Hunting coyotes in wooded areas?

[Target07]

This is my first post here but I have been a member since 2010. I don't frequent here much but I am getting into coyote hunting in south Mississippi where I live. I hunt on 400+ acres and can hear the coyotes cutting up at night.

I have attempted over the course of the past 4 months to call them in, unsuccessfully might add, at night. I have night vision and this has been my primary way of night hunting while attempting to call them. I have an el-cheapo electronic call (the manufacturer slips my mind as of now & may be one of my problems). I have had ZERO success! The only time I see coyotes is during the day when I am walking to my deer stand or scouting for deer as it is currently deer season.

If anybody is familiar with south Mississippi then you know it is fairly dense and has few open areas. This can be doubly said for where I hunt as the only real clearings are power lines, dirt roads and the food plots which have been planted for deer season.

I usually end up setting up on the ground (with in 75 yards of my call) and calling from there. My main concern is that I don't see anything...This could be a number things to include them winding me or me not utilizing the electronic call properly. Due to the denseness of the surrounding woods I am unable to create any sizable "standoff" (as noted above) from my electronic call.

My question is, " would I be better served attempting to hunt out of an elevated stand (hide) and obviously upgrade my electronic call to say a 'fox pro' to give me more stand off?"

Any help/recommendations would be much appreciated.

 

[dogbuster0006]

I grew up hunting them in KY while we can't hunt them at night I use electronic and mouth calls. Several were killed every yr while my buddies and I deer hunted as well. If you deer stands will give you better views of the area you're trying to hunt then give it a shot. Same reason you hunt deer from them less likely to be looking up and you'll get your scent column elevated. If you're using a cheaper call it's probably not all that loud which might be part of your issue. Also try to vary your call sequences as well, use diff sounds and differ your time they play, as well as the patterns you use when playing them. Yotes are quite smart and will pick up on repeat sounds and patterns. If you have to hunt in heavy woods try a shot gun if you can, Idk if you're using night vision scope or just goggles. Are you locating them before you go in? How long are you waiting on each stand? How many stands per night vs how much actual ground are you covering?

 

[Target07]

I grew up hunting them in KY while we can't hunt them at night I use electronic and mouth calls. Several were killed every yr while my buddies and I deer hunted as well. If you deer stands will give you better views of the area you're trying to hunt then give it a shot. Same reason you hunt deer from them less likely to be looking up and you'll get your scent column elevated. If you're using a cheaper call it's probably not all that loud which might be part of your issue. Also try to vary your call sequences as well, use diff sounds and differ your time they play, as well as the patterns you use when playing them. Yotes are quite smart and will pick up on repeat sounds and patterns. If you have to hunt in heavy woods try a shot gun if you can, Idk if you're using night vision scope or just goggles. Are you locating them before you go in? How long are you waiting on each stand? How many stands per night vs how much actual ground are you covering?

Mainly using AN/PVS-14 Gen III Pinnacle Monocular. Sometimes head mounted but mainly weapons mounted on my Noveske 12.5" Crusader behind my Aimpoint M3. Longest shot I would have is 175 yards...usually. On occasion I will break out my thermal weapon scope and that is usually mounted on a suppressed Colt 6920 as well. As a side note, the thermal works awesome. Went coyote hunting the other night and walked up to on of my plots and I made out 4 deer & a rabbit standing in it. None of them spooked until we started calling.

Not really "locating" prior to going in. Usually just try a few different spots through the evening. Mainly hides that would likely allow me to spot them coming in...again, due to vegetation that is limited to around 75 yards at times and a max of 175-200 yards of clearing. I hunt on/near food plots, clear cuts, power lines and dirt roads.

I usually call, off and on, for between 30mins to an hour prior to hanging it up and moving on to a different location. So, that would average out to about 3-4 different hides per night. Anymore and my Miss gets a little aggravated...if you get my drift.

In a typical night I will cover all 400 acres that I have access to. Again, just varying where I will go by conditions. I usually set up no closer than 2 miles from my previous hide.

