I was not alone

hunt0168

hunt0168

Well-known member
Since my last kills I have put in about 12 sets when I had short breaks in the continuing crummy weather. I have not had a single response or sighting. My last set Wednesday night was right about midnight and it was where I had left a set a bit early on the last successful night, and had one open up as I was halfway back to my truck. It was late, and work was just a few hours away so I didn’t bother pursuing the opportunity to play anymore.

Wednesday the winds were favorable for that spot so I figured I’d give it another shot. I had already made 2 unsuccessful sets on other prime spots without any sign of life. I figured at least I know there was a couple roaming the area. Well, about halfway to where I planned to setup a shot rings really close out on the neighboring property, immediately followed by another. Seconds later I hear the telltale Kiyi’s and pup distress. 😐

With my season winding down I made a turn to head to the other side of the property and made a call anyway. It rarely works out for me if I don’t have full confidence in a stand. This one didn’t surprise me that nothing showed up either.

I do know 3 other guys that hunt this area, and I’m sure they have had the same frustrations as myself this year. Part of me is happy for them that they had some action. The selfish part of me feels otherwise! Lol… It’s been tough!
 
Bob, that sounds like something that would happen to me. Your season makes me question the validity of the philosophy that says, the more coyotes you shoot, the more they breed. Someone is not reading the playbook. On this side of the state I shot 11 so far, and all off a bait pile! It's been my best year ever (of which there has only been 3 tho) ....and there's still 10 days left. Better days are coming.
 
Don_P said:
Bob, that sounds like something that would happen to me. Your season makes me question the validity of the philosophy that says, the more coyotes you shoot, the more they breed. Someone is not reading the playbook. On this side of the state I shot 11 so far, and all off a bait pile! It's been my best year ever (of which there has only been 3 tho) ....and there's still 10 days left. Better days are coming.
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Don, this area gets a lot of pressure for sure. One of the guys I mentioned is a local that really does more educating than killing, so calling is tough in general. I can’t buy into that philosophy 100% either, but there is some basic validity to it. Habitat carrying capacity is the main driver in my opinion. But some factors come into play. If you have X amount of breeding pairs per X amount of Habitat, and they breed mid February and you kill the bred females in mid to late March, there isn’t going to be as many pups on the ground. Coyotes don’t just go find another female to breed again after the breeding phase ends. I’ve always found if I take numbers off of a property one year, it may take a couple years before the property recoups. Then other properties seem to fill right back up the next season. Has to do with the habitat IMO. I do feel like they can produce larger litters of pups if the coyote numbers are down and the habitat is great.
 
soup said:
Bob,
I would not be all warm and fuzzy with someone else hunting at the same time, during darkness.
That tragedy in Virginia is ingrained in my mind!
Soup
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Adjoining property, Soup. It’s not uncommon to hear shots at night here as night hunting is the most common way to hunt coyotes. The property I hunt is exclusively hunted by me. I only have a couple where others have permission, and we are in contact when we hunt it to avoid running over each other.
 
Ya...it's the final countdown..up there.
last week I passed on one trying to get to where I wanted to stand. I saw it over 400 yards away and I had to navigate the wind direction as to not spook it and was successfull... but he just wandered to the other side of the field and I lost him on the corn.
I got all my gear in truck and they opened up on the other side of road(where I set 2 hours prior).
With the bare ground and snow frozen it was tough walking. But managed to get back across road and kill a solo female.
Last night it was foggy. they opened up(maybe 3/4 of a mile away)on first call. I waited 45 minutes. Walked down the road to get as close as I could and they answered within 100 yards and was deafening. I saw them in the tree row running around.
Then the whole area started singing. I heard at least 4 other solos and 1 group. I spent a lot of time just listening to all of them. I just wasn't in a location to make another move in a timely manner since it was after 3 and I still had to walk back to truck and drive home and get my 3 hours of sleep before getting woke up.
 
hunt0168 said:
Don, this area gets a lot of pressure for sure. One of the guys I mentioned is a local that really does more educating than killing, so calling is tough in general. I can’t buy into that philosophy 100% either, but there is some basic validity to it. Habitat carrying capacity is the main driver in my opinion. But some factors come into play. If you have X amount of breeding pairs per X amount of Habitat, and they breed mid February and you kill the bred females in mid to late March, there isn’t going to be as many pups on the ground. Coyotes don’t just go find another female to breed again after the breeding phase ends. I’ve always found if I take numbers off of a property one year, it may take a couple years before the property recoups. Then other properties seem to fill right back up the next season. Has to do with the habitat IMO. I do feel like they can produce larger litters of pups if the coyote numbers are down and the habitat is great.
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One thing I started doing when breeding season starts is always shoot the coyote bringing up the rear. It usually turns out to be the male.
 
soup said:
Bob,
I would not be all warm and fuzzy with someone else hunting at the same time, during darkness.
That tragedy in Virginia is ingrained in my mind!
Soup
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I know the feeling Bill, but if I allowed that to happen, I would not get to hunt much around here. Mike
 
The worst part about hunting in an area that other “hunters” go into is nothing but a mess, early October I hunted some ground that I know another guy goes through and educates them so nobody can get them to come to the call. I steer clear of that ground that was once a paradise for calling coyotes.

It’s pretty sad when you start a stand with Prey Distress in late October, you see 4 Coyotes pop up 500yards out and they slowly leave 1 by 1, never to be seen again!

I know the guy, he talks a mean game!

Probably still looking for his 1st kill.
 
Dead Down Wind said:
The worst part about hunting in an area that other “hunters” go into is nothing but a mess, early October I hunted some ground that I know another guy goes through and educates them so nobody can get them to come to the call. I steer clear of that ground that was once a paradise for calling coyotes.

It’s pretty sad when you start a stand with Prey Distress in late October, you see 4 Coyotes pop up 500yards out and they slowly leave 1 by 1, never to be seen again!

I know the guy, he talks a mean game!

Probably still looking for his 1st kill.
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I hear ya, trust me! However, in these parts, access to properties is pretty tough and you take what you can get. I generally kill one or two per season at this spot but this year has really been something completely different. I did kill one on an adjacent property just a couple weeks back that took some real patience and luck to pull off.

I also know who the coyote educator in the area is. He lives local and hasn’t a clue. I don’t know that he’s ever killed a coyote by calling them in. He’s killed a couple by just being where one showed up while deer hunting or spotted out behind the barn. Purely opportunistic kills. But he does have a FoxPro caller and told me he ALWAYS gets responses. I do not doubt him!
 
Get used to it guys...when the first videos off thermals hit social media every deer hunter wanted in..what kept them out was price. Now that Chinese have found loopholes into US market aka Rix/Nocpix/IRAY USA/ AGM )and undercut the innovators of this tech out of the market, the result is an abundance of cheap crap every deer hunter can afford..
Now we have an explosion of newbies burning ears. The more deer hunters in an area proportionally reflects the more that area's coyotes are getting educated with clueless guys playing doing what they glean off FB posts every weekend..
The days of finding and keeping virgin ground has sailed...Every day a landowner calls/texts me that someone new has knocked on their door...
The writing is on the wall for coyote hunting here in the Midwest just like it has gone to deer hunting here.
 
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