Hunting Eastern Coyotes With Cockseys Army

[uncle buck]

Wow one on one with a coyote is probably the best way to go but when using a mouth call in Pa, coyotes do hone in with the sound source...Sometimes you call one in and you don't even know it....Now hunting coyotes with two people...Ah chances improve if you can get that coyote to turn and come up wind and have the shooter in the right spot to take the shot before you have been had...
When you start going to three hunters,  four hunters,  five hunters in a group...More and more your just going to take your gun for a walk....Unless.....The 2, 3, 4, 5 hunters really understand the lay of the land to be hunted and just know where to set up...Also  Silence is Golden Then...2, 3, 4, and or 5 just one person make a mistake....Could be a cough, slamming a door,  leaving the stand early, wrong boots on the make clump, wearing nylon clothes. It's all over.....


I do a lot of calling myself and this is when I get trrophy fox or actually see the coyotes.  If I hunt with one and two I don't mind if they know what they are doing.   Just that everyone on the hunt has to understand that your there to harvest a coyote not just to take your guns for a walk.


I like the Foxpro FX5 and the cheaper Primos Powerdogg since I can set up and be the person that skoots down wind of the speaker a and hopefully gets a cross shot as the coyote firsts apears on the horizon or on the edge.  So much to take into consideration....Things like what terrain such as rocks or even a ranch house is down wind of the incorming coyote...Place an obsticle down wind of your shooting spot and the coyotes has to make his or her arc on the other side of the down wind side...2, 3, 4, and 5 person does not take this into consideration it all over...

One has to decide when they hunt if they want to make the coyote hunt a social event or do they really want to bag one of these smart auruz Eastern coyotes...Might be better if you hunt with a group that you break up into pairs and go your separate ways and maybe meet at a certain time for a coffee to socialize.  Maybe then you can change hunting partners then go on to more areas to hunt coyotes by yourself and or in pairs....

 

[Seeking_Coyotes]

Uncle Buck...good thought provoking insights.  In your experience, do you set up to have the coyote come in down wind of the caller and set up the shot to happen before he enters the scent stream?  This is what I always thought but I was chatting to Byron South at the expo and he doesn't subscribe to this idea which really surprised me but then again maybe Texas yotes are much different in their response to prey distress than our wiley Pennsylvania yotes?

[uncle buck]

Eastern  Coyotes act just a bit different then the Texas coyotes...There are so many of them down there that they are competing for food...Who ever gets to the rabbit first eats...Even the great Randy Anderson told me...In Texas just using any sound on a electronic caller will bring in coyotes....As you move East you have to play with their brain most times....Eastern the populations are not as great, they live by man in wood lots.

So yes....use your electronic caller and you move down wind of the main sound beam...Now when you get 100 to 150 yards down of that sound beam move cross wind of the main sound beam.... The coyotes in Pa most times will come into the wind... They will get in the loudest part of the sound beam...Be it electronics or mouth calling....Rmember this when you get down wind and set up cross wind for the shot or ambush....Try to place something down wind of your posting spot. Let say a ranch house, barn, heavy rocks.. So when the coyote makes the arc that he can't come from the side your posted cross wind of the main beam... You want him or her to make the arc and come into the call on the other side of your position.. Hope you get the jest of what I am trying to say...If the coyote does not get in line with you during the arc on your cross wind side.  It's not going to smell you... Make him work the sound and come into the wind on the other cross wind side.....Now if you have cocksey army spread out down wind...Um that is just to many human scent factors busting you......I do like remote callers with coyote talk on it...Since I can be the only scent in the area...


One thing I said most times...This is the month when you can call in all kinds of younger noneducated Pa coyotes just using food sounds.... I know of people who get coyotes in this particular month just using a bulb squeaker.... See the incomings  now could or will be your no longer pup young uneducated coyotes.  So they will come into the wind too and the sound but you really don't have to play with their brain like when hunting coyotes later on into the predator calling season and into the New Year.

[Seeking_Coyotes]

Thanks for the response Uncle Buck.  I think I do get what you are saying but the hard part is getting something to make him come in on the other cross wind side of the ecaller.  I mostly hunt alone and always feel limited in the area I can cover with my eyes.   If I am getting you right you are betting on the critter always coming in down wind of the ecaller which is what I mostly count on for fox.  I haven't done much coyote hunting as the critters are scarce around me but this scarcity kinda turns me on to chasing them now as killing one would mean that much more.  In the words of the Wensel Brothers, "measure every success in relation to the amount of effort."

