# October Club Hunt



## Mark Steinmann (Jan 28, 2014)

This trip was originally supposed to be a scouting trip for my upcoming Elk hunt in the high country with a side of predator hunting, but the weather changed our plans. Since they called for over an inch of rain in all of Northern AZ we made the decision to escape the storm, or attempt to at least. The forecast for where we went was lows of upper 50's and highs of mid 70's with a 50% chance of storms mainly Saturday night and Sunday morning.

Upon arriving at our first location the weather was beautiful. On the second stand we had some luck! We setup in a series of rolling hills and sat towards the top of a hill hoping to see the predator as it crested the hill. I began calling with a cottontail sound and only a few minutes in Tim caught a Coyote coming over the saddle he was covering. I was still mid sequence and she caught me red handed, but it was too late for her! Tim got on target quick and sent a 40gr bullet directly into her chest at 70 yards and she dropped like a sack of potatoes.

That would be the last time we saw any action all day on Saturday. NOTHING was moving around the desert. The wind picked up and the sun felt unusually hot. Later in the afternoon we were moving 15 miles down the road and had to drive in a sandy wash for half a mile. The F-150 was slipping and the sand was trying to claim us for the day. I found our road that would get us out but there was a bank we had to climb before we would make it out. With no choice but to slow down in order to not damage the truck Tim ramped us up and over the bank into the road...and we found ourselves in a hog slop type of mud patch! There was no way to know it was mud as we couldn't see the top when we were in the wash! We made it a little over halfway through before our back axle hit the mud and the tires began to dig holes. We spent the next 30 or so minutes getting out of that mess and then had just enough time for 1 stand but no luck.

The wind was whipping as we made our way to camp. We were absolutely beat from the rough day, we made over 12 dry stands in a row after killing that female coyote at 8am. A delicious stream caught trout dinner(from summer) with a side of green beans filled us up quite nicely and raised our morale a bit. We caught up with our wives and attempted to get some sleep in the super windy storm all night. 5am came and we pack up camp in the light rain and headed to a new area. It appeared the storm was clearing and the wind died down just as we climbed around the hill for the first set.

We were setup to where we could see about 300 yards into the flats below. Tim started to call and I was off to his right only 30 yards or so to cover the downwind area. I caught movement in the wash below him after only a minute of calling but I lost it in the brush. No worries though as the sound of a pack of Coyotes bum rushing the caller is unmistakable! They came in directly at Tim on a nonstop run and the lead dog was a big old Male. As he cleared the brush I already dropped my sticks on my lap and swung over to shoot freehand. I howled as they cleared the brush and put a bullet into the big Coyote as he stopped. The other 3 scattered and I hit another as it ran in front of me. Tim had an issue with his gun and could only watch as the 3rd Coyote ran just feet in front of him to escape my shots. We ended up with 2 of the 4 and as we gathered pictures the others howled from the next ridge over after their retreat. What an exciting stand!

Earlier that morning we heard another howl coming about a half mile directly upwind of this location so we drove over and hiked up another hill to see if we could fool them too. Tim switched to his 243 Ruger American since we didn't want to risk another issue with his AR-15. We could see everything on this stand. Nothing could come in without us seeing it, perfect. I began to call and had my feather decoy flopping in the breeze out in front of me. About 4 minutes goes by and Tim had a huge Coyote come trotting out of a drainage straight in front. With the boom of his rifle the Coyote hit the dirt dead. I kept calling and after a minute a Coyote started barking at us a long ways off. I switched to barks and howls just to try to keep it vocal in hopes of getting a shot. Tim found the Coyote in his scope all the way out on the start of the ridge of the mountains. He held a foot above the Coyote and squeezed off....BOOM....THWAP, YIP! 400 yards out and he connected on a walking Coyote! He went to search for it and gave it his all but it just wasn't hit good enough. After tracking for a mile he lost blood and we headed to the next stand. The first Coyote weighed in at 34lbs....a tank for the AZ desert!

It was Tim's turn to call again and I suggested we go after the 2 that got away this morning since it had been a while. He agreed it was worth a shot and we parked just behind the ridge they had howled at us after the shootout at first light. We got into position. Tim had a shotgun and I was above him on the hill with my AR-15 and could see everything. He started off with Coyote whimpers and immediately I watched a Coyote stand up and trot a few feet forwards to the edge of the saddle. As I swung my rifle over to rest it on the tree branch it looked my way. Having no time to zoom in I got steady and sent my 55gr Spire Point flying. It met its mark and the Coyote flopped over dead without a twitch! Tim keeps up the whimpers and then switched to rabbit distress. A few minutes later I glance downwind and there is a Coyote standing on the hill trying to make sense of the sounds. It looked back and I get my rifle back on my sticks and zoom in. I placed the cross hairs right at the base of its neck and sent a round...but it missed its mark and the Coyote bailed off the hill. The round sounded strange and we figured out I hit a branch on the bush in front of me. We were right back in the action though as a 3rd Coyote took off running straight towards Tim(disoriented and confused)! I followed it through and as it passed Tim he shot a d hit the Coyote twice with his 12ga. As it hit the ground it clearly had fight left in him so I finished the job from my overview position.

For the 4th stand of the morning we made our way into thicker country just a mile down the road. I wanted to try shotgunning from the ladder. We both grabbed our ladders and shotguns and found a nice thick area to setup in the flats. After calling just 4 minutes or so Tim shoots and anchors a Coyote but in the process it knocked him off balance and he hit the ground! I thought he was in chase so I jumped off to see what was going on. Lol. We grabbed the Coyote and got pictures then headed down the road. 6 Coyotes by 10am, the most we've gotten in 1 morning so far!

