# Another season



## saskcoyote

Well, another coyote season. From the indications I have, it should be a good one. Last winter was a disaster in terms of deer winter kill but the coyotes were probably very happy enjoying the ongoing venison buffet. I live on an acreage and can't recall hearing more howling than I've heard this fall. Others are telling me the same thing. I've had a couple requests from ranchers this summer to pay them a visit this fall - and bring my rifle. Here's the part of my coyote-cracking arsenal I'll be using. As you might guess, I'm a Remington fan, BDLs in particular. The bottom rifle is a .17 that spits 30-grain Bergers. The middle one is a .204 (more accurately, it's currently in the process of undergoing a sex change from a .17 to a .204) that'll be shooting 40-grain Bergers. The top is a .223 that's set up for 50-grain Speer TNT HPs.










I usually start chasing yotes toward the end of October once the hides prime up but I figured I needed a little warm-up preparation and was lucky enough to get this critter. I've never shot a canine quite like this guy so when he gave me the chance, whack! He'll be turned into a full-body mount. Now, if I could just track down that white coyote I saw last November, they'd make quite a pair for the rec room. In the meantime, hoping everyone has a good season with plenty of good stories to share.










Good luck, shoot straight. Saskcoyote


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## xdeano

That sure has some different colors on it. Very nice. You'll have to make a trip state side and find that white one, who knows it might have breed this last season and maybe you'll have a chance at more then one. I know that I got into a pack of all white ones in the sw corner of ND one year, clean out the entire group. I kind of wish i would have left a couple for seed.

I'm partial to a good Rem 700 too. They're tried and true rifles.

xdeano


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## Plainsman

That thing looks like it's crossed with an African Jackal. Really different.


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## xdeano

plainsman,
you're right, it does look similar to a Jackal.

xdeano


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## saskcoyote

Yo Deano and Plainsman, you're quite right -- it does bear a lot of resemblance to a jackal. That's because it is a jackal, a Black-Backed Jackal that I shot last May during a 10-day hunt in Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. You'll notice the little hole behind the shoulder right around where the black and red meet, that's the exit hole from a 150-grain Federal Hi-Shok out of a .270. It'll make the taxidermy job much easier. May is South Africa's winter and as you can see the jackal's fur is quite thick and luxurious so it should make a spectacular full-body mount.

With this fellow, we were driving along a little trail through foothills in the Great Karoo mountain range after retrieving an Eastern Cape Kudu one of our guys shot when this dog made the mistake of stepping out ahead of us. It earned him an unexpected and probably from his point of view an unwelcome trip back to Canada. 

When I arranged the hunt I was really hoping to great a crack at calling a spotted hyena. Unfortunately, there aren't hyenas in the region we hunted and to get into hyena country would have required traveling several hours north. Just as well, a fellow doesn't know what other types of critters would have showed up, maybe some big, ill-tempered ***** cats. :rollin:

In the meantime it should be a good hunting fall. I got drawn for moose with the season starting Tuesday. Then it's off to the western side of the province for a week of draw mule deer and then a couple days after that down to Montana for the first of our annual pheasant hunts. Then the start of the coyote season. Can't wait. :sniper:

Good luck and shoot straight. Saskcoyote


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## bearhunter

good to see you back Sask.
a freeking 17-204??. man, that ai'nt big enough for a ground squirrel :rollin: 
seriously, you're gonna LOVE it :sniper: 
it sure is catching on with the coyote hunting crowd. i just had another built. waiting for the scope to come and its "game on".

don't post too many pics of coyotes taken with it though... will but Xdeano and BBJ into the nut house oke:


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## saskcoyote

Yo Bearhunter: The countdown to yote season continues. I have the moose-mule deer-pheasant situation to clear up before I get to the real fun. Got my moose tagged opening morning last Tuesday, will head out for muleys this coming Tuesday, back on the following weekend and then down to Montana for pheasants.

Actually, while we hunt in Montana, we stay in a little town in North Dakota where the coyote-killingest SOB lives. Bearhunter, you may have bumped into him, think his name starts with ``D``.

I`m still waiting for my gunsmith to get back to me when the .204 barrel gets in for my conversion from the .17 Remington BDL into a .204 Ruger. Can`t wait. Actually, BH, maybe we`ll get together after the new year when we`re both down that way in ND for a hunt or two.

In the meantime, here`s a story that I`ll try to keep short. Opening morning for moose, spotted a moose on a mission to find a girlfriend. He was headed west, I was north of him, so I hightailed it west ahead of him to find an intersection where he would give me a shot. Worked out. He came within 100 yards and gave me a broadside. Squeezed off a round out of the Model 70 .270. Whoomph. I could hear the sound of a solid hit. My handload 150-grain Hornady Interlock hit him just behind the shoulder. He bolted, I jacked another round, touched it off, heard another whoomph and the bull buckled. He headed into a bullrush slough. With two solid hit, I was pretty confident the bull was mine.

