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Can't trust coyotes

A

army12b

New Member
Joined
Oct 3, 2019
Messages
15
So I have been doing saddle hunting for a couple of years and have learned a lot, little things that make it completely worth the time and effort to sneak in places and setup, I settled on doing one stick for most situations.

Now unfortunately on Monday I was out hunting this public property I have been super excited to try, I had previously hunted this area before a full week during the rut/lockdown and even missed an opportunity at a beautiful 8 point who would make any public land hunter happy, I have also missed my opportunity at getting a nice doe early in season but life lessons and only my second year using compound.

So back to Monday, morning temp low 40's, walk is about 700 meters to a nice spot I see some one left their old bow holder still screwed into the tree but seems to have been there a while, setup before sun up, and didn't see anything until about 1030 am when I saw 3 coyotes running/jogging from the direction the deer like to bed. figured well that's cool, then around 1130-noon, I see this little spike running from the direction the coyotes were heading, figured they scared em out, i practice grunting to him to see if I can hone my skills and if possible maybe he will be my live decoy for a larger buck, but he didn't stop or even look in my direction and ran into the bedding area and no more than 5 mins I see 2 does running out of there, they were showing their white flag and everything. 30 seconds later a bigger doe starts to jog and starts to walk right next to me at 20 yards and a easy shot broadside facing me if not maybe slightly quartered away, perfect I'll take a doe, she was at least medium size not huge but a keeper none the less. as I had drew, put my pin on her but i completely forgot to hollar at her, as I released she took one more step forward and then my heart sank as I see this in almost slow mo in my mind. Elevation was perfect, arrow seemed to be a little back, but noticed arrow stuck inside her and didn't pass through, so knew it was liver/gut shot, was hoping it clipped the back of the lungs, so I waited. 4 hours later last hour of light, I slowly got down, creeped around so if I got close I wouldn't bump her and maybe even have another shot.

I saw where she could have bedded down because she was about 100-125 yards and from what I saw up in the tree she was slumped over like a gut shot as she was walking, but didn't want to push just incase, couldn't even find my arrow nor any blood before it was complete darkness, so went ahead and backed out, got back out first thing in the morn, the temp was 34 degrees through most of the night so was thinking at least the meat will still be good.

I started to walk about 150 yards from my spot hit a good turn around and was slowly looking for sign of her, continued process so I could clear my entire area I thought she might be in, then I saw some white underbelly and that's when my heart sank again, yep she bedded down right where I thought she was. That's when I saw she was already claimed...... completely sucks, not sure if I should have tried to look some more that night or if I should have done what I did and waited till first light.... either way going to practice more so this doesn't happen again.
 

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army12b said:
So I have been doing saddle hunting for a couple of years and have learned a lot, little things that make it completely worth the time and effort to sneak in places and setup, I settled on doing one stick for most situations.

Now unfortunately on Monday I was out hunting this public property I have been super excited to try, I had previously hunted this area before a full week during the rut/lockdown and even missed an opportunity at a beautiful 8 point who would make any public land hunter happy, I have also missed my opportunity at getting a nice doe early in season but life lessons and only my second year using compound.

So back to Monday, morning temp low 40's, walk is about 700 meters to a nice spot I see some one left their old bow holder still screwed into the tree but seems to have been there a while, setup before sun up, and didn't see anything until about 1030 am when I saw 3 coyotes running/jogging from the direction the deer like to bed. figured well that's cool, then around 1130-noon, I see this little spike running from the direction the coyotes were heading, figured they scared em out, i practice grunting to him to see if I can hone my skills and if possible maybe he will be my live decoy for a larger buck, but he didn't stop or even look in my direction and ran into the bedding area and no more than 5 mins I see 2 does running out of there, they were showing their white flag and everything. 30 seconds later a bigger doe starts to jog and starts to walk right next to me at 20 yards and a easy shot broadside facing me if not maybe slightly quartered away, perfect I'll take a doe, she was at least medium size not huge but a keeper none the less. as I had drew, put my pin on her but i completely forgot to hollar at her, as I released she took one more step forward and then my heart sank as I see this in almost slow mo in my mind. Elevation was perfect, arrow seemed to be a little back, but noticed arrow stuck inside her and didn't pass through, so knew it was liver/gut shot, was hoping it clipped the back of the lungs, so I waited. 4 hours later last hour of light, I slowly got down, creeped around so if I got close I wouldn't bump her and maybe even have another shot.

