Got suckered

D

d2admin

Administrator
Well the other day I had a couple of yotes of smart me.It was the middle of the day about 2 o'clock,when me and my buddy got to the stand.We were setup on a fence line between two wheat fields about 30 yds from a creek.We called for about 5 min. faceing the wind when I glanced behind me and saw a yote about 100-125yds behind us.As i got him in my scope I noticed two more yotes about 450-500 yds away in the tree line at the bottom of the field,so I didn't shoot.My buddy was carrying a shotgun so i wanted 1 in close enough for him and i'd take another with my rifle.(At least that was my plan)Well the yote in the field got behind a fold in the field and I lost him.So I concentrated on the two in the treeline.They came within 300 yds and layed down!? I tried everything I could think of and they wouldn't budge.Well just about the time Ii was considerin' a shot i heard something to my left.The yote I had forgot about had crept within about 20ft. My buddy had been glassing the other two and i was watchin them thru my scope so we didn't see him come in.When my buddy reached for his gun the yote hightailed it to the creek before he could fire.Then a couple minutes later the two in the field got up and ran to the creek too.
Have you ever heard of such a thing?
It was like a planed and rehearsed tactic.The two in the field seemed to be running interference for the scout yote. I was dumbfounded.I sat there a while and couldn't help but laugh.
So do ya'll think these yotes knew what they were doing,or was it just a lucky turn for them?
Well i thought some of ya'll mght get a kick out of my humbling story of being out smarted.

Later,
Jbrad


[This message has been edited by Jbrad (edited 03-25-2001).]
 
You are not the first to be suckered by the coyote you forgot to watch. Seems like I see variations of this scenario time and time again. Every day you go out you learn something. If you ever think you know everything, well you don't. Coyotes are always willing to teach you something.
 
Jbrad--If you continue to pursue coyotes, that won't be the last time you get fooled. I seem to learn a new trick every year. I know that feeling of concentrating on that couple of coyotes way out there and forgetting to survey the immediate area. You just hope you or your partner catch the close ones. I was doing the calling one time, and had spotted a coyote on the other side of a draw about 1/2 mile away. I was using the howler and trying to get that coyote to come. My partner was set up just south of me. Unknown to me, a second coyote was approaching from a spot I couldn't see. it was about 50 yards from me (my partner told me later) when I really hit high volume on the coyote in the distance. Well, that sneaker 50 yards away shyed away from me, but made the mistake of heading right into my partner. Fortunately, my partner didn't miss! Sometimes you can't see the forest for all the trees and sometimes you can't see the trees for all the forests, or something like that!!!

Good story!
 
Great story...that's what keeps us going back.
I don't consider myself a pro, jbrad... but I have to think your first mistake was facing the wind. I have yet to see a coyote approach a distress call with the wind to HIS back.
...but that don't mean it's impossible either.

Keep em comin..
~River Runner~
 
Jbrad--I don't want to start an argument here, but given a choice between calling into the wind and calling with the wind, I will take calling into the wind as long as it is 15 mph or less. Most of the coyotes I have shot have come in from the upwind side. Now, there may have been just as many or more coyotes that came into the call from the downwind side. Also, since I usually call into the wind, it would seem logical that is the direction I would see and shoot most of them from.

My theory is that the downwind side is the direction I walk into my calling site from. If a coyote comes from that side and hits my trail, that coyote is most likely going to turn tail and run the other way. Many times, too, the downwind side is where there is a road and that's where my vehicle is parked. I do most of my calling alone. That means I usually cannot see a 360 degree radius around my calling location. I have to give up some area that I won't be able to cover adequately and I choose to give up the downwind side. Personal choice, and I don't begrudge anyone the right to an opinion that says I am not doing it right in their opinion. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion and all of have one.

I know there are some on this board who call with the wind all the time, I just don't happen to be one of them. However, now that I am the proud owner of a Foxpro caller with 16 sounds and remote control. I am definitely going to try getting off to the downwind side of the caller more often and try to catch those coyotes that sneak in from that side.
 
Silver fox, just a thought but when I am calling with my foxpro in a wind I almost always set up to call crosswind.

I also carry bino's to my stands but use them rarely.
I will sometimes scan with them before a call, if I have any decent visibility .
I mainly use them for just before I quit a stand. I have seen quite a few coyotes this way that were just standing out there a few hundred yards peering around a bush or tree.

I will hardly ever pick up my binos DURING a call. About the only time is if I think that perhaps I may be looking at a yote out yonder that I can't make out very clearly. However only after I give whatever it is I am looking at plenty of time to indentify itself first. They are used only as a last resort. I have hunted with folks who are always looking around with their glasses. TOO MUCH MOVEMENT, not to mention that if you are looking out THERE with your glasses, you are liable to miss the real one that loped by right HERE.
 
Just to clarify,Yes at least one of us should have been looking down wind. But the more logical route to me would have been from up wind at the given time.Plus it wasen't a big o'l tree bender it was just a slight breeze. I figured it to our advantage to help prevent the coyotes from smelling us. But the coyotes did show up from down wind and this is often typical but its not a set in stone rule.I've had them come from up, down and cross wind.So im not really sure that it matters or that i should have ever mentioned the wind in the first place. I just thought it was an amuseing situation on how the coyotes seemed to work as a team.

