Ingold Archery
Well-Known Member
I believe in life you should always be learning. Lately my two boys (15, and 17 yrs old) have been asking me if they can buy a rifle for coyote hunting. I keep telling them no, they are not ready for it. Its not that they haven't shot mine before on the range, or that they haven't been hunting with me since they are 2 years of age. I tell them they have to learn the difference between what is a safe shot to take, and what is going to happen after that trigger is pulled.
This morning my 15 year old and I went coyote hunting, I got 22-250, and he has shotgun with 00 buck. We do our first sit, nothing comes. We walk down the field fence line and just as he is putting out call and decoy, a coyote comes over the hill. He sees me and gone. We continue down fence line and set up again, hoping to call it back as it was up wind, and didn't smell us. After 15 minutes I decide its time to move, just as he gets to the call and decoy I'm off to the side of him and see a coyote going across the field about 500 yds away. He's down in a bit of a dip in the field with a good hill behind him, as I pull up the rifle and get him in the scope all I see is the top 1/3 of coyotes body. I don't shoot, my son asked me why I didn't shoot, and he proceeds to say that he would of shot. I try to explain to him that the bullet trajectory probably would of made it over the first hill, but if it didn't that bullet would ricochet and go wherever . We hunt in a fairly heavily populated rural area, and we don't need an accident. After that group during the December shotgun hunt shot the car going down highway 401, we don't need anymore bad publicity for hunters.
I try to drill it into his and his brothers heads all the time about safety, they are good, but we should all remember to think before we act.
This morning my 15 year old and I went coyote hunting, I got 22-250, and he has shotgun with 00 buck. We do our first sit, nothing comes. We walk down the field fence line and just as he is putting out call and decoy, a coyote comes over the hill. He sees me and gone. We continue down fence line and set up again, hoping to call it back as it was up wind, and didn't smell us. After 15 minutes I decide its time to move, just as he gets to the call and decoy I'm off to the side of him and see a coyote going across the field about 500 yds away. He's down in a bit of a dip in the field with a good hill behind him, as I pull up the rifle and get him in the scope all I see is the top 1/3 of coyotes body. I don't shoot, my son asked me why I didn't shoot, and he proceeds to say that he would of shot. I try to explain to him that the bullet trajectory probably would of made it over the first hill, but if it didn't that bullet would ricochet and go wherever . We hunt in a fairly heavily populated rural area, and we don't need an accident. After that group during the December shotgun hunt shot the car going down highway 401, we don't need anymore bad publicity for hunters.
I try to drill it into his and his brothers heads all the time about safety, they are good, but we should all remember to think before we act.
