galiuro mountain man

Right now, I have to say a big ole nothing. I dont have a ratio because I would have had to call one in to put against the number of stands. In years past I would have to say about 2.5 to 3:1 for an average. For every three stands or so there would be something come in. Some days would be every other stand and some only every third or fourth. On another note, one of my best days, my brother and I had 4 stands and killed 14 coyotes (me 6 him 8), but that was an exceptional year for coyotes

There are a few things that are affecting the dry spells this year. Drought, more people educating coyotes, and E callers (goes with the more people educating). First is the drought, the pup crop hasnt been as good the past couple of years due to drought. I have talked to gov. trappers who also say their #'s are down from previous years. I am always out messing around in the hills and I have also seen a drop in young dog numbers the last couple of years. Drought also affects feed, think back five years ago, I remember a lot more cottontails and jackrabbits where I live, now I wont shoot them at all so the is some breeding stock left. This has a huge effect on coyote #'s for a given area. If there is not enough feed #'s will drop. I feel the ongoing drought is most to blame for this. This drought is pretty bad where I am, tanks that I know, that I have hunted since I was a child, that I have never seen dry, are dustbowls now, and have been for a couple of years. This is why there have been more coyotes in the suburbs lately. They have water, people watering grass all year, and feed, little fluffy things on a leash for them to eat. These coyotes have learned for the most part they will live unharmed by people and they have everything they need. The second and third are kind of the same thing. Since E callers have become so popular I regularly run into people out calling. A lot of them have asked me if I know how to set up for coyotes and such because they just started because they dont have to know how to use a call, the magic box does it for them. Now everywhere I go there is someone out with a distress sound going, and I live in very rural part of AZ, about 1000 people at max in area (3 small communities). A lot of these guys have just started and are just learning and make a lot of mistakes that make the dogs smarter, and some dont even realize the mistakes made, which is fine, because everyone has to start somewhere. Then on top of that is the people that dont even shoot their rifle all year, then try to take down coyotes, educating them more. But, there is hope, even if there are a lot of newbies to calling (we need them to keep this sport going), and no rains. Everything cycles, rains, animal populations, peoples interest and so on. For my area, we need some rain at the right times of the year, and the rabbits and other small critters will come back, which in turn will bring back coyote numbers. Be patient, it will happen and there will be more coyotes than you know what to do with. As far as dry spells, in 07-08 winter I shot over 60 coyotes myself and a couple other guys I know got in the 40's. It seemed like an endless amount of dogs. The next year we didnt hit it as hard, but still found a few. Last two years have been rough. I dont even hear them around my house like I used to. This year has been my dry spell, havent called a single coyote in (I have tried), but I have shot 3, right out my back door.

I carry a 1911, and a spare mag. I like the feel of a little heavier pistol, plus they are VERY reliable.

First, there must be dogs in the area you are in. There are coyotes everywhere, but some areas hold more than others. I dont hunt some areas I used to because we have cleaned them out in last couple of years (tried to eradicate them because deer pop. was going down because of predators, now deer are back). We scout for coyotes juast like deer and find areas where they are thicker, the more there are, the easier they are to call in. We havent been out that much since the year we worked on our deer hunting areas, but we are about to hit another area with lots of sign. We mix up sounds on foxpro, we use all different kinds of sounds, even if there isnt that kind of animal in the area, we also use hand calls and sometimes we use both at same time, for example we will use deer fawn in distress with foxpro and then use open reed call to throw out some short yelps and barks at same time, this really fires up dominant dogs in areas. The first year we really hit them hard, we were seeing 5 to 6 coyotes a day while hunting deer. We did our cleanup and now we see one every now and then, but the reason we did so good was that no one else was calling that area and we knew there were a lot of dogs there, we also spent a LOT of time in the area so we knew where to find them, and had them "patterned" (we knew where they watered and where they liked to bed and such) because we spent so much time out there.

