Calling Coyotes: Inside the woods vs. out in the field?

bowhunter57

bowhunter57

Well-known member
After reading the thread about do we use a shotgun more in the east vs. the west, it got me to wondering if maybe I'm missing something. I usually hunt outside a wooded area, set up in a fence row or treeline with a motion decoy and attempt to call coyotes into the open for a shot with my AR.

Would my success increase if I set up inside the woods with the motion decoy and used a shotgun?

Your opinions and experiences are appreciated.
Thank you, Bowhunter57
 
we had this same conversation on here a few years back and it will suprise you how responsive a coyote is in the timber compared to the open field. for one, they feel safer bc there not worried about exposing themselves. my very first stand i made in the woods i had a pair of coyotes nearly run me over trying to get to the caller behind me. i had to shoot the male at 5 yards to keep him from landing in my lap and they were not slowing down from a dead run. i was hooked from then on. i still call open areas but if i can sneak in the woods and not bump the coyotes in the area you better believe im heading in the woods to make my call. the year i started concentrating my calling efforts to the woods, my responses went up alot but so did my missed opportunities. lol. id be holding my rifle and call them into my lap and couldnt get a shot or i would be holding my shotgun and they would stay just out of range.i felt like i couldnt win there for awhile but ive since setup my r-15 for close range calling and it has worked out very nice.i still carry my shotgun alot but only if i have another guy with me carrying a rifle.
 
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I usually do all of my calling in the woods or thick brushy fields. I just started night hunting though and I thinking that it might be better for open fields for night hunting. My visiblity in the woods at night with a spotlight is really low.
 
Another vote for the woods, or at least cover of some sort. I haven't had much luck with coyotes crossing open fields.
I like small open pockets for hunting at night.
 
I hunt little clearings in the woods like you would for spring gobblers, been very productive. only because the first yote I called in was while I was hunting spring gobblers a few years ago.
 
Originally Posted By: nightwatchmanid be holding my rifle and call them into my lap and couldnt get a shot or i would be holding my shotgun and they would stay just out of range.i felt like i couldnt win there for awhile but ive since setup my r-15 for close range calling and it has worked out very nice.i still carry my shotgun alot but only if i have another guy with me carrying a rifle.
nightwatchman,
I had the same feeling that a simular situation would happen to me, therefore the reason for my staying in the open and attempting to call the coyotes out of cover, to me.

I have my AR set up with a holographic sight, but I also have a tight patterning shotgun.
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The shotgun is a Mossberg 500 Turkey Special with a 20" barrel and a Pattermaster choke tube. This shotgun handles great in close quarters and the choke tube produces 100% patterns of 00 buckshot inside a 30" circle at 40 yards. I've considered patterning some Remington HD in BBs, just to have more pellets in the pattern...and possibly have an increase in range.

Most of the woodlots that hold the coyotes, where I hunt, are approachable from a concealed position. So, it's possible for me to enter the woods undetected. Well, as undetected as I'd like to hope. Sneaking up on a coyote is like trying to sneak up on your own dog...not very likely.
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Even so, I may have to give it a try.
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Good hunting, Bowhunter57
 
I am fairly new to coyote hunting, but it doe's make sense that a coyote would feel more comfortable in the woods rather than a field. It's sounds alot like deer, deer like the woods more than a field.

I am not sure about this, but I have heard that when you hunt in the woods, the key is to get the sound away from you by using a remote control caller. I use hand calls and got the Primos Power Dogg, but the remote is not exactly working so I am in the process fixing it.

My shotgun I use is a Mossberg 535 with a full choke. The ammo I use is 4 bk. I test it with 1 bk and got 7 in a six inch circle at 40 yards. I'm confinted with it. Hope this helps you
 
hunting in the woods with a shotgun has increased my success by 75%!! i only have mouth calls and i havent had any problem with them spooking. just gotta be very slow to do any movements.
 
Definitely a vote for the woods... but I keep praying for open field chances, but simply doesn't happen as often. I'm not much into shotguns, so various cals in rifles is all I use.
 
Hey buckshooter2 I also am having trouble with my power dogg remote. I called primos and thay sent me a new remote. It works better but only can get about 30-40 yards from the caller. Any farther then that it won't work I am thinking I need a longer antenna on the caller. Let me know if you fix yours and what you did. I will do the same.
 
I used to try to call eastern coyotes out into the open for years with limited results.
The past few seasons i have switched to calling almost 98%
of the time in the woods and my success has increased ten fold.
I carry both rifle and shotgun to most stands except the really thick stuff but the shotgun accounts for almost all my kills inside heavy cover.
This year i have yet to kill a dog with the rifle,everyone has been a shotgun kill.
I have been giving alot of thought to leaving the rifle at home but i am badly wanting to shoot a coyote with the rifle it just never seems to go down that way.
I may have to force myself to hunt some more rifle condusive stands to make it happen.
I have been thinking about hunting a more open rifle stand at first lite and last lite as thats when i have had the most succes calling coyotes into the open in the past and save all the non prime time day stands for the woods.Its hard however to deviate away from the woods and what is working for you,to more open ground and what doesnt work so well simply for the sake of getting a rifle kill.I pride myself in being a smart hunter and at this point hunting outside the woods just isnt smart even if i am dying to shoot one with the rifle.
Maybe i should just leave the shotgun at home and try to kill one in the woods with the rifle,again this does not seem very smart or appealing to me.
Oh the never ending questions and what ifs?presented to the eastern coyote junkie.This pursuit is tough!
I have killed coyotes in the woods at just about every daylight hour of the day but the prime hours seem to be from sun up to 11 and then from 3pm till dark.
Hunting the woods is a good time i am always anticipating a coyote on every stand and am always assuming there is one over the next ridge.
Good luck out there guys.

Cliff
 
Just an opinion but I have hunted since april of of 08 and have taken 84 all in open feilds.I put the caller so the down wind is blowing into the feild and it is about 100 yrds from the woods and 99 percent of the time they come into the feild.Not that it works all the time but seems like I am doing ok.
 
I gotta vote for the open fields and pastures,keeping in mind that I do most of my hunting at night.. As opposed to deer, yotes are the apex predator around here and they seem to know it. They certainly think nothing about trotting out into the middle of the pasture to kill a calf.

I think the greater visibility in the open is a big asset to a hunter, and that you are much more likely to get busted in the woods, leading to more edjumucated coyotes.
 
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Hey 243,I just recently called primos and they gave me a new remote for free. It works. I have not had the chance to test how far away it works, but with the old remote I had it working as far as 230 yards away. Maybe I got luckly, I don't know. However, 243 I will test as soon as I can and I will tell you my results.
 
I like the transition from thick cover to open field, if your calling in the daylight your usually calling to denned or bedded yotes they do move in the day, last weekend we shot one on the way to a stand in the middle of a 10 acre pasture at 10:00 am they are very hard to pattern
 


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