Well, let me paint the picture of what happened to me this Saturday. It is 1:25am now as I am typing this story to share.
The rain finally stopped around 1pm today and I decided to stop by one of my permissions to see if I can do some target shooting and maybe at a few pigeons.
I got to the site around 3:30pm, packed with my FX Crown and Impact. Upon arriving, I saw a bunch of pigeons resting on the roof of one of the barns. Unfortunately I have to drive up to that barn where I normally setup to target shoot into the field. They flew off and scattered elsewhere.
I set up my table and got my target box and spinners out at 50 yards to check my zero. I was shooting my Crown with 18gr AA pellets. After adjusting to the wind pushing from right to left, I was able to confirm my POI was spot on again hitting my 8 spinner targets in a row from 2-1/2" down to the 1/2" size. My Crown never ceased to amaze me with its accuracy.
Happy with my POI check, I grabbed my Primos Trigger stick tripod along with my range finder and proceeded to do some pigeons shoot. I quickly found a few of them gathering on the roof of the adjacent building. I slowly walked towards them and hided behind the concrete barrier and set up my tripod. Used my range finder and lasered them at around 45-55 yards. Turned my elevation turret to 50 yards, powered on my SideShot and had one pigeon in my cross hair. Quickly adjust the parallax to get a clear focus and chambered an 18gr pellet. I was ready to shoot. Well, not quite. My breathing was out of sync as I was both excited to be out shooting again and out of practice for a while. The cross-hair was swirling around the pigeon like a tornado.
I took a few deep breath and calmed my nerve down. The pellet was sent flying downrange and it smacked the first pigeon square in the chest. Some pigeons have flew off but a few were dumb enough to hang around. I quickly chambered another pellet and got on target. This time there wasn't any hesitation in my part and another pellet launched thru the 500mm barrel at 880fps. Another solid hit to the chest. What? Another pigeon still available to give me a chance of a "Hat Trick"? Another smack to the chest of the third pigeon. Wow, I was both shocked and pleased with the outcome. I was grinning with pride and satisfied with my tool and my marksmanship. These pigeons were later picked up by an eagle that was eyeing them from afar.
No, this wasn't the part in regards to my title. Let me continue.
As I patrolled around the farm, I came across a large deceased diary cow left at the back of the barn. I texted the farmer and he told me that the cow had broke her leg and died. What a tragedy and a lost to the farmer. I asked him what was to be done with the body and he told me that someone will pick it up on Monday. Wait a minute, the cow would be left on the farm for two nights. This was an unplanned and wonderful opportunity for me to use it as bait to hunt the coyotes in this location. I was trying to get my Coyote#7 at this farm back in March when there was a still born calf. So I asked the farmer if he minds that I come back in the evening and give it a go. I got a thumbs up emoji.
I continued to shoot for another hour and tagged two more pigeons with my Crown before taking out my Impact MK2 to double check my zero. Using the target box and my DIY spinners, I was able to verify my 50 yards zero was spot on again. The H&N 25gr Gen2 slugs were pounding the steel spinners with authority. I then set up the targets out to 90 yards as I never got to finish my zero test last time out. After a few POI validation, the spinners were spinning with the impacts from these slugs. I was feeling confident and excited to hunt tonight.
So I packed up and went home around 7pm. Did a quick walk with my dog and headed back out to the farm after a quick bite.
I got to the farm at 9pm. Parked my truck 47 yards with a direct view to the dead cow. Mounted my trail cam on the pipe facing the bait. This will help me monitor any activity that might happen in the night. I then setup inside my truck with the window opened. My Impact was fitted with my Pard007S with an external 850IR light mounted on the side of the rail. Chambered a slug and I was ready.
The first hour went by quickly as I was mainly taking a nap knowing that the coyotes might not be able to smell and locate this dead cow yet. Then 12am came around and nothing happened. I continued to scan the area with my binoculars and no sight of any coyotes.
12:25am I decided to pack it up, feeling dejected and disappointed. But I knew hunting coyote was very challenging as I need to have plenty of luck and timing. I was going to give it another try Sunday night. After everything was packed up, I turned on my truck engine and put up my head lights. WTF! My new 14000 Lumens head lights that I recently installed lit up the area in front of me. What did I see with these super bright headlights?
Yup, a freaking coyote walking towards me at about 35-40 yards. It was blinded by my headlights and paused where it stood. We were both startled and surprised.
So, the first word uttered out of my mouth was..., no, not duck and ya. I quickly turned off the head lights and killed my engine. Well, with modern vehicle, the console light lid up inside my cabin like a flash bomb illuminating me like a Fourth of July fireworks. Of course I couldn't see where the coyote had gone, but I am sure it hightailed his ass out of there as quick as you could say SH@T.
I thought this was going to be a good night consider how my day went. But now my cover was blown and if the coyote was smart, it would not be coming back anytime soon.
I will check on the trail cam and the bait tomorrow morning to see if any coyote feast on the large platter of steak.
