You Gotta Love It,

DoubleUp

DoubleUp

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The night was dark and the clouds were hanging low with intermittent rain showers. I knew if the rain showers would end quickly as the radar appeared to promise that the coyotes would be out feeding after the rain. I waited in the truck impatiently for the last of the showers to end before unloading my bike and gear. My partner had worked hard all day and was too tuckered to give it a try so I was on a lone mission. Thankfully the winds had shifted to the NW and somewhat cooled the appetites of the bomber mosquitoes.

Cottontail sounds have been paying off, so I started with that. I had a coyote cooperating shortly and put him to rest at 55 yds. I elected to keep on calling and saw another one easing in for a look. She was working toward the downwind so I growled her to a stop at 100 yds. and she took a 50 V-max to the chest from the 250. In my excitement, I forgot to chamber another round, and about 8 minutes later the rabbit was enticing another one with his cry for help. I growled this one to a stop at 85 yds., but realized I didn’t have a bullet in the chamber. This Yoy stood there with me racking the bolt and paid the price.

Now I had three down, but would there be another? The rabbit is still pleading for help and I saw another coyote at 350 yds. I guess even suppressed there had been a little too much noise for this one. I was having a pretty shaky time getting steady enough for a 350 yd. try. The first shot was a miss. He ran parallel to me and stopped to figure out where the noise came from. Second shot connected but not solid enough to put him down. He ran a few more yds. and stopped again. I finally settled in enough to put him down. It was a good stand, and as the title says, “You gotta love it when a plan comes together.”

 
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Fantastic! Your plan was about as good as you could ask for. Even had enough buffer to overcome the minor execution error! Lol. Well done!
 
Lol, well it works for me except last year I had one get about 40 yds. from me and when I growled he hauled butt. I did finally manage to kill him though. Clarence, yeah I was all over the place on that 350 yd. shot. Just goes to show that miracles still happen.
 
I don't know how you ever get steady standing off a tripod, Owen. I can't chew gum and walk at the same time, so I sit and use sticks. :ROFLMAO:
 
I usually sit and shoot off the tripod as well Clarence, but the cornstalks are still high in most fields and the overgrown ditch banks haven't been mowed yet either so visibility sitting is very limited in most places. Beans are beginning to be harvested here now so that will open up a lot of places to shooting while seated.
 
Yep, ya do what ya gotta do. I've shot standing off sticks when I had to, but just never could get used to that third leg; it just always gets in the way. :(
 
I'm sure everyone has their own individual way of setting up with the tripod. I always put the 3rd leg away from me on the far side when either standing or sitting. When seated, my seat rotates 360 degrees, I pick up the tripod and move it and the rifle to the needed position. Standing is where the 3rd leg is apt to get in the way as I try to walk around the tripod.
 
Daylight and dark between our setups, Owen (pun intended ;) ). Since I hunt daytime only, concealment is much more of an issue than (I would think) necessary at night. I usually burrow into a bush or bushes behind sticks. Even (lighter) sticks are very difficult to move laterally as they catch in bushes and tall grass. May be a bit anal, but I even put Ghillie netting on the sticks to help cover any slight movements. Back when stalking big game, I used standing sticks well enough to hit vital zones on larger critters, but never hunted standing as my back wouldn't allow standing for long periods of time. My son loves tripods; different strokes for different folks. (y)
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