Waited 20 minutes, I had my .270 (the same rifle I took to South Africa) locked and loaded. My hunting partner didn`t bring his rifle. We were plowing through bullrushes when partner saw the downed moose and said `There he is`. Although I couldn't see the moose, I was about three paces -- 10 feet -- from where he was laying. All of a sudden, the moose got up. Bearhunter, do you have any idea how large a bull moose is when he`s standing 10 feet In front of you and that particular bull moose is very unhappy (Trust me, they`re very, very big and they can be very, very unhappy).

My hunting partner( without a rifle) decided to hightail it to Seattle. The bull was so close I didn`t even have time to aim. I fired from the hip, gave him a blast. He still stood there so with an almost automatic reflex, I chambered another round and without aiming (after all, he was only about 10 feet away, I put another round into him and he tipped over. Yes, you`re right, I was relieved at that point. Call it a `First Encounter of the Worst Kind`.

It made for a good hunt. Yes, those bull moose are very, very big. When I leave for the draw mule deer hunt Tuesday, I`m taking my .204 and call. Gotta give those western Saskatchewan yotes a lesson just in case Snowgooser isn`t around for the job.

Good luck, shoot straight. Saskcoyote.


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## xdeano

Sask,

That sounds like a hairy deal there. Congrats on the moose though. I'd love to have a moose in the freezer every year, it is fantastic meat. Did you snap any pic of Bullwinkle? :beer:

side note, the dang coyotes are out in the corn field howling up a storm behind the house this morning. Can wait for them to get the corn off. I'm going to have to start setting traps in the skips i think.

Bearhunter,
I'm not opposed to shooting coyotes with a 204 with a 50grn berger, they would do the same as a 22-250. But i'm just not a huge believer on the 17 on coyotes. I've had a 17Rem a long time ago and I use to shoot the 25grn bergers in it. It was not a coyote round. It was great on fox though. It just didn't have enough to it. Now with the new 30grn bullets, and several years in bullet advances, it might make a decent round, but i'd still be leary about using one. I'm a hands on type person, I need to see it to believe it. But until that time comes, i'll have to rely on what i've already seen. Coyotes are a tough critter, not unlike a moose. I'll be down in your neck of the woods about everyother week for a while, i'll give you a call.

xdeano


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## bearhunter

Sask. oh yeah, i've met "D". he kills piles of coyotes alright, but all off a sled :******: . i think the booze is starting to get to him though. he looked a bit "pickeled" last year when i seen him :drunk:
been real close to moose a few times while bowhunting deer. big animals for sure.
Dean. after over a 100 coyotes seen kilt with the rice burner, i'm a believer :thumb: just had another built. shoots great :beer: 
worst part is, the guy who made my bullets is no longer making them and i'm running out of stock. got enough to make it through 1 more season then???.
member DuckP also has a rice burner. seen him make some awesome shots last year. best one was right up the nostril :sniper: 
give me a shout when in town. got an extra bed if needed.


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## saskcoyote

Got back from the mule deer trip today. Tough hunting. The zone we hunted has been a CWD zone for a few years so population is down, plus the last two winters have been devastating. We've hunted that zone (14, snowgooser) for quite a few years and our rancher friends tell us the population is about 10 % of what it was in the past.

I had both either-sex and two antlerless tags. There were deer around so I filled my tags but the bucks were pretty slim pickings especially those with decent head gear. From winning the Saskatchewan award for the biggest muley when we first started hunting that zone to what it is today is disappointing. My buck would probably officially score only 160 at most. 

Tuesday it's time to chase Montana roosters for a few days.  Bear, I'm sure I'll run into D so I'll say "hi" to him from you. I bump into him on nearly every trip so he'll probably have some stories about how many yotes he took last winter -- on his snowmobile. :******:

Still haven't heard about the conversion from .17 to .204. I think the barrel is the hold up. Hoping to have the project completed soon. Meanwhile, shortly after I get back from Montana, it's "game on".

Good luck, shoot straight. Saskcoyote


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## saskcoyote

Yo, BH, got back last night after spending four days down south chasing roosters -- including three nights at the Cnt. -- and didn't run across the coyote killer. Chatted with a friend while I was there and he said Fish and Game was putting the heat on D and his snowmobile-riding friends. He's been busted before so F and G knows all about him.

Meanwhile, we got our first snow today and from the looks of it, the temperatures are pretty cool for the next week. Once I get a few things out of the way, it's "game on" by the end of the week. My Remington .17-to-.204 conversion won't be ready but I've still got a few other tools in the box -- another .17, a different .204, and a couple .223s. There's a possibility the dogs around this part of the country could have a few problems.

