I went back to my friends house in MS to try to get one last "nice" buck to cap off this year's hunting season. Where he lives, the rut is usually centered around the first week of January so this year was my best chance to hit it right. Unfortunately, everyone else in my life thought I needed to do other things so I was left with only 2 1/2 days to try to make it happen. The first morning was a bust. Not a single deer sighted. Actually, not a single thing sighted. The fog was so thick, I didn't see anything till after 11:00. This unfortunate fawn killer thought he could stroll across my field of fire. He didn't make it. A 110 gr Barnes TSX did the job from 201 yds away.
The stand where I was hunting from is directly behind the coyote in this picture.
Yesterday, it seemed like an alarm went off in the deer's heads and said everyone get up and run around. Deer were everywhere. Again, nothing worth shooting but entertaining non the less. Then this morning, at first light another coyote walked right into the middle of our food plot only to receive another TSX to the boiler room.
OK, I know the rules (it didn't happen without pictures) but I'm telling you there is a dead coyote in my mind. Actually, he ran off and after trailing him for about 50 yds, he made it into some really nasty thick swampy stuff and I just wasn't into going in that mess for a dead dog. I still had a six hour drive home and with the amount of blood he was losing he couldn't have made it far. In fact, I went around to the far side of the tangle and didn't find any blood trail leaving the thicket so he can rest in peace in the middle of the swamp briars.
So, I'm ending my 2016/17 deer season on a positive note even though I didn't get a decent buck. 4 coyotes in MS was still a bonus.
The stand where I was hunting from is directly behind the coyote in this picture.
Yesterday, it seemed like an alarm went off in the deer's heads and said everyone get up and run around. Deer were everywhere. Again, nothing worth shooting but entertaining non the less. Then this morning, at first light another coyote walked right into the middle of our food plot only to receive another TSX to the boiler room.
OK, I know the rules (it didn't happen without pictures) but I'm telling you there is a dead coyote in my mind. Actually, he ran off and after trailing him for about 50 yds, he made it into some really nasty thick swampy stuff and I just wasn't into going in that mess for a dead dog. I still had a six hour drive home and with the amount of blood he was losing he couldn't have made it far. In fact, I went around to the far side of the tangle and didn't find any blood trail leaving the thicket so he can rest in peace in the middle of the swamp briars.
So, I'm ending my 2016/17 deer season on a positive note even though I didn't get a decent buck. 4 coyotes in MS was still a bonus.