Seeing as it's time to switch from hunting deer to coyote, I'm looking for info on hunting these critters. I haven't shot any yet but been out looking for them a few times. This year I'm hoping to devote more time to these critters and would appreciate a little help. I've got my .223 and an electronic call, and I understand that they will circle down wind of the call normally. On my caller I have several distress calls (cottontail, jackrabbit, fawn, pup,) as well as coyote serenade, howl, challenge, and female invitation. What calls have you found to work best, do you switch distress calls and use them in sequence, or one call per set. When do you use a challenge or howl etc. I'm quite new to this and would appreciate any advice you can give me.
Coyote hunting tips and tricks
- Thread starter sawatzky
- Start date
I have posted this before, but to save time I will paste it here.
The first rule of coyote hunting is to hunt where there are coyotes.
We call coyotes that have been called before and not killed "educated" coyotes. If yours are educated, and hunting pressure will educate many for sure, they will be very hard to call. You may have to try something "different" to get their curiosity aroused. That is a very wide topic, so I will stick to generalities we use as SOP.
If they know you are there, they will not come. No skylining; no walking across open areas if possible; stick to edges; use depressions; do not be easily visible from far away at any time.
No noise. You are going to call an animal with a sound, so don't make any that sound like coyote hunters. No talking; no slamming truck doors; no noise you can avoid; approaching the area while keeping a ridge between you and the area masks sound well.
Control your scent plume so it does not enter the area you intend to call to. We do not use any scent masking soaps, sprays, clothing, or whatever, because we believe they are useless and the only way to avoid a coyote's nose is to not let him smell you. One exception is we will often deliberately allow our scent into an open area down wind. Often coyotes will circle down wind to get a smell of what's making the noise. If the open area is large enough, they must expose themselves to do so. Often, in that moment they get your scent, they will stop to think it over for a few seconds. THAT is a good time to shoot, because they will likely leave after they decide what you are.
Break up your outline somehow. Brush in front (as long as you have a shooting lane) or behind you will do that. Do not move around any more than you must. We like to hunt in pairs. One guy gets fairly hidden, sometimes giving up long range vision, and does the calling. The other sets up to cover the approaches from an angle that allows him to see well, but the animal will be looking somewhere else. Decoys can work for this distraction too, if you are alone.
We use mouth calls exclusively. We walk lots and we hate carrying crap. That's the only reason to avoid the electronics that we can think of; that and the cost, and cold batteries. We have howlers, but use them mostly for "location" calls and then move in and use "dying prey" type calls. We believe only dominant animals will really approach a stranger in their territory, so howlers are less productive than prey type calls. We want the insecure ones too.
Call "softly" the first time in case they are close; you don't want to scare them. We call for 30 seconds to a minute and then sit for 5 and watch. The next set of calls can be louder. Watch very, very carefully. Binoculars are a real help, even in the bush. You cannot pay too much attention. Around here, if you see a magpie coming to the call, pay close attention to that direction. Coyotes and magpies hang out a lot together. Pay attention to the really unexpected directions too. Make head movements slow and steady rather than quick glances. Move nothing more than you have to.
The length of time we call a particular set up depends on how long we think a coyote would take to come from the farthest ranges we think the call is reaching. Wind knocks down calls really quickly, so your range is short. Calling from a ridge on a calm evening will reach a long way. Experience is likely the only teacher here. We have had coyotes over half an hour into the set, but most of the time 15 minutes will tell you what you need to know. Be very careful once you decide the set is done. Stand up slowly and have a long look around. The new angle will reveal all those coyotes you called but have not yet seen (and there will be a depressingly large number of them). You may get a shot if you don't create too much of a spectacle so that the dog has to figure out what the H*** just moved. But chances will not last long.
If you are going to just move and try again, don't talk, don't make noise, don't expose yourselves any more than you must. They may be watching. We move far enough to enter a "new" area that we think holds animals that have no heard us. In a big wind that may not be far; on a calm day that may be half a mile or more. We avoid calling the same area more than a couple of times a winter. Educated coyotes and all that.
Shooting sticks or bipods are essential. We use .22-250s or .243 and one 6mm Rem as dedicated coyote rifles. Coyotes are, pound for pound, a very tough animal. They are also small targets. You need to be able to shoot well, and shoot quickly at times with some honest power too. Multiples get really interesting. We agree before hand about left side/right side etc. and who will shoot first.
The first rule of coyote hunting is to hunt where there are coyotes.
We call coyotes that have been called before and not killed "educated" coyotes. If yours are educated, and hunting pressure will educate many for sure, they will be very hard to call. You may have to try something "different" to get their curiosity aroused. That is a very wide topic, so I will stick to generalities we use as SOP.
If they know you are there, they will not come. No skylining; no walking across open areas if possible; stick to edges; use depressions; do not be easily visible from far away at any time.
No noise. You are going to call an animal with a sound, so don't make any that sound like coyote hunters. No talking; no slamming truck doors; no noise you can avoid; approaching the area while keeping a ridge between you and the area masks sound well.
