I was wondering if some of you die hard coyote hunters could give me some tips. I am an avid hunter and have been from infancy. However, I have never gotten seriously into coyote hunting. So, give me some in-depth instruction for hunting them this time of year. I have talked to some that drive around on their farms with a good light and shoot them from the truck and some that set up and call, and then some that call and shoot from the truck. I would like to hear the very most productive methods you guys use. By the way I am from the mid south (if that matters for technique). As I mentioned I am an avid hunter so don't spare me any detail, I am well equipped to try any methods.

Also, if after dark about what time? just after dark, midnight, an hour before sunup? Im looking for the advice that puts the most on the ground...and what better way than to draw from the years of experiance on this site. I already know you guys are going to save me a lot of time.

I have just been informed that it might be unlawful to take them from the pickup even when in your own farm...? I was under the impression that non game animals could be. So I will find that out for sure before making a move. I think im having this conversation with my self!

Call the Game Warden and get it straight from the horses mouth!! At least that is what I would do. I don’t go coyote hunting, I just shoot them when I see them.

i would have to go along with tcman on that i dont hunt them
but do shoot them. one of my club members uses a call.
that about all i know about that.

When we had a problem with them before at my parents we did two things. The first is we set up a small tape recorder with a stuffed animal over it and then hung a red light over it. It was very effective. The second was we used a hand call and set up a spot light with a red lens over it mounted on a scope. It was really handy. All of this hunting was at night when they started howling.

OK, I have never hunted coyotes here in the east so I know nothing as far as technique for the sly dogs. But I can give you some advise as far as looking into legal manner of taking.

GET a copy of your state hunting regulations and read them!

What state are you in?

In NY,
~ it's illeagle to shoot from a vehicle
~ coyotes are a fur bearer and have a specific season
~ there are specific weapons for manner of taking
~ all game laws apply even on private property

So best get the info in black and white right in front of you and CYA!!

Thanks guys, in my region you can shoot them year round. Also, I have been reading the regs. and night shooting is legal the only issue I need to clarify is the pickup thing. But thats not really an issue because I wont be hunting them from a vehicle any way (I have just talked to some folks that do). I got the new 22-250 and im itching to shoot something with it. Plus the farmer that I lease from has been asking me to clear some of them out.

I have been watching the Randy Anderson videos and they are great info on calling. He has some really good kills on video too. He hunts them in the midwest. With 30 years experience he is considered an expert.

you might want to make sure about how far from the pickup. here in Oregon you can hunt coyotes at night but you have to be a 100yds from your vehicle which means a portable light, in fact you don't want to get caught here with a spotlight and firearm in your truck together or you will have some serious explaining to do.

This time of the year I have found that the best weapon in calling Coyotes is an electric recording of a Coyote Pup Distress. This time of year they are raising their young and Coyotes are super territorial and protective.

As per night hunting, I can not offer much help in that regard. Here in South Dakota the only time we can use a light, it must be a 2 cell light (ie flashlight) and only the landowner and one guess can be hunting at night. The other night hunting restriction in South Dakota is when hunting at night with an artificial light only Rimfires or Shotguns can be used.

I have done my share of Calling Coyotes at night under a full moon when we have snow cover on the ground.

This time of year I would try calling the first hour or two of daylight or the last hour or two of daylight. I would start out with a few Coyote Howls, nothing threatening, just telling the Coyotes there is another Coyote in the area. After a few minutes I would follow that up with the Coyote Pup Distress.

Good luck

Larry

PS

A week ago last Wednesday I managed to get two Coyotes. No I was not out calling and no I did not use a Handgun. I was at the Coffee Shop about 9:30AM when a Farmer asked me when I was going to shoot the Coyotes he had been seeing out by his place. Well about 10 AM I decided to patrol out that direction and sure enough spotted a Coyote trying to sneak up on a nesting Canada Goose. I dispatched the Coyote with my AR-15. ABout 8 PM that evening I decided to patrol out that direction again and spotted one mousing in a meadow. Buy the time I got into a position I could shoot the Coyote had disappeared. 4 or 5 squeaks on a bulb type mouse squeaker brought the Coyote out into the open and the AR-15 did the deed at 208 yards.

