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Author
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Topic: Finding them after the bad shot.
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Lonny
PANTS ON THE GROUND
Member # 19
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posted April 22, 2003 02:31 PM
What is your advice for finding those coyotes that aren't hit well enough to kill them on the spot? Since a guy usually has a fair idea with where the shot might have hit the animal. What has experience taught you about tracking down a coyote with say a leg hit compared to a gut shot? Do you wait or take up trail immediately? Do you use a dog for recovery?
I realize depending on what part of the country your in that terrain, cover, tracking conditions, and hunter experience play a big part in whether you'll recover that coyote or not. What are some of your experiences and techniques that you have picked up over the years that have helped you find coyotes you might not have otherwise found?
I know every situation can be different, but have you noticed any other tendencies that coyotes have when they are wounded? What have you learned from the ones that got away? Thanks
[ April 22, 2003, 02:47 PM: Message edited by: Lonny ]
Posts: 1209 | From: Lewiston, Idaho USA | Registered: Jan 2003
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Krustyklimber
prefers the bunny hugger pronunciation: ky o tee
Member # 72
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posted April 22, 2003 03:40 PM
Actually Wiley E has a good set of criteria he layed out for exactly this question... but I do not have permission to post it here yet...
He said how to tell where a coyote may be hit, by body language. And went on to state how that may cause them to react, and where that reaction might take them... it was some of the most informative and insightful writing I have read about coyotes to date...
I will e-mail him and ask him to give me permission to post it, or have him post it himself.
I respect the copywrite he has to his information.
Jeff 
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Think about how stupid the average person is, then realize that half of them are stupider than that!
Posts: 1912 | From: Deep in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia | Registered: Jan 2003
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yotecaller
Knows what it's all about
Member # 179
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posted April 22, 2003 03:53 PM
I like to call the Coyotes in close so most all my shots go where I want them to, but last year I did make a bad shot when I was doubling up on a couple Coyotes.I shot the second coyote in the lower part of the belly with my 222 and he spun and took off like a bat out of hell.So I searched till dark and then gave up because I had some place I was supposed to be.So I called a friend with a dog the next day and he recovered the coyote in less than a half hour.If my gun had not jammed after the first shot I would of had a better shot,but he was running out around 75 yards and I really wanted him.
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May God be with You.
Posts: 28 | From: NH | Registered: Apr 2003
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Leonard
HMFIC
Member # 2
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posted April 22, 2003 05:02 PM
Tracking a coyote, in terrain I frequent, takes time. I find that, as you might expect, the further they get, the less they bleed. The less they bleed, the harder it gets.
My working hypothesis is: if he gets a half a mile, I seldom catch up with him. Takes too much time, unless you have snow or some good tracking mud. For hard packed desert gravel, etc, the tracks get progressively harder to find, and the blood is reduced to BB size dots every ten or twenty feet.
You have to have faith, to begin with. That requires a good amount of blood and tissue at the point of impact.
I shot a bobcat at night, once. He was standing in terrain flat as a pancake. No features, at all, but he was beside the only bush out there. I was able to mark it. So, I walked out there, (maybe 250yds?) and found that the "bush" was a clump of dead grass, less than a foot tall. And no cat. But, it sounded like a good hit?
Hard ground, nothing in any direction; as in NOTHING. I might have given up right there, but as luck would have it, and the breeze was in the right direction, I saw a miniscule tuft of white furr stuck to that weed.
That gave me some hope and I started casting about, and found that there was a hidden dry wash, further out. I went down the bank and around the curve, just out of sight, was a nice, big tom.
Very lucky break, seeing that little tuft of fur, and luckier yet that it snagged on the only weed out there, else I'd have never noticed it.
In general, I think they follow game trails, if they can. If he starts running into things, he's in bad shape. Heart shots sometimes run like a blue streak for maybe fifty yards, before dropping stone dead. As much as a cat will always escape uphill, I think a coyote has the instinct to put some feature between you and him, rocks, trees, a hill, brush, he is concerned with getting out of sight. A cat doesn't care if he's exposed, he wants to climb a mountain or a cliff, and often he is visible while doing it. As I said before, if a cat is moving downhill, he is hurt real bad; all you have to do is find him. Dead or alive, he won't get very far.
One thing I find useful is to get down on the ground, and sweep the area. It is a lot easier to see brushed blood on short grass when you are looking at the same level. You tend to miss this blood standing up. Bloody fur, whether it's on a leg or the side of the body; it paints dry grass very well, but it's a lot easier to see from that low perspective. Standing up, you wouldn't notice, but get on your knees, and you can easily see the entire pathway.
Good hunting. LB
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EL BEE Knows It All and Done It All.
Don't piss me off!
Posts: 32361 | From: Upland, CA | Registered: Jan 2003
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onecoyote
Knows what it's all about
Member # 129
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posted April 23, 2003 06:26 AM
Tracking in the day is one thing, but tracking at night is another story. I like to take a shotgun along, an animal usually don't run to fast after being hit by a bullet making it easy to get with in shotgun range. I don't think any of us like to have to do that ![[Frown]](frown.gif) but it does happen, Good Hunting.
