Tricks of the trade for coyote hunting

BRUTE

LSB Member
LoneStarBoars Supporter
I need to do some coyote control on a place we deer hunt and run cattle. What's yalls preferred methods for hunting coyotes? Times, weather, e-calls, dead bate, terrain, how long does it take for them come in before you should try another spot, ect?

Any thing will be helpful. I have shot a few just by crossing paths with them but never had any luck sitting down and trying to bring them in.

Thanks
 

Brian Shaffer

Hog Hunter
SUS VENATOR CLUB
LoneStarBoars Supporter
I am told that the guys who compete will stay on a spot for about an average of 12 minutes before moving and they won't move more than 100 yards before setting up again. A buddy of mine up in Colorado hunts a lot of yotes and will spend up to a half hour on a spot with no action before leaving and often manages multiple kills from the same spot, but he has wide open views for hundreds and hundreds of yards and can shoot in multiple directions.

Electronic callers are very helpful if you don't know how to properly mouth call. I have had best luck with distressed rabbit sounds and piglet distress sounds at night (don't hunt very often in daytime).

A wiggler can be very helpful with the call. It gives the coyotes something to focus on. Otherwise, they often come in, see the location of the sound and no action, and take off.

How long does it take them to come? Where are they when you start calling? I have turned on a caller, put the remote in my pocket and had a coyote run by before I even had my rifle shouldered. I have run a caller on and off for several hours before a coyote finally was in range, hungry/interested enough to come and see what was going on.

As I was told the first time I went coyote hunting, "It can happen very fast." This means that the coyotes can come in fast, assess the situation, and be gone before you realize it. More that once, I have been spending too much time scanning in one direction only to have a coyote come in, hit the caller, and then me see it running away from the caller. So keep scanning all the time and don't fixate on one particular area or you can miss an opportunity.

A bark, lipsqueak, or whistle often will bring a coyote to a stop, because they are curious, even if they have hit the caller and realize it is a ruse.
 

JPK

LSB Active Member
We hunt coyote exclusively at night. We prefer a cold snap to make sure they're hungry and dry weather with moderate wind.

We don't have huge numbers of coyotes and we spend about a half hour an hour in a spot. It can happen fast, as Brian notes, but it is surprising how many "last scans" turn up a coyote (or fox, which we also hunt.) We stay about 15 mins after the last calling.

If we draw a coyote (or fox) and shoot, we either keep the call going or turn it on.

When we move, if we aren't changing farms, we move about a half mile and call again.

I agree with Brian about an electronic caller, and even the Fox Pro Inferno, one of the smaller, less expensive models, is a great caller comparable to much higher end caller of not that long ago. For big terrain a bigger caller with twin speakers or remote speaker is helpful.

Any decoy helps keep a coyote focused on something other than on you, and decoys work on brighter nights. A very useful decoy can be made with a turkey or goose feather on a length of 20lb monofilament fishing line tied to a 3' or so bamboo garden stake stuck in the ground. I will flutter in even light breezes. Doesn't work on windless nights though, which are not preferred anyway.

We like to hunt with the call more or less upwind, and prefer a wide view of the terrain. Even though a coyotes nose is sharp, it pays to keep scanning your downwind side. The breeeze may follow a terrain feature or rise above an area, or maybe the coyote will just ignore your scent, who knows for sure what happens when. For sure though, coyotes and foxes have appeared on the downwind side, sometimes very close.

I understand that some guys out west with really open terrain will hunt with their caller down wind, and hope to shoot the coyotes(s) before they circle down wind. Which bears noting - many times a coyote or fox will be coming to the call but will will try to circle down wind of the call before going to it. I think a fluttering electronic or feather decoy helps keep a coyote from circling downwind since it keeps their attention and seems to be the prey that is or has been making all of those calls.

If the ranch has a dead pile for carcasses, it always bears a look. One farm my buds and I hunt has a single dead pile where anything that dies is dragged, and deer carcasses, etc. we catch a fox or coyote on it every so often.

The best way to learn how to predator hunt is to go with a bud, or get him to hunt your place with you. Cuts down on the learning curve.

JPK
 

pruhdlr

Cantonment,Fla.
SUS VENATOR CLUB
"You can fool a coyotes eyes with camo. You can fool his ears with a predator call. But a coyote ALWAYS belives his nose." ---- pruhdlr
 

BRUTE

LSB Member
LoneStarBoars Supporter
Thanks guys. Sounds like I need to go shopping.

This place is going to be tricky. There really aren't many wide open areas. Most are 5-15 ac, one 25ac field. Lots of pockets, roads, and scendaros.
 

JPK

LSB Active Member
Yea, calling from the downwind corners.

Best to lay out a game plan in advance, working from the downwind side of the farm/ranch.

JPK
 
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