How far will a coyote go......

WMR Crazy

New member
to get downwind of whatever it is he thinks he hears. If I'm calling using a distress call at the edge of a 300yrd x 50yrd field, what would the norm be for your typical southwest Ohio coyote's?
 
Its the Doctors experience that coyotes circle closer to the call as wind speed decreases. If the wind is blowing fairly hard, they will circle from 100-200 yards (or more)downwind in our open terrain. If the wind is very calm they will more likely circle about 40-50 yards and then may still approach closer until they get a sniff of something they dislike.
I would think Ohio coyotes would use the cover available, but should be around those figures.
Good Luck
 
I would think that terrain will dictate how far down wind they circle, and I agree with the Doc, that wind speed comes into play! IMO, heavy cover allows the coyote to stay undetected and feel secure, so they probably would circle downwind closer to the sounds, as apposed to very open terrain where there is little to no cover, so they will circle downwind at a further distance!

And on edit, I've seen many coyotes that didn't follow those above stated theorys! This may be do to the age and experience of the coyotes /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused1.gif
 
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I don't beleive it matters where the coyote is from, I want to beleive all predators use the terrian /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif The thicker the closer....The more open the further.......BUT! I have seen a Coyote in a must eat senerio, stroll out onto a frozen lake, inthe middle of the day to within feet of the call in hopes for that quick snack /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Good Question!
Thanks Vaportrail /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinning-smiley-003.gif
 
How far? Here's one example of Coyotes not following the rules at all.

Two years ago, my calling partner and I set up at the end of a 200 yard by 75 yard field with the wind in our faces. I snuck out and set the E caller up about 40 yards from the end of the field. My buddy took one corner and I took the other. To get down wind of us the coyote would have to use small strips of woods on either side of the field. Well, after about 20 miunutes, we had no takers, but when I went to pick up the caller, there were fresh coyote tracks that came right down the middle of the field to the caller and then turned right around and went back the way they came. Snow has a way of showing you just how bad you have been had.

In my experiance though, the coyotes here in NH will circle only as far as they have to. If they have good cover, they may only get 20 or 30 yards down wind of you, which is why shotguns are so effective in this type of situation. If we hunt fields,they will use the wood lots that separate those fileds to get to the other end and often just stand there looking until they decide to make a move. Usually.

If you ever get the chance to call in snow, you can learn a lot by just taking a walk after a stand. Often you will find you were busted by an animal you never saw.
 
TheHuntedOne,

Snow, Reminds me of the coyote who stuck his nose out into the tote road just far enough to get me busted! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smiliesmack.gif After the set I walked down to where at the time,..I thought I saw something, /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused1.gif and low and behold the yote back tracked in its own tracks, /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/angry-smiley-055.gif never missing a foot step in the same track, backwards for at least!.. and I mean at least! 5-8 yards! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/bowingsmilie.gif Talk about footing!

I'm sure many hunters who have hunted in the snow or grew up in snowy terrian have tried stepping backwards into their own tracks (BACKTRACKING)and find its pretty,(If you haven't well you otta try it) challenging to do so, and we only have (2) feet to worry about in hitting the same mark, now imagine the yote with their (4) paws hitting the same hole in the snow! for that distance /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/bowingsmilie.gif


Vaportrail
 
Vaportrail,
I have hunted and hike snow country all my life (58 yrs.) and have seen some pretty strange tracks. I have seen lion tracks where it did the same thing you describe about the backtracking coyote. When you come across situations like that it really leaves you scratching your head. Thanks for telling that story. Its things like that, that make predator hunting so interesting and challenging.
 
WMR-

I agree with everything thyat's been offered thus far, but since you asked how far they'll go, it would surprise you.

Credit for this information comes from Rich Higgins over at Huntmasters. He recently had the opportunity to call a huge research area where researchers were studying responses of an unexploited population of coyotes to various types of calling sounds. These are coyotes that aren't shot at, and each of them is wearing a radio-telemetry collar that is being monitored by satellite. Prior to setting up and during the stand, researchers were monitoring the movements and response of area coyotes using a wireless laptop connection to the satellites. Some really cool things were observed, and I'll let Rich share what he wants to let out, but I can tell you that on at least one occasion, it was noted that the coyotes would circle as much as 3/4-mile downwind before turning to approach the source of the sound. This is in fairly wide open terrain so thick timbers and wooded fencelines would most certainly influence a lot of changes in this, I'm sure. But you asked how far? Real far. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
Greenside,
Some folks say that our human scent is carried down-wind in an ever widening cone. In the brushy area that I hunt here in Iowa, I don't see the coyotes until they are within fifty yards or less. Oh, once in a blue moon I see one heading for my down-wind side and then I never see him again. Coyotes will come from whatever direction he happens to be when he hears the call, whether that be from upwind, cross-wind or whatever. Some will keep on coming like he is tied to a string. The "smarter" coyotes wll often circle down-wind to get a whiff of whatever that thing is that he hears screaming. It ain't always a "circle" he must run. Sometimes all he must do is make a right turn or a left turn. Any way you slice it, the coyote is trying to get down-wind of the racket before he comes closer. When calling open country where I could see a long ways down-wind, I have watched them do this from maybe 1/4 mile away.
 
This scent cone is there and much like Rich describes. Wind speed dictates the width of the cone on any given day at a certain distance.The slightest shift in the wind can change that within seconds.When working down wind take the first oportunity you get. This is not shotgun work either. You can choose the aproach they use with careful setup but only to an extent.Jimmie
 
My partner and I have a little sage covered mound that we hunt on the same day every year and the conditions have been the same the last two years. We set back to back on the top of the mound, the caller is 50yds upwind at the base of the mound. Two years ago a coyote circled across my partners feet, this year a pair circled out about 200yds downwind of the speaker. I still haven't fiqured them out, that's whats nice about haveing a pair of eyes behind you.

AWS
 
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