So you want to hunt coyotes.

[FinsnFur]

Please do not make comments or questions on this thread, by replying to it. If you have questions or comments feel free to start a new topic.
We'd like to keep this thread for reference and will be adding to it over time.


Different views to the I've never been coyote hunting, where do I start?, questions.



I don't consider myself famous, and I'm far from a pro but here's what I have to offer.

Get yourself some distress calls, and possibly a howler. There's several different models and styles available here on the board in the Call Store, and on most of the other hunting boards on the net.

We have some distress sounds threads that will give you a goods heads up as to what type of sounds your going to be trying to make. Go through those, and  practice, practice practice.

When you feel pretty confident with your calls, I would start talking to some farmers or ranch owners where you plan to hunt and find out where they are seeing or hearing coyotes. Log some times and locations so you have something to refer back to.

Get an aerial map of the area and mark the locations you have logged. Then strategically plan out some approaches to these areas, and possible areas the coyotes will be using to travel to and from them. They like cover, fencerows, creekbeds,  edges, etc.

It's a good idea to have the wind in your face when entering a calling area, that way your human scent is being carried out behind you and your not giving everything in the area a heads up that your coming.

When you set up, I feel crosswinds are the best. A coyote will usually try to circle downwind so he can pick your scent up. Make sure you can see your downwind side without making a lot of movement.

Camouflage in my opinion is a must. Coyotes are sight hounds. The better you blend in, the more of an advantage you have. Keep your movement to a minimum on your stands.

[Bopeye]

Well that about does it.............it's a wrap!!! Print it Jimbo...........

I'm just kidding.......I gotta go for now, but I'll be back in a little while to put my spin on things.

[Jimmie in Ky]

 I would say lets start with some basics. You can't call them if they are not there. Learn woodsmanship skills such as tracking and other sign reading. You can learn to age tracks by simply getting out there and checking them every day you can. Watch how the weather and time affect the sign you see. Ask yourself where you think these animals might be going and go check and see if your right. This will teach you how they move around in your neck of the woods.

Know the predominant prey species in your area and how they live. When you learn how to check scats this will tell you the most likely places the predators there are feeding in. If the scats are full of rodent hair you then know they are using the grown up fields in your area the most. If rabbits and small birds they are spending more time in the thickets and small woodlots. In big timber areas here I know that mice in th diet often means pine thickets. If I see larger bones and rodent hair I know it is field rats and look for overgrown fields. What they eat can tell you a lot about where you need to look.

Pay attention to how the winds blow in your area, are the predominant winds from certain directions? If so what are the best ways to aproach a piece of property you plan to hunt. This will play a roll later when you start getting permission to hunt. The best place to be to call them may be farmer Browns place but you will have to cross Famer Freds to get there.

Shooting skills must be sharpened so spend some time selecting your weapon and practice all you can afford. You want to be able to thread th eye of a needle with that weapon if nescescary in heavy timber.

As for calls it is not nescescary to have a howler at first. Just get a couple of good mouth calls that are easy to work, each with a slightly diferent tone from the other. Learn to put feeling in your calling by using your hand. You can open and close your hand in a variety of ways to manipulate the calls sound. This is how we add that painful feeling to the call. Use four to seven notes in a series. Start softly and add volume as time on stand passes. Don't worry to much about how good or bad you sound, a coyote certainly doesn't care as long as it sounds like something in trouble.


For stands select places that allow you to put your scent out into the open as much as possible. I use fencerows and outside corners of woodlots a lot in my setups. This helps me to limit the number of ways an animal can aproach me and keeps my movement down as well. Don't expect them to come out into the open just because your asking them to. They want stay hidden as much as possible. If you give them cover to aproach you , they will use it .

Lastly I would recomend some videos, not for the fact that they are calling coyotes, but so that you can hear how they do the calling. Watch the animals and how they aproach the call sight. Imagine those scenes with timber on them if you live in the east and look closely at the types of terrain the animals use to aproach the caller. Do they follow that ridgeline to th ditch and use it to come in or follow the fenceline and turn up the creek. These things will teach you how to use your setups to your advantage by giving the animals a way to aproach you. And learning how they might aproach a setup before you set down to call. Knowing this helps you to setup so that you can limit the need to move once you see that animal coming in. Jimmie

[Bopeye]

This is how I do it in the hills of East Tennessee. These tactics may or may not work elsewhere, so reader beware.

Talk to landowners and get permission to hunt first. Always a good idea to have a card made up stating that you are a coyote hunter along with other value tidbits like your name, phone number, e-mail, etc.
Give these cards out liberally to landowners. They may not let you hunt at first, but six months down the road a calf might get killed or their wife's pet poodle and they'll start looking for your card.

When you gain permission to hunt.........listen to the landowner. Did you hear that........LISTEN....not talk.
Find out where he is seeing and hearing coyotes. Know where dwellings are, especially houses so you don't put a round threw one. Find out what time of the day or night he is seeing or hearing coyotes. Learn where all their gates are and what kind of stock or crop he has on his land. Find out what their pet peeves are......no quicker way to lose access to land than doing something that ticks the owner off. Respect all of their wishes. If they don't want you in there during November, because he and his son deer hunt then.......don't hunt there during November. Let them know when you are on their land and always leave it better than you found it. If you find a beer can or something laying in their field......pack it out. It shows respect for their property and makes you more of an asset to them..........not just a "user" of them.

