Killed 2 coyotes that came to visit...

[sam5570]

Nice shooting. We have a heck of a time getting them to show here....way too much cover & small fields.

we have the same problem if we see one by the time i grab gun it's gone in a patch of wood's. i killed 2 last year and i have not seen 1 this year. Westcliffe01 thats some good shooting and them alot more color than the 2 i killed.

 

[westcliffe01]

For those of you interested in the setup, the image below is from google maps, I think it is a spring time picture. This is just showing the northern half of the farm where this played out. The white objects on the upper right are the barns and the road/driveway enters at the NE corner of the property. As one can see, accessing this part of the land requires one to walk across a completely open area that is pretty extensive. One can also see that there is a terrific amount of woods and swamp on the northern side of the property, so this is where the den areas are. No-one lives on that property which is why the coyotes are able to set up there. From there, their hunting sorties then come onto neighboring property including this farm.

One can't really recognize the patch of hardwood forest in this picture since the leaves have not yet sprouted, but it is apparent that something is there in front of the evergreen pines.

The red patch is where I have my permanent blind since it is in the spot with the best view. Its location is why I have so many long shots depending on the direction. Given the wind direction, the only coyotes that would show up are the ones coming from the wooded area to the NW. Those living to the NE would have been able to wind me.

 

[texasjohn]

excellent description and aerial image....do you do any calling, or just sit and wait??

 

[westcliffe01]

I have tried calling. I meanwhile have a $400 Foxpro Hellfire, but all for nought. For whatever reason I have never seen a coyote when using a call. It is as if they run in the opposite direction when you turn on the call. But if I move in before dawn and sit still, I see them moving through the area.

I have spent so many hours in the field, perhaps it is just a fact that one never seems to hear distress cries at all, and so when someone actually uses one it is out of place ? To give you an idea, I have been out on this property hunting since about the 3rd week of September so that is about 17 weekends (34 days) and I also spent 2 weeks of vacation in Nov and Dec full time hunting so basically over 40 days in the field. During all of that time, I never heard a single distress cry. Crows, yes. Birds of prey, yes. But no rabbits, voles or other squeaking critters.

I recently attended a forum at a local hunting club. The speaker was the foremost Michigan coyote hunter who goes by the name "Dogbreath". His basic tips were as follows:
1) In the eastern part of the US, coyotes have learned that cover = safety. So they are going to be reluctant to leave cover. This you can't expect to get them to come out the woods into an open field (there is problem #1 with my setup)
2) Predators use scent because their life depends on it. So if you are sitting somewhere with the wind straight in your face, it is VERY unlikely that a coyote will come in from that direction. That is because coyotes do not want to approach anything from upwind. So a better situation is to have the wind coming from the left or right, in such a setup it is possible that a coyote will come at you since they are not moving downwind.
3) Everything you do to get into your position needs to avoid contaminating any area the coyote may move through with footprints or scent. Coyotes will tend to take the path of least resistance, provided there is cover.

Those were the main things. If you can use height to your advantage (tree stands or whatever) it all helps getting your scent off the ground and improving your own vision so long as you are not skylined. More height would help in my setup too, as would clearing the brush out of the fencerows so that one can see what is going on in neighboring fields. In spring I am looking to hire a dozer for a day to tear out some brush that is virtually impenetrable.

 

[texasjohn]

Interesting report...understand and believe all you say re wind, height, cover, etc....Have installed a tower blind on my place. Friend has, over several years, successfully used an electronic call to kill 6 coyotes. I'm going to give it a try this year. Neighbor slaughtered 3 hogs today. I have the guts now, will put them out and hope to attract coyotes to that. I know they are in the area. Friend has several electronic calls...says that if a coyote gets spooked from one call he has to move to a different call since they will not return to the same call...dunno, don't yet have anything but mouth call.

 

[westcliffe01]

I think the more pressured they are for food, the easier they will come in. That is why they are so aggressive in the dry western states. They have to cover a lot of ground to get enough to survive and have to compete with lots of other coyotes. Here in MI I think they have an abundance of prey species.

We had a massive die off of deer due to hemoragic disease. I believe there were 10 000 reported cases and that is just the tip of the iceberg. Then came the turkeys, then the rabbits. The small mice and so on are there all the time. I have seen several bird kills from migrating ducks and geese. All of this on 100 acres, most of which is hay. 2 years ago there must have been some sort of crisis with prey species because the coyotes turned their full attention on this farmer. Hardly a day went by without an animal being killed and eaten. The coyotes had the sheep backed up to the barn in broad daylight. He was shooting them with buckshot from out of the barn.

In the meantime, he got a Great Pyrenees mountain dog, when I started hunting it was just a pup. Probably good for me, because she likes me know. She could be scary if belligerent.... But 1 dog is not enough to keep the coyotes at bay in such a big area...

 

[J35]

One thing to keep in mind is that hunger is not the only reason why they respond to a call.

They have a territory for a reason, a lot of times they come to a call because they want to know who just opened their refrigerator door.

Don't be afraid to set up in the thick stuff, it works both way's, you can't see very well, neither can the coyote.

When it comes to calling coyotes I will put my money on the man that has killed lots of rabbits.

He knows what a dieing rabbit is supposed to sound like, not just the actual sound but the volume and duration of that sound as well.

Good hunting --J

 

[texasjohn]

I went out this morning, didn't see anything but ducks, hawks and the golden sunrise...maybe next time! Kinda fun getting into camo gear.

 

[don45640]

Way to go,Westcliffe! Kill èm all and let God sort èm out! LOL! I have 4-22 magnums and am looking forward to taking my remote operated game call out soon. don-ohio:thumbsup:

 

[teejk]

Way to go,Westcliffe! Kill èm all and let God sort èm out! LOL! I have 4-22 magnums and am looking forward to taking my remote operated game call out soon. don-ohio:thumbsup:

better hurry! we have several serious hunters (with hounds) here since we have snow on the ground...with hide prices as they are I can't imagine they cover the fuel costs so it must be solely for fun or they feel they are performing a public service to preserve our deer/turkey/grouse populations (and on the latter part I thank them...no shortage of the canines around here).