Sorry for the long winded story, but let me know what your first word would be if this happened to you. LOL.
The rain finally stopped around 1pm today and I decided to stop by one of my permissions to see if I can do some target shooting and maybe at a few pigeons.
I got to the site around 3:30pm, packed with my FX Crown and Impact. Upon arriving, I saw a bunch of pigeons resting on the roof of one of the barns. Unfortunately I have to drive up to that barn where I normally setup to target shoot into the field. They flew off and scattered elsewhere.
I set up my table and got my target box and spinners out at 50 yards to check my zero. I was shooting my Crown with 18gr AA pellets. After adjusting to the wind pushing from right to left, I was able to confirm my POI was spot on again hitting my 8 spinner targets in a row from 2-1/2" down to the 1/2" size. My Crown never ceased to amaze me with its accuracy.
Happy with my POI check, I grabbed my Primos Trigger stick tripod along with my range finder and proceeded to do some pigeons shoot. I quickly found a few of them gathering on the roof of the adjacent building. I slowly walked towards them and hided behind the concrete barrier and set up my tripod. Used my range finder and lasered them at around 45-55 yards. Turned my elevation turret to 50 yards, powered on my SideShot and had one pigeon in my cross hair. Quickly adjust the parallax to get a clear focus and chambered an 18gr pellet. I was ready to shoot. Well, not quite. My breathing was out of sync as I was both excited to be out shooting again and out of practice for a while. The cross-hair was swirling around the pigeon like a tornado.
I took a few deep breath and calmed my nerve down. The pellet was sent flying downrange and it smacked the first pigeon square in the chest. Some pigeons have flew off but a few were dumb enough to hang around. I quickly chambered another pellet and got on target. This time there wasn't any hesitation in my part and another pellet launched thru the 500mm barrel at 880fps. Another solid hit to the chest. What? Another pigeon still available to give me a chance of a "Hat Trick"? Another smack to the chest of the third pigeon. Wow, I was both shocked and pleased with the outcome. I was grinning with pride and satisfied with my tool and my marksmanship. These pigeons were later picked up by an eagle that was eyeing them from afar.
No, this wasn't the part in regards to my title. Let me continue.
As I patrolled around the farm, I came across a large deceased diary cow left at the back of the barn. I texted the farmer and he told me that the cow had broke her leg and died. What a tragedy and a lost to the farmer. I asked him what was to be done with the body and he told me that someone will pick it up on Monday. Wait a minute, the cow would be left on the farm for two nights. This was an unplanned and wonderful opportunity for me to use it as bait to hunt the coyotes in this location. I was trying to get my Coyote#7 at this farm back in March when there was a still born calf. So I asked the farmer if he minds that I come back in the evening and give it a go. I got a thumbs up emoji.
I continued to shoot for another hour and tagged two more pigeons with my Crown before taking out my Impact MK2 to double check my zero. Using the target box and my DIY spinners, I was able to verify my 50 yards zero was spot on again. The H&N 25gr Gen2 slugs were pounding the steel spinners with authority. I then set up the targets out to 90 yards as I never got to finish my zero test last time out. After a few POI validation, the spinners were spinning with the impacts from these slugs. I was feeling confident and excited to hunt tonight.
So I packed up and went home around 7pm. Did a quick walk with my dog and headed back out to the farm after a quick bite.
I got to the farm at 9pm. Parked my truck 47 yards with a direct view to the dead cow. Mounted my trail cam on the pipe facing the bait. This will help me monitor any activity that might happen in the night. I then setup inside my truck with the window opened. My Impact was fitted with my Pard007S with an external 850IR light mounted on the side of the rail. Chambered a slug and I was ready.
The first hour went by quickly as I was mainly taking a nap knowing that the coyotes might not be able to smell and locate this dead cow yet. Then 12am came around and nothing happened. I continued to scan the area with my binoculars and no sight of any coyotes.
12:25am I decided to pack it up, feeling dejected and disappointed. But I knew hunting coyote was very challenging as I need to have plenty of luck and timing. I was going to give it another try Sunday night. After everything was packed up, I turned on my truck engine and put up my head lights. WTF! My new 14000 Lumens head lights that I recently installed lit up the area in front of me. What did I see with these super bright headlights?
Yup, a freaking coyote walking towards me at about 35-40 yards. It was blinded by my headlights and paused where it stood. We were both startled and surprised.
So, the first word uttered out of my mouth was..., no, not duck and ya. I quickly turned off the head lights and killed my engine. Well, with modern vehicle, the console light lid up inside my cabin like a flash bomb illuminating me like a Fourth of July fireworks. Of course I couldn't see where the coyote had gone, but I am sure it hightailed his ass out of there as quick as you could say SH@T.
I thought this was going to be a good night consider how my day went. But now my cover was blown and if the coyote was smart, it would not be coming back anytime soon.
I will check on the trail cam and the bait tomorrow morning to see if any coyote feast on the large platter of steak.
Sorry for the long winded story, but let me know what your first word would be if this happened to you. LOL.
