By sheer fate, I stopped walking along this dirt road at just the right moment. After parking the truck "three fields" back.... (3/4 mile)....I really had not expected to see anything this early in the afternoon. The plan was to get to the fence, straight ahead, sit and scan a few minutes, and then cross into the pasture, after the cattle had grazed out of the way. The herd was headed left-to-right, almost all gone, and I was trying to time it that they would not spook and run off.
I sat a few feet from a telephone pole. No sooner had I focused the Nikon 8X40 binocular, and I thought a tumbleweed had moved. That really caught my attention, especially since there was NO wind at all. Hmmmm. Then it moved again, and it became clear that a coyote was nudging around the base of it, sniffing for mice. If he had not moved, I never would have seen this tan ghost. The camera was in my right pocket, so I quietly un-capped the lens, and zoomed up to 8X and snapped these pics. The coyote was slowly walking right-to-left........and along the fenceline, sniffing as he went. The white vent, or pipe measured 331 yards from me.
I sat quiet, as the calls, and Foxpro were in my backpack, and still strapped on my back. There was no way I could move around to get them out, without being spotted. He then cautiously crossed under the fence, and onto my side, but when he did, he became very suspicious that something was just not right. Even though I felt this was reaching the upper limits of the 222 and 36 grain Starke, I had killed a very high percentage at this range, as long as I had a secure hold, and a motionless target. I chirped at him, and this aroused his curiosity, but also his degree of caution. He just knew that a bird chirp should come from a bird, and not a blob sitting at the edge of a road 331 yds away. He cocked his head, and was not coming one step my way. Should have just kept quiet. I positioned the gun on my left knee, and braced the buttstock with my left hand. It was time. Every time he looked my way, he was looking longer, and walking faster. But something along that road smelled good, as he kept stopping every 10 yards or so.
Minutes were passing... and I realized my eyes were dry now, from not blinking for a while. But he kept moving, dropping his head, looking for mice, then at me. And at this range, I needed him to stand still. It seemed like one more chirp would send him packing, so that idea was dismissed. Just when I remembered to breathe, he stepped into a clear area, and I balanced the horizontal crosshair just above his spine, and the vertical right behind the shoulder. This felt like a 99% sure thing.........and a split second after the shot went his way....the thud of approval came back loud and clear! Motionless at first, and then a flip of the tail, to signal the end.
It was still early, but in the next three stands in as many hours, I never saw or heard another Coyote, but felt very fortunate to have taken this one. Sometimes things just work your way.
I sat a few feet from a telephone pole. No sooner had I focused the Nikon 8X40 binocular, and I thought a tumbleweed had moved. That really caught my attention, especially since there was NO wind at all. Hmmmm. Then it moved again, and it became clear that a coyote was nudging around the base of it, sniffing for mice. If he had not moved, I never would have seen this tan ghost. The camera was in my right pocket, so I quietly un-capped the lens, and zoomed up to 8X and snapped these pics. The coyote was slowly walking right-to-left........and along the fenceline, sniffing as he went. The white vent, or pipe measured 331 yards from me.
I sat quiet, as the calls, and Foxpro were in my backpack, and still strapped on my back. There was no way I could move around to get them out, without being spotted. He then cautiously crossed under the fence, and onto my side, but when he did, he became very suspicious that something was just not right. Even though I felt this was reaching the upper limits of the 222 and 36 grain Starke, I had killed a very high percentage at this range, as long as I had a secure hold, and a motionless target. I chirped at him, and this aroused his curiosity, but also his degree of caution. He just knew that a bird chirp should come from a bird, and not a blob sitting at the edge of a road 331 yds away. He cocked his head, and was not coming one step my way. Should have just kept quiet. I positioned the gun on my left knee, and braced the buttstock with my left hand. It was time. Every time he looked my way, he was looking longer, and walking faster. But something along that road smelled good, as he kept stopping every 10 yards or so.
Minutes were passing... and I realized my eyes were dry now, from not blinking for a while. But he kept moving, dropping his head, looking for mice, then at me. And at this range, I needed him to stand still. It seemed like one more chirp would send him packing, so that idea was dismissed. Just when I remembered to breathe, he stepped into a clear area, and I balanced the horizontal crosshair just above his spine, and the vertical right behind the shoulder. This felt like a 99% sure thing.........and a split second after the shot went his way....the thud of approval came back loud and clear! Motionless at first, and then a flip of the tail, to signal the end.
It was still early, but in the next three stands in as many hours, I never saw or heard another Coyote, but felt very fortunate to have taken this one. Sometimes things just work your way.