Coyote "senses" question

Actually, their eyesight is "poorer" than ours,at least in the sense of how we measure or test our own eyesight. A coyote would be in the neighborhood of 20/75, compared to a human that can have 20/20.
 
I have a slightly different view on the senses theories.

The coyote makes his living utilizing all his senses.

Can you fool him? Of course you can or we wouldn't be hunting him.

So which senses can you fool and how are you planning to do it?

All his senses are keen and are used all the time everday to survive from predators and to feed himself.

When a domestic dog can be conditioned[trained] to smell drugs hidden inside a drum of dieasel fuel, I'm skeptical that all the smells associated with a human can be masked, disguised or eradicated to the extent that it would fool a coyote. It may be possible in something like a Hazmat suit, but for our practical purposes, I doubt it can be done.

His sense of hearing is easier to fool. We do it all the time with the calls we use. So in spite of the fact that he can hear at very long distances, as long as he does not associate the sound with "Danger", he can be fooled. His advantage here is that he can hear at very long distances, so any 'human' sounds may activate the flight response in mr. coyote.

When it comes to "setting up" and camo, I think you have to seperate the coyotes excellent eyesight from the information this provides him to deal with the situation.

I'll try to explain. When I'm at gunshows, selling hunting gear, I'm always wearing a ghillie suit [because I sell them]. Several, [hundreds] of times over a weekend, I have people come by and say "I didn't see you there." Unbelievable!!!! Someone who is likely carrying a firearm in the field cannot see a large man in a ghillie suit from mere feet away. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smiliesmack.gif Now of course what they mean is "great camo". /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinning-smiley-003.gif

Why is it great camo?

If I am at a show in a ghillie and have the face mask on and the hood pulled up, sitting in a chair, not moving, I have had people pick up a call from my table and jump when I ask "What do you think of that?"

Again they have seen me, but the ghillie does what I believe good camo should do. It fools the eyes into telling the brain, "There is nothing here of interest, Move along"

Is this theory viable? I have seen a magpie land on the boot of a guy that was sitting on the ground in a ghillie suit. For those of you that aren't familiar with magpies, they are similar to a crow and possibly smarter. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

This thinking allows me to hunt in the terrain I have to deal with here. No cover!!! Flat wide open spaces.

I sit in the open , usually on the highest point around, and am perfectly confident that I can get coyotes into gun range.

Here's a couple of pics to illustrate my point.

This one is from 100yds.

705ee05a.jpg


And this one is from 50 yds.
CopyofP1010001.jpg


I managed to get my wife to pose in the ghillie for these pics. They were taken on a large open field on the edge of town.

Being seen doesn't have to mean being busted.

I almost never set up in any kind of cover. I'd rather be in the open watching the bushline or hedgerow, and allow the coyote to use the cover to approach , feeling confident.

This is just another POV and may not apply to the areas you hunt.
 
Considering just your area, what would you say your success rate would be for drawing a coyote out of that treeline and into 150 yds of where your wife is sitting? I'm asking because of numerous recent discussions I've read regarding the ability of getting KS coyotes to leave concealment and enter an open field. That's a great looking camo pattern, BTW.
 
Nasa this would be a classic "Redfrog" stand in these conditions. I would say if a coyote responded to my call, the odds of getting him in gun range on a stand like this is %80+
Getting him to respond would be about 70-80 per cent.

I guess another way to look at it is under normal conditions, I have a coyote respond to the call about 70-80 percent of the time. Getting those into gun range happens
about 80 per cent of the time.

If the wind is up, all bets are off. There are also days when I can't buy a coyote, and if I could figure out why, I'd be rich and famous. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

Every area is different. That's why blanket statements or rules simply are not valid. Some areas the fur is so poor that I wouldn't bend over to pick up the coyote, nevermind process the fur. In my area a summer fur is better than an Az. winter fur. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused1.gif

For someone that isn't used to hunting this kind of terrain, it appears I've lost my mind, the first stand we make here.

I hide the truck behind a 6" diameter standpipe and walk 200yds. to a fence line with no cover, and set up to call. The ground is covered with snow and your line of sight extends to the curvature of the earth. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif
You can see unobtructed 360 degrees. But still we persevere. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
Three men in ghillies on the wide open prairie. Within about 2-3 minutes of howling we have coyotes coming on the run. They are so far away that they cannot be seen with the naked eye. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif a couple minutes later hopefully someone can kill at least one. Often they cannot because they are used to the thick stuff where it is "there he is" BANG!
Try watching them come for a couple of minutes and see how your nerves are.