As I stated the Coyotes are raising their young this time of year, and the Deer are having their Fawns. This all makes for more Coyote activity.

Thanks man, thats the kind of info I am looking for! Im pretty fired up because its just a longer hunting season for me not to mention the new gun itch. I have shot coyotes when I see them but never got into it seriously.

I love hunting coyotes. I get completely camo'ed including face. I use a mouth call of a dieing rabbit both jack and cottontail. I call for about 15 minutes in an area then move on about 2 miles and try again. I normally hunt them in the high desert so I can roam all over. I park the vehicle out of sight and get about 100 yards from it. Then start calling. It's great fun when they come running in. In the forest, I have had a lot harder time getting them. I haven't done much there but I have got a few to come in but never got a good shot at them or I just flat missed them. LOL I only call for about a minute then I stop for about 5 min. then call again for about 30 seconds. then stop and wait another 5 minutes then I may call one more time for another 30 seconds or so and then move on. Some guys call alot more. I have neve used an electric caller but the ones I have heard continue to calling I guess you turn them on and off, I don't know. There are alot of varmint and predator hunting hunting sites that will teach you alot about hunting them. I think one of them is http://www.varminter.com Then there is one http://www.predatormasters.com , I hope those are the right site address.
It is a real kick in the pants with a handgun. You have to hold still they have very sharp eyes.
I haven't used a fawn in distress call yet, but I hear they work real well too.
Caution, I have had a cougar show up and I use the same calls for calling in bear, so keep your eyes open or you might became dinner. You will have a ball hunting them. Good Luck!

Thanks rupe! More great info.

Me an a buddy tried our luck yesterday evening at a local farm. We started calling about 1 hour before dark and got a bunch to start a howling frenzy but couldn't get them to commit and come in. We will be trying again soon...

Just keep up the hunting and trying new things and it will come in time. Keep us posted as to your progress.

What state do you hunt in?

Texas and Oklahoma

When that coyote comes to the call you will be HOOKED. Watching a Coyote come to the Call I get more pumped up (buck fever if you will) than Deer Hunting. Coyote hunting gets in your blood and is a pure rush. The first one I ever shot with a Speciality Pistol, I still can't believe I actually hit and killed it. I was more excited than any Deer I have ever taken with a Speciality Pistol.

Like Rupe stated, I do not call continously either. I look at it this way, I am either ringing the dinner bell, or triggering a territorial instinct. I want to pique the Coyotes interest, but at the same time do not want the call playing continously so he can exactly pin point my location. Another reason for this (in my opinion) is I don't want the Coyote totally zeroed in on me so he can spot any movement I make.

I have used both Mouth Calls and Electronics. In regards to electronic calls, I have use boughten ones, and ones I made using parts from Radio Shack and a MP3 Player for the sound source. To be totally honest, I bet for every Coyote I ever called in with the electronics I've called in at least 10 with Mouth Calls. For me personally I think I have a habit of calling to loud and too much with Electronics. To prove the point to myself one day I used nothing but a bulb type mouse squeaker to call in a big male Coyote (that I took at 150 yards) from 1/2 mile away. Yes Coyotes can not only see better than we can but their hearing is even better.

Case in point. One morning my daughter and I were sitting in my pickup on a hill top scouting for the next days Deer Season Opener. We were watching about 9 - 10 Deer in the meadow below us. a little 3x3 buck in the bunch kept looking back towards the direction the deer had came from down a fence line. I told my daughter a bigger buck was probably coming down the fence line.

Well it wasn't a buck that had the smaller buck nervous, it was a pair of Coyotes. We watched these two coyotes stealth their way down the fence line and when the came to the end of the fence line they actually started crawling across the meadow towards the deer.

Well the Deer let them get so close and the deer bounded off through the cat tails with the coyotes following. About that time I said to myself "Coyote Call". So sitting in the pickup on top of a hill I started doing my best immitation of the Dying Rabbit Blues on a Sceery AP3 Closed Reed Jackrabbit Call. I blew on the call for about 30 seconds when the first Coyote emerged from the cat tails and was sitting on the edge of the meadow.

