Night hunting for coyotes vs jackals

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Ernest49

Member
I would like to ask professional American night hunters: "What difference is there in the technique of night hunting for coyotes in the USA compared to night hunting of jackals in Croatia?" From the videos you have put on the internet, I have the impression that coyotes are much faster and more nervous, but less suspicious and they sometimes get shot even at short distances. From the night hunting tales of my Croatian gamekeeper (who uses baits to attract them from a fixed stalking) and from the few times I went out with him, I had the impression that jackals are slower, but very suspicious and always quite a lot distant. I do not know to what extent coyotes are harmful to noble hunted game (pheasant, hare, roe deer); but I know how much damage the jackals did in Croatia and Italy ...

http://www.predatormastersforums.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=3232220
 
Ernest, the only person I know who has hunted both coyotes and jackals is 6mm06, but the jackals he hunted were in Africa. I do believe they could be called, but maybe he will see your post and answer. I think it might have been a species called the black-back jackal that he hunted.
 

Ernest, DoubleUp is correct that I hunted jackals in Africa, specifically Namibia and for Black Backed Jackal. My hunting was limited to three nights though we did get upwards to 20 or more. My thoughts are based on that short amount of hunting time and as such may or may not represent a true difference between the two species.

My experience was this: Jackal are called in much the same way as coyotes. At the time we used red lights, and light technique was the same for both species. Jackal respond to both prey and vocal sounds (jackal sounds) just like coyotes here do to prey and coyote vocals. Wind is a factor with both jackals and coyotes, but I feel the coyote is much more concerned with wind. Perhaps I’m wrong, just my thoughts at this point. I think you are right that we call coyotes in closer in general whereas Jackal seem to keep a distance from the sound / caller. Jackals seem to be nervy little creatures, running here and there and not stopping very often for a shot, whereas coyotes trot to the call in a more evenly-paced manner, and will many times stop briefly to assess the situation, and seem to stop better when the hunter barks at them. When a shot is taken, any other coyotes generally take off like a streak of lightening, whereas Jackal don’t seem to spook as easily from the shot. They may run but not as if there is any great alarm.

Jackal have the appearance of our Gray Fox, though they are larger than Grays, yet smaller than coyotes, closer to the size of our Red Fox, and slightly larger in some cases. As such they offer a smaller target than coyotes, plus they seem to move a lot.

Ranchers and farmers in Namibia and elsewhere are glad to get rid of Jackal just as Ranchers here with the coyote. Both are destructive to domestic stock as well as game species.

That’s pretty much my experience with jackal. Hope this helps in answering your question.

Here’s a trailer clip of some of our jackal hunting.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=s_RiPp7miSo




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I tried it both ways and actually had better luck in the daytime than at night. This was 20 years ago and I had very little experience with night hunting at the time and may have used too bright of a white light. The jackals seemed to bugger from the light. They seemed fairly easy for me to call in the daytime using jackrabbit distress.

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I thank the American hunter friends for their kind and precise answers and also for beautiful photos. Today my Croatian gamekeeper sent me photos of the last jackals he shot. He hunts from a stationary position camouflaged above a tree. Puts the baits in two different directions so you can always be downwind. You can see the difference between golden and gray jackals. The largest jackal weighed about 35 pounds.

https://imgur.com/j0oem9K

https://imgur.com/AI3LEhN

https://imgur.com/Vh8dIwf

https://imgur.com/XqWFTnK

Please note: I don't find an easy way to post photos. I kindly ask that someone teach me how to insert them in the post in an easier way.
 
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When you open your pic in IMGUR, 6 links will appear on the right. Click on or copy the bb link (5th one down) and past it in you post here. The pic will appear once you submit your post.
 
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Ernest, not my intention to offend you, but I think you might need to remove this photo. It is a bit too graphic, and doesn't serve the hunting community well.
 
