Finally tagged another coyote (#6)

Max115

Member
Jul 15, 2018
1,686
1,244
BC, Canada
Well, I finally succeeded in getting a coyote last night at 7:35pm after three long months of multiple failed attempts in long cold nights.

I tagged one back in December of last year and there were still two coyotes that frequent this farm looking for food. Many rats were shot and left for bait and either I never saw them when I was there or they came and went without me having a go at them. Timing was the key factor here.

I was shooting from the loft of a barn facing the target area 30-40 yards away. A perfect setup really, but I have learned valuable mistakes of what to do or not to do. For instance, leaving my scent when I drop off the rats was probably one of the contributing factors. Staying motionless and quiet was also important. But most importantly, flashing light from my Scopecam was the culprit in which the coyote was spooked the night before last.

I was there this Friday night and after sitting in the dark for 2 hours, the coyote showed up. I have set up my trail cam on the fence 40 yards away, facing at me slightly to the right. I found this positioning of the trail cam was the best because I could see the IR lights tripped when motion was detected. There were a couple of times when a rabbit had hopped in front of the TC and gave me heart attacks thinking the coyote was there. So when the coyote showed up, I quickly turned on the recording on my Pard007S mounted on my Impact with the new Element Helix 2-16x50mm.

Now I had to invest on this new Helix scope because my previous scope was the Helix 6-24x50mm and the Field of View was too zoomed in especially the Pard007S has a multiplier with the zoom. The tight zoom was very difficult to scan and spot the target. Therefore, I bought the 2-16x50mm model and I was very happy with the wider Field of View when the scope was at 2X. A lot easier to see what was downrange.

Back to the coyote, it was very edgy, cautious and it was constantly looking up at my direction. I was tracking it in my scope cam and follow it around the area. Unfortunately, I didn't chamber a slug before hand and I was hesitant to cock the gun because they have good hearing and this one was onto me already. So I had my finger on the cocking level but I couldn't force myself to cock the gun in fear that it would hear me and ran off like it did in the past. Any slight sound made inside the loft would get amplified in the dead of night.

So I gambled and hoping that it would find the rats and started to feed on them. Well, that was my hope and wrong assumption. It was in the area for 5 minutes and I would have had a chance to squeeze off a shot, but not without a slug in the chamber. Of course the coyote decided to leave as it didn't feel safe.

So I sat there for another hour and a half, praying and hoping that it would return but it never did. I had spent many nights typically 4-6 hours enduring and suffering the cold and back pain from sitting. Another wasted opportunity and failed attempt this evening.

Lots of thoughts came to mind. I finally concluded that it was the blinking blue light from the night vision scope when it was in a recording mode. My forehead must have been beaconing like the lighthouse in a dark stormy night. I was seated inside the dark loft of a barn. I guess from the coyote's point of view, a steady flashing light, possibly outlining my shape, must have spooked it. Another sleepless night for me.

The farmer texted me the next morning (Saturday) that the six rats were gone. The trail cam footages confirmed that the coyote did return at 12:40am after I have left at 11:30pm. I arrived at 7pm to leave out a bunch of rats that I shot and collected at another farm on Friday night. I quickly went up to the loft and set up. I covered the flashing light on my Pard007S with an electrical tape and I draped a dark cloth over the scope to help conceal my head. I also mounted an IR light on the neck of the tripod so that it was on and pointed directly at the bait station in a stationary position. This way I would not need to use the IR light attached to the side of my Impact; no moving IR lights from my gun when I was panning or moving the gun around. An H&N Gen2 25gr slug was chambered and I was ready. I was determined to get this coyote once and for all, even if that means I would be in a zombie state as the night gets longer.

Well, luck was on my side this evening. Shortly after 30mins of settling in, the red IR lights from the trail cam came on. I was quick to the gun which was mounted on my new tripod with a ball-head clamp, a hands free setup. The Pard007S began recording and I could see the coyote thru the IR from the trail cam and the stationary IR from my tripod. Everything happened so quickly that I didn't have time to think but I knew what needed to be done. When it paused, the trigger would send off the slug traveling at 950fps downrange into the top of its head.

A loud thwack was heard. The slug connected with the coyote's forehead sending it to the ground. I did some follow up shots to make sure it wasn't going to run off just in case. It wasn't getting up.

I found my breathing and I exhaled with a great sight of relieve. I finally did it. After all the long cold nights of stalking, of which must have shorten some of my life, the end result was satisfying. This coyote was in bad shape as it was very mangy and skinny. I helped out the farmer to control these relentless pests that target his livestocks and I put it out of its misery as well.

I will post the video when I get it done. Thank you all for chiming in. I will rest for a week and get on to the next coyote hunt at another location where the farmer had left a still born calf in the field. The body had been visited by coyotes and I have setup my trail cam today to see what lurks in the dark.

Stay tuned. Cheers.
 
