Coyote

By Uncle Hans

Came home from Snag's and just got settled into the house, when I heard a shout from Renee, "You gotta see this!!"

     Looked at it for a moment when she suggested, "You should shoot it".  Bear in mind, I'm not even sure which end of the gun to hold.....

     It was wandering slowly along the shoreline.......... and looked sick and thin.

I was actually buck-assed naked.  Had to find shoes, run out into the garage and find the shells, run back into the house and find the OD's plinker varmint piece, run outside at 10 degrees (still in just shoes).

      Got the first round into the chamber just as she got to the boatlift.  Put the cross-hairs on her heart and squeezed the trigger.  She flinched, but kept walking.  I fumbled another round into the chamber (It has a clip, but no time to fill it).  I squeezed off another round.....clean miss.  She kept ambling, not running.  I dropped the third shell into the snow (only grabbed three).  I plucked it out of the snow and loaded it.  By now she was over by the big spruce tree in front and I was at the top of the steps to the lake.  I put the crosshairs on her chest again and fired.  She flinched again, but kept walking.  I was going to have to run out on the lake in just shoes and wrestle her to death, I guess.

.........But then she toppled over......

Renee could not resist a picture to prank her family, they loved it!

You can see a little blood on her chest over her heart so one or both of those rounds hit home.  I guess the OD's old .22 hasn't got much stopping power!!

This last picture shows her tracks along the shoreline.  If you look close, she did briefly reverse course after the first shot, then turned and resumed plodding along the shore.  the second shot was off the picture.

     Apparently, there is no season on coyote in Wisconsin and the consensus at the bar is that they should be shot on sight.  She was probably a yearling, had not done very well hunting during a somewhat harsh winter, was very hungry and possible sick, and shooting her was a good choice.

It was, however, the first time I had killed anything of consequence with a gun and I still feel a little funny.....

Uncle Hans