of the screen where there is a shooting opening. The two would now be off camera to the left. You can also see the reeds where I assume the first one was bedded down.
About this time another coyote starts giving warning barks and howls off towards that deer stand you see in the pic. I glass and glass but never saw it. I kept at the calling with some ki yis and some distress. About 5 to 10 minutes later the pair that walked out of view emerge from the reeds, about where coyote #1 is laying. I do some lip squeaking to get one of them into a clearing so I can shoot it. A nice frontal shot at about 50 yards ended that one’s life. After the shot coyote #3 started bounding away to my right. I start barking and howling with my voice and his bounds get higher and bouncier, and higher and bouncier, and higher and bouncier, and I can just tell he going to stop. He makes about a 100 yard long arc in front of the reeds to my right. Finally stops about 75 yards in front of me…behind a bush! I lip squeak and he takes a few steps and I fire. Coyote #3 down!
This picture shows the vantage point to my right. He is laying somewhere between my gun barrel and the two sticks. You can get a good reference with that same tree stand from the other picture.
I stayed on stand another 20 minutes or so to try to get that 4th coyote who was warning barking to show up. The warning barks were going on the ENTIRE time I was working the 2nd and 3rd coyotes. They should have listened to their elder!
There it is! My SECOND triple of my lifetime! I got my first one last fall. Luckily I had used my Eberlestock X-1 pack for the hike in. Since I was by myself, I had to get pictures of my triple, so I used my pack as a tripod. It took a few attempts.
It was a long drag back to the truck—1 mile, snowshoes, 3 coyotes. I am glad I run as much as I do! But it was well worth it. I went immediately to the landowner’s farm to let him know he had 3 less song dogs running around. He was very excited and talked and talked for about 30 minutes. But I needed a breather.
I finished with two more stands for the day but struck out. All coyotes on this day were frontal shots with my 223 shooting Black Hills 50 Grain V Max. All coyotes were DRT.
If you made it this far you’ve done your reading for the day. Thanks for reading about my most memorable calling day so far.
First I need to share this photo from two weeks ago. Papapete and I were out hunting when we stumbled across a great stand that had been within a mile of some land we like to hunt. After a few series a deer comes out of the trees in the background and started stomping and blowing air, while looking back at the trees. We knew something was there, we just couldn’t see it. Finally we see the coyote, but he is walking away from us, and sits down about 400 yards out. I tried some ki yis and some distress and he doesn’t budge. I gave him about 8 minutes of silence, then did a quiet lip squeak. He heard the sound at 400 yards even with my facemask on! He comes in to about 120 yards and gives me a pretty shot. He would have come closer but my bipod got stuck in the snow and I was committed. My 243 87 Grain BTHP reloads entered his brisket and never exited. Nice 33 pound male with a prime coat. Notice the mad bomber hat as it was -18 at the time of the kill.
Ok, now on to what I consider my most successful day up to this point in my calling career. Sunday I was home alone as the wife and kids were out of town, so of course I had to get out calling. Papapete and xdeano were also gone, so I had to go by myself.
First stand was dry. Second stand I went to the place where I lip squeaked the male you just read about. Played some cottontail on my PM-4 and did some ki-yis, and after about 20 minutes this coyote pops up over a hill downwind of me. He disappears in a low spot and pops up over a snowdrift. I can only see the middle of his brisket and up but I quickly get on him and pull the trigger since he was directly downwind. In the picture you can see the hill in the background where I was calling from. It was about a 60 yard shot I figure.
Here is a photo of my Lure The Fur custom howler with my Lil Dog mouthpiece. Papapete made me this call and it did the job Luring the Fur on this stand!
Next I did another stand which was dry.
Then on to a stand where I took a double with Brad T a few years back and a single this past fall.
It was snowed in pretty bad so I had to snowshoe it in about a mile. Since I had never called it in the winter I had to wander around a little more than I like to find a nice elevated spot, and so I could see through all the brush. At the time I was worried I had already messed up the stand.
I get situated and start with a few lone howls. Within seconds a coyote crests a hill about 300 yards in front of me and to my left. He walks down the hill and sits. I try some lip squeaks and he stays still. Then something catches my eye, and I look about 50 yards below me and I have a coyote jumping up and down, left and right, trying to see through the brush to see the howling coyote (me). It must have been bedded down in the reeds which were no more than 100 yards in front of me. I never saw it approach, as I was watching the other one. I let this one have it at about 60 yards. As soon as I take the shot, another coyote crests the hill and joins the sitting coyote. They get up and walk to my left and out of view.
In this picture you can see my vantage point to my left. The one I shot was in the middle of the screen where there is a shooting opening. The two would now be off camera to the left. You can also see the reeds where I assume the first one was bedded down.
About this time another coyote starts giving warning barks and howls off towards that deer stand you see in the pic. I glass and glass but never saw it. I kept at the calling with some ki yis and some distress. About 5 to 10 minutes later the pair that walked out of view emerge from the reeds, about where coyote #1 is laying. I do some lip squeaking to get one of them into a clearing so I can shoot it. A nice frontal shot at about 50 yards ended that one’s life. After the shot coyote #3 started bounding away to my right. I start barking and howling with my voice and his bounds get higher and bouncier, and higher and bouncier, and higher and bouncier, and I can just tell he going to stop. He makes about a 100 yard long arc in front of the reeds to my right. Finally stops about 75 yards in front of me…behind a bush! I lip squeak and he takes a few steps and I fire. Coyote #3 down!
This picture shows the vantage point to my right. He is laying somewhere between my gun barrel and the two sticks. You can get a good reference with that same tree stand from the other picture.
I stayed on stand another 20 minutes or so to try to get that 4th coyote who was warning barking to show up. The warning barks were going on the ENTIRE time I was working the 2nd and 3rd coyotes. They should have listened to their elder!
There it is! My SECOND triple of my lifetime! I got my first one last fall. Luckily I had used my Eberlestock X-1 pack for the hike in. Since I was by myself, I had to get pictures of my triple, so I used my pack as a tripod. It took a few attempts.
It was a long drag back to the truck—1 mile, snowshoes, 3 coyotes. I am glad I run as much as I do! But it was well worth it. I went immediately to the landowner’s farm to let him know he had 3 less song dogs running around. He was very excited and talked and talked for about 30 minutes. But I needed a breather.
I finished with two more stands for the day but struck out. All coyotes on this day were frontal shots with my 223 shooting Black Hills 50 Grain V Max. All coyotes were DRT.
If you made it this far you’ve done your reading for the day. Thanks for reading about my most memorable calling day so far.
