# Hot Tip Hunt! (Picture heavy!)



## Mark Steinmann (Jan 28, 2014)

As I'm preparing to write this hunt out I really don't know where to start. I will say up front that this trip was by far our most successful outing to date! A while back I reached out to someone on our "Predator Beguiled" social media pages as I saw them comment how he needed help with Coyotes in his deer hunting areas. It took a few weeks to get the info, but after investigation I was convinced that we needed to do a full hunt in this area as it was chock full of sign. My buddies and I were originally planning on going to familiar territory for this club hunt, and it took a bit of convincing for them to agree to chance it by going to brand new ground. Now remember as you read ahead that where we hunted, it was the first time any of us stepped ground besides me getting a kill right off the main road on a single stand 2 weeks before. I certainly can't go through each and every stand&#8230;or even each stand that had a predator show up simply because there is just too much to share! Long story short is that we were able to put 6 Coyotes and 3 Bobcats on the ground! I'll go through a couple stands that really stood out to us.

We had started off the trip with a few frustrating stands, the typical misses and a blown cover stand that occur in the predator hunting world. At 11:30am on Saturday we were headed down a small two track that followed the bushy river bottom and as we approached a small bowl shaped area we stopped the truck and headed in. Nathan would call this stand and he was running shotgun along with Tim who sat a few yards to his left. I was on my ladder for the first time ever downwind about 60 yards away. As Nathan called it only took 5 minutes or so and I spotted a Coyote running right at them. As I sat on the ladder I was able to watch as Wiley closed the distance more and more, never slowing at the slightest. 30 yards away from Tim and still on a dead sprint I heard the report of the 12 gauge as the Coyote instantly smashed the dirt coming to a stop with a skid! Nathan got right back on the same rabbit distress and not even 2 minutes later I see another Coyote. This one having heard the shot is sneaking in a bit more cautiously, but is circling upwind which made zero sense. I jumped off my ladder as he was no longer in my "swing zone." I waited hoping he would stop where I could take a shot but as he stopped it was always behind brush for me. The Coyote closed to about 60 yards and I assume saw enough of the Mojo decoy that he became uninterested and backed out. Tim and Nathan never saw this Coyote. As he was leaving I woofed as he hit a small clearing, but in typical Coyote fashion it only paused after getting to the far bush. As he started walking again I attempted a 150 yard shot and missed. I shot 2 more time as he ran through the brush but brush was all I hit. Nathan once again got back on the call as I settled back on my perch for what would be a huge surprise to everyone. As I scanned the desert floor a shot rang out, then another! I bailed off my ladder and spun as there was a Coyote spinning about 40 yards from them. I put a 55gr Spire Point round into his chest as Tim and Nathan both hit him again with their shotguns! Immediately after the war had calmed down we called off the stand and I rushed over to check out what I though was a double on Coyotes. Nathan exclaimed, "Whooo, I got a cat!" I was so confused&#8230;.this was a Coyote mayhem stand, surely no cat would be amongst all of these Coyotes! It turns out that Nathan had seen a big Bobcat working his way in after I shot at the second Coyote that had turned to leave. The cat sat down at 50 yards and then the 3rd Coyote came up behind the Bobcat and both animals exchanged looks and had an intense stare-down! Nathan had managed to call in 3 Coyotes and a Bobcat on the 1 stand, and we put all but 1 Coyote down!

Another stand that sticks out in my mind ever too well happened at the end of the day on Saturday, last light in fact. Tim had been calling for maybe 8-10 minutes when all of the sudden a large Coyote came over the small rise running full tilt right past him at 20 yards. He shot and peppered him with the 12 gauge and the Coyote came running 10 feet past me on my ladder! I jumped off and began my attempt at hitting a 30mph hellhound with the desire to cover as mush ground as he could. On my 3rd shot I connected and right as he hit the brush he tumbled but the shot was a bit far back to kill quickly. Tim and I both ran after the Coyote and as Tim closed in he shot him 6 time with his 9mm pistol&#8230;..the Coyote was still fully alert! I walked up and put a 45 square in his chest from 10 feet away and this dog just glared right back with a shine in his eyes I can't describe. He was straight up pissed and miraculously alive and fully alert! Not wanting to shoot more pistol rounds and hurt our ears further I remembered Larry's trick where you smack them on the throat with a stick to finish them. Well&#8230;.I forgot the first part where I was supposed to daze him with a smack on the head first. I took my condensed down 3 foot monopod and as I was lining up the hit he lurched at me, snapped his jaws and clamped down on my sticks only a foot from my hand! As I pulled away the Coyote twisted with all his might and my sticks snapped up at the "Y." Screw it. Time walks up and put a 9mm right between his eyes and we were finally done. I am continually amazed at just how much trauma some of these big Coyotes can take before expiring!

Tim has yet to call in and kill his first Bobcat, well that was until Sunday of course! We setup on the edge of yet another wash bed that was littered with Bobcat tracks and he began calling. Maybe 8 minutes into the stand Nathan shoots, stands up to make sure whatever he shot wasn't going anywhere and then turns to give us the thumbs up! Tim went back to calling and only a minute in Nathan shot again, just to finish the animal that he had hit a little far back. After calling off the stand Tim and I headed over to see what he had. Nathan was playing it off as to surprise Tim and as we walked up both Tim and I initially thought it was a tiny Coyote. That was until we saw those classic white and black ears! Tim had his first Bobcat! A smaller but very, very pretty female!