Scout their property yourself, with or without them. Find where they are crossing a fence.......you'll find a path going under the fence and usually coyote hair on the fence. Look for scat (poop) and try to determine how old it is and what they are eating. You can find hair (mice, rabbit, deer, etc.), seeds, grasshopper parts, all kinds of little things that will give you an idea of what the coyotes are eating there.
Tracks are another good sign to find and make sure you have learned the difference between coyote and dog tracks. It does you no good to find tracks of the farmers Lab.......make sure they are coyote tracks.
This brings up something else........always know what you are aiming at before you pull the trigger.
Landowners won't take "I'm sorry" too well if you shoot their cattle dog thinking it was a coyote. It's called "buck fever" and can happen to anyone. You see what you are wanting to see.......not what's actually there. ALWAYS be sure of your target and what lies beyond it........especially like a partner or something. Designate shooting lanes ahead of time if you are hunting with someone else........this should insure no "accidents".

I try to set up on the edge or a little ways inside the woods or cover with my scent being carried out over a field. Very seldom will the coyotes come across an open field in this area if there is cover they can use and yes there is always cover they can use. Treelines, brushy fencelines, small draws, briar thickets.......anything can and will be used by a coyote to provide them some cover.

If you are setting up in the woods or "thick stuff", keep an eye on your downwind side. Try to decipher where you think a coyote will come from and set up where you can catch him before he makes it to your downwind side. He smells you and it's game over...........usually. Remember we are dealing with coyotes and there is no set in stone rules with them, however there are some very reasonable generalities.

If you are wanting pelts.......learn which guns cause the least amount of pelt damage.
If you are just wanting to hunt coyotes, without regard to pelts.........use your deer rifle for awhile until you figure out what direction you want to go with your coyote hunting. If your deer rifle can kill a deer, it will kill a coyote as well.
I use a shotgun.........just my preference.........hunting the thick stuff I very seldom have a shot that a shotgun won't do the job. My motto is "I like to smell them die". Just kidding, but that's what I tell some folks. 
Most importantly.........learn your gun. Learn to shoot it at different angles and positions. Learn how well it shoots at different yardages. You have to have confidence in your gun and your abilities........might as well use a spear if you don't have proven confidence in your weapon of choice.

Get a few generic calls or some from call makers at first. Learn how to use them. It's not rocket science, but you don't need to sound like a moose in estrus when trying to call a coyote. You need to be reasonably proficient with your calls. Lot's of different distress calls on the market and I would wager a guess that almost all of them have a better than average chance of getting a coyote's interest.

Something that will help you with noise and movement discipline on stand is always remember you are wanting to see them before they see you. Pretend like that coyote has a gun too and first one seen.......loses.
You are calling them to you. That means they are looking and smelling for "prey". All their senses are highly tuned in at that moment to find whatever it is making that horrible racket. You, the hunter, are now the hunted or the "prey". If you didn't have a gun with you and it was a grizzly bear looking for you..........how quiet and still would you be? Think about it.

This really shouldn't need mentioned, but I will anyway. When you shoot something..........shoot it to dispatch it as humanely as possible. Kill it........don't wound it. If you wound a healthy animal and he gets away.........you have just created a potential problem. If that coyote is wounded severely enough where he can't hunt his normal prey.......guess what he goes after now? Puppies, cats, calves, whatever he can easily catch and eat which is usually something domestic. Domestic animals are usually far easier to catch and kill than wild animals. Now you have created a bigger problem than what had already existed.

Getting videos can be a big help, but always look at the terrain as opposed to what you are gonna be hunting. If you get a video that has been filmed in Texas and you are gonna be hunting Vermont.......well, let's just say.......coyotes will still be coyotes, but how they use the terrain, vegetation, and how they respond may or may not differ with what you are seeing on the video.
The only video I have watched that is similar to what I hunt is produced by Kee's Production. I think it's called "Calling in the East". I've watched several others and have learned some things from them as well, but there were quite a few differences as well. To say they didn't help at all would be a lie, but they weren't a perfect "how-to" video either. Not for my area anyway.

I'm going to stop for now, but I want to leave you with one parting thought. The best way to learn to hunt coyotes is by going out and hunting coyotes. You can get tips from videos, forums, phone calls, e-mails, etc., but the best teacher is still the coyote themselves.
I would highly recommend finding someone in your area that already hunts coyotes and see if you can go with them a few times. Learn from them. Watch where they set up and why. Watch and listen to them while they are calling, pay attention to the equipment they carry and why they carry it. Most importantly.....when they are trying to impart some knowledge to you.........be quiet and listen. Alot of these guys are walking textbooks on how to hunt coyotes in your area. They can be your biggest asset in learning how to play this game.
Try to hunt with others in your area as well. Don't limit yourself to just one way of thinking or doing something. Opinions vary widely and for good reason. These guys hunt the way they do because it works and that's the way they enjoy hunting. Some of the things they do may not be the best way to do it, but it is their "preferred" way of doing it. That doesn't make it wrong........just different. Kind of like which is best, Ford or Chevy? Can that question ever really be layed to rest?............NO.

If your real fortunate, you may find someone in your area that is a seasoned coyote hunter and they take you under their wing so to speak. Stick with them as long as you can. Your learning curve will be enhanced greatly. Usually just about anthing you can think up they've either tried or heard about. It will quickly eliminate it as a waste of time or a good idea........whichever.

Good luck and get out there. 

