Predator Xtreme - Feb 2012
Hunting Thickets For Coyotes ing in under cover Its important not to spook these visitors to your set up Coyotes live with these birds and animals every day and know what an alarmed bird or animal acts and sounds like Wayne and I backtracked to the Jeep Our first set up of the day had ended with a kill and some fast paced excitement We drove back to the main road before turning south away from the seep but toward another known water hole Our conversation turned to how well we had managed in the middle of some pretty thick stuff and how much sign we had seen on the dune We soon came to a large expanse of open ground so we slowed to get a look and quickly discuss our options We both agreed that what had just happened back at the dune was no fluke Hunting in the heart of a coyotes comfort zone was sure bet albeit a little harder to hunt We passed by the 56 www PredatorXtreme com FEBRUARY 2012 open ground and started looking for something somewhat isolated and dense in brush In this type of hunting a shooter should always take his first best shot at the target When movement is detected swing your rifle towards the target keeping your finger clear of the trigger and thumb on the safety eye to your sights Follow the movement and wait for the animal to enter a clear shooting lane Only when the animal is positively identified should you click off the safety and take your shot For me a short lightweight fast handling rifle is the ticket in the thicket Wayne operates a heavy barreled target style 22 250 thats bulky but extremely accurate Wayne is deadly on those shy dogs that hang up at what would be unreasonable ranges for most The old adage Shoot the gun that you shoot best really applies to this type of hunting A 223 or 22 250 Remington throwing a 50 grain V Max works well as does a 223 Winchester Super Short Magnum or 220 Swift using 55 grain bullets An AR style rifle may very well be the optimal choice because these rifles are designed for quick and accurate shooting as well as fast follow up shots Also I do not load my bullets to maximum speed opting for accuracy over velocity in my handloads A heavier bullet will certainly carry better through leaves and twigs but in my own opinion no bullet can buck the brush Keep it accurate thats what you need when youre hunting brush piles Optics can range from high end target style scopes or hunting optics to red dot sight systems and even iron sights Wayne and I both run a 3x9 variable power rifle scope In the brush I like to keep my scope on the lowest power setting giving me as wide a field of view as possible Even lower power scopes would be fine here Red dot sights are
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