Bill and I took a day trip to the ranch yesterday and boy, did we have fun! We decided to try calling in a coyote from Bill's spot under a tree up-top. I called first (around 11:30 or so) with Bill's dying jackrabbit call sounding more like a bunny that had stubbed its toe (I need practice calling, for sure), then quietly waited for a response. We waited about 10 minutes before Bill cut loose on his call - sounding like a rabbit being torn apart by a pack of ravenous wolves. We waited for about 10 minutes before Bill saw movement from the ridge of the opposite hill we were facing. I couldn't see the critter from my position as it was blocked by some branches, but the coyote walked to the right and I now had a clear shot. My first shot missed the mark, but fortunately the coyote didn't run. It walked back to the left and as it started to turn and was quartering away, I fired again with my .22-250. This time the bullet sailed true and found its mark with a resounding whack. The dog began its death spiral and as I fired a 3rd time collapsed, dead.
We had a hard time finding the entrance wound, but after some poking and squeezing, were able to locate the hole. In the top picture, note the area of matted fur. That's where the 40 grain hollowpoint went in. It didn't exit but probably scrambled the lungs as the bullet exploded towards the head - we figured the coyote's innards were probably pudding as it had bled through the nose and mouth. It was a female, and I'm going to guess a young one - teeth were very white and in good shape. After dragging the coyote to the Bronco, we headed down to the cabin for lunch.
After lunch, we headed over to North Flat for some target shooting. I had snagged a pumpkin from our holiday display on my front porch at home. Wanted to see what kind of carnage would result from some gunplay.
The main picture shows the entrance, the inset shows the exit hole from a 40 grain hollowpoint fired from the .22-250 @ 25 yards.
We then rotated the pumpkin 180 degrees and Bill fired his 7/08 - 150 grain IIRC. The main picture shows his bullet's entrance hole and the inset shows the exit - a nearly exact opposite of my .22s results. After that we put the pumpkin out of its misery.
Found a small gopher snake in the track next to the 50 yard target. It looks like it recently had a fairly substantial meal.
We did some paper plate shooting from both North and South Flats. I suck, but learned something about my shooting technique - I was trying too hard. Rather than stiffening up and trying to fight the weight of the gun, I relaxed and was then able to hit the 300 yard gong consistently from a sitting position. I did get a little too close to the scope when firing Bill's 08 and got cracked pretty good. Fortunately, my wife digs scars though.
All in all - a pretty good day.
Eric