[THO Game Calls]

THO's Top 10 Coyote Hunting Tips      

1) You don't need a fancy rifle to kill coyotes.  A shotgun will work just fine.  If all you've got is a deer rifle, pick it up and go hunt.  You wont kill anything dreaming about the perfect coyote gun.   (by the way, there is no such thing as the perfect coyote gun.  No matter what anyone tells you).  30 30 – it will work.  22 mag – it will work too.  30 06, yup, you can kill em with that too.  Elephant gun, yeah, even that, but it will be a little harder for us to give you credit for your kills if there isn't anything left to take pictures of.  And without pictures, well, read number 2. 

2) 90% of what you read on the internet about hunting coyotes is garbage.  Pure and simple.  Half the people who will take the time to tell you what works have never even seen a coyote in the wild. Another group lives in coyote rich areas where you could lean on a fence wearing blue jeans and a baseball hat talking to the farmer while your FoxPro is playing in the middle of the field and shoot coyotes as they come out into the open in the middle of the day.  There is also a rather large contingent who just wants to sell you something. Nieche said " that which we need to learn, we learn by doing".  Internet boards are fine, but pick and choose carefully. 

3) You don't need a fancy custom call to call coyotes.  (and I'm a custom call maker).  Go pick up a Primos  Haydals, or other cheap call made in China and make it sound like something hurt and in pain.  If you hang around the internet boards long enough, you will see people ask "what's a good call to start with".  You'll see a lot of answers that sound something like this "So and So's call is the best I have ever heard, the best I have ever used."  When you hear these remarks, refer to number 2 above.  You might also want to ask the person making that statement, "well, how many calls have you heard, and how many calls do you own?"  It aint the call.  It's the blow hard behind it.  Well, sometimes it is the call.   There is some junk out there that will probably call coyotes in target right environments, but for the most part, all the calls use the same reeds.  It's the caller not the call 90% of the time.  When it comes time and you just have to have a custom call, remember what I said about those people who will tell you that so and  so's calls are the best they have ever heard.  Ask the question.  Then refer to number 2 above again.   And if someone tries to sell you a custom call for more than 35 or 40 bucks, run.  On rare exceptions, a custom call might be worth more than that, but like I said, it would be a rare exception.  This does not apply to howlers.

4) Speaking of howlers.  Leave the howler at home.  Until you learn a bit of how coyotes "talk" to each other, you will do yourself more harm than good (yeah, I make and sell howlers too)

5) You don't need an electronic call to call coyotes.  E callers are tools in the right hands, but more often than not, they are a crutch, and they can really screw up a good calling spot..  Yeah, I do own a remote e caller..  They work if you know what you are doing.  If you don't, they are just more weight to carry into the field.  If you need exercise, go to the gym.    Keep in mind that the 40,000 guys in your area using the latest greatest Wasclly Wabbit E call Sound on the newest fanciest E caller are educating the coyotes you are going to be trying to call using the Wascally Wabbit E call Sound on your fancy new E caller.  An E caller is not a panacea.  It is a tool.  If you learn how to use it correctly it can be a plus.  Otherwise, it's like trying to pound nails with a screwdriver. 

6) Bang Flop Coyote videos waste your time and line the pockets of people trying to sell you something.  (see number 2 above)  If you have the time to watch a video, you should spend it hunting coyotes.    There are exceptions to this.  There is one very very good video on the market that will actually help you.  It is  Hunting the East by Brent Saxton of Kee's Calls.   It's as basic as you can get.  And it is very good.   Watch it a couple of times until what Brent says starts to sink in.  You will become a better coyote hunter if you apply what he teaches.   If you can get your hands on some of the old Sceery Videos in VCR format, they are pretty good too.  Jay Nissetter has a couple good ones out, as well as Rich Higgins also.   If you don't know those names, in time, if you stick with this, you will.  And you will know why I mentioned them.  Instead of burning 20 bucks on a bang flopper, put some gas in the truck, buy some bullets and go sit in the woods and call coyotes.  Chances are you will have enough money left over to get yourself a cup of coffee and in the end, you will be way ahead.

7) Sound CD's are a good investment.   They will give you an idea of what you should try to make your calls sound like.  Listen to them on the way to work, on the way home, on the way to your hunting spot.   Practice with your calls until you are comfortable that you sound like something having a bad day.  It tales awhile, but you will get it.

8) When you get out in the field, be quiet, sit still, and keep your eyes and ears open.   There is an old saying to goes something like this "a feather fell from the sky, the eagle saw it, the bear smelled it and the deer heard it, but only the coyote did all three".  If you are a deer hunter, I hate to insult you, but deer take the short bus to game animal school.  Coyotes on the other hands are in the MENSA classes.  Consider that man has almost wiped out every game animal species in America, and if it were not for hunting seasons, laws and conservation efforts, there would be no deer, turkeys, bear, elk, or anything else.  Except for coyotes.  We have poisoned them, shot them from the air, trapped them, hunted them in every way possible, and yet, even with year round hunting seasons in many places, they have not only survived, they have thrived.  They're smart, they're sneaky and they will beat you every way they can if you get sloppy. 

9) Don't expect to kill a coyote on every stand.  Don't expect to kill a coyote your first time out.  Or your second, or third, or even your fourth.   More than likely, like the rest of us, you will have to pay your dues.  Learn the ropes.  Read number two above again.  There are no short cuts.  None.  You have to get out there and hunt them.  Call them.  If you make every mistake in the book, so what.  Learn from them, and keep at it.  The day you put a beautiful winter coyote down, and run your fingers through that wonderful pelt, it will all be worth it.  They are a noble animal and deserve your respect.    And don't be impressed or even depressed by other people telling stories of how many coyotes they shot in a year or a month or a day.  Don't let the daily hero shots get you down.   It's all relative.  The worst hunting experience I ever had was on a Carabou hunt in Canada.  We snow mobiled up to the heard and picked out the biggest ones, and shot them.  No great feat of hunting.   There are places like that for coyote hunting too.  Where they run you over to get to any sound you make.  If you live in one of them, good for you.  Maybe one day you will invite me out to hunt with you.  If not, every coyote you shoot will be a hard won trophy.  Some of the best coyote men I know kill fewer than 20 a year. 