Good luck, shoot straight. :sniper: Saskcoyote


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## bearhunter

Sask. i wish i could get you some better info on the 17-204 but as of now, things look beak in the .17 cal bullet world.
my bullet supplier dried up his stock and getting anyone else to start making a (good) .17 bullet is about immpossable right now.  
Hornady 25's are still available but not sure if the will stand up to the higher velocity??

hard to believe you were at the Cnt and did'nt see him bellied up to the bar :drunk:


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## saskcoyote

Up here, we can't get .17 30-grainers. Headed into the city today, neither Cabela's nor Wholesale Sports (similar to your Scheels) carries them. In fact the only 30-grainers that were ever available up here were Bergers. The only other manufacturers that produced .17s that were available to us were Hornadys and Noslers but they were 20 or 25 grainers.

Luckily, I had 200 30-grain Bergers on hand when I heard Berger was discontinuing 30-grain production and I was able to buy another 400 from Wholesale before they ran out so 600 will last me a long time. They're the FB Varmint variety but I don`t worry about splashes. I load them to just over 3400 fps and they hold together really well. In fact, on broadsides, I`m as likely to get exits as not and the interior damage to a dog is quite phenomenal.

Based on previous posts from Kdog (where are you -- I`d like to hear from you) I attempted to get some 30-grain Kindler Golds a couple years ago. Todd wouldn`t send them up to Canada so I had them sent to a friend in ND. However, with the new laws your government enacted, I couldn`t bring them back to Canada and ended up sending them back to Todd.

I attend a pair of the bigger gun shows in this part of the province each year and it`s quite likely I`ll find 30-grain Bergers, either the target or varmint variety, from a smaller independent gun dealer. The T and the V both work well.

In the meantime, it`s been snowing today and that means it`s `Game On`tomorrow, a couple days earlier than usual. I had a tough choice of which yote-smoker to take but it`ll be the .17 Remington BDL. Love that gun. Yes, one has to pick his shots but on balance, the .17 is more than adequate at the start of the year when pup numbers are high and close-in calls are the norm.

I`ve read the rave reviews about the .17-.204 and can understand why plenty of yote hunters are going that route. I chose to convert the second of my .17s to a straight .204 instead of the wildcat. I felt the .204 fit my hunting style better because I like the 40-grain Bergers, and would also consider the 35-grainers. Right now, I`m, getting just under 3700 fps feet with the 40-grainers using 28 grains of H4895 in a 22-inch barrel. Once the BDL is converted, the fps should exceed 3700. Yotes are gonna hate it.

Good luck, shoot straight. Saskcoyote.


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## saskcoyote

Season hasn't turned out quite the way I expected. Usually, I can expect one call-in per three stands this time of the year but so far, it's double that -- one call-in per six stands. Have called in six, killed six including calling in three singles on three consecutive stands Friday but there have been lots of dry holes. Too windy to go out today, looks like tomorrow is the same but the wind should be manageable for the rest of the week.

Bear, I called the gun shop which was to order the .204 barrel and the owner said he hasn't been able to get one because of the backlog. I ordered the barrel last March so he obviously hasn't made much effort to line one up. :eyeroll: I told him I'll take care of it myself and next day, contacted another place and will be getting a Shilen barrel within 16 weeks. Unfortunately, it'll be too late to use it this season.

In the meantime, what kind of luck are the rest of you guys having so far? Getting lots of action or are you seeing the same results as up here?


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## xdeano

should have called Benchmark barrels, their wait times are pretty decent, in that 10-12 week mark. I''m sure there are several other places you could go that actually have them in stock, depending on twist and contour. I ordered a custom contour from Benchmark and it only took 9 weeks to get. They're pretty decent barrels aslo.

As far as coyotes, i haven't had a whole lot of time to get out and chase, to busy with work and bow tag, and getting a decent load worked up for the Norma. I should take all of this next week off and go kill some coyotes before the weekend warriors get out to sight their rifles in on deer. Minute of deer, spray and pray.

xdeano


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## saskcoyote

Deano, interesting that you mention Benchmark Barrels because that's where I'll be getting the barrel from. I ordered it from a company in British Columbia called Bighorn Sales which is the exclusive Canadian dealer for Benchmark. The barrel I'm getting is a chrome moly 18 Remington Standard, as illustrated on the Shilen site.

I wanted to get the same sporter contour that's on the rifle right now. I didn't want the additional weight of a varminter to carry around chasing yotes.

Gary at Bighorn says I should have the barrel within 16 weeks, maybe even sooner. I'm a little disappointed and annoyed that I was able to line something up so quickly whereas the gun shop I contacted last March did absolutely nothing. Had I known this was the service I was going to get I would have done the ordering myself and the rifle would have been ready for whackin' yotes right now.

This is my first foray into rechambering/rebarreling so it's a learning process. I'm looking forward to the finished product, the yotes are going to hate it.


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## xdeano

Sask,

The Benchmark barrel that i'm running has been an easy cleaning and an accurate barrel. It also seems like it is a touch faster then some other barrels that are running the same bullet. I've been able to get 3114 fps out of a 285grn bullet and have little pressure signs and typically they don't get over 3K. It's just to bad it wasn't as accurate.

