No luck again

[rabbit16v]

We went out again and my buddy had 2 walk in towards him and stop at about 150 yards.  He wasn't able to pull the trigger as he could only see their ears.  He said they came to a dip in the road and decided to run the other way after that. 

But this brings me to a ?? or two.  I've read the primers up top and started to avoid the fields w/ no luck.  My buddy sat in a tree line next to a couple of fields and had 2 walk down a strip of pines then head right towards him.  He opted for a closer shot but they wouldn't present it before running away.  When we met up and walked out, we found the FRESHEST sign in the wide green roads going between all the fields and woods.  BTW, these fields are in the 4 ft high range.  Now why is it that I should be hunting the woods w/ the filed to my back if all the signs say otherwise? 

[CCP]

There are many things that effect where a coyote goes. If Iam hunting in an area with little or no pressure a field edge will work. I hunt along logging roads when the woods are to thick.

we found the FRESHEST sign in the wide green roads going between all the fields and woods

This is the easiest route in between the fields they hunt so it would be logical to find lots of scat and sign there.
Now the questions would be. When are they hunting in the fields? and Where do they go after hunting in the fields? My guess would be they are hunting the fields at night. Then they are going to the thickets in the day.

Now are these coyotes pressured? If not calling to them from the field toward the thicket one may just bail out across the field. If they are pressured they may more than likely go around the field inside the wood line. In the latter I had rather be in the woods waiting for them to approach from there.

He said they came to a dip in the road and decided to run the other way after that.

Very common for coyotes to do this. We call them checkup points it is a place where coyotes stop and check things out before the finale commitment. Alot of times they will stop in these places and turn around and come back from another angle.

Now why is it that I should be hunting the woods w/ the filed to my back if all the signs say otherwise?

I don't see the sign saying other wise. I used to see coyote tracks around the barn all the time but I don't setup in the barn I hunt in the woods I know they are only there at night.

  Here we can kill coyotes calling an open field as anywhere else in the world but will it happen consistently NO. So what is our best chance of killing more coyotes? Getting in the woods where the coyote feels safest and doesn't checkup but keeps coming.

Hope this makes sense and helps.

[fuzz624]

       Coyotes will usually try to avoid the fields in the daytime.Alote of the sign you are finding may be made at night.On the other hand,if they are not pressured they may cross the open ground.The thing about coyotes is that no two are alike.One group of coyotes will act completely different than another.I believe that most of this has to do with hunting pressure.
     If you keep the fields on your downwind side,you will be able to see them if they try to circle to wind you.If the woods are on the downwind side,you will not be able to see as far and they will bust you and you will never even know they are there.Good luck and hang in there.No one said it was easy.I guess that is part of the fun.

[Jimmie in Ky]

The primers often state to leave the open fields at your back. Four foot high vegatation is not an open field ! I think of such fields as if they are woods lots. Hunt the edges and call them out.

Again your talking about travel lanes they use to get from point a to point b when talking about the old field roads. When you have one that runs through such vegatation it is prime for hunting them.

And if you buddy had them check up on him during an aproach it is very possible he either moved slightly or he did not hide his silhouette very well. I don't care how good your camo is , if you do not put something larger than yourself at your back, you will cause check ups to happen . It doesn't matter what it is . It could be a patch of honey suckle, A hay bale, anything wider than you are will work.

Movement as slight as blinking your eyes can cause check ups too. You cannot move when it is possible they will see the slightest shift of your body. There will always be some chance to move when they are distracted in some way. Liek when they look around or check on a buddy coming with them. They see anything out of place and the game is over right then and there. I got busted once by just moving my eyes to check on an incoming female. Jimmie

[rabbit16v]

here is an out dated map that shows some of what we've seen lately.  The white dot is the spot my buddy was sitting when he saw the 2 Monday.    The red dots directly above show the path they traveled when he spotted em.  All other red dots are sightings by use in the past (past referring to this year and previous years).  The brown dots (hard to see) are spots that had POO the ones on the right were def that morning as they were still runny in some cases.  Yellow dots are tracts here and there.  The ones next to red are obviously the ones he saw that day.  The ones on the right were made in the snow and cut across the field towards the thicket on the right.  Like I said, this map is out of date but the green lines show the grass strips that have large bushy tree lines on both sides.  The arrow shows wind direction.  Also, we park towards the bottom right of the photo.  All the fields you see are pretty much 4 ft high w/ strips cut through them like stated earlier.

Look at this and give your opinions please. 

[keekee]

Looks like they are using the grew up fields cut threw there to travel or hunt. I would set up on the down wind side of the thicket. (looks like thats were they are spending there day light Hrs).  Right on the edge of the grew up fields with the grew up field to my back. I would call strait into the thicket, and have my other shooter 50-75 yards down wind were he could see the fields and the woods.

Use the terrain features to you advantage, corners, ditches, low gaps or what ever you have there. Make it easy for them to get to you.

One thing to remember, don't over call the area.


Brent