New to Coyote Hunting.

[shweedel]

I've always been interested in coyote hunting, so I have recently been going over Christmas Break since im in high school. I have gone out the last 4 days. Weather has ranged from 30 above to 30 below (i live in north dakota) I have only made 1 stand on each of these days because I don't exactly know where to go and/or what to look for when choosing a stand. So i have a number of questions.

1.) How do you choose a stand location?
2.) How long do you sit at each stand?
3.) What is the best weather for Coyote movement/attention to the call?
4.) How long do you call?

I have a portable speaker thing that has 5 pre-downloaded sounds. jackrabbit, cottontail, howl, pup yips and fawn distress. and have just been using the jack rabbit call and it lasts a little over a minute. hit that sucker a couple times and wait and see what happens, I have been seeing a yote 5 min or less into a stand.

I have seen 5 dogs in the last 4 days, and 2 have came to the call and I think a 3rd one was comming but i think i didnt wait long enough and caught it on my way back to the truck.
any advice is greatly appreciated, i just wanna get one of these dang things.
thanks (sorry for the long post)

john

 

[derbyacresbob]

shweedel, on picking a location to make a coyote calling stand most of the time I try to find large open spots that your calling sounds will carry a long ways.

If the wind is blowing call into the crosswind so you can see in the downwind direction. If you can get up on a hill or rise so you can see better that helps too.

If you are driving from stand to stand it is best to keep your vehicle out of the area you are going to call into. If the coyotes see or smell your vehicle you may not have a chance of calling them in.

I have had pretty good luck calling coyotes all day long from November through February.

We usually stay on coyote calling stands for 15 to 20 minutes. If your caller only puts out sounds for a little over a minute, I would play it 7 to 9 times per stand with a 30 to 60 second pause between sounds.

Good luck shweedel!

 

[Mark Brendemuehl]

First off- if you are seeing that many coyotes, you are already doing something right!
To find places I look for fencelines, drainage ditches, shelter belts, stuff like that, that can use as a travel corridor. Anytime they can use these items to move they will.
Next, talk to landowners and find out where they see them, and or hear them. I then scout that area with a spotting scope to look for traveled paths in the snow so I dont disturb the area.
Hunt the area expecting them to come downwind. Hunt areas off the beaten path. This time of year everyone and their uncle is shooting at them from their trucks, and they get shy about going too close to the roads.
I spend about 30 minutes on a stand. IF I thought I had a chance at a cat there, I would stay longer. Sometimes it is much less. Its a feeling I guess.
Last coyote I shot came to the call in easily under 5 minutes. I screwed up... I could have had two. One was behind it by about 30 seconds, and apparently didnt hear or didnt care about the gun shot. Assume where there is one, there is two. Shoot the one you see and go to a pup distress immediately for another 5 -10 minutes. You would be suprised how many more you see sometimes.

As far as where exactly to sit, I try to set up with the idea that if I get busted, I am the one getting shot! Weird way of thinking of it, but it forces me to hide well. Sit so you can see, but have your outline broken up. Wear situational camoflauge to blend perfectly. Wear a facemask.

Time of day? Wow... anything. I have shot more after 1000 in the morning than any other time, but have seen and called, killed whatever almost around the clock. If you see one at a particular time while scouting, or a landowner sees them around the same time, get in there an hour early and hunt them like deer. Get a good pair of binoculars and hunt that thing hard.

There is a ton of guys on here that hunt yotes hard. Get on here and read some of the posts, and some of the articles and be like a sponge- take it all in. It is an addicting sport for sure. I hate to think how much money I have spent on optics, rifles etc, more or less JUST for predator hunting. Never mind the clothes etc.
Hollar if you have more questions. Good luck. Nodak is a terrific place to hunt them. I go a few times a year there and always manage a great time despite screw ups.
Mark

 

[shweedel]

Thanks for the posts guys, i guess that makes sense cause they're gunna want to circle down wind to try and catch whatever they are hearing's scent. ive mostly hunted wide open area thats has rolly hills and thickets dotted all over the place or long draws and coulees and i sit in the fields on top. I cant shoot cats where im at, unless its a mt. lion but the chances of one of them appearing is pretty slim.

