How to locate coyotes in the off season?

Addicted_Mind

Addicted_Mind

New member
How many of you use the siren in the off season to pinpoint areas with coyotes? Is this an affective way to find populated areas?

What time of day or night do you get out to do some locating?

This is all new to me but from many hours of scouting for bow season I know this is a must.

Thanks for the help

Orr
 
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First off, Welcome to PM!


I do my locating at night. I do more in the spring to find dens and then lay off for awhile till about now, when the pups start to get vocal. I also use locating in the fall to check out new areas or find new areas.

I use a howler. And use yip howls or group howls to locate. This is a non threatning howl and offen times will ge tyou a reponce from a local pack. They seem to think there is another group of coyotes in there teritory. Im also just looking for a vocal responce from them. At this time I do not want them to come to the call, I just want to make them talk.

I start at dark, and may be out all night depending on how things go and how much area I need to cover.

Also hang around after you how for 20 min or so. Sometimes it takes them a few to answer, they sometimes relocate inside there core teritory before answering you.

If nothing answers I move on. Dont rule out a place just because they dont answer though. Sometimes they just dont howl, and they also my not be in that area at that time.

I may hit an area several times before I get the info I need from that spot or get a responce.


Brent
 
I also howl for them at night this time of year. They seem to be more vocal at night. If spotlighting is allowed in your area then you can do that to. Good luck and welcome to PM.
 
Addicted_Mind - Another twist on locating, and what Kee has laid out is good info, but I don't locate in the howling sense at all..... But I do utilize howling when its shooting time.

You are right in relating Eastern coyotes to deer hunting in one way only - the killin' part. Best to get out of the fields, into the woods, and use all your deer hunting tricks for quiet entry and set-up. By ALL MEANS utilize your treestands whenever posible calling.

But keep in mind locating coyotes means little now, as by hunting season (fall) the complexsion of their lives will have changed dramatically. The family groups will be dipersing, and food will change alot.

Plus you really don't want to call anything now, even by accident, as its silly to tip your hat before shootin' time.

Howling up coyote will make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside, but given the fact that an average coyote range in the fall is 5 to 11 miles (bigger in many cases), make location a wildcard at best.

Take some walks, find some prints and scat, spend your time locating great stand locations. Stands with easy entrance and favorable wind directions. Use this type of whitetail knowledge, and you will call and kill coyotes.

Best way I locate coyotes is by listening to local guys talk about predators they have seen over the summer. After locals get to know your deal, they will happily share their coyote sightings with you.

Coyotes cover alot of ground, so put alot of time in CALLING, way more than scouting. Just the opposite of deerhunting. Think alot bigger, as in how many TOWNS can I hunt, not how many woodlots like bowhunting. Scouting is the number one way to insure sucess on deer.........calling 20 stands a day is the way to insure success on 'yotes /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif Scouting yotes is fun, but don't get too hung up on it, as in the East, they are everywhere, and nowhere /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif
 
If you start hunting in Sept like I do here, then howling now will help you. If you find your family groups now, they will be in the general area in Sept.

But if you wait till Nov to start then things have changed by then. But.....Howling will help you find areas that hold coyotes. Yes they do have a big home range but.....By howling and maps I have a good idea what that range is and were to find them at diffrent times of the day and night. and I got a good idea of the numbers that are in that area as well.

Sleddog I haft to agree to disagree with the scouting. This guy is from Huntington WV, right accross the river from me. The coyote population there is not what it is in other states. If he dont scout, his kills will be low! Most of the areas around there dont hold alot of coyotes yet. Not like other places. There are pockets of coyotes but not every were he will go.

He could make 20 stands a day for along time and not call a area that is holding a coyote. But by scouting and howling he can find them and the areas they are living in, then he knows if he calls an area that chances are better that he is calling to coyotes.

Land owners and other hunters are a good conection, they can give good info though. But I would rather do my home work myself than to trust everything I hear. And its nice to know when I get out of bed a 4:00am that I know for fact the area I will be calling has coyotes. I get alot of info from farmers, hunters, game wardens, and all that to, but I always check the area out before I call it. If for any reason other than to get to know the area, and be able to pick the right set up.

Howling can be a very good tool in finding areas to hunt, new land to hunt, and knowing were your coyotes are.

Brent
 
Thanks for the info guys.

So none of you use the siren to locate with? Have you ever used the siren and gotten a response. Just wonder if I should even have this call on my Foxpro. I plan on getting a howler from Brent sometime. But right now all I have is the Foxpro.

After I heard the siren sound I was really thinking it was geared for locating that long beard on the ridge come spring.