I saw where she could have bedded down because she was about 100-125 yards and from what I saw up in the tree she was slumped over like a gut shot as she was walking, but didn't want to push just incase, couldn't even find my arrow nor any blood before it was complete darkness, so went ahead and backed out, got back out first thing in the morn, the temp was 34 degrees through most of the night so was thinking at least the meat will still be good.

I started to walk about 150 yards from my spot hit a good turn around and was slowly looking for sign of her, continued process so I could clear my entire area I thought she might be in, then I saw some white underbelly and that's when my heart sank again, yep she bedded down right where I thought she was. That's when I saw she was already claimed...... completely sucks, not sure if I should have tried to look some more that night or if I should have done what I did and waited till first light.... either way going to practice more so this doesn't happen again.
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Got a bunch of coyotes /foxes on a couple places I hunt & I can’t leave em overnight there. But absolutely fine at my other spots….. weird
 
Dont trust the landowners dog either...dad had two deer down the other day. Dropped the first one off at the truck then when back for #2. Came back within 45 mins and a good chunk of rump was gone.
 
SNIPERBBB said:
Dont trust the landowners dog either...dad had two deer down the other day. Dropped the first one off at the truck then when back for #2. Came back within 45 mins and a good chunk of rump was gone.
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Lol, that sucks, just haven’t had this happen to me before, life lessons.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Jimdude said:
I think you did exactly what most people would recommend. Don’t second guess yourself on that. Keep at it.
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I think thats a recommendation that needs to change in most of the east that has coyotes if you're concerned about the meat. Rarely these days does the next morning thing end without coyotes beating hunters to the meat. 10 years ago it was still somewhat safe to leave a deer overnight, today not so much.
 
SNIPERBBB said:
I think thats a recommendation that needs to change in most of the east that has coyotes if you're concerned about the meat. Rarely these days does the next morning thing end without coyotes beating hunters to the meat. 10 years ago it was still somewhat safe to leave a deer overnight, today not so much.
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I agree with you but if you have ever tracked a gut shot deer, it’s no fun. My first bow experience at 16 my dad an I were after my doe for hours and miles before we just lost here completely. If it’s a buck and the coyotes get him at least you might get the rack. A side note, I never shot at a doe again.
 
Jimdude said:
I agree with you but if you have ever tracked a gut shot deer, it’s no fun. My first bow experience at 16 my dad an I were after my doe for hours and miles before we just lost here completely. If it’s a buck and the coyotes get him at least you might get the rack. A side note, I never shot at a doe again.
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Yeah its not fun in the dark. So if you're hunting in the afternoon, you better be prepared to take a nice nap in the truck to let a gut shot deer expire before grabbing a lantern and tracking it. Just cant let one sit overnight anymore and expect to come back to an intact deer
 
Honestly in the end I think it was going to be a no win situation, either bump the deer adrenaline kicks in and now instead of just a few hundred yards you could be looking at a solid 400 meters to over a mile, with no trail to follow there is not much to do, if it had a trail I would have definitely just stayed and waited, next day after finding the doe I looked again and still couldn't find a trail, some people might not of but I went ahead and tagged her and registered her, just hope most you guys don't have my luck...
 
army12b,
The only mistake you made was not bleating or grunting at her, to get a still shot....or just waiting for her to stop on her own.

As far as a gut shot, if you hunt deer long enough you're going to lose one to a bad shot. No hunter wants that to happen, but at the same time, you can't beat yourself up about it. What's done is done, move on, make the corrections, learn from the experience and improve. :)
The coyotes got a free meal and I'm sure a few other varmints. It's the circle of life.

Keep on hunting! :cool: Watch those deer's body language as they approach, as it will help you to determine how they might react to a shot. This is the best time to decide whether or not to take a shot, if the deer is acting all "wired" and unsettled.

Good hunting, brother!!!
 
BowhunterXC said:
army12b,
The only mistake you made was not bleating or grunting at her, to get a still shot....or just waiting for her to stop on her own.