Suprisingly I havent seen more then 1 coyote at a time. they've all been singles either comming to the call or that ive spotted from the truck.

what do you think about sloughs? we have a lot of cat tail sloughs around here that the pheaseant and partridge like to hang out in, i wouldnt doubt if there is rabbits in there to. I think its been beginners luck for the most part, but i hope to keep it up though. and yes it is addicting, the 2nd coyote i called in came in after 2 minutes ish of calling and was at 40 yards, i hit it with the 223 but didnt kill it. i think i just hit the lower shoulder. there was blood splatters every which way when i followed its tracks but saw it running off at 600+ yards. That got my heart pumping pretty good and its very fun, plus it'll help hone my shooting skills and i have something to do in the "off-season".
I'll be going next saturday to an area where i know alot of them are, hopefully i can post pics. I cant get out between school and basketball during the week which is kind of a bummer.

I have been lurking and reading LRH for the last couple of months or so and you guys are very informative and good about helping people out. The articles are interesting too, many are on coyote hunting.

would you guys recommend upgrading to a better call? or trying my to learn a hand call? ...what about decoys? those look pretty nifty.

thanks again for your comments
john

 

[tt35]

You're on the right track. I really like the fact that you asked about set-up rather than calls. I feel the set-up is the most important aspect of killing coyotes. And, don't feel too bad about your percentages. After a long lay off from calling, my son and I called 19 coyotes and only killed three of them. The three factors that changed the kill percentage were: set-ups, barking coyotes to a stop and using sticks or bipods.

Mark B gave really good advice on watching the downwind. Unless you are already exposed to all the coyotes coming from that direction, make sure you can see for 200 yards or more downwind. Make the coyotes expose themselves if they want the wind. I like some elevation. I don't want to leave a coyote a way to get to my stand without me seeing him. Close doors quietly. Move slooowly. Keep something behind you to beak up your outline.

As to sound, I would encourage you to get pretty proficient with the hand calls whether you upgrade to an electronic or not. You can mix in the hand call with the electronic. And,eventually your batteries will die midstand. If you can hand call, you won't have to waste the stand.

Sounds like you're doing pretty well for just starting out. Try to learn something form every coyote and every stand. You'll be tearing them up pretty soon. Good luck!

Tim
No Off Season
Predator and Varmint Gear

"No crowds, no limits, no seasons...no bad days."

 

[gunaddict]

I agree with tt35, the only thing I would add is, I only call for 20 minutes for coyotes. Start off calling low volume then work up . I use a bipod on the flats and shooting sticks when I am calling from advantage point. I also use a mouse squeaker attached to my stock. I also use coyote, mule deer uraine for cover scent. Good luck calling.

 

[kill_goose]

Lots of good info here.

Ill also add, if your call is one of those cheap pocket sized electronic units, you'd be better off spending $10-15 and getting a good open reed mouth call.

Those cheaper, small electronic units are unimpressive and monotonous.

20 minutes is my time "base". But certain conditions may warrant a longer sit. Wide open country and dead calm conditions where I know my sound is carrying a long way, I may sit longer as a coyote coming from a long ways off needs more time to get there (and if you dont give him enough time, he may bust you walking back to the truck). Deep snow also warrants a little longer sit. Last year in a tournament, my partner sat a stand for a good half hour. I called a different spot. When coming to pick him up, I saw him walking back to the road, and sitting on a hill 600 yards out was a coyote. It took him probably 45 minutes or so to show up. So you just never know.

You asked specifically about cattail sloughs. They hold a lot of coyotes in our country. At the same time, if they are extremely large, expansive cattail sloughs, I HATE calling them. Getting a coyote thats bedded for the day out of a huge patch of cattails is tough. If you know your going to be calling to big cover like this, try to hit it right away in the morning, or last thing in the evening. Try to get em while they are up and active.