How far between stands?

M

MCary

New member
We just got permission to hunt on a ranch. 10 sections, We have about 10 miles of river bottom. We drove part way up this weekend before the snow started melting and the road got too slick. We saw one right out of the ranchers yard. Went up a mile and called in 3. My idiot partner thinks 400 yards is 100. "QUIT SHOOTING! Let them get closer" So we drew a blank.

So anywho, how far would you space your stands? I figured 10 miles would yield about 5-6 good stands, am I being too conservative? Is two miles too far apart?

As long as I have a forum, I just as well try to get some other things worked out that have been plaguing us. We have had coyotes check up on us all week. These are very unpressured coyotes. Mostly at night seeing them on thermal. This may explain my trigger happy partner. He's afraid he won't get a shot before they leave. We thought of all kind of possible reasons and I have scoured this board for explanations. I thought afterward, I have a Fusion and the remote has a good range, assuming it isn't me that they see or smell, would it work to set up the call and then move upwind 200 or 300 yards before setting up?

OK, one more. We called in a bunch of coyotes in this one area. It's an area about 10 miles square and we probably called in over 20 coyotes. They didn't come all the way in and we didn't shoot at them. How long would you suggest we wait before returning to the area?

I apologize for blowing up this board with all my questions. Thanks for all the help I received so far. It helps a lot.

Mike
 
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I'm sure that the coyotes can hear your call for 2 miles on a calm day. Coyotes hang up for a while all the time. They are very smart and cautious. I would set up downwind of the call. Coyotes will try to get down wind most of the time. Rudy
 
How do you define "un pressured"?

Just because coyotes have not been called, does not mean they have not been pressured. If they are routinely shot at from the road, for instance, they may well be quite cautious of approaching that road?

There is a fellow that used to be on this board (he got banned), that got an opportunity to call on a Fed. reserve upon which the coyotes had never been hunted. As part of a study being conducted by researchers. To make a long story short, he went into it expecting these coyotes that had never been hunted to be quite easy to call. Instead, they proved impossible to call. They might not have ever been hunted, but they had been trapped, netted, checked for vitals, had GPS collars attached etc. and were just about the most cross wired coyotes imaginable!

Some very interesting stuff came out of it anyway though. As he was calling to coyotes that were GPS collared and then later able to look at where they went and what they did in response to his calling. Typically, either just run the opposite direction for a mile or more. Or else circle at least a half mile out downwind.

But one old female, after circling out down wind like that, shadowed them for the rest of the day and set up to yapping every time they called. Same coyote, followed along at a safe distance, but at every stand setup a warning yap. All day. Hows that for an educated coyote?! That had never heard a call before that day.

I've no idea what's going on for you, of course. But based on your description of what you've seen so far, they don't really sound unpressured.

- DAA
 
That's interesting, something I never thought of. They might be avoiding getting too close to the road for the reasons mentioned. That is something I can experiment with. I would give more information about the area I am in, to convince you that they are basically unhunted but I don't want to advertise the location and change that scenario. But I am sure they are pot shot at from the road. There are cattle in the area and I have never known a rancher that didn't take a shot at every coyote he sees. (This is a trail, not a county road).

They come into the call, straight on, most of the time casually. I have not had any circle although I expected them too. They just walk or trot in, stop at a distance, then walk or trot away the same speed they came in. Although we didn't think they saw us, we tried camo and hiding in brush at night, just to be sure. We set up down wind of them so smell was not a factor. Avoiding the road makes perfect sense. Something to try out.
 
Depends on the lay of the land, the wind etc. Most times, if we're having success in an area we'll make stands every mile or so. If it's windy we'll cut that in half and make shorter stands. On a calm day the sound will carry pretty far but wind will really limit how far the sound will travel. I've watched partners sitting near me blowing a call on a breezy day and I couldn't hear a thing.

As for how long to wait before going back to an area...I'd go when you can. If you're in a good area with good response, hunt it. If you "rest" your areas and are hunting public land or even a private ranch you can't be certain it's not getting hunted while you are away. I've shot coyotes on a stand in the morning then returned in the afternoon on our way back and called in another.
 
It depends on the day and the type of call you are using and how you are "hunting" that land.

Coyote hunting, typically, isn't spot and stalk.

If you have land, and you have seen "lot's" of coyotes, then you could esentially work that land with a plan that would be like you might approach it as if you were hunting pheasants.
Only, in this case, you wouldn't get in there and push them out, you would call them in.

if you have river bottom, but that makes it tougher to shoot, don't go into it, stay above it, and get close enough that you can sneak in, set up with some cover, yet take advantage of pulling them out of the cover (or at least to the edge) and then shoot.

