Coyote Calling in the Wind - food for thought

[CV32]

But, it seems in your world, you think someone offering advise that is not merely a quote of your own post is equivalent to "taking a shot" at you? I guess the mods should have locked the thread after you shared your perfect advice. LOL!!

I've had similar experiences with him. A bit of an excitable fellow, that Mr. Hare. Don't sweat it, Baron.

 

[Adrian J Hare]

Its not excitement that's for sure, I guess Taking a Shot was not the right phrase, maybe Scratching Out my Opinion/Advice, Stepping On it, I don't know but I guess it hit a nerve. The fact that only 3 replies between comments is what I didn't understand and kind of made me feel I wasted my time. I try to explain myself and sometimes it just does not seem to come out the way I mean it. I take time to try and help and over the years the mud slinging back I've received just seems to ware on ya. My opinion tends to come from the field as I sit on a setup and am looking out in the field, and what unfolds is what happens for what I try and share.

I apologise for the comments if I took them the wrong way.
Their is enough members on here with experience that not all opinions are needed and not like that from me.
Sorry for the remarks , carry on and enjoy the forum

 

[Glock4ever]

We've had a lot of windy days recently, and the math geek in me got thinking about how far sound carries in the wind and how that might affect my coyote calling success.

We all know that scouting and knowing where/when coyotes may be around is a critical factor, and we can improve success on windy days by heading into areas of thick cover/lee side of hills etc. These areas are not only sheltered from some of the wind, so the call sound might travel a little further, but are also more likely to be holding the coyotes who are dozing out of the wind.

Getting back to my math musings, it seems pretty basic that if no coyote can hear my call I'm not going to call any in. Sound will travel differently downwind vs. upwind and in hilly vs. level terrain, open country vs. woods, etc. but (because I'm really not that smart) I assumed all other variables are equal and the sound radiates out from the caller in a perfect circle. If on a calm day the sound of the call might be heard by coyotes up to 750m away (which I think is a reasonable estimate) and I use that as the radius of the area I could draw coyotes in from, that means I'm reaching approximately 1.77 sq. km. As the wind picks up the distance the call may be heard would begin to diminish - if a moderate wind reduced the radius my call is reaching to 500m, the area of effect drops to 0.79 sq. km so that 1/3 decrease in sound travel distance means the area I'm hunting is essentially cut to less than half. If a stronger wind reduced the effective calling range to 250m, the area is further reduced to 0.20 sq. km - just 12% of the area being covered on a calm day! Even if my distance estimates are a little off, it's still easy to see the odds get stacked against us very quickly as the wind increases.

Just some food for thought that will have me banking some time in my home office, watching for those calm days in the forecast.

Interesting thoughts but I think you are oversimplifying coyote calling. You are making the assumption that as long as a coyote can hear you that you will be successful. I think that the "what" is more important than the volume. Coyotes are constantly moving, scavenging and hunting so at some point a coyote in your hunting area (call it 5-10 sq km) will hear you. From what I have seen most coyotes are not primarily hunters but more scavengers so having an unnaturally loud rabbit distress is not necessarily the key to success - as it probably would be unusual for a coyote to hear a loud distressed animal as its primary means of supper. I think a lot more success can be drawn from having the right types of calls to pique a coyote's curiosity. Whenever the rabbit distress works (at least for me), I generally think it is because the coyote is curious to see what is making that noise. Things that I have seen that have really brought in the coyotes hard and fast, howling/coyote challenges at the right times (i.e. mating season). Coyote pup distress works wonders sometimes but I think they really only work when the coyote has a litter. I am still trying to learn the coyote life cycles so that I can select the right sounds to bring them in.

 

[The Baron]

Oh yea, for sure there's a whole lot more to it than simply being heard. And certainly no, I don't mean to say if a coyote hears the call it's coming - we all wish it was that easy! What I did say is if no coyote ever hears the call, the odds of calling one in are pretty poor. LOL

i agree that several of the coyotes I've seen/shot that were "coming" to prey distress sounds were more just curious. Most don't charge in, they just come for a look. Which is good enough. I actually kind of prefer that to the times I've had coyotes charge hard, run right over the caller/decoy then realize their mistake and kick in the afterburners. More often than not I come away empty handed from those surprises.

 

[Glock4ever]

Oh yea, for sure there's a whole lot more to it than simply being heard. And certainly no, I don't mean to say if a coyote hears the call it's coming - we all wish it was that easy! What I did say is if no coyote ever hears the call, the odds of calling one in are pretty poor. LOL

i agree that several of the coyotes I've seen/shot that were "coming" to prey distress sounds were more just curious. Most don't charge in, they just come for a look. Which is good enough. I actually kind of prefer that to the times I've had coyotes charge hard, run right over the caller/decoy then realize their mistake and kick in the afterburners. More often than not I come away empty handed from those surprises.

Perhaps you may be right but I am starting to change up my tactics to try new things. As weird as it sounds, I am trying to create little vignettes (what can I say I love the drama!) Sometimes I will set up a coyote decoy to look like it is just challenging, other times I like to make it look like the coyote is eating something (stuffed toy or jack attack) to see if I can bring out the territoriality of the local coyotes. I used to worry about volume but after seeing coyotes run across the open prairie to a sound only to hold up and watch into the killzone, I am trying different things to see if I can get them to commit. I am a slow learner but I do find that sound selection vice sound volume is becoming more and more important for a successful hunt in my neck of the woods and in our area a lot of guys like the really Prairie Blaster sized calls... Just my 2 cents.