Control your scent plume so it does not enter the area you intend to call to. We do not use any scent masking soaps, sprays, clothing, or whatever, because we believe they are useless and the only way to avoid a coyote's nose is to not let him smell you. One exception is we will often deliberately allow our scent into an open area down wind. Often coyotes will circle down wind to get a smell of what's making the noise. If the open area is large enough, they must expose themselves to do so. Often, in that moment they get your scent, they will stop to think it over for a few seconds. THAT is a good time to shoot, because they will likely leave after they decide what you are.
Break up your outline somehow. Brush in front (as long as you have a shooting lane) or behind you will do that. Do not move around any more than you must. We like to hunt in pairs. One guy gets fairly hidden, sometimes giving up long range vision, and does the calling. The other sets up to cover the approaches from an angle that allows him to see well, but the animal will be looking somewhere else. Decoys can work for this distraction too, if you are alone.
We use mouth calls exclusively. We walk lots and we hate carrying crap. That's the only reason to avoid the electronics that we can think of; that and the cost, and cold batteries. We have howlers, but use them mostly for "location" calls and then move in and use "dying prey" type calls. We believe only dominant animals will really approach a stranger in their territory, so howlers are less productive than prey type calls. We want the insecure ones too.
Call "softly" the first time in case they are close; you don't want to scare them. We call for 30 seconds to a minute and then sit for 5 and watch. The next set of calls can be louder. Watch very, very carefully. Binoculars are a real help, even in the bush. You cannot pay too much attention. Around here, if you see a magpie coming to the call, pay close attention to that direction. Coyotes and magpies hang out a lot together. Pay attention to the really unexpected directions too. Make head movements slow and steady rather than quick glances. Move nothing more than you have to.
The length of time we call a particular set up depends on how long we think a coyote would take to come from the farthest ranges we think the call is reaching. Wind knocks down calls really quickly, so your range is short. Calling from a ridge on a calm evening will reach a long way. Experience is likely the only teacher here. We have had coyotes over half an hour into the set, but most of the time 15 minutes will tell you what you need to know. Be very careful once you decide the set is done. Stand up slowly and have a long look around. The new angle will reveal all those coyotes you called but have not yet seen (and there will be a depressingly large number of them). You may get a shot if you don't create too much of a spectacle so that the dog has to figure out what the H*** just moved. But chances will not last long.
If you are going to just move and try again, don't talk, don't make noise, don't expose yourselves any more than you must. They may be watching. We move far enough to enter a "new" area that we think holds animals that have no heard us. In a big wind that may not be far; on a calm day that may be half a mile or more. We avoid calling the same area more than a couple of times a winter. Educated coyotes and all that.
Shooting sticks or bipods are essential. We use .22-250s or .243 and one 6mm Rem as dedicated coyote rifles. Coyotes are, pound for pound, a very tough animal. They are also small targets. You need to be able to shoot well, and shoot quickly at times with some honest power too. Multiples get really interesting. We agree before hand about left side/right side etc. and who will shoot first.
My dad and I went for a "drive" today looking for coyotes.
Loosely translated it means the calls stay in the truck and we drive around having a look.
Not 3 miles from his house we come over a small hill into an area full of scrub brush and small ravines.
In roughly the next mile we saw about 40-50 deer and 9 coyotes.
Like rral22 says, you have to go where the coyotes are.
Tomorrow the Foxpro and the Swift are getting thrown in the truck and I'll see if I can persuade a coyote to get a bit closer than today.
Loosely translated it means the calls stay in the truck and we drive around having a look.
Not 3 miles from his house we come over a small hill into an area full of scrub brush and small ravines.
In roughly the next mile we saw about 40-50 deer and 9 coyotes.
Like rral22 says, you have to go where the coyotes are.
Tomorrow the Foxpro and the Swift are getting thrown in the truck and I'll see if I can persuade a coyote to get a bit closer than today.
fingers284
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Alberta Cowboy Ranges
Excellent post rral22 I haven't called yote's for 20 yrs but your post really brought back the yearning to try it again.
if i may I would like to add a few suggestions. The first being that if you want to get educated and watch how yote's act when called you need to leave your rifle at home and go out after mid-night on the britest moonlight winter night that comes up. When you do this it is best to have a buddy with you so you can sit back to back. I can gaurantee you some of the most exciting moments you will ever have in the wild. Multiple spottings at most sets is the norm in the middle of the night. The most I can remember coming in in one set was 7 animals. As I said earlier it will be probably the most energizing thing you may ever do in the wild as most of them come on the run ( they feel safe in the semi darknes), we had one come to within 6 ft of us one night..... we threw f#@$%n snowballs at him.
