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Hunting & Fishing Let’s start a coyote thread.
- Thread starter Tugboater
- Start date
I got one coyote today in the general area. I'm thinking, however, maybe a small bobcat may have been eating breakfast before I arrived.
Thoughts? Coyotes usually start on the south end and work north, right?
Thoughts? Coyotes usually start on the south end and work north, right?
Last light outside the house at just under 250 yards... borrowed a throw pillow from the couch to use as a rest. I thought the 50gr varmint bullet (whatever is in the AE tipped varmint round) would do more damage but I couldn't even find an exit wound. Hit just above the front shoulder on the other side. Dropped on the spot. One less bothering all the animals we have now.
That looks like a beautiful pelt.Last light outside the house at just under 250 yards... borrowed a throw pillow from the couch to use as a rest. I thought the 50gr varmint bullet (whatever is in the AE tipped varmint round) would do more damage but I couldn't even find an exit wound. Hit just above the front shoulder on the other side. Dropped on the spot. One less bothering all the animals we have now.
Head shot at about 165 meters. Baited with dog food.
This one sneaked up behind me last night. It was one of two. What puzzled me was that it was upwind from me. I always thought that they would usually maneuver for a downwind approach.
They usually do, but I've had some coyotes do some really weird shit before.
Judging by the teeth, it looks like last year's crop. Those younger coyotes do dumb stuff sometimes. But those are the ones that help pick you up after those long days of grinding out stands, and nothing to show for it.
After 13 years of calling there are still days where I think to myself, man I suck at this.So I'm not the only one who has dry weeks?
The property that I hunt is only about 240 acres. The directions of fire are also limited due to housing and buildings. So I don't call much. I dug a hole and filled with dry dog food.
The dog food also gets consumed by racoons and even rabbits! Nevertheless, it does attract the coyotes.
There are two different packs of coyotes that yip and howl from the same locations about the same time every night.
A couple of nights ago, I heard one pack about 1/4 mile away and behind me, yipping. Then a few seconds later all hell broke loose in front of me and on the other side of a large wooded draw.
A group of them started yipping in response then shut up.
I waited for a minute then blew on a mouth call for a dying rabbit. I only blew on it for about 10-15 seconds then stopped.
About a minute later, a coyote was in the woods in front of me barking furiously at me. I looked through the thermal monocular but couldn't find him.
Then he was at my left and downwind from me. He was pissed.
I could only pick up his head through the thermal, with all the surrounding brush. Everything happened so fast that I figured he was about 100 yards instead of 50 yards away. So to make sure I got a good hit, I aimed for where I knew his shoulder was and got him.
He went down, thrashed and yelped for a few seconds. I waited 1/2 hour to look for the carcass.
I got about 10-15 yards and could pick him up, a little, with thermal monocular. However the darn thing was still moving! He wasn't moving very fast.
I couldn't find him with the flashlight but could with the thermal. I don't have a PVS-14 set so figured that It might be better to let it bleed out than to risk a close in shot with a thermal on the rifle. That sight is good for shots out further but not up close.
About three hours later, I went back and couldn't find him. The next day was not any better but I saw buzzards over the woods to my front. So I figured he was as good as dead.
What puzzles me about that night was that only one out of that group in front ever responded to the call.
I usually don't have much luck calling. IMHO, they have been called too much in this area. I had better luck hunting over the bait last year.
The one in the photo that I posted responded to an open reed call. I think that it's a distressed pup call. I am not good with mouth calls. I just carry them for the rare occasion when they might attract them.
Anyway, I blew on that call last night to attract the group that was in front of me on the other side of the woods. I only blew on it for about 10-15 seconds then stopped. It's a good thing that I always check my six-o-clock or else I would not have discovered this one.
Now I know how a rabbit feels except that I have an AR-15.
I always liked hunting rabbits with beagles but don't have any dogs anymore. Working and hunting dogs have always fascinated me. Since this is a coyote thread, I won't talk about the dogs that some people are using around the world to hunt rats.
Back to the coyote dogs. In any other setting, this might be called dog fighting and deemed illegal. However, these coyote dogs look like they are enjoying it.
Many years ago, when I had a farm, I had a beagle puppy that was free to roam the property. It would sleep in the barn on the hay bales with the cats at night.
In the morning, he would be at the house waiting for us to come out and get his morning meal. For the rest of the day, he would stay close to the house or follow us around on the property. At night, when we would go inside, he would walk down the driveway and go in the barn and stay there till morning.
The day before Christmas, he came up missing. We thought that someone might have stolen him. Looking back on it, I now think it was coyotes that got the puppy.
I wished I had known about these vests or locked him in a kennel at night. So now that I think about what might have happened to the puppy, you might say it's personal between me a coyotes.
Back to the coyote dogs. In any other setting, this might be called dog fighting and deemed illegal. However, these coyote dogs look like they are enjoying it.
Many years ago, when I had a farm, I had a beagle puppy that was free to roam the property. It would sleep in the barn on the hay bales with the cats at night.
In the morning, he would be at the house waiting for us to come out and get his morning meal. For the rest of the day, he would stay close to the house or follow us around on the property. At night, when we would go inside, he would walk down the driveway and go in the barn and stay there till morning.
The day before Christmas, he came up missing. We thought that someone might have stolen him. Looking back on it, I now think it was coyotes that got the puppy.
