Coyote approach

[HaMeR]

I'm gonna try to ask this in an understandable way for everybody to reply to. Sometimes I'm not real good with words.

Vvarmitr & I were talking the other day about coyotes circling downwind. Around here where it's hilly & thick with open hardwoods mixed in plus hay & crop fields we were wondering about the coyotes circling downwind. Our question to each other was "How far downwind do they circle?? 100yds?? 200?"

Our conclusions were the terrain would dictate how far they would/could get downwind on their circle. Such as a river or road. But what about in the middle of no where with no defining roads,rivers,fence rows?? Or even open fields. Do you guys think they want to close to as little as say,, 50yds in the woods,, of the sound before circling?? Maybe as much as 200yds?? We're just wondering about the most efective way to use the ecaller in relation to where we are setting.

There are probably too many scenarios to this question too I think.

[canine]

The coyote himself will dictate how far. I have seen them circle across wide open crop fields up to 600yards heading downwind and others charge right up to the caller and circle 10 yards of it. I think it is more so in the coyote rather than land features.

Hunting pressure and plain ol personality !

edit: Almost forgot......you talk to vvarmitr      be careful....he's crazy 

JD

[FinsnFur]

Ya know what...I asked that exact question to a T....several years ago...got shot down, made fun of, and never did get an answer.  Well, not anything relevant to the question anyway.

I will never forget that

[Brad H]

I would think terrain will dictate a lot. But each coyote is different. Might as well take into consideration how hungry he might be along with past experiences with callers. Out here in the open a lot of times they'll keep 400 yard distance between them and the sound to get the wind. Then there's the ones that come blasting in to 50 yards, then decide to meander the 50 or so more steps down wind as if it was an after thought. If they can't be seen there's no telling how close they'll come first.

About 5 years ago a friend and I were calling in one of our favorite spots. We were on a sagebrush covered hill that gradually sloped down. We could see for miles and always got to watch the coyotes come the whole way in. Well, Pat, to my right, was blowing on his Tally Ho when I signaled that I saw something coming from the right. The wind was blowing from right to left and slightly from our backs. We sat and watched this old toothless coyote go from one sagebrush to the next and stand motionless for 60+ seconds behind each sage and only 70 yards in front of us. It was amazing watching him work his way to the down wind like he was. He would stand dead still behind each brush for so long I remember thinking he might have slipped out each time.

He almost made his way to the wind but we did finally get him first. So the bottom line is there's no telling what you might see or what they might do.  But keep in mind that a coyote is capable of way more patients than he tends to get credit for.

Brad


(edit) Sorry I didn't see your post JD!! I think you and I are on the same page!

[THO Game Calls]

A human walks at about 2 to 2 1/2 miles an hour.  

A coyote walks at about 13 miles an hour, trots at 20, and runs up to 40 MPH for short distances.

What that means to us as hunters is.....

at a walk, a coyote can cover over a quarter of a mile, 440 yards in about 60 seconds.

He can walk 100 yards in less than 15 seconds and at a trot, cover it in about 7 or 8.

So how far will a coytoe travle to get down wind of you?

I don't think the answer is one of distance, but more of safety and security based on available cover.  In wide open wood lots, the coyote may place more emphasis on distance to provide his safety than he might in thicker cover where he can sneak in unseen.   You often hear of eastern huntes in thick cover saying how the coyote just "appeared" withing a few yards of them,

It really does depend on the available cover, and sometimes, they dont circle at all.  

One of the toughest things coyote hunters have to over come, is to not try to equate a coyotes senses and abilites with those of a hunmans.  Especially here in the esat where you often times cannot see them coming from a long ways off.  When setting up, and looking at possable approace lanes, think more in terms of coveer, and where you might go to remain unseen than on the distance he is going to go.  I think you will fare a little better if you do.

Al


 

[HaMeR]

Thanks a bunch guys. I think the age of the coyote has something to do wth it too then. Like the older coyote Brad referred to VS the young one I shot. She came out into the hay field 200yds away & followed the edge of it until I shot her. She was trying to get downwind but never made it. She could have came the same way inside the edge of the woods just as easily I thought & been downwind without being seen but didn't. I realize setups are the most important thing but it would be nice if the coyotes would oblige us at least once in a while & do what we think they will do. 

Good info as usual & Thanks!! 

JD-- Yeah. He calls me & I don't have caller ID.    :roflmao: :roflmao:

Jim-- Hope you got some info from it today. It's a shame sometimes the way posts get answered. 

THO-- That female was trotting right to me & it sure seemed like waaaaay less then 7-8 seconds to go that far. 