I watched the Coyote for a few seconds and did another 30 seconds of Dying Rabbit Blues and the Coyote started trotting my way. When I stopped blowing on the call the coyote would stop. I did this a couple times and my daughter whispered to me "Dad every time the Coyote stops his ears rotate like radar searching for the sound, and then he sniffs the air". This next time I watched with my binocs to verify what my daughter told em and she was right on the money.

Every time I would blow on the call for 30 seconds the Coyote would come 20 to 40 yards closer. I worked these Coyotes for quite a while, and in the end MISSED a 100 yard shot with my 6mm T/CU Contender Handgun. I thought my daugher (a senior in high school at the time) was going to have a heart attack watching those Coyotes come to the Call.

I was so mad I ended up trading the Contender to a handgun hunt member and it was not the guns fault!

Sorry for being so long winded but I was just trying to describe what a rush this can be.

Larry

http://www.predatormastersforums.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php?Cat=0


More info than you could want to digest!

Great story LarryinSD, yep it is a rush. It's really cool to watch one on a dead run from a thousand yards away and run past you at 10 feet or the one that sneaks in and is sitting watching you and you don't see him until you get up to leave and he is only 40 yards away and he starts running and you start unloading your revolver at him. Then you have dreams of a coyote laughing at you for the next 10 years. aaarrrrgggg

Thanks Rupe. Yep been there done that. I have the unfortunate habit of setting up darn near on top of a Coyote Den at times. A few years ago a Buddy and I decided to go out calling one morning. Well I had to work the night before and only had about 4 hours of sleep.

We drove down to an abandoned farm site. There is a small lake about 1/2 mile to the west of this farm site with lots of cover along the lake shore. We set up on the west side of the old barn over looking the hill side that led down to the lake.

I was set up on the south edge of the barn and my buddy on the north edge. I set out the speaker for my home made electronic caller and got all settled in. When my buddy gave me the thumbs up, I lit up with my mouth blown howler. After I did 3 or 4 locator howls I could have sworn I heard a coyote growl. I dismissed it that I need more than 4 hours of sleep.

I called for about 40 minutes and nothing showed. All of a sudden my buddy motioned me over to him. He showed me a Coyote trail leading through the grass and led down into the barn. I told my buddy that I thought I heard a Coyote Howl after I did my series of howls, but thought I was imagining it. My buddy said that I have a really good imagination cause he heard it too.

Upon closer examination yes the Coyotes were using the old barn for a den. Still yet upon closer examination we found coyote tracks in our foot prints in the fresh snow, ie the Coyotes were in deed in the barn and snuck out without us seeing them when I started calling.

The point I am trying to make is set up is everything, and one thing I generally have to work really hard at.

Larry

As they say "If I'd been any closer they would have bit me on the butt" LOL Good story!

Sitting on the proverbial gold mine and didn't even know it.

LOL<LOL<LOL

Well I called one in and managed to make a good shot this evening, but it wasn't a Coyote. For the past several months we have been having a problem with Wild Dogs, yes domestic dogs gone wild. Farmers have found these dogs in their barns and the dogs wouldn't let the farmers in the barn (I'd have shot them right then and there). Other have seen them chasing Deer on numerous occasions. I managed to find out who the one dog belonged to and the guy told me to SHOOT IT ON SIGHT.

Well this evening a farmer phoned me and said the dog was in a field next to where he was planting and harrassing some horses in a neighboring pasture. I made my way out to that farm and set up in a shelterbelt. I could hear the Dog barking but couldn't spot it. I squeaked a half dozen times with my bulb type mouse squeaker and the dog bounded over the hill. When the dog spotted me it started growling and I could hear it popping it's jaws from about 150 yards away. Well a well placed 55gr. Nosler Ballistic Tip from the .223 did the deed.

This dog looked like a MUT. It was totally Black except it's entire face was White (just like a Black Baldy Cow). Part of it had fairly long hair and other parts of it looked like a short haired dog. No I do not enjoy shooting Dogs, but in this instance this one had to go.

Larry

Good shooting, Those things are worse then coyotes. They don't have the fear of man like the coyotes. I hope you get them all taken care of.