 

[dogbuster0006]

Growing up we only had a few large tracts to hunt most of ours were 10-20 acres here and there. Trying to use a locator howls on tape or even a siren if you can. Drive around the outside of your area, or logging roads/trails running through it playing the sounds. If you get a response set up and call if not move on and try again. This should help to concentrate your efforts and you at least know they're in the area. Using thermals and night vision would be great!!! never had funds to buy them for myself. As far as the misses is concerned let her pack the shotgun, or camera or something similar it'll keep her entertained a lil longer, if she's worried about you being out late can't help too much there..lol If you can use a suppressor by all means go for it. I would use the 14's head mounted and carry the thermal equipped rifle for shooting. Sitting for 30 min to an hr should be enough time for anything in the area to respond, hunting the edges of your plots and fields is good that's what I'd be doing too. If you know they're in the area and not responding try in the corners or in the woods surrounding them they feel much more at ease there, they can sneak a lil easier and stay hidden better. Might also try putting some scraps or trash meat scraps from the butcher or from your deer hunts at one end of the field and hunt from your deer stands. In my early days we would walk or drive a long way between stand on a hunch we only moved about 400yd for a change and called in a double within 5 min of our previous stand. We started only moving a few hundred yards or about a half mile and started seeing more, we switched between mouth and hand calls on each stand and had better results as well. You'll find what works for you "and her" soon enough. Keep trying and don't get discouraged have buddies that hunted them for 2-3yrs before ever calling one in, good luck and happy hunting.

 

[Target07]

Growing up we only had a few large tracts to hunt most of ours were 10-20 acres here and there. Trying to use a locator howls on tape or even a siren if you can. Drive around the outside of your area, or logging roads/trails running through it playing the sounds. If you get a response set up and call if not move on and try again. This should help to concentrate your efforts and you at least know they're in the area. Using thermals and night vision would be great!!! never had funds to buy them for myself. As far as the misses is concerned let her pack the shotgun, or camera or something similar it'll keep her entertained a lil longer, if she's worried about you being out late can't help too much there..lol If you can use a suppressor by all means go for it. I would use the 14's head mounted and carry the thermal equipped rifle for shooting. Sitting for 30 min to an hr should be enough time for anything in the area to respond, hunting the edges of your plots and fields is good that's what I'd be doing too. If you know they're in the area and not responding try in the corners or in the woods surrounding them they feel much more at ease there, they can sneak a lil easier and stay hidden better. Might also try putting some scraps or trash meat scraps from the butcher or from your deer hunts at one end of the field and hunt from your deer stands. In my early days we would walk or drive a long way between stand on a hunch we only moved about 400yd for a change and called in a double within 5 min of our previous stand. We started only moving a few hundred yards or about a half mile and started seeing more, we switched between mouth and hand calls on each stand and had better results as well. You'll find what works for you "and her" soon enough. Keep trying and don't get discouraged have buddies that hunted them for 2-3yrs before ever calling one in, good luck and happy hunting.

Many thanks for the tips dogbuster. I am going to keep at it. I think I am going to invest in a better call. Preferably something that is wireless. I will have to do some research on better electronic calls and see what will fit my needs best. In addition I am going to try hunting out of my deer stands and see if that improves my success and I am going to try locating them first.

 

[dogbuster0006]

No problem I've got a foxpro wildfire and love it when i bought mine a yr or two ago it was around $250. It could be louder but it's got the adapters for bigger speakers and amps and what not I also use a couple diff decoys. My fav has to be my old standby a wooden dowel with a turkey feather hanging from it my fishing line had it for yrs and it's worked great, light weight and easy to use. I've tried a mojo critter it works as well but in cold weather batteries don't last too long and it's not as light as the other, but works without wind. Happy hunting and keep your head up I've been hunting these things since I was a lil feller haven't killed nearly as many as times I've killed

 

[RobertB]

Just be sure to pick sets where you can always watch your downwind side. And also remember that if your using an ecaller you dont have to put it in fron of you. I sometimes place mine to the side and I am watching where I think they will come from. They tend to circle and you might have been calling them but they bust you before you see them. Good luck