[THO Game Calls]

Sometimes, we have to remember that a coyote, or any animal, will take the path of least resistance.  There may have been a reason she was on the edge of the field.  Maybe the wind had blown the snow away, or if you ever walk a fileld, notice how the edges are easier walking than the middle?  Plus, with the woods right next to her, she had a safe escape route, so her comfort level was high.

Every animal must weigh the expendature of calories to the bennefit gained when hunting or looking for food.  This is even more true in the winter when food is harder to find.  If an animal takes in less calories than it expends, chances are, it will die.  Some animals are more perdictable than others, white tail deer for example, but all animals can be patterend, if not completely, at least a bit, and we can often times guess at what they are going to do to some extent.  There was a reason that coyote was on the edge of the field, and I bet if you hunt there again, it will be a good spot to watch.   

Then there is always the one who comes busting straight in like a mad man and blows everything we think we know right out the window.

AL

[HaMeR]

Good points again. Right now the snow is crunchy & it's supposed to warm up to the mid 20's this afternoon. I'm going back to see if she had a mate & try the same place.

I tried to feed her a high caloric pill but apparently she had a reaction to it cause her stomach seemed to have exploded.     

[THO Game Calls]

 

[onecoyote]

You guys all  think to much.  If you see a coyote at 10 yards, 90 yards, 150 yards, 250 yards, 300 yeards. Take your best shot, don't worry why it's there or how it got there ......Kill it. 

[possumal]

The lay of the land has a lot to do with how you set up.  I like to call quartering downwind with lower volume, and usually setup the JIB if the customers can see it from a distance.  I try to always allow them several routes to approach, making it easier for them to respond from downwind without circling.  I always try to set down on higher ground, even if it is just a slight elevation, far enough away from the ecaller to see upwind, downwind, all around.  I always try to pick a spot where my scent is very unlikely to be picked up by the incoming coyotes.  In my opinion, a coyote likes to get dead on the source of the sound, maybe as much as he wants to get downwind.  I always try to make them pay for that privilege.  It is a lot like using hand/mouth calls, but your observation circle is naturally larger.  If you're hunting in heavily wooded areas, especially flat woods type terrain, I'd say hunting from treestands would be a huge advantage.

[THO Game Calls]

onecoyote -

      

I like the way you think 

[onecoyote]

Thats it, I don't think.  :shrug:I just kill coyotes.

[canine]

I pretty much agree with onecoyote. I like to keep it simple and I do not expect anything from a coyote. I feel to expect any form of habit from them,wether it be, always using cover to approach or always goin for the wind at a certain distance, will always end with a reality check.

We always setup a stand to try and put all aspects of the match in our favor. Some we win, some we lose. The more stands you put in and start having success, the quicker sites that are to your advantage will pop out at you. When we set  shooters up, we tell them to watch the edges and any low depression crossing an open field, and to kill them before they get downwind, wether it's 10 yards or 400.


JD

[The Rock]

I been out of pocket long enough for Onecoyote to show up in here. 

I like the just kill them senerio but, then we can see for miles in most of the terrain here too!

Hey Danny, you still in Carrizozo ?

[Rich Higgins]

Hey Jim, if you would call me today I'd like to discuss this subject with you.
JD, three "always" in that post. I like a confident man.
Danny, short and simple as always. Truth is you're a one finger typer, like me, and long posts are an effort.
If you could type,  the information would be flying hot and thick, the B.S. too.

[HaMeR]

Danny, short and simple as always. Truth is you're a one finger typer, like me, and long posts are an effort.
If you could type,  the information would be flying hot and thick, the B.S. too. 

:roflmao:

At least we got some discussion on this. That's all I was looking for. Thanks a bunch & we'll just keep trying to get some coyotes to die for us.     

[Greenside]

I put a lot of weight or emphasis on the path of least resistance.  Even in heavy cover he will more than likely be on that path.  I  try to never have that path end up on my backside or downwind side ,if I can't see it. Do coyote circle downwind to catch your scent or is it so you won't catch their scent?

[onecoyote]

Yeah Rich, half the time I'm lying to see the responces I get, the other half I'm telling the truth and nobody believes me? It's kinda of fun My best story ever was the two headed coyote. Now I started one about me finding $400,000 down by the Mexican border in New Mexico and thats what I'm living off of lol.


Howdy there Rock, Sold the motel and moved out of Carrizozo last Oct. Trying to move to central Nevada, but it's to cold living in an RV right now. So we headed south, now I'm in Bullhead City Arizona waiting for the weather to warm up in Nevada.

[Jimmie in Ky]

All you can do in the tight conditions we have here is make your best guess and use the terrain to try and keep them from going downwind. And a road is no guarentee. Make it easy to aproach the caller and tough to downwind it. Jimmie