I feel real lucky to be the first coyote hunter in the world to kill a coyote using a new sound by Rich Cronk. Kind of a secret weapon Rich developed to deal with call shy, PhD coyotes. It is a duet of his hand/lip squeaks and I knew it was pure poison when I first heard it. Made a late afternoon stand today in one of my favorite spots near town here in Nicholasville, Ky.. After about 30 minutes with no customers, I decided to hustle my possum butt off and I may just have time to make one more last bit of daylight stand. So, I gathered up decoy, etc., and headed double time to my second and last spot. Made a dumb rookie mistake, leaving my rifle and shooting sticks by the tree in the fencerow where I was going to sit, and slipped out about 50 yds to place the caller and the decoy. Just as I was getting ready to get up and slip back to my seat, I look up there about 150 yds, and a big male was standing there looking at the decoy and what was a big hunk of possum on his knees. I didn't move and the breeze was in my favor, so I let him go through the fence, and crawled all the way back to my rifle. No sooner than I turned the CS-24 on with Rich's new sound, I see the big female coming down the edge of the grain field where the male had travelled just seconds before. I put a little woop on her, stopping her at 190 yds, and put a 70 grain Blitz King right in her left shoulder. With her standing at a slight angle, it opened up a considerable hole in her right rib cage, resulting in a bloody mess. I slipped out the way I came in, and have lots of hope I'll get hubby tomorrow morning at first light. Lesson is don't ever leave your rifle behind, but don't stand up and walk or run if you screw up. Crawl fast and avoid cowpiles. Here are some pictures of a really pretty 40 lb. female with a white tip on her tail. The male is one big rascal so I hope to get him lined out tomorrow morning. I might invite him for coffee (lol)
(http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e280/Possumal/FincastleFarmsunsetfemale1.jpg)
(http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e280/Possumal/FincastleFarmsunsetfemale10.jpg)
Dang Al there for a moment I thought ya had a date. :innocentwhistle:
NIce look'n coyote. :congrats: But, man that looks like a boat load of stuff to carry to a stand. :shock2:
Congrats on the coyote! Great story too...... :laf:
Todd: Not much at all when packaged up. Everybody has their rifle, shooting sticks, ecaller, and their decoy, don't they? Well, maybe not their decoy and maybe not their shooting sticks. I personally wouldn't be without shooting sticks, especially at some of the longer ranges I encounter on some of the land I hunt. As for decoys, some people don't believe they are necessary. I believe that too on some stands, but on others they are an essential element for me, especially on problem yotes which I deal with a lot. :biggrin:
good job Al :yoyo:
WTG Al !! :congrats: She's a big female.
Well it's now tomorrow and long past first light, so..........
Nice coyote and nice shooting. We don't normally grow them that big out here. Without looking through my log book I think the biggest one I killed was either 35 or 37 pounds. Most are in the 25 - 27 pound range, with the YOY considerably less.
All I carry anymore is a rifle, caller and camera. But I can appreciate you using sticks, If'n I was as old as you I would be kinda wobbly also.
John P, if you were as old as me, you might be worse than wobbly! :laf: :eyebrownod: :nono: I just like exact bullet placement at long range, kind of hard to do offhand. I can shoot across my knees on a lot of setups, but sometimes you'd have to be a contortionist to do that in our terrain.
Todd: I realize I forgot to mention that I don't carry those big old yotes in to the stand; they are in the picture after I kill 'em! :roflmao:
:hahaha: :hahaha:
Quote from: JohnP on November 11, 2009, 10:04:24 AM
But I can appreciate you using sticks, If'n I was as old as you I would be kinda wobbly also.
:roflmao: :roflmao: :roflmao:
It is a dandy coyote, I'll give ya that. Nice job. :congrats:
Well? Did ya go get the ol' man in the morn'g? :shrug:
:congrats: :congrats: :congrats:
No luck on the big male next morning after a major wind switch. Some kind of animal did steal my keys out from under my truck though. Wonder if it was a possum? :laf: :eyebrownod: :nono:
"Crawl fast and avoid cowpiles."............THEMS WORDS TO LIVE BY :yoyo: :bowingsmilie:
That big male musta caught them keys on his appendage as it must be a good sized one to be able to see his gender from that far away...... :hahaha: :hahaha:
Alscalls Al, a big old mature male up here is built entirely different from the female, much wider at the shoulder and taller, a noticeable difference especially at 200 yds or so. They move different when they get 4 or 5 years old and broad at the shoulder, kind of a posture thing. Look at the pictures of some of the big males I have posted and compare them to the females and you'll see a marked difference..
No need to get all High road on me AL......Just busting yer chops a little buddy.... :wink:
Did ya find your keys? :laf: :laf:
I didn't mean it to be high road, Alscalls Al. I thought you were serious. I guess a raccoon is trying to drive one of the big oaks out on that farm with my keys, but I'll bet it won't turn the motor over. Sure taught me a tough lesson, for sure. Doing something a certain way for 40 years or so tends to get you habit bound, but this creature broke this possum from sucking eggs. There were keys on there to lots of locked gates on racehorse farms, big cattle farms, etc.. I can eventually replace them all, but Lordy, what a job it is. :laf: :eyebrownod: :nono:
when i saw the title "big female at sunset" i thought Al had been sneakin round takin pics of me at dusk :wink: :roflmao:
real nice job,possumal.
do you ever skin them and sell the hide if they arent damaged badly?
that would be a bummer
Quote from: cathryn on November 17, 2009, 07:11:42 AM
when i saw the title "big female at sunset" i thought Al had been sneakin round takin pics of me at dusk :wink: :roflmao:
real nice job,possumal.
do you ever skin them and sell the hide if they arent damaged badly?
