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After three days of much needed rain, it seemed like the perfect time to visit a nearby 640 acre citrus orchard. The manager of this farm allowed me to hunt it years ago, and it was usually a good producer of coyotes. However, in early 2004, he closed it off to hunting. Then in December of 2006, I decided to give him a courtesy call, and the conversation went good. He said "come on back, hunt if you want... and good luck to you". Not wanting to rush in, I waited until this evening to call it again.
The roads were going to be soft from all the water, so I parked only 150 yards off the main highway, and closed the truck door when a car went by, to muffle the sound. There was a breeze flowing up the hill, from my right to left as I walked south between the lemon trees.
After about a 600 yard stroll, I came to a clearing, and two roads divided by a 5 ft.deep drain. I stopped. This corner just felt like a good place to pull up, and try calling toward the east, and gain the benefit of the setting sun over my shoulder. I got set, and just as I was cycling the bolt, a coyote appeared cautiously out of the trees, across the road from me, and 250 yards east. Unaware of me, he walked down into the drain, and popped up on my side, then walked into the oranges trees on my side of the road, while I was reaching into my pocket for the bulb mouser. I got it and gave two sharp squeaks, and in seconds, he popped back out, squinted toward me, and proceeded to trot my way. I got set in the prone with the scope set at 5X.
This would be the first head-on shot opportunity Ive had in a while, and I held right under the chin, in the neck area above the breastplate. It almost seemed like he collapsed dead before the gun went off, it was that quick.
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Sometimes in close cover like this, another nearby coyote will get running, and accidentally come out into the danger zone, not knowing exactly where the recent shot came from. This happens more often in the mating season. But did not happen this time.
Light was running out, and the plan was to go west, into the sun, and wind, about 1200 yds and try again. There was a small "intersection" of dirt roads I wanted to try for the second and last set of the day. Here is the view the male coyote had looking west, toward me.
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The center of the next intersection is slightly raised, in a mound, and I placed the Foxpro caller near that center, and faced it south, down a path. I backed away from the intersection 40 yds, and sat near a tree. Doing this, I could see right and left a long ways, and the very narrow southern path, about 100 yds. I did not like this, as I would have liked to see further, and felt this is the most likely direction something would approach from, but as we all know, almost every setup has its drawbacks. Few are perfect. To gain more visibility, I would have to give up all cover, and be on open, flat dirt.
With an estimated 15 or 20 minutes of good light left, I turned on the call, and played the bluejay distress sound at low volume for a half minute, then offered 5 minutes of silence. I kept slowly scanning left and right, all the while the gun was pointed straight at that southern lane that I stongly suspected would produce. I repeated the calling pattern, to no avail, so shut it off after three tries. Sometimes silence is best. The air was perfectly still, and I honestly felt something would happen. But darkness was falling fast, and a few minutes later, it was time to throw in the towel.
Even though it was near dark, I still approached the caller with the rifle at the ready, and looked intently down that southern direction. What was this? I knelt immediately. Thought I saw something along the left edge of that road......it was light gray, and looked translucent and only barely visible. I slowly raised the gun, but at 5X, I could not get a good enough look. So I raised the power setting to 9 or 10X ....and what I gained in magnification, I lost in clarity and resolution! It did not help. But I could now make a vague body shape, sitting, with held low, and a grayish body. I tried to center the crosshairs on it, and fired. Nothing. Still there. What happened? Was this a gray burlap bag of sulfer or fertilizer laying there? Or a piece of decomposed granite from the Sierra Nevada mountains? I lowered the rifle, disappointed, and just then the critter jumped up and ran into the trees to his right, and out of sight. He had sat motionless for three or four seconds after the shot.
That was strange, and I honestly do not know for sure......but that seems like bobcat behavior. A coyote that you shoot at, and miss, at 68 yards, is not going to hesitate to run off, when he hears the gun. Usually, they hit the jets instantly. I took these pics of the claw marks he left on the fresh dirt. What do you guys think?
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The roads were going to be soft from all the water, so I parked only 150 yards off the main highway, and closed the truck door when a car went by, to muffle the sound. There was a breeze flowing up the hill, from my right to left as I walked south between the lemon trees.
After about a 600 yard stroll, I came to a clearing, and two roads divided by a 5 ft.deep drain. I stopped. This corner just felt like a good place to pull up, and try calling toward the east, and gain the benefit of the setting sun over my shoulder. I got set, and just as I was cycling the bolt, a coyote appeared cautiously out of the trees, across the road from me, and 250 yards east. Unaware of me, he walked down into the drain, and popped up on my side, then walked into the oranges trees on my side of the road, while I was reaching into my pocket for the bulb mouser. I got it and gave two sharp squeaks, and in seconds, he popped back out, squinted toward me, and proceeded to trot my way. I got set in the prone with the scope set at 5X.
This would be the first head-on shot opportunity Ive had in a while, and I held right under the chin, in the neck area above the breastplate. It almost seemed like he collapsed dead before the gun went off, it was that quick.
Sometimes in close cover like this, another nearby coyote will get running, and accidentally come out into the danger zone, not knowing exactly where the recent shot came from. This happens more often in the mating season. But did not happen this time.
Light was running out, and the plan was to go west, into the sun, and wind, about 1200 yds and try again. There was a small "intersection" of dirt roads I wanted to try for the second and last set of the day. Here is the view the male coyote had looking west, toward me.
The center of the next intersection is slightly raised, in a mound, and I placed the Foxpro caller near that center, and faced it south, down a path. I backed away from the intersection 40 yds, and sat near a tree. Doing this, I could see right and left a long ways, and the very narrow southern path, about 100 yds. I did not like this, as I would have liked to see further, and felt this is the most likely direction something would approach from, but as we all know, almost every setup has its drawbacks. Few are perfect. To gain more visibility, I would have to give up all cover, and be on open, flat dirt.
With an estimated 15 or 20 minutes of good light left, I turned on the call, and played the bluejay distress sound at low volume for a half minute, then offered 5 minutes of silence. I kept slowly scanning left and right, all the while the gun was pointed straight at that southern lane that I stongly suspected would produce. I repeated the calling pattern, to no avail, so shut it off after three tries. Sometimes silence is best. The air was perfectly still, and I honestly felt something would happen. But darkness was falling fast, and a few minutes later, it was time to throw in the towel.
Even though it was near dark, I still approached the caller with the rifle at the ready, and looked intently down that southern direction. What was this? I knelt immediately. Thought I saw something along the left edge of that road......it was light gray, and looked translucent and only barely visible. I slowly raised the gun, but at 5X, I could not get a good enough look. So I raised the power setting to 9 or 10X ....and what I gained in magnification, I lost in clarity and resolution! It did not help. But I could now make a vague body shape, sitting, with held low, and a grayish body. I tried to center the crosshairs on it, and fired. Nothing. Still there. What happened? Was this a gray burlap bag of sulfer or fertilizer laying there? Or a piece of decomposed granite from the Sierra Nevada mountains? I lowered the rifle, disappointed, and just then the critter jumped up and ran into the trees to his right, and out of sight. He had sat motionless for three or four seconds after the shot.
That was strange, and I honestly do not know for sure......but that seems like bobcat behavior. A coyote that you shoot at, and miss, at 68 yards, is not going to hesitate to run off, when he hears the gun. Usually, they hit the jets instantly. I took these pics of the claw marks he left on the fresh dirt. What do you guys think?
