Coyotes won’t come in on a call

[brcfo_outdoors]

Biggest thing I have found about coyote calling is that everything is subjective, and nothing works for everyone, everywhere, all the time. I see countless videos of people shooting coyotes from 100's of yards off as they come into the calls with 14x plus optics. I had to switch my 2-7x to a red dot on my coyote gun because they come in so fast and charge the decoy everywhere I hunt. They don't break cover until I have about 3-5 seconds to hit them, so even with the red dot I have started calling with my shotgun in hand and AR on the ground instead of vise versa. They also love my hunting partner's cheapo Icotech cottontail distress, but never respond to my Fox Pro Fusion. As mentioned above, the colder and more miserable the better, even a few more degrees had me SOL.

Moral of the story is use trial and error to find what works for you and your unique location. Sure, some of the fundamental rules apply like don't over hunt your spot, but be creative on everything else. Expensive isn't always better. Different sounds, different volumes, take breaks, and definitely read the terrain for cover, trails, signs, and scat. They are not stupid, nor are they simply everywhere.

 

[manitou]

Yes, not too much volume and don't over call. Try a distressed woodpecker call... honestly. It has been good for us where others have beat the distressed rabbit calls to death. I have also found the distressed jack rabbit more productive than cottontail, even where there are no jacks.

 

[101stCurrahee]

Hmm. Maybe I shouldn't return my $500 Foxboro and just get a hand call. Seems silly to pay that much for something that is less successful.

Wouldn't a hand call limit you to 1 or 200 yards though? I can't imagine they will hear it very far away.

 

[C S Fever]

Hmm. Maybe I shouldn't return my $500 Foxboro and just get a hand call. Seems silly to pay that much for something that is less successful.

Wouldn't a hand call limit you to 1 or 200 yards though? I can't imagine they will hear it very far away.

You would be surprised how good their hearing really is! I've watched them catch mice and voles under a foot of snow and they hear them moving there! Once they pinpoint where they are the pounce on them through the snow and get a quick meal.

 

[101stCurrahee]

You would be surprised how good their hearing really is! I've watched them catch mice and voles under a foot of snow and they hear them moving there! Once they pinpoint where they are the pounce on them through the snow and get a quick meal.

Well I'm sold. Heading to return this fox pro and pick up a hand call from a local guy that said he slays them with it. I can use this $500 towards a proper coyote rifle so I can smack them for several hundred yards away.

I guess price doesn't equal effectiveness, and in this case it may be the opposite.

Thanks for the help.

Just curious, what is the average Joe consider their success rate to be in an area with plenty of coyotes? Not that I am not enjoying the hunt, but None in over 30 trips is pretty rough

 

[DSheetz]

That's a good coyote you took a picture of . That one my have been aerial gunned depending on where you are there may be some USDA guys around . Just start out on low volume with your call then after 10 or 15 min. turn it up for 1 or 2 min then back down . Fawn blats work fairly good this time of the year . If they are hanging up at 500 yards stop calling and just set there for 10 or 15 min. then start out with low volume and a new sound . I have watched them just set or lay and watch for half an hour or more when they do that but when I put on the Johnny Stewart 101 coyote puppy sound on at low volume their ears would perk up then they would stand up listen for a few seconds and come on the run more often then not . It seems like adult coyote vocalizations don't work as well this time of the year for me here in Wy. and I usually stop using them in mid June here . Coyote can hear your hand call for well over a mile even if you muffle it with a gloved hand . I have spotted them with my binos. out past a mile and watched them when starting to call them with hand calls , and seen them stop stand still get the location of the sound and start in toward it . They make their living in their world by seeing, hearing and just paying attention to their surroundings they know when birds tell them that there is food ready to be eaten if you aren't calling birds of prey or scavengers in to you with your calling then you need to figure out what to change so you can do that . Often the scavenger birds will tell on a coyote that is sneaking in on you . I have killed a few thousand coyote in my life time and have never stopped learning from them .

 

[101stCurrahee]

That's a good coyote you took a picture of . That one my have been aerial gunned depending on where you are there may be some USDA guys around . Just start out on low volume with your call then after 10 or 15 min. turn it up for 1 or 2 min then back down . Fawn blats work fairly good this time of the year . If they are hanging up at 500 yards stop calling and just set there for 10 or 15 min. then start out with low volume and a new sound . I have watched them just set or lay and watch for half an hour or more when they do that but when I put on the Johnny Stewart 101 coyote puppy sound on at low volume their ears would perk up then they would stand up listen for a few seconds and come on the run more often then not . It seems like adult coyote vocalizations don't work as well this time of the year for me here in Wy. and I usually stop using them in mid June here . Coyote can hear your hand call for well over a mile even if you muffle it with a gloved hand . I have spotted them with my binos. out past a mile and watched them when starting to call them with hand calls , and seen them stop stand still get the location of the sound and start in toward it . They make their living in their world by seeing, hearing and just paying attention to their surroundings they know when birds tell them that there is food ready to be eaten if you aren't calling birds of prey or scavengers in to you with your calling then you need to figure out what to change so you can do that . Often the scavenger birds will tell on a coyote that is sneaking in on you . I have killed a few thousand coyote in my life time and have never stopped learning from them .

That was someone's pet, not a coyote. Unless someone braver than I put a cute purple collar on it.

 

[066wally]

Do you ever stop calling? If they are moving towards you, stop the call. When they stop and just look, pick up the call again.

 

[101stCurrahee]

Do you ever stop calling? If they are moving towards you, stop the call. When they stop and just look, pick up the call again.

Yes. I usually call for about a minute then stop and wait and glass. this one in particular only stood up and took a few steps the second I change calls and started again. But then she stopped and laid back down

 

[DSheetz]

I have known a lot of guys that raise coyote pups to use them for calling and to collect urine they usually go back to the wild when they can. I'm sure that the way that one looks from the air I would have shot it as a coyote . I have seen them with their ears cut off and still running around as well as one that someone put a zip tie around it's muzzle and turned it loose . Some guys don't have a lot of scruples when it comes to coyote . When you have one in a trap you use a catch pole and choke it down then you can do what ever you want to with them . Down in Texas in the early 60's one rancher tied a stick of dynamite to one lit the fuse and let it loose it hid under his truck no more truck or coyote . Normally I call for 10 to 15 min then stop for awhile and glass run it at a higher volume for 1 or 2 min then go back to a lower volume but that's just me .

 

[Bdubose]

We've called them in by hand from over 1000 yards on a still night.
I've seen coyotes sleeping on top of round bales of hay. They like to be able to see a long way off (most predators do), so plenty of cover on your approach is one key.

 

[softtail103]

try the Foxpro CS24C. 350-400. I got one and got rid of my heavy shockwave. Very loud

 

[Revolting Peasant]

Try starting with a lower volume. I also use off the wall sounds. Pig screaming works well here. Pork for dinner turns a coyote on but they come in with their head on a swivel looking 360 in case the sow momma is around. Cuts their ability to focus on the caller. If you don't have hogs in your area but are close to town, try puppy or kitten sounds started at a lower volume, then maybe increase sound to normal volume. I only use high volume for prairie or open pasture with longer range views, and still start at lower volume at first in case one happens to be close. And I carry a hand call everywhere.

 

[DSheetz]

The predators all have amazing hearing , eyesight and all of their senses are fine tuned as are their preys . It amazes me how small of a movement they will lock onto . I have put a cotton ball on fishing line and let it hang so that just a gentle breeze would make it move they will come and check it out without making any sounds to attract them .