Do you think it is worthwhile hunting in daylight in PA?  I went out today for a walk with the .17 Rem. Fireball a howler and coaxer call.  It us usually just a walk when I go out anyway.   .  I went up the side of a very steep mountain (Weiser State Forest) and did a mix of distress sounds and invitation howls every 400 or so vertical yards up the very big mountain.  Do you think I would get a response if there were yotes in the area or do you think they would not sound off during daylight hours.  It was around 4-7 when I went for the walk (hunt )?

[uncle buck]

You are going to have better luck by hunting in the daytime.  From sunup to about 10:00AM and from 3:00PM until dark....This would be in Spring, Summer, and Fall.... In the winter They hunt all day so you can call one in at 12:00 noon then.

First of all....The coyotes in Pa...Have to be there...You just can't go out and call blindly...If you know a farmer,  or land owner that calls you and tells you they are howling there at night...Sneak back in the morning and set  up and do your calling...  Start off with 2 Howls, wait 8 minutes of silence,,, Do one minute of rabbit squalling,  wait 8 minutes of silence,  Do one minute of KIYI 8 minutes of silence,  Do coyote puppy whines for about 1 minutes, wait 8 minutes of silience, etc etc etc...I stay on stand 45 minutes and play with their brain like this....If you do this with a mouth call and or I like this little call The Pwerdogg and or the Foxpro FX5 and they are there they will come into to the loudest part of the sound source and into the wind...Now get to know the land and set up so you can have them come down a trail and you be up higher and crosswind of the trail...So much to learn but if they are there and you set up right and do just the right amount of SILENCE you will play with their brain and they will come in for a look see and for a fight...  

No you hunt them, coyotes just like a fox but you don't call them the same way...Fox hunting you let it rip...Coyote hunting in Pa silence is golden....This is what gets into their brain and gets them upset to come in for a look see.....

[predator77]

Great advice! I think I might have to go out this week.

[Seeking_Coyotes]

Thanks Uncle Buck.  You are a great teacher and I am soaking up your words of wisdom like a dry sponge in a rainstorm.  The place I went yesterday is just huge mountain country and my friend has been hunting there about thirty years and has seen coyote once in a while over the years.  That is about the best spot I have in driving distance.  However, I do have a spot outside of Pittsburgh whrere the farmer sees yotes more regularly and I will head across the state to give it a try one of these weekends.  It is just such a long drive for only one spot but I'll probably do it as I have the fever bad and this is the best chance I got.

[Seeking_Coyotes]

Uncle Buck...you should consider writing for PPHA or a predator hunting magazine...you have great insights.   

[Trophiesonly]

what works for me in my area is one loud rabbit squeal with a single reed turkey call.

then let them look for me.

if i call anymore they stay out where you cant see them.

if they are not 100 percent certain they sometimes end up in YOUR lap.

HAVE YOU EVER HEARD A BEAGLE CATCH A RABBIT,ITS NOT LOUD,AND LASTS ABOUT 5 TO 10 SECONDS.

i agree ub calling fox and yotes are a different technique.

[Seeking_Coyotes]

What do you think of decoys UB to get the yote to come to the other crosswind side when there is no obstacle to direct the yote to the side you want her on?

[uncle buck]

The decoy would be a good strategy to get the coyote to hone in on the other side of the cross wind side.  Especially in large wide open farm lands or strip mines etc etc.  Remember a coyote decoy could also work in this situation. However someone might take a shot at a coyote decoy too if they see it sitting in a field..

Seeking_Coyotes thank you for the kind words...

[uncle buck]

Thanks Uncle Buck.  You are a great teacher and I am soaking up your words of wisdom like a dry sponge in a rainstorm.  The place I went yesterday is just huge mountain country and my friend has been hunting there about thirty years and has seen coyote once in a while over the years.  That is about the best spot I have in driving distance.  However, I do have a spot outside of Pittsburgh whrere the farmer sees yotes more regularly and I will head across the state to give it a try one of these weekends.  It is just such a long drive for only one spot but I'll probably do it as I have the fever bad and this is the best chance I got.