Tuesday I hit a good one, but he jumped my string and he got away. I went out again Wednesday to try to find him again, but no luck. I am having a hard time connecting this year. I had decided to start going after WT again this year after trying to get a BIG MD buck with my bow. I have passed up a few of 140 class MD and a bunch of great WT in the past 4 years, and decided that the next good buck I had a shot at was going to get a Montec in the chest. On Tuesday we set out at 430 am to a spot with good WT and MD in it. We sat at a tank for a couple hours and there was no action, so we split up and worked back towards the truck. I snuck around a point and saw this buck feeding right in front of me. I was able to rangefind him, 46 yards, I drew, aimed and started to squeese the trigger and he jerked his head up. The shot was off and was going perfect, untill the arrow was about to hit. He lunged forward and ducked. It happened so fast that I thought I had hit him good, but it was high and back in the backstrap. Passed right through without hitting spine or liver. We spent about 3 hours trying to track him by tracks and the little blood, just a couple of spots of blood, but it was not much because I hit straight muscle. I went back out yesterday to try and see if crows and buzzards were on him, but he is still alive, a little sore but should be OK. I walked all over the hills and did not see him. I have to work a few days, and will be back out after this week to find him. He is a great buck, I hope to get on him again. I have a couple of sheds from him. He is a bit bigger than my biggest WT to date from measuring sheds. I have an idea of where to look for him, and will try again. Until then, everyone else have good luck.

Good luck, one recommendation is to get a high quality, or custom string for your bow. I can tell you why I think this has happened, but I dont want to start any arguments. Where did the string break? I would like to know because this isnt the first report of this from the Reezen or Monster with stock strings, and I want to see if it is the same cause as the rest of them.

The animals shot with a bow dont care what kind of fletching you use. I recommend using what works for you, and dont try to change things this late in the game. Spring and early summer is the time to change things up.

Cool kill, especially for a bow. That one is much bigger than the one I got earlier this year. Are you going to have him mounted, or just skinned and tanned?

If a person shoots enough during the year, a new bow can be ready for them, and them ready for the new bow in just a couple hours. When I switched from Mathews to Bowtech, I was shooting just as good with the Bowtech as the Mathews, then the next day I was shooting better. I have set up bows for different people and had them shooting them accurately within a couple of hours from the time they brought them in. Just get it set up and shoot a couple of days, if you have any concerns and dont work on your own bows, go to a knowlegable person with the tools to make it shoot right FOR YOU, and you should have no problems with it. Just remember, if a bow is in spec, it can still be out of tune, and you should shoot it to tune it (paper, walkback, broadhead or whatever kind of tuning), because a bow is more personal than a rifle and it is more critical it is set up for the person who is shooting it.

The very best way to make them group is to broadhead tune after paper tune. It will actually make your field points group better too. First, paper tune to a perfect bullet hole. Then put on your broadheads, and indexing does make a difference, but only for real long shots. Go out to about 30 yards to start. Shoot 3 field points then a bh. If the shot felt good and the bh is way off move the rest in the direction from the bh towards the fp. If you think you may have bobbled or pulled the shot shoot another before moving your rest. Pull your arrows and shoot again after moving your rest 1/32" to 1/16" toward your fp. Go back to 30 yds and shoot again. Dont worry about the arrows not hitting your spot, all you are concerned about is your grouping, you should only move your sights if you think you will miss the entire target. Continue to do the above steps untill you get them grouping together tightly. Some bh types wont tune out of fast bows very well, if they are over 6" to 8" from field points at 30 yards they probably wont tune in very well. Also, if you have one bh that doesnt group with the others, switch the bh with one of the fp and see if it groups. If you get the bh grouping within an inch or so from the fp you can move back and tune them even closer. Move back to 50 or 60 yards and repeat the steps (just mke sure to resight the fp at 30 yards before doing this, you may miss the target all together). This time move the rest 1/64" to 1/32" toward the fp. It really helps to have a micro adjust rest. Once they are tuned you can be confident to this range. All that is left to do is shoot all of the bh and find the ones that group the best. When I tune bhs I have to shoot at two different spots, one for fps and one for bh, or I will ruin arrows. I get them close, then I use different spots and use a tape measure to verify groups. If it is done right your sights will work for both with one setting. My hunting shots rarely go over 60 yards, but I check them out to 90 yds, and my bh groups are just barely over one inch below my fp groups, but I spent about two days to tune them perfectly, then I verified with a shooting machine. I know if I miss it is because I did something wrong and not my bow. After all of this is done dont shoot paper again, most of the time your bow wont shoot bullets, it will be close, but not perfect. The reason it will group better without bullets is because you are lightly forcing the arrow into a direction and the wind and other things have less effect on flight before the arrow starts spinning. I have messed around with this on my shooting machine and I have not found a single bow and arrow combination this has not worked on. Most of the time the tear is only about 1/8" to 1/4" off, it also helps with under or over spined arrows, by helping to counteract the way they come off the bow. The only thing I use paper tuning for is a starting point for the rest of my tuning. Walkback tuning is pretty good for competion shooting, but for hunting I have always used bh group tuning. That way once I am done I can just use fps for practice and I know that my bhs will work with the same sight setting. If I do use walkback for bhs I will usually group tune first and then make sure I can cut the string at different distances. I will shoot two spots at 20 yards with fps. Then I will walkback and shoot one fp at one spot and shoot the othe with bhs. Another thing to think about is if the bow is in time. Binary and cam and a half systems can come out of time (even though the manufacturers say they cant), and it will effect the flight of your arrows, and depending on how bad it is out is how bad the arrows witll fly. I didnt notice if you show what kind of bow you have, if you PM me I can tell you easy ways to check most bows. Hope this helps

