How do coyotes travel?

N

nc_deerhunter

New member
I think I got this whole coyote thing backwards. I was thinking that coyotes traveled without any certain pattern. I mean that they travel while they hunt then bed anywhere then get back up and keep on going. I didnt know that they travel like a whitetail. Do they travel like whitetails? Like feeding in the evenings and through the nights into the early morning then bed down like whitetail? And another question... how does warm and hot weather effect the way they travel? Its been in the eighties here for the past several days and I was looking for some advice before I go out and burn up for no good reason. Thanks for any advice because I need all the help I can get!!
 
NC Deerhunter,
Here in the flatlands of west central Indiana coyotes usually travel along corridors of cover. They use drainage ditches and fencerows to move across country. They will also use land contours for cover as they cross open fields. Most coyotes we see will usually be moving along the edges of some kind of cover. Those that are seen in open fields in daylight, are usually at a good trot or even at a run since they don't like to loiter in the open. I think most guys will agree that coyotes hunt mostly at night. Calling at sunset and sunup is usually more productive than calling during midday. Coyotes can be patterned like deer as they will move toward an area to lay up for the day after a night of hunting. I've bushwacked them many times without calling when I know where they're feeding and where they lay up and position myself along their travel corridor and simply sit and wait.

Good hunting y'all Coyote 6974
 
What Coyote 6974 said. It is pretty easy to see when there is snow on the ground. Where I hunt we have wide open fields with tree lines that act as boundary markers. The dogs almost always are using those Tree lines as travel routes. At night they tend to get out into the more open spaces and can be called to the open spaces easier.
 
nc deerhunter,

My $.02

Although I believe coyotes share some behavioral traits from region to region. I don't think a person can accurately & realistically, say a coyote is a coyote in general terms. In other words they "all" don't "do & act" the same, everywhere{geographically)speaking, all of the time.

Example; In my area, they'll generally start hunting mid to late afternoon(around 2 hours before sunset). Then they'll generally quit hunting the following morning from around pre-dawn, until around 10am mostly. Do "all" coyotes do this, exactly the same time, everywhere??? I doubt it.

Personally, in my area. They "often" do lay out in the open. They also get shot at alot, as well. Perhaps this is because there is not much timber or other heavy cover. There constantly looking for danger or an easy meal, while awake.

What "I would do", is listen to the guys/gals opinions, that hunt in similiar terrain & conditions, ect,ect, as you. I would think those coyotes would do & act more like the same ones. In your general area.
 
Last edited:
I tend to agree with kirby for the most part. I've seen a ton of coyotes in my life, and it always amazes me the randomness of it all. One time they'll be doing one thing, the next they'll be doing another. As far as daytime activity goes I see more coyotes at around 11:00 in the morning than any other time of the day, why that is I have no clue.
Now, that being said, I also agree with coyote6974. I most often see dogs running fence rows or ditch lines, just about any "terrain break." In the high desert where I like to hunt there are also fairly defined routes of travel. I've hammered a lot of dogs by sitting on these paths through canyon bottoms or along creek lines and just waiting, much like you'd hunt Whitetails. In fact, that's probably my favorite way to hunt them as I enjoy glassing and waiting. I guess that's just the Western hunter in me. I think if you look around your area you'll begin to recognize a few of the routes your coyotes use, and as GI Joe always says "knowing is half the battle." Good luck ~6mm
 
Well I got fooled again this evening. I went back behind my house on a piece of property I like to hunt. I parked my truck no further than 100 yards from the farmers house and got all my gear together and started down an old logging road. I went through a steel gate and in the process startled a new born calf and its momma. I hate cows because their unpredictable and it freaked me out to be closer to the calf than its mother was. But anyways I made my way around the 2 cows and walked about 50 foot or so and turned around to make sure the cows were not following me or anything and what did I see!! A small coyote ran across the road between me and the 2 cows. The field it came from had really low grass and I looked in the field as I walked by it and didnt see anything. The field it crossed into had grass about waist high and there was no chance of trying to get a shot. I dont have any idea where it wad when I went by the field unless it was either bedded down aginst a small hedge row or it was watching the calf. When I saw it the coyote never looked at me so I dont know if it even seen me. Ill get me one, one of these days!! They remind me of my better half because I live with her and i still havent figured her out, lol! The coyote was only maybe 100 yards from where I parked my truck and I wasnt trying to be quite either so go figure.
 