Coyotes are easy to call if you do play with their head...However they have to be there..Our populations are not quite up there yet so that is why so many people fail...They go out into the woods and just call...Nothing wrong with this...There might be a coyote there but when nothing comes in hunters get frustrated...So when you don't call in anything don't be hard on yourself...


However there are ways to find out if they are there...The night before use a siren...If they howl back to you...Sneak back and position your self in the morning at sun up near where you heard them.  They still might be in the area...Many caller maker have a siren you can get on their callers now.. ELK company or MAd makes a hand held siren for locating coyotes....Also you can find them on cassette to if you want to use a Cassette player to use as a locator....Some people will howl to locate coyotes.. However they, the coyotes will sometime come in to the call...So best to use a siren.

I remember hunting with Nitelight and Scott for predators... We were just getting ready to walk in and set up.  A police siren in the distance open up. Um must have been about 2 miles away maybe more...The entire mountain open up with coyotes howling...That was just plain awesome to be there and have that police siren trigger the howling...Sounded like maybe two to three coyotes too....


Actually this is a strategy that people should be using when hunting in the great Mosquito Creek Hunt...The night time they should be trying to locate the coyotes with a siren...Come sun up if they got a response they can drive the area like a deer hunt or do it by calling.  If you don't get a response back odds are your not going to call in any coyotes in the areas  your hunting in these contest... In a contest and hunting out of town.  Locate them first with a siren.  Then if you get a response go after them at sunup with your calling...

[Seeking_Coyotes]

Hey Uncle Buck... I do have a siren on my fox pro and it is the real deal...makes me look for the cops when I hear it play.   .  I have used it but never got a howl back.  Do you think coyotes in more populated parts of the state like where I am would adapt to not howl to sirens or during the day as an adaptive mechanism to save their hide so to speak or do you think they will howl back without regard because they just can't help themselves in any habitat or locale?

Here is another one for you that I have been wondering... In the big woods I imagine the buggers have big territories because of the lack of a good mouse source like fields and such.  Given big mountains that go on and one like Sullivan, Western Lycoming, Eastern Cliinton, whereever... is there a way to mentally disect such large tracks and pick spots to try for coyotes if you can't get em to howl.  In other words, do you think our Eastern Coyotes have any patterns in big mountain country such as tops of mountains, side benches, lowlands, movement patterns in day or night, etc.

Thanks again for your ideas...

Mike

[Seeking_Coyotes]

Let me throw one more at you Uncle Buck that is rattling around my mind.  What do you think of bait for hunting yotes in February?  I put some out last year with a deer camera and I was surprised that the fox in the area didn't ever come to the bait much if at all based on their footprints in the snow.  Seemed to be a hit with the crow and eventually racoon as it headed into Spring but not much interest by anything in the canine family.   

I have had a lot of luck putting out the trail camera with a can of mixed grill cat food from Weiss...the fox are all over that and have to race the racoons to get it but I mostly did this a few times after the hunting season to just hunt with a camera for pictures of what critters were left in an area after winter and such. 

[Hern]

Seeking_Coyote, baiting is an art form.
Knowing late season habits will help.
At times I have Coyotes pegged or so I think so. I plan, hunt but am unsuccessful. Months later I may learn that the Coyotes were miles away working over dead Horse, dead Hog or dead Cow.
Using bait, I learn to place out early. Coyote will learn where it is and hit bait in extreme condition, late season for the most part.
Maintaining bait stations is tuff, time comsuming work.
Fox, Cat, Coon, Beaver, Mink, Muskrat, GroundHog, Fish and other carcasses can be used. Fish Oil and other scents can be added. Horse, Pigs Liver, Skunk and Beaver are great baits.

Here's a good scent to add at your bait piles....
Horse Hoof lure
Take 2 hand fulls of Horse Hoof clippings/trimmings and add to bottom of glass gallon jar.
Fill jar 3/4 full of spring or creek water.
Put lid on loosely
Sit jar on shed roof to sun render for 6 to 8 weeks.
Apply on or below ground at bait stations.

S_C asks-
What do you think of bait for hunting yotes in February?
Over the years, It hasn't been worth the effort. But am still experimenting from time to time.