Coyote hunting techniques

[bczoom]

I didn't want to hijack Mark's thread about them getting too close but need some advise on the best way to hunt Coyotes.

A couple questions.
We have some around us but (so far), they seem to be 1 at a time and have been pretty decent about staying away. When alone, how much threat are they to children? We're surrounded by woods so they could get get within 50' of the yard undetected. My son (3 years old) is regularly outside with me but isn't always right "under-foot" although it seems like it whenever I'm working on something.

My neighbor has been asked to get rid of a pack of about 20-30 of them at an older ladies farm about 50 miles away so a few of us were going to give it a shot (no pun intended).
What are some techniques on calling them in? Rabbit calls, put a dead or wounded animal out or ??

If they come in as a pack, at what range do we take our shots? Can we call them into an open field during the day or will they stay at the fields edge?

Is it better for us to stay as a group or spread out?

Is any time of day better than other parts? At night is an option but only 2 of us have night-vision scopes.

OK, this one is like "which tractor is best" but any particular caliber? Personally, I'm thinking .223 would be fine but any caliber is fair game. That pun was intended.

Thanks
Brian

 

[Highbeam]

I'll try to answer a couple. These are small game, nearly varmints. A 223 caliber is plenty but the range at wish you fire will determine whether you need more power such as 22-250 or what the heck, grab your 30-06. One of the old semi-auto 30-06s that Remington? used to make would be perfect. Then if someone has a mini-14 in 223 that would work well too.

If you start shooting into a pack the animals may scatter. If the hunters are also scattered, the likelihood of shooting at each other increases real fast. I would recommend keeping the other hunters close.

Call them in as close as you can. A scoped rifle can reach out quite a ways and inflict enough damage to wipe out this small game. The closer they are when you open fire, the more shots you can get in before they get away.

I will be watching this thread as I am trying to kill a cougar before it gets my 2 year old girl. My state outlawed hounds so I am considering bait. Heck, I am not even against playing a little dirty to remove this threat. The cougars behave much like coyote so....

 

[Varmintmist]

I never tried it, but rabbit calls, night vision or just a red lensed spotlight seem to be the tricks folks are using. I dont think you can bait them legally here, but if you are exterminating, not hunting??....... /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif


Center fire 22's seem to be the norm, but if you are not hide hunting then the gloves are off. /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif I used to hunt groundhogs with a 30-06 with 165gr Nos ballistic tips. It worked. /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

As far as the kid in the yard. A coyote MIGHT come in if it was real hungry or sick. Pretty doubtful though. Get a dog for a warning system if you want. The kid needs a dog anyway /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[bczoom]

I was thinking of using my AR-15 (with scope). I think it can reach out farther than my Mini-14. If we open up on them at 100 yards, I still have a decent shot at 300-500 yards. I was going to use a semi-auto so I already negated the bolt-action (30-06, 22-350, .17...).

Varmintmist -
</font><font color="blue" class="small">( I used to hunt groundhogs with a 30-06 with 165gr Nos ballistic tips. It worked. )</font>

"used to"??? Is that when they started to fight back (looking at your avatar). /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

Mrs. Zoom can't have dogs in the house due to allergies. I'm thinking about an outside dog but will have to think about a containment system that's not obstructive.

 

[PBinWA]

Make sure you get the right type of dog. My neighbors big white European herding dog likes to sit about 50 feet from a coyote and bark at it - the coyote howls back and it goes on for hours.

Unless . . . I let my 100lb Weimaraner/Lab cross out. Then it's a mad dash for the coyotes. The coyotes don't come around as much as they used to since we moved in. He is tough as nails and loves to chase anything that will run from him.

I find the best time to get close to coyotes is on clear nights with a full moon. As long as you don't turn on any lights you can often get within 50-100 yards of them. Especially when they are howling away. On a clear night, it's an easy shot without a scope.

When my kids are out in the yard - the dogs are out too. I'd recommend a good outdoor guard dog. Even my neighbors dog keeps the coyotes away from his house and the kids. She's big hairy and never goes inside even in -20 degree weather.

Your son should be old enough to really enjoy the dog too.

Cougars are a much greater threat to your family than coyotes. They are tougher, faster, and meaner.

 

[GRUMPA]

Zoom,

The coyotes in my neck of the woods act a little diferently from what I'm reading about here. The ones up at our other home in the northern part of Az will try and bate our dogs out. What they do is at a minimum of 3 coyotes 2 of which are behind the trees and one right at the house in the back. The one at the back of the house will pace back and forth and try to get my dogs to chase it, if they do (they haven't yet) the one leads them to the other two and they'll ambush them.

