Ethical Coyote Shot?

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Mr_steve

New Member
Jan 30, 2014
49
0
Yakima, WA
A couple weeks back my friend Shayne and I went on our SD Turkey Hunt. We did not bring home any turkey meat but did run into a coyote on our trip. We were on our way to a turkey spot when we spotted the coyote at about 50 yards. It moved swiftly to a stump where we ranged it at 74 yards. Shayne was able to put an awesome shot on it. I'd like to say I taught him how to shoot but that'd be a lie. He practices often, does several 3D shoots and is quite a marksman. Not the best footage as it was dark but you can see the coyote in the bottom left of the frame.

I know the coyote population is thriving so I feel we need to keep them in check. That being said this is a far shot. Would you guys have taken a shot?

[video=youtube;4Ik4e-N9Za0]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Ik4e-N9Za0[/video]
 
johnsd16

johnsd16

Active Member
Mar 16, 2014
353
4
N Idaho
Sure, if the shooter is comfortable with it. Coyotes jump the string quite a bit quite often so many times a bow shot at any distance is a roll of the dice. Having the arrow go where you aim is one thing, having the vitals of the animal still in that spot is another, again, at times regardless of distance. Great shot, and a dead dog, all around good deal. I may catch some flak for this, but dude, its a coyote - take the shot.
 
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packmule

Veteran member
Jun 21, 2011
2,433
0
TX
People's ethics seem to reflect what they can stomach doing. I don't have a problem with it. If you'd have thrown a rock at it and lethally wounded it, I would be fine with that too.
 
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Againstthewind

Very Active Member
Mar 25, 2014
973
2
Upton, WY
I agree with a lot what johnsd16 said. I have heard of people taking an 80 yard shots on antelope, but they are the local pro for Hoyt and things like that, so they are pretty good. I have never tried to shoot a coyote with a bow, but having them jump the string makes sense. CC can check my math, but say you have 400 ft/sec arrow for round numbers and at 70 yards that is over 1/2 a second to react and move. Accident reconstruction investigations used to use 1.5 secs for a person to see the accident and hit the brakes. So 1/2 a second for a jumpy coyote is pretty borderline. I wouldn't take the shot, but it worked out for you guys it looks like. 50 yards on an elk with a large kill zone in good conditions is my limit, but I need to practice a lot more.
 
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Bughalli

Member
Jan 15, 2012
139
1
I'm a big fan of ethics and probably pass on a lot of archery shots that others would take. I respect the game too much to take low probability shots. BUT...I dislike coyotes, so for some reason this one doesn't bother me as much. Same for wolves. Heck of shot though. I wouldn't have taken it at a coyote, but that's because I know I couldn't make it with that level of accuracy. Clearly he thought he could....and did!
 
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