On Stand Misses

[Chamacat]

Yep...I really don't know how to start this thread but..I'll try...I have called coyotes into me at very close distances..20-40 yards..I'm shooting a .204...AND..Frickin MISSED...sometimes the coyotes are trotting/walking/ even standing..SO..I have lowered the power on my scope...3x9x 40MM..leopold..VX-11...AND..I have taken the rifle back to the range and find out that the rifle is shooting .75 groups@100 yards...with 39 grain Sierra Blitz Kings..So the problem is ME..I go back to the field and try to keep the yote in the crosshairs and simply squeeze the trigger..thinking I have a clean kill and end up with a clean miss..lol...I'm hunting alone and it would be nice if I had a spotter to tell me at the moment of truth what I did..But I don't..lol...It is really frustating to me to go to the range and shoot great and then miss a yote at 30 yards...So the question is has this happen to you? What did you do to correct?...I rely on my shotgun alot at close range..But if I have my .204...there sometimes I gotta take the shot with the .204...However the other day.. I had my decoy dog running in front of the truck and a big male coyote came down to great him and I hit em at 110 yards troting..Boy I really felt like a shooter then..LOL..I know this to be a fact once you educate a yote on the caller..I don't think I really get a second chance at another shot with that coyote..Carl

[trappincoyotes39]

you have coyote fever lol. If your not used to making moving shots stop them. Bark or whistle at them. I find it easier to get them to stop at 80 yrds or more than when they are right on top of you.

You also could be trying to look before your follow thru. We all have done that look in the scope and want to raise your head to see the coyote drop. Keep in your mind, to follow through on the shot, until you here the whack of the bullet keep your cheek on the stock and you eye aligned through the scope. At a range far easier to do than in hunting condtions with close coyotes.

[akona20]

Hmmm pull the trigger for the shotgun and squeeze the trigger for the rifle. Squeezing the trigger gives you a natural look through after you have squeezed. Scope power should never be above 4X at those ranges and generally 3X is plenty after all you don't need to see the fleas.

If you are a right hander I almost would bet you are missing high left at present.

[Chamacat]

Yep...After I thought alittle bit about it..I am missing high...don't know if if it's left or right high tho..And yes I'm a right hander and shoot one eye closed..with 2lb's trigger pull...

TC39...In the beginning I believe had "Coyote Fever"...l felt my pulse in my throat and the anticipation of watching a coyote coming in from 1000 yards..getting squared up to the coyote...anticipating shooting lanes..WHEW...I never knew about the bark/whistle idea...I'll put that little number on the next one..lol...I'm going to make it a point to stay in the scope till after the shot...To tell you the truth I really thought I was a better shooter than what my coyote totals are..I reload and shoot all the time at range...And I have had a kick in the Butt time so far this year...

[FWS]

Practice Carl, practice. Different ranges, different positions.

And you can do it at home too dry firing with a snap cap.

Helps you develop trigger control.

It'll also probably make you realize you need a trigger job or a new trigger.

Hmmm pull the trigger for the shotgun and squeeze the trigger for the rifle.

My shotguns have trigger jobs too.

And yes I'm a right hander and shoot one eye closed.

Are you left eye dominant ?

I shoot with both eyes open, always have.

[Chamacat]

Yep..that's a good question about eyeball's..I'm not sure which eye is more or less..Carl

[trappnman]

one way-

Step 1 Make a triangle with both of your hands by overlapping your thumbs and the top half of your fingers.

Step 2 Extend your arms toward your target.

Step 3 Look through the triangle at the target.

Step 4 Keep your hand-triangle small enough so that only one eye can look through it up close.

Step 5 Keep both eyes open.

Step 6 Move your hands back to your face, still looking at the target through your hands. Whichever eye your hands gravitate toward is your dominant eye.

Step 7 Double check by holding the triangle at arms distance again and closing your non-dominant eye. The target should remain centered in the opening


another way-

You make a "cross" on a wall or piece of cardboard.

Take a separate piece of poster board with a small 1/2" hole in it and stand 4-6 feet away from the wall.

With your arms extended, move the hole of the poster board over the spot where the lines meet.

Pull the poster board toward you so that you see the intersecting lines of the cross clearly through only one eye. The eye that you pull it toward is your dominant eye.

[lb]

....and (my advice) if your dominate eye is not your shooting eye, keep it closed when looking through the scope.

[akona20]

If the shooter is shooting .75 inch groups at 100 yards at the range he can shoot. We can go through all the theories in the world with dominant eye etc but that is not a bad group and that accuracy will certainly take care of any game.

[FWS]

Shooting groups off a bench and field shooting are two entirely different things.

The dominant eye is a factor in field shooting because closing one eye affects your depth perception.

There is no substitute for practice and if you're right handed and have a left dominant eye it makes it all the more important.

[akona20]

I have the 'problem' you desvribe and as such shoot left handed.

You are obviously a very experienced hunter and shooter and I have no wish to argue because we all have different ideas about how to 'cure' someone elses problem.

However grandfather had one old addage in shooting of any type. Start the day with the same trigger you mean to end with. In other words only use one gun a day.

[lb]

In support of the comments from the third planet, and solely on merit.....