10) And finally, nothing, and I mean NOTHING can take the place of time spent in the woods calling coyotes.  If you want to be a coyote hunter, you will have to think, plan, observe and most importantly, keep at it.  None of the coyote men giving advice in this thread learned how to hunt coyotes overnight.  And not many of them learned how to do it by reading internet boards.  See number two above again.  They went out and called coyotes.  And more often than not, the coyotes won.  Even today, they still win more often than not.   

[Bopeye]

To those of you that think your gonna go plop down in a field, blow on a call you've been working on and the coyotes are just gonna run you over...........uh.........it could happen, but I doubt it. I coyote hunted for a couple of years or so before lady luck smiled on me. Here's what happened on my first naive attempt.

My very first attempt at calling a coyote was with my dad. I didn't know there were actually calls a man could purchase so he shared a story with me and off we went. He told me how when he was a young man out in Oklahoma and Nebraska that he use to whistle for his dogs and had seen coyotes come out to take a look. He uses his mouth and makes a very shrill whistle and I guess they might have been curious as to what was making the noise. Anyway, we set right in the middle of a field behind a few round bales of hay and he began whistling while I made ready with my Winchester 30-30. We set there for hours and I couldn't believe a coyote didn't run us over.

We paid no attention to wind, we didn't scout the area..........the land owner said they were there, but where? I didn't even try to find out.

My next attempts weren't much better. I found a Primos rabbit distress call and me and my deer hunting partner took to the woods. We set up on the very top of a very rocky hill and just set down with no regard of where we thought they might come from or the wind direction. Having been an avid treestand hunter, I really didn't pay much attention to wind except for setting up my doe in heat scents.
There was a light skiff of snow on the ground and I blew that thing until my lips were absolutely so numb I could barely talk........nonstop blowing. I felt like the dentist had given me a shot of Novocaine in my lips.....
Anyway, we didn't see a thing, but on our walk out we noticed a set of tracks in the snow. My deer hunting partner was a fairly experienced hunter and on close examination of the tracks in the snow.......he determined they were bobcat tracks and he showed me what had taken place by reading the tracks.
The bobcat had come into us at some point and had taken up a position behind a stump where it was clear that he could see us. You could see where he squatted down in the snow to watch........obviously he saw us and you could see where he slunk off into the thick stuff. It may have been a bust, but it sure wet my whistle. I went back to that same spot several times blowing on that call, but never saw another sign of anything.......except for the occasional feathered residents giving me the devil.

After that I really started pouring over any kind of information I could find about coyote hunting. It was then that I decided to set up on the edge of fields and call them across open fields to me......I had the 7mm ready for this occasion. Tried that several times with absolutely no luck except for the occasional bark from a coyote that was in the woods........sometimes they would really give me heck.......

I kept visiting boards, reading magazines, talking to deer hunters that had seen and killed coyotes......nothing.
I went to the Shade Tree board.........then Posse Country and Coyote Gods...........then on to PM........it was there that my luck began to change. I had a fella offer to hook up with me and take me hunting.
Boy did Coyotehunter1 begin to educate me. I had to clear my mind of all this jumbled up garbage I had stuffed inside my pee brain and really start to concentrate on what this man was teaching me. Once I freed my mind of all my preconceived ideas about coyote hunting............then I began to learn.

There is an old adage that I have used on here before, "When the student is truly ready to learn, then will the teacher show up".

I hope this helps someone in some small way.

[Jimmie in Ky]

You will hear a lot of stuff about how you should play the winds. One says always call down wind while another will tell you to always , no matter what , call into the wind. How should you set up?

First, ask yourself just what your skills are , and be totally honest with yourself.

For the beginer you should set up with the winds in your face and open fields to your back. Why? Because a coyote doesn't want to expose itself unless it has too.Let the animals use what ever cover is available to aproach your position. Call into the cover from its' edges.

After a few dozen coyotes under your belt you begin to see just how they will aproach a given setup. It is then that you can start experimenting with cross wind and down wind calling situations. We can use terrain features, winds, and animal habits to put them just where we want them most of the time with a little thought. Be sure and look each situation over carefully before you set up. Think about all the aproaches they could use. It is not always perfect but most of the time you will get it right just because you took a few extra mintues to look over a setup and choose the best options.

Just recently I was calling with 3 other companions. Most of the setups we used put the animals right in some ones face. But on one setup  there were far too many aproach lanes to choose from.  I had to choose based on where we came from and how the winds played through the setup. I placed two upwind of the caller, the caller, then myself all in a line with the winds. Each had a view of one or more possible aproaches to the setup. No one made a kill, but the shooters up front got a good look at the animals that did show up. It isn't always perfect. But if I take the time to look it over I improve my chances by a great deal. Jimmie

[FinsnFur]

I think another thing to keep in mind is, nothing is impossible.

Coyotes don't have a text book technique to refer to regarding anything they do. And as soon as we rule out anything, their gonna show us how wrong we are. Be ready for anything.