As far as a gut shot, if you hunt deer long enough you're going to lose one to a bad shot. No hunter wants that to happen, but at the same time, you can't beat yourself up about it. What's done is done, move on, make the corrections, learn from the experience and improve. :)
The coyotes got a free meal and I'm sure a few other varmints. It's the circle of life.

Keep on hunting! :cool: Watch those deer's body language as they approach, as it will help you to determine how they might react to a shot. This is the best time to decide whether or not to take a shot, if the deer is acting all "wired" and unsettled.

Good hunting, brother!!!
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Thanks man, yes learned a lot from that one, how she reacted after being shot was new for me, as she some what returned to the spot, wouldn’t thought that would have happened, agreed I should definitely make a bleat or something to get them to pause.

Appreciate the advice!!
 
A couple of seasons ago I shot a doe that was walking and hit her back,perfect broadside shot. She hunched up and didn't want to go anywhere. I waited until it was dark,which wasn't much longer than 40 mins and tried to remember the landmarks where she stood. She was too far for a follow up shot. I snuck out and came back at 10 p.m. to look for her as rain was coming. It wasn't easy as there wasn't much blood but I found her and she was stiff,so must have died not too long after I left.
Later that season I hit another doe from the ground as she was quartering away and also hit further back than I intended. She also didn't want to go far but was out of range and I couldn't sneak close for fear of bumping her. I recovered my arrow and saw guts on it so I left and left her till morning. When I got back I found her after some searching and she had gone just a few yards from where I last saw her. I think not bumping a deer is the best approach for questionable shots. The shot was better than I thought,I hit stomach first then liver and one lung because of the angle.
We have plenty of coyotes here in upstate NY but they didn't find her because she didn't go far,so only a short trail for them to cross.
I think it is the best approach to leave the deer as long as you can if conditions are right rather than bumping it,because then it will be gone for sure.
Learn from your mistakes and good luck in the future. I think you handled it well but had bad luck,twice.
 
My experience mirrors yours Bowmanmike. One experience I had comes to mind. I was set up in a draw with a little creek running due north of my position and had a 3 year old, very thick cutover running perpendicular to my location about 25 yards directly in front of me. About 8:30 AM a doe came through walking along that transition of cutover and woods. She stopped to nibble on a vine and I drew back and anchored. As the shot broke she took a short step and the arrow hit her about 10 inches back of where her heart had been only a split second before. I was shooting a heavy arrow with high FOC and a hair popping sharp Grizzly single bevel broadhead. She apparently didn't hear the bow, being very quiet, and the arrow passed through her without her seeming to notice and she carried on a couple of more steps and paused. I could tell she was feeling the effects of the arrow's passage and she walked over about 10 yards and bedded down behind a big red oak with only her head and neck visible to me from my vantage point. At this point she was no more than ten feet from the cutover. I watched her for the next 40 minutes as she sat behind that tree. She would lift her head unsteadily every five minutes or so and lower it. She finally laid her head down for the last time and moved no more. Had she been spooked by the arrow hitting her or a loud bow shot I feel confident she would have run into that cutover and I would never have seen her again.
 
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On gut shots in particular, all things being equal, the rotation imparted by a single bevel broadhead gives you some advantage in soft tissues, particularly mobile soft tissues such as intestines. This article by Dr. Ed Ashby goes into the details of this phenomenon. Scroll down to page 20 for the quick view. Also, a super sharp broadhead goes a long way in making sure the deer feels as little pain and disturbance from the arrow and that makes a big difference on if they spook or not.

Microsoft Word - Why Single-Bevel Broadheads (squarespace.com)
 
Both deer i shot were with a twizzler set up but a montec 3 blade head. They were sharp and the deer didn't react much because I barely grazed their ribs. Now I shoot 2 blade and a much heavier arrow. I added over 200 grains,went from the setup the bowshop gave me,352 grains total to about 570 grains now.
 
This why I shoot Grim Reaper micro hybrids. The past 2 years I have had 2 does take a step as I pulled the trigger (crossbow) both a little far back. Both did not go 75 yards and died within minutes. Those broad heads are down right nasty and get the job done, wherever you hit them.
 
I'd be tempted to spend a day in a tree over that doe. Looks like they will be back again when they get hungry, and they know where and easy meal is laying.
 
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