They were calling for rain on Thursday and the moon looked good Wednesday night. I knew if the rain held off the critters would be moving. I missed two coyotes this year up in North Central PA and was not feeling very confident in my shooting (been having problems for a while now) so I ask my youngest son and his friend if they wanted to go and be the shooters.
We arrive at our first set and decided not to hunt it because of the human activity that was going on. Set number two exposed two doe, a big eight point that kept the boys talking for a while and a red fox that wanted no parts of my seductive sounds.
Set number three exposed four doe, another smaller eight point and a fox that I squeaked in from 200 yards to 50 yards. Nick shot the fox in the chest with the 22 hornet and it jumped in the air about three feet and took off. We searched for 30 minutes and found nothing. I think he pulled left and just grazed it. We get back to the truck and the boys unloaded their rifles and I catch eyes coming across the road. I told them to load up and we ran down and set up behind the barn which was they direction the fox was going. We never did see him again and I think he busted us. We were not exactly stealthy.
Set number four is a big farm and my intention was to actually put two sets in. The first set was a bit of a walk so we did not expose ourselves and the wind was perfect (in our face). We set up watching a big cut (dip) in the field. I know from past experience that the predators run this cut. I wasn't a minute into my calls and I see eyes from my right heading left and right up the cut. I knew it was a coyote immediately by the size and actions but did not say anything to the boys. I barked with my mouth and the coyote stopped dead in it's tracks broadside at 50 to 60 yards away. I whispered to the boys "Shoot that thing immediately!". Now here is where the story gets good. Nick having shot the fox that we never recovered wanted his friend Tyler to get a shot, so he never shot. I was waiting for Tyler to shoot and I see him reach up and turn the scope magnification down. At this time the coyote takes off for the hills on a mission. I grabbed my bulb squeaker and tried to stop it but he was not having it. I barked and howled with my voice and by goods grace the coyote stopped five feet in front of the wood line, turned around and looked right at us. I whispered again, "shoot it" as anyone who has ever hunted with me knows I am famous for telling people when to shoot (bad habit) but this time it paid off. The boys had switched guns because the 204 is hard on fox. Nick and Tyler both shot but the 204 went off first and the coyote dropped in it's tracks. I will never forget his eyes when we walked up to it and he realized it was a coyote. I'm not sure how he didn't know but he didn't. After some high fives and pictures we put the second set in on the farm which drew a blank. 30 pound male with great fur shot in York county. We headed home as it was a school and work day. Left the house at 8am and returned at midnight. Temperature was 63 degrees and cloudy with a quarter moon.
On a side note I have already seen more coyote this year then ever before. Seems like a good year for them.