Looks like you will be puttin em down. Great lookin rifle and good caliber.

Had another rough day, but got one in at the last minute. I had to get ready for my wifes deer hunt this morning, so I was only able to go out in the afternoon. The wind was blowing again, and harder than yesterday, but I cant skip any free time to hit a coyote. I called four spots with no takers. Right before dark I was able to make it to another hot spot of mine and finaly got one in. He came in hard from behind me. All I could hear was paws on dirt. I was in the greasewood, and he probably would have hit me if I was handcalling (thanks Foxpro). Anyhow, he ran right past me and straight to the Foxpro, got up to it and paused for a second and looked at it then bolted. He ended up about 100 yards before he stopped when I was barking at him, and all he gave me was a head shot, well half his head was showing. Knowing how I can shoot my AR I took the shot and put right above his eye and it was over right then and there. Here is a couple pics. The shot And this is what most of the stuff I call looks like

Thats why I got the Foxpro. I got hit twice last last year, one of them I thought an old cow was beatin me up, he hit me so hard I was dang near kissin the ground. When I looked up the yotes eyses were as big as sausers, then I shot from the hip and took him out. The second time last year, one hit my arm and never stopped. Didnt get a shot and left with a sore elbow. Now I have the caller and shouldnt have to worry about it anymore, but tonight was close.

Hunted almost all day today and got one dog in and one dog down. The wind was blowin about 25mph where I was. I started right after light, took a break from noon til 230 then had enough time for 3 more stands. In the morning I went out with my wife, and had a couple bark from a long ways away, but no takers. After lunch I went back out to another area by myself. I called one stand with nothing happening. Then I went to the other side of the hill and made another stand. At 12min. I had one walking in, then he stopped. I knew he was pretty far so I put the crosshair a little high on him and squeezed. My AR dumped him right where he stood and all he did was twiched. After he was down I checked distance with my rangefinder, and he was at 294 yards. I tried one more stand with nothing and went home. The wind was horrible today, but I wasnt skunked.

Mama?

I use the limbsaver modular stabilizer and a doinker at the same time on both of my bows. I use them for vibration elimination and balance. I have one of the modules on the back of each riser (Bowtech and Mathews) and two mods up front with the doinker on the end. Works very well and is still short.

If you want one that will last forever, use the Bitzenberger. Then you can get different styles of clamps for helical and stuff. They are also fully adjustable and can do three vanes or four and will work with any vanes or feathers. If you want to be limited to what kind of set up you want then get any of the others. I own two of the jo jans and have them screwed to one bench inline so I can do 12 at a time and never use them. They are harder to use and I can fletch carbon arrows faster with the bitz.