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@Contndr35BB Thanks. It was bound to happen and my timing was right last night. Those rats bait were just too much for them coyotes to pass off even though they knew it was a danger zone. Glad you have other targets to focus on with the slow rats shooting. The rat population at this farm was low so I had to call up another location which I haven't been back for almost a year now. And what a jackpot that was. I shot 33 and collected 18 for this coyote shoot. To top it off, there were some starlings roosting at night there as well. I managed to tag 10 that evening as well. Video to follow.
 
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Max you are one determined hunter! It isn't clear if the coyotes or you are suffering more. I'm curious as to why to went the para add with a lower powered scope verse just using an all in one unit like ATN or Sightmark which would cost less or about the same and be all in one unit? Good to use a remote non-moving illuminator.
 
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@BlackICE. I think we both suffered thru the whole ordeal, but unfortunately for it, its life was ended tragically. I have the Pard008LRF on my HW100T and that setup is for rats shoot. I bought the Pard007S so I can mount it on my Scope as a second option. I like the Element Helix scopes over the other scopes that I have. I am sure the ATN or Sightmark are great, but I also uses my Impact for my long range pigeons and starlings shoot as well. With the clip on scope like the Pard007S, I have the option of both to hunt coyotes and feathers creature.

I have definitely learned a lot with this last coyote hunt with my approach and my setup. Hopefully with the knowledge I learned(the hard way), I will be better prepared for the next coyote. Thanks for watching.
 
I considered using a NV addon like the 007 but ruled it out because it changes the eye relief so that I either would have to shoot with the stock off my shoulder or remount the scope more forward. My accuracy suffers if I shoot holding the gun off my shoulder so that leaves only remounting the scope. If I have to do that I may as well get a integrated solution so that is smaller and lighter and switch optics when needed for day vs night. Some NV scopes work OK for day but not as good as a quality optical scope, but usable.
 
Please consider your written words more carefully.

Where you describe the coyote thrashing in indescribable pain is not in the best interest for air powered shooting sports. Ethical pest control includes taking every effort to cleanly and humanely end the life of every pest/predator. Ethical shooters do not revel in the suffering of the target animal. You paint yourself and everyone else in a bad light with that description.

I understand literary license, and yes coyotes cannot describe anything as they lack expressive thought. I am not busting on your hunt and success. Please don't give the anti's anything to use against our sport and work.
 
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Hard to know if the coyote was really "thrashing in indescribable pain." If Max's first shot entered the skull and the pellet hit the brain, the Max's observation may just be the death dance from nerves going crazy after the brain turned off. A post mortem analysis of the shot placements will clarify our belief if the coyote suffered.

I have seen many rats where the trap clearly crushed the skull, eyes popping out of the head and blood coming out of the mouth. The rat still thrashed around wildly for many seconds after the impact. The brain was smash way more than a pellet hit.

You can read about the past observations of people executed by the guillotine. Some people believe that the executed still had brain function after the head was cut off. So options vary no way to know for sure.
 
Disinhibition is the term for the muscle spasms that happen after central nervous system destruction. Ted had a good video on that 10 years ago. Coyotes will try to bite their skin where they are injured, or will rub their head/neck with their front or rear feet if they can't reach it with their mouth. They often will spin in circles when hit in the side. Those are all normal reactions.

Thanks for taking my comments as a they were intended, and not feeling attacked. Your narrative writing is getting better and you are really capturing the essence of the experience. Keep up the good work, amigo!

Shoot'em good
 
@BlackICE. In my past experience with the 5 coyotes head shots, three of the coyotes dropped dead instantly with the head shot without having too much movements. One ran down the hill and collapsed and the last one dropped on the spot as well but then started to convulse with massive blood coming out of its mouth. I took a second shot at her just in case. I believe all these coyotes were dead with all the head shots to the brain and who is to know whether they suffer less or more based on the body reaction after.

I was there to help out the farmers to get rid of the problem and the sold intention was to kill them as ethically as possible. To be honest, I always had a mixed feeling after seeing the dead corpses.

@JimNM. I appreciate your feedback and it is a best way for me to learn as well.

Cheers.
 
Well, I finally succeeded in getting a coyote last night at 7:35pm after three long months of multiple failed attempts in long cold nights.

I tagged one back in December of last year and there were still two coyotes that frequent this farm looking for food. Many rats were shot and left for bait and either I never saw them when I was there or they came and went without me having a go at them. Timing was the key factor here.

I was shooting from the loft of a barn facing the target area 30-40 yards away. A perfect setup really, but I have learned valuable mistakes of what to do or not to do. For instance, leaving my scent when I drop off the rats was probably one of the contributing factors. Staying motionless and quiet was also important. But most importantly, flashing light from my Scopecam was the culprit in which the coyote was spooked the night before last.

I was there this Friday night and after sitting in the dark for 2 hours, the coyote showed up. I have set up my trail cam on the fence 40 yards away, facing at me slightly to the right. I found this positioning of the trail cam was the best because I could see the IR lights tripped when motion was detected. There were a couple of times when a rabbit had hopped in front of the TC and gave me heart attacks thinking the coyote was there. So when the coyote showed up, I quickly turned on the recording on my Pard007S mounted on my Impact with the new Element Helix 2-16x50mm.

