How do I start Coyote Hunting?

Wow some great advice already given. Do spend some time reading those threads Dsheetz mentioned. He is a coyote whisperer for sure.

I live a couple hours south of you and we visit the Hills every summer at least once trail riding. I've been trying to figure out if it would be worth a calling trip up there. My normal terrain is probably a lot like your plains. I was in your boat about 12 years ago, tried it and called one the first stand but got the fever and missed but was hooked.

Do you have properties where you can go? What about where you deer hunt, do you see coyotes while in your deer stand?

I bumped into an older gent who was trapping the same ranch I was calling, and we have been hunting together ever since. He taught me alot and really changed how I did things and the success rates started to climb.

This ranch consists of large to medium sandhills, with the normal meadows and wetlands in between hill ranges. Starting out I used to focus on the meadows, calling to stackyards, or hay bale yards these days, or calling towards the hills. My partner got me focused on being in the hills during the day as that's often where the coyotes bed. Meadows more for hunting during the nights. Hills bordering wetlands can be good, I've pulled quite a few out of cattails.

Ag land, I've found standing corn can be great, if it's kind of alone surrounded by pastures or other stuff. I've called coyotes out of corn fields within 200 yds of my house. Get within a couple hundred yards of it leaned up against a bale or tree and call to the corn. Conditions have to be right, dont set up with the wind blowing from you to your calling area. Corn calling needs to be a fairly calm wind I think as I doubt they hear much in there if all the leaves are rustling but that's just my thoughts on it.

Calls, I've had good success with my Lucky Duck. To be honest I never gave hand calls much of a shake, when I try them I sound good I think but never seem to call anything. The LD has so many great sounds it just works. I like starting with 3 or 4 long female howls on the first few stands of the day. Quite a few times that's all it took and I could see one coming. Often they will respond vocally, and I love that as it lets me know where and about how far away they are, in fact that's an awesome leg up when deciding on the next stand location. If they're a mile or more from the sound of it, I don't expect them to come in but I will move to them for the next stand.

Learn your land and over time focus on the best areas. Hunting the same places year after year has big benefits (as long as there's coyotes there). For many years on one ranch we were learning where they were and where they usually weren't. Some of the best looking hill ranges just didn't seem to produce, while other spots are better than 50% call success. Watch for sign as you travel between stands, every coyote leaves tracks somewhere. If you go for miles without tracks, well guess what, probably be better off looking elsewhere.

Ask ranchers where their dead piles are if they have them. And focus within a mile or so of those in likely cover. If you can get some land around feedlots that's money, I haven't been so lucky to score those properties as their spoken for and sometimes leased because they're so good.

And lastly watch your down wind if at all possible. I usually work into the wind from stand to stand. I hate to think how many have circled downwind a hill away that I never saw. I bet it's been a good pile of fur. A partner or even 3 guys is very handy in places with choppy hills as there's no way to see everything. A guy 100 yards or more downwind depending on terrain can pay off big time. Other times 2 is a crowd.

That's a few quick thoughts I had, remember everyone approaches things a bit differently and you'll get what seems like contradictory advice but many different ways can work. I'm still a rank amateur compared to guys like Dsheetz and many others. Once you get one coming in you'll be hooked.
 
dogz said:
A couple thoughts on this nice Turkey day.

More than likely every direction you go from Rapid will have yotes in the area.

That said in my experience you need to call in a area that has yotes, then you need to get into your calling stand undetected by wind and sight. For me the best stand of the day has historically been the first one of the day right at sunrise. I go in during the dark and try to use the wind the best I can.

I like to start my first calling sequence with a volume that I am barely able to hear. If the yotes are in shooting range, they'll easily be able to hear it. Back in the 70's when I first started calling I thought I had to be loud and aggressive from the get go, and blew out a lot a yotes.

If I can stand it, I like to remain on my stand for a time 30 minutes, I time it as I'm a bit impatient and if I actually run a clock I can stay in place as long as I haven't turned into a popsicle....:)

I'm for betting the yotes in your area are fairly call educated. So I'd encourage you to get as far away from town as you can. I'd bet that the further out you get (starting at a hour out) the better your calling will be.

