After spending 3 days hunting with Tony Tebbe in February, I decided to go back to NM for 3 more days of coyote hunting last week. I drove to Lovington, and we spent last Thursday, Friday and Saturday hunting. Tony’s friend from Iowa, scottym was with us for the first two days, and ran the video camera as we hunted. Of course Gunner was with us as well. The weather overall was good, though in the mid to upper 80’s during the day, and down to about 60 in the early morning.
Thursday morning, on the first stand, a coyote came to the call from behind us, but disappeared back into the cotton field pretty quickly. Continuing to use his hand call, Tony called in a female, stopped her with a bark and I killed her at about 70 yards with my DPMS .223 AR. At the next stand he called another female in and I shot her at a little over 100 yds…..hitting her low. She flopped down, jumped up and took off, with Gunner in pursuit. A couple of hundred yards away she went to the ground and died, with Gunner keeping watch until we walked over.
We continued making stands, and on several we saw yotes but couldn’t get them to come in closer and/or stop….they wanted to look things over, but weren’t so interested that they were decent targets.
As we were driving to another stand, Scott saw a coyote crossing a plowed field. We drove back and around to get closer, and I shot from the truck window (legal in New Mexico), and missed.
It was getting on towards “hot” when we got to a ranch with a fair size pond on it, and we set up just below it. A coyote came in pretty quickly, stopped and as I was “fiddling” with my safety, he took off on the run and my shots didn’t touch him.
The afternoon stands weren’t productive. In all that day we saw 12 coyotes, but only got to hand two on the back of the truck!
We began Friday, the 2nd day, in some sandhills on a big ranch north of Lovington. We hadn’t been there long when one came bounding straight at us from a few hundred yards away, but as he approached he veered off to our left. Tony stopped him with a bark, and again my shot failed to connect. My bad…..
Shortly after that the wind grew increasingly strong, and made hunting more difficult to the point we headed in about 10:30am. We made some stands in the evening, and saw one at a great distance, but he never came in. Tony sent Gunner and Duke (6 month old son of Gunner) out to him, but they weren’t able to bring him back in.
Scott headed back to Iowa early Saturday morning as Tony, Gunner and I were back on the hunt. On the first stand, after putting the truck behind some oil tanks, we set up in front of a mesquite bush in the shadows, with the early light of the morning behind us. This time Tony put the Foxpro out about 70 yardsd, and started calling. A few minutes later, a male came charging in, and Tony was able to stop him with a bark at about 50 yards, and I shot him with my Ruger M77 .223….he was DRT. Just as we’d seen him coming in, another coyote followed him in, but at the shot he turned tail and ran. Gunner went after him, but came back a few moments later to do his barking and “victory dance” over the dead male. He hadn’t been back long tho, and Tony was still calling, when we saw Gunner looking over to our left, and sure enough, the other coyote came walking through the brush at about 125 yards away. Turning towards us, watching, I shot him in the lower neck area, dropping him on the spot.
When we walked over to him, we found that he was a larger than usual male, in the prime of his life. We weighed him at the truck, and he came in at 37 lbs, with a great coat and tail. Tony skinned him for me, and after drying the hide, will send it to a tannery for me.
We made several more stands that morning, but that was it for the time being. Except for seeing one running along the road that evening, the two stands we made just before dark were uneventful.
I believe we saw about 17 coyotes during the three day hunt, and although I killed four….and missed others…..I had a great time. It’s always a pleasure to hunt with Gunner, and watching young Duke at work with him that day was a joy as well. I'll be back!
Gunner Over the First Kill on Saturday
Back at the Truck With the First Kill of Thursday
Tony & Me With the Two Coyotes From Thursday Morning
Gunner Scans the Horizon on a Stand
Saturday Morning's Double
The Larger One is in Front
Tony & the Skinned Hide of the Big One on Saturday
Gunner & Me at the Caprock of the Mescolera Escarpment near Lovington
Thursday morning, on the first stand, a coyote came to the call from behind us, but disappeared back into the cotton field pretty quickly. Continuing to use his hand call, Tony called in a female, stopped her with a bark and I killed her at about 70 yards with my DPMS .223 AR. At the next stand he called another female in and I shot her at a little over 100 yds…..hitting her low. She flopped down, jumped up and took off, with Gunner in pursuit. A couple of hundred yards away she went to the ground and died, with Gunner keeping watch until we walked over.
We continued making stands, and on several we saw yotes but couldn’t get them to come in closer and/or stop….they wanted to look things over, but weren’t so interested that they were decent targets.
As we were driving to another stand, Scott saw a coyote crossing a plowed field. We drove back and around to get closer, and I shot from the truck window (legal in New Mexico), and missed.
It was getting on towards “hot” when we got to a ranch with a fair size pond on it, and we set up just below it. A coyote came in pretty quickly, stopped and as I was “fiddling” with my safety, he took off on the run and my shots didn’t touch him.
The afternoon stands weren’t productive. In all that day we saw 12 coyotes, but only got to hand two on the back of the truck!
We began Friday, the 2nd day, in some sandhills on a big ranch north of Lovington. We hadn’t been there long when one came bounding straight at us from a few hundred yards away, but as he approached he veered off to our left. Tony stopped him with a bark, and again my shot failed to connect. My bad…..
Shortly after that the wind grew increasingly strong, and made hunting more difficult to the point we headed in about 10:30am. We made some stands in the evening, and saw one at a great distance, but he never came in. Tony sent Gunner and Duke (6 month old son of Gunner) out to him, but they weren’t able to bring him back in.
Scott headed back to Iowa early Saturday morning as Tony, Gunner and I were back on the hunt. On the first stand, after putting the truck behind some oil tanks, we set up in front of a mesquite bush in the shadows, with the early light of the morning behind us. This time Tony put the Foxpro out about 70 yardsd, and started calling. A few minutes later, a male came charging in, and Tony was able to stop him with a bark at about 50 yards, and I shot him with my Ruger M77 .223….he was DRT. Just as we’d seen him coming in, another coyote followed him in, but at the shot he turned tail and ran. Gunner went after him, but came back a few moments later to do his barking and “victory dance” over the dead male. He hadn’t been back long tho, and Tony was still calling, when we saw Gunner looking over to our left, and sure enough, the other coyote came walking through the brush at about 125 yards away. Turning towards us, watching, I shot him in the lower neck area, dropping him on the spot.
When we walked over to him, we found that he was a larger than usual male, in the prime of his life. We weighed him at the truck, and he came in at 37 lbs, with a great coat and tail. Tony skinned him for me, and after drying the hide, will send it to a tannery for me.
We made several more stands that morning, but that was it for the time being. Except for seeing one running along the road that evening, the two stands we made just before dark were uneventful.
I believe we saw about 17 coyotes during the three day hunt, and although I killed four….and missed others…..I had a great time. It’s always a pleasure to hunt with Gunner, and watching young Duke at work with him that day was a joy as well. I'll be back!
Gunner Over the First Kill on Saturday
Back at the Truck With the First Kill of Thursday
Tony & Me With the Two Coyotes From Thursday Morning
Gunner Scans the Horizon on a Stand
Saturday Morning's Double
The Larger One is in Front
Tony & the Skinned Hide of the Big One on Saturday
Gunner & Me at the Caprock of the Mescolera Escarpment near Lovington
