Coyote Hunting

[warriorboy10]

Interested to read how you make out. Good luck!!

[Dusty_]

Originally Posted by warriorboy10

Interested to read how you make out. Good luck!!

Thanks so much! Even if I don't get one, it'll be a learning experience!

[gs100bert]

as we wait with anticipation good info on this post but i wont be able to use it for another month .

[Dusty_]

Oh yes! Tons of valuable information here. I am sure glad I asked for help!

[Dusty_]

Well, sorry haven't updated the thread in a bit but I'm super bummed, my Leupold failed me and needs to be sent to Korth for warranty work. Kind of a crummy deal, I went out to confirm zero and ended up chasing paper all day. Called Leupold and went through some troubleshooting and the nice fellow said it needs to go in to be looked at. Darn! It'll be gone for a bit now given Xmas is right around the corner and their tech is going down south for some training.

Couldn't have happened at a worse time! I guess sometimes it doesnt matter if you pay 600 bones for some optics, they may just fail. Just waiting for a buddy to get home from his shift to borrow his scope.

I will update, hopefully with a nice story and photo!

[Fordevr]

Watch les Johnson on u tube. He has helped me a ton.
-Be aware of the wind as many have told you.
-Walk into field just before legal light.
-Set up with sun to your back and wind to your front if possible. Easier for u to see and harder for them to see you.
-Get a coyote sound weather a e-caller or a mouth call. (Primos reed call was my first call and called one 700 yrds for my house the first time out.)
-A young lone coyote locater call will often times bring them out to see who's on their turf. Howl 2 or 3 times long and loud then wait 5-10 mins.

Sounds like you have the best spot right where you live. I'm currently working on my first shotgun yote. I have also placed the call behind me 20-40 yrds when I am 80% sure I know they are in front of me. Then they will often times come in closer if they "coyote" is further away from them.

A coyote decoy or rabbit decoy is a nice touch also.

You just never know with them. My last stand with my buddy we hunted 3 spots in one field. Far right side then Far left. And finally the center. Just set up and before I could sit my buddy says,"THERE!" And one was standing looking at us 170 yards away. Must have been watching us the whole time or just came out as we were setting up. Cattle fields are my personal favorites.

Wish I could come with you. Enjoy and continue being persistent. It is gonna happen soon... I can tell. . Post pics when you get one and tell us the story. I love it cause each hunt is a different story.

[Yycadm]

Originally Posted by Dusty_

Great advice and I will definitely try shortening my stands. I find I'm a little limited as 328 seems to be crowded with hunters most days. There's so much bush there, some decent cut lines and pipeline clearings but haven't seen tracks around them. There are also some areas I can't access because I no longer have a truck... Times were tough and had to downgrade to a car but it gets me places, hell it's probably been off-road more than some trucks in red deer!

I agree. When I saw your comment about waiting 30 or 40 minutes, I thought to myself I'd be in my third set by then.

I've had about equal success with calling hand or electric, can't say one or the other is better. My best success always comes from really thinking through where I'm going to shoot from. Try to cover all the potential down sides for a given location, minimize the chances of you being seen moving in, around or out of a set. Just because one day there's nothing, doesn't mean the next will be the same. I'll sneak in, set up & wait 5-10 minutes before starting to call. When I run through a couple of call cycles, I'll give it about 15 min. and move on. I've shot a few animals right at the 10 or 15 minte mark, but never one after 15 minutes. If you haven't seen anything by then, you won't.

I like overgrown fence lines, if they have a bit of a ditch at the bottom, even better. You can hollow out a den in the dead grass & back into it for concealment. Camo, and a bag of brown elastic bands are useful too. Put a few on your arms and legs, around your stock, etc. and cut some grass from where you're sitting. Slide it under the elastic as a poor man's ghilly suit to break up your lines a bit.

I had better numbers hunting open prairie in Saskatchewan than in the Alberta bush. Concealment doesn't need to be elaborate to be effective

[Dusty_]

Hey folks!

Thought I would update the thread.

Been talking to my landowner and it seems as though these buggers have left the area for the time being. I went to work and came back and he said he hasn't seen any tracks or them in about a week. He thinks the cold must have pushed them into the bush somewhere. I think he's right because I haven't heard a howl or anything with these -30 temperatures. Monday should be warming up so I will be out then.

I have taken the advice and will definitely shorten up my stands. Specially here on the farm! Thanks all for the support and sharing of knowledge! I am really getting antsy about bagging my first yote!

