CAST BULLETS, SIXGUNS, AND VARMINTS

[JimT]

(WARNING: This was written back in the 1980's and any businesses, addresses, phone numbers etc. may no longer be in existence. And since it is old, I may have posted it before. I don't remember because I am also old.)

I was sitting REAL still, almost holding my breath, while my hunting partner blew the varmint caller. We were back to back on top of a little hill, camouflaged and hidden in the bushes. The slight rise we were on gave us a good view of all our surroundings so that nothing could sneak up on us. Jim had been calling only a few minutes when all of a sudden a coyote leaped over a small bush to my left and landed about two or three feet from me! To say that I was startled would be an understatement! The coyote had seen me as he came over the bush and whirled to run as soon as he hit the ground. I pulled up the Ruger .44 magnum and let drive at him but the shot was a clean miss! At about six feet! I saw dust billow up around his tail as he disappeared in the brush and that was that.

That’s one of the things that makes varmint calling so much fun. You never know where they will come from or when. I will have to confess that I have missed many more coyotes then I have ever hit. I don’t feel too bad about making that statement. I am a fair shot, but those little prairie wolves are hard to hit! And I choose to hunt them with a sixgun. For the most part that means calling them in close. It’s a challenge, but worth it for the sheer enjoyment of it.

This winter I have been doing more varminting than ever with various guns. I first used the .454 Casull in 7-1/2" barrel length. The load I chose was the Keith No. 454424, cast of Lyman No. 2 alloy loaded over 29 gr. of WW-296 for a little over 1530 fps muzzle velocity. This load is fairly destructive, and if you are wanting the pelts is not a good one to use. If you just want to knock over a coyote, pick the range you can hit them at and have at it! I called in a young female about 2:00 p.m. one afternoon. The area I was in was so rough that I decided I would shoot while she was still about 100 to 120 yards out. I knew the load in the Casull hit point-of-aim at 125 yards so held center. The shot went right over her back. She stopped and looked back at where the bullet hit. I held 6 o’clock on her for the next one while she was looking back and drilled her right behind the ribs. The exit wound was about the size of a 50 cent piece. If you want to sell the pelts, the Lyman No. 454190 is a good bullet to use. I would say that you should drive it at least to 1000 fps, as I shot a coyote with that bullet style at about 800 fps and the entrance and exit wounds were about .30 caliber. If I hadn’t hit the spine I’m sure it would have run off and I would have had to chase a wounded coyote. I also tried the SSK bullets. The SSK 270-451 is a 270 gr. flatnose bullet of a truncated cone design. Shooting it out of the Casull or a Ruger Blackhawk in .45 Long Colt I found it to be a very good bullet. Accuracy is very good, and destructiveness in flesh and bone is equal with the Keith semi-wadcutter.

In the Ruger .45 I used both the Keith-style No. 454424, the Lyman No. 454190 and the No. 457191 300 gr. 45-90 bullet. The 300 gr. bullet is usually loaded over 18.5 gr. of 2400 in the .45 Colt cases for a velocity of 1100fps. It is a nice long-range load, showing tremendous accuracy and knock-down power. The power is much more than is needed for varmints, but the accuracy is so nice that it is one of my favorites. In my Ruger I have shot a number of 5-shot groups at 25 yards under ¾" center to center for all shots. This is with open sights, shooting over a rest. It will not expand on coyotes and will punch a nice clean .45 caliber hole all the way through.

I have only used one bullet in the Ruger .44 magnum. It is the SSK 285-429 which casts 305 gr. out of wheel-weights. I loaded it over 17.5 gr. of 2400 for 1383 fps out of the 10-1/2" barreled Super Blackhawk. This bullet is extremely accurate, again having much more power than is needed, but giving such superb accuracy that I’ll use it for anything! I called in a nice grey fox the other day and took it with this load. I had sat down under a tree and leaned back against it. I started calling and in a moment saw a grey flash down the canyon about 200 yards away. I kept calling and shortly this little fox popped out in front of me, 20 or 30 feet away. I kept blowing the caller and eased up the .44, settled the sights on it’s shoulder and touched it off. At the shot it flipped over. The bullet went in on the point of the right shoulder and exited just back of the left. There was no real damage done to the pelt, just a .44 hole in and out. But this fox is ending up costing me! Instead of skinning it in the field I took it home to show the wife and kids. My wife grabbed it and ran it down to the taxidermist and is having a life-size mount made! Oh well, live and learn!