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Great minds discuss ideas.....Average minds discuss events.....Small minds discuss people.....Eleanor Roosevelt.
Posts: 893 | From: Walker Lake Nevada. | Registered: Feb 2003
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Krustyklimber
prefers the bunny hugger pronunciation: ky o tee
Member # 72
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posted April 23, 2003 06:37 PM
Ok here it is...
Wiley E writes:
Body language after the shot.
Coyotes that are shot in the chest between the ribs tend to jump sideways or possibly bite at their side for a couple of jumps then run somewhat
staggered until they run out of blood. Of course this will vary depending on the caliber and bullet you are using. In this case I am talking about a .22/250 caliber and a 55 gr. ballistic tip bullet.
Coyotes that are gutshot tend to spin around in a tight circle for a longer period of time then may take off running. Gutshot coyotes tend to go down.
Down the hill, down the draw, utilizing the lowest places. You can usually send a partner around ½ mile away to the low area while the other guy drives him. They usually do not run any further than where they feel safe and it's usually down as low as they can get.
~SH~
Pretty good stuff huh?
Jeff
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Think about how stupid the average person is, then realize that half of them are stupider than that!
Posts: 1912 | From: Deep in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia | Registered: Jan 2003
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Frank
CAN START A FIRE WITH A BUCK KNIFE AND A ROCK
Member # 6
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posted April 23, 2003 07:40 PM
One of the tendancies I've noticed is that if a coyote don't have an immediatly lethal hit it will run quite a ways (not that I've had a lot get away).
Maybe if I had a hound-dog I might have found more of em' but in competition hunting you ain't got the time to go fartin' around lookin' all night for one coyote. You got to make your shots count.....one shot, one kill....so to speak.
You want them to drop on the spot where you hit them. That's why I shoot a .22-250 with a Sierra SBT. It anchors them in place most times. Even a marginal hit will bring em' down most times with the combination I've used.
An interesting note is that I've seen coyotes bite their sides, spin around while biting their sides and jump up and down spinning around while biting their sides when they been hit. This happened almost exclusivly when they were hit at close range....say 75 Yds or less (we got to figure out a way to do this to arab terrorists).
An interesting scenario comes to mind....... we were on a competition hunt in good area when we called in five or six coyotes. They came runnin' at us in single file down a dirt road. The first one met his fate at around 10 yds. He jumped up and down and spun around while biting his side before keeling over. The second one ran off and stopped about 50 yds out when I hit him broadside. He just flopped over where he stood. The third was runnin' parallel to our stand maybe 100 out when he stopped to look. Another broadside and he too just flopped over.
Another time I picked one off that was nosing around in a herd of cows. At the call he looked my direction and soon thereafter the round hit him full frontal in the chest. He jumped up while biting at his side and then just dropped dead in the same spot.
I can't help but wonder why the close range one was jumping around before he died while the two longer range ones died in their tracks?
Maybe it has to do with penetration? I'm thinking the close range ones had the bullets blow up on them while the slightly longer range hits penetrated more deeply before blowing up?
Anyone want to add some insight into what happened here?
I guess my advice to finding the critters you hit is to not hit them marginally or with a marginal caliber in the first place. Anchor em' on the spot with good shooting and good calibers so you don't have to chase them into the next county.
By-the-way, the most runners I've ever seen were when guys were using a .17
Explain that one to me?
[ April 23, 2003, 07:47 PM: Message edited by: Frank ]
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"Truth is no prostitute, that throws herself away upon those who do not desire her; she is rather so coy a beauty that he who sacrifices everything to her cannot even then be sure of her favor".
Posts: 644 | From: North Dakota | Registered: Jan 2003
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Rich
2,000th post PAKMAN
Member # 112
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posted April 24, 2003 06:15 AM
Frank has a good point with his "use enough gun" line of thought. Everyone will lose a coyote once in awhile to a badly placed bullet, but I started losing a lot less of em when I started shooting them with .25-06 and .257 Ackley. ![[Smile]](smile.gif) I remember Murry Burnham telling me "A coyote is harder to kill than a deer". He wasn't too far wrong either. Coyotes can be really stupid ya know? I have seen a few lung shot coyotes run a long ways before they knew that they were dead. LOL
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If you call the coyotes in close, you won't NEED a high dollar range finder.
Posts: 2854 | From: Iowa | Registered: Feb 2003
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Leonard
HMFIC
Member # 2
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posted April 24, 2003 09:17 AM
All good.
My comment as to bad hits, etc. Of course, the intellectual argument that sub 224 caliber bullets are just as effective as larger bullets, just doesn't hold water, over the long run. Using good coyote bullets in high velocity 22s and 24s, there is little difference, in terminal performance. A dozen coyotes, hit broadside, with 6 ea. being from a 243 and 6 ea. from a 22-50; it is darn near impossible to accurately pick which is which.
But, I would like to point out that there is: Many a slip, twixt the cup and the lip. Meaning that a coyote can move while the bullet is in flight, and there will be times when you don't see a twig in the line of flight. Stats that cover a single season or a relatively small number of animals doesn't convey the same results as several seasons and hundreds of animals.
