Thank you, Dad! (Coyote gun)
Question:
"jimr001" <> wrote in > A year and a half ago, Dad gave me a Savage 110 .22-250 he wasn’t using. > (He kept a Browning BLR in the same caliber, a better looking gun, but I > think I got the more accurate one.)
major editing > Thank you, Dad, I LOVE this gun!
Makes me remember when I would pack a shotgun or rifle in the back of the car and go hunting after school. Jim, enjoy these days, they will surely end much too soon. mjb Visit the rec.hunting and rec.hunting.dogs FAQ Home Page at: http://sportsmansweb.com/hunting/
Response:
> A year and a half ago, Dad gave me a Savage 110 .22-250 he wasn’t using. > (He kept a Browning BLR in the same caliber, a better looking gun, but I > think I got the more accurate one.) > Thank you, Dad, I LOVE this gun!
Great story, thanks for sharing. Being an avid predator hunter I enjoyed your excitement reading your story while I am stuck here in the office wishing I was out calling up a coyote or two. Speaking of calling up coyotes, have you tried this method? Sounds like you hunt by just flushing them out. You HAVE to try calling. There is nothing as exciting as having a coyote running full bore right at you thinking you’re lunch and laying your crosshairs on him, squeezing and watching them tumble. If you are interested in learning about calling there are a number of great sites on the subject. Give my site a try and you’ll also find a couple links to other predator calling sites. Keep after ‘em! — Randy in Alaska Visit my page… http://home.gci.net/~randyinalaska Life Member, North American Hunting Club Life Member, North American Fishing Club Member, Varmint Hunters Association Member, Alaska Trappers Association Member, National Rifle Association Visit the rec.hunting and rec.hunting.dogs FAQ Home Page at: http://sportsmansweb.com/hunting/
Response:
>Great story, thanks for sharing. Being an avid predator hunter I enjoyed >your excitement reading your story while I am stuck here in the office >wishing I was out calling up a coyote or two. Speaking of calling up >coyotes, have you tried this method? Sounds like you hunt by just flushing >them out. You HAVE to try calling. There is nothing as exciting as having >a coyote running full bore right at you thinking you’re lunch and laying >your crosshairs on him, squeezing and watching them tumble. If you are >interested in learning about calling there are a number of great sites on >the subject. Give my site a try and you’ll also find a couple links to >other predator calling sites. Keep after ‘em!
Bought a call 6 months ago and my hunting buddy gave me 2 Knight-Hale calls for Christmas. Haven’t had any luck with them. I’ll try looking at your site – I HAVE to be doing something wrong! You sit in your office and dream of hunting coyotes (understandably), while I sit in my office and dream of hunting and fishing Alaska! Thanks much! Visit the rec.hunting and rec.hunting.dogs FAQ Home Page at: http://sportsmansweb.com/hunting/
Response:
Randy- Great site! Absolutely awesome! (http://home.gci.net/~randyinalaska/) Dave and I go every year, have good success rates, and have room in my trailer for a third. Happy hunting! Visit the rec.hunting and rec.hunting.dogs FAQ Home Page at: http://sportsmansweb.com/hunting/
Response:
> Randy- > Great site! Absolutely awesome! (http://home.gci.net/~randyinalaska/) > Dave and I go every year, have good success rates, and have room in my > trailer for a third. > Happy hunting!
Thanks for the invite Jim, I may just take you up on that offer one of these years. Glad you found my site useful. Well, from one office daydreamer to the other, Happy hunting! Visit the rec.hunting and rec.hunting.dogs FAQ Home Page at: http://sportsmansweb.com/hunting/
Response:
A year and a half ago, Dad gave me a Savage 110 .22-250 he wasn’t using. (He kept a Browning BLR in the same caliber, a better looking gun, but I think I got the more accurate one.) Its been a lot of fun ever since. Floated the barrel, mounted a 6.5-20x Simmons 44 Mag scope, and worked up some 40 grain Nosler Ballistic Tip loads. The book says they should be running around 4100fps, and I can’t argue. I only know they’re **fast**!Found I can shoot it to .5MOA, not super, but good enough. (The rifle probably can do better, I can’t.) One of my favorite pasttimes since I got the rifle has been to hunt coyotes. Been stuck on #13 for a couple of months – coyotes had been scarce as hen’s teeth and #14 was proving to be pretty hard to get. The ranchers just north of the house let me hunt any time I want, so 2-3 times a week after work or on weekends isn’t unusual. Over time I have discovered I see as many driving around as I do walking, and the last week and a half have been no exception. And suddenly I was seeing coyotes almost every day. The weekly total was depressing though: Coyotes 6, Jim 0, with 2 shots fired. Both shots were from about 200 yards at a running coyote (angling away). I had jumped a coyote out of a particular brushy gully twice in the last week, and went back for a third time today. Approaching from the east, I crested the hill on the north (downstream) end and idled the truck along the length of the gully. Sure enough, as I approached within 30 yards of the south end, a coyote jumped out and headed southwest across the field. I immediately killed the engine, opened the door and jumped out, using the door jamb for a rifle rest. The coyote was angling across the field, 125 yards out, and I couldn’t find him in the scope. I lowered the rifle a little and checked the magnification – yep, 6.5x, the minimum. Then I looked over the scope, aligning the rifle with the coyote a second time. Checked the scope and found the coyote. He was still running at an angle and I held off on the shot. In a second he would be 200 yards out and in another 50 yards he would vanish in the yucca plants. The chance of a successful shot were quickly diminishing, and he wasn’t going to stop. I told myself there would be other days. Coyotes 7, Jim 0. Suddenly, at 200 yards, he veered directly away from me. I peered through the scope, still at 6.5x, and put the cross hairs on his back. Experience told me that, with a dead away and almost level shot, I should keep the crosshairs on fur. I did, moving the crosshairs up to his head before squeezing the trigger. (Gotta do something about that trigger!) The recoil pushed me back and I lost the coyote in the scope, but acquired it again over the top. Still running, a miss. A split second later the coyote tumbled head first into the ground. A hit! I quickly chambered another round and waited to see if it would get up. After 30 seconds I jumped back into the truck and fired up the diesel. Keeping my eye on the spot where it went down, I idled along the fence row. The coyote was still down and I grabbed my .357 Blackhawk (its a virgin), leaving the .22-250 in the truck. I jumped the fence and found the coyote. No need for the .357, as the 40 grain Nosler BT had hit the coyote in the neck, 3 inches back from the skull and 1 inch to the left of center. There was no exit wound. I turned the truck around, reset the trip odometer and headed back to the spot I had shot from, noting the spot where the digital odometer went from 0.0 to 0.1 miles. As best as I could tell, the 0.1 mile mark was 80% of the way back, meaning the shot was taken from (roughly) 0.125 miles, or 220 yards. Thank you, Dad, I LOVE this gun! Visit the rec.hunting and rec.hunting.dogs FAQ Home Page at: http://sportsmansweb.com/hunting/