You'll like the barrel, they do a heck of a good job at hand lapping the barrels before they ship them out. I've looked at them with a bore scope and they are Smooth. No chatter or tooling marks at all. Just an all around great job.

xdeano


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## duckp

If 'D' wasn't in the bar,he must have died.If his bride wasn't there they both died or moved.
Like my 17-204 but the boolit situation sucks.


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## saskcoyote

Yo, duckp, heading down south tomorrow for our third rooster hunt this fall. Have you and BearH been chasing yotes around there yet? If so, what kind of luck? I can't say I've seen a lot of yotes the couple times we've been down there. Maybe local guys are stackin' 'em. It's been a decent fall there for roosters but the deer population has taken a kicking from what friends down there tell me.


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## duckp

Sask,
Hi.No,haven't been down there yet.
Bearh is off trying to fill his trappers wolf tag in Mn.
Good luck!


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## saskcoyote

Got back a few days ago from another Montana pheasant hunt. Haven't encountered cold down there like it was last weekend but whacked a few roosters nonetheless. Yo, Duck, bumped into D and wife, had a beer with them. Got to know them over the years and they're decent folks despite the snowmobiling. Set up at four stands yesterday in what should have been perfect conditions -- little wind, coming off a cold spell, etc. Didn't call in a single dog, but that's the way it's been this season. I thought initially it would be a better-than-average year but it's turning out to be exactly the opposite. Shucks, one would think he's in western Minnesota. I'm hoping to hit 'em hard the next few weeks so maybe things will change.


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## duckp

Yes Sask,D and spouse are OK,always treated us nice.Maybe a bit too many beers but,hey,whatever it takes. 
Slow going here now but should pick up as deer seasons affects fade.Bear is back and got his wolf(nice one)so we are thinking of visiting that area in the near future.
Good hunting!


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## saskcoyote

I sold my first yotes of the season yesterday and was pleasantly surprised by the outcome. The buyer paid $40 for them in the round regardless of their size, except for two for which he paid $20. All of them were shot with the .17 Rem, the .204 or the .223. The $20 yotes were both bad hits, one with the .204 and the other with the .223.

My biggest dog was 40 1/2 pounds taken broadside from roughly 175 yards with the .17. He ran maybe 15 feet before piling up after I put a 30-grain FB Varmint Berger through his lungs. I was a little surprised the bullet passed right through because it's not loaded very fast, just over 3400 FPS.

We've had some terrible weather the last week, cold as blazes with lots of wind to boot. Back roads will have drifted in and become largely impassable so that means breaking out the snowshoes but with yotes fetching $40, there's added incentive. Anyone else sell any yotes this season and if so, what prices are you getting?

Good luck, shoot straight. Saskcoyote


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## saskcoyote

Well, another season finished and one that unfortunately didn't quite meet expectations. Between call-immune dogs and the windiest winter that I can remember, it was plain hard work getting into the usual yote-smackin' groove. Got a call from a farmer the other day who wanted to know if I could help with a problem -- coyotes keep coming into his yard and having his cats for lunch. He lost three so far and his little 12-pound Shih Tzu had a close encounter. There are another couple farmers who've had problems with yotes during calving so while one yote season (the fur variety) is over, another of sorts just might start.

How was the season down there? The one bright spot up here was prices. Buyer paid $40 in the round if the yotes had little holes. That's not a problem using the .17, the .204 and even the .223.

Deano, my .17-to-.204 project is at the smith. It took about 11 weeks to get the Benchmark barrel after ordering it Oct. 30. The smith tells me it'll be ready by June 1, just in time for a Montana prairie dog shoot. I ordered a 1-in-10 twist so I'm hoping it'll easily handle 50-grain Bergers. You mentioned you are pleased with your Benchmark. Any particular break-in procedure you'd suggest?

Cheers. :beer:

Saskcoyote


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## duckp

Hi Sask.Kind of a ditto here except now things are picking up with mating etc.Actually gets easier and more predictable this time of year and am still are getting decent fur-a few beauties this past week.
Heading wayyyy west in a few minutes to try a completely new area and pretty excited about it.Gonna be fun to hunt without snow for a change.
Good luck on the new 204,look forward to a report.


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## xdeano

Sask,
Youll like the benchmark barrel. Mine cleans up very easy and has had very little copper fowling. There wasnt anything special that i did with mine. I just cleaned it up before the first round and just go and shoot it. I use to follow the break in procedure, but have found that it is a waste of time.

Xdeano


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## bearhunter

duckp said:


> Heading wayyyy west in a few minutes to try a completely new area and pretty excited about it.Gonna be fun to hunt without snow for a change.
> quote]
> and how's that working out for ya  :rollin: :rollin: :rollin: :rollin: :bop:
> 
> was a poor year for coyotes here Sask. just did not make it out as much as usuall. fricken wind blew our coyotes to the east coast.
> 
> fur (coyote/fox) prices are still decent though.


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## duckp

Yeh,admit I did head west without my whites and ran into lots of snow but today I ran into 60 degrees and the snow is gone but all ravines etc are flooded and I'm now further west.only got 2 sets in today due to water but got a double the first set.


