Coyote hunting tips

Another river town. The Tennessee river is only about a mile from me, the Cumberland and Ohio are about 4 miles.
Yes sir. If you ever want to come down here and chase some coyotes, just shoot me a message and we will give em hell
 
Why are they coming in behind you ?
Seems to be a trend down here. I know people in my neck of the woods who swear by setting their call a minimum of 200y upwind, just so you'll have a chance to see them. They make huge downwind circles. Imagine Wyoming, now reverse the plains and timber. We are 95% timber and brush, and 5% open area. They can almost always stay in the timber during daylight hours. If you ever watch the MFK guys hunting in Arkansas, you'll see what most of the terrain I hunt looks like. Those guys kill as many coyotes as anyone on earth, and they don't even own a rifle. They go into the thick timber with shotguns and come out dragging song dogs. They almost never behave like western coyotes. I'm throwing together a really short 300bo to shoot suppressed and subsonic, with the intention of moving my calling into the woods. They are significantly less wary if they aren't forced out of their cover in the daylight. I've known this for decades, but I really like shot opportunities that keep my marksmanship skills at a tolerable level, but I am moving to a mode of more success over my preferred method. I don't know if I'm giving up or growing up, but I'm going to meet them on their terms.
 
There are reasons that they make huge circles down wind . They act the same here you just get to see it and observe them doing it as we are more open terrain . So then when you study them and think on it to figure out why they do that it becomes obvious why they do it that way . The answers to that have been talked about in this column and others many times . It's the same reasons that it takes an hour for them to show themselves some times . because our terrain is open you get to observe that as well . So many people here and there just don't see them while they are being coyote so they don't get to figure out what or why they are behaving that way . I'm not making fun of or bitching you out or saying your not smart so don't get a case of the red A-- just slow down think on why they are being that way and doing what it is that coyote do what coyote do .
 
There are reasons that they make huge circles down wind . They act the same here you just get to see it and observe them doing it as we are more open terrain . So then when you study them and think on it to figure out why they do that it becomes obvious why they do it that way . The answers to that have been talked about in this column and others many times . It's the same reasons that it takes an hour for them to show themselves some times . because our terrain is open you get to observe that as well . So many people here and there just don't see them while they are being coyote so they don't get to figure out what or why they are behaving that way . I'm not making fun of or bitching you out or saying your not smart so don't get a case of the red A-- just slow down think on why they are being that way and doing what it is that coyote do what coyote do .

I don't think that was an attack on me, but I don't know why they do that, other than that they are coyotes. I haven't seen an explanation for it here. I think the explanation is pretty self explanatory though:

There are sounds or sound combinations when done right in the right location will trigger an aggressive response, but they are rare and require the right combination of circumstances, and then other times they come in carefully and approach cautiously, especially with pressured coyotes.

Another way I think about it is that coyotes have personalities as varied as humans. On Thanksgiving when mom yelled " dinner is ready!", the kids went sprinting to the table, but the older kids and adults walked or limped in, and some of us stood back "in the treeline" and waited until the madness ended before we slid in and got what we wanted. And then there were the people who just came from Thanksgiving at their in-laws house, and they might walk to the table for a really good piece of cherry pie, but otherwise, they just aren't interested.

Now, I'm far from an expert on the matter, but that's the way it seems. Am I in the ballpark?
 
I did have a couple of really interesting interactions yesterday though. I sat in a stand at about 3:30 and I started calling. I worked through a few sounds and eventually into a deer fawn distress, which I played off and on with alternating coyote growls for maybe 10 minutes, and while it didn't fool any yotes that I saw, it did fool some deer. I had a deer or group of deer maybe 400y behind me blowing and making all sorts of vocalizations. I was pretty excited. I figured they would give it a degree of realism that I could never create. They stood there and made vocalizations for at least 90 minutes. I stopped calling and sat there quietly for an hour or more.

Then, maybe 10 minutes before dark, I started howling, and I had a dog, hidden in the treeline maybe 150-200y from my location make the most blood curdling scream I've ever heard. There were other groups further away that howeled back instantly, but this came after about a 60 second pause. It screamed like someone was torturing it to death, and then went silent. I assume it was a female letting me know that I was too close to her den. There was a 10' deep ditch between us that I would imagine would be hard to get her to cross if her den is in fact over there. I will give it a few weeks and try to slip in on her side of the ditch when the wind is right.
 
I sometimes envy those that have wide open spaces and can sit and observe from a distance. Watching them reacting and coming in to a call is also a thrill. And then I think can it get any better than the in your face style of hunting wooded terrain. A good example is my brothers first set. I bought him an e caller for Christmas. He couldn't wait to try it. He took it and his gun and walked across the street where they were clearing lots for new homes. He leaned up against a fallen oak with the call by his side. He hit the play button, cotton tail distress. Almost immediately a fox jumped the oak log and landed on him and the call. I am still laughing. It was months before he decided to try it again.
 
