Coyotes and Foxes

[Dude Here]

Here's a question from a realitively new predator caller for all you professionals out there... I am wondering if red foxes will respond to the same type of calling and tactics that coyotes will. I know there are foxes in this certain area that I hunt, but I need to know if I use coyote calling techniques, will I see foxes? And I may even see coyoyes, too. I'm not sure they are in the area. If they are in the area, will foxes co-habitate with coyotes and will I need to change my tactics to get the foxes? What can I expect? Thanks. Dude

 

[Pecci]

Hey Dude, I'm not an expert regarding the 1st part of your post. I'll await an answer, too. However, regarding your asking if they co-habitate, they don't. Usually where you see alot of coyotes, you will not see many foxes. Coyotes will chase fox out of their turf, and they will drive fox out of their own turf, as they move in. Their instincts tell them they are competitors, and the coyote is bigger. As a result of that, and the yote's expanding range, the fox is losing his habitat. I did read a recent article, that suggested that the coyotes, very seldom kill and/or eat the fox. They just drive it away.

 

[Redfrog]

We have some red fox here. If I'm in an area that has them and I wouldn't mind calling them in, I just use the same distress calls I use for coyotes. Everything the same except no howling. We have shot fox on a stand and had coyotes come in shortly after.

 

[Silverfox]

Dude Here-- The red fox population used to be quite high here in NW North Dakota--all of North Dakota for that matter. That is about all we used to call in on our stands back in prairie pothole regions in the 70s, and early 80s. Fox would come bounding in without hesitation back in those days. It was a different story south of the Missouri River though, as that was mostly coyote country and there were very few fox to be called.

As the 80s rolled along coyotes were moving into the prairie pothole region and that cut the fox population down considerably, IMHO. Fox and coyotes do live in proximity to one another, but the coyote is the mortal enemy to the fox most of the time. Stephen Allen, furbearer biologist for the North Dakota State Game and Fish Department did some radio collar telemetry studies on coyotes and fox on the topic of them living near one another. I can't quote you chapter and verse, but they do coexist, not cohabitate! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif Other studies done on this very subject say that coyotes many times would just kill fox they came upon and didn't eat them, just killed them.

It is rare to call in a fox now days in this area. If there are fox around they may respond to your calling, but they are usually very cautious and tend to circle way around to your down wind side many hundreds of yards out. Perhaps they have responded to the dying rabbit sound before and have run into a mad coyote and been chased away.

If you have dual population territory (fox and coyotes around) you SHOULD NOT use howling in your call setup if you want the fox to come in. Since the territory of a fox is way smaller than the territory of the coyote, you should not have to stay on stand nearly as long to get the fox in as you would for the coyote.