As it is New Years it is apropo for this next tip. All of my calling was back in the 70's and 80's so we didn't have electronic calls and we discovered the best calls we had available to us were, believe it or not, the noise makers from the New Years eve dances. Rip the paper horns and extending tubes from the plastic and you have a very effective call. They weren't very durable, one may last a week while the next might only last one set. My buddy and I wouldn't miss a New Years eve dance, our wives thought we were taking them out for a good time, when in reality we just wanted to fill our pockets up with discarded noise makers. My buddy hunts some with a friend who has an electronic call, he says it works but still thinks the noise makers make a better wounded bunny.
Another pointer is to look for Magpies, if you see two or more hanging around a bit of bush chances are there will be a yote close by, they know that where a yote is there is going to be something dead shortly and they scavenge what the yote leaves.
if i may I would like to add a few suggestions. The first being that if you want to get educated and watch how yote's act when called you need to leave your rifle at home and go out after mid-night on the britest moonlight winter night that comes up. When you do this it is best to have a buddy with you so you can sit back to back. I can gaurantee you some of the most exciting moments you will ever have in the wild. Multiple spottings at most sets is the norm in the middle of the night. The most I can remember coming in in one set was 7 animals. As I said earlier it will be probably the most energizing thing you may ever do in the wild as most of them come on the run ( they feel safe in the semi darknes), we had one come to within 6 ft of us one night..... we threw f#@$%n snowballs at him.
As it is New Years it is apropo for this next tip. All of my calling was back in the 70's and 80's so we didn't have electronic calls and we discovered the best calls we had available to us were, believe it or not, the noise makers from the New Years eve dances. Rip the paper horns and extending tubes from the plastic and you have a very effective call. They weren't very durable, one may last a week while the next might only last one set. My buddy and I wouldn't miss a New Years eve dance, our wives thought we were taking them out for a good time, when in reality we just wanted to fill our pockets up with discarded noise makers. My buddy hunts some with a friend who has an electronic call, he says it works but still thinks the noise makers make a better wounded bunny.
Another pointer is to look for Magpies, if you see two or more hanging around a bit of bush chances are there will be a yote close by, they know that where a yote is there is going to be something dead shortly and they scavenge what the yote leaves.
Sask_Hunter
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- Saskatchewan
rral22 knocked it out of the park, very good post with solid no BS facts. I would add use your binoculars if your hunting any kind of open country. I've have spotted most of the coyotes I've taken this year way before they are in range. It helps me get set up a bit sooner and get ready for a shot before they are close.
Enjoy it learn from your mistake and have fun.
Enjoy it learn from your mistake and have fun.
Thanks for the advice so far guys. I'm in southern ontario, so no magpies around, and the farthest open terrain I'll likely encounter a yote from is about 400yrds. I might give those new years eve blasters a try too. Thanks for the great write up rral22. Lots of info there for me to digest.
Donny Fenn1
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- East Kootenays
Very, very well written and factual. I've been calling for almost 20 years and that is one of the best summaries I've ever read.
The thing with coyotes is they will teach you something every time you go out. Movement on your part is a definite no no.
Camo is not as important as not moving IMHO, I've called a coyote across a half mile of freshly cut hay dressed in a white t-shirt and jeans and I'm sure he never knew I was there. I've blown stands in full camo because I moved at the wrong time.
- Location
- The Conservative part of Ontario
Like in other forms of hunting, be ready for fast action. I shot one while moose hunting at a distance of about 20 feet. I dropped over a ledge, and was walking down onto a beaver dam, when I looked behind me and to my right, to see a coyote watching me from the top of the ledge I had just dropped over. Dead yote.
Hey guys I got a question
Is it mating time for coyotes right now?
and in mating season do they not respond to calls ass much because of other intrests? because I find all of a sudden they they are not interested in my calls. I was out calling(rabbit distress) the last two times and they just look up towards me and go about their own business with no care in the world.
Is it mating time for coyotes right now?
and in mating season do they not respond to calls ass much because of other intrests? because I find all of a sudden they they are not interested in my calls. I was out calling(rabbit distress) the last two times and they just look up towards me and go about their own business with no care in the world.
Shouldn't be mating right now. Most of that happens February and early March around here. We actually don't notice much change in their "callability" during mating season. The response you describe would make me think I was "made", or they have already heard that sound before and know it's a trick. Someone educated them.
Adrian J Hare
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- NewLowell On. Can.
The topic is well explained by rr and there is not a lot that can be added. I am from Southern Ontario and hunt a lot of woods and have found that the yotes here do not like to cross fields in great distances unless in a situation that you are a way off from travels roads in which is hard to find in this area. I tend to setup within a 150-200 yard range from the woods of expect. As explained after a set is finished I tend to move 200-300 yards in the upwind direction and re-setup and try again. I have found that this works on yotes that dont hear the calling setup before maybe because of the wind or volume of wood thickness. Coyote hunting in Southern Ontario can also be tough as areas are populated and people can bust your setups if your to close to traveled areas. First light seems to be the high percentage time before people get moving around. I personaly have not had any action after 10:00 am but will do a set or two a couple hours before dark. One thing that I have learned over the years is Dont give up, intrest can be lost after a number of setups and no action but that is normal here. When it happens you'll be hooked...