I have a friend who shoots competitive benchrest. Well, I know several, but this one in particular, although I have not had much to do with him in the last five years, or so? But anyway, he's a good shooter, from the bench, plenty of groups attest to that, and he is more than adequate with a shotgun, on game. Better than me, I freely admit.

But, I have hunted with him, predators, mostly coyotes and he just stinks as a field shot. He does a bit better when he's alone, but I couldn't trust him to make even easy chip shots, and I would poach at the drop of a hat. He knows he sucks, doesn't make excuses. We never talked about it much, but don't challenge him to a target shooting contest. He has all the best stuff, too.

He shot his truck, once, while leading a coyote and he accidentially shot a companion with his 20 gauge after I quit hunting with him. A Cheney moment, as I understand it? But, it was very hush hush because the other guy is sueing him.

Gotta be the choke factor? He strikes out with the ladies, too. lol

[trappincoyotes39]

If you have a crisp 2 lb trigger no need for a new trigger or trigger job, unless you have alot of creep or drag. My scope is 5-15X and have killed a" few" at 20 yrds, at that range just fill the scope full of fur and follow thru.

Bark them dogs to a stop and be ready, stay calm and things will slow down for you, upping your kill%. keep it at or above 65% AND YOUR DOING JUST FINE.

[Chamacat]

Yep...After the eyeball test looks like..I'm a right eyeball kinda shooter...lol...I'll admit in the beginning I choked on a few shots...caught up in the moment you might say...But after hunting/calling day after day..I really think the coyote fever part of the deal diminished greatly...What I hope to think is what TC39 was saying...I think that milliseconds before the shot I look out of the scope and then fire...An anology you always see in football...the wide receiver takes his eye off the football millliseconds before he ty's to catch..and drops the football...

Akona you made a reply above about shooting high on the missses..I know that my missed shots are high because no dirt fly's in front of the coyote...This thread has really enlightened me abit...I can believe that a person can be two kinds of shooter's..bech shooter and field shooter...I'm proof...I always thought that I was a good shooter...Now with knowledge of this thread I will focus on the next field shot....Carl

[FWS]

I think that milliseconds before the shot I look out of the scope and then fire...

So now try with keeping both eyes open, since you're right handed and right eye dominant.

Take your rifle outside now and look at something 100 yards away then bring the rifle to your shoulder to look through the scope.

Another reason why stock fit is important.

Then just practice that for a while, and in different positions.

Then practice during the off season firing on steel silhouettes at various ranges.

It's fun, doesn't cost much if you handload and you'll kill more stuff.

[swdawg]

Lots of good points being made here,so my 2 points are more or less redundant.

1).There is absolutely no recoil with a .204 so you have no reason to peak as you fire,although you may very well be doing that.You will see the coyote drop if you keep your eye on the scope.

2).The most important point here:The coyote should be dead,dead,dead long before he gets to 20 or 30 yards if you can see him coming from 1000 yards out.Personally,once a coyote more or less breaks that 150 yard mark,the next time he stops,Kill him.Use a squeeker if he has broke 80 yards and not stopped yet.Be ready to fire as soon as he stops,many people wait too long to fire at this point(once they stop).Once they break 50 yards,they are really looking for you and will not likely stop,they just seem to keep shuffling along and are deceptively difficult to hit with a rifle.The bark or whistle is a last resort,but often works.

Setting up your kill zone so they can't pop up and surprise you in close is very important also.

Another factor is to call less once you've spotted them.If you are seeing coyotes at 1000 yards coming in,you want to slow down on the calling.They have you more or less pinpointed already.If you keep calling,they will come in in high gear.Bad for rifle.So let them come in wondering where you are.This way they will stop and start several times once they are getting closer and will stop for you in that magic 130 to 90 yard range where they should be climbing onto your stretcher.

Good luck,stay calm,be ready, and when they stop....shoot and kill them.

[northof50]

What few people pick up here and asked is: What is your viewing area or distance around your shooting position ?
Not all of us have nice smooth low western snow berry bushes and can see for 1000 yards like Swdawg has in Saskatchewan. And the top of a yote is visiable.

[Chamacat]

Yep...Only in a one or two places do I have that kind of range of view...the majority of my calling country is juniper/cedar/catus...and broken terrain..so with that said the most of the time when a coyote appears he's already 200 yards and under...I would imagine that further north and east more in the plains one would have a much more open country consistently..which would probabbly make the 22-250's/.243's and such the prefered rifles.(That's another topic}...This type country out here has a tall grama/buffalo grass...so laying in the prone position is not really an option...So...I think that sitting on a small stool hunkered up in the shade of a tree with the breeze in your face and shooting sticks is the best way for me....

So I go out to the range and start shooting with booth eyes open and I really believe that my groups are somewhat tighter...I was shooting 3 other rifles besides the .204...I really have to ask..How is this possible...the rifles were all shot on rests...the difference is having both eyes open this time around...Can shooting groups change with one closed vrs both eyes open?

[swdawg]

I am quite aware that many areas aren't able to see a coyote approaching from 1000 yards as I quite often can.

However,since Chamacat himself mentioned seeing a coyote coming in from 1000 yards,I addressed that situation.It was pertinent to his problem and questions.

It was in his second post on this topic.

[Yodog]

Harder to hit them at 30 yards than 300 with a rifle, lol.....Start packing a shotgun and do it faithfully, you will be suprized the percentage of coyotes you will kill with the shotgun.