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On Wednesday I received an email from a rancher 2 miles south of Burns saying a friend of his told him to contact me about hunting coyotes that are "pestering" his cattle. I called him that night to ask when would be a good time to come down, he replies "now". I started packing to leave Thursday morning!! I made a couple of phone calls to hunt around Redmond and then stay overnight to break up the long drive. Here are the details:
Thursday Afternoon near Madras on a 600 acre ranch covered with thick sagebrush and juniper with meadows. Tried 2 areas on north side of ranch in the junipers with no luck. Hiked over to SW side in the sage and started calling. Two minutes later coyote #1 trots in at 150 yards, one shot with the 223 puts him down.
Friday Morning near Powell Butte on a 300 acre ranch, mostly thick Juniper with scattered sage openings. I hike up near a small lake and started calling. Five minutes later Coyote #2 runs left to right into the small opening, one shot with the 20ga puts him down at 25 yards.
Friday afternoon 2 hours south of Burns on a 16,000 acre ranch, sagebrush with meadows. I meet with rancher and ask what he wants me to do. He replies "kill ‘em, kill ‘em all" and tells me a rough layout of the ranch. I hike through waist high sage to the edge of a 1000 acre cheat grass meadow and see 8 coyotes hanging around a cattle herd about a mile away. I set up on the edge of the sage and place the caller and decoy 30 yards away. When I turn on the ecaller I see coyote #3 start running right at me, a "woof" stops him at 125 yards and the 223 brings him down. I look over to the left and see coyote #4 running right at the decoy. I try woofing to stop him but he keeps on going and attacks the decoy!! He then circles around behind me in the sage and I drop him at 200 yards.
Saturday morning I hike 100 yards from my tent into the sage and start calling. I see Coyote #5 bounding through the sage and stop him with a woof at 130 yards and down he goes. I then hike about 6 miles through sage and juniper in an area the rancher "thought" was thick with yotes, nothing.
At 1300 I drove to a "steel storage area" 200 yards from the ranch house and set up in knee high sage. Five minutes into calling coyote #6 sneaks into view at 110 yards. Down she goes.
I then hike 2 miles along a fence line into the 1000 acre meadow where I can see 4 coyotes in with the cows. I crawl 90 yards into the meadow and set up the ecaller and decoy and crawl back to fence and find a corner post to lean against. I start the caller and three of the yotes start running away!! The forth looks in my direction and slowly starts to move toward me. After 15 minutes I am looking at him through binos when I hear a twang of the fence wire and look over to see coyote #7 running 25 feet away!! He gets to the decoy and stops, the 223 speaks and down he goes. The one I was watching is running away.
I then drive to the base of a butte and start walking around the south side in waist high sage. After five minutes of walking I hear a howl and then see coyote #8 walk out of the sage into the meadow and start mousing. I sneak around even with him, range 150 yards and start the caller. He starts towards me and 10 minutes later hits the 150 yard mark and down he goes.
I continue my walk along the base of the butte and turn a corner and see movement off to my left in the rocks of the butte. Coyote #9 is looking at me from the side of the butte!! I crouch down in the sage, find an opening and the 223 drops him at 76 yards.
Sunday morning I drive one mile from tent and hike 200 yards along an old road in knee high sage with scattered openings. I place the ecaller and decoy 50 yards away on side of road. Two minutes later coyote #10 comes running down the road at full speed, attacks the decoy and then circles to an opening 75 yards away. As I am swinging the rifle over he sees me and starts to move away, a woof stops him and the 223 drops him. Just as I was swinging back to the decoy, coyote #11 comes in and sees me moving and runs away. I start woofing to stop her which she does at 200 yards, you know the rest. Sorry no pics of these two because my cell phone batteries were too cold.
I then drive another mile down the road and hike in 200 yards. I cannot find any big openings so I run back to truck and replace rifle with shotgun. Decoy is 20 yards from me when I start ecaller. I see coyote #12 pop up on an old dike about ½ mile away and he starts running towards me. I can see him now and then when he jumps up to see where the decoy is. He comes in to the decoy and falls to a load of #3 buckshot.
Time is running out so I drive to the butte and hike to back side and find a fence corner to call from. After 15 minutes I am very antsy about the drive back so I stand up and glass the meadow behind me. I see a coyote about 1 mile out in the meadow and think maybe I should hike over and call him before I leave. When I turn back to the area I am calling, I see a coyote standing 115 yards away looking right at me!! I try to sit back down but of course he takes off running!! Just then the rancher drives up so I blame it on him LOL.
