National Forest terrain - anyone have success hunting coyotes?

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BJJ223

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I just moved to Boise, Idaho. I used to hunt the California deserts. Now, I am trying to get my bearings on where to hunt.

I am surrounded by National Forest. The areas are steep with plenty of pine trees. There are some relatively open spots. But, for the most part it is pretty thick. Here is a picture of what the terrain looks like

National Forest

Has anyone had success hunting coyotes in similar terrain?
 
I haven't ton a ton of calling in the timber but I've done some. Watching those thermals is spot on. The coyotes play them like masters. They change as the day warms up. I have mostly used mouth calls in the timber too. Setting an e-call even ten feet from you could have a coyote sneak in on it that you never see.

- DAA
 
Coyote density is low through most of the NFS lands. Cameras and baiting will find the areas they are using.

There are literally areas where I call, they are as thick as fleas and 2 miles away, none.
 
Having hunted them in the forests of western WA, setting up in drainages I place callers across the drainage/small valley and set up with enough elevation to look into the cover. Hunting clear cuts I do better in the forested areas between clear cuts instead of trying to call them out into the clear cut.

Just a small sampling while XC skiing, if the snow is too deep for them to hunt in they rarely visit it and dont seem to use the areas during the summer. This is just a personal observation and might be skewed by not bothering to venture in that type of terrain too much.

I spent a summer logging in the 1980's just above the North Platt river in WY and coyotes would run right up the little drainage/valley we camped in and coyotes would run right up past our camp. When they started howling my little lab would hide under the cot. She did that while trapping in northern MN when the wolves would start howling close to our camp.

Just get out and start hunting and learn your country. Try and think like a coyote on where there is food and how they will approach the caller. When snow hits that country there is a lot of good coyote country to the E/SE of Boise. I used to haul from Seattle to Twin Falls and saw a number of coyotes along the interstate You might look into the farm country between Boise and the OR border.

Onx mapping will be a great aid as are maps from your local BLM office.
 
Thanks. I plan to get out there. I will be not using handcalls for a while. There are bears, mountain lions, and wolves in the area I want to hunt. I want the attention AWAY from me.
 
I have called the forests here with some luck. Worst part is that lots of people use the area for other things at the same time. I have seen them stick to the trees as well as come into the openings. I ran trail cameras for about 6 years and there are a lot of coyotes in the area I run them.
 
Not the National Forests you are speaking of but I hunt tons of multi use state land in western oregon. Trucks,quads, horses etc use it. I think the food density is probably higher here than in your area so coyotes may stick closer to their areas but I learned quickly from walking and driving the roads is that the coyotes use any man made road/trail heavily. If I see high numbers of piles in the road/trail then I’ll set up. Killed plenty of coyotes on heavily used human trails whether it’s a mainline or a horse trail. Find the piles and setup on the edges of the roads.
 
I had very little luck during the day hunting areas with high ATV traffic. Especially weekends. Once night fell and the sound of engines faded the coyotes came out and were very vocal. Sunday nights in the hills is always more productive. Pesky humans all go home to get ready for work and they get a reprieve.
 
Originally Posted By: BJJ223Thanks. I plan to get out there. I will be not using handcalls for a while. There are bears, mountain lions, and wolves in the area I want to hunt. I want the attention AWAY from me.

Buy tags for all 3. Theyre not gonna get you. I hand call in bear lion wolf country all the time. Havent been eaten yet. Couple less bears and lions around though.
 
Several have mentioned it already, but food is very important. There is not much food available to a coyote when the snow is 4ft deep in the forest.

Generally, if I want a high body count, I hunt the low elevation areas, like farming or pasture country.

However, on these huge, many hundreds of acres, wheat farms, the coyote density is pretty low. Not much food and not much cover.

In areas with good cover, you generally will always have good populations of coyotes.

At one time, I had a private duck hunting club of 710 acres, that let me coyote hunt. I've been skunked on it, but a usual day was 2-3 coyotes, and going back every 2 weeks, I'd get 2-3 coyotes, from Mid-October to Mid-April.

That place was so rich in food and cover, there was never a vacancy, and during the spring and summer, it had 3 mated pairs of coyotes on it.

I was really sad when he sold it.

For me, the high elevation, National Forest lands, offer fewer coyotes but better pelts and a better chance at fox and bobcats.
 
Man you don't know what excitement is until you unexpectedly call in a 400 pound black bear while coyote hunting.
Your sitting there sounding like lunch with your little H&R single shot 223 that sometimes needs the empty brass pushed out with a cleaning rod. Yes I traded that one off after that.
Coyotes are not thick in the mountians of Colorado. It is huntable public land though.
 
Welcome to PM, Rockchucker. Got a chuckle out of that one!
lol.gif

Hunted elk near Taylor Lake in 2000 and again in 2001. Beautiful country!

Regards,
hm
 
I was calling some forest service land one night when I called in a cat. It was one of those guys with a long tail. He was coming out of a dried creek bed and only saw his head while he stared at me.
When he left I saw the tail. Having an AR-15 didn't make me feel much safer. I just happened to look behind me in the direction of my vehicle when I spotted him.

In that same spot I had a bobcat come out of nowhere and attack my e-caller. Definitely wouldn't want a cougar to do the same as I had zero time to react!

Call me a chicken but I only use e-callers where bears and cougars roam. A little more distance between me and the caller also..
 
After a few episodes with bears coming to my calls, I now set up to call in meadows or large open areas.

I like to see what's coming from a distance.

On a side note, in certain areas of Colorado, we can now use E-callers for lions! It's about time.
 
I realize this is a very obvious point, but I have done coyote calling alone in woods that also have bear and mountain lion. Since I am by myself, I will always look for a tree or large rock that I can sit against that will help to protect my blind side. In my mind this reduces the threat of a predator sneaking up behind me. Also having something behind me helps to break up my outline so that I am not silhouetted and blend in better.

My wife of 40 years still worries about me when I am out calling. I wish I would have never told her that bear will respond to a predator call.

A couple of other things: Here in Oregon there was a spring turkey hunter that accidentally called in a Black Bear that got very aggressive. There was also an archery hunter that called in a Bear with a cow call during elk season. They don't just come to a cottontail distress lol.
 
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