Howdy, and a few starter questions......

[outlaw]

I have been reading this forum for a while, just haven't joined.  I live in Southeast SD, hunt mainly this area and SW Minnesota.  My dad started taking me along hunting when I was about 5 to the tree stand, or goose hunting.  I am a die hard pheasant and goose hunter but due to my job(landscape contractor), and working on my father in laws farm, time just doesn't allow for it much.   I have started coyote hunting, and have become totally addicted.  Reading, watching videos, practicing with calls, whatever I can get my hands on.  I have read through all the threads at the top of the page a couple times. 

I believe, I understand the BASIC set up and calling concepts.  I think, I have pretty good hunter "savvy", but I still question some of our setups.  Sometimes, I wonder if I am being too careful, and need to be closer in on the cover.  I struggle with, what will get me busted and what wont.  So I usually go to the cautious side.

To this point we( I saw we, cause I have a buddy addicted too) haven't had a lot of luck.  Shot a couple one morning, but they were there the day before when we were hunting one of my pheasant honey holes.  I watch videos and the cover they have is MUCH, MUCH different than here.  This is wide open corn field, and slough country.   We don't have large wooded areas, its not that hilly(I can see the grain elevator 30 miles away from my house), there is pockets of hilly areas though.   So I really struggle with what is high percentage area to hunt and what isn't. 

I don't have a lot of time to scout and locate.  I have been asking around, if people have seen them and where.  Do you hear them at night.  I don't know if there is a lower population here, or is it possible they are not as vocal, because I am just not hearing much back from locals and other farmers.  People tell me, "ohh I had some howling behind my house a couple years ago" or "yah, I saw one running across the field when I was harvesting".  I think my father in law each saw one during harvest this year. 

So here is my questions to start...

1.)  Almost every slough around here has food, water, and cover.  Is there something that sets one above another.  I know scouting goes with it.  I just don't have a ton of time to run around and check every slough, that I can get permission to hunt.  Lets take last night for example, I went in search of some new property to hunt.   I found a really nice creek/river valley.  It has nice countours, and pasture land on both sides of it, but it didn't seem like there was much cover.  A small grouping of trees here and there, but nothing dense.  Is this something, I should just rule out??? 

2.) Setups, it seems like with the areas I am hunting I cant get right up to the cover.  I feel like we need to be back a ways, say a 1/4 mile to keep from getting busted.  Can we be that far back????  and if we aren't that far back, when they get to us, we wont be able to see them coming, because they will be right on top of us. 


I have some more questions, but would like to address these first.  My goal for this year is to be proficient.  I don't want to be one of those hunters people laugh at and say, yah that moron was just out there blowing his lungs out on a distress call.   I feel with proficiency, will come results. 

thanks for any help,

Justin

[Jimmie in Ky]

Lets start with your cover situation. The terrain is just as important as the cover. What is that cover on? Gently sloping hills? River or stream banks?  Maybe it's in a small canyon? Or perhaps long grasses and small cedars on a hillside. How about the cattails and rushes around the sloughs, are there dry areas within these places they can bed down on? That isolated piece of cover out on a hill top could very well be worthless to you unless there is a dip of some kind feature in the terrain for them to aproach.

Where the terrain features and cover come together is where you need to be looking. Here they find travel lanes and cover to bed in during th day.

Setups are where you are going to have to experiment. You need to feel confident most of all. If backing off 4oo yards or so is what it takes to get that done then fine. If you can work into the winds along the terrain and cover features and call them every 800 yards or so that will work to because you will be walking out into areas already called. Once you get a few under your belt start experimenting. Watch how they aproach a call sight and learn from it. Soon you will be recognizing how htey will travel to you when you choose locations. Jimmie

[FinsnFur]

Welcome to the site Justin.
My two cents, is that it would be a wise idea to set out and do some scouting. There's a common phrase hovering through this hunting forums that whispers, you can't call coyotes that aren't there.

