Help finding Coyote "Sign"

pachuckhunter

pachuckhunter

New member
Ok. I hunt in western PA, prob. 30 miles from the Ohio line. We have lots of woods, along with the farm fields in my area. I have received great input on how to call, but what about figuring out where the Coyotes really travel?

I have read that the Coyote can travel 11 miles in a day. In the fields and woods I hunt, I have not seen Coyote scat on any of the few tractor trails or paths that there are. YET... some Turkey hunters and many farmers see the coyotes out in their fields, and lose animals to them.

Any tips?

Karl
 
The abundance of vegetation where you're at is what makes eastern coyotes such a challange. In the western states finding scat and/or tracks on dirt roads is easy. Locating them by getting them to respond to a howl is easier in the west, too. But the rewards of an eastern coyote are worth the effort. They are bigger dogs with a thicker, richer coat.

Even though I lived in PA for 4 years, I only saw 2 (live) coyotes the whole time. I don't have any useful advice, but I wanted to let you know "I feel your pain". /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused1.gif
 
Look around the edges of fields or on rocks that's usually
where I find scat in areas that don't have any trails. If
farmers tell you what fields they see them in that's also a
help.
 
Scouting for sign is simply searching for evidence of the presence of coyotes. Because weather, wind and rain can make aging tracks and scat difficult, because it is easy to find and identify tracks and scat in the dust of cattle trails and along washes and 2 tracks and not so much in alfalfa fields and thick undergrowth the very best evedence, ragardless of location are visual sightings.
I stop and ask ranchers and farmers, field hands, hikers, joggers, bikers, and even ladies walking their dogs, where and when they see coyotes and where and when they hear coyotes. That info is the best "sign".
 
i live in about the same country as you do, and the only place i have ever found sign of any of are predators is trails and roads. you just have to spend some time on these places lookin for there scat. it seems here that they leave there left behinds in the same spot every time too, as you will probably see a really old pill, a old pile, and a farly new pile.

good luck.
 
Karl,

In addition to Rich's tip of scouting with your ears (asking those who live in the area), check out crossing places for tracks. Since there isn't much dust or sand in Iowa, like there is in the Western states, I stop at every field entry on country roads and check for tracks left in the wet or dried mud. In the woods, deer trails are a great place to look, especially around creek crossings, where there is good mud to leave tracks. If you've got cattle in the area, check cattle trails in the same manner. We have some really thick hardwoods and coyotes use the cattle trails like highways. Another great place is along field edges and hedge rows. Anything that would make a natural travel route for all game.

If I find scat, that's great, but the majority of my scouting is checking for tracks. If a coyote leaves scat once or twice in a few hours, he's probably left you thousands of tracks to find. I wouldn't over analyze it, sign just confirms that you do have a coyote population to work with.

Good luck and keep us posted on your scouting adventures.

Tony
 
pachuckhunter i live in ohio and i share the same problem what i found out to be effective is if you have a deer "stealth cam" camera place it on a tree on a fence row about 1.5 feet off the ground perferably where there are more than one fence-row coming together and put a few chunks of liver or other meat in front of it and check to see if the yotes are in your area then if they are just slip back in some night and call near the location.
 
I've found that hitting the trails in the woods, ridgelines, and bottoms, the morning after a heavy rain is a good time to find tracks. I hunt east central Ohio, so you and I are in the same boat. I always check dried up puddles for old tracks.

I've even been spending time walking the back country gravel roads, and specially old coal mining haul roads. Seems like they travel the easiest routes some times.

Driving through the boondock areas at night, slowly, and howling out the window, gets a response too. Sounds like a trespassing yote cruising though the area. Watch out for other humans though, they'll think you've lost your mind. LOL!

Don't give up, it's a numbers game. You go enough, you'll score.

Good huntin'!
 
Thanks for the tips. I will be going out again tomorrow evening to a place that gets hunted, but not for Coyote. Maybe My FX3 will be more than the Yotes can stand /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
what i do is look while i am driving back roads and just look on the side of the road!! yotes will mark crossings where they cross the road or it is the limit of their area. right on the asphalt at the edge!! same with dirt roads but you have to look harder in the dirt!! hope it helps!!
 
Sounds like your needing some encouragement or just to be assured your efforts aren't wasted./ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif There's nothing like hearing them howl to get the blood pumping and get you excited about hunting./ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ooo.gif I would try a locator sound at nite just to verify their presence. Try a couple of nites if you don't locate them the first nite; they may be off making their rounds. With that FX3 you can use the "Coyote Locater" sound or put a siren sound on it. Every farmer I talk to says when a siren goes by they hear 'em start howlin'. Here's a free siren sound. I haven't tried it yet but plan to.
http://www.predatormastersforums.com/ubb...page=2#52296896
Hope this helps.
GAJoe
 
Do what I did. Get a few sacks of sand at Lowes or Home Depot. Bring them and a rake to one of the tractor trails you speak of. Make a patch of smooth sand. Go to the next trail and repeat, etc. Come back the next day and look. Rake it smooth after you collect the information and check periodically.
 
They use the sand like a kitty litter box? Sounds cool.
I only get out about 1x per week, usually early am, as I don't have a red light yet. But... here in PA, the yotes are also seen occasionally during the day.
I honestly think it is timing. If yotes can travel 6-12 miles a day on "rounds", I may just not be at the right place at the right time. I might only be off by 1/2 a day or so. It will work out some day, some stand. I would be happy for now just calling one in close enough to see it. The adrenaline rush from watching the videos is wearing off.

Karl
 
Slide into your spot real quiet, keep the wind in your face, and keep an eye peeled downwind. They'll circle downwind to try and scent what's making the racket so they can close in on it. But then again, I've had them pop up from all points on the compass. That's huntin'...........

Even if you don't score, enjoy the hunt. That's what it's really all about. Nature puts on quite a show for a fella when he's stitting still for hours.

Rudy
 
Quote:
They use the sand like a kitty litter box?



Now there's one the biologists and animal behaviorists overlooked! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
 
Here in Virginia we do alot of scouting on snowy days after seasons go out deer, fox, coyotes, etc. Jan. Feb. early March you can learn alot in the snow and find some good hideouts you might have overlooked otherwise.
 
pachuckhunter!

Next winter mark the spots you see tracks(on a map) and 7 out of 10 times there will be sign there in the summer.

In winter/mating season its easy to spot urine markings follow these and your gonna find a corner and it will be a real corner to a boundry. A male will urine every 75-100 yards. Plot on a map every detail,(HUNT SMARTER!) after Oh,1-2 years or so you'll have travel lanes or frequently visited marked out(HUNT LONGER!) Inspect the scat, What are they eating and where could they have eaten, is there an abudance of rabbits? Grouse? Watch the deer yards in the winter, yotes use these paths to ambush deer, Like I said write down everthing you'll start to see a pattern, some will disagree, but one thing never changes the young learn from the adults, unlike some humans (lol)and remember the DENs Moto!

Hunt Smarter!................Hunt Longer!

Vaportrail!
 
Thanks Vaportrail. I always enjoy the hunts, especially now that I am looking for something besiseds Deer or Woodchucks. Bringing a Yote in will just be extra icing on a great cake.

Karl
 
Quote:
I always enjoy the hunts, especially now that I am looking for something besiseds Deer or Woodchucks. Bringing a Yote in will just be extra icing on a great cake.




You'll soon find out that bringing in a coyote IS THE CAKE...everything else is the icing. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Keep us posted.

Tony
 
There is a small clip I made on coyote tracks not very good will make a real one later.It can be viewed at Google video type in coyote tracks.
 


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