A swing and a MISS

[Mobuck]

Darn it, I hate when this happens. Son came driving in yesterday afternoon and I met him on the back deck with my coffee cup in hand. His first words "Do you have 2 loaded coyote rifles handy?" Huh? Then he added "We need them RIGHT NOW". OK, so he's not joking and yes, I do have 2 rifles handy. 3-4 minutes of scrambling for rifles and we're off.
He'd seen two coyotes in the harvested soybean field across the road from my mailbox and thought we could use some scattered trees in the waterway between my house and the field to get close enough for a shot. Didn't quite work that way as there was a big opening we couldn't possibly cross w/o being seen. We did gain 200 yards on them but it was still a long poke and in the hurry up I'd forgot a range finder. Tough to judge distance across a featureless stubble field.
We each took a wild guess at the range but by the time we were ready, the coyote I was going to shoot at was in a depression so only about 2/3 of it's body visible. I asked if he was ready , got a muffled OK, and sent my bullet which landed maybe 3-4" too low. Son also missed but didn't mention by how much and his yote ran out of sight into some weeds at the field edge. Mine ran to the field edge and stopped so I sent another try. That one kicked up dirt at it's feet. Instead of 350 yards on our first shots, it must have been closer to 400-420 and my second shot was in the 500+ range. That's a long shot to attempt w/o any time to make ranging calculations BUT the fact that the misses were so close makes the sting a bit less.
I sure wish I'd taken a few more seconds to grab my rangefinder on the way out the door. The 6.5 Creedmoor and .223 we'd used are extremely accurate(either will hit a coyote @ 400-500 yards if correct holdover is used) but dare I say 'trajectory challenged' versus 22/250 or 25/06

 

[contender]

Sadly,, we all miss sometimes. But when it comes to coyotes,, it's even worse,, because you have added to their education.

 

[Paul B]

Last coyote I shot at was in 2019 while on my elk hunt. Gide said the landowner wanted them shot so I estimated it to be about 200 yards and adjusted the scope power to 9X The coyote was literally standing still when I shot and the guide and I both saw fur fly. The guide was watching with a 10X binocular and said it looked like the bullet just grazed his back and cutting hair. I asked him if he was positive about the owner wanting coyotes killed off and he said, "Damned if I know. I Just wanted to see of you could shoot." He then said, "You'll do." Elk were scarce that year with a lot of Mountain Lion tracks all over the place. Didn't see a legal elk (cow) until the very last minute on the last day of the hunt. One very spooked elk and I caught her right at the base of the skull as she was running dead away from me. The 225 gr. TSX darn near tore her head from the neck. Almost no wasted meat. I've since learned that the outfitter no longer does those cull cow hunts. Problem with the rancher or the lions? He wouldn't day. Now I have to find an outfitter that handles handicapped hunts at a reasonable price. I have a hankering for some cow elk meat.

Paul B.

 

[Mobuck]

Using my computer measure function, I checked the ranges today. My first shot must have just barely ticked the ground of the rise between me and coyote causing a deflection because the distance was almost exactly the same as my 6" plate(355-360 yards). An inch higher would have taken out the coyote. The second shot was around 520-530 which is further than I've actually tested drop vs scope ticks so a Hail Mary that failed.