Later,
Justin
 
A friend of mine witnessed a pair of coyotes work an antelope buck off a creek bank where another coyote was waiting and ambushed him. Coincidence? Who knows? Kinda makes ya wonder. Wiley E
 
Jbrad--Here's a trick we almost always use if there are 2 of us hunting. The caller sets himself up facing into the wind generally on some kind of high spot where he can see well. The 2nd hunter sets himself up 40-50 yards straight downwind of the caller in a spot where he can also see well and facing straight downwind. The downwind hunter shouldn't get to far away, because a coyote can end up between the 2 hunters and then no one can shoot it.

The function of the downwind hunter is to cut off those smart aleck coyotes that are playing the wind game to their advantage. When they come around downwind all their attention is riveted on the sound, and they have no clue at all about a downwind surprise. When they are close enough to the downwind man almost any sound will generally stop them, and they just stand there. Our experience is that the downwind hunter will get at least 1/2 of the shooting.

Our reasoning is that if both hunters are reasonably good riflemen there is no need for both to be looking at the same real estate. We can cover more area, and simultaneously handle the downwind coyotes more efficiently with this kind of set-up. We have shot as high as 4 coyotes at same stand with with both hunters taking coyotes.
 
Jbrad I realize that you were not asking to be critisized but thats what happens on a place like this when a person opens their mouth.
however please don't think for an instant that when one of the rest of us posts about making a mistake that it won't be returned in full.
The fact is that you did make a mistake. Both hunters focused on the same coyotes with optics = mistake, unless one of you is fixing to sling lead.
Not a big deal, and you probably realize it yourself. I will gaurentee you this, whatever foolish thing that you have done on a stand I have been dumber.
Sometimes I think that it is a race to see who can make the most mistakes, and let no one fool you, not a one of us here on this site can say that they don't still make them on a regular basis.
I highly commend you for coming on here and admitting your error, don't be too upset though if a healthy discussion insues.

So many people come to these boards and only talk about thie successes, I am sure that you realize that you learn far more from your screw up's.
So all in all I would say that you did good. You were out there doin it while so many others are sittin at home talking about it. Then when you got busted you came in here and admitted it,go with it, and next time I talk about how I got busted let me know if you have any ideas that might help.
I don't care if I have already heard them, as I am sure you already knew most of what has been said to you here. It never hurts to hear it again does it?
I know that I can sound patronizing at times, but it is actually hard to have a conversation on a dang computer and get any info across without sounding a little that way.
Take care and good huntin , Craig.

[This message has been edited by Craig Hamilton (edited 03-26-2001).]
 
Thanks for the replys guys,

Wiley E,
No,the more I hunt coyotes the more I realize theres not many things that happen just as a coincidence.I think we're dealing with some pretty smart critters.And they just might be learning about me faster than I'm learning about them.

Steve,
That sounds like a pretty good idea.Though we've always hunted pretty much side by side.
How do you communicate with one another?Or do ya'll just know eachothers hunting well enough no words are needed?

Craig Hamilton,
Sorry,I didn't take any offence.I didn't realize what an a$$ I sounded like in my last post.I meant it to be said with a grin,at the way this post had became a wind direction "spittin contest".But no I don't dake any offence to you guys critiques thats what I'm posting stuff for.I want to learn from you guys who've been at it longer.

Thanks again for all ya'lls time and imput.

Later,
Justin
 
Jbrad--We communicate with hand signals and watching each others motions. That is, if 1 hunter sees the other scooting around and getting behind his rifle, the other knows something is going on in the direction the rifle is pointed. If we can't see each other, then we just hope a lot and deal with the "luck of the draw." When the caller is done calling (generally 20 minutes minimum for us) he gives to loud squalls/toots/or whatever on his call; that is the signal for the downwind man to start calling if he has something going the caller doesn't know about. If he doesn't, we both glass the real estate real well, pick up are stuff and have a debriefing session.

Craig H. is absolutely right; there isn't anyone here that doesn't periodically get "retrained" by the coyotes or foxes. We all have stands or sometimes entire days where we can't even hit the ground with our hat so to speak. Everyone is just being helpful and offering some pointers so you'll become more successful quicker.
 
perhaps the coyotes who pack up, or hang in a
group work together, it would almost have to
be that way, there would be a dominate dog,
most likely it was the male, and i bet those
2 who chilled out and watched were females,
waiting for the male to grab something,have his meal,then leave the rest for them,so i think yes,they were watching,watching to
see what bossdog grabbed at the fast food
buffet. of perhaps, it was a parent,and a couple of young adults still watching mom or dad and the coming in for leftovers. its not
so hard to believe, coyotes have been here even before the wolf walked the planet, it stands to reason they have learned a few things at least. one thing ive not heard anyone say yet, "these are "predators".not varmits..they are smarter,meaner,and more cunning that the average dog,varmit,and duck hunter...oops i didnt say that!
 


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