I have skinned a few trying to get good at skinning and tanning. Wouldn't mind having a nice rug or even a coyote coat made out of hides from coyotes all killed on racehorse farms. That would be quite unusual I would say. Other pelts, if decent, are given to a fellow with 9 kids who will gladly skin them and take them to the buyer. He needs the income worse than I do, and has never turned down a chance to pick one or more up. I remember real clearly how happy he was when I killed 5 one day and they were all pretty decent fur. It was the 2nd day of December 2001. Hopefully it helped his kids have some Christmas gifts.
i hope it did too.
this year though, least round here, you cant even give coyote pelts away.
Quote from: possumal on November 11, 2009, 04:25:57 AM
Todd: Not much at all when packaged up. Everybody has their rifle, shooting sticks, ecaller, and their decoy, don't they? Well, maybe not their decoy and maybe not their shooting sticks. I personally wouldn't be without shooting sticks, especially at some of the longer ranges I encounter on some of the land I hunt. As for decoys, some people don't believe they are necessary. I believe that too on some stands, but on others they are an essential element for me, especially on problem yotes which I deal with a lot. :biggrin:
maybe not an ecaller either.... just not into ambushing a worthy opponent
Timbertoes: Your words "maybe not an ecaller either.... just not into ambushing a worthy opponent" makes me think you consider calling a coyote in with an ecaller is kind of taking unfair advantage of a worthy opponent? May be, but blasting one inside out with a shotgun at 35 yds isn't giving him much of a chance either, IMO. I shoot a lot of coyotes at long range, lots of shots at 250 yds and more. Do you think it is easier to hit a coyote at ranges like that or with him at chip shot range? I don't mean to bust your chops for enjoying calling them in with hand calls. I like that too and have done a lot of it. If you hunt by yourself a lot, as I have done at times, you'll leave a lot of yotes behind that you never see using just hand calls. That's o.k. too if you accept that as part of your way to do things, as you are giving him a lot more chance to hang up in the thick stuff and watch until he sees you make any kind of move with your hands, head, etc.. Guys like Rich Cronk enjoy using their own hand call sounds that they have recorded to get their own hand call skills out away from them, increasing their chances of seeing the customers who come to dinner. Different strokes for different folks makes the game the best there is. Good hunting at ya!
I'm thinking instead of the easy button to get your sound out away from you, you should learn ventriloquism :shrug:. Never ever bothered me to not get every critter and I hunt alone most of the time. That way I know who to blame for busted sets :doh2:.
Pretty good stuff there, PITW! Ventriloquism with a stuffed rabbit might be too cool. You can learn all the tricks known to the coyote hunting fraternity, and have all the best handcalls, ecallers, decoys, and scents, but knowledge of the animal and how to make good setups will still be the main element that determines success. Nearly every successful coyote hunter you talk to will agree with that statement. Only thing more important, IMO, is to be sure the land has coyotes on it for you to call.
Very true statement Possumal :wink:. I really don't care how you get them as long as they are got. Up here I have to rely on snares to really control them on most places and calling is just too much fun to not do. I have many friends that call themselves coyote hunters cause they drive around and shoot from the road but all their shots are at the tail and that just isn't the same to me. It does make it a little tougher to hunt moose being a coyote killer though. Yesterday while watching one of the dugouts for a bit a coyote came out for drink and I missed him with the old .54 and probably wrecked all chances at a moose there :doh2:. Oh well, I didn't have to clean one. :laf:
I believe you should use what ever you feel comfortable with. Al you have obviously found your comfort zone and technique and it works for you and you seem to be happy with your results.
Quoteblasting one inside out with a shotgun at 35 yds isn't giving him much of a chance either
All in the eyes of the beholder. For the first 10 years of my coyote hunting I used 22-250's 220 swift 22-243 Middlestead's and other long range cartridges. The type terrain I hunted in allowed me to see a long distance and I enjoyed shooting them in that way.
After a while calling one in and shooting it at 150 to 350 yards was a fairly easy task for me. I soon wanted to try and get coyotes closer consistently and it became my passion.I had to learn to setup other than just calling across an open field toward were I thought the coyotes were.
It took many years of trial and error before I became consistent in these type setups. Meaning we all at times get the one than just comes running in with no caution but to consistently get the weary and educated ones to come to 30-40 yards was were the challenge came in for me.
I haven't used an e-caller this year and most of last. I do think E-callers have there place but I kill way more coyotes with a hand call than E-callers for sure.
Calling them in close and calling them in for a long shot are two totally different types of hunting. My type calling and hunting is different than when I hunted for long shots so I do not put myself in the same category as a long range hunter. This is why it irritates me when a long range hunter tries to put me in the same category as them. Two totally different things.
To me shooting a moving coyote that runs in at 40 yards and having to make that shot in 3 to 5 seconds is harder for me than shooting a sitting target at 250 yards in 25 to 45 seconds off a set of sticks.
BTW in the original thread that is a nice coyote. I believe hunters that enjoy long range hunting can learn alot from reading all your post on how you setup and shorten their learning curve tremendously..
I aint sure why but since I been trying the E-caller more I am finding that I go right back to the hand calls........
I just seem to see more........And I really lean toward my howler for the fun of it......Its like my favorite spinnerbait for fishing.... I enjoy talking them into coming in fast and hard.........
There just aint nothing like it......when it happens........ :yoyo: :yoyo:
Your not busting my chops :) though I might be giveing you a bit of an arm frog :) :innocentwhistle:
I have only shot one coyote with a shotgun, myself. Have to say, if a person can call then into shotgun range, then indeed they have conqured the Coyote at his game.
I love my sticks too, it helps when you can steady up, especially on a moving target