After The Shot
In a perfect world, this is where you walk over and get your coyote. Unfortunately, that’s not always the way it goes. In this post I will address some ideas that will help you find and collect your trophy after the shot.
Check every shot
The rule I was raised with, and that I follow to this day, is “Never take a shot you are not willing to physically check the results of.” You owe it to yourself and your quarry to follow up every time you pull the trigger. If there’s a coyote 400 yards away and across a deep canyon, don’t pull the trigger unless you are ready for a hike.
Not all fatally hit coyotes will drop in their tracks in a wide open spot where you can see them. On a recent hunt I took a shot at a large female coyote standing on a rock ledge on the edge of a large ravine. I didn’t have a solid rest, but felt ok about the shot. When I pulled the trigger the dog vanished. I assumed I’d missed and that the ‘yote had dropped into the ravine and run off.
I figured the shot was a miss, but followed my rule, hiking the 200 yards through uneven lava rock to where the coyote had been standing. After several minutes of fruitless searching, I was ready to head back to the truck when I spotted fur in a crevasse in the lava rock. It was the coyote shown on the left. The bounty put $50 in the bank and made the hike worth it.
I have also had heart shot coyotes take off on a dead run after being hit.
How to locate a down dog
A dead coyote can be a challenge to find, especially in thick cover with limited landmarks. No matter how monotonous the landscape is, there will still be some type of landmark you can use to help pinpoint a downed coyote.
Once you’ve pulled the trigger, keep your eyes on the spot where the coyote was standing. Look for something unique nearby. It could be an unusually shaped or dead bush. If there is nothing nearby, look beyond the spot for something in a direct line with your shooting location and the coyote.
After selecting a landmark, start walking toward it. Try to stay on as straight a path as possible. If needed, stop and locate your shooting position and landmark to verify that you are still on the right path.
Upon arrival at the spot you think the coyote was, start looking for evidence. Look for tracks, hair, blood, etc. Be sure to look on foliage at coyote height for blood and hair behind where the coyote was standing. Hunting in snow will make this much easier.
Hopefully you will be able to see the coyote from this spot. If not, stand that spot and turn in a 360 degree circle, looking at ground level, under bushes and cover. Look for something coyote colored, soft, and out of place. Look carefully because dead coyote seem to melt into the ground.
Still no luck? Mark your spot with a hat or stick, something you can easily see, and start walking in circles around that spot. Gradually increase the size of your circles, concentrating on the direction you think the coyote might have gone. Continue increasing the size of the circles until you feel you are well beyond the kill spot.
Now, reverse direction and walk in circles of decreasing size until you are back at the marked spot. It’s not uncommon to walk right past a dead coyote, and then see it when you walk by the same spot in the opposite direction.
Only your personal commitment will determine how much time to spend searching. If I feel good about the shot, I’ll invest at least half an hour looking. I’ve made the effort to drive to the spot, hike in, make the stand, etc. In my view it’s worth some time to try finding every coyote I shoot at.
Be ready for a follow up shot
Coyotes can be tough customers. I normally shoot 50 grain V-Max bullets in a .223 and have only lost one coyote that I know I hit with that combination. There have been a few that were poorly hit that required a follow up shot. I had one shotgunned dog that just didn’t want to give up the ghost. It was a big male that came in to breeding sounds and spotted me from 15 yards away, just as I was raising the shotgun. In my experience, coyotes that are unaware are easy to kill with a shotgun. Those that are spooked can be hard to put down.
I hit this dog broadside at 15 yards. I was shooting through a sagebrush plant, so, in all fairness, some of the #4 buckshot pellets might not have made it through the vegetation. The dog took off and I took two more shots before it dropped into a gully. I followed as quickly as my tired old bones and the terrain would allow and had to shoot twice more at less than ten yard before the dog went still. Just another example of the importance of following up on every shot.
This tough old dog weighed nearly 40 pounds and took five loads of #4 buck to kill.