Ramblings and Such From Hunting Coyote

[Reemty J]

thanks Tim,
I dislike those spinners also, always get a poor hit and blow bigger holes...its so easy to bang flop when everything is perfect, but we are all human, sometimes the shot is not what we want. you had a great day, way to go!!

 

[Reemty J]

calling coyotes is easy, killing them is slightly harder.

Not sure if I have seen a truer statement......................good one Tim, spot on.

I have had people in the past say "we called in 6 or 8 coyotes today" I say, how many did you kill?? they say NONE!!! but they made them a little smarter to that sound. A few years back we had Les Johnson here in town giving a calling seminar, selling calls and getting a lot of people educating coyotes. made it challenging for a while......after a fashion most quit or scale back.

 

[TRnCO]

That's funny. Reminds of a few years ago a rancher that I've called on for several years decided that he and his son wanted to take up calling. He asked me for advise about what call to get, what sounds I used etc.
I told him that I wouldn't come around because having more than one person calling just doesn't make the calling any good for anyone. Two years went by and I get a call from him, got a coyote problem, lost a calf. OK, so I ask him how much calling they had been doing, what sounds, etc. so I'd have any idea of what not to do.
Long story short, talking to him and his son went something like this, "We've been doing a lot of calling, just not much killing. They come flying in and going flying out with lead flying over their heads. Can't figure out how to stop them."
They've since hung up the call and I'm back in there calling when I want.

 

[Reemty J]

in this world there are killers and there are casual hunters, neither one is the other, ever. If I cannot kill 50-75% of what I call I am not happy with myself and look at what went wrong and how do I change. In their case a shotgun may have made some difference, but most casual hunters have no idea how fast it happens with a called coyote. I find if I can consistently kill a high percent of coyotes called in, most other game animals can be a lot easier on the shooting side. YMMV Coyotes are wonderful fast action targets and they catch on ultra fast.............great intuition. Coyotes are great challenge for competitive people, they are my personal favorite, they keep you on your toes and i am always scheming against them..smallest thing can make the biggest difference.

 

[DSheetz]

I've gotten a lot of calls to come kill educated killers . They are the biggest challenge and the biggest aggravation to kill . It seem that as with any thing else people want to try it for themselves first . Sure am glad they don't learn how to shoot back .

 

[Reemty J]

some here that are close to town and have heard it all and really pay attention to pickups and people, I like to spot them after a snow and do the tracking game and get them that way, using terrain to get close enough for a shot. You get one chance to take them out, a different way than calling. For some goofy reason that way interests me a lot. draw back is it can take an hour or 2............

 

[Reemty J]

TRnCO, calling in 6 and killing 6, that there is some good odds for you, bad if your a coyote!!!!!

 

[DSheetz]

Reemty , I thought that they called that hunting . If you have the time it's a good challenge I've had a few that was the only way to get them taken care of what a rewarding feeling when you get it done not much compares to it .

 

[DSheetz]

I got a call one evening from a rancher that he had lambs being killed so I told him I would be out in the morning . I got there at first light this particular pasture was next to a 4 lane highway on the west side of it and extended to the east for 1200 acres had some rough draws and a creek with a couple of rock piles in it . I sat and listened for half an hour and watched the sun start to break over the horizon and the world turn pink . Nobody said a word the coyote were quiet that morning so I found a good cut bank and got tucked in for some howling . When the sun was high enough that I could see well I started with two long howls two barks and another long howl then just sat and listened for a few minutes before repeating the same series for about 15 minutes worth of calling . Then from behind me and on the other side of the highway I heard them talk back to me . I got myself rearranged so I could watch that direction but they never showed. I spent a couple of hours tracking when the light got good for seeing tracks and sure enough the sign said they were crossing under the highway through a culvert . I set the fence on both ends of the culvert up with snares then went back to my truck and drove over to the other side of the highway where the same rancher had a few hundred acres of pasture and picked up their tracks . I followed them down a good sized draw that turned south and went into the neighbors pasture . I made a phone call and got permission to go in after them . Cell phones can be a good thing if you turn them off when your calling or hunting or just leave them in the truck . They had come out of the draw and up on a ridge before answering my howls but weren't crossing over to me . I set up and made another stand using the same series of howls and barks . Both of them ran out of the draw around 400 yards out from me barking and yodeling at me going away from me raising all kinds of cane . That told me I had set up too close to the den of pups the tracks had told me that I was getting close to it because I had tracks going both ways that were male and female , as with humans most male coyote have bigger feet , and it looked like a well worn trail being used a lot . So I quit calling and just sat watching them . It took then 30 to 45 minutes to calm down one of them stayed there watching me the other one started slowly moving back toward the draw then slipped into it quite a distance down from the den area . Twenty minutes or so latter the other one followed . I slipped into the draw and slowly worked my way toward the den . When I saw it from a distance of 25 yards I backed out and found a good setup got my stuff ready then did some puppy squeals . In a couple of seconds she was right on top of me with anger showing in her eyes all I saw was fur in the scope but she dropped I could almost push my rifle out enough to touch her where she lay after the shot . I didn't get the male that day but I took 8 pups out of the den and the killing stopped . I got the male a few days latter in one of the snares I had set .

 

[Reemty J]

patience, paying acute attention, experience and moving up on them when they are not looking, taking advantage of their weak spots and an deep knowledge of your adversary!!! Well Done Dave, well played..................to close the deal on these two, you had to spend a lot of time that day.....not a persons, usual sit down call for 15 minutes, get up and go.....that scenario would have never killed these two. I find the more I call, meaning experiance wise, I normally sit at a stand 30 minutes minimum and at times an hour, I find it keeps my % above 50 %...kill ratio

 

[DSheetz]

The more I learn about coyote the more I know how little I really know about them !I have a lot of respect for how family oriented they are both of them and sometimes a helper will give their lives for the pups . A weakness I have taken advantage of often but have to respect them for . Reemty you sir are correct most leave too soon it takes time when you aren't there just for the fun of it . When you are out there to kill , killers you have to take the time it takes to get the job done other wise you should just stay home and save everyone trouble and aggravation that you will cause by not taking the time needed .

 

[Reemty J]

you told me last spring that male would get another female, less than a week later he did, to raise his pups.............but.....I got him a few days later......always wondered the fate of that pickup female and the pups as I never saw them after that...either she got a lot sneakier or she left.....I love the chess game we play with one of our sharpest competitors, the coyote!

 

[Straight Shooter]

Dave, what kind of a howler do you use?

 

[DSheetz]

I use a modified one that premos makes , one of the magnum calls from critter call and one that I bought from Bill Austin a lot of years ago I've put a few lasterator bands on it and a couple of new reeds and I've made some that I like out of walnut they have a deeper more mellow tone more like a coyote then the plastic you can buy . Reemty she probably took the pups and moved to where he found her . If there were coyote in that area they probably helped her with the pups even if they had their own litter as they most likely were related to her . You have to admire the coyote family system even if you can't stand the coyote .