Coyote Hunting First Kill

Hi all,
I made the decision last fall to actually gear up to hunt coyotes. Not just shoot them at random if I happened to see one while hunting other game species. I have an NEF single shot in .223 for medium ranges and a Savage bolt gun in .22-250 for the longer ranged areas. I practice long random range shots for this kind of hunting. I also bought various mouth calls and have been learning how to use them.

Due to Arkansas having a closed season, (and thankfully a shorter one now), I decided to buy an Oklahoma non res license to hunt their year round season, in my old stomping grounds. Today my intentions and attempts all came together. I set up in a drizzling rain and waited about half an hour to make sure that the area was not disturbed by my intrusion. I then called, with the usual dying rabbit and after a while a few barks and howls mixed in with some crow harrassing the coyote calls.

About 45 minutes later his smiling, chop licking, coming to dinner face popped up over the grass next to a drainage ditch he used, to approach across an open field. He was only about 125 yards out when he stepped up on the edge of the ditch broadside to me. One shot behind the front leg, from my NEF .223 with a 55gr soft point made my day and ruined his. But dang it, I forgot the camera.

Now I am waiting for Arkansas Coyote season to start. Then I will hunt both sides of the line.
Joe B

Good job & I like to read & remember from YEARS ago.

random stupid question on my part...

does anyone eat coyotes? for that matter, does anyone eat the other puppy critters like fox, wolf, etc.? or is it pretty much kill it for the fur, taxidermy, keep numbers down, and/or just for the hell of it because hunting is fun?

Population control. There are almost no rabbits, squirrels, quail or anything left that coyotes can catch on the ground in this area. Almost nobody hunts small game anymore because "there ain't none around anymore". So I ask if they hunt the predators so the small game can recover? "Nope, I don;t hunt nuthin' but deer and turkeys nowdays". Well I got news for them, the turkey's eggs & chicks and deer fawns worst enemies are coyotes. I use to hear up to four separate packs howling at night, in every direction around my old country house. Responsible sportsmen are needed to control these vermin. And take the challenge of hunting something harder to get than deer. And it gives a real hunter a chance to hunt year round, at any opportunity.

sounds like the deer population in many areas, way too many. People dont understand the balance has benn out of wack for a long time. The need to cull is mandatory. I dont hunt, I do see the need to thin many species. Good news, we will have 100 elk in the smokys this year. they have come back from the first 50 put in place some years back.

They have tried stocking elk around here but I think the poachers have eaten them all. We also have a silly ass three point and in some places 4 point rule. So all the nice bucks get shot and the ratty gnarly racked culls with a 12 inch 90 degree tot he side spike on one side and a 12 inch fork on the other, which are not legal to shoot are left to breed, and believe me they do, (I have seen a bunch of spike juniors with the 90 dgree out to the side) and Fish & Game thinks these rules are going to produce trophy deer?

In Oklahoma on the other hand, unless it has changed, anything over three inch spike or any number of points is legal and they encourage you to take a cull buck if just needing meat and that real trophy doesn't step out in front of you. Let the other smaller racked bucks with good genes breed and grow. This is what happens when politicians put tourist hunter's dollars above letting professional conservationists manage the herds.

I had estimated 125 yards on my coyote shot last weekend. I laid it out in Google Earth and it was 145 yards. I am pleased with it.

Nice work Joe!

Quang, In many areas around the US, the Coyote is in such numbers that they're actually attacking small children and house hold pets.
I know they pay good money for ears in Tn. still. Not sure if they're doing it here in Ky, but I will find out.
Joe is right. the 'Yote population needs culling in order for other species to have some breeding room.
Yotes are also carrion scavengers and are prime candidates for rabies. so it's important to keep an eye on their numbers.

i figured population control/management was the main reason, but was just wondering if anyone ever ate those little guys, and if so, what they tasted like.

Kentucky rules for coyote hunting

found it. they can be hunted year round, with certain snares or traps as well as firearms. but only in daylight hours.

rcblaze wrote:Looks like Arizona is all year.
I can also hunt skunk all year, what fun that would be.

http://www.azgfd.gov/h_f/predators_species.shtml

Just stay downwind of coyotes and upwind of skunks and you got it made.

It is now starting to cool off and getting close to actual hunting season, (never mind the season dates) This fall I still have the tried and true NEF .223 and Stevens 200 .22-250, but a new rifle may be going with me this fall. My DPMS AR in .223 with a 3-9x scope will at least get a chance to see how well suited it is to coyote hunting and my temperament. I never had much interest in them until now and it seems to grow on me everyday. I will take it out tomorrow and zero the new scope and then go to some of my hunting grounds afterward and Sunday.

I think you'll like it fine, Joe. out to 300 yards, the ar platform is a dang good weapon and as precise as the shooter.
hunting yotes, it'll give you more than enough punch to put them down and all the precision you can ask for.
Good luck!