Although my dogs are trained with voice commands (to a point) they stay close-by. I promptly take out my AR-15 and make the coyote population smaller. Its happened to folk up there and they have to keep an eye on there dogs. Now when I'm not working on projects up there I'll call them in using a rabbit call as mentioned already. As long as I don't move they'll come in really close.

A note on the ammo though, I make my own for all my boom sticks and when I use the AR for hunting I'll only use the Ballistic Tipped bullets. They open at such a fast rate when they hit something and basically shatter I don't worry about ricoche to much.

As far as a coyote hurting a child I have never read where one was actually attacked. But rather from a child not knowing any better getting to close to its den, and the parents trying to keep them away. Although there are other animals I've read about that when they do get ill do crazy things, it may happen with a coyote I don't know as I never heard of a case where it happened from a sick coyote.

 

[EddieWalker]

Local laws very, so check first.

But a tape of a squeeling rabbit and put it in a boombox. Set it about 20 feet off the the side of your hiding position and upwind of the direction you hope they will come from. Let it play for about 20 minutes to half an hour. If nothing comes in, then move locations or call it a day.

I've never had coyotes take longer then 15 minutes. Bobcats take the full 30 minutes and will almost alwasy sneak around to get downwind of you. Coyotes are usually easier and come in at an easy run out in the open.

I've never had more than a three come at once. At least that's all I've seen. As soon as you shoot one, they rest will disapear. Trying to get more is possible, but unlikely. More shooters means more shooting, but in my experience, you still only get one dead dog.

The danger to your kids question is a real one. When I was stationed at Camp Pendleton, we had three different attacks on kids by coyotes. None fatal. I was only there a year, and that was in 1985.

My reason for killing coyotes is to protect fawns. I've seen the damage they do to them, and I've seen the results on ranches that we hunted them. Real fast, we started seeing allot more deer after killing a dozen or so coyotes each year.

I rarely hear about attacks anymore. The local news either doesn't cover it, or it's extremely rare. I personally think the news just doesn't cover it, but that's must my personal opinion of news reporters.

My favorite caliber for them is a .22 long rifle. You gotta let them get in close. If it's getting close to dear season, I might bring my 30-06 to hone up on my shooting. A buddy of mine strictly uses his 7mm mag. He said theres no reason to shoot a different weapon since that's his main gun.

 

[Highbeam]

"Cougars are a much greater threat to your family than coyotes. They are tougher, faster, and meaner."

You should see the tracks, they are much much bigger too. I also understand that they are built to stalk and attack the weaker of the "herd" in a pounce type maneuver. Talk about hunting a hunter.

I have been wondering how you would go about setting an injured animal as bait. Sounds like a good idea but I don't want to be the guy to injure the bait in such a way that it will sit there and scream for long enough to attract the coyotes. Maybe tie off a live chicken once a night for a week or so, then on the last night wait for it with a full clip.

Have any of you heard a cougar growl? It is a kind of screech/snarl that gives you the willies in the dark.

 

[gsganzer]

They're pretty easy to hunt. The most important part is location. Generally, you want to set up where they'll be coming from cover upwind from you. If you can get on a slight hill, that'll help you see more distance and get your scent up higher. It also makes for a safer shot as your missed bullets will angle down and plow into the ground.

We usually use a "call box". It's nothing more then a tape player in a bag. We put in a hurt rabbit tape and put it about 75 - 100 yards upwind. You can get the call box from Cabela's.

You'll also need a spotlight with a red lense. Coyote's can't see red light very well. When you hear them getting within range, one guy flicks on the light while the other takes a shot. They won't wait very long for you to shoot. It also helps if you have a "rabbit in distress" mouth call. Just in case the tape runs out or you need to get them closer. You can also take a live chicken and tie his leg to a stake. The rabbit call attracts the coyote and the sight of the chicken brings him the rest of the way in. I don't recommend spreading out, it's a recipe for an accident.

A .22 mag, .223 or even a .22 long rifle. If they drop dead in their tracks, great. If he limps off with lead in him, to die later, that's fine too. The other coyotes will probably eat him.

It's usually customary to hang your dead coyotes on your fence poles. This helps ward off other coyotes and brags to your neighbors that you haven't lost your caveman roots.

 

[ThistleKop]

Brian,
In my experience, the best way to see coyotes upclose is when I begin bushhogging my fields. They come and loiter around looking for a free meal being run out by the tractor. It's a good idea to have a gun on the tractor when you go out. IMO, you'll kill more this way that normal hunting methods.

TK