goose,
Sorry to hear of the layup.....gotta "get er' done" though. That stuff ain't nothin' to play with, for sure. If you take it easy for a week or two afterwards, you'll catch the end of coyote easily. Fox, maybe not.
Take the time & heal up good.
Coyotesmoker,
Welcome here with a score to show for it /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinning-smiley-003.gif......good goin'.
My first coyote I got several years ago looked pretty much like yours. I was hunting (as luck would have it) on a veterinarian's property up just oustide of Batavia, N.Y.
I only dragged it from where I shot it to the railroad tracks (about 250yds.) that crossed his property where he was waiting with my other partner. He told me to toss it.....shocked, I asked "why".....and he said it had an advanced case of sarcoptic mange.
He also told me to toss my gloves, but I plastic bagged them and soaked them out when I got home.
This time of year (and then too) they should be good and fluffy, with heavy underhair growth. Beginning stages of mange, I've been told, start around the hind end & leg areas, and usually leave the tail a long skin & bone strip.
John (rcpilotjae) has a very good piece on mange posted over on his site at;
CoyoteMaster.com
Nice take regardless my friend.......
Also.....good score KnockEm'........
That's good shootin' with the old black rifle.....
Sounds like you had him fooled and comin' in, then he got a little suspicious and headed for brush to try and circle you. As luck would have it, he broke into the open first....
We haven't had any coyote luck yet this year (should start picking up with mating season here soon), but I've been watching the fox respond. Even though they come in much quicker, they've been doing the same thing. They'll start heading in, straight for you, then, all of a sudden and without warning, they'll cut off almost 90 degrees to head downwind from your spot.
I had three out of four fox do that last week. Never really paid much attention before, but it seems to be a trait of most wild canine types.
Anyway, I did the same thing you did, shot them before they got out of sight. Once they hit the brush, you never know where they're going to appear, if they even do.
Nice hunt/read, good shootin' and that photo looks like a pretty ornery male maybe ?
Goin' going all....
Bob