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## duckp

Sask,
About ready to wrap it up for the year but keep me(us)informed on the 204.Gonna have one in an AR next year.
Hunting has been exceptional the past month compared to the 'traditional' season.PM me an e-address and I'll send a couple pics of a double I shot yesterday.If I'd had a shotgun,I'd of had 3.  
I'm not a techno geek and the pics are on my phone and too tough to get here.
Regardless wishing a happy off season to all.


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## saskcoyote

Yo, Duck, good choice in the .204. I enjoy my current rifle and I'm going to enjoy even more the one getting built. Talked to the smith last week and it's finished except for the bluing which will get done later this month. I should get it by beginning of May, run it through the test loads, and have it ready for action for our Montana prairie dog shoot in June. :sniper:

I've worked up my test loads with 39-grain SBKs and four different powders. The SBKs will be the medicine for the little critters -- I still plan on slinging 40-grain Bergers at the dogs. I did, however, get my Benchmark barrel in 1-10 twist so I could move up to 50-grainers if I choose. I see Berger has discontinued the 50s but I got a line on a whole whack of them if I want, more than enough to last me for many years. 

Interesting you chose the .204. One of the small-caliber sites I visit (and on which I see Kdog and BH every so often) there are more 20s than you can shake a stick at: 20 Tacs, 20 Pracs, 20 BRs, 20 VTs among many others).

On another note, I see many .17 shooters are unhappy about the lack of choice in bullets. Berger has stopped production on so many bullets such as the 25 and 30 grain Targets, the 30 grain Varmint, leaving only the 25 grain Varmints. Berger, from what I understand, has also stopped production of the J4 jackets (unless one orders 100,000) which in turn has a negative impact on the smaller, independent bullet makers.

I've got a question (and forgive me for being long winded). Up here, we don't get a lot of choice for .17 -- Noslers in 20, Hornadys in 20 and 25, and Bergers in 25 -- no Gencos or Nagles here. I've got a stock of more than 500 30-grain Berger Varmints which I have found are 'lights out' on yotes but others on this and other forums dismiss them as being too frangible. What I'm wondering is whether guys who have problems with the 25 grain Varmints -- and those who may have a stock of the discontinued 30 grain Varmints -- couldn't modify them somehow. Could they put wax of some harder material into the opening which might reduce frangibility. I don't know, maybe it's a whacky idea, but if good .17 bullets are so difficult to get, maybe it's an option as long as it doesn't mess up stability. Would this work?

There, that's my 2 cents. I'll PM you. I'd like to see your dogs. :beer:

Good luck and shoot straight (with that .204). Saskcoyote


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## bearhunter

Sask. thats interesting you though about that, i did too.
there are some .17 builders coming around now that may be able to draw down the tip to make them smaller.
i mixed up some jb weld and packed in some in a small sample a builder sent me that had a big opening. did not effect accuracy and i did not shoot any coyotes with them(only had 10 bullets).


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## xdeano

Sounds like a fun experiment. I've got some bedding compound that would be great for this application, it is that Devcon 10110. It has steel embedded into it and can be picked up with a magnet. So in a sense it would give you a steel tip...  Now that might be a hoot, especially with the velocities that you guys are pushing.

On a side note, probably not the best idea to be stuffing heavy epoxies into the nose cone of a bullet. It'll push the weight nose heavy and will cause instablility and cause the bullet to yaw. Most times yielding poor accuracy.

Bearhunter, i think you should just buy 100,000 j4 jackets and send them down to Chan and have him go to town. It would be a good investment for you and i'm sure selling them would be fairly easy to do. That's only a thousand 100 round boxes. You could hide those little boxes under your bed.  Heck i'm sure you could do a preorder or group buy on some of the sites and get a few hundred of them sold to cover part of the cost of the jackets. All you'd need to do is see if Chan would take partial payment in j4 jackets.

xdeano


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## bearhunter

good idea but carpenter wages won't allow that.
now a state trapper job, no problemo.... maybe buy 300,000 jackets


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## xdeano

so what does 100,000 jackets cost? $0.10 - 0.15 a jacket? so $10,000 to 15,000. If you had a half dozen committed guys to go in on it, you could have all the bullets you would ever need.

deano


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## saskcoyote

Finally, got the Remington BDL .17-to-.204 conversion project back a couple days ago and yesterday made a quick dash out to the range to touch off a few test loads. Results using H4895 were respectable although not spectacular. The best group was using 26.0 grains under 39-grain Sierra BKs and recording a .44 group. I shoot five-shot groups and measure the four tightest center to centre.

I happened to have in the truck a bunch of IMR4895 27.5-grain reloads with 39-grain Sierra BKs that I shoot in my CZ 527 American so I squeezed off some of them as well. The five shots using 27.5 grains of IMR4895 yielded a .30 group, nearly as good as the .25 group I shot with the CZ using the same load.

