Which way to put the wind?

T

thaddeus

New member
I have heard a few different theories on this, after watching lots of videos and reading (I don't know any people that know how to hunt coyotes, otherwise I prefer first hand teaching).

One theory, on the John-Henry videos IIRC, seems to be that coyotes will not come in except from downwind, so you just have to accept that fact, face downwind and hope they don't catch your scent.
The other theory is that coyotes have great noses and they will never come in if they smell you, so face upwind and try to get them to come in from upwind even though they don't like to.
Then I guess there is sidewind...?

I think I have a pretty good feel on how to set up a stand, but I always get a little confused when I decide which way to handle the wind.

Thanks!
thaddeus
 
I try to set up with a cross wind! And keep the open area on the down wind side, so I can shoot that way if they try to get my wind. Or to were they haft to cross the open area to get my wind and that gives me a shot. If they come strait in then im good there to. But, sometimes things dont work out that way and you cant get the set up you want in a cross wind all the time, then I set up how ever I can, to give me the best chance at a shot. But by far a cross wind is the best for me!

Brent
 
Thaddeus
Take the CoyoteDocs advice and experience to heart. First choice is into the wind. Second choice is crosswind. Calling with the wind is NOT a choice.
Coyotes will TRY to get downwind of you, but in open terrain you should see them in time to shoot in one of the first two choices. In thick cover, you almost have to be facing into the wind to have any hope. The reason they try to go downwind is because they always trust their nose. That should tell you how much success you'll have calling with a wind at your back. Not that you can't get one...occasionally, but i wouldn't want to make a living at it.
 
The reason so many theories exist is because coyotes will do anything.

I set up like Kee mentioned. I like the cross wind with a nice big opening down wind. I try to set up so if they go for the wind, I'll see them before they get there. Where they come from, and wether or not they've been called before can determine what they'll do, but not knowing that, it's best to be able to see down wind. A safe assumption is they'll go there.

There have been days though when they come from straight up wind every time. Other times they'll find my blind spot over and over regardless of the wind.

That's what makes this so much fun. Ya never know what to expect! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif I've found however, the mentioned set ups give the best odds. Try to use the geogrophy to manipulate how you want them to come in.

Brad
 
Dang, I think We have gone through this before. You look up wind and I'll look down wind and I'll kill more coyotes then you. How do I know this.......alot of Experience. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif
 
Well now thaddeus, it doesn't get any more clear than that now does it. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif

Actually I use all three mentioned, you kinda have to if you hunt in different terrains.

If I have a natural barrier that I can get in front of (cliff, river, highway, etc.) I call into the wind.

If I have an open area with cover all around me, I make sure the wind is blowing to the open area.

If it's completely open, I'll go for the downwind and hope I can shoot farther then he can smell.

But then again, I'm certainly no expert.

Get another set of eyes to go with ya, or get an e-caller and position it crosswind about 30-40 yards away so the coyote is trying to wind it instead of you.
 
Good advise by all. Crosswind is my perferred method. I usually hunt alone and know I lost more than my share of yotes that came in downwind, that I did not see.

That's why I generally use an ecaller and put it out front of me, and I sit downwind when I hunt alone.

When I have a partner, I use hand calls and he watches the backdoor. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

Brad says it best you just don't know what they're going to do sometimes.
 
THADDEUS: a bit confusing, isn't it? you can fool a coyote's ears with calls, even sounds that are not normal for the area. you can sometimes fool a coyote's eyes with a decoy, piece of fur, or whatever (but don't let him see you move). however, it seem virtually impossible to fool a coyote's nose.

i've shot coyotes (long shots) that came in from directly downwind while i was calling downwind, but there was a looooong open area with a clear view and a stiff breeze. who can say where that strong wind was moving and mixing up human scent?

coyotes with less experience (juveniles?) can come charging in from any direction. more mature coyotes seem to have a much stronger inclination to get downwind of the calling sound and figure things out before committing. remember, the adult coyotes have had plenty of experience finding food for themselves, so they don't have to always charge in and grab.

if you ever hunt in snow (in arizona???), when you leave your setup, wander around downwind a ways and look for fresh coyote tracks.

as you move around hunting this ground and that, the ever-changing combination of terrain, vegetation, and wind makes coyote hunting intriguing and challenging. applying specific rules all of the time seems impractical to me; bend the rules here and there, but always keep in your mind the thought of that coyote's sense of smell.
 
