Ramblings and Such From Hunting Coyote

Dave, shot one last night just before dark and the story it told me was that I am blind. Waited till sundown to call a coulee that has always had coyotes in it. The sun was down, I was facing southwest in a side coulee about 300 yards east of the main coulee. My idea being that I wanted to bring them from either up or down the main coulee and funnel them them up the side coulee to where I was. Started off with a prairie dog chirp. After 7 minutes went to an alley cat yowl. Now I was about 3/4 of a mile up the main coulee. After a few sequences of alley cat coyotes started howling at the top of the coulee I figured another 3/4 of a mile. I was at the 15 minute mark and thought I would howl back. Then I thought, why do that. They already know where I am and I know where they are. I thought to just sit tight and see if anything howled back to them that might be close to me. So I just sat there for a minimal of at least 5 more minutes in silence. It was starting to get borderline as far as shootable light goes. There was a small erosion cut bank creek in the bottom of the side coulee I was on. I caught movement of something that jumped down that cut bank. I thought the movement could only be a bugs bunny down there or I had a coyote coming. I sat up on my sticks and in a couple of seconds his head popped over the cut bank looking directly at me. The caller was halfway between us in a direct line. I would not have seen him if I hadn't seen the original flash of movement. I popped him in the chest. Big Male. That was at least the 20 minute mark. Why did a big male take so long to come in? Why did he sneak in? Then I thought maybe he came from a long ways. Maybe he was one of the ones howling way up the coulee. But I had been watching that way. And to get to the cut bank he jumped over he had to cross about a 100 yards of grass and sagebrush about 150 yards out in front of me. And if he was with the group that was howling why didn't any other coyotes come with him? I had a friend I hunted with 50 miles north of me for a couple of days and everything we called in was a double. He called in another double yesterday. I can't remember the last time I called in a double. I am starting to wonder and worry about how much I am missing and not seeing.
 
That is the intent Reemty , what story do they tell you? When I'm calling the first sighting tells me where they were when I started calling . While they are coming in the way they do it tells me if I'm doing what they are comfortable with or if they may have been trained in that sound . If they have a limp do they have a leg missing part of it is it broken or has been . When I get them shot what does their fur look like , are they rubbing or show singe , or mange . Are they fat and healthy looking . What sex are they . If it's spring time and it's a male what does his tail look like , because when he's pup setting while the female goes to feed and water , the pups play with his tail and wear the fur off on it so it looks ratty . If it's a female does she show sign of having pups , do I need to open her up to count the knots on her uterus so I know how many pups I'm looking for I already know what direction to start looking for the den from where she came from . How do the teeth look are they sharp like a younger coyote or are they worn and rounded like an older dog . If it's an older male are his ears torn from fighting other males so then do I need to focus on hunting more males in that area or is it mostly females I'm looking for ? I love open country that I can see coyote move in for at least a mile as I know they will hear my calls that far .
 
I have noticed that if you have some sage brush that is 18 to 24 inch's high they can slip through it almost unseen especially in low light . If he was away from the other coyote as a lot of times with older dogs he may not have howled also if they are very close to where you are calling often they won't howl with the others when they , do just show up . I would not want to tell my meal that I was there either .
 
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Straight Shooter I really don't think you are missing seeing much . There are still a lot of them that hang out by themselves . So what type of howls were the others doing , did they do any barks or was it just howls , could you tell how many there were , did they sound like they may be females or maybe young from last year ?
 
Straight Shooter , It sounds to me like he was just out on his own and may have been laying up in the sage brush for a little alone time . They are like that as am I just want a little time for themselves so then at the end of the day sleeping you hear the group get together and have a reunion but often you will hear one coyote out by themselves start it off by two barks and then two short howls . Often it's an old male that's just saying ok I'm done with my alone time what say we get together and visit then go for a hunt .
 
I've hunted coyote in the same county and now know where they will do what , when and for the most part why they do it , to an extent . When I'm calling I like to take notes of what happened on the stands , what was the weather ,what was the wind direction and speed , what was the temp. how long did it take before I saw movement not only predators with four legs but birds and rabbits ect. . Were there deer or antelope bedded down if so where were they bedded , on the down wind hill side , out in a sunny flat grassy spot , down in a draw in some brush finding some shade , near a spring or watering hole . When I'm at a watering hole , I like to walk around them to see what side of them the predators are coming in to drink . That tells me where they are coming from . Then I look at that direction to see what is in that area for them to be interested in is it a rock pile with rabbits and rodents and places for the predator to lay up and sun in the winter out of the wind or to lay up in the shade in the summer . Are there draws there that get them out of sight to let them travel , or can they lay up out of the weather ( sun , wind , heat or cold ) and maybe find a meal in them . In the spring when they are having pups does it look like a place they may want to hide there den holes , south facing slopes or cut banks . Seeing all this in my minds eye and taking note of it helps me to find stands that tell me I have a better chance of the animals I'm hunting being there .
 
