Earlier on in the year I bought a used FoxPro ZR2 for predator hunting. While I have previously gone out a few times with it I never saw anything. Then tonight when I looked outside and saw how well the moon lit up the snow covered ground I decided to go out.
My choice of guns for this hunt was the .22 revolver with the .22 magnum cylinder put in and a .22 magnum / 20 gauge over under shotgun. As I walked through the woods by my house I put the rifle/shotgun on my shoulder and upholstered the .22 magnum and carried a flashlight in my other hand. While I walked through the woods I noticed that the wind was blowing into my face so that was good, because the spot I wanted to hunt from was in the field beyond the woods.
When I exited the woods I walked until the roll in the field allowed me to see some of the field. Then in a strip of picked corn I thought I saw a shape of an animal, about 100 yards away, with its head down; without giving it any thought or planning I turned the flashlight on. After a couple seconds the shape lifted its head up to reveal to a set of glowing eyes in the beam of light. The size of the animal I thought was a little big for a fox. While I could see what I thought was a long and thick tail I wanted to be 100% sure that it was not a deer, so I waited. Soon, the animal broke into a run, with its course leading it slightly closer to me for a time. As soon as it started running I knew it was a canine by the way that it ran, so I fired at it with the gun that was still in my hand–the .22 magnum revolver. Its path of escape lead it within 50 yards of me, while I fired three more times at it. Before I could get a fourth shot off at it, however, it disappeared over the sky line.
Later that night when I followed the tracks in the snow I realized why I thought the animal looked a little big for a fox, the tracks were made by a coyote!
This was the first time I actually saw a targeted animal when I was predator hunting. The hunt could have been successful, if I had thought the situation out better. For example, the coyote had not seen me until I shone my flashlight on it also the wind was in my favor, so I had time to make a plan. What I should have down would have been to sit down next to the row of corn which would have partially hidden me, then used my caller to do a few quiet mouse squeaks, also I could have had the .22 magnum rifle read to use which would have given me much better accuracy at 100 yards!