Sure they have certain predicted behaviorail patterns....that's how some of us have learned what we know about them the way we have. Some better then others.
But that doesn't mean that every coyote will follow suit.

[Jimmie in Ky]

Do you know what the number one biggest mistake a beginner makes? His setup. When you get started you will be busted more times than you care to count. Many of them you will never know about and on a few occasions you will be like Bop and the rest of us and find sign where they just came in and watched you.But most of these will be mistakes you can learn from and do something about.

When this happens stop right there and start your education, don't go to the next setup and try again. Learn from the bust all you can. Look to see how that animal aproached your location. Ask your self all kinds of questions about how and why this happened. Look at your setup from this vantage point and if possible have a buddy go sit where you were when calling. If you dont have a buddy along set a pack or anything there and see if you can figure out what the coyote might have seen.

Did you move around much? Do the winds swirl in this spot? Was the object I was sitting against to light in color allowing me to stand out like a sore thumb.And any number of other questions you can think of.

I had some trouble with animals in th LBL one time. I knew winds were good and my position was right. But they were checking up at about a hundred yards and looking.Bobing thier heads every which way and moving from side to side always looking right at me. I knew I wasn't moving! Just what the heck is going on? Five animals out there and all of them acting this way! I took a little female that had come in from the side to the decoy and continued the stand. Five minutes later I have another customer and he checks up way out there and does the same thing the other animals did. When I went down to pick up my kill, I looked back up at my position. I knew what was wrong with the rest of them . I had sat down against a huge white oak. What they were seeing was a huge dark space where there should not have been one. I had outlined myself against that tree, I might as well have been skylined. A little further over to one side was a huge red oak that was much darker in color. Moved my pack over there and went and looked again. It was not near as visible in that spot. Now I always choose the darker objects and sit in the shadows.

Your going to make mistakes, we all still do it every season. But take the time to learn from them. Its a part of paying those dues.Jimmie

[keekee]

     Calling predators can be tough for new callers just starting out. The first thing to remember when starting out calling predators is DO NOT GIVE UP! Sometime it takes many blank stands to get a response. The next thing to remember is "There has to be predators to call predators!

    To me, set up and knowledge of the area your calling are to two most important things to learn when getting started. Look at it this way... You can be the best caller in the world but if you drop the ball on your set ups then you calling won't help you a bit. Start out by getting your self some land to hunt, that holds coyotes. Deer hunters, land owners, mail people, school bus drivers, farms are all good people to talk with. Most land owners will gladly let you call predators, if you ask, and most people are more than willing to tell you what ever they know about them as well. Were they see them, were they here them howl at night, cross the road, all that good stuff.

     One of the main things to remember is do not over call the same area. Get yourself enough places to call so that you are not over calling the same areas over and over. I hunt allot, and 2-3 times a season per spot is max for me. So, depending on how much you plan to hunt will give you a idea of how much land you will need. Once you got some places to hunt and have talked to the land owners, then go in and take a look. Get you a note book, and a good map of the area. I keep a very good log on all my scouting and hunting trips, they will be a big help later on down the road. Here is what I keep track of. Were I find tracks or scat, how much sign is in the area, date and time, wind direction, and general land feature's.hollows, fence lines, ditches, thickets, fields, anything you think you might need later. If you don't have a map, then draw you one out on a piece of paper.

     Do as much scouting as you can, the more you learn about your areas the better. The terrain features and wind directions will help big time later.  During this time when you are getting you places to hunt together and doing your scouting. Get your self some calls, Critter calls are good they are a open reed call, but it will be a good easy call to start with and with a little practice, you can pick them up fairly quick. For a closed reed call pick you up a Haydels government cottontail call, or a Mini Blaster. A good bit call is a help as well, AP-6 or the PC-3 and they are easy to use as well. Put these calls in your truck, every time to go to work or down the road practice, practice, practice! The more you use them the better you will get. A good set of Cd's will help allot as well, or some of JS cassette tapes of different sounds, do a search on the e-net for distress sounds and listen to them try to duplicate them as close as you can.

     But let me say this....You DO NOT need to be a world champion caller to call and kill predators! You just need to sound like your in distress, put some emotion and feeling in you calling, change things up and experiment with your calls. Learn to call soft and loud both.

     A couple things you may want to pick up is a good butt seat, this will laterally save your ass! You are going to be setting as still as you can on stand so keep your butt dry and comfortable. It will help you set still.

     A set of shooting stix is a good idea as well, new callers tend to get exited when they get a call in, the stix will help steady your shot. If you don't want to buy a set, then run to Lowe's, or a hard wear store and get yourself a couple 5/8" dowel rods and a small machine bolt and a few washers and make you a set. A quick search on the e-net will give you a ton of ideas.

     Guns are a hole other ball game, starting out, use what you have, deer rifle, shot gun. The main thing is to just practice with it and know your gun. Shoot it free hand and off the stix, get a good feel for your gun, you don't need a $800.00 rifle or shot gun to kill predators.

     Camo is up to you. If you don't have any then drop by Walmart and pick yourself up some camo blind material (12.00), cut you out a piece at just about body length and double it. Cut a hole in the top so it will fit over your head, and you have instant camo, get your self a head net and a set of gloves to go with it. Just wear dark close and put the make shift camo poncho over you close.

     One thing to keep in mind, there is no better teacher than to get hooked up with some one around you that predator hunts. If you can find some one that hunts in your area then see if you can tag along. Even if you haft to drive away to do this, what you can learn from one day hunting with some one who has been at this awhile, will save you a TON of time learning on your own. Then you can take what you have learned and take what you think you can apply to your area and use it. Ask allot of questions, about set up, tracks, scat, land features. There is no such thing as a stupid question when you are just learning to call predators.

