Anatomy of a miss

KJQ6945

LSB Member
I have yet to get a coyote, and the misses are stacking up. I had a major scope issue that is now resolved. It was a user error.
Tuesday night, I set up in a new field. Within 10 minutes I have a yote come barreling in hard. He is coming in from my left at 90 degrees, about 40-50 yards in front of me. The call is 50 yards out at my 2:00 o'clock. He is at a dead run to the call. At about my 12: 00 o'clock, he winded me, did a 180, and started running away. When he stopped to do the 180, I was turning on the video.
I barked at him, but he would not slow down.
For whatever reason, I can't post the video, but I did go through it frame by frame. I know I'm underestimating the speed, and I need to lead more, but I will appreciate any and all tips and feed back. The date and time aren't set, but the seconds are accurate.


Point of aim
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The recoil blurs the scope.
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Point of impact. It seems to hit above his hip and pass through. Or does it miss?
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His recoil. Mouth open, really dropped his hips. Afterburner kicks in!
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Those four frames are all within the same second. The second shot is seven seconds later, and at about 250 yards. The miss is clearly visible by the splash several feet behind him.
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School me.
 

Rookie

LSB Member
I'm far from experienced, but I'll throw my two pennies. My first shot is never on a moving target. I've decided I'd rather let one go than to shoot and educate a coyote. I could be wrong, but I figure if the coyote smells me and runs, hopefully it took off because it didn't know what it smelled. If I shoot and miss, the coyote will now associate that smell with a bullet coming his direction.

Also, it's hard to see in the blurry picture, but it looks like you pulled your shot high? I aim at the lower third for a few reasons;
1. If I pull my shot I'm still in the red
2. Since it's harder to judge distance and I know my bullet is still climbing 50-100 yards, I'm still in the red.

Hope this helps. Like I said, I'm far from experienced.

To all the experienced shooters - if I'm way off let me know so I can delete my advice and learn before I develop any bad habits!
 

KJQ6945

LSB Member
I think you are right, I probably should have let him go, as opposed to missing, and educating him. Adrenaline got the better of me. I'm still learning.
 
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