Idaho coyote - graphic pic

[throttletony]

Graphic pic below, be warned.

Hi all,
my wife is from Idaho and we visited her family over the holidays. I took out her dad and her two brothers for a nighttime coyote spotlight hunt (yes, spotlighting is legal for yotes in ID, not for other critters though). It was their first coyote calling hunt ever, and they had a blast. FYI, Idaho also has legal wolf hunting, but it costs a buttload as an out-of-stater, so I stick to the cheap varmint stuff. I use a Foxpro Spitfire, 3x Maglite D-cell LEDs, Thompson Center Dimension in .243 w/ Vortex Viper HS 4-16x44.

Anyways, after only 5 or 6 minutes of calling, we see some eyes come up to the edge of the field we were in. New moon (no moon), little wind, and he just circled down along the edge of the field. He finally stopped and just stared at us for a min from the brush and lava rock on the edge of the field. I took a standing shot (even though I always carry a bipod or shooting sticks) because of a rise in the terrain right in front of me, and hit him in the bottom of the throat. For me, that's a pretty good shot. Nighttime, Flashlights, Standing, 220 yd shot, and bam... in the throat! Dog down!

I was shooting .243 Hornady Superformance Varmint 55gr, and there wasn't even an exit wound. The bullet turned this guy's vital to jelly that literally fell out when I skinned him. I LOVE this ammo for varmint work -- under 14 inches of drop at 400 yds with a 200 yd zero.
We went out in the daytime as well, but only got FAR shots on coyotes (about 650-700 yds).

If anyone feels like responding, I'd like to know:
What's the farthest shot you guys have taken on a yote?
What calibers do you prefer?
Do you prefer day or night hunting?

PICS BELOW

The hunt (obviously you can see the flashlights, lol) Yes, at nighttime I'm not very worried about camo, especially with no moon.

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The hide (next morning)

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GRAPHIC - the wound! THis .243 Varmint round hammered this guy!!!
That is the ENTRANCE wound, NO EXIT. The Vmax bullet just fragemented on impact and obviously ruined this guys day!
To orient the picture, the yote is hanging by the hind legs, we've case skinned him down to the head (the neck is the lowest exposed part, just below the wound). That gaping hole is his throat, right above the sternum.

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[tyrajam]

Wow, thats a mess! I load 65gr vmaxes in my 6mm and it floors coyotes too. Very nice shooting!

 

[ironman870]

I really want to get into coyote hunting, but i have the angel and devil on my shoulders.

Yes it sounds fun. Plus you can make a little money from selling the pelts? Am i correct?

But the other half of me doesnt want to hunt something i wont eat. Plus im a huge dog fan and i find coyotes impressive. Then again, i feel the same with deer and cows too. Both are in the family freezer.lol

 

[throttletony]

Hey Ironman -
I know what you mean. I definitely respect the coyotes, but I respect them enough to try and outwit them... and introduce them to a bullet.

In theory, yes, you can make money on pelts, but unless it's gone up a lot this year, it's pretty minimal - 2 yrs ago they were going for $12-$25 for Indiana yotes (more for lighter colors or bigger dogs).

To sell the hide, you have to skin it, flesh it, and stretch it (no tanning done by you, the furbuyers take care of that) I wanted to understand the whole process, so I've tanned my own so far just for me to keep. I've only skinned and tanned 3 myself, along with a handful of raccoons, but it's very handy to know how to do it all yourself. Online you can get some cheap brush on tanning cream or chemical baths (think: pickle), along with a cheap wood stretcher. This is in addition to the basic skinning and fleshing tools. Just like anything else, there are cheap versions and expensive versions of all this equipment. If you are handy and have access to tools, you can even make a lot of the things - like stretchers and a fleshing beam - yourself.

In the future I may start selling the hides, I've heard that prices have gone up, so it might be worth your while.

 

[THard6]

Nice shot!
I've sat out looking for some dogs, and I haven't seen a thing.
anytime I do not have my gun in hand, I see more than I could even try to shoot!
I may just suck, but that's also my luck.

 

[buckstopshere]

That is a proper yote there my friend. Well done.

Thanks for the cool story and pics

 

[buckstopshere]

I really want to get into coyote hunting, but i have the angel and devil on my shoulders.

Yes it sounds fun. Plus you can make a little money from selling the pelts? Am i correct?

But the other half of me doesnt want to hunt something i wont eat. Plus im a huge dog fan and i find coyotes impressive. Then again, i feel the same with deer and cows too. Both are in the family freezer.lol

Do you have other animals? Dogs, chickens? You can process the yote into food, just not for human consumption.