I still have three batches of test loads using IMR4895, IMR3031 and W748. I'm pretty sure I can improve on the .30 group I got with the IMR4895 27.5-grain loads. (Deano, I didn't bother with any break-in for the Benchmark after getting your's and others' opinions).

In another three months, it's yote season and -- just like last year -- it promises to be a solid year if the amount of howling, road kills, sightings, etc. are any indication. They'll be getting a steady diet of 40-grain Bergers come Nov.1.

Meanwhile, I'm filling the basement with heads from SA (I'm fortunate, indeed, to have a very understanding wife). Got five back so far (the Kudu and Gemsbuck are incredible) with only the Impala left to come. Then, of course, there's the Black-Backed Jackal that's still at the taxidermist. Seeing I didn't get that white coyote last season I just may have to settle for a ordinary Wiley to keep his African cousin company. 

Have a good rest of the summer.

Saskcoyote


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## xdeano

The custom cut rifled barrels and the barrels like benchmark that have been hand lapped are extraordinary right out of the gate.

Nice work on the critters. You should take a few pics and share with us unfortunate fools.

Xdeano


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## saskcoyote

Headed out to the range for another round of testing with the Benchmark .204 barrel on the Remington BDL and using W748. While the 748 showed promise (best group 0.3), it still wasn't as consistent as the IMR4895. Have only the 3031 loads yet to test but I'm thinking the IMR4895 at 27.5 grains with the 39-grain Sierra BK will be the go-to load for the little critters, particular since it works so well in both the Remy and the CZ 527 American.

With another coyote season looming, I'll have to find a load for the Remy although I'll try the 40-grain Berger over 28.0 grains of H4895 that works so well in the CZ before I start test loading a bunch of different powders.

Found out the .17 Remington BDL isn't particularly fond of 25-grain V-Max no matter what powder I used. I've still got a few 20-grain V-Max combinations to try and then I'll try the 25-grain Hornady HPs. Because we up here can't get the variety of .17 bullets that you guys down south do, it looks like my coyote ammo will remain the 30-grain Bergers over H4895.

Deano, here's the picture you requested of a couple of the heads I got back so far. Both the Kudu and the Gemsbuck (also known as the Oryx) are incredible animals. I particularly like the Kudu. It takes a long time to get work back from a taxidermist so that's why I had the heads done at three different places. I'm still waiting on the Impala mount and when that taxidermist gets it done, he'll start on the Jackal so I don't expect to get that critter before next spring. When that guy finally arrives I know I'll be out of space (okay, maybe I can find a spot for a good Wiley mount).

In the meantime, good luck and shoot straight. And hope everyone has a good upcoming season.

Saskcoyote


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## xdeano

They look great!

Deano


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## saskcoyote

Well, it's another season with this morning the official launch for 2014-15. Turned out to be a good one with the bonus that the .204 Benchmark re-barreling project tasted its first blood -- three dogs called in, three dogs down. Got out this morning with a 20 klick wind from the north (that's about 12 mph for you state-side guys) and overcast skies. First two stands were dry.

Third stand, sitting on a hill on the edge of bush looking south, saw the yote about 600 yards away drifting in from the southeast at about the 8-minute mark of the jackrabbit blues. When he stopped about 120-130 yards out, I figured it was the right time when I had a good frontal shot. Tipped him over with the 40-grain Berger propelled by 28 grains of H4895 (I've chrono'ed these at 3,940 FPS although I have a tough time believing it). Turned out to be a big male, beautifully furred out although I expect the hide will still be 5-10 per cent blue).

Fourth stand, set up looking east and expecting to pull a yote out of the bush to my left, working a north wind. About the 5-minute mark saw a critter appear about 150 yards to the east, coming at a trot. Let him get about 80 yards, barked him and squeezed off on another full frontal. Tipped him over. Unfortunately, he turned out to be a pup -- and one that appeared to have the start of mange. Oh, well, them's the breaks.

Fifth stand a dry hole. The wind had dropped considerably when I set up for the sixth time. Situation was identical to the fourth stand, I'm facing east with a large bush to my left (north). I expected to call something out of cover but about the four-minute mark, I see a dog out about 150 yards bouncing in from the southeast. With a north breeze I knew this could be trouble with it soon to be in the cone. So with the dog moving I swung the shooting sticks, barked him and when the yote stopped, touched off. I turned out to be an adult female, nice fur.

It's time to leave tomorrow for the second Montana rooster hunt of the fall but come next week with the weather looking to cooperate, the dogs are going to get a pounding. It was a good start and with the reports I'm getting from farmers about the number of yotes, it should be a decent season, at least if the snow stays away to allow access to many good hunting spots.

In the meantime, I'm hoping there'll be plenty of posts on the forum this year. I read with interest the post from devildogg about "17 hmr big enough for coyotes" some time back in which he pointed out the lack of posts being made. Anyone who has followed this forum for a few years understands what's happened. Guys with interesting points to make and interesting stories to share (Kdog, Jaybic, Kingcanada, Snowgooser, etc., etc.) don't show up any more and even our moderator whose presence we enjoyed in the past seems to largely be MIA. Thank goodness Deano is still here but he can't keep this ship afloat without assistance.

