Thick cover - would this work?

D

dave3006

Active member
I moved to Idaho from CA two years ago. I am having a lot of difficulty making the transition hunting coyotes.

In CA, I hunted the high desert. There was plenty of Creosote bushes. But, they weren't too thick. Plus, there were always hills to get visibility. I could see coyotes coming in from a few hundred yards away.

In Idaho, it is much thicker in areas that hold good numbers of coyotes. The bushes are much thicker. They are often waist high and so thick you have to wind your way though them. It is mostly flat. The few hills that are there are different. They are more gradual and give less elevation. I don't think I am even seeing the coyotes that come in. When I do see them, it is for a second or so and they disappear.

Would this work ...

1. Find whatever meager elevation point I can.
2. Set the call 50-75 yard upwind.
3. Stand up with a tripod using a ghillie suit or ghillie poncho.

My thought is I have to get elevation because I can't see squat sitting or even on a small stool. If I put myself far enough away, use camo and stay still, maybe I won't be noticed.

Any comments?

P.S. These thick areas hold coyotes. Some of the areas that have more visibility don't. So, I am trying to find a way to make this area work.
 
I try to find holes in the brush some can be quite small, 10 to 20 yards across. Then set up on the edge of the hole with the caller on the up wind side and me in a cross wind position down wind of the caller. I'm usually packing a combo gun.

Low brushy flats, low sage or greasewood I'll stand and with my back to a taller bush. I just bought a tripod for those I'm getting too old to balance a rifle and play with a remote for a long time.
 
I don't see why it wouldn't be worth a shot. I don't know about standing, even with a ghillie. 'Yotes are very keen to pick up movement. The country I hunt ranges from open prairie where I have to find a lone soap weed to hunker in on to deep canyons to thick sage or cedar. When I'm in thick cover like the sage or cedar, a lot of times I don't see the coyote until they are dang near on top of me. I like using an e-call in this scenario because the coyotes are not honed in on my location but rather the location of the call. Open country with visibility, I prefer to hand call. Back to the thick cover though, I like to find openings or small breaks in cover to set the call in, even if only a few yards and position myself to see across the opening. A scattergun will lends itself to this setup very well rather than a rifle although I usually have both on most every stand. The rifle rests at the ready on shooting sticks and the shotgun is in my hands. If it's a rifle shot, I can very easily lay the shotgun in my lap and pick up the rifle and if they come in close, unexpected, I have the shotgun for a quick shot. My e-call also has a decoy that I like to run when in cover. Seems like once they lock on to that sound and see movement, they kind of commit to coming right out into the opening so I can get the shot, even if they are moving. Again, the shotgun lends itself to this type of shot. Out in the open, I don't like to use the decoy because in that setup, I'd rather they stop to scan for movement giving me the shot I need for the rifle. As for the ghillie, I don't think it'd hurt. I personally don't hardly ever wear camo of any kind. Occasionally, I'll wear a camo hoodie but I have killed far more coyotes wearing nothing more than wrangler britches and a Carhart coat. Movement is what will get you so if you can break up your outline and keep movement to a minimum, you'll be successful.
 
Many years ago there was a coyote hunter in California that killed lots of coyotes while he was standing and using a shotgun.

In that thick of cover I would set my e-caller at 10 to 15 yards away on the upwind side and stand up next to a big bush and use a shotgun. Use camo and make sure your face and hands are covered.

If you use a decoy in more open country, quite often coyotes will stop when they see the movement of the decoy. When I hide my e-caller in grass, brush or rocks I have had more coyotes run right up to my e-caller than I have had run right up to my e-caller and decoy.

Coyotes will run right up to your moving decoy at times but they will also stop to look at the decoy as soon as they see the decoy or your e-caller sitting in the open where they can clearly see it.
 
Southwest Idaho is an interesting area to hunt coyotes. Either you are dealing with wide open sagebrush and grass flats or you are trudging straight up and down mountains. In the sagebrush areas I always look for some sort of elevation, even if it's a tiny knob, but with that said, it's not always possible to get good elevation. So, I end up setting up in the sage looking for the open pockets and/or shooting lanes that are naturally there. Doing this, I've called in coyotes in as close as 3 yards to me. 3 to 15 yards is really common in the sage. Most of the time when in the sage you won't see them coming or you might just see a flash of movement. The action can be fast.
I was out for the last day of deer season last October and it was a rainy morning and about 38 degrees at sunup. I glassed for an hour or so, but got soaked through. So I took a break and tried to dry out. By 10 a.m. the rain had cleared out and the temp had risen to about 42, so I got out of the truck and did some more glassing but didn't see anything.
So, at about 1 I made a coyote set and nothing responded. The area was pretty wide open, so I really didn't expect anything to come in. I moved about a mile and set up again, this time in some really thick sagebrush. There was only one good line of sight, so I set the call out about 25 yards and started calling.
After 6 minutes nothing had come in, so I started to switch sounds. While I was looking at the remote a coyote had come in without me ever seeing it. I looked up after what was only a few seconds of looking at the remote. What do I see but a coyote standing between me and the call. Maybe 15 yards away. It was looking towards where the sound was coming from, so I moved my head to the scope, by the time I got him into the sight picture, it had turned it's head toward me and stepped out of sight. Never got a shot and never saw him again. Frustrating, to say the least. This happens a lot in the really thick stuff, but oh well, I'll keep at it.
I've also transitioned from a rifle to a shotgun with some #4 buck loads that I re-loaded. This one came into about 12 yards and was only about 9 feet from the call and decoy:
Dog Down.jpg
 
dave3006 said:
I moved to Idaho from CA two years ago. I am having a lot of difficulty making the transition hunting coyotes.

Any comments?

P.S. These thick areas hold coyotes. Some of the areas that have more visibility don't. So, I am trying to find a way to make this area work.
Click to expand...
Are you limiting your coyote hunting to daylight hours only ?

SJC
 
No. I purchased a AGM Clarion 640 recently. I have been out with it 3 times. No luck yet. I have had the hills go crazy with howling. But, nothing has committed. I think my area gets hit pretty hard with hunters.
 
Monocular for spotting ?
When dealing with pressured coyote I usually hunt them in the very early Am hours when the fair weather hunters are usually asleep and circle around them and call from a different direction.
SJC
 
Haven't heard too much on the subject for a while, but you might want to search for hunting off stepladder.

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dave3006 said:
No. I purchased a AGM Clarion 640 recently. I have been out with it 3 times. No luck yet. I have had the hills go crazy with howling. But, nothing has committed. I think my area gets hit pretty hard with hunters.
Click to expand...

How do you like the Clarion?

I was hoping that more thermals would come out with dual lenses.
 
I bought the Clarion 640 and the AGM Reach IR 35-640. Both of them are amazing. I could not be happier with my purchase. They literally do everything I want them to.

I have owned 8 different FLIR products. I have always been a lot or a little disappointed with ALL of them. These two AGM products are the first thermal devices I have been truly happy with.
 
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