I do understand the "law of averages", the more spots you call the better your chances of having a yote hear your call. So, when fall comes around and you get out to call how long do you stay out in any given day to hunt. Around here if I were to hunt a farm at the break of light in the morning with no success and decide to move to another spot I might have to drive 20 or 30 minutes to get to the new location. This would really eat up alot of time. So you guys hunt until what time in the mornings? What time do you get back out in the evenings?


Orr
 
I hunt from daylight till dark. Early morning and late eve are best most of the time. But the last couple years after keeping very good log books. We have done just as good in the middle of the day as we have early or late. Sometimes better.

I just change the way I set up on them a little bit to allow for mid day calling.


I have used the siren on the FoxPro and had coyotes answer. Sometimes it works better than a howler. But a good yip howl is hard to beat sometimes as well. They can both be good tools.

One thing to remember....Just being out at night this time of year can teach you alot about coyote vocals. The pups are getting vocal here. Learing the language now. They are keeping in close contact with the adults. That means there is alot of howling going on. No better way to learn than from the coyote its self!


Brent
 
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Lots of good info here. One thing that happened to me more than once is while locating at night, is they were responding to my Howls by showing up, not howling back.

So if you Howl for them and don't get a vocal response, keep your eyes open because they might just Keep quite on you.
That won't really help if your trying to find a den.
 
Well this rain we keep having has really gotten me behind schedule on pouring my new driveway. But at least it frees up some time to read on here. LOL

I think if the rain quits by tonight I will get out and do some scouting.

I have to think that if I dont find where they are around here by getting out and locating them I dont have a snowballs chance in **** calling one in. I was out the other day scouting around and found some tracks. I kept thinking why are some of the tracks bigger than the others until I read up on it. After researching the yote track I am certain that is what I saw (yote tracks).

I am sure you are familar with the spot I was at Brent.
I bowhunt there and saw a yote last year in my treestand. Well the yote wasnt in my treestand but you know what I mean. lol
 
Browning204....Got your PM. But what kind of howls were you running?

Its raining here as well. I got a roof to put on this week, and its been tough! But gives me good time to make calls and work on the video's!

Scouting for tracks and scat are good ways to get info. I walk most all my farms from time to time to check things out. Looking for sign, and checking out the lay of the land. That lets me know were my best set ups are going to be and key terain features for the best way for everything to work for me at that time of year.

Dont get me wrong....You can and will cold call coyotes here. But I know alot of the areas your calling. And there not over ran with coyotes. And I would rather make 10 good stands a day and know I have been calling in good coyote area's rather than call 25 stands and take the chance that I maybe calling to coyotes!

But cold calling here will work from time to time. Just look at it like this. I travel alot to hunt. The first thing I look for when calling a area that I have never been is sign! Tracks and scat! The I know there are coyotes there in the area. I may haft to make several stands to find them but I know they are there!

One of the first questions I ask callers I call with from diffrent states is how do you know there are coyotes there?
When they answer I have some idea of what I am looking at in that area, by the answer they give me.

Main rule for me!......You cant call coyotes if there are no Coyotes there!


Brent
 
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I know the feeling. I just put on a new roof about 3 months ago. 35 square. First one I had done in several years. Now I remember why I quit doing it.

From your experience how do yotes behave after a good rain. Do you stay held up during the rain under some cover to keep dry?

Are they pretty active , up moving around, after the rain quits?

Just wondering if it is a good time to get out and scout?
I know finding tracks after a rain probably is the best time but how long if any will the stay bedded down after or during a rain.

I cant seem to get myself away from this darn computer or this site. LOL
Lazy rainy day

Orr
 
Oh yeah Kee, I want to get one of your Hunting in the East videos.
You have any or do I have to order it? If I have to order do I just email them and request one?
 
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As I think about what KeeKee & sleddog [two well accomplished callers] are saying, I see two contrasting approaches / styles they utilize in their respective areas. While there are some differences, if you look close, you see a fair amount of commonality and some discreate elements to consider.

For predator calling [maybe] more than other game, having a larger number of places to hunt / call is of greater importance. I can fill my deer & turkey tags and consistently have successful hunts for many types of birds and small game by simply hunting the several hundred acre area around my home, but that would quickly get wore out if it was the only place I had to call. It seems that expanding the number of places is a common key element.

Scouting for tracks, scat, and other sign is another common element, but seems they both highlight that spring/summer ranges are more constrained around denning areas, so just because you don't see sign on a place in the summer does not necessarily mean you won't find yotes there come winter. Conversely, places that do hold significant sign during the summer are probably more closely aligned with denning areas and will have a high likelyhood of having yotes later in the year. I have noticed that on several farms I hunt that had a fair amount of sign this past winter, have almost no sign this summer. I am thinking this is do to the fact that the yotes are not denning close by, but I'm certainly not dropping these places from my call rotation come the fall.

