Coyote camp is a very special place for me. There is just nothing else that matches the freedom of wandering…
With the addition of bumpers, winch, armor etc., and the weight and rolling resistance of 35’s, the factory brakes on my 2006 Jeep LJ have never been more than okay…. I decided to go for the 17” wheel flavor, utilizing dual piston calipers for an ’11-’15 Grand Cherokee or Durango and rotors for an ’11-’14 Mustang GT.
That’s exactly what I said to the kids when I spotted this cat. “Look! A lion!”
Spotted him running through the oak brush, looked like maybe chasing a deer. After the kids spotted him my daughter started whistling at him and he stopped, turned and took a few strides our way. Then jumped up on a stump to get a better look at us over the oak brush. Sitting up proud and pretty at about 70 yards!
Of most interest at the site though, and what brought me here, is an arrastra, sitting all by itself in the bottom of a small canyon a mile or two from the mill. I’ve wanted to check it out ever since I was told about it years ago…
The three ‘chucks above, all got popped in less than 10 seconds. That AR is just a hoot in a target rich environment!
…Bullet selection would be from various 69-80.5grain bullets on hand, from Hornady, Berger, Sierra & ‘Swampworks’ line of custom JLKs… Then, I set out about seeing how fast a 75 JLK might go. Turns out, RL-33 yielded a whopping 4088 fps! That load showed…
…the topic of what factors/variables create success and which factors/variables lead to failure is probably the most relevant and least understood topic of all within the coyote calling discussions…
Many .17 shooters have long considered the 30 gr. Gold that Todd Kindler of the Woodchuck Den used to make as “the” bullet for coyote with large capacity .17’s. But a few years ago, Todd stopped making his fantastic bullets. The dies along with a supply of J4 jackets of the correct length for making the 30 Golds are back in production and the 30 Gold is available again!
…being an avid predator hunter, I’ve gravitated toward ‘hotrod’ type cartridges… Maximum point blank range and terminal performance on critters are key elements for a ‘hotrod’ to improve upon, over factory available cartridges. Ideally, the performance gains should justify the extra time, effort & expense of wildcatting… What if I necked a SAUM case down to .224…
…hours from pavement, some of the least traveled public land dirt roads in the entire United States. About halfway between nowhere and nowhere else… Two coyotes within 30 yards now and closing fast. The anticipation and adrenaline flowing at maximum. This is what I dream of when I sit down with my shotgun…