QUATTRO says-
At one point or another any one of the properties I hunt has coyotes but, it is very hard to scout them all continuously and as you stated before (I think) you have to be where they are, when they are there..the theory is very basic but can actually be a stumbling point...
Some places are just a passing point and not much else. Trying to catch that coyote that is just "passing thru" is like playing the power ball. I then spent almost an entire season just scouting the places I had to "try" and determine the whens and wheres and which ones may not be worth too much time. Some places, like the one in the photo, seem to have a spike during the summer and not so much the winter and others the opposite, some places are year round. I am far from a coyote killing machine and like many others, life gets in the way all too often but, the odds get better the more I put in the work. Location is by far the king...
You summed up what I've been teaching for years.
Am happy you understand and realize what it takes.
I've been using a decoy off and on for decades. The past several years, I now use a decoy on Coyote setups, for the most part.
QUATTRO, you mentioned 'spiked' areas. As Denning areas in summer.
I have a couple of these 'spiked' areas during rifle Deer season. Not many Coyotes around these areas otherwise, but during rifle Deer season, Coyotes get pushed on these properties where there is food, cover and low Deer hunting pressure. I have traps waiting as well as calling these properties.
This all adds up to following the fur during the seasonal changes, weather fronts, human pressure and crops being harvested.