This 2008 hunting season has been plagued with a few visits from Murphy's Law yet have had a really productive hunting season with both archery and Muzzleloading weapons, however I have passed up several bucks with my ole trusty .270 Winchester caliber Remington BDL rifle since my freezer is about topped off and my unfilled deer tags are dwindling down fast but there are anomalies still happening on a regular basic of which there might be some omen in all this as I will try and explain.

Our major rut here in Anson County, North Carolina (around the second week in November) has already peaked and still have a little room in my game freezer and decided to sit on stand until around mid morning 10ish or so and might see ole big boy or a nice fat doe.  My feeding station near the selected tree stand was about depleted of the shelled corn I broadcast a few days earlier and took a five gallon bucket of shelled corn with me in hopes it would hold a few deer in the area.  The temperature was below freezing with a light frost on the ground with a slight breeze out of the North to NE which was in my favor for this tree stand and got into the tree stand around 6:15.  Around 7:00 A.M. I heard a few shots less than a mile away and sounded like the bullet struck before the report of the rifle signifying a possible hit of some kind.   

Other than a few doves helping themselves to the free corn along with a female cardinal and several undetermined small migratory song birds , I didn't see anything else until around 8:35.  I saw a quick flash of movement in the cut over around 125 yards out heading my way and it was the first coyote I have seen on this hunting property although I thought I got a glimpse of one several years back but unable to make a positive identification.  The coyote appeared to be coming to the deer scent I had placed out when I broadcast the shelled corn before daylight and I decided to take it if the opportunity presented itself of which it stopped about 60 yards out offering a broadside shot and I hurriedly placed the heavy Duplex crosshairs of the Leopold 3.5 x 10 Vari-X three scope on its shoulders and remembered to hold low since the point of aim on this rifle was around 325 yards.  At the crack of the rifle, the coyote didn't go down but disappeared into very heavy cover about 10 yards or less from where it was standing and was making a heck of a racket thrashing around.  By the sound, the coyote was hit very hard but it continued to trash around long enough to convince me that it was only wounded of which I immediately climbed down the tree stand and headed toward the commotion.  I got within 10 yards of the coyote and it made it's way to a small nearby creek aka branch pausing long enough for a finishing shot.

I could not believe the coyote could move around at all since both her front legs were broken very close to its body from the 130 grain hand loaded Sierra soft point boat tail bullet ahead of 57 grains of DuPont IMR 4831 powder and traveling at around 3015 fps. 

The coyote weighted 29 pounds and was a female and will skin her out and have the hide made into a small rug with a flat skull mount.  My morning deer hunt was terminated by my own choice to harvest the coyote since I have never taken one and will get back on stand late in the afternoon in hopes the deer will visit this area again.  Pixs below after returning home:  

That was some serious damage to the front section of the coyote from the .270 and shows how tough a "yote" can be.  Those canine teeth have probably accounted for the lack of cottontail rabbits around here and a local covey of Bobwhite quail that numbered 12 at the start of archery season and now is down to 3 birds! 

Another pix of the coyote and the wild early 1980's tiger stripe home made camouflage pattern to the Remington BDL .270 Win. caliber rifle.  The coyote was soaking wet from the small creek that she got into and it was deep enough to slow her down for the finishing shot.

A close-up of Mrs. Coyote.

Coyote case skinned, and hide  ready to vacuum seal/freeze for later usage.

ADDITIONAL NOTES:  I hunted from the same stand this afternoon and after about an hour in the stand I noticed a maple tree branch about 3/4 inch in diameter and will extrapolate the distance around 10 yards since I have several distance landmarks memorized for bow hunting whereas the maple tree branch had bark missing directly in line where the coyote was standing from my sitting position.  After a closer check with my binoculars,  I observed a bullet hole in the branch and that explains why the bullet impact was low on the coyote.  That was one lucky shot and one unlucky coyote given the distance from the maple branch deflection to the coyote. 

Bill aka Mickey Porter 12-06-08.  

Note:  I took a pix of the maple tree limb branch on 09-13-09 for reference and the maple tree was void of leaves 0n 12-06-08.

Web published update by Bill aka Mickey Porter on 09-13-09.