Getting a bit frustrated

R

RSG223

Active member
I've been hunting coyotes for 20 years with hand calls (distress sounds only) before dropping out of predator hunting for 12 years. I finally got back to it last year, and this time I bought an e-caller thinking I might have better success than when I just ran hand calls. Years ago I would call about 3-4 coyotes in over a three month season using hand calls so I figured an e-caller would bring better success since I now had access to coyote vocals.

Last year I bought a Hellcat and made 15 stands and called out coyotes on two of them, shot at two (different days) and got one. The caller didn't seem loud enough to me so this year I bought an X24 and have made 9 stands so far and haven't seen a damn thing! It's sort of frustrating actually and I'm not sure why I'm blanking. I see them everywhere during the spring turkey hunt and fall when I'm on the river fishing but January rolls around and poof, they are gone!

I'm hunting what I would consider prime territory (for my area), rolling hills, good amount of bush and a river snaking thorough it all. I don't hunt the same property more than once every two weeks, pay close attention to the wind and try to hunt the best weather days possible. I mix it up with prey distress calls starting off quite, then ramp up then switch to various coyote vocals and back an forth between the two. I sit for an average of 25 minutes per stand. I hunt in South Western Ontario.

Am I missing something?
 
Are you positive that no one else is calling the same ground when your not there?
Can't call them if coyotes not around when your hunting

Have you tried being more aggressive in your calling sequence as in playing more fight sounds / breeding sounds?

If you have the access to more ground, try shorter stand times and more setups... 9 stands is not all that many blank stands to be discouraged over, don't get me wrong I would love to kill one every time I setup somewhere but its called hunting. Read around P.M several people on forum talk about making 2x or 3x the amount of setups and still haven't even seen one
 
When you're not seeing results try something different.
I only give stand locations a break after dropping dogs at them.
Dog's have a lot of territory to cover.
I can't tell you how many times I've seen dogs on camera the day after hunting a spot that was supposedly loaded with dogs.
Pay a short visit, play some locator/distress call sequences and if nothing shows up, move on.
Stinks you're not allowed to hunt at night.
I'm just guessing that others were/are hunting the dogs in your area in your absence.
They've eradicated, pressured and educated them.
I would make some bait piles and set out cameras to see what's around and visit your spots more frequently to see if others are hunting the same spots.
Good luck
SJC
 
If you have coyotes, rright now I would be vocal heavy. Single hows, pair howls, some social interaction and fights. Slip in distress if you want along the way, but this is when I feel vocals work the best.

Oh, don’t forget the pup distress as a closer!
 
I've changed up my calling the last handful of years, when fur was up people were out calling everywhere. I have spent more time determining where the core area/territory edges are for groups of coyote. Than get in closer(to where I believe the coyote are) than I did before and I haven't went above 1/2 max volume. When I revisit a spot, different sound, caller angle(speaker direction) and it's location different. Curiosity kills more coyote than hunger.
 
All good info given. My addition would be to try not shutting the call off and going to diff sounds for a few sets then do a few sets with lots of silence between vocals and be sure to use non-aggressive vocals until the end of your set. At the end run 2 or 3 diff sounding fights followed by a short kiyi/pup distress. I wait 15 min in silence after this kiyi here in SW PA and kill many in that quiet period. My normal stand last 45 min. Longer if i get a response in what l consider range but l hunt mostly at night.
 
Hoosier_nitedog said:
Are you positive that no one else is calling the same ground when your not there?

Have you tried being more aggressive in your calling sequence as in playing more fight sounds / breeding sounds?
9 stands is not all that many blank stands to be discouraged over, don't get me wrong I would love to kill one every time I setup somewhere but its called hunting.
Click to expand...
No one hunting my farms any I'm sure of that as I have exclusive permission. I can't say for sure on other farms but I do know it's not very popular around here. I know a lot of hunters in the area from the gun club and there's only one other guy that hunts them and not even in my area.

I don't have any fight sounds on my caller but I do have challenge calls. I use them here and there along with pup distress near the end of the set.

I know nine stands isn't a lot but it just seems like others see them way more often then I am LOL.
 
Electronics aren't magic. Just another noise maker. Helps with letting you get away with some added movent, sounds not easily replicated on mouth/hand calls, and playing the wind in some cases.
Will NOT make coyotes appear where there are none or entice those that have no interest.
Could be there is something just not right with your set up/stand selection OR just is what it is. Sometimes just don't over think it.
 
Beginning coyote hunters seem to go through a phase in which getting that first kill is a real struggle. I believe that is because they prioritize the wrong things. They worry about which caller to buy, what sounds to make, what gun, which bullet, camo clothes, cover scent, and things like that. They should be thinking about WHERE to call from.

The stand/set-up, wind direction, and where the coyotes are coming from, how should I place myself to get a good shot? Choosing a good stand may be as much as 75%-80% of the hunt, and the rest falls in the remaining percentage. Once you begin to kill a few coyotes, the light comes on in your head, and you begin making better stand selections, learning more about your coyotes and where they live, and then success comes more often.
 
GC said:
Beginning coyote hunters seem to go through a phase in which getting that first kill is a real struggle.
Click to expand...
I hear what you are saying however, I've hunted them for thirty years and shot numerous coyotes and fox over the years. It's just this winter, for some reason I'm blanking while using these e-callers.
 
RSG223 said:
I hear what you are saying however, I've hunted them for thirty years and shot numerous coyotes and fox over the years. It's just this winter, for some reason I'm blanking while using these e-callers.
Click to expand...

Sorry, I guess I missed something important there about your experience level. Apologize for that. Sometimes there just aren't as many coyotes on the landscape. I have seen a couple of times over the years in which mange really hit the coyote population hard. There simply weren't as many coyotes in the habitat those winters. Maybe something like that is the problem.
 
Back
Top