As far as calls go, go to the stores and see what calls they carry and which one's they're out of. That'll tell you which ones people around your area are using, as will asking around. Then...........don't buy those calls, find one's that aren't carried locally. IMO this is very important.

You can use E calls, the best thing about them is having a remote so you sit a ways away. The yotes will key in on it and not where you're sitting

A predator control fella told me once that once a yote gets within 1 half mile of you that he can pin point within 15' where the sound is coming from. Once the dog cuts that range in half (1/4 mile) he will have where the sound is coming from down to 3'.........!

Personally, I am a hand call kind of guy as they're a lot lighter and easier to tote around. Plus then it's me doing the fooling of a yote and not a E box but that's just me. Closed reeds are my preferred as they're tougher and not as easy to mess up. But, they will freeze up more than open reeds so there's trade off's.

Look up a company called Crit'R call, grab their magnum and the peewee. These are incredibly fine calls and far and away my favorite. The Primos Cow Girl Elk call is awesome as well and you should absolutely whale away on one of these a bit.

Enough from me, sorry for being so long winded but I do love to call critters, be they yotes, fox, bear, wolf and or other big game. For me the juice in calling is to make the game come to me via a call sound I have made.

Keep in touch on how it's going
Click to expand...
Thanks that's all really helpful info!
 
Timnterra said:
I am tired of the "no more hunting blues" after deer season. I have seen these guys having gun all winter killing coyotes and I am itching to get in on this sport.
I really have no idea where to start. I bought an electronic call and a handful of mouth calls that I've been messing with but I don't have a clue of what I'm supposed to do to call a coyote?
1. Where do you look to find coyotes? What kind of terrain or other features should I look for to find a good place to make a set?
2. Is it better to start making rabbit calls or other call sounds?
3. How long should you call for? How long in between calling sessions?
4. How long do you sit there without seeing anything before leaving?

I don't even know what other questions I should ask. I live in western South Dakota and a fur buyer stops at the gas station by my house every couple weeks during the winter to buy pelts. There are coyote contests all the time around here that I would love to participate in but I need some pointers on how to get started.

Thanks for any advice you can give
Click to expand...
1 Coyotes are everywhere. Your hunting area is up to you. Posting up, try to have a background. SD any field with a hill you can put your back too.
2 If you are not buying a electric to start grab a Mark Zepp Rattler or M44. These are easy to use.
3 I turn on my Foxpro C24 and let it run. Volume control is critical. Loud is not the best way. I start in the middle and increase or decrease depending on what I am seeing.
4 I call for 20 minutes a stand and up to 30 minutes if there are bobcats in the area.
5. Most important, you are now hunting a animal that hunts to survive. They are smarter than you.
Hope this helps.
John
 
I'll say this in my area we have a lot of free range cattle in blm areas. Those areas have a huge population of coyotes running around. During the spring I can hear the yotes all over the place. Many times I'd just be driving to a new spot just to find a yote milling around for rats or chucks. Same with badgers.
 
You have been given some great advice already. Removing coyotes can help other animals in the areas you hunt, it extends your season, makes you a better hunter and can make you a much better shot while hunting. There are a number of good books out there that you might find helpful. Garry Blair's book is one of the better ones. Going out with an experienced coyote caller is also solid advice.

1. There are coyotes everywhere. Places that have cows, often have higher densities of coyotes than places that do not have cows. The places with the highest concentration of coyotes will have food and cover that they prefer. Coyotes don't just eat meat, they are omnivores just like bears. It is much easier to call a coyote into a spot that it is comfortable coming to investigate. Roads, invisible property boundaries of a neighboring coyote, a scent trail you left on your way into as stand, your vehicles sight or smell, too open of terrain and many other things will make a coyote uncomfortable with coming into a particular stand sight. My ideal stand would have the sun at my back, I would be sitting in the shade, have a large bush, tree or rock behind me to break up my outline, wind in my face and I would have some elevation to give myself a better view. Most my stands don't have all the things I want but I will never compromise on the wind. I call in a cross wind as often as I call with the wind in my face. It is a waste of time calling stands sights that coyotes can smell you before you have a chance to shoot them. Coyotes will often circle to get downwind of you so they can smell you. Sometimes that is a 10 yard circle, other times they may circle you by 300 or even 500 yards. The smart coyotes that do big circles can be very hard to kill.