I have a slideshow of pictures at
Thursday Afternoon near Madras on a 600 acre ranch covered with thick sagebrush and juniper with meadows. Tried 2 areas on north side of ranch in the junipers with no luck. Hiked over to SW side in the sage and started calling. Two minutes later coyote #1 trots in at 150 yards, one shot with the 223 puts him down.
Friday Morning near Powell Butte on a 300 acre ranch, mostly thick Juniper with scattered sage openings. I hike up near a small lake and started calling. Five minutes later Coyote #2 runs left to right into the small opening, one shot with the 20ga puts him down at 25 yards.
Friday afternoon 2 hours south of Burns on a 16,000 acre ranch, sagebrush with meadows. I meet with rancher and ask what he wants me to do. He replies "kill ‘em, kill ‘em all" and tells me a rough layout of the ranch. I hike through waist high sage to the edge of a 1000 acre cheat grass meadow and see 8 coyotes hanging around a cattle herd about a mile away. I set up on the edge of the sage and place the caller and decoy 30 yards away. When I turn on the ecaller I see coyote #3 start running right at me, a "woof" stops him at 125 yards and the 223 brings him down. I look over to the left and see coyote #4 running right at the decoy. I try woofing to stop him but he keeps on going and attacks the decoy!! He then circles around behind me in the sage and I drop him at 200 yards.
Saturday morning I hike 100 yards from my tent into the sage and start calling. I see Coyote #5 bounding through the sage and stop him with a woof at 130 yards and down he goes. I then hike about 6 miles through sage and juniper in an area the rancher "thought" was thick with yotes, nothing.
At 1300 I drove to a "steel storage area" 200 yards from the ranch house and set up in knee high sage. Five minutes into calling coyote #6 sneaks into view at 110 yards. Down she goes.
I then hike 2 miles along a fence line into the 1000 acre meadow where I can see 4 coyotes in with the cows. I crawl 90 yards into the meadow and set up the ecaller and decoy and crawl back to fence and find a corner post to lean against. I start the caller and three of the yotes start running away!! The forth looks in my direction and slowly starts to move toward me. After 15 minutes I am looking at him through binos when I hear a twang of the fence wire and look over to see coyote #7 running 25 feet away!! He gets to the decoy and stops, the 223 speaks and down he goes. The one I was watching is running away.
I then drive to the base of a butte and start walking around the south side in waist high sage. After five minutes of walking I hear a howl and then see coyote #8 walk out of the sage into the meadow and start mousing. I sneak around even with him, range 150 yards and start the caller. He starts towards me and 10 minutes later hits the 150 yard mark and down he goes.
I continue my walk along the base of the butte and turn a corner and see movement off to my left in the rocks of the butte. Coyote #9 is looking at me from the side of the butte!! I crouch down in the sage, find an opening and the 223 drops him at 76 yards.
Sunday morning I drive one mile from tent and hike 200 yards along an old road in knee high sage with scattered openings. I place the ecaller and decoy 50 yards away on side of road. Two minutes later coyote #10 comes running down the road at full speed, attacks the decoy and then circles to an opening 75 yards away. As I am swinging the rifle over he sees me and starts to move away, a woof stops him and the 223 drops him. Just as I was swinging back to the decoy, coyote #11 comes in and sees me moving and runs away. I start woofing to stop her which she does at 200 yards, you know the rest. Sorry no pics of these two because my cell phone batteries were too cold.
I then drive another mile down the road and hike in 200 yards. I cannot find any big openings so I run back to truck and replace rifle with shotgun. Decoy is 20 yards from me when I start ecaller. I see coyote #12 pop up on an old dike about ½ mile away and he starts running towards me. I can see him now and then when he jumps up to see where the decoy is. He comes in to the decoy and falls to a load of #3 buckshot.
Time is running out so I drive to the butte and hike to back side and find a fence corner to call from. After 15 minutes I am very antsy about the drive back so I stand up and glass the meadow behind me. I see a coyote about 1 mile out in the meadow and think maybe I should hike over and call him before I leave. When I turn back to the area I am calling, I see a coyote standing 115 yards away looking right at me!! I try to sit back down but of course he takes off running!! Just then the rancher drives up so I blame it on him LOL.
I have a slideshow of pictures at
