Deer Killers Down

[Dave1]

I deer hunted this week and while I didn't see a nice buck to shoot at I did see some deer/calf killers. The first coyote was one of a pair seen late Friday afternoon. They were crossing a pasture out at about 350 yards. I was in a Summit climber at about 20'. I eased the gun around, got set, and called to the dogs. In a flash the pair came toward me at a dead run. I stopped one facing me at 70 yards, settled the crosshair just under the chin, and touched the trigger. The 250 grain FTX with 43 gr of 4759 hit the coyote front on and knocked him over backwards. Afterwards, I was sitting there in the stand looking at the distant dead coyote thinking that was just about as good as a deer kill.

The next morning before daylight I slipped quietly into a 16' ladder stand about a half mile from the climber. About 30 minutes after good daylight I spotted movement several hundred yards away in the tall pasture grass. A little while later, one, then two, then three coyotes came into view. They were about 300 yards away. Again I eased the gun up, got set up on the ladder stand's gun rest, and let out a medium loud squeal. In an instant all three coyotes tore out running wide open toward me. The lead coyote over ran me before I could stop him, but the third one heard my bark and came to a quick stop. I was on him in a second and touched the trigger. At 91 yards the 250 grain FTX hit the slightly quartering coyote and spun him around. He was dead before he hit the ground.

The Savage 10MLII is some pretty bad medicine for those coyotes. Hopefully, a few more fawns and calves will survive.

Dave

[ET]

Dave

Nice shooting at a smaller target.
Definitely taking out a predator will help game numbers in the long run.
Hope you don’t mind a question? What call were you using when you termed “medium loud squeal”? Up here a favored call for that is a rabbit distress call.

Seeing coyotes taken down deserves a “Congrats”.
Thanks for taking the time and pictures to share.


Ed

[wilmsmeyer]

Nice work...May have ruined your deer hunt today and made future hunts better.

Since being tagged out for buck, I have used my doe permits to keep me woods legal to be a scout, driver if needed....and a yote blaster if given the chance

[zakjak221]

Dog Gone good shootin!
A lotta guys don't want to shoot a coyote thinkin they might spook deer in the area. My son even said this to me.
There's too many yotes around cause they are crafty & guys don't shoot them.
Well Done!

Mark

[Dave1]

Thanks for the congratulations. Using the muzz for predator control or anything else is alot of fun.

The "calling" I do is done with just my mouth and lips. I don't use a man made call of any kind. Calling a coyote is easy if you see the dog first at long range. That gives you time to get ready for the shot before getting their attention. They come in so fast and so quick, if you don't already have your gun up and ready, you will likely not have the time to do so when the dog is getting close and coming/looking right at you. Practise at home just making squeals and squeaks with your mouth/lips. Try to get where you can make long squeal that drops off at the end. That sound replicates a dying rabbit or other small critter that has been caught. Coyotes have great hearing and your volume does not have to be very loud for them to hear you and zero in on your location. One squeal brought these coyotes running hard towrd me. I will huff a sharp bark to stop them for a shot.

Regarding ruining your deer hunt with a gun shot; In my opinion the gun shot does not nescessarily ruin your hunt. I have on occasion shot a hog out of my deer stand and later had deer show up just like normal. Distant gun shots never alarm any deer I am watching. I am sure the gun shot won't help your deer hunt but I will not pass up any opportunity to take out a top predator.

The more you shoot your muzz in real hunting circumstances such as over long distances in wooded terrain, shooting at live/moving targets, etc., the better you will get with it. Lots of fun too!

Dave