Spring Coyote Kill

I hate it when I am lying in bed trying to get a few more minutes of sleep after my wife leaves the house for the day and the phone rings.  But this morning I ran out to the living found my cell and saw it was my wife calling. Since I was supposed to be awake already getting "The List" done I had to use my awake voice to say hello. My wife just called to tell me there was a coyote out in the field. Although she thought it was out of range she figured she would tell me anyway. So I quickly got dressed and got the Styre .308 with the bull barrel out. I got all set up on the back deck and started glassing looking for the coyote.  I finally saw it at about 500 yards walking through the alfalfa field.  It was slowly working its way from north to south, which was my right to left. I figured it was heading into the shady hillside where it was cool during the mid day heat. I noticed it was hunting as well so it was not moving quickly.  I folded up the bipod and slug the rifle over my shoulder and snuck to the road heading up the hill. Once I found some cover behind some leafy Aspens and walked up the road about 75 yards. I figured the sound of the creek and 200 yard of irrigation sprinkler between me and the coyote would cover any sound I make walking on the dirt road. From there I took an old cat track to where I thought the coyote would make its entrance into the woods. I found a small clearing between the trees that looked down into the field and proned out. I had to move multiple pinecones and had to put up with a few hundred pine needles  poking me . I could see the coyote about 150 yards in front of me with a 30 yard drop in elevation. I didn't take the shot at this point due to a ranch 500 yards behind it. Although the angle I was shooting down at and the up angle the ranch was from the coyote the shot would of been fine, but I decided to wait since it was heading my way anyhow. A few minutes later I watched the coyote jump the creek into some tall grass. I watched it pounce on a gopher or mouse then lay down and eat it. It was very hard to see while lying in the tall grass. Once it got up it moved to my right and behind the branches of a tree. At this point I was about 100 yards away still with about 30 yards of drop. I was just hoping that the coyote came back to my left giving me a shot. The coyote came back to the left turned and looked right at me and the 147 Grain FMJ boattail  center punched it at about 75 yards. The coyote just dropped like a sack of potatoes.


Add caption

A look back at 2012

I would like to welcome all of our new readers. 2012 has been a great your for me and R-Dub Outdoors. Lots of things happened in my personal life as well as my outdoor life this year.

Here are some high points of the year.

-2012 produced another Deer for the freezer.
- I shot a limit of ducks and geese in the same day
- I got my first real coyote kill.
- R-Dub Outdoors signed up new pro staffer Ron Oules.
- I shot and edited my first duck hunting video.
-We did our first big giveaway from Muck Boots.
- I even grabbed a live and wild cougar by its tail.

Those are just a few of the great moments we have had from 2012.

There are many great things to come in 2013.

-I hope to get more sponsors for the page.
-We will be doing some fishing videos.
- We will be doing some great giveaways.
- Of course doing a lot more hunting and fishing.

The last thing I am expecting in 2013 is the newest member of my hunting party will be arriving around June 13th of 2013 and My wife, Maddy and I are very excited.

Have a great New Year, We hope all is well for everyone.

Why Shoot Coyotes

I read a comment just the other day and it made me just have to answer.   The person was talking about why shoot coyotes because the person shooting them is not going to eat them.   This is just one of many different views on why coyotes should not be shot.   I just happen to take the opposite view on whether coyotes should be shot or not. 

 There are lots of reasons to shoot coyotes.

 

 1. There are a very good predator and not only kill young deer but adult deer regularly.  Contrary to popular belief they kill perfectly healthy animals.

 

2. They kill farm and domestic animals daily.  Besides Owls, Coyotes are the top predator for domestic cats and small dogs. 

 

3. They carry Rabies, Mange, Distemper, Heartworm, and others.   Yes, these diseases are transmitted to other domestic, wild animals easily, and even humans at times. 

 

4. It stimulates the economy one dead coyote at a time.  Their pelts can be sold for decent money for both the hunter and fur dealer.  Fuel, vehicles, firearms, clothing, footwear, calls, etc. are purchased and used. 

 

5. By killing coyotes it actually increases their birth rate or "Natality", so in a way killing coyotes will increase their population potentially.  How can it be bad when shooting them increases the numbers of offspring and increases the opportunity to kill more.   It is a situation where actually everyone and everything wins.  Well not everything wins…the dead coyotes would have lost I guess.

 

-Ron Oules

First Real Coyote Kill

So yesterday morning there was a coyote about 300 yards out in a field from my house. I grabbed the 7MM and got set on the back deck. I laid down prone with a bag of dirt as a rest. I located the coyote in the scope and squeezed the trigger.  The coyote started jumping and yelping and I was super excited that I hit it. As it continued to jump around I thought it would be a good idea to put another shot down range to put it out of its misery. I missed the next 6 shots at the coyote. It finally chewed its leg off and ran into the brush.  I was not happy with myself that A. I lost a wounded animal and B. I waisted that ammo with all those misses.

The next day still upset about the day before I went out for a morning duck hunt. When I returned home I looked out into the field and there was nothing there. I went inside put some wood in the fireplace and put Remi my dog away. As I turned around to my surprise there were three coyotes out in the field at about 300-350 yards. Again I grabbed the 7MM and proned out on the back deck.  This time without a rest I held the cross hairs about 4 inches above the coyote. When I touched off the shot the coyote again started jumping around. The other two promptly ran out of the field. As I looked back at the coyote I shot it was laying motionless in the field. I grabbed the shot gun and sprinted out to the coyote to finish it if i needed to. When I got out there I found the coyote with a perfect shot behind the front shoulder. I was hoping that the coyote I shot only had 3 legs but no such luck. But I was happy that this coyote didn't have to suffer. This was my first real coyote kill and the longest kill shot I have ever made on any game.