Now granted you already know there's coyotes out there, but my opinion is that your leaving it go at that. I think you need to refine your locations by finding out WHERE they are out there.
Those threads in the table above will tell you what too look for, and what it means when you find it. Tracks leading both directions generally means a travel lane...would you call a travel lane? Read about how to find out where the travel lanes lead to first so you know how far you are from, say a bedding area when you find the travel lane etc.

[Bopeye]

Welcome to the site Outlaw.

I really don't have much to add to this. I am originally from Nebraska and lived a year or so in Northeast Wyoming. I never coyote hunted when I lived there, but I did love pheasant hunting......

The one thing I was thinking about was the constant wind in Wyoming. If you are setting up quite aways back to not give yourself away.........the coyotes might not be hearing your calls due to the wind. Not sure of how hard the wind blows there, but I remember that Wyoming wind was horrible.

We gauged it like this.
Tie a tow chain to a telephone pole.
When that tow chain is standing straight out, horizontal to the ground, it's not windy yet.
When it starts snapping the links off of the chain............the wind is blowing. 

[Jimmie in Ky]

Jim mentions something in his post that I think is a good deal of the beginers problem. They find a few tracks and a scat or two and believe that there is where they need to call. That just means that animals have been there at some time. We don't know for certain what time of day or if it is a regular travel route.

By getting out there and really looking at what they leave behind we learn a lot. It tells us just how much traffic is in an area. It can give us a clue about where to look if we pay attention to the direction the animals are going. If I find a single set of tracks going in a certain direction, I look for other sign pointing towards the same terrain feature. Once I get a general idea of the direction all these single animals are taking I move towards the center and check for more sign. The closer I get to the center of the territory the more sign I find. I begin to find sign going in several directions from the same general area. This is where I want to do my calling from. I have a much better chance of catching  passing animals moving around enough to hear what I have to offer.

Like in my area I know they like to bed near a certain type of terrain feature, but there are many of this type of terrain feature. Which ones are they using. By checking the likely travel lanes into the center of this feature I can find the sign pointing to the particular one they are using with fair consistancy. I can then move into the area with the wind in my face calling every so often and come up with an animal or two . If not, I still am in there looking for what clues they leave behind as to the whereabouts of the group. Every calling trip teaches me something about them. I can then choose another area based on the knowledge I have gained from being in there . Jimmie

[Arkyyoter]

I am just a dumb old Arkansas boy, but welcome to the site, glad to have ya!!!


Joe

[bowjunkie]

I am just a dumb old Arkansas boy, but welcome to the site, glad to have ya!!!


Joe

jsut change the Arkansas to Colorado  thats some right perty country up there was through there a couple weeks ago looked like good coyote country ta me

Ed

[outlaw]

Wow, lots of replies in a short period. Thanks for the welcome, the more I read, the more I feel like a moroon.... hahahahahah   

I fully understand the

you can't call coyotes that aren't there.

.  Its like calling geese with a blank sky in front of you. 

The terrain is just as important as the cover. What is that cover on? Gently sloping hills? River or stream banks?  Maybe it's in a small canyon? Or perhaps long grasses and small cedars on a hillside. How about the cattails and rushes around the sloughs, are there dry areas within these places they can bed down on?

I would describe the terrain around here as gently rolling.  With some waterways and sloughs/potholes scattered in the lower portions.  The waterways may have some heavier grass, cattail and tree cover with them.  The sloughs/potholes are typically surrounded by cattails with a switch grass or some sort of cover bordering that.  Yes there is deffinetely area for them to bed.  There is some smaller rivers and creeks around, but they dont hold much cover around them. 

Now granted you already know there's coyotes out there, but my opinion is that your leaving it go at that.

I think that statement is pretty much correct.   At this time with frozen ground and no snow it is probally going to be difficult to do much detailed scouting????


I have tried to call on the less windy days.  One sunset stand last week I either tricked a coyote or a neighbor that had an  E-caller.   I would have swore it was a coyote howling back to me, but it got to dark.  It was dead calm, and I would guess it was over a mile away.  It was very faint.  When we walked out a pick-up left a drive way on the north side of the section that left.   

I am going to try and post some pics of one of the spots I think that is going to produce....