In the greater scheme of things, I guess it's not really important but at the same time it would be unfortunate if this forum faded to irrelevance because of the lack of new contributions. If that's what you guys want, that's the way it's going to be but I'm hopeful that some of you reading this post will find the time and take the effort to contribute something that will help restore this forum. It really would be most unfortunate if "another season" season for this forum became its "last season".

Good luck :beer: and shoot straight :sniper: .

Saskcoyote


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## duckp

Good stuff Sask.I'm still around now n then but like many I suspect busy hunting other things as well.I have waylaid a few with my straight 17 CZ and ditto with my new 204 AR.Took 1 quick trip west n shot a few but successfully arranged access on a lot of land for later.
Keep posting n good hunting.


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## bearhunter

yo Sask. i did'nt dissapear..... but this site damnnear locks up my computer :******: litterally takes 10 minutes to get it loaded up??. 
was just up in D's area 2 weeks ago. he and bride were bellied up as usuall :beer: .
LOTS of roosters around.
hoping the best for you and up-coming season. always have enjoyed your stories.
gotta run, gotta get in a tree :thumb:


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## saskcoyote

Haven't been able to get out a whole lot the last little while (unforeseen circumstances have an uncanny ability to get in the way of having fun) but spent a good chunk of the day after bad guys. Did nine sets, called in two and whacked 'em, both with the .223.

I hunted prime yote country and with the perfect amount of snow of about two inches and with a slight skiff last night, there should have been tracks all over. Even the frozen surfaces of sloughs, which are generally perfect places to see tracks that in turn provide an indication of coyote populations, have very few tracks.

Talked to a guy who has snares at a couple locations and he maintains that for all the talk about lots of coyotes, the numbers are down. Actually, I've had reasonable success so far but with some obligations on the horizon, I don't think the numbers are going to be what I was hoping for. Any of you guys experiencing the same thing?

Good luck :beer: and shoot straight :sniper:

Saskcoyote


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## duckp

Numbers down in my area(NE)of SoDak.


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## saskcoyote

The "Lots of Roosters" comment, Duck, is something I can relate to and come Tuesday morning, heading down south for our third and last pheasant hunt of the year. A check on the weather down there shows conditions should be ideal for whacking late-season birds (always enjoy bustin' Montana roosters in December).

Up here the last couple days have been so windy that I haven't even gone out. When it's blowing 15 mph or more -- yesterday and today it was 20 mph and it's the same for tomorrow and Monday, I may as well try a different game. Good part is that come Friday, the wind is supposed to drop to a manageable 10 mph so the yotes are gonna catch hell when I get back.

Got out for a few sets last Thursday. I usually stay on a stand 15 minutes (the action usually happens at the 7 or 8 minute mark). First stand and with a cold wind blowing in my face and not really hyped about the set up, I decided at the 12-minute mark to call it. As I'm packing up my gear, wouldn't you know it, there's a yote looking at me from about 250 yards. All I can see is his head over the hill but the .223 has been working so well I figured 'what the hell', there was no chance of calling him in any closer. Before I could put the crosshairs on him, he decided to vamoose. This wasn't a case of 'a lesson learned', it was a reminder of "a lesson I learned years ago" and that is don't leave the set too soon.

Got revenge the next set, however. I've passed this area numerous times but today the wind was just right and so set up on a piece of high ground overlooking creek bottoms. Unfortunately, after the first howl, a dog (the farm variety) started barking about 600 yards from what I thought was an abandoned farmyard so I packed up quickly, moved a couple hundred yards on the other side of a hedge row a couple hundred yards away.

I didn't call for more than 60 seconds when a dog charged over a hill and stopped to survey the scene. I would usually try to call him in closer but something told me he was on high alert so I swung the sticks, touched off a 50 grain TNT out of the .223. Heard the "whop", then a yelp. Dog down.

Ki-yi'ed for a bit, sang some blues, but no other customers. He was a big adult male and hoisting him tells me he was the biggest dog I've whacked this season. I haven't weighed him but I'll put him on the scale tomorrow just for fun and I wouldn't be surprised if he weighs somewhere in the mid-40s. Expect to get out again next Friday and then a few more days after that, depending on wind. Then it's time to head out of province for some obligations that'll take me out of the game for a while. Then, the good Lord willing, the yotes are going to get a pounding.

In the meantime, good luck :beer: and shoot straight :sniper:

Saskcoyote


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## saskcoyote

Had a couple good days across the line chasing roosters. Hunted Tuesday and it was good shooting. Same thing Wednesday, saw a couple hundred (mainly they were in big bunches) and did damage to the roosters again. So far, so good. Yesterday, was only able to hunt til noon and what a change, couldn't hardly find a rooster, in fact never fired a shot. Oh, time to head home for the real fun.