To be continued.

[keekee]

    One thing I learned along time ago was to never say never with predators, they will always prove you wrong at one point or the other. I never stop learning, from the boards, to trips to the woods to hunting with new people. I have learned allot from other people, and hope to learn more every time I head out to the woods or visit the boards. So, always take in any infomation you can get, then just apply that infomation to what will work for you.

     Now, you got your gear, calls, and farms to hunt, lets talk a little about what to look for when you go into scout your area, there a good thread at the top of the forum that talks about this and has some good infomation from allot of diffrent people, so I wont hit to hard on this topic.....

     I look for scat, tracks, fence crossings, but along with all of that I pay allot of attention to the terrain features of the land. Ditches, ridge lines, ravines, hollows, fire breaks, fence lines. Why you ask? Coyotes LOVE to use the terrain features to travel and approach a calling stand. So, when I start to pick a few stands in this area I will need all this infomation to help me find the right spot to call from. I check out the fence lines or property lines first. Make a complete circle around the hole farm. Taking notes as I go and looking for sign, sometimes this is all I need to decide were I want to call from. I also like to walk the ridges, check out the points that drop off into thick cover, points that run down into the heads of the hollows or heads of the creek bottoms. Coyotes like to lay up in the thicker cover here during the day light hrs. So, I scout around that area looking for tracks, going into a thick area, or trails with tracks going both ways, this tells me the coyotes are comming and going from this area.

     You cant bank on this, remember never say I am sure with a predator, it will bit you in the butt. After I have checked out the area good and know what I am looking at, then I pre- pick a couple stands. This is were I will take the wind direction, terrain features, cover, what I think is the bedding area, and feeding area and bring all of it togeather to pick my stands.This is what goes threw my mind when I am pre picking my stands...... First off I consider were I will haft to park, I want to make sure I can park my truck, ATV or what ever so that I can get into the area with out my scent blowing to were I think the coyotes are. So I'm going to want the wind blowing in my face or away from were they are. I like to stay above or even with the area I think the coyotes are, I don't like to call down hill. So, I keep this in mind as well. We know what kind of wind we have, we park the truck, making sure we are quiet when we get there, no slamming the truck doors or dropping the tail gate, get your gear and go! I don't like to piddle around the truck, when I pull in I ease out of the truck, get my gear and go! Pick a area that will give you the best access to the area and let you get into that area as quiet as you can, don't talk on the way in or out and get into that area you want to call. And keep the WIND in your favor.

     Once I have decided how I am going to get into the area, then I can decide were I want to make my first stand. Remember always call your way into a area, don't walk in then call your way to the truck, if you call your way in then your not walking threw the area you want to try and call predators from. So, knowing the wind direction I have and were I am going to park, I can now look at all my scouting infomation and pick my first stand.......Another thing to keep in mind, if your calling a area with allot of fields, and the predators are feeding in the fields make sure you give them time to leave the fields or make sure you can get around them with out them knowing your there! Don't walk right threw the middle of the fields, walk just inside the edge, don't sky line yourself on the ridge tops, these are things to keep in mind when planning your set up.

     I take my entry route, and all my info, the first stand I want to make will be the first place I think they will be in there travel routes at the time I am there. In other words, I try and predict were they will be at the time I am there to call. If its right at daylight, then I want to try and get them in there travels to the bedding area, and depending on how far they are traveling to feed will decide were I want to make my first stand. I will make my first pick as close as I can to the feeding area at daylight, then my second pick and so on will let me work my way to were they are bedding or spending there daytime Hrs. When I pick my set up, I want to use the terrain features to my advantage, most of the time a predator will take full advantage of the terrain features. So, they will help me decide were I will set. I want my set up to have a good terrain feature that will lead them to were I want them for the shot if the approach my calling stand. A brushy fence like, ravine, ditch line, saddle, low gap that kind of thing. I want to keep the down wind side of my stand as open as I can. Make them pay for the wind, in other words if they want to wind me......then they haft to cross a open area to to it, and that gives me time to shoot before they get to my scent cone! Make them pay for the wind!

To be continued................

[Jimmie in Ky]

You notice Keekee mentions scouting in both of his post's. This is very important for the eastern hunter! Learning to read and age the sign you see goes hand in hand with a scouting trip. Numbers of tracks and scats are important as welll as the ages of all those tracks and scats.

As an example, I went over several hundred acres yesterday. I had both large and small coyote tracks in the area. One track was at least three days old. another set was 2 days old, a set made the day before and a single fresh track way at the back of the place.The 2 day old and the fresh set were made by the large animal, the other two by the small one. Scats were the same, about a dozen of them ranging in age to well over a week old. There was no concentrated travel in the area at all. ALL where it should have been but nothing consistant. This was a big timber area and all tracks and scat I could find, were on the logging roads through there.

The tracks told me I had two animals working this area at least every other day. Scats told me they were eating mice, possum grapes and persimmons, foods they can get anywhere in this type of area. My odds of being there when one of these animals are there is very slim. I don't know for sure what time of day they are there. If your like me you have limited time to hunt. WHat would be your odds of calling one of these animals?