Sagebrush, you seem to be a very smart fella. Always expect the unexpected when predator hunting that's for sure. For the most part coyotes come in down wind, what percentage I don't know, but way more the 50% of the time. To me it would be wise to pay most of your attention in that direction. I did say unexpected and that happens they can come from any direction. There is no such a thing as an expert in this sport, we are all giving our opinions. These predator hunting forums are alot of fun and people have to remember it's all opinions and no more then that. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif
 
Danny B is right these forums are fun but all we can offer is opinions and I reserve the right to change mine. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif Anyway, I set up knowing where the wind is going and expect the coyote to come from that direction but also am alert to every other direction cause they'll come in from where they want to.

When we hear something we use sight as a backup to direct us to the sound, coyotes are no different but when they can't see the rabbit they try to use their nose to guide them in for several reasons, it may be the dominant coyote's kill and they don't want to get whipped or it may be a hunter. There are too many variables to just hunt in one direction and sooner or later you'll have one come in from downwind straight to you without a care, (maybe they get alergies too). Pay attention to the wind direction and if you think a coyote is in a timber lot don't walk into it from upwind, other than that just hunt. Just an opinion that works for me.
 
All I know of this topic I've gleaned from this board over the years. Lots of good advice as reiterated above.

Don't hunt alone much, but when I do I try to have the downwind direction in the center of my rifle-swinging arc of fire. I keep my head very slowly moving to cover the crosswind (90 degrees each side of downwind) angles so I can at least see nearly 180 degrees of arc from crosswind to crosswind and downwind. I figure a dumb one might come running in from upwind (first one I ever shot came straight crosswind), but that the odds favor one slinking past me trying to get to the downwind side (this happened just last week). The idea is as stated above, shoot the bugger before he gets to where he can wind you.

I have two friends I hunt with (separately). One is a right-hander like me, the other left-handed. The righty guy and I try to sit facing each other, slightly displaced sideways, so we can easily see each other in case one of us has to signal the other (really wide eyes means a 'yote is about to jump on your back!). One gun faces downwind, one upwind, and we can cover pretty near the full circle.

With the lefty, we sit more side-by-side, facing opposite (me to the left, him to the right), getting coverage from crosswind to downwind, with both of us overlapping the downwind direction. With a little pivoting on our rear ends we can get the muzzle facing somewhat upwind. We can cover each other's backs pretty well here, but the downside is we can't communicate by looks at all. Again, the main thing is to try to nail the dogs before they get straight downwind.

One other aspect of this not related to the wind is whether or not, in conditions of mixed cover and open, to have an opening or cover to the straight downwind side. Some folks say that predators prefer to slink around in cover as they approach the sound or scent direction and will be more likely to come in that way as opposed to running into the open to get your wind. An obvious exception is when you're in a wide open area calling into cover like a brushy stream bed trying to get something to come out; then you want of course to stay crosswind to downwind from the cover. In any event it seems you want to try to give them some approach angle that lets you see them and shoot them before they wind you.

It seems to me that this bit of setting up just so on a stand with considerations of wind applied to use of cover/openings is the real art of the sport. Now if I could just learn to do it right...and oh yeah, learn to stop fidgeting on stand too...not to mention hit what I shoot at..then I'll have it licked! ;-)
 
Now if I could just learn to do it right...and oh yeah, learn to stop fidgeting on stand too...not to mention hit what I shoot at..then I'll have it licked!

Amen to that!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
When calling alone , I like to put the wind in my face . The thought of a Lion on my neck just isnt appealing . When calling with a partner usally we'll disscuss possible approaches . If the wind gets unbearable , go to spot & stalk . I will go with Danny B on expect the unexpected . This is why I hunt . Sometimes they come too you other times you gotta go to them .
 
I've always let visability dictate my calling stands more then wind direction. I'd much rather have a good view of the area I'm calling over worrying too much about which way the wind is blowing. Don't get me wrong, I always take note which way the wind is going, and a lot of times coyotes will work their way downwind but I try to shoot em before getting winded. If I'm sitting on a stand that I can see the area around real well and the wind is blowing at the back of my neck, oh well, doesn't mean that the critter is gonna come from directly that direction and hopefully I'll see him before it winds me. As others have noted, expect the unexpected. Plenty of times I've had critters show exactly where I least expected em. Something I should note though, all of my hunting is done out west, most in pretty open country. If I'm calling thicker terrain (for coyotes) or real flat areas that don't give great visability the wind plays a bigger part for me. Also, when hunting at night I pay real attention to wind direction. At least for me, coyotes almost always go downwind at night, more so then during the day. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
what do you suppose the results would be if someone attempted to ALWAYS FACE AND CALL DOWNWIND for a winter season?

