You can absolutely howl first, then go into prey distress. You can do just the opposite. You can just howl, with no distress. You can use distress with no howls. You can be successful with any and all of these tactics at any time of the year. However, knowing what the coyotes are doing at certain times of the year will help with your decision making on what calls can potentially up your odds of triggering them.
All coyotes need to eat, so distress can always produce. However, at this time of the year they are prepping for breeding, digging den sites and really locking down their home turf. Howls and other coyote vocalizations are extremely effective at triggering aggressive responses. On the other side of the coin is the transient coyotes that have been evicted from their home ranges and they're looking for a place to call home, as well as possibly find a companion. Vocals are effective on them as well so they can size up the competition or possibly enter a romantic relationship. You can slip some prey distress into the mix anywhere within a sequence and it shouldn't cause any negative reactions. Coyotes run into prey before, during and after they howl all the time.