What's your "dead zone" distance?

My territory consists of 100 acre properties with mix of bush and open land, if I can get a coyote to show itself inside of 300 yrds I have a good chance. Most often they just "show up" usually within 100-200 yards un-announced but last year, being the first season using an electronic caller I had one morning where a pack of 5 answered my challenge howls. I tried a mix of different calls there after to get them to commit but they wouldn't. They did howl again and this time a bit closer so I gave them pup in distress and that brought them running! I was only able to get one of the five as they turned back into the bush and out of sight in an instant but the experience was intense. The last 25 years prior I only ever used hand calls and was never confident in my Ed Sceery howler I had.

I will be starting again next week and am looking forward to seeing what this year brings as I've heard from all my deer hunting friends that this year has been crazy with coyote populations. I hunt south western Ontario Canada.
 
I will be completely honest, ive never gotten a coyote to come in (that i know of) after responding to locators. Around here that just puts them on alert.

Breeding vocals, sure. But they rarely ever sound off until in view
 
BBK said:
I will be completely honest, ive never gotten a coyote to come in (that i know of) after responding to locators. Around here that just puts them on alert.

Breeding vocals, sure. But they rarely ever sound off until in view
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I'm not sure what sounds you are referring to as "Locators". If you're talking the sirens and whatnot, I have never used them. Maybe you're talking coyote vocals as locators like Torry Cook uses? Also, I have never made calls from the side of the road to locate.

Either way, I'll be completely honest as well... I have never used either as a "Locator" to locate coyotes. With vocals, I feel like that is just increasing your odds of having them start your way before you ever get setup. That increases the chances of getting busted in my way of thinking. Right or wrong, it's just my thoughts.

Many coyotes have vocally responded to coyote vocalizations from my SETUP positions. Very occasionally will a coyote vocalize to prey distress sounds. I cannot recall ever getting a coyote to commit after getting a vocal response to prey distress. Many coyotes have committed after getting a vocal response to coyote vocalization sounds and have died.
 
hunt0168 said:
I'm not sure what sounds you are referring to as "Locators". If you're talking the sirens and whatnot, I have never used them. Maybe you're talking coyote vocals as locators like Torry Cook uses? Also, I have never made calls from the side of the road to locate.

Either way, I'll be completely honest as well... I have never used either as a "Locator" to locate coyotes. With vocals, I feel like that is just increasing your odds of having them start your way before you ever get setup. That increases the chances of getting busted in my way of thinking. Right or wrong, it's just my thoughts.

Many coyotes have vocally responded to coyote vocalizations from my SETUP positions. Very occasionally will a coyote vocalize to prey distress sounds. I cannot recall ever getting a coyote to commit after getting a vocal response to prey distress. Many coyotes have committed after getting a vocal response to coyote vocalization sounds and have died.
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Howls when starting a stand
 
Dead zone...30yrds
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BBK said:
Howls when starting a stand
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Gotcha. I wouldn't consider howls on stand as locators. Those would just be part of my calling sequence.

I'm not sure where you're from, BBK, but I think it is interesting how coyotes from around the country react differently to the things we do to attract them. It makes sense when you think of the differences in the pressure they receive, the prey available to them, the terrain they live in, and the biggest one in my opinion, the amount of competition they have from other coyotes on the landscape. It seems like areas with high coyote densities would be far more likely to consistently respond to prey distress just to get there before a half dozen other coyotes. I feel like vocalizations probably get more responses in lower density areas because coyotes are probably a bit more territorial and less tolerant of intruding coyotes. Just a theory I have, as I happen to live in a place not exactly known for high coyote densities, and they aren't shy about firing off when they hear another coyote. I mean a good amount of them show up without making a peep, but it's far from uncommon that they keep their mouths shut. Sounds like some places it outright rare to have a vocal response. Rarer yet to have a vocal response that ends with a dead coyote.

Good conversation, even if it isn't exactly what the OP was asking about.
 
I am just across the border (to the north) from hunt0168, and agree with everything he said.
If you sit down and expect to call in coyotes at the 15 to 20 minute mark and then move on you're probably going home empty handed. But it does happen.
Normally I'm in one place for 60 to 90 minutes....sometimes longer.
I never shoot the numbers that guys in the Midwest or out West do...good year for me would be 16 to 20, with lots of sets and go, go, go.
 
gtoad said:
I am just across the border (to the north) from hunt0168, and agree with everything he said.
If you sit down and expect to call in coyotes at the 15 to 20 minute mark and then move on you're probably going home empty handed. But it does happen.
Normally I'm in one place for 60 to 90 minutes....sometimes longer.
I never shoot the numbers that guys in the Midwest or out West do...good year for me would be 16 to 20, with lots of sets and go, go, go.
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We have way more coyotes show up in less than 10 minutes of calling than we have show up after 10 minutes of calling. If nothing has come in after 20 minutes of calling I give up and go to the next stand.

If it is late in the day I will make shorter stands to make more stands with the amount of daylight that I have left.

Most of the coyotes we call in are hard charging coyotes that are running pretty fast. These fast running coyotes can very easily run 2 miles in 10 minutes.
 
dave3006 said:
Derbyacresbob, how many stands do you do in a day?

Do you night hunt too? Is thermal legal in Hellifornia?
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Now that I am older I probable only do 10 to 14 stands in a full day. Many years ago I probable did close to 20 stands that were 14 minutes long. When I was using a cassette caller I had about 10 seconds erased from my tapes at 14 minutes so I knew how long I had been calling.

Thermal is not legal in California and I can't even hunt at night because I live in the Kit Fox Zone where night hunting is not legal.
 
derbyacresbob said:
We have way more coyotes show up in less than 10 minutes of calling than we have show up after 10 minutes of calling. If nothing has come in after 20 minutes of calling I give up and go to the next stand.
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Most of my hunts are on public lands, and most of my coyotes come in after my 2nd calling sequence.

I use handcalls 95%+ of the time, and make about 15-20 seconds of sound, then I'm quiet for 3-5 minutes, and then repeat.

Most of my coyotes appear around the 3rd sequence, so over the 10 minute mark.
 
About 99% of my coyote stands start with a howl. If they answer, it gives me a direction to expect their approach from. If they don’t sound like they’re within a few hundred yards, I’ll pull out my phone and look at imagery to get a better idea of where they might be. From there, it’s mostly a gut call—whether to start calling and see if they commit, or sit tight for a minute and then pack up and move closer.

Some nights, when they’re really active, they’ll travel a long way. Other times, you have to get almost on top of them just to get a response. There’s never a clear line to follow, and it’s rarely drawn the same way twice.
 
For me here in a lot areas I hunt in Utah Coyotes howling is extremely important to me. First It tells me there is a coyote in the area right now and about how far away he or they are. I very rarely use prey distress in Utah, 90% of the sounds I use are Coyote vocals whether that is howls or pup distress. Second It also helps me know whether I should continue to try and work on bringing the coyote in or try and move closer to the coyotes, and try again. Seems to work well for me.

When I’m calling in Nevada it is totally different. Sometimes they will come to Coyote vocals but most of the time just simple rabbit distress will bring them running and Coyotes howling makes absolutely no difference either way. Actually most times they don’t howl….And they usually come from a very long ways away…

Just my observations

Good Hunting Chad
 
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