So I guess the short answer is the odds of calling one from the cover are excellent. The odds of him smelling, hearing, or seeing me and leaving if I was calling from the cover, again are excellent. And I would probably have no idea he was even there. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
Having hunted with Jim once (although he has moved to a new area that may be different) , coyotes there have no choice but to cross the open field . The reason for this (atleast from the observation of when I was there) is that there was no cover to be had for miles. (tree/brush wise) There were smll depressons in the terrain etc, but the only trees i saw were near river bottoms, ranch houses, or if some one planted some for wind break on a property line.
 
Im not sure how that myth of a coyote not crossing a big open field,still lives on? I call various types of cover, some mixed open with mesquite, and some big open stuff that looks like a moonscape with short grass on it. If a coyote, wants to get from where it is, to the wailing rabbit, it has to cross whatever terrain is between it,and said rabbit. If that happens to be an open field, then thats how they get 30 yards in front of my gun, then fall down.
 
Here is proof of your mythbuster Vic. 95% of the coyotes I call in around here are across fields. That is my technique. I like to come just to the edge of an open field. Scouting has led me to believe the coyote is in the swamp across the field. I have seen them emerge directly across from me and come straight across the field to the call. All of these pictures were taken from the direction of the shot. The cover line in the background is where the coyote came from before being hit. All but one of thee were DRT. That one only made it about 15 yards.
StevenYote.jpg

LBobcat2.jpg

100_0627.jpg

2007_0223Image0054.jpg

PD2.jpg

PD1C.jpg


This is just a little proof they will come across an open field.
 
Coyote hearing ability;

I've had [bedded/sleeping]coyotes hear me step on picked bean stubble, from over a 1/4 mile away in a hard wind crosswind. Coyotes sleep lightly. Coyotes, lay/bed with their back towards the prevailing wind. They hear very well in high winds, especially up & down wind.

Cross or quartering wind, their hearing ability is slightly reduced. But don't kid yourself, just becasue the wind is rippin hard. They can't hear you or your call noise.
------------------------------
Noise amongst the hills;

Coyote's hearing is still very good. Except it takes them a little longer to pin-point a "noise" exact location.
 
Research has shown that Coyotes can smell 10,000 times better than humans (deer 5,000 times). So this opens up a world we can not even imagine. For example, trained drug dogs can smell drugs even if they are sealed in plastic and coyotes smell better than dogs.
 
Redfrog has it down. I hadn't read this thread till it just got revived.

A coyote has astounding senses, as many have stated. We are smarter. We can think through how to use his senses and instincts against him. Calling is that simple.

Fool him with sound (the call), and count on the fact that he can hear it from a long ways away, making it easier to draw him in. Fool him with visuals in two ways. Camo and sitting still fools him into not perceiving a danger in what he sees, as Redfrog exlained superbly. Decoys do the opposite. They are made for him to see and fool him into thinking prey, etc.

I'm in the camp that doesn't think we can fool his nose, though we may confuse it for an extra second or two.

Instincts are another matter but using a coyote's instinctual behaviour against him is probably what seperates frequently successful callers from unsuccessful ones, whether or not they realize how they are manipulating the coyote via his instincts. Instincts are closely related to senses. A coyote has a superb sense of smell and seems to trust it over his ears or eyes. So the primary instinct for the majority of coyotes that hear a sound is to verify the sound by getting downwind of it to smell whether the scent matches the sound. Add terrain features and vegetation, and you can set up the majority of coyotes to go to a predetermined area, no matter where they approach from. That makes seeing and shooting them easier. Rarely does an animal that I call show up in a totally unexpected direction, though I had a lynx do that to me recently.
 
Ok so a coyote can smell 10,000 parts per million, how much can the coyote smell when its 32 degree's or -0 degrees. I have seen them wind me at a 1/2 mile when the temp was in the low 40's, but when its 32 or colder they just stroll right in. Any thoughts on this?
 
Quote:
Ok so a coyote can smell 10,000 parts per million, how much can the coyote smell when its 32 degree's or -0 degrees. I have seen them wind me at a 1/2 mile when the temp was in the low 40's, but when its 32 or colder they just stroll right in. Any thoughts on this?



I'm not sure temps have anything to do with it.
Last week with temps in the 70s, on an overcast, off-on rainy day..."deadhorse" & I had a coyote sneaking in directly downwind of Aaron.
Aaron was set up in the corner of a field, in 18" high grass. The coyote, when finally spotted, was about 20 yds away...directly downwind!
 
All of the coyotes senses are exceptionally sharp, however with 250 million olfactory receptors their sense of smell is probably sharpest.
I do know that they trust their nose more than their eyes and ears.
I fool their eyes and their ears on every stand but I doubt that I have ever fooled their nose.
 
Back
Top