Big Sixty

Yesterady was my 60th birthday and when I got up that morning my wife asked me what I had planned. I told her that there was a lot going on with work but with the weather still cool and damp and the wind not too bad I wanted to try and get in a couple of stands.
After sending a few work related emails I took off but was not on my first spot until about 8:45am but the wind was perfect although a little brisker than I thought it would be.
Did some howls,little rabbit, pup distress ....hmmm no takers.

When I got to the vehicle between Happy Birthday texts and work texts I was 10:30 making my next stand. I set-up within sight of my vehicle on the county road although I knew where the coyotes would come from so they would not spot it.
What I did not count on was a loud diesel truck slowing down to check out my vehicle and then easing by and stopping about two hundred yards away to check some cows....geeshh not a good start to my BD.
I grab my stuff go to the vehicle drive down talk to the rancher's wife as it turns out and she goes one way and I head back where I came from and I get back to where I just was calling and 400 yards further down the road a coyote lopes across and its game on.
I quickly ease out to a strategic spot set-up and it was pretty anti-climatic a few minutes of BayBee cottontail and a good sized female trots up to 30 yards and the Horizon Firearms 22 Creedmoor does it's thing. The 75gr AMax have just been hammers on all the critters including a couple of hogs and does I have shot with them.
Here is my Birthday coyote number one....yes there are more.




By this time after a few more calls, texts, emails on the Smart phone its past lunch so I am thinking to head on home.
At this point I have to go back to last week. I was coming back from a customer visit and the weather was cold and misting rain and I driving past a pasture I hunt occasionally and I always scan for coyotes as best you can going 70MPH.
As usual a bunch of cows but at first I see nothing resembling coyotes BUT all of a sudden I see the unmistakable sight of a big coyote shaking water off like a Lab after retrieving a duck
and even before my eyes can focus on that coyote another one shakes the same way ooooh... two now mentally filed away.
So fast forward to today and as I approach that field it dawns on me that the wind is out of the Northeast(not common here) and perfect to go after those two coyotes if they are home.
I park and head back to the strip of timber I feel they might be in. I get set-up and point the Bolt gun about where I think they will come from and play the secret sound...shhhhh it's Baybee cottontail agin.
Well no action for 4 minutes so I kill the sound and was just sitting there when and you probably guessed that since it's my Birthday the coyotes came out RIGHT where my gun was pointed and just rolled out there like they owned that field.
I planned to shoot the back one first but it stopped behind a few pieces of stubble sticking up so I dropped the lead one quickly bolted and rolled the second head over heels just as it entered the brushy creek edge. Man gotta love a true double. I hit the second at 185 yards heading straight away and it broke it's back causing the complete flip.Being left-handed I have still stuck with right-handed bolt guns but I am really starting to like the Lefty bolt on the Horizon action and between it and the feeding from the HS magazine it's pretty slick I must admit.... have to thank Derrick for talking me into it.



Never did get lunch but did have a nice steak dinner with my lovely wife so all in all a dang fine 60th.
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Kudos, nice shooting. Happy Birthday.

Does that amax leave a nasty exit wound?

Does the bottom yote in 2nd pic have mange on his face or is that the color of the coat?

It has not been tearing up hides with good solid hits. Too far back can get ugly quick.

That coyotes had the worst mange although all three had varying degrees of mange.

Kinda my experience with em too. Great target load but tend to explode when they hit bone

Good read, happy birthday and good kills

I cannot say I have any explode when they hit bone. Actually shot a few deer and have broke both shoulders on one doe shot at about 75 yards.
What I meant is if you hit back in the ribs and exit thru the area behind the ribs cage you will tend to have big blowouts and nasty wounds. Also realize from this gun these 75 gr are running over 3400 fps.

Yah I've had that happen on a few too but when I was shootin em they were goin prob around 2900 but that's a 30 cal 168 gr bullet, some pretty wicked head shots where there wasn't much left, was happy hunting with em as long as you took head shots but, I just wasn't comfortable with em after I hit a hog on the run right in the shoulder and it looked like you took a hang grenade and set it off on it's shoulder, no penetration and no shoulder, pig was still alive but wasn't goin anywhere, I switched to the Sierra game king after that for hunting but I shot some real nice groups with that amax. Had quite a few under .2. My dad shoots some solid bergers out of his 6.5 that ice pick em real nice, hard to find to holes on thick fur. Haven't read much on the 22 creed moor but it looks like a sweet shooter and a well rounded predator rifle

Happy birthday to you too bud!

Great Birthday present, congrats!