Geo, you are right I think there is nothing better than out west, glasses, fast accurate rifle, high scope magnification...….whether I am calling or stalking, glasses are constantly in use and we get to watch the coyote almost continuously. Watching body language and behavior a person can almost get into their mind. Wouldn't trade it for the world...after living out here 37 years know what areas they like and are more populace in. Also am grain Elevator manager so know all the land owners...….granted they move into different areas at certain times of the year or on a dead cow, and always asking ranchers on little things like that...I have hunted predators my whole life, fox, coyote, wolf, black bear, lions with hounds..just waiting for Grizz season to be legal...I just love Mondamtana……..feel GOD made me for this area 🙏 👍 you know HE is great at gifts and blessing!! there is so many different things to hunt here a person never has enough time, so we focus on what we like the most. Pretty soon we will focus on Spring bears, but we take the .204 along as at times we get to pop a coyote!! Over the years I have spent untold hours with eyes attached to binoculars......time well spent!!
I think our area here has quite a larger population of coyotes than it sounds like Dave has...…..
 
Geo, you are right I think there is nothing better than out west, glasses, fast accurate rifle, high scope magnification...….whether I am calling or stalking, glasses are constantly in use and we get to watch the coyote almost continuously. Watching body language and behavior a person can almost get into their mind. Wouldn't trade it for the world...after living out here 37 years know what areas they like and are more populace in. Also am grain Elevator manager so know all the land owners...….granted they move into different areas at certain times of the year or on a dead cow, and always asking ranchers on little things like that...I have hunted predators my whole life, fox, coyote, wolf, black bear, lions with hounds..just waiting for Grizz season to be legal...I just love Mondamtana……..feel GOD made me for this area 🙏 👍 you know HE is great at gifts and blessing!! there is so many different things to hunt here a person never has enough time, so we focus on what we like the most. Pretty soon we will focus on Spring bears, but we take the .204 along as at times we get to pop a coyote!! Over the years I have spent untold hours with eyes attached to binoculars......time well spent!!
I think our area here has quite a larger population of coyotes than it sounds like Dave has...…..

I build grain elevators for a living..🤣🤣

I've worked all over the country, but I primarily work in and around Central Illinois the last 6 or 7 years. I am an agricultural millwright. I work for a family owned business that was the #1 seller of GSI equipment in America until a couple of years ago when GSI stopped warranting the waterproofing of their new bins, and now we are sukup's #1 seller. I always take a few months off in the winter to hunt and hang out with my family, but I'll be back at it by mid month, unless something major changes.
 
Coyote aren't like dogs in that the only selective breeding of them done by humans is that we kill the slow learners and the un educated ones so then the ones that have traits that have kept them alive are then passed on to the young . Coyote then have adapted to be cautious they don't trust anything that seems out of place , louder then usual sounds , too many different animal sounds coming from the same place too close to the same time , animal sounds that are out of the time frame that they should be . Think back and reread what has been covered here and other places on here the volume , the type of sounds being used at the correct time of the year , The direction that we are projecting the sounds , are we just broad casting them or are we trying to only put them out in one direction . Are they just setting and watching waiting for us to leave then coming to check out where we were making that strange sound that isn't in the right time frame or place . that's why it took an hour for them to show themselves in all likely hood that has been talked about also . They have in most cases done this before and learned that where that type of thing happened before meant that a human was involved , just because I can't smell where some body set there a-- on the ground doesn't mean they can't so they will even hours latter be able to tell that a human was there . There eyes and ears are more to the top of their heads so they see and hear differently then do humans they have on average 500 times the scent receptors then humans do . They are programed to notice movements sounds and things that are out of place to observe their world in a way that humans aren't . No they aren't magical or mystical but they live in that world we just visit it . When they scream out at you they know that their area has been compromised and are telling you that then they get quiet they told you what they had on their mind and really don't want you to come visit . Sound travels around 1100 fps it takes time for it to reach out and then return to you it also takes them time to get to the place they want to be when they say something they most times don't just start talking they get to a place that they feel good about talking from so then they don't talk from a low spot they will gain higher ground then talk . If coyote had the ability to shoot there wouldn't be any humans left they live their lives by being good at living and avoiding things that can or could be a problem to them . Respect them for what they are and the way they live their lives slow down study them they aren't just another dumb animal when you think that a coyote has made a fool of you think about that . They didn't you did they just were better that day then you were at living in their world .
 

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