Especially when they interbreed. My Grandparents place had red wolfs that interbreed with coyotes. They were not nice.

Larry, a couple years ago i was out hunting a ranch and saw the rancher. I drove over to him and he came up to me and told me to "shoot those dogs." There were 3 Great Pyrenees that were in 1 of his pastures at the time. Turns out a lady that lived way down the road wasn't responsible enuf to take care of the dogs she was raising for a business, and after repeated attempts by the rancher to try to get her to watch them better he decided to take matters in his (my) own hands. I had to chase 1 of the dogs on foot for quite a distance and shot him at several hundred yds. away with my 17 Rem. That was an experience i'll never forget. It was harder to shoot those "wild" dogs than i thought it would've been actually.

P&Y, the recommendations that u've been getting here r right on. Now, when u heard those coy. howling at u, if u had howled back at them aggressively that might have been your best chance of getting them to come in. Often when they start howling after u start calling they're probably educated and have had some kind of experience with "distress calls that shoot at them" and they probably won't come in.

The coyote has got to be the most intelligent game animal to hunt that there is--most of the time. I think what happens when they howl back at a distress call, and u then howl back at them is that it gives them some insurance that maybe there really is a genuine animal dying, and they wanna come in and investigate, or they might be pissed that there really is a dying animal there and some other intruder is after it (who really knows?).

Nothing fits the coyote better than the old adage of "curiosity killed the cat." But coyotes r 10X more curious than cats. Probably comes from their opportunistic nature.

Get both internal and external reed calls and learn to make any and every kind of sound that u can, especially howling--THAT'S THE REAL ACE-IN-THE-HOLE. The 1st time i ever used a Magnum Crit-R Call for coyotes i thought it was the worst coyote call of all time-- but it was LOUD. In fact, it was the loudest mouth-blown call i'd ever used and it eventually became my favorite call 'cause out here in the west it would reach out to the longest distance and trigger the "curious cat" in them. Besides that the unusual sound it made MAY have been reponsible for bringing them in when the std. rabbit calls wouldn't (just conjecture from many years at this game).

If u're using a handgun, get a tall Harris bipod. Go out to the local K/Wal-Mart and get 1 of those soft-sided stadium seats. Reattach the female end of the side strap buckles closer to the seat so that when u sit in it and tighten it up it gives u genuine back support (a huge improvement over the factory setting). Reinforce the closed cell foam if it unzips between the bottom and back parts (another huge improvement, IMO). Now if u want u can attach another Fastex buckle to the ends of the side straps (just like a backpack waist belt--u'll see how it works once u look at it). That way u can carry it conveniently around your waist hands-free. This whole system allows u to shoot a handgun very accurately by bracing the rig between your knees with the addtl. support of the bipod. I have made shots at some very long-ranges with the system once practiced a little-- like this dog-- http://www.perry-systems.com/what_others_have_to_say.htm#Steve

Good Luck.

I managed to call in and get me another Coyote Sunday evening. My nephew was out driving around 2 miles north of my brother in laws farm Sunday evening and spotted a Coyote out in a Wheat Field mousing. He called me. When I got out there the Coyote had wandered over a hill and out of sight. The wind was blowing out of the southwest so I set up straight north of where I thought the Coyote was.

I started out with 3 long locator type howls. After a couple minutes I did about 45 seconds of Cottontail Distress and then glass the low area between where I was and I thought the Coyote was. All the while I was doing this my nephew and his brother in law were watching from a position 1/2 mile to the southwest of me.

I waited a couple minutes and then did about 45 seconds of Cottontail Distress and then glass the low area between where I was and I thought the Coyote was. The 4th time I did this when I started glassing all of a sudden I spotted the Coyote sitting on top of a Muskrat Mound / Hut. I lined up the crosshairs and just as I was going to squeeze the trigger I said to myself "remember the wind". I adjusted the position of the crosshairs allowing for the wind and finished my trigger squeeze. Yep Coyote #3 in 2 weeks for me.

Man the Coyotes are really on the move. With the Pups having been born and the Deer dropping Fawns they are really out. I don't normally hunt Coyotes at this time of the year, but these farmers around here HATE Coyotes so much I almost feel like I have to.

Larry