Well......I think that we ALL sometimes make this much more complicated than it is. What happened to you was a prime example. I guess it's just like hunting anything else......number ONE rule is: When you get out of the vehicle, be ready to shoot.

Just keep hanging in there, like the rest of us Easterners, and enjoy the times outdoors. Those guys out West got it made compared to us, huh?? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused1.gif
 
Im really enjoying being in the outdoors all together, regardless if I kill a coyote that day or not. All of the coyotes hunting dvds ive seen kinda have me expecting different results. Im just going to start all over and try to hunt them like I do whitetails. Ive heard this advice time and time again but im finally gonna listen , lol. They sure do have it made in the west, with all the open country and such. A lot of the tactics ive read about hunting in the west wouldnt work at all here in the east. Ive read a lot of the "Hunting in the East" and im going to read more to kinda get an idea of how others has had luck. They're not as terriotorial in the east and agreeing with Kirby and 6mm it just has to be the right place at the right time. I guess we'll just have to make up our own rules out here!! lol.
 
Quote:
Yeah im jealous of the guys hunting in the west!! They make it look so easy. Maybe one day ill take a vacation out that way and give it a try.



Let me know........Maybe we can car-pool! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
 
nc deerhunter,

To bad on that coyote, hang in there. You'll get one, & probably remember it the rest of your life /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif.

Don't know about the easy part, here in Iowa, /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif. On the other hand, if it was "easy" I don't know if I'd even hunt them. I like to work for' em.
 
I hear that they ride around in the back of trucks, partying!!! I have proof. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
i dont feal hunting in the west is anny better than hunting in the east eccept there is a lot more land to hunt at much closer drives i hunt (misoury)a cupple times a year and have better results there than here in nevada but i can only cover about 1200 acres as that is how big the famly ranch is. so in 2 days it over were as nevada i can cover that in a day and have alot more land to go too.
 
Food source, safety, comfort. If the coyote is REALLY hungry, he might be out at odd hours, doing things that cancle out safety/comfort. He might take more risks. If he is full, safety/comfort will fill the bill. But being a predator taking advantage of any easy meal is where the calling can come in.

Anytime, I ran across one that seemed out of place he was driven by hunger. How well they are eating is going to help determine regular patterns, or non patterns.

.02 A.G.
 
I thought they traveled in cars, cause they can't make it past the security. They carry a mouth full of weapons and you can't have sharp instruments on a plane, LOL /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

t/c223encore.
 
NCderrhunter, They travel similar to deer but in a much larger pattern. Where you see deer travel you are likely to see coyote's at some time. You have already been given some good advice in post's above. Fencerows ,creeks, ridgelines even a simple ditch can all be a part of the travel corridor. What you look for are those combinations of cover that allow the coyote to travel over many miles without leaving it.

The coyote you saw had likely made a run through that patch of grass looking for field rats or mice. In the next few months you can expect them to be there more often, grasshoppers are number one on the coyote diet when available.They'll continue working that field heavy until frost. Jimmie
 
Thanks for all the advice. Ive been doing a lot of scouting and ive finally found a coyote trail I think. Its along a fencerow that runs along a brushy ridge. I found pairs of tracks on the same trail that are heading in both directions, coming and going. And the trail crosses a small gully in the lowest part heading into the woods. Im going to put my trail cam there before hunting this area just in case it is a crossing just so the coyotes dont get spooked and quit traveling there. Thanks again for all the good advice.
 
If your trail cam has time stamps I would leave it out there awhile, that way you can judge about when the best time to be out there is.

t/c223encore.
 


Write your reply...
Back
Top