Take a couple of days off, you are probably putting pressure on yourself to shoot better each day. Dont beat yourself up and relax, that is what it is about. Target panic and punching usually comes from anxiety and stress, usually because you know you can shoot better. It is actually a vicious psychological cycle that happens to all of us at one time or another. One day, all the arrows fall perfect, small groups right where they are wanted, then the next isnt bad, maybe 1/2" larger groups, but still on target. This is a little frustrating so the next day form is focused on, but in reality form was good now when you look at it, you change something (now it will be a couple of days at least before you are used to it, and the cycle repeats with new form). Then with all of the frustration comes target panic and punching (most of the time it is done by dropping onto the target from above and punching the trigger when the sights cross the target), and it just continues on like this. Then the fun begins, as far as archery goes trigger punching is the hardest habit to break. The easiest way to break this habit is to relax (and I still do it at least once a month to keep my form solid) and not worry where the arrow hits. First find a good, large target butt about shoulder hieght, set aside 20 to 30 minutes a day, and shoot it with your eyes closed, shoulder hieght and at about 5 yards, to get the feel of your form. To break a habit do this for a week or so, but do not try to shoot targets during this week (it may cause frustration again). One day feel your anchor point. Then the next, focus on trigger pull, then stance and so on. After that week your form should be pretty solid. Now it is time to shoot targets, but dont think about anything except picking the correct pin and shoot a group, your mind and body will automatically go back to the same form, and center the chosen pin, and if practiced enought it will squeeze, not punch, the trigger. After this groups should be more consistant. Also, dont worry about holding still on a target, everyone has a natural arc when shooting, just hold around the target and the arrows will start hitting the spot you want. The biggest issue, dont get frustrated to begin with, if you have a bad day, shrug it off and try again later. It is supposed to be fun, right?

As far as tuning, what you really need to do is have them put the bow to spec., then do the rest yourself. Reason being is everyone shoots different and what may be tuned for one person could be out of whack for another. When I did my customers bows I always had them paper tune after putting the bow to spec., then if I saw them at the range, I would help with walkback or group tuning. After this all that is left is to shoot broadheads. I would ask when you pick up your bow if you could paper tune it yourself, it will make shooting the bow a whole lot more enjoyable if it is set up to you and not someone else.

Bobbyo, it isnt the sight that had a problem, it is the hight of your friends peep. What bow did he switch from to go to the DXT. I would imagine it was probably a longer axle to axle bow where the string angle at full draw was not as sharp. With the shorter bows the anchor and peep must be moved to compensate for the sharp angles. If he really likes the sight, move his peep up 1/4 to 1/2 an inch, that should center his sight or at least make it closer. It will also tighten the pin gaps a touch. As far as whisker bisquit goes, it is a decent rest, but to shoot extended ranges accurately proper and solid form must be used. They also have a tendancy to tear up fletchings. I tested one to see if I would like it, and it was ok, but it does slow the arrows down, which to me isnt a big deal as long as it shoots accurate, but it opened my groups up a little, and it even opened up the groups through my shooting machine. That is the reason I shoot a ripcord, it holds the arrow in place, and is not as touchy to any problems with form or follow through. Oh, bobbyo, if your friend wants to get rid of his Spott Hogg 7dp sights let me know.

I see a lot out here in SE AZ every year, 2 of them in my property next to my house, and a couple more at a friends house this last year. A few years ago I got hit by one just above the top of my boot while building a corral, it just scratched me with a tooth, and the little poison that got in burned my led like fire. It also made my fingers and toes numb for a few days. Everyone always wonders why I wear leather boots all year long, even when in the water at the river, and I tell them about being bit and how many times I have had close calls. They CAN bite through leather, but it is better protection than a regular shoe.

Just trace around your boot and cut. Also leave little flaps where the straps wrap around for extra area to sew. I have been putting 3 straps on each one, the front loops around the toes, middle around the back of the boot and the back around the top of your foot. This way it is secure.

No, those are my wifes favorite so I am giving them to her.

I dont know how many sounds the FX3 can have, I know they come with 32, can they have more? Look at some of the websites that sell them, I saw some that had bundles of sounds for couple of bucks, I think they were 5 or 8 sounds at a time. I own the FX5 and have almost 100 by buying these packages and they were all around two to three dollars each.

All that I do is go to a local carpet shop and tell them to save some of the scraps from a heavy carpet they normally throw away. Then I get some carpet thread and sew on some straps I buy from walmart. They have some heavy velcro there that works perfect. I used to use buckle type straps, but I banged a buckle on a rock and spooked some deer on a long stalk a few years ago. I also used to get scraps of carpet pad and glue them into my boot covers, but it wasnt really needed for where I hunt. The carpet was enough. Going without boots is always quieter, but in the lava rock where I hunt it is also stupid (not to mention the amounts of dog tird cactus around). The boot covers muffle the noise of me stepping on rocks and they are silent in sand, and bare feet still make noise when you step on sticks. The most important thing I have found to quiet my stalks is to find good fitting boots. If they are loose or have too much room around the toes, they will sound hollow, and be loud.