Saw my first Coyote in the wild and it was up close at 15yds when I first saw it...wasn’t able to get off a shot but it was an experience just the same.
Decided to try the oak ridge I deer hunt because I’ve seen turkeys in that area in past years after acorns in the fall.
No idea if they were in that area in the spring, but my other place seemed dead.
I’m sitting down leaning against a big pine tree in a “V” shaped natural blind I first built years ago, and adding brush to it every year, my only visibility is the 45* front opening because the sides are higher than my head when I’m sitting down.
It’s very early, right after first poor/low light, and all of a sudden from the right side of the blind, what I first thought was a Gray Fox appeared trotting right across in front of me not 15 steps in front of my boots...moving from right to left, quartering up and away to the front left.
First thought was “pretty Gray Fox after some breakfast”, but as it’s moving away giving me glimpses between trees, red flags start popping up as I’m processing details in a rush of a few seconds:
Tail doesn’t seem quite as full & bushy as a fox...
Is that body higher up off the ground / legs longer than a fox...
That body seems a bit longer than a fox...
Then got a look at the longer snout and it hit me...that’s a Coyote !!
I instinctively started to raise the Flintlock but at the same moment realized he was already trotting out around 40yds and by the time I got on him, he’d be at 50yds...the .28ga #6s wouldn’t get it done.
I dropped the Flintlock back across my lap, grabbed the box call to make a few hen yelps just on the remote chance that it might turn him to double back a little closer...he did turn left 90* and look back but kept right on that fast walk / trot that dogs do.
(Insulting...even Coyotes apparently don’t think I sound very convincing...LOL)
SUMMARY;
1) I noticed 3-4 years ago I wasn’t seeing the turkeys I normally saw on that property.
2) Then a couple years ago I had gone scouting one day and came across two spots where something had caught / eaten a turkey...just in that one scouting walk I found 2 spots...began to seriously suspect Coyotes.
3) Then last November deer hunting one morning and all of a sudden what had to be a pack of Coyotes opened up yipping / yapping / howling in the thick regrowth / clearcut area 75yds from me, then shut right off after 30-45 seconds.
(the Coyotes pack call to hunt)
4) Now today, hunting right there, I about had a Coyote in my lap...breeze must have been right because he never knew I was there.
If I’d have had the 20ga with the bigger load of #4s...(or a rifle of course)...I’d have shot him...and if a frog had wings...anyhow...kind of helped make a beautiful uneventful morning at least different.
Decided to try the oak ridge I deer hunt because I’ve seen turkeys in that area in past years after acorns in the fall.
No idea if they were in that area in the spring, but my other place seemed dead.
I’m sitting down leaning against a big pine tree in a “V” shaped natural blind I first built years ago, and adding brush to it every year, my only visibility is the 45* front opening because the sides are higher than my head when I’m sitting down.
It’s very early, right after first poor/low light, and all of a sudden from the right side of the blind, what I first thought was a Gray Fox appeared trotting right across in front of me not 15 steps in front of my boots...moving from right to left, quartering up and away to the front left.
First thought was “pretty Gray Fox after some breakfast”, but as it’s moving away giving me glimpses between trees, red flags start popping up as I’m processing details in a rush of a few seconds:
Tail doesn’t seem quite as full & bushy as a fox...
Is that body higher up off the ground / legs longer than a fox...
That body seems a bit longer than a fox...
Then got a look at the longer snout and it hit me...that’s a Coyote !!
I instinctively started to raise the Flintlock but at the same moment realized he was already trotting out around 40yds and by the time I got on him, he’d be at 50yds...the .28ga #6s wouldn’t get it done.
I dropped the Flintlock back across my lap, grabbed the box call to make a few hen yelps just on the remote chance that it might turn him to double back a little closer...he did turn left 90* and look back but kept right on that fast walk / trot that dogs do.
(Insulting...even Coyotes apparently don’t think I sound very convincing...LOL)
SUMMARY;
1) I noticed 3-4 years ago I wasn’t seeing the turkeys I normally saw on that property.
2) Then a couple years ago I had gone scouting one day and came across two spots where something had caught / eaten a turkey...just in that one scouting walk I found 2 spots...began to seriously suspect Coyotes.
3) Then last November deer hunting one morning and all of a sudden what had to be a pack of Coyotes opened up yipping / yapping / howling in the thick regrowth / clearcut area 75yds from me, then shut right off after 30-45 seconds.
(the Coyotes pack call to hunt)
4) Now today, hunting right there, I about had a Coyote in my lap...breeze must have been right because he never knew I was there.
If I’d have had the 20ga with the bigger load of #4s...(or a rifle of course)...I’d have shot him...and if a frog had wings...anyhow...kind of helped make a beautiful uneventful morning at least different.