I preface this by saying I wouldn't believe my story here if somebody else told it to me. I'd accuse them of lying and not even making up a very good lie.
That said, I spent the weekend on some new-to-me property in Mississippi. All total I drove 10 hours, walked probably 15, and sat maybe 3. Lot of looking and not finding what I was looking for. Not a bust though, because I DID kill a Mississippi critter.
I was walking along a sandy hill with some volunteer pine growth on a river island. Dew was still on the ground so it was perfect stalking conditions. I was hoping to either find good sign to sit on or get lucky and have a shot at a deer. I was seeing lots of tracks. Deer, rabbit, raccoon, armadillo, turtle, bobcat, and coyote.
As I was stalking I was mainly looking at the far edges of what I could see. Scanning for movement and horizontal lines and only glancing at what was just in front of me to watch for stepping hazards and plan my immediate route.
During one of those little glances to what was in front of me I saw a big, brown blob of fur stretched out in the grass and sandstone. It was a coyote! Laid out on the ground with it's chin resting on the ground maybe 10-15 yards in front of me. I initially assumed it was dead. Then I noticed it was breathing! Couldn't be having that, so almost reflexively the mini came up and a $2 Rage knockoff was en route. I couldn't miss at that range and the bolt slipped through just forward of its hip and out the far side armpit. Apparently a 2" hole going all the way through everything is very bad for a 40lb animal. It jumped up with a snarl and summersaulted about 10 yards before it went limp.
I'm not sure if it was sleeping in the sun or maybe crouched and listening to a mouse or rabbit in the grass up ahead. But it was obviously pretty tuned-out. It appeared perfectly healthy. I was tempted to skin it out or euro the head since that's only the second coyote I've killed with an arrow and it's the first one I've ever stalked up on. I've never even heard of that being pulled off before. But it had that lovely coyote stench and I was tent camping in almost 90 degree temps with my wife so I left it lay.
The rest of the weekend was pretty uneventful. I burned a lot of boot leather trying to whittle down the dozen or so properties scattered along the river and not finding any worth hunting. Also missed a fox squirrel with the mini (and no, I wasn't shooting squirrels with a chinadermic). But now I've killed critters in Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, and Louisiana; and have a really cool story to tell.
That said, I spent the weekend on some new-to-me property in Mississippi. All total I drove 10 hours, walked probably 15, and sat maybe 3. Lot of looking and not finding what I was looking for. Not a bust though, because I DID kill a Mississippi critter.
I was walking along a sandy hill with some volunteer pine growth on a river island. Dew was still on the ground so it was perfect stalking conditions. I was hoping to either find good sign to sit on or get lucky and have a shot at a deer. I was seeing lots of tracks. Deer, rabbit, raccoon, armadillo, turtle, bobcat, and coyote.
As I was stalking I was mainly looking at the far edges of what I could see. Scanning for movement and horizontal lines and only glancing at what was just in front of me to watch for stepping hazards and plan my immediate route.
During one of those little glances to what was in front of me I saw a big, brown blob of fur stretched out in the grass and sandstone. It was a coyote! Laid out on the ground with it's chin resting on the ground maybe 10-15 yards in front of me. I initially assumed it was dead. Then I noticed it was breathing! Couldn't be having that, so almost reflexively the mini came up and a $2 Rage knockoff was en route. I couldn't miss at that range and the bolt slipped through just forward of its hip and out the far side armpit. Apparently a 2" hole going all the way through everything is very bad for a 40lb animal. It jumped up with a snarl and summersaulted about 10 yards before it went limp.
I'm not sure if it was sleeping in the sun or maybe crouched and listening to a mouse or rabbit in the grass up ahead. But it was obviously pretty tuned-out. It appeared perfectly healthy. I was tempted to skin it out or euro the head since that's only the second coyote I've killed with an arrow and it's the first one I've ever stalked up on. I've never even heard of that being pulled off before. But it had that lovely coyote stench and I was tent camping in almost 90 degree temps with my wife so I left it lay.
The rest of the weekend was pretty uneventful. I burned a lot of boot leather trying to whittle down the dozen or so properties scattered along the river and not finding any worth hunting. Also missed a fox squirrel with the mini (and no, I wasn't shooting squirrels with a chinadermic). But now I've killed critters in Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, and Louisiana; and have a really cool story to tell.