We did 1 more stand and didn't have action so we parked for lunch. The predators shut down and we had 5 blank stands and then moved into a new area. We setup poorly on a stand and a Coyote came and went without us being able to get a good shot.

Following that it was my turn to call again and I had the shotgun with Tim backing me up on the ladder using his 243. I set out the feather decoy and settled into the bush. I called with a whiny rabbit sound and kept slowly scanning the area. Apparently a Bobcat walked right into 35 yards and I never caught a glimpse as it stayed behind the low brush. Tim had some issues with his shooting sticks and as he tried to get on target the cat locked onto him. He took a shot and missed. The cat just turned its head and watched as the cloud of dust blew away. Even after the shot I couldn't see the cat. I thought whatever it was got hit and was laying on the ground dead. Tim popped the bolt open and as the empty cartridge flew out the cat started to trot off. He took another shot and just barely missed again. After that Tim jumped off the ladder and started chasing the cat which was just barely trotting off. I was already back on the call so I didn't hear Tim telling for me to join him. He disappeared and I just kept calling for some reason...I mean what's going to come in now right?! How about a Coyote? Haha. I was amazed as I saw a Coyote step into the opening of the brush at 65 yards! I started lip squeaking as I grabbed my shotgun but it was too spooked to come any closer. It saw enough and started working around me, slowly getting farther and farther away. As it hit a dip and disappeared I stood up to see. It hit one last opening and it paused as I let out a howl. I sent the Winchester Varmint X copper plated BB flying downrange at nearly 100 yards and that Coyote flopped on its side! It struggled to get up to start moving off so I ran as fast as I could to gain ground. I caught up to the Coyote and as it cleared some brush at 50 yards I ended the stand with a final blow. I went back and ranged my shot distance, 90 yards with the shotgun!

A storm started rolling in again and we did 3 more stands, all blank. Had an amazing trip with so much action that second morning. Placed 1st in the hunt with 8 Coyotes. Second place had just 1 Coyote and the other 4 teams didn't have any luck. Bad weekend for weather across the state, I guess we picked the right spot!

































































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## SWAMPBUCK10PT (Apr 5, 2010)

*WHA!!!!!! CONGRATS ON YOUR KILLS AND TAKING FIRST PLACE------90YDS WITH A SHOTGUN MUST BE A RECORD FOR DISTANCE *

*SVB*


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## glenway (Mar 27, 2011)

You sure did pick the right spot! Even with Tim's troubles, you guys had more solid action than some folks have in a career!

Appreciate the report on the Winchester Varmint X shotshells and glad to have steered you to the loads. I won't have any concerns when I tote my shotgun for coyotes or other varmints. What type of choke on the scattergun?

Congratulations on all of your success and hoping for more in the future.


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## hassell (Feb 9, 2010)

Great day had by all, Congrats and thanks for sharing.


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## Larry (Dec 2, 2010)

Okay...you proved your point, nor urban coyotes drinking Pepsi!

Congrats young man, great story thanks for taking me along! You are one heck of a caller and together you and your friend are great shooters also!

Larry


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## Mark Steinmann (Jan 28, 2014)

SWAMPBUCK10PT said:


> *WHA!!!!!! CONGRATS ON YOUR KILLS AND TAKING FIRST PLACE------90YDS WITH A SHOTGUN MUST BE A RECORD FOR DISTANCE *
> 
> *SVB*


Thanks! I was amazed at what those rounds did at that range!

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## Mark Steinmann (Jan 28, 2014)

glenway said:


> You sure did pick the right spot! Even with Tim's troubles, you guys had more solid action than some folks have in a career!
> 
> Appreciate the report on the Winchester Varmint X shotshells and glad to have steered you to the loads. I won't have any concerns when I tote my shotgun for coyotes or other varmints. What type of choke on the scattergun?
> 
> Congratulations on all of your success and hoping for more in the future.


Yes I'm glad you sent me those to pattern. I'm using the extra full extended Turkey choke by Mossberg that came with my shotgun.

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## Mark Steinmann (Jan 28, 2014)

Larry said:


> Okay...you proved your point, nor urban coyotes drinking Pepsi!
> 
> Congrats young man, great story thanks for taking me along! You are one heck of a caller and together you and your friend are great shooters also!
> 
> Larry


Thanks Larry, I appreciate it!

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## Mark Steinmann (Jan 28, 2014)

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## glenway (Mar 27, 2011)

It appears as though the shots were taken in a window of opportunity rather than swinging and flinging.


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## youngdon (Mar 10, 2010)

Sorry for my delay in congratulating you and Tim on your success Mark. As always you guys get it done. Congratulations!


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## azpredatorhunter (Jul 24, 2012)

Wow Mark... Nice shooting and congrats on the winning the club hunt!


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## SWAMPBUCK10PT (Apr 5, 2010)

*Thanks for sharing the Vid---*


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## Mark Steinmann (Jan 28, 2014)

glenway said:


> It appears as though the shots were taken in a window of opportunity rather than swinging and flinging.


Yep, Tim froze when he heard him coming from his right. As it passed him he pulled up and shot the 2 shots through brush on the exit.

Thanks guys, as always it was a fun time in the wilderness with a good buddy!

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