I wished I had known about these vests or locked him in a kennel at night. So now that I think about what might have happened to the puppy, you might say it's personal between me a coyotes.
I've been calling them for more than 30 years, and I've had dry months. Where I live the densities are pretty low in most places. We do have some honey holes though, but they come and go.After 13 years of calling there are still days where I think to myself, man I suck at this.
Saw 3, shot at 2, came home with 1. Need to check zero on the gun. Nice shooting KS!
I can't tell you how many coyote hunting trips I've left where I needed to go home and check my zero.
It's almost always just fine.
I can't tell you how many coyote hunting trips I've left where I needed to go home and check my zero.
It's almost always just fine.
That's interesting. I always have to recheck my zero every time I miss as well. It's got to be to optics we're using.
I haven't done a lot of calling the last 2 years. Children definitely change your priorities. Plan to get after them a little more this year.
95% of the time I use a foxpro. When I first started I used hand calls because it was what dad had laying around. My success has went up since going electronic but that says more about lack of ability than the method imo. If you know how to mimic the different vocals, which I don't, a hand call works.
I've had several electronic calls in the past. What I don't like about them is that after a few years, they go bad. I'd like to get the FoxPro Shockwave but don't want to spend $500 then have it go bad in 2-3 years.
The hand calls will function every time. However, I'm also not very skilled with mimicking the animals to perfections. Which is why I surprised myself with the last two that I called in.
One was with a rabbit distress and the other was with a yipping/distress call.
What I don't like about the hand calls is that ALL the coyote's attention is focused on me. I want them looking somewhere else.
Speaking of looking somewhere else; the manufacturers always boast about how far out they can be operated by a remote. In my experience, that has been less than advertised.
I've also experienced problems with being able to hear the e-caller myself. If it's 100 yards from me and I press the button for a certain sound I sometimes cannot hear it AND there's nothing on the display to show that it's working.
Like I said, I'm interested in the Shock Wave but because of the above, I have reservations.
I use a crow wing on a thin line,, a squirrel tail on a stick,, simple easy stuff to carry, hang it away from me,, out in front,, it gets there attention and I have had some success with either one of these…
I've used a feather on thin string during the day. However, I'm using a thermal at night. So they aren't likely to see a feather unless it is lit by something.
Because of the darkness, they will probably notice me before the feather. Yes, I know that their vision is much better than our eyes but I still think they won't notice the feather moving in the wind at night.
I met a man who put a chicken in a portable cage. He tied a 100 yard string to the foot of the chicken then waited for darkness.
He said he'd give the string a jerk and the chicken would squawk. He claimed a lot of success with the live chicken caller.
I have an icotec something and a foxpro Shockwave that I just got a few weeks ago, (paid for it in May I think, but it's a long story). My primary hunting buddy has a super revolt. I've had primos calls, MOJO calls, and a handful of other electronic calls. They seem to improve in leaps and bounds every few years. If you aren't using an e-call these days, you're doing it the hard way. Nothing wrong with doing it the hard way, some people bow hunt through rifle season. The benefits of a quality e-caller are irrefutable. They aren't perfect, but most of the problems these days are user related.
I still go through phases where I'll play with diaphragm calls or open and closed reeds. I have quite a few, and some good ones, but the easy button is the e-caller. I like being able to direct their approach and where they will have to go to get downwind. You're severely handicapped in my country with places you can sit, have elevation and cover, and also an opening down range. The e-caller makes that much simpler.
I still go through phases where I'll play with diaphragm calls or open and closed reeds. I have quite a few, and some good ones, but the easy button is the e-caller. I like being able to direct their approach and where they will have to go to get downwind. You're severely handicapped in my country with places you can sit, have elevation and cover, and also an opening down range. The e-caller makes that much simpler.
They just recently legalized hunting coyote at night in my area so just starting to get into it. Got my first one the other night and it ended up being a double!
Killed the top one in Illinois Sunday morning and the triple at 1:00 this afternoon in front of my house.
Are you going to mount that black one? I would..
No, I didn't weigh him but he wasn't that big.I'm in southern middle Tennessee so the fur was terrible on all three. I do have a shoulder mount of a black one that I killed a few years ago.
Wait, southern middle Tennessee? I live in Southern West TN, right on the middle TN line in hardin County. Are we neighbors?
I was in giles County when I sent that massage. I was in Tullahoma all day and was driving home.
Been a fun week for me! Last night's dog pictured. First set, called it in inside of 10 minutes running in with the wind 
Tonight I took my 5 year old out and he got to watch me hit one through the wifi on my phone, long shot and poor placement equals no recovery. What are you guys hearing for fur prices?
Tonight I took my 5 year old out and he got to watch me hit one through the wifi on my phone, long shot and poor placement equals no recovery. What are you guys hearing for fur prices?Attachments
Fur is always useless where I live, but I heard some guys on a podcast recently saying that they are basically worthless right now worldwide.Been a fun week for me! Last night's dog pictured. First set, called it in inside of 10 minutes running in with the wind
Two years ago I was getting 30 to 35 bucks on the carcass, last year I heard 15 bucks from a friend and decided it wasn't worth turning them in. I've heard people speculating that it would be the same or worse this year, but was curious what you guys have heard. I recently read an article that said the reason the prices were so good a few years back was the Canad Goose jackets use coyote fur for the hood, but the article stated they are losing popularity and so the fur demand is falling too.