Start your stands at the edge of the land and work your way across it. I have had cases where i was calling and nothing, pick up and move, and called one in 500 yrds from the last stand. I guessed I was sitting on a boundary and they wouldn't cross that, but once i got close enough they came to take a look.
The other thing is that it would also depend on the call that you are using. Hand calls (depending) may not travel as far as my Prairie blaster. (fairly sure) So in that case I would place my stands closer. But, if i am calling river bottom and there is a lot of sign I might space my stands a mile apart, vs. in the open where I do them 2 miles apart.

I would let the place cool down until after thanksgiving. Watch some video's on Youtube. I like the Bucking the odds guys. They are funny, however, watch.. watch to see when they shoot. I like to wait to see if they are coming. I don't want to walk as far to drag it back. I find that even if they stop and sit, it's fine. give them time. If they start looking back and turn broadside, and you feel comfortable, launch the best shot you can. But, don't shoot if they are still coming. IMO. learning to read this takes practice, and won't always work. Watching video's of guys that put fur down, is free easy learning, even if you only use some and not all of what they are doing, that may help you when you are in the field.

Good luck.
 
I have called in spots w/no takers, moved 500 yards and had 5 run in.
Happens a lot on ranches we call on.
It all depends on area, season, what they want to come into IMO.
 
"How far between stands?"

Very good question, with no concrete answers.

Here in the wide open West, I usually go about 500yds, yes, 1/4 mile, between stands. For me to go even 1/2 mile between stands is a lot.

When coyotes start to pair up, usually late December into January out here (Colorado), they can get territorial and might not cross into another pairs territory, even though they can hear me calling.

I've had multi-dozens of stands where I can see for miles. The first stand I get no takers, then move my stand by 500yds. and I see one stand up 300yds from me. I know that coyote heard me from 800yds out, but he wasn't interested until I got closer. Did I cross, or even get close to, the territory line?

As to the pros' videos, keep in mind that these guys are most likely hunting private ranches that have had little hunting pressure on them, and in many cases they are hunting early, like October, and they are calling in 6-7 month old coyotes. Those September/October coyotes make it look easy.
 
I would make the next set farther than your partner can shoot.

Quote:I'm sure that the coyotes can hear your call for 2 miles on a calm day. Coyotes hang up for a while all the time. They are very smart and cautious. I would set up downwind of the call. Coyotes will try to get down wind most of the time. Rudy

I have witnessed coyotes reacting to the call 2 miles off several times.
The lay of the land pretty much dictates most of my stands.
 
I'm with the lay of the land folk.......
for instance I have one place I have a lot of success at where I'll make three stands within a half mile of one another and often get the kill on the third.
1st is in a small clearing in mesquite
2nd is along a fence overlooking a meadow
3rd is up high over looking plains
 
several questions a guy needs to ask himself when deciding how far to space his stands. Such as coyote density. Are there several coyotes per square mile or less than one coyote per square mile? Wind conditions, which we all think about how wind affects the sound travel, but don't forget all the secondary noise that the wind makes as it's passing through the trees, or crp grass, etc. Gotta over come the wind AND the noise it makes. Also gotta think about how motivated the coyotes may be. Is it warm for the season, or is it cold for the season? A coyote might not be motivated to travel much more than 1/2 mile if it's warm for the season, but on the other hand if it's abnormally cold a coyote may be motivated to travel a mile plus. Also how loud do you plan to call? If you blast away full volume with the excellent sound travel, might as well plan on putting more distance between stands. And if you plan to call very loud for the conditions, will you also stay on stand long enough for a coyote to travel a mile plus, or will you be picked up and gone once he gets there. They all don't sprint to the call as we all know and very well may take longer than 15 minutes for a coyote to travel a mile.
Just lots of things to think about when making the decision. The correct answer one day for an area may not be the correct answer the next day, in the same area. The correct answer in one part of the country very likely won't be the same answer for a different part of the country. As you get more experience, you'll figure out what works best for you in your area for certain times of year and certain kinds of weather.
 
Was calling on a stand for 20-30mins (fairly thick woods, Full volume on the icotec gc350; believe I even used my carver rabid rabbit also), ended up going about .5 -.6 miles and called a fox within 1 minute of calling. It seems that calling in the woods dramatically muffles the volume.
 
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