[outlaw]

k... got these pics to work, looking at em posted they kind of suck.  This is typical terrain for my area.  The first pic is standing in the field drive overlooking the area.  The slough is approximately 1/4 - 1/3 mile wide x mile long, with little fingers or drainages that run out into the middle of the section.    It has tons of cattails, switch grass and some woody cover that we call buck brush.  The dark spot in the middle of the pic was an old draingage/grass area that they recently tore up.  Just beyond that is a small hill that just on the other side is a draingae, that runs about a 1/2 mile to the right. 


The second pic is where I set up, wind in my face.  I picked that location because I could see well, and there is two waterways that come into this slough, just to my right.  It isnt a good pic, cause I was shooting the sunset. 

[outlaw]

I found overhead views on the google maps of this area, but I can't figure out how to save them, to post....

[TA17rem]

Outlaw; I know youre area well, the coyotes are scattered somewhat, but if it get out there and do youre scouting you will find them and the areas they like to hold up in dureing the day. I could tell you where to look but that would'nt be fair to the other guys who have been out there doing there scoutting and putting in their time. As for calling stands you can set up as far away as a half mile from the bedding areas and still have them respond. I will let you in on one little secrete when setting up to call make sure you are not trying to call them towards a road, they will lock up on you and may never come in ...
Do you live in S.D. or Minn. ???

[outlaw]

Just north of Sioux Falls and a little west. I grew up in SW Minnesota. 

but if it get out there and do youre scouting you will find them and the areas they like to hold up in dureing the day. I could tell you where to look but that would'nt be fair to the other guys who have been out there doing there scoutting and putting in their time

That is fair, I dont expect anything handed to me on a silver plater.   I like to work for my success.   Is there alot of guys in this area that are serious about it?????  I have not really heard of too many. 

I will let you in on one little secrete when setting up to call make sure you are not trying to call them towards a road, they will lock up on you and may never come in ...

I kind of figured that, we have been trying to set up in the middle of sections.  The one we possibly had going the other night, sounded like it was in the section to the north of us.  If it was dark enough, or the road isnt busy, could you get them to cross the road????  or if you get a vocalization, do you need to pick up and move into that area???

[TA17rem]

If you are calling at night then yes the coyotes will most likely cross the road to get to the rabbit. If you get a howl back from a coyote it won't hurt to call him in from where you are set up. If you find that they won't commit then yes you mite have to move in closer or come back on a later date and try again.
Also when setting up try to have some type of cover for the coyote to come in along such as a tree line or fence line.
As to the question on where you live, if you are a S.D. resident you would have to buy the Minn. lic for coyotes and they are pretty spendy (150.00 plus) And as of lately the D.N.R. has been out checking up on pred. hunters and if you don't have the proper lic. and get caught it can become real spendy. ( fines, plus loss of hunting up to 3 years.) and that would include youre home state as well.
Most of the pred hunters in youre area of S.D. come out mostly on the week-ends, i call them week-end warriors, not alot of them have much faith or time for calling so they spot and stalk mostly. And then there are some of the locals that go out to just have some fun, i call them the pick-up cowboys.
There has'nt been a whole lot of snow this year so most of them might be spending there time at home or have moved on to other interests.. Good luck with youre calling... T. A.

[nailbender]

 Hey Outlaw, welcome.  I live just a little south of you. Any decent pheasnt cover can hold coyotes. I've seen them hide down in little creeks you wouldn't even walk for pheasant. Best thing to do is get out and scout after one of those little snows we've been getting. Check field drivevays and where creeks or fencelines meet the road.
 If you find tracks try to figure where they're headed. Maybe go around the section and see if they come out, if theyb go into the next section, repeat.  Coyotes around here are mostly nocturnal. They want to be home before we humans start moving around.
 Early morning or late afternoon are the best times around here. In fact my friend just called saying he scored his first an hour ago.  This is his second season calling.. So don't give up!

[BigB]

The most important part of my setup is hiding the pickup truck.  If I can see the truck from my stand, then they can see the truck, and it is game over before you even start calling.