Headed out to an area in the Qu'Appelle and cattle country where I've whacked bad guys over the years. Ideal conditions, next to nothing for wind, about 20 F. First set, got a response immediately after letting out an interrogation howl. Unfortunately, it was a threat-bark, from half a mile away. A minute later I see a different yote out 500 yards away but he's heading to the spot where the threat-bark came from. No matter what I threw at him -- pup distress, rabbit blues, etc. -- he wasn't coming. He'd stop, look in my direction but didn't show any interest and he disappeared.

Two more stands, nothing, so moved on to a spot down the valley where a friend runs cattle. With a slight westerly breeze, got comfortable sitting against an alfalfa bale. To my way of figuring, a yote was going to come from the right (to the north) out of the hills, from the west, or else out of the river bottom to the south. Within 5 minutes, I spot a customer coming from the river bottom.

He gave me plenty of time to move the stix. He didn't appear willing to come to the call, just doing a drive-by, so I barked him and from about 80 yards out, squeezed off the .223. Bang/flop. He was an adult male and as I walked up to him, I could see he had an exceptionally fine furred-out tail but once I got to him, I could see it wasn't going to be good. He had mange to the point it was not use in bringing him home.

Next stand, one I had good success at in the past, a stand that features the river to my left (I'm facing west into a slight breeze) called and within a couple minutes, had a bad guy show up 60 yards away. Touched off a 50-grainer TNT. Second yote of the day down.

I've called plenty of yotes over the years but never can I honestly say I've called a fox. Well, today was the day. After dropping the yote and calling some more blues, a fox showed up to my right, only 50 yards away. As I swung he caught my movement but kept focused on my.

Bang! Missed! The first fox I've ever called, he gave me a 50-yard frontal shot! And I missed! As I sit here writing this, I still don't know how I missed him. All I can figure is I hurried the shot because he seemed after spotting me that he was going skedaddle in a big hurry. Whatever the situation, I plumb missed what should have been a gimme.

So here's the day's tally. One yote with mange, a second one hanging in the shed. And a missed fox. Any time I can get two yotes in a day is a good day. But having a chance at a fox is a rare, rare occurrence, one that probably won't happen for a long time.

There's always tomorrow. So, with the wind forecast from the SE at 10 MPH, the yotes just might get a pounding tomorrow. As for any fox that shows, up, well.........

Good luck, shoot straight. Saskcoyote


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## duckp

Great story Sask,keep them coming.Had a pretty good first trip to NoDak myself including one of those very exciting incidents where you see one coming from wayyyy off.In the recent case I was set up in a bay of a big lake and was about to give up on the set when I looked across the main lake(3/4 mile???)and saw movement.With glasses saw it was one coming all the way across.Probably took 10 minutes but seemed the an hour-complete with the stops,sit downs,turn arounds,angling downwind etc moves that we've all seen.Early enuf in the year that I had to fight all my demons like 'should I shoot now?';'should I call again?' and so on.I had good cover in the shadows of an ice heave so was able to resist the demons and let him get to about 75 yds before popping a cap.
Good hunting!


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## saskcoyote

Well, made a trip to the fur buyer this morning with the first batch of yotes from this season and was pleased with the results for both snared and shot coyotes. The snared yotes (they belonged to another fellow) fetched $45 in the round while the foxes he had garnered $20 each. The buyer also gave me $45 each, regardless of the size, while the ones that were bad-shot earned $20 each. Not bad in my books all in all.

Last year, I got $40 each so there was a slight improvement. Apparently, according to the fur buyer, that's still strength in the Chinese market although he wasn't sure about the Europeans. Other species -- muskrat and beaver -- are down substantially. The way I got it figured, any time I can go out and get paid to have fun is a double win.

I've been forced to the sidelines for a good portion of the last six weeks due to unforeseen circumstances but tomorrow the wind is forecast to be about 10 klicks so it's game on. With the decks cleared for the next few weeks -- and the weather co-operating -- it's gonna be a bad time for the bad guys (I hope).

Anybody down there selling any yotes? If so, how do the prices compare to what we're getting up?

Good luck :beer: and shoot straight :sniper:


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## duckp

Sask I'd say your prices are similar to what I've been getting and hearing about.I've sold to 3 different buyers and they are all close.My high was $47,had one $42 and the rest 40 or less.My low was $6 but a very big hole in that one.  
Sold 3 on the way home today-40,35,20.
Just saw on another forum where a guy sold 118 with an average price of $33.


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## duckp

Different buyer yesterday.40,40,30,30.He was optimistic about the coyote market,down on **** and other fur.


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## duckp

Shot 5 NoDak pales over weekend.$42,42,40,40, and 40.All with only nice little 17 holes in em.Happy buyer,happy hunter.  
You still out there Sask?Hope all is well and your still hunting a bit.


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## duckp

This thread(entire Forum for that matter)appears dead but will mention one more thing.Sold some more fur yesterday and 1 coyote went for $50 whole.Was stunned frankly.
You guys shooting numbers and/or putting up your fur are likely gonna make some serious $$.
Good hunting.


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