Now I had to invest on this new Helix scope because my previous scope was the Helix 6-24x50mm and the Field of View was too zoomed in especially the Pard007S has a multiplier with the zoom. The tight zoom was very difficult to scan and spot the target. Therefore, I bought the 2-16x50mm model and I was very happy with the wider Field of View when the scope was at 2X. A lot easier to see what was downrange.

Back to the coyote, it was very edgy, cautious and it was constantly looking up at my direction. I was tracking it in my scope cam and follow it around the area. Unfortunately, I didn't chamber a slug before hand and I was hesitant to cock the gun because they have good hearing and this one was onto me already. So I had my finger on the cocking level but I couldn't force myself to cock the gun in fear that it would hear me and ran off like it did in the past. Any slight sound made inside the loft would get amplified in the dead of night.

So I gambled and hoping that it would find the rats and started to feed on them. Well, that was my hope and wrong assumption. It was in the area for 5 minutes and I would have had a chance to squeeze off a shot, but not without a slug in the chamber. Of course the coyote decided to leave as it didn't feel safe.

So I sat there for another hour and a half, praying and hoping that it would return but it never did. I had spent many nights typically 4-6 hours enduring and suffering the cold and back pain from sitting. Another wasted opportunity and failed attempt this evening.

Lots of thoughts came to mind. I finally concluded that it was the blinking blue light from the night vision scope when it was in a recording mode. My forehead must have been beaconing like the lighthouse in a dark stormy night. I was seated inside the dark loft of a barn. I guess from the coyote's point of view, a steady flashing light, possibly outlining my shape, must have spooked it. Another sleepless night for me.

The farmer texted me the next morning (Saturday) that the six rats were gone. The trail cam footages confirmed that the coyote did return at 12:40am after I have left at 11:30pm. I arrived at 7pm to leave out a bunch of rats that I shot and collected at another farm on Friday night. I quickly went up to the loft and set up. I covered the flashing light on my Pard007S with an electrical tape and I draped a dark cloth over the scope to help conceal my head. I also mounted an IR light on the neck of the tripod so that it was on and pointed directly at the bait station in a stationary position. This way I would not need to use the IR light attached to the side of my Impact; no moving IR lights from my gun when I was panning or moving the gun around. An H&N Gen2 25gr slug was chambered and I was ready. I was determined to get this coyote once and for all, even if that means I would be in a zombie state as the night gets longer.

Well, luck was on my side this evening. Shortly after 30mins of settling in, the red IR lights from the trail cam came on. I was quick to the gun which was mounted on my new tripod with a ball-head clamp, a hands free setup. The Pard007S began recording and I could see the coyote thru the IR from the trail cam and the stationary IR from my tripod. Everything happened so quickly that I didn't have time to think but I knew what needed to be done. When it paused, the trigger would send off the slug traveling at 950fps downrange into the top of its head.

A loud thwack was heard. The slug connected with the coyote's forehead sending it to the ground. I did some follow up shots to make sure it wasn't going to run off just in case. It wasn't getting up.

I found my breathing and I exhaled with a great sight of relieve. I finally did it. After all the long cold nights of stalking, of which must have shorten some of my life, the end result was satisfying. This coyote was in bad shape as it was very mangy and skinny. I helped out the farmer to control these relentless pests that target his livestocks and I put it out of its misery as well.

I will post the video when I get it done. Thank you all for chiming in. I will rest for a week and get on to the next coyote hunt at another location where the farmer had left a still born calf in the field. The body had been visited by coyotes and I have setup my trail cam today to see what lurks in the dark.

Stay tuned. Cheers.
You kept hunting after months of trying and we're successful. That's determination my friend and you have it.
 
@BlackICE. In my past experience with the 5 coyotes head shots, three of the coyotes dropped dead instantly with the head shot without having too much movements. One ran down the hill and collapsed and the last one dropped on the spot as well but then started to convulse with massive blood coming out of its mouth. I took a second shot at her just in case. I believe all these coyotes were dead with all the head shots to the brain and who is to know whether they suffer less or more based on the body reaction after.

I was there to help out the farmers to get rid of the problem and the sold intention was to kill them as ethically as possible. To be honest, I always had a mixed feeling after seeing the dead corpses.

@JimNM. I appreciate your feedback and it is a best way for me to learn as well.

Cheers.
I personally appreciate that. I saw a video of a XXXXX shooting a rabbit at 250 yards with a .17HMR, a case of yes you can but should you? It wasn't pretty.
 
@Max115 Enjoyed this write-up per usual. I see you discovered the electrical tape over the light trick. Yea lights, clicks, vibrations, creaks, squeaks, fabric rubbing, etc. can get you busted. I’ve done my share of all of the above trying to hunt these dogs. You have really done excellent work in documenting and sharing your progress. I’m awaiting this video. Thank you. I also appreciate the tip on affixing the IR to the tripod. I may have to try that.

Yes, they can see the IR lights on some trail cams. I have footage of them and other animals looking right at the camera. I have an older trail cam that makes a clicking noise as the motion sensor is activated and you can see a red glow. It’s a stark contrast to the newer model. Have you noticed anything like that?