longspring

Just got back from an early evening hunt, and i can't believe how excited and disgusted I am. I took everbody's advice and went and bought some calls. A coyote howler and an open reed distress call. I went out just at dusk, set up towards the bottom of an open hollow. Started calling with a few barks and howls then turned on the E-caller with grey fox pup distress. Within minutes had a nice coyote come running directly to the speaker and stop dead. I moved one inch to aim and as I did the coyote spotted me and was taking off twice as fast as he came, I took a quick shot with my 223 but missed,"no blood or fur found". I'm so happy to have called one up, but really wish I didn't miss. That's hunting. Could I have done something better?, other than shoot straight. The shot was only about 40 yards. Next time I'm gonna take my 12 gauge with #4 buck. There are fox in the same area, do you guys think this will cause significant pelt damage?

halcon

I have shot a couple and they didn't do that bad .A lot less than my 22-250 will do .Don't feel bad about missing we all do sometimes .

trapperDave

Sure got your heart pumping,didn't it. <img src=icon_smile_big.gif border=0 align=middle>

If I ain't huntin',I'm trappin',If I ain't trappin',I'm fishin'
If I ain't fishin',I'm wishin'!

Howler

Another one is hooked!! No turning back now. As far as missing, it won't be the last one that you miss. But, to up your chance of making the kill next time, don't panic when they come in. Pay real close atention to where the wind is blowing, if the critter doesn't smell you, even if he sees you move a little, they can most often be stopped or will stop to take another look. I always have my gun up at the ready, on shooting sticks, as soon as I start calling, but sometimes, most times, the critters will show up to one side or the other. The hard chargers are tough to do this, but watch the critter, they will often go behind a tree, or have a ditch to cross, or will stop and look around, this is the time to get into position for the shot. Good Luck!!

coyoteseeker

i can see it now,you sit down, start calling suddenly a coyote shows up and decides to sit down 150 yards out and look at you.your sitting there with the shotgun and not even lip squeeks will coax him closer...<img src=icon_smile_angry.gif border=0 align=middle>i carried both a shotgun and rifle to elimanate this situation for a while but man let me tell ya,carrying two guns gets old in a hurry.theres only two ways to fix this,get one of those combo single shot shotgun-rifle guns,i think NEF makes one.or live with the fact that sometimes your going to be out there and get cought with the wrong weapon.shotguns do a good job on fox with minamal damage.unless of course he's right in front of the muzzel,then the tail maybe all thats salvagable.you learned three important lessens that day,#1,the importance of being ready #2,the coyotes ability to pick the slightest movment #3,the coyotes abilty to leave an area twice as fast as he came in and disapear never to be seen again.welcome to the club,this is the good kind of addiction.the kind you don't want to kick.....<img src=icon_smile_big.gif border=0 align=middle>