Later on Sunday we changed areas as to get close enough to make it to check-in in time. I had called in a Coyote but he winded us before I could take a shot. The next few stands were blank and we headed in deeper. We setup about a quarter mile from a big brushy wash and Tim began to call. Nathan was just upwind with his 12 gauge and I was 40 yards downwind up on the ladder with my AR-15. Tim was setup with a medium stool and his AR-15. He called and called, switching calls a few times within the first 12 minutes on stand. He spotted what he initially thought was a Coyote sneaking in through the Creosote. As he turned up his magnification he saw that it was a Bobcat! He let it close the gap to about 75 yards, lined up and squeezed the trigger. The huge Tom Bobcat took a 40gr Varmagedon right between the eyes and he hit the dirt! Tim let out a yell that told Nathan and I it was something awesome! As we walked up to the cat we were all in awe of how big and how beautiful his pelt was!

Well those are the highlight stands that stick out to me, there are others that ended great for us but there is just too much to sort through so I'll leave it at that for now. The most awesome thing is that all 3 Bobcat pelts are in perfect condition and fully usable. Tim will be looking to mount at least the big Tom, the other cats will just be tanned for now. No Coyote pups were called in on this trip. The area only had mature dogs from what we saw, which tells me that there is probably not a lot of hunting pressure and the Coyote numbers stay high with adults.

Thanks for reading guys, hope you enjoyed the stories and pictures! We ended up taking a respectable 2nd place in the club hunt. 1st place team came back with 16 Coyotes and beat us by a mere 10 points! What awesome time with friends and family!

- Mark


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## Mark Steinmann (Jan 28, 2014)

More pictures....












































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## hassell (Feb 9, 2010)

Great write up and pic's, Congrats..


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## glenway (Mar 27, 2011)

Frantic action! Great job to you, Mark, and other men. I see where different shotshells were used, but did you get to try the Winchester Varmint X shells?


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## Mark Steinmann (Jan 28, 2014)

glenway said:


> Frantic action! Great job to you, Mark, and other men. I see where different shotshells were used, but did you get to try the Winchester Varmint X shells?


Thanks!

Yep I am looking to get a case of the Varmint X after I run through my 4 buck that I bought too much of before patterning. Haha. All those shells though are from Tim and Nathan's shotguns. I'm trying to convince them to give the Varmint X a try too!

- Mark

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## youngdon (Mar 10, 2010)

Excellent hunt Mark ! That spot really paid off. Great write up as usual !

Were you trying to get listed in my sig line ? You need to go back and reread Skips adventure after being bit by that yooper coyote.


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## Mark Steinmann (Jan 28, 2014)

youngdon said:


> Excellent hunt Mark ! That spot really paid off. Great write up as usual !
> Were you trying to get listed in my sig line ? You need to go back and reread Skips adventure after being bit by that yooper coyote.


Yeah Don I clearly wasn't thinking straight. I'll just use another bullet next time. Thanks and we will be doing a follow up hunt in that area pretty soon as we barely scratched the surface of the amount of land available to call. Excited to see what else we can pull in!

- Mark

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## Larry (Dec 2, 2010)

Mark,

As far as I am concerned your team won...end of story! Great calling and shooting!

BTW...it took me a yote on my little fingers' knuckle to learn to knock -em out first! I still wear the broken knuckle from the bite. Don't worry if it happens to you, I guarantee it will only hurt after the adrenaline wears off. Yes I still have rabies, the parvo-virus and canine distemper.









Larry


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## Mark Steinmann (Jan 28, 2014)

Larry said:


> Mark,
> 
> As far as I am concerned your team won...end of story! Great calling and shooting!
> 
> ...


Thanks Larry, we had an amazing trip and couldn't have asked for more! Wow that's crazy... I'm sure glad he didn't have more mobility!

- Mark

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## prairiewolf (Feb 19, 2012)

Great write up Mark ! and congratulations on the 2nd place.


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## azpredatorhunter (Jul 24, 2012)

Wow congrats to you and your buddy's


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## Mark Steinmann (Jan 28, 2014)

Thanks Ed & Eric!

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## kiyote (Jun 15, 2014)

outstanding! well done


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## Mark Steinmann (Jan 28, 2014)

kiyote said:


> outstanding! well done


Thank you!

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## Mark Steinmann (Jan 28, 2014)

Hopefully these pics show the amount of heavy Bobcat traffic. This is about a mile away from where we took 1 of the Toms last weekend. Next trip out we will be calling all around this trick tank!

- Mark
















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## azpredatorhunter (Jul 24, 2012)

That's disgusting...???? good luck though.

Have you found a toilet yet


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## Mark Steinmann (Jan 28, 2014)

azpredatorhunter said:


> That's disgusting... good luck though.
> 
> Have you found a toilet yet


Yep found a few. Wish the area was closer so I could try some trapping too...looks fun!

- Mark

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