fox.jpg

The calling equipment I used is very simple. I use a Thomas varmint call that is adjustable, and a Burnham Brothers Deluxe fox call. It is made of wood and is my favorite. With that call I have called in deer, foxes, coyotes, bobcats, javelinas and stray dogs. I usually take along and use some sort of scent to mask the human odor. I use either Skunk Scent or coyote lure. Most of the time I hunt in camouflage, though that is not always necessary if you hide yourself in a blind. Being QUIET is necessary. I had called in this one location for several minutes when I saw a coyote coming up the draw toward me. It was about 50 yards away, so I cocked my single action. AND THE COYOTE STOPPED! It had been running, but heard the single action cock! If you move they will spot you also, though many times if you sit real still they will run right up to you. I have called them in to within several feet of me on more than one occasion. When I moved they would jump back and look, as if to say, "What are you doing here?" That’s when I would show them!

The only factory loads that I have tried are the Winchester Silvertips. I called in a medium-sized male coyote the other day. At about 35 feet he turned and went by me to my left. I put the sights on his shoulder and let fly. At the shot he started jumping up and down and snapping at his shoulder. He did this about three times and then collapsed. The Silvertip had taken him through the shoulder, angling toward the rear. It did not exit! While it worked on the coyote I would not want to use it for self defense I don't think.

There’s plenty of coyotes out there in most any state in the Union now! Get your calls and hit the hills! It can be a great way to keep your hand in during the off season. I would recommend Rick Jamison’s book, "Calling Coyotes" very highly. Also HUNTER SPORTING GOODS, Box 669-G, Marble Falls, TX 78654 for calls and varminting equipment. They are very good to deal with and stand behind their products. Something you don’t always find in this day and age.

[Scott Tschirhart]

Burnham Brothers is still in business but is on San Saba Street in Menard Texas now.

The old Black Magic call is still my favorite.

[GunnyMack]

Last yote I called in was on the second day of a 3 day elk trip. My 2 buddies and I all shot our elk on the first day so we had to amuse ourselves and what better to do than go calling!
JP and I were back to back, elk rifles in hand, I started to squall on a hand made call- jack, cotton tail and squeaker just by turning the barrel.
I didn't even get half a breath through the call when a coyote just about landed in my lap!
In one smooth motion I snapped my Mauser 98 338 win mag to my shoulder and missed that dog clean at about 10 feet- 12x was a wee bit too much magnification!
JP let out a few expletives as he didn't see it, not sure he believes that there was a coyote to this day!

Now I have a Bluetooth enabled battery powered radio and I can set up and call from my phone , can't wait to try it out!

[Bill in Oregon]

Wow. Hadn't heard Rick Jamison's name mentioned in quite a spell. Used to read his stuff in Shooting Times back in the day.
I tried calling a few times in the Cascade foothills of southern Oregon with zero success as far as I was aware of. I had ordered a Circe dying rabbit call from somewhere -- Herter's? -- and boy that thing made a dreadful shriek.

[Drawdown]

Jim this brings back some my best memories of some really fun times. All my HS years and up until I was about 25. My lifelong best friend was a trapping & predator hunting guru! We got to know each other by him bringing Fur Fish & Game magazines to school, trying to entice me join him. He put Burnham Bros next to God! I started trapping Muskrats yearly cause I was in a good place, and few foxes and coon. He trapped everything bigtime, but me mostly muskrat. Then when i could drive we started calling foxes, even few bobcat. There was no coyote here in 70's, saw my first in early 90's. But we slayed the foxes, he got good needed money from hides! I remember getting 3 once in few hours one being a red, reds little scarce here. But we used scoped 22 magnum or shotgun when in tight cover.
But since, I've had good success at calling yokes even tho I don't try often. Actually I call em in every turkey season that i hunt, a young turkey call they can't resist! I called in a beautiful coy dog back in April, had my longbow that day or I'd got him easy. Almost got a 15 yd shot anyways but a swirling wind gave me away just before drawing on him!

[Walt]

My coyote hunting mentor was an old man, long gone now. We went out one cold winter day, walking to our calling spot through patches of snow, sat down and called for a good 15 or 20 minutes and didn't see anything. We got up and headed back to the truck and about 25 yards from our hide a coyote had left a deposit in the middle of my fresh bootprint in the snow. It was still steaming.....

[JimT]

My coyote hunting mentor was an old man, long gone now. We went out one cold winter day, walking to our calling spot through patches of snow, sat down and called for a good 15 or 20 minutes and didn't see anything. We got up and headed back to the truck and about 25 yards from our hide a coyote had left a deposit in the middle of my fresh bootprint in the snow. It was still steaming.....

They will comment on your trying to shoot them from time to time!

[Walt]

BUSTED! Yeah, coyotes do some funny things when they realize you're trying to fool them.