discovered coyotes feeding on a
dead calf that was to be shipped
in the coming days. Although
I suspected the calf died from
natural causes, I now had the
green light to hunt the pasture
crammed with bawling cows.
Now that I had my permission
slip I had to come up with a
strategy to get a couple of the
coyotes before they realized the
crosshairs were on them. The
plan I hatched was simple. Since
the cattle routinely stayed on
low pastures I’d sneak in from
above in the dark. At sunrise the
cattle would gradually move my
way and with them the coyotes.
I’d use howls to hopefully dupe
any coyotes that an invading
coyote had inserted itself into
the cattle herd. It couldn’t fail.
Thirty minutes into my setup
I was beginning to suspect
failure. At 45 minutes I called
it quits. I had other chores to
attend to and was gathering
Hunt in close proximity to cattle. Coyotes will be doing the same.
my gear when I spotted the
first coyote walking towards
me while zigzagging through
the herd. Despite my surprise,
I couldn’t believe the coyote
hadn’t seen me. I waited until it
passed behind a plump bovine
and then dropped to use a
bipod-steady rest. Just before I
depressed the trigger on the
first coyote I spied a second in
tow. Timing was everything
to get a double without a cow
popping up in the background.
My .22-250 dropped the first
cleanly and I immediately
started the hurt/whimper canine
call to stop the second. He was
in the clear and in the snow a
second later.
Lesson learned: To this day I look
at hunting areas and evaluate
them based on proximity to cattle.
Once I gain permission I safely
hunt as close as possible to my
bovine neighbors.
