We also have had a lot of wind this winter with several days having gusts over 60 mph , one day had gusts over 110mph and another the wind blew over 90 mph for nearly 24 hours straight . We haven't had a lot of snow either and it has been warmer then normal .
Ramblings and Such From Hunting Coyote
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74 honker pm me your address and I will get you set up, I know you can order AA2520 online, so I will send you some bullets, I refuse to take a no on this!!
Years back I was working nights at a power plant , to support my coyote hunting addiction , . I found a good deal on a pair of Stiner 8x40 binoculars and was telling a guy about them . We had both been in the service and he said he had brought a pair of binoculars back from overseas and that he would bring them out for me to look at . He said they had some funny markings in the left lens but he hadn't ever figured out what it was . So the next day he showed me them and when I first looked at them I asked him do you know what you have here no was his answer . It was a pair of Russian artillery observers binoculars . The markings in the left lens were for ranging artillery rounds and make corrections . He had gotten them during Tet and didn't know what he had and nobody bothered to ask him about them so he sent them home as a souvenir but was now using them to hunt with .
The snow moon comes up at 4:21 P.M. and sets at 6:37 A.M. eastern time tonight . For me that says that the animals will be active all night long and less active during the day . When I was trapping the predators I would normally see a decline in catches during a full moon at night . I just figured that they were depending on eye sight during this time more then their noses so they didn't need to get as close to the gland lure on my cotton ball in the set backing to tell where and what it was . I found that when I only used one or two drops of my favorite gland lure on my backing , no matter what the moon was doing I had more catches . I went for more then 25 years having traps set for coyote all year long so I got to see some of the things that they did in all seasons when they would approach a set . At most times I was working animals that had already been tried by others so they didn't just walk right into a set . I had a very productive fox set in a saddle it was a major travel way from one big drainage to another big drainage that lead to a river . I averaged around 20 fox a winter in that saddle and 5 or 6 coyote a year . During the winter in the snow you could see the fox tracks just walk straight to the down wind sets . But when the coyote tracks were read it was a different story . You could see where they would first smell the lure stop and stand for awhile , then most often they would move off of the trail and start to circle the set . Sometimes they would be about 10 feet from the set making the first circle then narrow it down to a 3 foot circle before coming into the set . I have seen in the snow where they would lay down and look at the set from several feet out before getting up and going to it . Few of the red fox did any thing like this they for the most part just went straight to the set . Coyote that I have delt with even the new ones of the year tended to error on the side of caution by their nature . Just to set and watch them from a distance always fascinated me . Ok enough rambling on , back to the original topic of the February full moon being up tonight . The moon has been rising in late afternoon and early evening this week . So then have any of you been doing any calling in the mornings this last week or so ? If so what were your sucess rates like ? With the moon setting in the mornings I would have better luck calling at those times myself so am just curious as to what others have seen the last week or so .
Some interesting things are happening on this site today . I think it may have to do with some of the bad actors that have been using it as of late . It is a family oriented site and has been kept clean , they do a good job and I'm glad to see it being done that way . Dave
Bucklowery
Well-Known Member
You can tell there has been a great influx of new members for sure. I thought you were going to say because of the full moon. LOL it does seem to make folks and critters act differently
Thanks
Buck
I have also noticed some odd behavioral patterns with people and animals under full moon conditions . The ER dr's say the same things about people and the numbers of odd cases they see during and around full moons Buck . I had a friend that was 82nd air borne who spent a lot of time in jungle's south of here he said it was always amazing to him what he saw there and here during full moons .
UH OH, must've been some "other" kind of ramblings lol. I've been busy and on the road most of the day and missed it all. Probably for the better lol. I too agree that this site is VERY well managed.
We have several medical pros in our family including a NP at a trauma center and yes the full moon effect is absolutely true. The coyotes around here have been pretty tight lipped last week or so. Guessing maybe the pairing up is done? Heard 2 or 3 talk right at dusk 2 nights ago but thats been it. I do have one showed up same area and timeframe last 2 mornings. Will try to be ready for it tomorrow but BIG weather change tonight and tomorrow may affect it also.
74honker , my friend from the 82nd was a medic and ended up being an ER Dr. that's where he said he saw some interesting things during full moons . I haven't talked to him in several years now but I think he's still a traveling ER Dr. . It's getting close to March and the breading season should be slowing down the coyote in my area should pretty much have their denning areas and home ranges set up by now . They probably aren't talking a whole lot at this time just enough to let the other coyote know they are the ones in their areas and it is occupied . They should be responding well to the right coyote vocalizations if you are in their areas or close to their areas and at the right time of the day or night .
