Can it be too cold for coyotes to come to the call?

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dave3006

Well-known member
A friend and I went out last night. The temperatures were in the 18-23 degree F range. We didn't call in anything. We didn't get any responses. Nothing.

Can it be so cold that coyotes just stay put?

The day time temps were not that much better. They were in the high 20's.

I am scratching my head. We were in areas that normally do good. I tried every call sequence I could imagine.
 
20 isn’t too cold. At least not here where I live. I too have had success well below that and into negative numbers.

I’ve found that if you have a sudden severe drop from normal to an extreme cold, the calling sucks for a day or two. Sooner or later they will need to eat and get back on their feet and be more responsive.
 
We rarely reach temps like that, but when we do get down to the 20’s to 30’s for lows I can count on critters getting caught providing we don’t have a high wind. The times we’ve called when it’s been that cold have been very productive as well. Again providing we don’t have a high wind.
 
hunt0168 said:
20 isn’t too cold. At least not here where I live. I too have had success well below that and into negative numbers.

I’ve found that if you have a sudden severe drop from normal to an extreme cold, the calling sucks for a day or two. Sooner or later they will need to eat and get back on their feet and be more responsive.
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My observations also Bob; for all critters.
 
I’ve also had some of the quickest responses when temps are around 0*F.

What have been your guys observations when the temps warm up to the 40’s after a week of 0-10 degrees? My experience the calling kind of sucks.
 
bohunr said:
not true here in Erie co Pa. it seems the colder it gets they stay home.
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I believe this is the difference between eastern and western coyotes.
If the extreme cold continues for several days, then the coyotes have to venture out and find something to eat. Here in Ohio, the weather fluctuates so much that severe cold snaps don't last more than a few days. I'm sure it's the same in Pa., Michigan, Indiana, etc.
 
The last coyote I killed was Dec 12 with a foot of snow and about 10 degrees. We got above freezing for a few days and snow melted off. I couldn’t buy a response from coyotes other than 1 distant group over the course of a couple nights and 7 or 8 sets. Since Sunday night it has been terrible weather. Rain overnight Sunday while temps dropped. Woke up to half inch of ice on everything. That turned to snow and high winds Sunday afternoon and dumped several inches of snow. A second round of wind and a bigger dump overnight last night. Got an additional foot of snow with that one. Sun is shining and it’s a nice day, but cold in the mid 20’s. Snow is deep. I just saw my first deer track in the snow on lunch. If conditions hold, tomorrow morning will look like road maps in the snow with animal tracks. It’s just how things go here in the northeast. They wait out the system or wait until they no longer can before trying to find eats.

Agree with bohunr’s assessment of coyotes sticking to cover when things aren’t great in the fields. Better chances of them finding something, mice etc. in brush or around deadfalls than buried under 1-2 feet of snow.
 
I don't think they move as much when it gets cold, I mean COLD.
I have called them in at -37*, the biggest problem is I can't stay out in the cold as long as I should at a stand.
I have watched them react in very cold weather. They're hunkered down, and when I would call, they would raise only their head and howl back, then hunker back down. They generally like to stay close to their bedding areas and eat mice and such. I find it takes some very aggressive challenge calls to make them get up and come in. In freezing temps, when they lie down, snow melts, and their guard hairs freeze down; when they get up, their expensive coat hairs break off. Fur prices go down when it's a bad winter.
 
dave3006 said:
A friend and I went out last night. The temperatures were in the 18-23 degree F range. We didn't call in anything. We didn't get any responses. Nothing.

Can it be so cold that coyotes just stay put?

The day time temps were not that much better. They were in the high 20's.

I am scratching my head. We were in areas that normally do good. I tried every call sequence I could imagine.
Click to expand...

Yeah at about -20 they tend to slow down.
 
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