I'm not a coyote hunter by any means but have killed a few over the years when the opportunity presented it's self.

The part of W. KY I live in has huge river bottoms, rolling hills and limestone bluffs and some of the best fishing in the country with the Tennessee, Cumberland and Ohio rivers, plus KY lake, Lake Barkley and Smithland Pool in my back yard, a sportsman paradise IMHO.

Until I had shoulder surgery in 2011 I bow hunted a lot, turkeys and deer. In the last week of October 2010 I was hunting my brothers small farm. I was in a wooded area about 30 yards from the corner of a four acre field. The deer would cross the field, come through the small wood lot I was hunting and cross to a neighbors property. A nice buck was coming across the field in my direction with his nose on the ground, I had already picked up my bow and was ready for a shot if one was presented. The deer was about 100 yards from me when he suddenly stopped and looked down the field. The hairs on his back stood up and he ran back the direction he came, stopping in the edge of the field from me. He stood there and watched then bounded away.

The way he acted I didn't think it was a more dominant deer that caused him to run so I was somewhat bumfuzzled. Just as I was going to hang up my bow I caught a movement in the field, coyote! He was about the place where the deer had been when he ran and was traveling at a trot. I mouse squeaked on the back of my hand, he stopped and looked my direction. He was about 40 yards and wide open but I knew if I moved he'd bust me so I didn't move. He stood for what seemed like minutes then started moving again. As he did I started turning towards the corner of the field. When I was set I squeaked on the back of my hand again. He turned and ran into the woods, bad mistake. My Carbon Express 300 hit him behind the shoulder, he turned about three circles and lay still.

I've killed deer, turkeys and ground hogs with a bow but this coyote is my most prized kill. I know this isn't very impressive compared to most stories already posted but I'll never forget it.
 

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justinp61 said:
I'm not a coyote hunter by any means but have killed a few over the years when the opportunity presented it's self.

The part of W. KY I live in has huge river bottoms, rolling hills and limestone bluffs and some of the best fishing in the country with the Tennessee, Cumberland and Ohio rivers, plus KY lake, Lake Barkley and Smithland Pool in my back yard, a sportsman paradise IMHO.

Until I had shoulder surgery in 2011 I bow hunted a lot, turkeys and deer. In the last week of October 2010 I was hunting my brothers small farm. I was in a wooded area about 30 yards from the corner of a four acre field. The deer would cross the field, come through the small wood lot I was hunting and cross to a neighbors property. A nice buck was coming across the field in my direction with his nose on the ground, I had already picked up my bow and was ready for a shot if one was presented. The deer was about 100 yards from me when he suddenly stopped and looked down the field. The hairs on his back stood up and he ran back the direction he came, stopping in the edge of the field from me. He stood there and watched then bounded away.

The way he acted I didn't think it was a more dominant deer that caused him to run so I was somewhat bumfuzzled. Just as I was going to hang up my bow I caught a movement in the field, coyote! He was about the place where the deer had been when he ran and was traveling at a trot. I mouse squeaked on the back of my hand, he stopped and looked my direction. He was about 40 yards and wide open but I knew if I moved he'd bust me so I didn't move. He stood for what seemed like minutes then started moving again. As he did I started turning towards the corner of the field. When I was set I squeaked on the back of my hand again. He turned and ran into the woods, bad mistake. My Carbon Express 300 hit him behind the shoulder, he turned about three circles and lay still.

I've killed deer, turkeys and ground hogs with a bow but this coyote is my most prized kill. I know this isn't very impressive compared to most stories already posted but I'll never forget it.
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Justinp61 ,

Great story and description of your hunt .
And a fantastic trophy . Very few coyotes are taken by a bow and arrow .
CONGRATULATIONS .

DMP25-06
 
Justinp61, that is a great story and great trophy! I also am a bowhunter and it's almost impossible to get a draw on one of those for sure. Great job.
 
Thanks guys.

A couple years before the hunt above I was in the same woods bowhunting and heard something running towards me. It was a grey fox and he was smokin' when he came by, about 15-20 seconds later a coyote came by at warp speed also. There was no time for a shot so I just watched . Maybe 15 minutes later the coyote came back by with what was left of the fox in his mouth. That's the last grey fox I've seen and that's been close to 15 years ago.
 

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