Sitting out in the Kansas prairie early morning or late evening you will hear the sound of the most common predators in the Sunflower state. Coyotes are plentiful for sure but they are also predators that cause damage to the local ranch cattle heard along with the deer and turkey population. These beautiful predators are resilient, cunning, and should respected as such.
Coyotes are not so easily taken. You must have the right strategy, equipment, and patience. Our team here at American Cash Exchange puts forth a lot of effort each year. We are proud to not only outfit the local community with equipment but to put it to use as well. (Pictured above is Andrew's early fall coyote taken with a Ruger Ranch 5.56)
Strategy
When it comes to predator hunting successfully we have found that a little bit of planning goes a long way. Taking the time to strategize a certain location, playing the wind and terrain can come to a great advantage. Coyote's are an apex predator in their food chain. They have keen eye sight and an amazing sense of smell. Calling into the wind or even playing a cross wind can be of good use when bringing them into shooting range. Take the time to scout your hunting areas in the off season, check the weather, plan your sets according to the data you can collect.
Equipment
Now to level the playing field. Equipment, what do you need? When it comes to gearing up for predator hunting there are a few pieces of equipment that level the playing field or give you a tactical advantage in the field. With modern technology and decades of data collected from studying predators we are in an era of greatness when it comes to predator calls and call box's. We typically run an electronic call box like the Foxpro Patriot or Hammer Jack https://www.gofoxpro.com/. With a few years of experience with these particular calls we have found the sound quality and selection to be optimal for our hunting styles and location. Now that we have the tools to bring them in what is next? Well a good rifle in a varmint cartridge and quality glass should get you across the finish line. Our crew here at the store are fond of the Ruger ranch rifles. We typically run 223 Remington, 6.5 Grendel, or other rifle options chambered in .243 Win. We have found that a cartridge capable of shooting flat out to 200 yards or even 300 yards helps greatly. When a coyote comes in you often times have to make a quick decision on when to shoot. Using a cartridge with the best max effective point blank range can be just the trick, minute of coyote or hold on fur, we call it Flint Hills windage. We have the call and the rifle, what glass works the best? A crowd favorite here at the shop is Vortex Optics https://vortexoptics.com/. We run a lot of their scopes on our coyote rifles and even keep a set of Diamondback 8x32 or 10x32 binoculars in our pack to help glass our stand. We have found that most lines of the Vortex scopes hold up in extreme conditions and have proven to be extremely capable in the field.
There is a never ending list of gear and equipment that can be used when predator hunting. Regardless of what you use be safe and enjoy the great experiences and memories to be made when hunting. Get outside!