If you play a sound for 3 minutes and then shot off the sound and no animal heard your sound during those 3 minutes you will no longer be calling during the time the sound is off.
During the 5 minutes of silence whatever you were trying to call may be moving around and may have been able to hear your sound if your sound was playing.
I have had coyotes come charging into my e-caller after calling for 25 minutes without any pauses. I don't think those coyotes heard my sound and ran full blast for 25 minutes to get to my caller. What may have happened was after 22 minutes of calling the coyote moved to the top of a ridge from a canyon on the other side of the ridge or the wind direction changed a little so the coyote first heard the call 22 minutes after I stared playing the sound.
If you played your distress sound for 3 minutes three times with 3 five minute pauses per stand that would be a 24 minute stand.
I am a firm believer that if you make a 24 minute stand with the sound playing for 24 minutes you will have a better chance of a coyote hearing your sound in 24 minutes than if you played your sound for 9 minutes.
When a coyote is running fast towards my e-caller and I am using a rifle I will mute the sound when the coyote is about 150 yards away or less to get the coyote to stop. About half the time I can get the coyote to stop for a good rifle shot by muting the caller.
So if a coyote is headed towards your e-caller and you have not seen it yet and you shut off the sound to take a 5 minute break the coyote may stop and find something else to do since it doesn't hear the distress sound anymore.
