.300 Savage takes out a big male coyote
https://i.postimg.cc/Hspc5L0H/coyote...00svg125bt.jpg
I put the .300 Savage barrel back to work this morning. With coyote mating season in the early stages and a gut pile from a big hog out in the pasture, I was hoping to see some activity. So several times after midnight, I snuck out and took a look. On three occasions, I spotted a pair of coyotes near the gut pile but could not get a shot. There wasn't enough moonlight for the scope to used alone, and the drizzle in the air would have made using a red light fruitless.
But after first light, I went back out. Buzzards were in abundance. I scanned the surroundings with the Trijicon Accupoint 3-9x40 and quickly noticed movement deep into a grove of huisaches. It was a coyote -- and a large one at that. He was moving backwards while pulling relentlessly onto the hide/head of the hog carcass and dragging it deeper into the brush -- where he'd be out of sight and safe had he made it there. I wasn't about to give him the chance.
I cranked up the magnification to 9x and -- through numerous overhanging branches -- found what I believed to be the shoulder. I touched off a round, and the 125 grain Ballistic Tip flew true, taking the 'yote through the center of the shoulder and leaving a gaping, 2.5" wide exit on the opposite side. The range was about 170 yards.
He was likely an alpha male and weighed 41 pounds, which is about as large as they ever get around here. The largest I have ever taken was trapped in the 80s, but he was a mix -- a coydog, as they are referred to. He was just over 50 pounds if memory serves. That coydog was taken in the adjacent county, and a few days later -- on that very same property -- I called up and killed a female that weighed 44. The dog lineage in her was obvious. That was either 1987 or 1988 and is the only time I have ever encountered coydogs. Pure coyotes do not get that large. A 40 pound male coyote (or a 35 pound female) is akin to a 300 pound wild hog: they may be out there, but they are anything but common.
Now, after subjecting my rifle to the heavy drizzle last night, I get the unenviable task of breaking it down and thoroughly cleaning it. On the bright side, it does give me the excuse to fire off a couple rounds to verify zero ha ha.
