Got out for a few stands last night and this morning

[FinsnFur]

Finally made it out last night calling for a while. Actually we took off this morning for some more at 5:00
Got skunked both days, last night on the last stand we got a little action but was running out of day light and fast.

It was so dang dark out and the fog was rolling in, you had to keep finding something to adjust your eyes on or it was like staring into space, watching the wood line.

I seen some movement emerge from the wood line while Rich and I were taking turns calling. But I couldn't make it out. It was maybe 250 yds away. I pulled the rifle up and sure enough, looked like a coyote to me.
He wasnt in much of a hurry though. He'd make a couple steps, sniff the ground make a couple more steps and sniff the ground.
I thought well, If I wait too long Rich is gonna take it, he might not see it right now  So I waited for it to stop again, lined things up and squeezed er off.
I was instantly blinded by the muzzle flash, pulled my head up just in time to see it darting back into the timber. Rich is blaring away on a coyote distress by now.

We decided to grab a spot light and walk down and see if we could find any blood. We didnt find any blood, but we did miraculously find the bullet hole after trudging that far through 17 inches of snow 

We put 2 and 2 together and decided by the angle that I shot right over top of it. We walked a couple yards back between where the bullet went in and where we were set up,......and we found DEER TRACKS!  :shck:

Rich looked at the amount of real estate between the tracks headed into the woods. It had to be all of 9-10 feet. He says that wasnt no damn coyote and if it was I'm getting the hell outta here. :roflmao:

Easy mistake to make in the dark, and with the deer standing in 17 inches of snow, you can imagine where that put his body in comparison to the ground.

Mannnnn that was a close one

[THO Game Calls]

Do you have a lot of snow?  Were you near a deer yard?

All of the deer around here are yarded up, but then we have about 4 feet of snow in the woods, more in the higher elevations.   A lot of times calling in the morning here, you see deer move in and out of the thickets and it can really distract you until you make out what they really are.  I've put crosshairs on more than a few deer when I was out coyote hunting.  Haven't shot one yet, but it's been close a time or too.  Especially in the fall and winter when they have that gray coat of hair,  Spring and summer they are a reddish brown so it's not so bad.

Sounds like you had a good time though. 

Al

[blakcoyote]

That deep snow changes things for sure.Around here it's pretty solid and there running on top.Walking through that deep stuff is a chore,dragging a coyote back through it is even more work.lol

[FinsnFur]

Do we have a lot of snow? naaaa not really. This is pretty much par for this time of year.
As far as the deer yarding up, no...they seem to do that immediately after a heavy snow with a lot of accumulation, and they dont stay yarded up long.

We have 16 - 17 inches of snow, but we havent got any snow for a while now, and the deer were all over the sides of the road this morning when I headed out. I kinda felt like I was in a parade...I started honking at them as I drove by. 
They didnt care, sometimes they'd perk their ears, others would just stare like they didn't know me or something.

[iahntr]

"....looked like a coyote to me"
I read that and knew somethin was gonna happen. 
I figured you were gonna say you walked up to it and it had a collar on or somethin. 
That was a close one huh.    Just goes to show ya how easy somethin like that can happen.