We're looking for concentrated travel by these animals . We want more than just a couple of tracks a few days apart. If we have tracks and other sign of two or more animals working the area the same day ,we have much greater odds of being there when one of them passes through.Jimmie

[bowjunkie]

here's my $.02  worth : When you "sneak" into your stand sit down and get comfortable ,set your rifle or shotgun up on the bipod ,shooting sticks ,knees or however you plan to rest it and check the swing to cover the area your shooting lanes are in to minimize movement after you start calling ,I usually wait a few minutes or so before making a sound just to let things get back to normal after sneaking in and getting comfortable ... once you blow your call the first time most predators will have your location to within a few feet so any movement can and will give you away !

[keekee]

     Now that we have decided what it takes to pick our stands, and how we want to go about calling them. Lets talk a little on stand discipline. One thing about predators is they rely on three scenes, smell, sight, and hearing. Remember this when your set up on stands. Pick a seat to call from that is comfortable, get you a good butt seat. Try not to set were you will be uncomfortable, and pick a spot that will put some cover behind you to help break up your outline, and a nice tree to rest you back on. The reason I say this is coyotes pick up any little movement. You haft to set still, there not like deer, if you move they WILL bust you! And in thick cover you may not even know they are there till its to late. Or they may come in see you move and be gone, and you will never know it. I like to call a cross wind, with the wind blowing from were I expect the predators to be across in front of me and out into the open area. This allows me to look right down the middle with my eyes and see both the approach lane and the down wind, and if I do haft to shift it wont be much at all. Always make sure you can keep an eye on the down wind, most of the time at one point or the other thats were the predator will be heading or end up during the stand.

     When your setting on stand set to were you can cover were you think the predator will come from by just moving your eyes, and not needing to turn you head. Here in the east most of the time I can hear the predators comming, if they are out of my line, I have time to shift before they come into sight. But in the cases were I don't, treat them with care! Move when the predator goes behind something, or down in a low spot, somewere that they cant pick up your movement. And then there the times when there is not a thing you can do but swing and shoot, some of the time they lock up and have a look before bolting, other times they leave the country in a hurry....But a good friend of mine says " They always Stop! The Always do!" Just hope that they stop were you can see them and shoot!

     When you set down get your gun ready, up on your shooting stix and pointed in the direction you think you will get the shot from, be ready! Chances here in the East are to far in between to miss a good opportunity. Don't get lax, stay ready! Sometimes a see guys that go 12 stands or so with out a call in and when they do get a call in they are off in never, never land and don't get the shot! You haft to expect a call in on every stand, so stay ready. Keep your gun up on you stix and against your shoulder, and watch with your eyes! Lesten with you ears!


     I run my stand lenght on gut feeling. When I have put all the pieces togeather to my attack plan, I get a confidence rating inside my little brain. So, I got some idea after putting all this infomation togeather from scouting and stand selection, wind direction and all the pieces of the puzzle as to how confident I am on this particular stand. And thats how I judge how long I will stay on each stand.Examples...If I have put all my pieces togeather on this area, the sign is hot, and I know these predators are there, everything is working well, good terrain features, good wind, everything is a go, I may run my stand for 30-45 minutes. If I am not so sure, sign is average, I am not comfortable with the stand, but don't want to move on with out calling this spot first, then I may run this stand 10-15 minutes. My average stand is 20-25 minutes in most cases if I am calling Coyotes,or Fox but for bobcats or Mt Lions they will run 60 minutes or more.


To be continued....................


     


     

     

[keekee]

    We got all our ducks in a row now and we are ready to do some calling. One thing I do when I scout is take a look at the scat. Each time I find a good pile I pick it apart, look and see whats in the scat, look at the hair see if it is rabbit, deer, mice, or what ever. I also look at the seeds to see what they are, this will give me infomation as well. If they have persimmon seeds in the scat I know there is a persimmon patch close by then I know they are feeding in that area. If there allot of mice bones and hair then I know they are spending some time in the fields, bird feather quills show up allot, same with grasshoppers in the summer and early fall. But all this will help me gain infomation on whats going on in this area.

     But what does this haft to do with calling?.......It tells me there food souses and what they are eating and in return gives me some idea of what distress call I want to use. Example's.....I find allot of deer hair, I may go with Fawn distress, I find rabbit hair I may go with rabbit distress, same with Bird quills I would go with bird distress. If I find grasshoppers, I may go with Grasshopper distress....(just joking!) But this will help you decide what you want to use for a distress sound on your stands. You don't haft to do this though, predators respond more out of instinct that being hungry anyway, but this will help take some of the decisions off you shoulders by doing it this way. A couple years ago I took all the coyotes I killed took them home and after skinning them out I cut there stomachs open to see how full they were and what they were feeding on. I wrote each one down in my log book. After the season ended, I was shocked that I never killed a coyote with a empty stomach, they were always at least half full! So that tells me they were responding to my calling out of instinct and curiosity. Its just natural for them there predators this is how they survive.

     For a new caller just concentrate on the basics at first. Learn the simple distress Cries in short series. Start your calling off soft with a coaxer call or soft Cries from you new call. Call for a minute or two then stop and listen, then increase you volume and call again. Each time reaching out a little further and calling a little louder till you peak out. The stopping between sequences will let you listen for any approaching predators. And let you get your breath as well. As you get more comfortable calling, then expand you sounds, techniques, very you tones, and you will develop your own style over time that works for you! Just keep in mind when you do call a predator to remember what you were doing and how you did it, if it works once it will most likely work again. At the end of the stand take a few minutes to just set after you stopped calling, check things out good before you get up to move on. Sometimes predators will hang up just out of sight, and when the calling stops for a short time and don't start back up, then curiosity gets the best of them and they come to check things out.

