Noah's Thermal Coyote Hunt

January 8th, 2022

Youth hunter, Noah Hackel went on his first thermal coyote hunt with the Pass It On Outdoor Mentors Program. with the help of mentors, Eric Brown and Steven Glacken. Noah is 15 years old and has been out hunting with us multiple times. He really enjoys the opportunity to get out and hunt new species. Program Coordinator, Eric Brown attended this hunt as a mentor and said, “This hunt took place on my family ground near Alta Vista. This hunt was a lot of fun and Noah was excited not only for predator hunting but he is hooked on hunting altogether. This hunt was done with thermal optics. The particular optic we have has a Wi-Fi feature which allows us to watch what Noah was seeing through the scope. This allows us to make sure his target is properly identified. The hunt was a lot of fun and seeing his excitement as the coyotes came in made it an experience I will remember for a long time.”

Noah said “We went from spot to spot, scanning fields with a thermal scoped rifle as we made predator calls. Hunting for coyotes at night seemed strange at first. All of my other hunts have been during legal shooting light to make sure I could properly see my target. Once I got used to the thermal imaging, I really enjoyed the suspense of wondering what would come into the calls and from what direction. You have to be ready to take a shot quickly and I also learned how important wind direction is when hunting coyotes.”

“When we were on top of the hill and had multiple coyotes responding from multiple directions to our calls. I will never forget getting to shoot my first coyote across a ravine. I liked this hunting location the most out of all of them.” Noah continued on to say that “I thought it was really cool to be able to see so many different types of wildlife through the thermal scope. We saw raccoons, field mice, a turkey in the roost, cows and coyotes during our night hunt.”

We are looking forward to putting together more predator hunts like Noah’s for other youth to participate in! Thank you to both Eric and Steven for mentoring this hunt for young, Noah!