Been doing a little predator calling

D

Daryl

New member
...with pretty decent results.

Last Thursday, I went out for a quick trip not far from home and manage to call in a single coyote. A single shot through the chest did the trick.


Coyote4.jpg


On Friday, I went out and managed to call in a fox. This one was sorta growly, but I didn't want to ruin the fur with a .17 Rem, so I shot it between the eyes with a Colt Woodsman. Not the best choice of weapon, perhaps, but it did the trick with pretty much no damage.

GreyFox1.jpg


Then on Sunday, I caught this one sneaking in through the grass.

bobcat5.jpg


I've been lucky, no doubt, and I'm hoping my luck will hold a little longer. I sorta stopped hunting to some degree after my dad passed a couple of years back, and this is the first year since then that I've been out much. It's good to get back into it again.

It brings back a lot of old memories, too.

Daryl
 
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Nice pelts!

I was driving back from Alpine this afternoon and along the way saw a coyote about three feet off the edge of the pavement. He was quite patiently waiting for me to get gone on down the road before he crossed.

Scruffy! Lordy, my hair looks better when I first get up in the morning!

Saw a badger down in the pasture a couple of days back. He waddled across the road and then at the edge of the brush turned and snarled at the truck. I left before he attacked. :D:D:D
 
Nice !

How large are the fox and cat?

When I look at pictures my imagination can always use something for comparison with the subject. (like a gallon milk jug, or can of Coke)
 
Hey Daryl, good job. I know you've been reading my posts on the same topic. I'm just getting back into the game after too long away, and what I notice is that my hands are out of shape for pulling hides off of the critters. kinda makes it OK to not kill so many.

By the way, I also own a Colt Woodsman - my favorite plinker - but have never killed a called varmint with it. jd
 
Hey Daryl, good job. I know you've been reading my posts on the same topic. I'm just getting back into the game after too long away, and what I notice is that my hands are out of shape for pulling hides off of the critters. kinda makes it OK to not kill so many.
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I noticed that too. No need for grip exercizes if a fella's pulling hides, that's for sure.

I'm going to try a cable comalong, a piece of rope, and a rock on the next one. I'll use the rock in the hide with the rope around it to attach the hide to the comalong, and then I'll stretch the critter between two posts.

I'll have to be careful to not pull the hide in half, but it should make it easier to skin. Just work the comalong and touch the skin with a knife here and there when it won't pull loose.

By the way, I also own a Colt Woodsman - my favorite plinker - but have never killed a called varmint with it. jd
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I've shot a lot of critters with mine, but that's the first one that was called and wasn't shot with something else first. I carry it for a "kill" gun for those "not quite dead" critters when I'm calling, but it worked pretty well on that fox.

BTW-I went out with that fella from NC this morning. We made 5 stands, and called in 4 coyotes, 2 javalinas, and a bobcat that wouldn't come in all the way.

He got 3 coyotes, so it was a good trip! He was using a foxpro "fury" I think, and it called 'em in pretty well. I think I was mostly along for the ride, but I knew the country and he didn't, so I didn't mind showing him some good areas to call. Was a fun day with good company, for sure.

Daryl
 
I'm gonna try it more

All this talk about coyote's is convincing me to give it a whirl later this year after deer season closes.

I've not had ANY success calling w/ an old Olt Pred call, but have had several coy's come in while I was calling turkey's or to decoy's for same.

Hear'em all the time in deer season.
 
coyote arsenal

i am wanting to get into coyote caling this week. just purchased a savage/stevens .223. i read in other posts about not using the expensive varmint bullets but the light militery style ones. could some one explain to me the pros/cons/ differences in all of that. im fairly new to guns in general so keep the language simple. thanks
 
Hi rubak06, here's my 2 cents.

Your .223 won't have any trouble killing a coyote with whatever bullet you use. If you want to save the pelts, which you should, (another 2 cents) some bullets will preform better than others depending on the range that your shots are taken.

If your standard shots are usually way out (like 2 or 3 hundred yards) you better use whatever shoots flattest and most accurately in your rifle, and live with the consequences.(and learn to sew)

If you find yourself calling most of the dogs within 100 yards or less, go with light explosive bullets that very often don't exit. Of course if they do exit--- learn to sew. If you are a reloader, every brand makes a bullet like this and you can take your pick. I don't know much about factory ammo, so I won't advise you there.

I'm currently messing around with reduced loads for what I want, and I'm only shooting a .222 Rem.

Many years ago when I was starting out, I had a .243, and tried some Hornady full jacketed 85 grainers. They exploded coyotes as bad as any 30-06, and I quit using them, (and eventually the 243 also).

Fact is, if you have an exit your gonna have some damage, but with light asploding bullets you'll have less exits. jd
 
Pretty much what jd said.

There are two schools of thought...

One is as jd explained; use light-for-caliber bullets, and try to adjust the powder charge to keep them from exiting.

The other is to use a well built expanding type bullet that will exit, but won't make a huge exit hole like the lighter, frangible bullets do (if they exit).

Military type FJM's (full-metal-jacketed bullets) are not legal for hunting in a lot of states. Arizona has pretty easy gun laws, but FMJ's are not legal for hunting here. They generally don't kill quite as well as other bullets, and they're bad about ricochets. If they're non-expanding, they'll either "pencil" through, not causing enough trauma for a quick, clean kill, or they'll tumble, causing more damage than you'll want to sew.

Like JD, I lean towards the "fragile" bullet idea for minimal pelt damage, but I use a .17 Remington. If I were using a cartridge with a bigger/heavier bullet, I'd consider a slow-expanding bullet that would mushroom a bit, but not blow up.

And before I made my choice, I'd probably try both to see what worked best for me.

;)

Daryl
 
.22 long rifle

i also have a .22 long rifle. using hollow point 38 grain bullets. whats the effective range for this gun and how effective on the coyote? will it penetrate bone? and is it a better pick since its semi-auto.?
 
i also have a .22 long rifle. using hollow point 38 grain bullets. whats the effective range for this gun and how effective on the coyote? will it penetrate bone? and is it a better pick since its semi-auto.?
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The problem with the .22 LR is not that it won't penetrate well enough to kill a coyote.

The problem is that it won't reliably cause sufficient damage to the internal organs on a coyote to cause an instant or near instant death. They'll oft-times live a little while, and they can cover a LOT of country in a very short time leaving a scant or non-existant blood trail.

And after all, do you want to spend two hours following a shot coyote that you probably won't find, or go call some more and get another one or two?

A .22 LR is perfect if the coyote is standing in a trap of some kind; otherwise, I'd move to something bigger for clean, humane, and consistent results.

Daryl
 
i will definitely use my .223 but my neighb or says he shot about 8 deer with a .22 long. some at 50 yards through the skull, and others a little further away. does this sound realistic?
 
Hogdogs,

That'd probably work, but I have 4 comalongs in the shop, and they'll work pretty well too.

In the infamous words of Val Kilmer (Doc Holiday), "Yep, I'm sure of it!"

:D

Daryl
 
I have a buddy who starts the butt of a deer hide coming off... takes a golf ball in the loose part and ties a piece of clothes line size rope to it and pulls it off with his 4 wheeler:eek: Thats lazy but it works...
Brent
 
so besides the pelts, what else do yall use from the coyote? i wanna go predator hunting, and not a fan of wasting animals if i can help it
 
If folks were resourceful, The whole skulls would be sellable as knick knacks and the teeth would make nice jewelry ingredients.
One would be surprised the marketability of some macabre things.
Brent
 
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