Even then, you will have the crusaders; who will defy the odds and use marginal chamberings, and are quite good at selecting the shot, and the type of cover that allows a close approach, etc.
I don't know what to say about an individual that kills a couple hundred coyotes with a seventeen, other than he knows what he is doing, and he does it under controlled conditions.
For most of us, an "average range" on a coyote kill is a worthless statistic, because some will be twenty yards and some will be 180 yards and the average, (were it just two animals), would be (what?) exactly 100 yards....and that doesn't tell the whole story.
Use (enough) gun; good advice for us mere mortals.
Good hunting. LB
[ April 24, 2003, 09:20 AM: Message edited by: Leonard ]
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EL BEE Knows It All and Done It All.
Don't piss me off!
Posts: 32361 | From: Upland, CA | Registered: Jan 2003
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onecoyote
Knows what it's all about
Member # 129
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posted April 24, 2003 11:47 AM
I have to agree that a coyote sure can be a tuff critter to kill sometimes. I have seen them run away ( not too far) after being shot right through the heart with BIG bullets, like 7mm-08s and 270s. That doesn't happen too often but I have seen it. Even if you put the pill where it belongs, sometimes a coyote don't even know it's dead and runs. Funny thing, I have never seen a head shot run away? Good Hunting.
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Great minds discuss ideas.....Average minds discuss events.....Small minds discuss people.....Eleanor Roosevelt.
Posts: 893 | From: Walker Lake Nevada. | Registered: Feb 2003
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Bob in TX
Knows what it's all about
Member # 66
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posted April 24, 2003 01:40 PM
All good input, however, I find it easier to just turn to the Mystic Rhino and say: "Fetch, Jay!" ![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
Then I sit down, have a cigar, and wait for him to come back with the yote(oops!), songdog(oops again!), coyote(there, got it right that time!) ![[Wink]](wink.gif)
Bob C.
Posts: 51 | From: San Antonio, Texas | Registered: Jan 2003
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Rich
2,000th post PAKMAN
Member # 112
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posted April 24, 2003 02:01 PM
onecoyote,
How about them there two headed coyotes? If you shoot just ONE of the heads, will he be only HALF dead? Who knows for sure? Who will ever know?
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If you call the coyotes in close, you won't NEED a high dollar range finder.
Posts: 2854 | From: Iowa | Registered: Feb 2003
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onecoyote
Knows what it's all about
Member # 129
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posted April 25, 2003 07:37 PM
Rich, I know it's very rare to see a two headed coyote let alone kill one, I feel extreamly lucky to have done so. Yes, I had to shoot the other head it was not dead and I know there are those among you that don't believe this, but all you have to do is ask the guys that seen the pics of that coyote, Good Hunting.
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Great minds discuss ideas.....Average minds discuss events.....Small minds discuss people.....Eleanor Roosevelt.
Posts: 893 | From: Walker Lake Nevada. | Registered: Feb 2003
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purdygood
Knows what it's all about
Member # 186
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posted May 07, 2003 03:49 PM
It was September 1 2002,My first stand of the new calling season.I placed my speaker out about 20 yards and began to play coyote pup distress.After about 10 minutes I had one come in and almost stick it's head in the speaker.I shot ,it spun a time or two and then took off.I watched it till I could no longer see it from my vantage point.I continued calling for another 20 minutes ,nothing came in.
I got up and went to recover my first coyote(I thought)anyway I seen where the critter was standing when I hit him.There was a piece of it's liver almost a big as a softball laying in the dirt.I followed its trail about 40 yards and found another chunk of liver not quite as big as the first(with this much liver missing I found only an occasional drop or two of blood)I continued following tracks and looking for more blood sign but ended up loosing the trail all together.I ended up doing a grid search in the area I last seen sign but never recovered the animal.I looked for almost an hour.
Edit for the wrong date(duh)
[ May 07, 2003, 04:25 PM: Message edited by: purdygood ]
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If they run they will only die tired
Posts: 20 | From: Lubbock,Texas | Registered: Apr 2003
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Leonard
HMFIC
Member # 2
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posted May 07, 2003 04:15 PM
It's real easy to spend an hour tracking a runner. But, I wouldn't do a grid. You need to connect the dots, and plot a direction. They don't get too cute with half their innards missing. In fact, I can say that I have seldom seen a mortally wounded coyote make an abrupt change in direction.
Too bad, not the way to start the season, is it? I hope it's not a bad omen, writing 2003?
Good hunting. LB
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EL BEE Knows It All and Done It All.
Don't piss me off!
Posts: 32361 | From: Upland, CA | Registered: Jan 2003
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purdygood
Knows what it's all about
Member # 186
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posted May 07, 2003 04:28 PM
Leonard,
If ya count that one(Even if you don't count that one) I had a fantastic day I called in 4 and killed 4 before noon that day(I counted it)
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If they run they will only die tired
Posts: 20 | From: Lubbock,Texas | Registered: Apr 2003
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