Cold night on the prairie

Duhhh

Duhhh

Well-known member
Couldn’t help but go out last night because I thought the coyotes would be on fire. Well the weather man was wrong and the winds were howling. Supposedly it felt like -14F but I had to give it a shot.

I went to an area I’ve already day called a few times this year. Every time I’ve hit it, I have left with 4 to 6 coyotes and there’s always more I’m leaving. The last time I watched two big coyotes chasing a mule deer in the hills and could never call them in.

With that in mind, I decided to take a bit of a walk in the dark and hunt it like I would in the day time.

Coyotes weren’t very responsive to vocals and I struggled early in the night until I got into the hills. Thankfully some of the stands got me out of the wind.

Ended up shooting 6 coyotes total. 1 of them was a big ole male. In the video, he’s the one where the screen freezes up right as I shoot.

Wasn’t the worse drag out because I left two of them out there. Man that cold wrecked my knees and killed my thermal batteries fast though. My phone froze up so they’re not the best pictures but you get the idea.

Cold solo night with the Tikka and AGM



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Hunter55 said:
man I miss hunting on BLM and the smell of sage brush...keep up the good work
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The smell of Sagebrush after the rain is one of the biggest things I miss about living in northern Nevada. It doesn’t smell the same out here in North Dakota.
 
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Nice going, that's getting 'er done.

I've turned into a puss, I want it at least in the 20's for a low before I get off the couch.🙃
 
alf said:
Nice going, that's getting 'er done.

I've turned into a puss, I want it at least in the 20's for a low before I get off the couch.🙃
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I’m with you there. Maybe my rangefinder would start working better in the 20’s haha.
 
Duhhh said:
I’m with you there. Maybe my rangefinder would start working better in the 20’s haha.
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My in house LaCrosse weather station took pity on me, and quit showing the outside temps & winds the last few days during this arctic blast.

20's & 30's coming, hopefully it kicks back in.👍
 
Are you taking head shots, or just holding high due to range?
Obviously, it's working out for you, but I've learned that the imprecise nature of aiming with a thermal will cause you to occasionally miss some shots that you'd never miss with a daytime optic.
 
SupressYourself said:
Are you taking head shots, or just holding high due to range?
Obviously, it's working out for you, but I've learned that the imprecise nature of aiming with a thermal will cause you to occasionally miss some shots that you'd never miss with a daytime optic.
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I was holding high for the range.

On that last one (the head shot), I knew the middle of the hill was about 350 yards. The coyote was a bit closer and at the time he looked like he was quartering to me slightly, so I put it on the head for what I thought would be the best chance for a solid hit. The way I got my gun set up, I’m dead on a handwarmer at 250 yards.

So far, my missed shots have all appeared to be high. Depth perception has been a learning curve.
 
Nice. I sure am glad you got into the thermal game cause you are the only one posting in the "blast"-Like Alf said, the couch is inviting when it is single digits outside and 73 YO.
 
jmeddy said:
Nice. I sure am glad you got into the thermal game cause you are the only one posting in the "blast"-Like Alf said, the couch is inviting when it is single digits outside and 73 YO.
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Haha yeah I’m 32, still young and dumb.
 
bohunr said:
nice going. why the blood on the rifle barrel ? did you grab it with out gloves and leave some skin on it :)
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my son and I got a little too carried away with some spray paint one day haha. He’s been on a zombie kick so we left it. Now he thinks I’m out shooting zombie coyotes with the thermal.
 
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