Expertise in the Field…A Shooter’s Story
It was getting cold in the Waukesha County field as the night plodded on toward the 4:00 am mark. Terry Russ had picked me up February 9 just after midnight and we had already held vigil from two stands for an hour on each ambush as Terry had tried to mislead a coyote to come to the kill.
Terry Russ used the Midwest Industries AR15 built by OWO firearms writer Stuart Wilkerson to take this coyote at 150 yards. The rifle performed perfectly, Russ said.
During the first sit, only the rumbling of three trains in the distance had split the night and the farmers’ fields near Mukwonago on tracks that took its cargo somewhere north. Wily coyote remained quiet, and out of sight despite Terry’s offerings of a howling mate, pup in distress and other calls that have worked well in the past.
A coyote that makes the mistake of coming in almost surely won’t live to howl about it later. Russ’s 12 kills this winter and more than 500 in Wisconsin and other states had me very curious. Not one of the 12 recent coyotes taken had taken a step after the shot, at distances to 200 yards or more. Is Russ that good of a shot? Or was he carrying the bull in this pasture?
I would be very surprised if he didn’t turn out to be a true expert with a rifle. I watched last week as Russ sighted in the Midwest Industries AR15 built by OWO firearms columnist Stuart Wilkerson. He was right on at 100 yards shooting tight groups just above the bullseye for potential kills to twice that distance…or more. But a real hunt is no shooting range. Our goal was to take a coyote with the Midwest Industries rifle, even though the scope was not designed for a nocturnal hunt. Under a full moon though, Russ used Stuart’s gun to drop another coyote in its tracks at 150 yards. The AR15 shot beautifully Russ said. You can read about that in Wilkerson’s column in the March-April issue.
With his own AR15 in .223 caliber which Russ used on the hunt Monday with me as his shadow, he utilizes a night vision shooting scope and a monocular spotting scope to watch the fields. After an hour, the night remained quiet and the hunter rose from his stand 50 yards from my own on a fenceline to take one last look before we would move again. Under a 70 percent moon which provided me decent night vision with the naked eye, Russ slowly sat down again to the snow covered ground in his white camo, readjusted his bi-pod stand, and settled over the rifle for just a second or three. The single rifle report ripped open the Waukesha County night.
More calls from Russ did not bring in a coyote mate, a surprising tactic to this novice that Terry says often works well. Finally, he rose and brought the rifle to me.
“Well he’s not big but he is down and he’s really out there,” he said. “The crosshairs almost covered him up. He never moved. Scan the field and you’ll see him way out by the woodline.”
The night lit up in a florescent green through the scope. I quickly found the distant carcass, and we moved up the slight incline in the field through deep snow to recover the animal. So distant, in fact, that I began to pace off the yardage.
Terry Russ shot this red fox at 257 yards Monday at 4:00 am with Ellis watching. The fox never took a step.
The kill was actually a red fox taken with a broadside vitals shot at 257 yards. Although red fox season remains open and Russ knew it, he was disappointed. He personally refrains from shooting fox because he believes solely from his own observations that their population could use more numbers.
“I was kind of bummed when I first saw it was a fox,” he said later. “I thought it was a coyote, and I wouldn’t have shot it if I had identified it as a fox. In fact, I’m surprised he came in to our aggressive calling. A fox will normally stay away. He doesn’t want to get eaten.”
Anyone who decides to hunt knows that not all hunts go as planned. By being absolutely prepared with his equipment and his extraordinary ability to shoot though, Russ almost without exception eliminates the hunters’ worst nightmare of a wounded animal. His shooting is extremely impressive.
Read the full story and see a double coyote kill taken by Buss this month on the cover of On Wisconsin Outdoors’ March-April issue. Pick it up at Kwik Trip stores or Menards the first week in March. Did you know Wisconsin will see 30 new Kwik Trip stores in 2015? Try the Angus cheeseburger right before you gas up for the morning hunt or fishing trip to your favorite lake.
Website Reports
We have fishing and hunting guides, the DNR and other outdoor related organizations from all over this state submitting reports and news every day for posting on this website. Make sure you travel the site to see what you might be missing; like red hot bluegill fishing on the Wisconsin River backwaters submitted by OWO field reporter Wayne Morgenthaler posted under “Inland Fishing”.
OWO Field reporter Wayne Morgenthaler found quantity and quality on the Wisconsin River backwaters in Richland County.
Richland County Report
By Wayne Morgenthaler
“I have been watching the weather on days I like to fish and partly cloudy are the best. The mornings during the first three hours have produced very good fishing.
Ice is thick in most places with a few springs along the shoreline keeping water open if you’re fishing the backwaters of the Wisconsin River. The fish are at 5 to 6 feet below the ice even if you are fishing in 10 feet of water. I am not sure why but must have to do with where the feed is at.
The best bait is the wax worm fished with a white jig. The crappies and perch are starting to be a little more active. Largemouth bass have been hitting on tip-ups with a small shiner for bait.
A great bait shop for all types of fishing is in Richland Center called the “Huntin’ Shack”. The Shack is located at 208 South Church Street and the phone number is 608-647-0056.”
I think I just heard the stampede of a 1000 Wisconsin anglers heading toward Richland. See? I told you it was worth it to read our guide reports.
Thanks for connecting with On Wisconsin Outdoors. We appreciate you. If I was a billionaire, I’d give every single one of you a million.
Not really.
Shoot straight…Like Terry Buss.
Dick Ellis