TD257 takes its 2nd Coyote

I set out on this morning in hopes of calling in a Coyote (s) that I have seen roaming around in one of my favorite Jack rabbit locations.  As of late, the rabbit numbers have been low.  Heck, some days, I only see 1 or 2 which is extremely abnormal for this area.  There are Hawks and a Bobcat that live in the area but again, this is nothing new and numbers seemed to be lower than normal judging by past years.  So upon setting up and calling for over 20 minutes without as much as a distant glimpse of a yote, I decided that this particular predator hunt is a bust.  So I pack up and head to another locale that I normally visit to hunt Jack Rabbits.

So now, I'm driving down a familiar dirt road to park my truck and start the long hike through the vast desert.  Upon making the last left turn to park, about 100 yards down that road, I spot some awfully big ears.  This is not uncommon as driving through the desert floor will often present you with a set or 2 of big ears from a running Jack Rabbit.  Except these ears where not as long and the head of this animal was much BIGGER than a rabbit.  The problem is, the sun was glaring right into my face as it was still early in the morning.  Roughly 9:15 am.  So the sun was still low!  I immediately slam on my brakes and start staring at this animal with the intent on identifying exactly what it was.  To my surprise, it was a Coyote.  A big one!  Not only that but, him being in that area is DEFINITELY why i am not seeing any jack rabbits.  He was in my FAVORITE spot where I have killed plenty of jacks before.

I then put my truck in park and hop out after grabbing my Air Gun.  I knew i did not have time on my side as he was scarely curious as to all my racket with doors slamming and my footsteps mashing into the loose gravel.  I did not even turn off my truck I was so frantic.  Luckily though, the camera was still mounted to my gun and it was all inside of the case and I was on the Yotes blind side as he could not see me.  So all I had to do was to grab it, turn on the camera, hit record and shoot!  Upon grabbing the gun, I head to the rear of the truck to use the top of the bed of the truck for bracing.  This also kept me hid from the yote.  The coyote started trotting off due to my noise but, he was so curious that he stopped broadside to me and looked at me once more to see who and what I was doing.  This was his fatal mistake!

The yote was approximately 50 yards from me and when he stopped to take one last look at me, I excitedly put the crosshairs just behind his elbow and quickly pulled the trigger.  The shot went high and took out the arteries and nerves just under his spine.  The projectile of choice was the infamous Lyman 257420 in HP format that had been modified.  I call them MHPs for Modified Hollow Points which mean that I cut shallow slits into the HP mouth to aid in expansion (it does not need any aid BTW).  As I glared through the scope, I could tell the yote was hit in the vitals and that he was fighting to stay alive.  But it didn't last long.  In about 8 seconds, he was DRT!

After taking the yote, I decided that I would go for 1 or 2 Jacks.  I told myself that when I got one, I would pack up for the day and go home.  The Yote was all I needed but the day was still super early.  After spotting a few Jack and missing 2 cleanly, I decided to call it a day and headed back to my truck.  As I ventured back to the vehicle, I spotted a big rabbit right at 53 yards and decided to take it.  It was a very successful head shot and he was DRT!

All in all, this was a SUPER day and one of my best so far.  Not only was the weather beautiful but I managed to LUCKILY stumble upon a Yote and a Jack.

THE VIDEO:

Stay Tuned!
Tofazfou