Scored again

This was the last day for me to coyote hunt; I stop at the end of February because fox season closes. Let me explain: it would drive me nuts if I called in a fox and wouldn't be able to shoot it.
As it was yesterday I actually saw 5 coons just walking around in corn fields eating... season has been closed for a while. They must have known it was closed because they didn't even care what I was doing they just kept doing their thing.
Coyote hunting this year has been spectacular, I can't remember ever doing this well on public property which leads me to ask the question, what's different? It's either I'm getting better at the coyote game, my new caller has magical powers (foxpro), or there are just more coyotes, of course I hope it's not the last one. (more coyotes = less critters)
Anyway I went to Mississinewa yesterday and scored on a dog on my 2nd or 3rd stand. She actually came in hot from down wind side, and ran within 5 yards of me. I have a 3x9x50 Leupold scope on my Remington and I keep it on magnification 4.5, so half way. This coyote was so close all I could see was hair, so I got ahead of her and fell back a little then squeezed the trigger. She dropped like she hit a truck, again the exit hole was the size of a baseball. I guess 50 to the 150 yard mark is the optimum for pencil entry holes and no exit holes. Not that it really bothers me I just try to put fur in the truck.

picture taken from where I was sitting

Still kicking myself

I should be spending this time telling you about the coyote hunt I was on yesterday, and showing you the pic of the yote that I shot. Instead I have to tell you about the missed yote I shot at.
It was going to be pretty chilly yesterday so I of course decided to go coyote hunting. Midday found me walking into my 5th or 6th stand, when a coyote stepped out from behind the corn row @ 50 yards. I stopped, shouldered the rifle, took the safety off, fired and ..... saw the snow kick up in front of the coyote. That's right I whiffed on a 50 yard chip shot at a broadside coyote.
Of course since this happened midday I have been replaying it in my head ever since. And it will probably stick with me until I have a chance to put some fur down next week. Hopefully if I get another chance I'll be able to seal the deal instead of reliving the ghosts of misses past. Why is it I can't remember what I went to the Walmart for, but I can't shake the memory of this to save my life?
Anyway going to get on the best I can and look for next week to give me a stack of better memories.

Coyote down

Third day coyote hunting and another coyote down. I was calling at a spot that, just like the last coyote spot, that I have never called in anything. This time I had 2 come in and the closest yote didn't go home, she was at 20 yards and I put the 50 grn V-max center mass. Unlike the last yote which had only a pencil sized entry hole, this one has an entry hole the size of a baseball. The good thing is, there were no exit holes in either coyote. The other cool thing that happened to me was, when I was walking into a stand I had a red fox take off up a ravine. I saw him too late and didn't get a shot off but it was really cool cause it was the first fox I've seen in more than a couple years.

Today was my last day of waterfowl for the year

So I went out on the advice of the weatherman who predicted clouds, cold and windy. Well the latter was true but the important part of the equation was way wrong. The clouds parted on the way to my spot this morning and I thought I might be in for a long sit with nothing flying. That's pretty much what happened with the exception of 1 flock that didn't want to come anywhere near me.
So it's a pretty good thing that I went out pass shooting yesterday morning. I didn't get limit but I did get 2, the birds were in the air all day and I could've stayed for that last one but I had to get some stuff at home done.

For the next couple of weeks I can focus on coyotes and fox while I do my turkey scouting. Then before you know it, March is here and all hunting comes to an end.  : (
But don't be too sad for me, fishing season is right around the corner. : )

Coyote hunt / Turkey scouting

I went down to Miss. Res. yesterday to do some turkey scouting and coyote hunting. Started at sunrise at one end of the property and just started making set after set. Well when I got to my 5th or 6th set I noticed that my sunglasses pouch had been pulled out of the snapped pocket I had it in. Normally I would've been like,"oh well" but I had a 20$ pair of sunglasses in there. So here were my options:
1. Trudge back trhough the snow and hope to find them.
2. Forget about it go on with my day and tell Sarah I needed to get another pair of sunglasses. By the way she already thinks that between sunglasses,flashlights,knives,decoys and fishing poles and reels that I already have more than I will need in a lifetime.
So I was forced to backtrack and look for my sunglasses. Fortunately I found them on the second to last stand I made, bad news it was across a field with foot deep snow. Since I found the missing sunglasses it was back to checking for turkey tracks and trying to find a coyote.
Well I was on my last stand on my second sound only 8 minutes in when I notice a coyote milling around in the field in front of me. He didn't want to come in but he didn't want to leave either. So I switched sounds and tried to get him to commit. Well he turned and started walking up the field not really too interested. So when he came to a clearing and stopped I served up the 50 grain V-max that put him down. Then I dropped a second round in him just for insurance so I didn't have to track him. Looked about 130 yards to me at the time after checking on google earth it measured out to 150.

First coyote with my new caller and new stock on my 222. My equipment worked flawlessly.
I did see some turkey tracks so if I get drawn this spring I'll be ready.

Snowy River Limit

Well with everything froze up except the river I packed in 6 decoys and decided to give 'er a try. I got down to the river and busted out 75-100 geese @ 8am, I didn't fire a shot. If you just bust 'em out and not shoot at them they'll filter back through the day.
Well I got set up and shot one out of a flock of 5, dropped him on the other side of the river. A small chase ensued but he ended up back at my blind.
I had another chance at noon when 50 or so geese wanted back in. I was not sure if they were actually going to land so when I thought they were close enough I let loose. Bad news..... they weren't close enough.
So I waited through the snow storm, which was a complete white out at times. Finally around 3 I had some more geese moving through and I was able to peel off 2 and bring them in. Three shots later I had both geese on the ground. That's my limit, so I gather my frozen snow covered gear packed it back to the truck and headed to the house.

Gooses

Last Thursday I went back to the same field I had gone to in the previous post and again I got 2 geese. I shot horribly again, I put one goose down on an overhead passing shot and that goose made it all the way to the river. I'll put the video in here so you can see what I went through for this goose.

 Rest assured I did retrieve that goose, it stayed exactly where he died.

Yesterday I got an invite from Jay to hit a field that he has. The catch was it was sight unseen, so he didn't have any idea if geese were using the field or not. Well we got there and set up the whole spread, while we were waiting for the geese we had a very lonely one come in from behind us to the right Jay made quick work of him. One shot one kill.
As the day wore on it became very apparent to us that the geese that were flying were landing 300 yards away from where we were. So after careful consideration we decided to make the walk to where we would at least get some passing shots. Well after the fist shots rang out (three geese down) the ducks and geese just exploded from where they were hanging out at. After 10 minutes we had all shot our limits and started to gather up the geese. Then we had to make the trek back to where the trucks were, drop off the geese and pick up the entire spread. It took quite a while and was ALOT of work but it was all worth it, had a great time.
Thanks Jay.

Pete, Jay, and me