West vs East

[284 Win.]

I see a lot of Coyotes called in on TV hunting shows and they look to be out West. I'm on the East cost~South Carolina~and it seams Coyote's # one food source is small deer.(Fawns) Do I need some type of Dist-Fawn caller or just keep trying with Cotton tail and Dist-Cotton tail?
Anthony

 

[Broz]

I see a lot of Coyotes called in on TV hunting shows and they look to be out West. I'm on the East cost~South Carolina~and it seams Coyote's # one food source is small deer.(Fawns) Do I need some type of Dist-Fawn caller or just keep trying with Cotton tail and Dist-Cotton tail?
Anthony

Coyote pup distress is always worth a try and sometimes brings them on in.

Jeff

 

[Bowhunter57]

284 Win,
You can't be too versatile, when it comes to calling coyotes. Those suckers learn at an astronomical rate...especially when every other hunter is using a rabbit in distress call and sometimes over using it.


The last thing anyone wants to do is educate the coyotes in the area you're hunting them. Different calls, different decoys...it's all good.

I know a few guys that use a fawn decoy with a fawn distress call, all year long. You'd think that the coyotes would catch on to the fact that fawns are only in the spring, but they don't have the abiltiy to reason that out.


Bottom line: Use what works! If what I'm trying ain't working, then it's time for me to try something else.

As for the east/west coyotes...well, the western coyote does not have the exposure to humans like the eastern coyote. Eastern coyotes can be harder to call, due to being called before or their waryness of humans in the area hunting them. I've called coyotes by lip squeeking from the inside of a mini van, while it was running and my family sat with me watching the coyote come to us...in Wyoming. Nuts!


Bowhunter57

 

[Greyfox]

I see a lot of Coyotes called in on TV hunting shows and they look to be out West. I'm on the East cost~South Carolina~and it seams Coyote's # one food source is small deer.(Fawns) Do I need some type of Dist-Fawn caller or just keep trying with Cotton tail and Dist-Cotton tail?
Anthony

I have lived in North Carolina, and currently live in Mass. In both, areas, I have on a few occasions called in coyotes with one of those small size doe bleat calls that you turn upside down with your finger covering the hole. I think I got it from Primos. There is also a larger model, but the small one is the one I have had some success with. They really do a number on the fawns here in Mass. Woke up one morning and found a small yearling that was eaten right outside my bedroom siliding doors, on the deck about 15 feet from my bed.

 

[SBruce]

A jackrabbit call that's blown long sounds alot like a fawn bawl.

An open reed predator call will produce a fawn sound fairly well.

I've called in too many deer to count over the years using a simple closed reed jackrabbit call and blowing a longer tune than a jackrabbit would. The deer come in ****ed off and wanting to protect a fawn. If the deer cant tell the difference, I highly doubt a coyote can.

The thing that makes it seem like coyotes are easier to call in the west is that we can see them coming. In thick cover and alot of trees, you're probably still calling them in...........but it's entirely likely that they are getting downwind of you without you ever seeing them. I've witnessed alot of coyotes attempting to get downwind by staying out about 200 yds away and circling. Can you see every bit of ground 200 or 300 yds downwind of your location in the east??

 

[SBruce]

I've called coyotes by lip squeeking from the inside of a mini van, while it was running and my family sat with me watching the coyote come to us...in Wyoming. Nuts!


Bowhunter57

Wow, that's unreal!

Just assuming here, but I'd say that was a young or "virgin" coyote. Is it possible that you were also in an area where the coyotes see vehicles every hour of the day and never get shot at?? Yellowstone Park would be perfect example.

Here where I live, if a coyote sees a vehicle; they're usually running for the hills, especially if the vehicle stops moving suddenly. Most every Tom Dick and Harry in the country is carrying a rifle and they shoot at every coyote they see.
It's even gotten to the point that we have to park the vehicle at least a quarter mile from where we're going to call, no matter that the coyotes didn't actually see the truck, they're even getting spooked off by the sounds of them.

 

[Bowhunter57]

I've witnessed alot of coyotes attempting to get downwind by staying out about 200 yds away and circling. Can you see every bit of ground 200 or 300 yds downwind of your location in the east??

SBruce,
It's difficult to get a shot that's more than 300 yards, despite it being flatter than a road killed squirrel around here. Usually, I set up about 100 yards away from a woods, hide along a fence row or drainage ditch and hope the coyotes come out into the open for a shot.

Just assuming here, but I'd say that was a young or "virgin" coyote. Is it possible that you were also in an area where the coyotes see vehicles every hour of the day and never get shot at?? Yellowstone Park would be perfect example.

Yep...that's where I was at when I called this coyote. It walked right past the van, at about 15 feet and looked at me like "where's the rabbit". I kinda figured with all the tourist exposure and not getting shot at would allow for this type of behavior.

Bowhunter57

 

[SBruce]

SBruce,
It's difficult to get a shot that's more than 300 yards, despite it being flatter than a road killed squirrel around here. Usually, I set up about 100 yards away from a woods, hide along a fence row or drainage ditch and hope the coyotes come out into the open for a shot.

Bowhunter57

That's kinda what I figured, just based on the country I saw in the south east. I'd guess that callers there educate more coyotes than they realize just because they can't/didn't see them. Once they've become educated (even out here in the wide open spaces) it's much harder to get them to come out of cover to check out a sound. The smart ones will just stay there in the cover and watch. Having a decoy dog on the set helps alot to give them something to look at/feel comfortable about coming out in the open............so long as they haven't been chased/run with packs of dogs.