With some experience, you will be able to predict what path the coyotes will come in from.  Remember that the coyote will usually come in using the path of least resistance.  They follow field edges, cow paths, etc where the walking is easy.  They also like to run down fence lines.

I like to set up to where I can see at least a few hundred yards (or more) in front of me in the direction I expect them to come from.  A howl will pull them in from further distances away than will a soft distress sound.

Here is a pic of one of my favorite places to call.  I am setting up in the 4 corners of the section.  There is a fence line headed in all major directions.  There is a timber to my west, and I have an elevated position to see them coming in.  There are easy travel lanes that lead up to my calling location.


The time of year also has to do with success rate.  For me, success rate of seeing a coyote on a stand is about 50-75% before deer season.  After deer season and late winter, it is around 25% or less.

Don't give up.  You will learn something with every stand you make.

[outlaw]

if you are a S.D. resident you would have to buy the Minn. lic for coyotes and they are pretty spendy (150.00 plus)

Holy crap, wonder why so much????  Are they trying to pay back South Dakotans for the pheasant hunting license?  Thanks for the tip, I probally would have just went in and got a small game license.  I have a couple spots back home that need to be cleaned out too.  We walked into one small slough that reminds me of pheasant hunting prime SD land, and kick 5 yotes out of it this fall.  My second favorite spot had 2.

but if it get out there and do youre scouting you will find them and the areas they like to hold up in dureing the day

This statement has lead to a few questions in my mind.  I am going to read through the topics stuck at the top again, before I pose the questions. 

nailbender....  if you ever want someone to go along, shoot me a PM. 

Again thanks for all the welcomes, huge help and comments.  I am not one to give up, I love to hunt.   The wife is sleeping, I am looking for a flashlight, and a case of beer to go do some scouting...   

[FinsnFur]

outlaw,
Saving the google map images;

Bring up the image you want to save on the map.
Make sure it's centered on your monitor, and you can see everything you want in the pic.
Then Hit your "PrtScr" button.

Then open up your "paint" program. It'll be in Programs>accessories.
When your in paint click on the "edit" button near the top of the program window, and and then click "paste" from the menu it provides.

Walaa!.

Now click "file", then "save as", and save it somewhere on your pc.
But it will be in a .bmp format and a ridiculously large format. So after you save it you should be able to open it with whatever program your woeking with your photos there, and then save it from there as a .jpg file.

[Jimmie in Ky]

Looking at your first pic, see those low places in the fields leading from one woods to another? Those are your travel lanes. I see two mafor ones going across those fields. And if your looking at that woods in the distance your off to a good start. There will be mice and other small critters all in that timber.

Looking at your second pic, I am wondering how you set up. What did you have at your back to hide your silhouette? It looks like you just went out and setup in the middle of the cornfield on a high spot. If that is what you did, they could see you a lot farther than you could see them. It is also pretty tough to call them out into the open field that way. They like to travel along that edge cover down along the slough. That way they are just a jump from cover to hide in. See if you can catch a cross wind and call from the slough edge. Keep an eye on the downwind side of the setup, that is where they will try to go.

Just a bit flatter and this could be the river bottoms here in western Ky. Jimmie

[nailbender]

The most important part of my setup is hiding the pickup truck.  If I can see the truck from my stand, then they can see the truck, and it is game over before you even start calling.

   That is one of the hardest parts of stand selection around here!!

[outlaw]

Thanks for the tips on saving maps, I will put it to very good use.

Jimmie,  those "woods" you see arent really woods.  They are tree groves.  Most of them have houses in em.  The start of em are about 1 1/2 mile away and further.  Another one of my spots is kind of in the middle of those. 

What you cant see behind me is when they combined it kind of left some corn in a small patch.   I pulled some stalks up around me to help.  I realize it was probally not the best, but with the wind direction was a bit of a problem.  I was trying to position myself there, so I could see the waterway to my right.  If I would have sat in the fenceline, I think they would have worked the waterway, and then winded me when they got to the fence.  If I would have sat where the waterway meets the fence, I would have not been able to see very far. 

Well, now we have snow, I am going to do some hard core scouting.  Is there any reason, I cant run around and do some of it with a quad?????