Thanks Tony, that makes more sense.
But I still don't get how the same dog just decides to flat out kill a coyote every now & then, as you've described in several of your past posts. But that's getting off topic thread, so I digress...
Duane, yes, I'm figuring stuff out, as I'm sure everyone else reading along is. My MAIN objective for asking these questions is to generate dialogue, so I don't merely consider this "Fred's decoy dog learnin 101". I'm sure you're savvy enough to realize that I'm playing 'dumb' to keep within the spirit of playng devil's advocate...
Originally Posted By: Jesse lackey
Knockemdown, Im just curiouse here. You said that every coyote you have called in over the past year has boogered at the sight of your dog right? So are you leaving your dog at home when you go call now?
Hi Jesse.
Yes, every coyote since the end of September has flat out run away from my dog approaching and/or barking.
Yes, I have indeed left him home for a few stands in the woods.
Now, I'm leaving the dog AND myself at home now since NY's coyote season ended on 3/25
Although PA remains open, I don't have near as many spots to hunt there. And I don't have the inclination to kill adult coyotes with pups in a hole somewhere, so staying home is fine by me.
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If not why? If he is not decoying every coyote, and increasing your kill rates, then why are you still waisting your time bringing him to the field?
Well, I'm not, as stated above
But I was trying to give the pup an honest chance to show me something during our season. As a reminder, my dog still isn't 2yrs old yet, and he actually did very well on the few coyotes that felt bold enough to approach, so naturally I wanted to see that develop.
The main 'test' is that I wanted to see for myself if our very spooky & nocturnal coyotes would be any more bold during the daytime with the presence of a dog on stand.
The answer I've been learning, is NO.
Ask anyone who tries to call coyotes here NY in the day how difficult it is and you'll very quickly begin to realize that I'm dealing with my own set of circumstances. That said, finding out how a dog might/might not work here was intruiging, so I wanted to give it a shot.
I would like to point out that I did NOT buy a "decoy dog" pup. Rather, I did alot of research on breeds and chose a pup that ideally would be an all around hunting/companion dog for me. Luckily, he's proven to be that, and then some!!! So the fact that our coyotes don't want to play with him on stand only stinks very little.
I could always travel to hunt with any of my friends around the country & prolly show him more coyotes in a week's time than he sees here all year.
But for now, I'm quite happy seeing him do this, 365days a year, without fail...
SO I honestly didn't have any illusions of grandeur about running a 'decoy dog' here in NY. It was just a fun project I've been trying out. And, for the record, I don't think anyone else's 'decoy dog' would have enjoyed much better success. After all, how can a dog get to 'decoying' a coyote that is ultra spooky to begin with AND conditioned to take off for the next county at the first sight of dog???
If anyone could 'splain otherwise, I'm all ears!!!
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Since your coyotes are boogering at the sight of your dog, and it is clear that size is the determining factor of how good of a decoy dog you have, then are you looking for a new, smaller, less intimidating dog?
I don't think size is THE determining factor in how good a decoy dog can be. If size where the factor, as you stated above, then wouldn't everyone on the board be running 15 lb. decoy dogs?
To answer in more detail, I honestly felt I could get away with a fair sized (40-50 lb.)dog here in NY. Remember, my coyotes are dang near twice the size of a desert coyote, and my cur actually appears 'smaller' than the scale would prove. An adult coyote looks friggin' HUGE next to him!
And to take it one step further, NY and PA have more & more guys running coyotes than ever before. You're a member of Matt's board & can see that for yourself. In this past year alone, there have been several different groups of hound hunters running trailhounds in my 'honey hole' areas where I call. Yes, they have permission and no I don't want to stop them, that's just how it is.
It doesn't take a rocket surgeon to figure out how just one negative interaction with a pack of hounds will learn a coyote up QUICK as to how it reacts to seeing a dog in the woods. Despite KNOWING that, I still wanted to give my dog a shot, so I've brought him along to find out the hard way.
So call me an idiot for trying...
I'm [beeep] sure not getting a JRT to feed to our coyotes just to find out though! Even an African JRT!!!
And I don't think that a 20-35 lb. dog would magically be the answer to getting these coyotes to commit. Could be, but I doubt it...
Quote:No, i dont have any decoy dogs, and never have, but i feel as though im qualified to ask those questions, lol.
No you don't.
So go back & sit in the corner with kirby,
(just kiddin'
)
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.S. Sure is a heck of a conversation, lots of good stuff on here, kudos to you for starting it!
thanks, that was the whole idea!!!