You are absolutely right, you wrote and I immediately did ....
In fact, I kindly ask you if you can advise me if I have to delete some other inappropriate photo. Thank you in advance.
 
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Ernest, those are some large Jackal that weigh and look more like our coyotes. The ones we hunted in Namibia were smaller.
 
6mm006, today, looking at the photos, which I only received for a few hours, I was thinking just like you .... The jackals hunted in Croatia look a lot like your coyotes in size ....
 
Croatia (about 150 miles from my home).
Photo trap of my gamekeeper in the place where he puts the baits. 02/28/20. 10 pm - 12 pm. Temperature 23 - 24 ° F. The first photo is poor, but it looks like a jackal. The second photo, after an hour and a half, is clearer and looks like a fox.

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Ernest, that first picture sure could pass for a coyote. Those golden jackals appear to be much larger than the black backs that 6mm and Week hunted in Africa. Hope you get to go after them again soon.
 
Weekender you are too nice and kind! You make me die of laughing and crying at the same time! I would love to go hunting in Croatia, but unfortunately temporarily for us Veneti, the border is closed due to the coronavirus ....
 

Ernest, I am curious to learn about hunting in Croatia, regulations and how Jackal are hunted there, success rates etc. Are firearms very restricted there? Is there a large population of Jackal? Just wishing to learn more about hunting and firearms use in that part of the world. Thanks.
 
As for the huntable species considered harmful to agricultural products (hogs) or predators of noble game (jackals, foxes, badgers), they can be hunted all year round with the exception of females who may be pregnant (but nobody will ever check you for this).

In the past 2 or 3 years, the jackals have increased significantly in number and have also arrived in Italy. Unfortunately, as you have seen, they are almost as big as your coyotes and do serious damage, especially killing young roe deer. In Croatia we hunt them at night on the plains in the midst of dense and almost impenetrable forests. They are very suspicious, you have to attract them with rotten meat baits and with the call of the hare. It is a difficult hunt, at night, in the cold, hidden in a fixed stakeout 6 to 9 yards high, without being able to say a word, being careful of the wind direction, but when I go accompanied by my gamekeeper, who is a true professional, I often hear them barking and howling and I can almost always see at least one or two. As I have written several times, I have the best device in the world to see them (Pulsar Accolade XP50 LRF), but then the real problem arises: it is not easy at all to shoot with the green torch, because they are very difficult shots often at long distances. We were able to see them even while driving with the car running, I observe with thermal binoculars with the window down, I don't tell you how cold I take ... But it would take a valid thermal rifle scope to shoot .... I see it, but then I can't pull. You have to be very quick to shoot ...

As for rifles with rifled barrel, you can use any bolt action or semi-automatic rifle but with these limitations:
You can use any caliber from 5.6 mm up (but the 22 l.r. caliber is forbidden) with minimum bullets of 50 grains and at 110 yards it must have a minimum energy of 738 ft / lb.
If you hunt chamois or mouflon, with a minimum bullets of 75 grains and at 110 yards it must have a minimum energy of 1476 ft / lb.
If you hunt the deer, with a minimum bullets of 127 grains and at 110 yards it must have a minimum energy of 1844 ft / lb.
If you hunt the bear, with a minimum bullets of 178 grains and at 110 yards it must have a minimum energy of 2582 ft / lb.
 
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Thank you, Ernest for a very good and detailed report. It's always interesting to hear how others hunt around the world. Sounds like hunting Jackal there is very difficult.
 
Maybe now you understand better why I have that dream in my drawer ..... I would like to go hunting in Croatia with Kirsch. We have the same mathematical mentality. We both like the extreme precision that often touches fussiness. He has the ability to suffer in the cold for many hours at night, has an infinite passion, is a true professional almost obsessed (like me, but I'm only an amateur ...) for night hunting. It has an enviable equipment of the highest level for: observing, listening, recording, filming, detecting, recalling and shooting. But the thing I like most is that he always shares his hunting experiences in this forum with those beautiful videos.
 
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