Here in my area we haven't had much snow or cold weather this winter . We have had a lot of wind however with wind gusts of 90 and one or two over 100 mph . I-25 has been closed a few times due to ice and wind with blowing and drifting snow . Today it went from 56 degrees F yesterday to a high of only 16 degrees F , snow and wind . Wind chills of well below zero here today . This year hasn't been very friendly for the hunters and callers with all of the high winds . We had a three week period that the wind didn't stop blowing day or night . I woke up one night at 2:30 A.M. and for awhile I couldn't figure out what woke me up It was quiet the wind had stopped blowing and there wasn't any wind sound . The snow we are getting doesn't really have any moisture content . It's a real fine powder blowing and drifting if you put it in a 3 quart sauce pan and filled it to the top then melted it you would only get 1/2 inch of water out of it at most . The people north of us are having it harder though with colder temperatures , wind and snow blowing , the people to the east are getting more snow and rains with flooding in areas . For sure a winter for the memory books no matter where you live . Stay in , warm and safe till this front moves back up north and we get warmer weather .
nealm66
Well-Known Member
Minus 17 degrees and blowing 15 here in Cheyenne at 7:00am. Trace of snow. Like D says - no moisture.
TRnCO
Well-Known Member
I went with a friend of mine to a new (to me) 35,000 acre ranch in S.E. Colo. this past weekend. We got down there and got started late Friday morning. We hunted all day to sundown and only managed to get 5 called in and 3 killed. Heard zero vocals although I did start a few stands with long howls.
Then Saturday morning, cold crisp calm, and they were all willing to yap it up. First stand I had em talking, in multiple directions. One group, the closest, were really vocal, but I couldn't see them and couldn't make em move. So we moved 600 yards closer to them and I tried again. Now I was able to see them, still 3/4 mile away. BUT now that I could see them, I was able to play on their body language and eventually got them to come to a little breeding fight sound that is on the Luckyduck. Was an awesome thing to watch, them lined up coming from 3/4 mile. Long story short, got them to stop just 35 yards and we got two killed.
Then we humped in a couple miles to get the wind in our favor on another group that was being vocal while we were playing with the first group. Really got lucky on our set up. When I started that stand with a male long howl, I got immediate response form a close pair and then a single answered and I could see it. Long story shortened, the pair came pretty quick to just the howls and then a little fight sound brought the single on over and we killed the 3. And then the wind came and we never did any more calling Saturday, but gave us a chance to explore the ranch.
Sunday was a warm morning with zero wind. First stand blanked, no howling. Second stand started off the same but eventually a pair howled and I got them spotted, again about 3/4 mile out. They didn't want to budge out way at all. After about 40 minutes, they started to move off over the hill, so I decided to do one last thing, just to see their reaction. I did a pair howl which is kind of an aggressive sound on the LD. That got under their skin, got em scratchin' and ****in' and howling, but still maintained their direction away. So as soon as they went over the hill, told my friend grab your stuff and let's go. Cut the distance by a strong half mile and set up at the mouth of the draw that they dropped into. Started with that same pair howl and not 5 minutes later had em in our sights. Only got the male killed, but it was still awesome.
Killed a couple more singles with distress sounds late Sunday morning before calling it quits. 71 degrees, but despite the warmth, they were still responding.
End the weekend with 11 killed of the 15 called in. Saw a total of 20.
Then Saturday morning, cold crisp calm, and they were all willing to yap it up. First stand I had em talking, in multiple directions. One group, the closest, were really vocal, but I couldn't see them and couldn't make em move. So we moved 600 yards closer to them and I tried again. Now I was able to see them, still 3/4 mile away. BUT now that I could see them, I was able to play on their body language and eventually got them to come to a little breeding fight sound that is on the Luckyduck. Was an awesome thing to watch, them lined up coming from 3/4 mile. Long story short, got them to stop just 35 yards and we got two killed.
Then we humped in a couple miles to get the wind in our favor on another group that was being vocal while we were playing with the first group. Really got lucky on our set up. When I started that stand with a male long howl, I got immediate response form a close pair and then a single answered and I could see it. Long story shortened, the pair came pretty quick to just the howls and then a little fight sound brought the single on over and we killed the 3. And then the wind came and we never did any more calling Saturday, but gave us a chance to explore the ranch.
Sunday was a warm morning with zero wind. First stand blanked, no howling. Second stand started off the same but eventually a pair howled and I got them spotted, again about 3/4 mile out. They didn't want to budge out way at all. After about 40 minutes, they started to move off over the hill, so I decided to do one last thing, just to see their reaction. I did a pair howl which is kind of an aggressive sound on the LD. That got under their skin, got em scratchin' and ****in' and howling, but still maintained their direction away. So as soon as they went over the hill, told my friend grab your stuff and let's go. Cut the distance by a strong half mile and set up at the mouth of the draw that they dropped into. Started with that same pair howl and not 5 minutes later had em in our sights. Only got the male killed, but it was still awesome.
Killed a couple more singles with distress sounds late Sunday morning before calling it quits. 71 degrees, but despite the warmth, they were still responding.
End the weekend with 11 killed of the 15 called in. Saw a total of 20.