2. Coyotes will come into all kinds of different sounds. In many places where they are educated by other callers, sounds they have heard before will be less effective. Electronic callers can work very well but sometimes a unique hand call is most effective for coyotes that hear predator calls on a regular basis. Coyote vocalizations and pup distress can also be very effective.

3. Sometimes I'll call continuously the entire time I'm on a stand and other times I'll only call for 15 seconds and go quite for several minutes. In the past I would often do a minute of calling followed by 3-5 minutes of silence but I've been mixing it up a little more lately.

4. I'll almost always give a stand at least 15 minutes. I probably give most stands 25-30 minutes. In areas that coyotes have been called to a lot, they can be slower to come in. I've had many coyotes show up 45 minutes after I started calling. Unless you have large tracks of private land that you know no one else calls, it is safe to assume that every coyote you attempt to call, has heard coyote callers before. I wouldn't doubt that some of the coyotes I've called in have heard either me or someone else call within a mile of them dozens of times.

Just because you are not seeing a coyote on a particular stand, doesn't mean you didn't call one in and educate it. They have ways of sneaking into a caller even in relatively open country. In less open country it isn't uncommon for me to have coyotes get 10 yards from me or my caller before I see them. In open country I've had coyotes use a ravine or thick strip of brush and then they suddenly appear 50 or 100 yards away. I wouldn't be surprised if is see less than half the coyotes that I call in. If they circle to get your wind, you may never see them. Even experienced deer hunters that I take out coyote calling often will see less than 50% of the coyotes that I see on a stand.

If you actually call in a coyote your first day or two of trying, consider that an accomplishment. Even experienced coyote hunters will have days they don't see a single coyote. I occasionally have days that I call in a coyote on more than 50% of my stands but I have more days that I have coyotes come in on less than 25% of my stands.
 
BrianID said:
You have been given some great advice already. Removing coyotes can help other animals in the areas you hunt, it extends your season, makes you a better hunter and can make you a much better shot while hunting. There are a number of good books out there that you might find helpful. Garry Blair's book is one of the better ones. Going out with an experienced coyote caller is also solid advice.

1. There are coyotes everywhere. Places that have cows, often have higher densities of coyotes than places that do not have cows. The places with the highest concentration of coyotes will have food and cover that they prefer. Coyotes don't just eat meat, they are omnivores just like bears. It is much easier to call a coyote into a spot that it is comfortable coming to investigate. Roads, invisible property boundaries of a neighboring coyote, a scent trail you left on your way into as stand, your vehicles sight or smell, too open of terrain and many other things will make a coyote uncomfortable with coming into a particular stand sight. My ideal stand would have the sun at my back, I would be sitting in the shade, have a large bush, tree or rock behind me to break up my outline, wind in my face and I would have some elevation to give myself a better view. Most my stands don't have all the things I want but I will never compromise on the wind. I call in a cross wind as often as I call with the wind in my face. It is a waste of time calling stands sights that coyotes can smell you before you have a chance to shoot them. Coyotes will often circle to get downwind of you so they can smell you. Sometimes that is a 10 yard circle, other times they may circle you by 300 or even 500 yards. The smart coyotes that do big circles can be very hard to kill.

2. Coyotes will come into all kinds of different sounds. In many places where they are educated by other callers, sounds they have heard before will be less effective. Electronic callers can work very well but sometimes a unique hand call is most effective for coyotes that hear predator calls on a regular basis. Coyote vocalizations and pup distress can also be very effective.

3. Sometimes I'll call continuously the entire time I'm on a stand and other times I'll only call for 15 seconds and go quite for several minutes. In the past I would often do a minute of calling followed by 3-5 minutes of silence but I've been mixing it up a little more lately.

4. I'll almost always give a stand at least 15 minutes. I probably give most stands 25-30 minutes. In areas that coyotes have been called to a lot, they can be slower to come in. I've had many coyotes show up 45 minutes after I started calling. Unless you have large tracks of private land that you know no one else calls, it is safe to assume that every coyote you attempt to call, has heard coyote callers before. I wouldn't doubt that some of the coyotes I've called in have heard either me or someone else call within a mile of them dozens of times.

