Old dog, new tricks.

[Jrbhunter]

I attained permission on a nice big dairy farm early last year but my first few calling attempts were unproductive.   Scouting seemed to show a low number of coyotes, locating was unproductive and the farmer hadn't seen a coyote in his fields for quite a while.   This is a great looking farm and the stands I've used leave me in great shape to kill any coyotes we stir up- but we just weren't stirring coyotes!

A few weeks ago, during our brutal cold snap, Sawmiller and I went back onto this farm with a new approach.  By setting up off to one side and using high volume we hoped to lure coyotes off the neighboring pastures.  After 20-25 minutes I'd had my fill- winds were picking up and I had better places to be.  I signaled Saw that the gig was up, then circled dropped through the fencerow to head for the truck.  Moments later I notice Saw is frantically pointing and waiving- I drop to the ground and fumble for a call.   Apparently a coyote caught Saw with his pants down; trotting into the stand well after my exit and right in the middle of Dennis relieving himself.  (It is not recommended to take a leak on or near your stand after calling it!)

The coyote came and went without knowing we were there- slipping into some cover and eventually meandering his way across the woodlot upwind of us in search of the sounds he had heard 6-8 minutes earlier.   This was the first coyote we had ever seen on this farm; a step in the right direction (minus the pants down part).

Friday morning Saw and I reconvened on the dairy farm with intensions of making two stands.  The first would be the same as last time- the second about 500 yards to the East where I'd noticed some interesting topography on aerial photos the night before.  Nothing showed on the first stand so we slipped back to the East and quickly found some SERIOUS coyote sign.  Some of the tracks were so fresh I was concerned we may bump the coyotes; but we chose to creep a little further for better visibility.  A little too far, as a coyote came trotting out of the woodlot and headed for some distant cover.

We immediately plopped down and started calling, hoping to turn his mate (per the tracks).    About 5 minutes into the series I spotted a large coyote bolting from the woodlot- through some shin-high grass and into the thicket.  He was much closer than the other at first, but entered the thicket in the same location.  We were busted; so we headed for the truck.  Upon backtracking the coyotes in the weak snow cover we found at least one of the coyotes had come into our first stand... circling behind us and then bolting 180 degrees when it had a good look at my location from 50 yards on my deaf side.

These coyotes had a 5th grade education and it was surely going to burn us to the third degree in future calling efforts!  They'd been pissed on, called and spooked, bumped and spooked, what else is there but a hot round in the buttocks?   I've really enjoyed working with and learning from these burnt coyotes this year so I set my sights on this resident pair.  I combed over the aerial photos, weather reports and topo maps for an hour last night, eventually rousing Carly's curiousity.  "Are there a bunch of coyotes in there?" she asked as she looked at the sprawling woods and pastures on my screen. 

"Nope, just a couple real smart ones" I said.   

"Are you going to kill them tomorrow?"

"Probably not" I groaned.  She shook her head and went to bed as I continued to stare at the screen.


Coming in from a totally different direction, I walked a good clip in the dark and setup well before daylight.  As the sun burnt through the clouds and lit up the field I started patiently calling and cautiously watching.  Crows came and went, hawks soared in and out, but no coyotes showed.  16 minutes into the stand I switched up some sounds and slowed down my approach even further.   In a 3 minute window of silence a large male coyote appeared on the edge of the thicket- seemingly very nervous about this whole scenario.

I lowered my cheek to the rifle and steadied it on the sticks; 100 yards broadside was an easy poke and I was feeling pretty confident and calm on the trigger.  The coyote was hesitant to enter the field and obviously felt like he was secluded against the thicket.  I had plenty of time to make the shot so I gave him an extra 20-30 seconds in hopes the female would surface.  I knew if I knocked her down first I'd have a much better chance of taking them both.  I didn't want to leave a coyote in that thicket!

When nothing showed I backed the crosshairs off a little and poked him in the vitals... not my ordinary shot placement... he flopped to the ground spinning and whining.  I kicked up the Ki-Yi's on the caller and chambered another round... hoping she'd show her face.   Unfortunately she didn't, so after another 10 minutes I was forced to gather the male and my things then leave her behind.    She'll be tough to get before season goes out... but a guy needs a challenge once in a while.   

[wv_yoter]

Great story and pics.

[canine]

Great read Jason 

How long was it between times you hit that farm?


JD

[Nelson]

Great hunt Jrbhunter!!   
Persistence paid off!!

Nelson

[FinsnFur]

Nice read Jason. 
Yeah, I still say that more often then we realize, when we say they aren't any coyotes here, there's really two in the bush watching.

Where was the wind? I'm a little stumped these coyotes would back door you if you approached facing the wind.

[KySongDog]

Very nice write-up and pics.   

Thanks.

Semp

[Jrbhunter]

How long was it between times you hit that farm?

JD

I killed him about 40 hours after the last time we bumped them.  And we had spooked them twice that day.   

I hear people talking about waiting a week or two between calling a stand, but if there are coyotes there I think they can be called at any time.  I have called and botched a coyote, then called and killed him in very narrow time windows this year.   Their brains just aren't capable of retaining the overwhelming feelings/fear/emotion and fight or flight senses for very long.  Facts they can retain to some degree through a process of conditioned responses, emotion fades and once it's gone... it's time to call them again.


Jim, I rarely call with the wind in my face.    The coyote that backdoored us on Friday afternoon came in across the wind... because of a fencerow that made his entrance very comfortable.  Predictably, he was on the downwind side of that fencerow; unfortunately that gave him a clear view of me profiled against the sky as I was sitting on top of a hill in that very fencerow.  Judging by the tracks, I'd say as he began coming uphill he looked ahead and saw me.  We cannot control every variable on a stand, so I played the wind/terrain and seclusion to my advantage for 80% of the coyotes we'd call off that neighbor.... of course... on Friday he chose to come in ass-backwards and chalked another one up for the hometeam.

On the stand that killed him, he had a perfect line on the scent cone of the soundsource (ecaller).  What he didn't realize was, it was 8-10' over his head... and I was 100 yards to his right.  I felt strongly that the coyotes would come from the woodlot we bumped them out of on Friday, and i was sure they felt most secure in that thicket since we watched them retreat to it under pressure.  It was my goal to put the coyotes in that thicket, where they felt safe, and lure them to the edge by devising a scent free sound source that was dead downwind.   He had 99% of the information he needed to solve the mystery when the bullet hit him... apparently the gunshot told the female the rest of the story.

I believe this farm has been the range of neighboring for the last couple years but this pair finally decided to declare it their core area for the coming spring.  With him dead, she'll likely stick around until another male comes in.  That probably didn't take long, as the neighboring property holds good numbers of coyotes and I'm sure the backfill has already begun (if its not completed).

[Frogman]

Good stry and photos.
Thanks.

Jim