 

[Lycurgus]

Nice shooting,it looks like a nice pelt

are you removing the cartilage from the inside of the ears?

 

[throttletony]

Nice shooting,it looks like a nice pelt

are you removing the cartilage from the inside of the ears?

Short answer is yes. THe ears are tough, at least for me.

 

[42769vette]

Great job, my personal farthest coyote shot was 475. I did it when I was about 14 and I was laying on my front porch. It was with a 223, but my curent favorite caliber to hunt them with is a 260.

Ive never done a night hunt so day would be my favorite type of hunt due to lack of experiance. Id like to give night hunting a whirl

 

[throttletony]

Great job, my personal farthest coyote shot was 475. I did it when I was about 14 and I was laying on my front porch. It was with a 223, but my curent favorite caliber to hunt them with is a 260.

Ive never done a night hunt so day would be my favorite type of hunt due to lack of experiance. Id like to give night hunting a whirl

475 yds is a good long shot for a 223, nice!
You should try night hunting, It's fun!
night hunting is perfect for bringing along friends that don't hunt much (or never). You can get away with not owning camo and they are usually glad to help with spotlighting. As dumb as it sounds, I've always had to show other folks how to spotlight. The most important thing is to not highlight yourselves, or cast a shadow of a person (especially moving). I prefer nights with little/no moonlight. once you see a pair of eyes glowing back at you, keep on em! with whatever sound is playing I instinctively do a kissy sound to get/keep the critters attention.

Also, for my lights, I put a cheap, home-made paper halo on them to cut out the stray light that would otherwise highlight my feet, legs and the ground in front of me. It doesn't refocus the light, but it just cuts the edges off of the total light (picture a smaller circle inside a bigger circle -- small is ok and you are less likely to cast strange shadows on the ground right in front of you)
Pic below:

 

[42769vette]

I bought a kill light 250 last year with intentions of trying some night hunting, but I never made it that far

 

[Hookeye]

Farthest rifle: 450yds with a .243 700 BDL and 10X Leupold (through two fences)

Farthest (and only) bow: 40+ yards with a Blackwidow SA2 55# recurve (uphill).

 

[throttletony]

Farthest rifle: 450yds with a .243 700 BDL and 10X Leupold (through two fences)

Farthest (and only) bow: 40+ yards with a Blackwidow SA2 55# recurve (uphill).

Dang Hookeye -- very nice on both counts!! A bow shot would be amazing... they are crafty critters.

 

[42769vette]

Farthest (and only) bow: 40+ yards with a Blackwidow SA2 55# recurve (uphill).

Impressive

 

[throttletony]

Lol, I'd love to get a pistol kill on a yote. .. challenge issued and accepted

 

[throttletony]

I'm still waiting to hear about y'all's farthest shots on coyotes!!

 

[Hookeye]

The bow deal.............SOB spooked a doe I had snuck around and crawled into position for..........she was on an oak ridge.
Snorted and took off I was going WTH??????

Then along came fido.

I was super PO'd so he was doomed before I even drew my bow.

Actually, 40 yards was pretty easy with that rig, (I had a range in my yard).

I laid 'em right in there at home all the time, so the yote just made the mistake of popping up at a rather known sight picture/distance. I didn't even judge it (I don't judge yardage with recurve, instead have a few programmed sight pictures due to type of practice I do). He just showed up at my max D so i just shot him for "far". Didn't even really think about it, just did it.

Sometimes trad stuff is pretty simple.

I just sat him atop my hand, focused on his side and felt the tab touch my anchor and heard "Yip!". Blew right on through.

 

[Hookeye]

Lol, I'd love to get a pistol kill on a yote. .. challenge issued and accepted

25 yards on the run (one and only handgun kill/shot on a yote).
Have taken the Python before (left the rifles at home) but nothing came in.
That was the first called in for my little cheap Johny Stewart call.
Good to 50 yards, maybe quite a bit farther (dunno, haven't shot that load past 50). I took my deer at just over 50 with that same gun/load.
'69 4 digit E series pop's gave me for my BD (I grew up shooting that gun).

Bullet clipped onside leg when up, took off back of heart and ripped a good hole on the offside- ruined my freakin' rug
140gr Hornady LeveRevolution.

 

[Hookeye]

I'm thinking a 14" .256win or 6mmTCU bbl for handgunning yotes, or maybe even in rifle form.

Reddot on the TC if in handgun form, not a scope.