Just because you are not seeing a coyote on a particular stand, doesn't mean you didn't call one in and educate it. They have ways of sneaking into a caller even in relatively open country. In less open country it isn't uncommon for me to have coyotes get 10 yards from me or my caller before I see them. In open country I've had coyotes use a ravine or thick strip of brush and then they suddenly appear 50 or 100 yards away. I wouldn't be surprised if is see less than half the coyotes that I call in. If they circle to get your wind, you may never see them. Even experienced deer hunters that I take out coyote calling often will see less than 50% of the coyotes that I see on a stand.

If you actually call in a coyote your first day or two of trying, consider that an accomplishment. Even experienced coyote hunters will have days they don't see a single coyote. I occasionally have days that I call in a coyote on more than 50% of my stands but I have more days that I have coyotes come in on less than 25% of my stands.
Click to expand...
Thanks a lot, that's helpful stuff
 
I've hunted fox and coyotes quite a bit in my mid 20's. Now with teen kids that like to hunt I'm starting back up again.
The two methods I used were calling (rabbit in distress) and spot and stock depending on terrain.
Calling… I used to drive around in early winter looking for good habitat. With snow on the ground it isn't difficult to locate tracks. I'd knock on the farmers door and introduce myself and ask for permission to hunt. If permission was granted I'd get their phone number and I would always call ahead of time to let them know if I would be hunting, especially when night hunting under a full moon.
Always play the wind. I'd usually try sit with a decent vantage point, and if possible maybe a little cover (fence line, clump of brush). If there's snow on the ground (usually is when I hunt) I am typically dressed in all white.
Once settled in I'll call using a rabbit in distress for maybe 15-30 seconds at most and then wait 10-15 minutes. Repeat if you don't see anything.
I usually only sit at one location for 30 minutes and then I'll pick up and move. If the terrain is broken and shot distances are limited, I'd carry two guns, a 12 ga loaded with lead BB or bigger and my rifle.

Spot and stock:
As the name implies you drive back roads and look. Fox and coyotes will lay up during the day often positioning themselves out of the wind and in the sun to stay warm. This technique requires a lot of stopping and glassing, driving some more, stopping and glassing. Good binoculars are a must. In addition, a spotting scope will help make sure you're not sneaking up on a rock. Been there, done that. Again, with snow on the ground I'm dressed in all white. Snow shoes are often needed. Play the wind, take your time, use terrain to your advantage, try keep your quarry in view to watch their reactions. Sometimes when conditions are perfect you can sneak within 100 yards or closer. When the snow is crunchy, 200 yards is probably as close as you're going to get.
A good range finder and a rifle that shoots well will get the job done in a lot of different calibers. Before I had a dedicated varmint rifle I used my Win M70 deer rifle in .270. If possible, I'd recommend hunting with a buddy. If you miss the shot and the critter high tails it, sometimes your buddy can drive to the opposite side of the section to intercept. This of course depends on the size of the section.
A couple of last suggestions…
Go prepared. Bring a shovel, tow rope, cell phone, map, food, water, warm gear…
If you get stuck, or nasty weather rolls in, you'll be glad you have it. Let people know where you're going. Get permission from land owner. Follow state hunting laws.

Good luck. It's a great way to extend your hunting season!
 
You are lucky to learn where you are. I am in east central MN, and we don't have as high of coyote population density as you. Day hunting here is very hard. I only night hunt coyotes with thermal scopes. That is a game changer here, and would be there too. Coyotes are way more active at night. For calls, I only use electronic calls. I have a lucky duck roughneck with extra sounds from Rick at varminator predator calls, and I also have a icotec sabre. Both work well and have their place. The lucky duck seems to have a little more clear sound, but the icotec has a way better remote range. (I like to put the call at least 75 yds away from me, preferably 100 yds sometimes a little more). I always call for at least 40 min. And shoot about 1/3 of the coyotes after 30 min. You can get away with less time, because you can see farther there (we have a lot of woods for them to hide and hang up in). If you are hunting where other people hunt, don't be scared to sit longer, the run and gun guys do leave plenty of coyotes that are more caucious behind and it will take long for them to come in. The biggest thing I can say though, is to night hunt with thermal or night vision if legal there. I know it is around Sioux Falls, when I work there I am going to bring my gear with.
 

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