@kirsch you should do a tutorial on the sounds you use, etc.
Yotes in my area just don’t respond to my call and I’ve tried everything I can think of. I shoot most of mine by just sneaking up on them when they are in the fields.
Echo’d
Always good to hear what call sequences are working at different times of the year
When people post the sounds they are using or their sequences on forums/Internet/social media, it doesn't take long and they stop working for everyone. FoxPro podcasts go over a lot of sounds and sequences and are a great resource. I know when I listened to one of their podcasts earlier on, it was like they had gone through my remote and picked out some of my favorite sounds and sequences. It does go to show that coyotes are coyotes and similar sounds do work in different areas. Companies like FoxPro, MFK, Tony Tebbe, and even prostaff for those types of companies talk about the sounds because they are trying to sell sounds. Keep in mind, they may work for a short time but as you and others continue to use them, they will decrease in success.
Instead of saying, here is the sound or sounds that I use, it is better for everyone if I talk about the simple concept of "triggers." Coyote triggers are things like Hunger, Territory, Mating, Social, and one that isn't talked about a lot and that is Curiosity. They say Curiosity killed the cat but often it is the coyote.
My calling sequences are very different during this time of the year than they would be in August or in April. I always try to think about what trigger or triggers is most likely going to be the strongest due to the time of year, and sometimes weather. If there has been a blizzard for the last 3 days, and the wind dies down, of course the hunger trigger is probably going to be very strong. Also, the amount of hunting pressure plays a part in this as well. I can tell you of 552 coyotes last year, I did not use a rabbit in distress
even one time. Why, because many of the areas I hunt are very pressured and they hear various rabbit in distress sounds and often have been conditioned that sound equates to "danger". Am I confident if I had used some rabbit distress sounds I would have killed many coyotes, yes, but I don't believe as many. Now, I did find a rabbit distress sound earlier this winter that was very unique that I hadn't heard (and to me it doesn't even sound like a rabbit) and have been having some success with it this year.
Another thing is that I firmly believe hunters think too much about sequences. A coyote is very smart, but they can't reason like a human. They can't piece together a story in their head like we do. They aren't going to sit there and think oh I hear a young coyote in the area, and now it has caught that rabbit over the hill, and now it is being attacked by another pack of coyotes, and now another coyote is trying to mate with it, etc. We put those stories in our head. I am not saying I don't use sequences, but I really don't believe it is those 4 or 5 sounds played in that exact order that finally triggered a coyote. People will fight with me and others on this, and that is Ok to have your own opinion. I try to use sounds from different trigger categories. When I start to see any type of pattern to it, I will start to expand on the sounds within that trigger category because others may even be better, etc.
The hardest part is knowing what sound or sounds actually triggered the coyote unless you have been able to view the coyote before starting to call. It may have been triggered by the very first sound but was a long way away and it took a while to get to you.
I use a lot of coyote vocalizations year around. Why, because a coyote isn't always hungry, but it is still a coyote and interacting with other coyotes both within the pack and outside the pack is a very common occurrence.
Another thing I think about when choosing sounds is what age class of coyotes am I after. For instance, if day calling in early Fall, I am not targeting young coyotes or pups. This is a time of year I focus on removing adult alpha coyotes that can be problematic to ranchers later in the year. I may start off very aggressive. Now move this into late Fall/early Winter, I may start out a lot less aggressive as many of the young coyotes have been dispersed, and I now am trying to get them to commit to the sound. I don't want to scare them off right away with really aggressive vocals for instance right away.
In general think of March - May as denning season, June - August as pup rearing and socialization, Sep - November pup dispersal, January - February as breeding season, etc.