     We called the stand and got no responce, the stands over and its time to move on. The first thing you want to do, is a recap. Before you get up, run threw you mind what you will do when you come back to this spot" LATER" in the year to call. That way when you come back, you got some idea of what your going to do then. Next....Get up, get your stuff togeather, quietly, and ease out of the area and on to your next stand. Don't stand around and bang things togeather, rattle your calls, or mess with your gun. Just quietly move on out of the area and to your next set up.

     Now...We are headed to out next stand, depending on the terrain we want to go at least 400 hundred yards before calling again, or more if the area is real open, less if I could not get sound into a area. The way I judge it is, I move as far as I think my sound carried. It maybe 200 yards if I am in very thick cover, or I go over a ridge top, and it maybe half a mile if I am calling open farm country. You will haft to use your best judgment on this one. And the more you call and hunt the easer it will be for you to determine this.


     We get to out next stand and set up, start calling and OH MY GOSH! Here come's a coyote! We get ready, and it does the world famous coyote trick and things go south! We don't get the shot! Something went wrong! Get back on the calls!!!!! Don't call off the stand, keep calling and finish the stand. If no other predators show and we call off the stand. Now....Here is what you do. Break down the stand! Replay exactly what happend in your mind and walk your self threw what happend. Ask your self questions....Like, Why did the coyote go that way? Did the wind switch? Did I move to fast and he picked me off? Did the coyote get down wind? This is how you learn and lean from your mestakes, this will help you become a better predator hunter, this is how we had to learn from the time we were kids, from out mistakes. Remember all the aspects of what happend, and correct what ever you can the next time. Walk out and take a look at were the predator came from, what type of cover, how the predator approached the stand, were did it go and why. Then slip out of the area and move on.


     On the other hand, we set up and start top call, and Oh YA! Here come a coyote! We get ready! Ease into the scope, set the cross hairs on the shoulder and BANG! Dead coyote! YYYEEEEE HHHAAAWWW! You did it! Now....Enjoy what you have accomplished! But before you leave, do the same thing you did on the one that you didn't get a shot at. Ask your self the same questions only in reverse. Why did the coyote come from this way, what terrain features did he use? What sound did he respond to? Was he headed down wind? What made this set up work to my advantage? This will all be helpful infomation and will help you in picking your next set up and get things working right for you, take all that you learn from this successful hunt and apply it to you next hunts!

    Remember this, and this mistake is made by more new calls than just about anything. You had some success, don't let this fool you into over calling this area. Its easy to do! First thing you think is this area is HOT! I got to get back in there and call. DONT! Take some time, let the place cool off some, then go back in and do it again. But don't let the excitement of calling in a predator cause you to over call a good spot!

     Some things to keep in mind before we close. Don't give up! If it was easy everyone would do it! Enjoy yourself! Have fun thats what this sport is all about! Take your kids with you, the youth in the country are our future and last but no least....."There has to be Predators to call Predators!"

OH....And congratulations on your first predator!



Brent


   

[CCP]

 There is some good stuff written here and most of what I will say will be somewhat repetitive of what others have said.

For the new coyote hunter I would suggest reading some material on coyotes and there behavior and not hunting them. This way you get an understanding of your prey before you start hunting them.

Then figure out what kind of hunter you want to be. Most coyote hunters here are callers, they enjoy calling coyotes. Then you have your coyote hunters and coyote killers. Callers do just that they get on the ground use the coyotes natural terrain and try calling coyotes to them as close as possible and kill them.

Coyote hunters may use hounds tree stands, dead cows spot and stalk etc.
Coyote killers will use all the above plus lights,traps, poisons highways and everything in between.

No matter which category you are in they have there on learning curves and are all hard to do and fun.

Biggest mistakes I find new guys making in my area are.

(1) Not scouting enough you should know exactly  where you are going were the wind needs to be before you hunt it.

(2) Setting up wrong and continuing to call it just because you are there. If we walk into an area and once we get there the wind is wrong or some other factor puts the odds against us we walk back out. I see a lot of guys go in and call anyway because they are there and want to kill a coyote badly.

(3) Over calling an area. This does not effect you as badly in the first year on new coyotes but will handicap you big time as time passes.

(4) Trying to make coyotes think like humans. Iam guilty of this at times myself, I have to remind myself it is an animal. Coyotes react and have natural instincts they don't reason they only adapt. When A coyote hears a distress it doesn't think hey thats kinda loud for a rabbit. He doesn't think hey that sounds like a Jackrabbit and we only have swamp rabbits here. He doesn't think hey the sound is there so I will sneak over here and see if it is  ole Joe blowin a call. If he hears a distress and wants it he will try and get down wind of it why?   It is because he is trying to smell and see not only whats making the distress sound but what caused the animal to go into distress.

(5) Going to early! Coyotes are still roaming around at daylight and believe me they know you are there. Why chance alerting a coyote and pushing him away when you can call him to you. Once you have determined  which thicket the coyote is in let him get to it before you call him. Example in the last 2 months me and Aaron have got to our places to early on 3 occasions each time there were coyotes still standing out in the field. We turned around and left Why because we are callers not hunter killers.( There would be nothing wrong with killing them) We could have setup anyway and may have killed them but why chance it when you don't have to.

I guess most of what Iam saying is Just because you are off for the day to hunt doesn't mean you have to take chances.

I will add to this as I have more time but, for now read all the guys post above mine. There is some great knowledge there and a lot of good tips. I believe there will be more to follow from the guys here and I will be reading them looking for something I may can use myself.