Scouting for and planning possible setups is another common element. To me, this element is where you really start seperating the experienced from the novices. Personally, I'm in the later category and think [hope] that setup's will become more obvious and refined through personal experience. I also think there are a number of elements to consider in choosing a setup, but that there is a bit of art to it. Kinda like cooking. You can gather all the ingredients, but it's how you put them together that makes the difference. I do like sleddogs recommendation on leveraging the use of deer stands. Particularly those located in or with good visability into woods and thick stuff. Around here I will often find sign in open areas, but rarely have seen yotes in an open field and the few that I have called have always stuck to cover. Doesn't mean you won't get them to come out in the open. Just seems more likely/natural/comfortable for them to stick to cover and so my thinking is to leverage that behavior when I can in my setup selection.

Howling et al to locate does seem to be one element where experienced and successful callers have notable differences of opinion. I am far from being in a position to have a meaningful opinion on this element, however, I would think that those lucky enough to have large/vast areas to hunt might gain further insight and possibly improve there focus/success by using this technique. It also sounds like you might not need to actually get into the woods to do this. Possibly just pulling off the road at intervals may allow you to use this while not inadvertantly calling them in to where you are thinking of setting up.

Again, I am a novice. Just thought I would post some of these thoughts in the hope that some of the more experienced folks here will continue to tune and expand my thinking.
 
Where I live also going out and scouting, especially howling for them after dark is very important in terms of your success later on in the season. Coyotes have an area that the pertty much live in and hunt in. so if I find them now then I will find them in the same area on one of my trips later on.
 
Studabaka,

Good post! Not all callers call the same, set up the same, or think the same. And alot of diffrent things will work in given areas. I change my tactic's here during the year to allow for changes. And if I am out of town in another state calling I do the same if needed.

You are right, I do all my locating from the road. Most of the time I just pull off the side of the raod and set on the back of the truck. But from time to time, if I have a area that I know has coyotes and I cant find them. Will take a partner, drive real slow around the outside of the area and hang out the window and yip howl. This changes up the style a little, and sometime will drag a vocal responce from them. I would guess they think another pack is moving threw there teritory.

Set ups are going to be the key to killing coyotes but they haft to be with in hearing distance of the calling to respond. Thats the tough part....Large home ranges here because there are just not as many coyotes. But by finding them, I cut out alot of areas that dont hold coyotes. I dont get many responces to yip howls, thats why I use it in locating. Not saying that they dont come to them, but most of the time its going to just get a vocal responce from them at night. Plus I will find a spot that is not right on top of were I think the coyotes are. I want a good place that I can hear for along ways. I high point or long ridge. I try and stay above were I think they are, and not right on top of them.

And I use my share of good old boot leather to find them some as well. And I do cold call. Its not my prefered way to call but I do some of it every year, alot if I am hunting out of the state with no contact there, or I will call and scout an area at the same time.

A good mixed bag of tactic's will serve you well!


Addicted,

I dont call much in the rain. Well hard rain. But right before or after a storm front is good calling. And if I can get a drizzly rain I will call. I have had some good days calling in the over cast drizzle.

I will shoot you a e-mail with some info on the video.


Brent
 
I like to take it a step further and have a county map. I mark the rough boundarys of all the farms and woodlots i have permission to hunt. Then thru the year i mark the areas i find sign, and especialy the areas i get a response to my howls. Near the end of the summer here i have alot of dots on my map. Alot of the dots belong to larger groups of dots. These are areas I realy need tohunt, and/or get permission to hunt. The properties i have little or no dots on from sign(blue dots) and responses (red dots), I know im more geared to getting fox on.

Our area too has pockets of coyotes,with large ranges. They do they're best to kill all the fox out of those areas. By October this map will hopefully show me where my odds are best for coyotes,the areas i need to get permission to hunt, and the areas thati can still find fox.
 
Addicted mind
me and my youngest son went out last night around 1:30 AM and i used the coyote locator sound on my FX3 and within 2 minutes i had a pack open up and howl back,i did this 2 times then left,i went to another spot and tried the same thing and got no response,i left after about 5 minutes and KeeKee told me they might take as long as 20 minutes to respond,so i learned something new,,thanks KeeKee,i tried the siren about 3 months ago with no luck,but once again i left after about 5 minutes,,next time i go out i am going to try the siren sound again
Does anyone know if it would be OK to try the siren first AND THEN try the locator sound? almost like a pack heard the siren and responded or should i just stick to using one sound or the other???
Thank You
Bob
 


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