Didn't get a deer this first half of the season (split season in Illinois), but I still had a great hunt!
I passed on a little 5 pointer at about 7am, and then about a half hour later, passed on a little 8 point buck.
Then, about 15 minutes later after that, this coyote comes busting in from my left (my blind side because of the trees I'm sitting around). I had the gun on the ground resting against the tree... by the time I picked up the smokepole, the coyote had spotted me, and took off in a full run straight away from me. I put the crosshairs on it's rear end, and then the coyote turned slightly to it's left and looked back at me, still running. I moved the crosshairs up to it's shoulder/neck area, pulled the trigger, and hoped for the best. When the smoke cleared, I saw the coyote laying there... it flopped 2 or 3 times, and that was it. The bullet entered just in front of the left shoulder, and exited just behind it's right jaw
. Not a bad shot if I do say so myself... 57 long paces from my stand is where the coyote fell.
I sure do like this CVA Optima!! Almost as much as my 22-250.
I was happier about getting this coyote than I think I would have been if I'd got a big buck
. That was some excitement... I think the whole coyote episode lasted about 5-7 seconds at the most... It absolutely made my day!