the "literature" has always told us to call into the wind or cross-wind. but we all seem to agree that coyotes often (not always) try to get downwind of the sound source.

does anyone out there intentionally try to find setups where they are facing mainly downwind?

also, if the wind is 10 to 15 or more mph, has anyone (with the help of a buddy) tried to determine how far upwind a call can be heard versus how far downwind? i realize that a coyote can hear a lot better than people, but i sure wonder how quickly wind will dampen a sound upwind and how readily a wind will carry sound waves downwind.
 
It's become aparent to me that a coyote can tune his ears in and out at his own discretion.
I've been in the unique position to witness this more than once. I've watched my calls go completely ignored by coyotes who have at least shown the courtesy to acknowledge the direction of the source, only to go on nosing the ground unalert. As insulting and disheartening as that is, it's their rules. I've also had coyotes come to my calls from ridiculous distances, up wind, from behind hills, and everything els I thought, at the time, they had no business hearing. Some come straight in without slowing down, some get close then circle, some stop at 400 yds away and just sit and watch. The level of "want" plays a big role in what they hear, as does wether or not they've been subjected to that sound or not. That's just my opinion, and about as far as I care to speculate. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Brad
 
Great topic.

Here's my thoughts on wind direction:

Minus the factors of strong winds and terrain, your sounds from your calls are traveling outward in a circle pattern, with you in the middle. A coyote can come from any direction. Now, 3/4 of the time they will swing around and come from downwind. Why wouldn't you want to be facing in the direction that gives you the largest chance of seeing your quarry? Why face upwind when chances are higher, that they will want to 'backdoor' you? The only 'backdoor' that is created is the one where you decide not to face. I almost always choose to watch my downwind side. I changed my tactic about 3 years ago and am quite satisfied.

That being said, I do utilize terrain to give me shooting lanes on my cross wind sides.

Just my thoughts.
 
I prefer watching the downwind side. Nearly every coyote that comes in will eventually circle downwind. The trick it to shoot them before they hit your scent cone. When calling with two people, I like to sit crosswind or have the shooter positioned downwind where they can watch approach routes.
 
Terrain probably plays a huge factor in watching downwind. There is almost always 3 of us hunting and 9 times out of 10, none of us can even see down wind. We generally us ATV's and work our way directly into the wind making stands as terrain and wind speed dictate. We park below the next ridge we are going to call from and fan out after we top the ridge so we can cover most of the area. Most of the time we have a pretty good idea where the coyote will come from(previous experience, weather conditions, food sources, available cover ect.). If something does come in downwind they will probably see the ATV's anyway. We just use the terrain to keep them from getting downwind. We hunt areas a lot like the country in Silverfox's picture. The coyote in his picture had little or no chance of getting downwind. We keep working into the wind and drive to the next ridge that we think our sound may have traveled and set up again. Any coyote that could back-door us at this stand should have responded on the previous stand. Even though we can't see downwind very often, we rarely see tracks in the snow where any had come in undetected and winded us. If we come up to one of our favorite stands and the wind isn't quite right and the chance of them winding us is there, we won't call it and wait for the right conditions. In the past we set up and tried cross and downwind with little success. They usually wind you too far out for a shot. That's how we do it and it seems to work very well for us. This has been very interesting reading on how people set up in different parts of the U.S.
 
I always look for stand sites with the best view downwind and assume that most yotes will circle downwind(much like a whitetail)to confirm with it's nose what it's hearing.My main concern is usually my approach.I like to walk to a stand either directly with or into the wind to create the narrowest possible scent cone rather than a crosswind that floods the downwind quadrant with human scent.Every situation is different so there can be no set rules and in the end terrain and obstacles dictate the setup.Alot of my hunts are in "Big woods",clearcuts,bogs etc. where a dog could come from any direction,so trying to guess it's approach is often near impossible,which is why I would rather have my scent cone covering only a few degrees of the compass instead of 90Degrees or more from a crosswind approach.I also use Rabbit cover scent often,the stuff used to train Beagles,spray it on pantlegs and arms prior to walking in and mist the air when calling in hopes of masking or overcoming any human scent.I am positive it has helped at times,and if nothing else it helps with the Oh so Important Confidence Factor that can make or break a stand.
 


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