Well, I am about 5 days late in posting this, but here it goes:





One of our fur babies has been venturing into the field at night to hunt gophers, and it seems coyotes recently either spotted or smelled him -- and wanted him for an easy meal -- because they have been leaving lots of sign near the house.

Last night, I couldn't sleep and woke up around 3. Stepping outside with a thermal monocular, I immediately spotted what I believed to be a coyote fleeing from near the house -- and from the very spot our cat Marmalade chases grasshoppers and stalks gopher mounds. So I grabbed my 30-30, set up on a shooting rest and decided to try and wait him out to see if he'd reappear.

The moonlight was strong, the wind was right and I had good visibility. But a thin line of fog began to waft in across the field. Sure enough, the coyote came back. I spotted him in the thermal but could not see him in the scope. He was gone as quickly as he appeared. Twenty minutes later, the scene was replayed, but the fog seemed to be thinning and drifting away. Of course, so did the coyote...

But the third time, he ran out of luck. Appearing around 190 yards, I put the red dot of the Docter 2.5-10x50 on his shoulder and sent a round downrange. The 110 grain Barnes Blackout bullet flew true, ripping through the front of the shoulder, devastating the vitals and exiting about three inches in front of the hip. The year-and-a-half old coyote folded on the spot.

he won't be bothering your mousers now.

Good shot at night too.

George

I agree that shot came with multiple successes. A good coyote! Be Well, Packy.