Wild Coyotes are becoming a problem in more and more urban, suburban, and rural areas. Many people have lost pets to them in our area in Colorado and other areas. As we encroach onto their wild space, they adapt very readily to these suburban environments, becoming mostly nocturnal to avoid humans, however they can often be seen in early morning and evening hours.
While I mostly gave up hunting years ago, and really enjoy target shooting, I find the occasional Coyote hunt rewarding and valuable for conservation.
This is my new favorite night-time setup.
Bushmaster (Varmit model) .223 caliber, ATN X-sight II HD, New ABL-1500 Laser Rangefinder and BogPod tripod.
Coyotes have no natural predators, so their populations can quickly spread out of control. This is where reasonable conservation efforts are important, both to limit Coyote expansion, but also to reduce pressure on their natural prey, rabbits, turkey, etc. not to mention our precious pets! Controlled hunting can also reduce risk of exposure to rabies and disease, which can be spread to our pets.
Here are some closer views.
That Gray knob on top is not stock. This is the parallax (focus) adjustment, which is very hard to turn from the factory. My son 3D printed this for me to make it larger and easier to get ahold of. Turns like butter now!
All photos original work copyright the author of this post.
Enjoy!
@ksteem
Nice rig K, and explanation of the reason for the shoot. I guess a lot of people don't [or won't] understand. I generally don't enter into the discussion with people about my culling duties - Like you I've not hunted too much lately replacing it with culling work.
I'm off culling on Thursday afternoon/evening myself this week, on the cattle farm. Ferrals - Kangaroo's, deer, foxes. I haven't been for a while so am looking forward to getting my country-on.
Good post, which I submitted for a little curangel love. :)
Thanks for that vote and comment. I just moved the scope from my pellet rifle to this one. We'll see how it does. I'm still not used to the look and feel of it. It's more like looking into a video camera than a scope. The ABL seems to function ok, although it takes it about 4 seconds to lock in the range on a target after you push the button. It then auto-adjusts the point of aim in the scope to be dead-on. Still faster I guess than looking away into a separate range finder, then pulling back to either adjust scope or calculate manual holdover. First time I've ever played with the ABL range finder yesterday. Looks a little weird the way it's mounted straight up, but if mounted to the standard left side as designed, it blocks the infrared light. Seems to work just fine that way. Next it's off to the range and give it a real shaking out.
I've never used those scopes, I generally use a spotlight so my Kahles 624i does the trick. Will be interesting to see how yours performs at the range. I've never hunted for coyote's as we don't have them here obviously however if you're able to make the shot even with the 4 second delay then it shouldn't be an issue. Do you stalk or are you set up in a hide when hunting?
I used to love stalking, and the thrill of getting close enough for bow hunting. For Coyotes, it's generally more of a sit in spot and call them in using an electronic or mouth call. Still some calling skill involved there.
This was my first entry into night scopes. This model can actually be used day/night and has built in video recording. It was fairly cheap, only about $400 U.S. It has a 3-14x zoom, which can do digital zoom out to 30x (but gets a little fuzzy). The InfraRed light that came with it is good out to about 75 yards where you can still make out objects clearly. Most folks end up going with a more expensive light like Hog sniper or Wicked which can function well out to 375-400 yards. I certainly didn't need that on pellet rifle, but may go that direction on this one. You can read more on Wicked lights here: https://www.wickedhuntinglights.com/a67ir-3-in-1-infrared-red-light-kit
One really cool feature is that the scope can store multiple profiles so that you can easily move it from one rifle to another and return to the zero for that rifle. If I had it to do again, I would probably save up and wait for the similar model thermal scope. The good ones are 4 times the money, but now that I've had a taste, they are probably worth it.
Coyotes sound like foxes a bit; Have to call them in too mostly.
I have a mate with a scope (can't recall what) that cost him $7000AUD. Amazing at night. I think it's thermal rather than IR and has video recording also. I think I've seen your scope here, one of my other friends is a Vortex dealer and has a few other brands including an IR for around $800 which would be around $400USD.
Would love to head out your way and do some stalking. I'm reasonable at it but I think also it's fast becoming a dying art. Too much effort for the young kiddies.
That's a really nice setup! Really cool barrel never seen anything like that!
Thanks, the fluted match grade barrel and adjustable trigger came stock on this model ~10 years old.
I did change out the stock and pistol grip (see below pic of original). Didn't care for the original. Accuracy is better than most generic AR's, but not as good as my bolt actions.
Coyotes are a problem here on PEI also. I read their only natural predator is the grey wolf and they are nearly extinct now. I hope they don’t get shot by mistake.
Yes, so many examples of where humans have upset the balance of nature. Our duty is to help restore that where we can. Very easy to distinguish between the two for anyone that spends even a basic amount of time to educate themselves. Very distinct looks, profiles, and habits.