[tikkahunter73]

I'm getting geared as well, thanks to all the posts and the neighbours overpopulated cat population.... should be a good time

[YoteStopper]

Watch the back door when calling, when I first started hunting coyotes I had a pup come up to within 10 feet behind me and wasn't aware of it until ready to move. These days I tend to do seek & destroy rather than calling them...

[wwbirds]

I believe they are still there dusty but have probably gone to den or are staying out of the wind. A few years ago I followed tracks in extreme cold weather from my bird bait to a large culvert 1/2 mile from the house. Sure enough that culvert entrance and exit looked like a highway and kept them out of the wind. Not long after that I took a 300 yard shot with the 223 from the back deck and while hit he ran. Followed blood trail on snow to a much smaller culvert in same field. Proved to me coyotes use open culverts more often than we sometimes think. Ever call near an open pasture with nothing in sight when out of nowhere a coyote shows up? They can be sleeping in a low spot, culvert or in adjacent cat tails on an insulated muskrat house is my guess.
When the local ag guy teaches his predation course for those at risk of losing livestock he often suggests screening both ends of every culvert on the affected property so they have no place to get out of the wind (or out of sight) during cold spells. I often think they are still in or near the field just laying low out of the wind.

[West O'5]

Interesting re:culverts.....I always assumed coyotes only den up to raise pups in spring and pretty much spend rest of year exposed to elements,albeit maybe curled up in a low spot out of wind and in the sun if possible ...I would think a culvert would be a damn cold place for a nap,even colder then outside of it....hmmm?
Good info regardless.I always like to call fields with at least some cover nearby,brushy fence lines/windrows,rolling fields with ditches and coulees etc...I tend to overlook/bypass baldass prairie locations where I can see there's obviously no dogs for miles....at least that's what I thought,maybe they're actually worth calling for culvert dwellers,ha!
Good luck on the farm Dusty,sounds like a great spot to set up a bait pile,close to home,and you can hunt it without over calling the area.....good chance for a bonus wolf to be had as well around Rocky.
Just to add a tip for baiting,I like to pick a location that I can observe from a long distance with binos,with cover to facilitate a stealthy approach to within shooting range if there happens to be yotes on it when I arrive,ideally taking prevailing winds into account beforehand.
In other words,I like to be able to see it from 500m+ distance,then close distance to 200 or so for the shot or to sit and watch bait for the morning/evening.....esp for morning vigils when I arrive at 1st lite as there's a good chance there may be yotes on it at that time of day.

[Dusty_]

Oh good information on the culverts! I'd love to get a wolf and yes, I have probably 1-1.5 km of clear sight. My binos aren't the best and tend to fog up but they do allow me to see! I've been putting a bit of snow ( clean snow lol, it ain't yellow or brown ) in my mouth to mitigate the breath cloud. I'm feeling pretty confident out to 300 yards but ideally id like the buggers to be within 100-200 yards as my shots tend to go exactly where I want them at that distance.

Tomorrow morning should be -12 ish so I will definitely be out. I'm debating setting up close to the cows but I also fear they may scare one off but at the same time could alert me if one is near by. So much to learn, thanks all for the valuable information, I promise to put it to good use!

[Redfrog]

Originally Posted by West O'5

Interesting re:culverts.....I always assumed coyotes only den up to raise pups in spring and pretty much spend rest of year exposed to elements,albeit maybe curled up in a low spot out of wind and in the sun if possible ...I would think a culvert would be a damn cold place for a nap,even colder then outside of it....hmmm?
Good info regardless.I always like to call fields with at least some cover nearby,brushy fence lines/windrows,rolling fields with ditches and coulees etc...I tend to overlook/bypass baldass prairie locations where I can see there's obviously no dogs for miles....at least that's what I thought,maybe they're actually worth calling for culvert dwellers,ha!
Good luck on the farm Dusty,sounds like a great spot to set up a bait pile,close to home,and you can hunt it without over calling the area.....good chance for a bonus wolf to be had as well around Rocky.
Just to add a tip for baiting,I like to pick a location that I can observe from a long distance with binos,with cover to facilitate a stealthy approach to within shooting range if there happens to be yotes on it when I arrive,ideally taking prevailing winds into account beforehand.
In other words,I like to be able to see it from 500m+ distance,then close distance to 200 or so for the shot or to sit and watch bait for the morning/evening.....esp for morning vigils when I arrive at 1st lite as there's a good chance there may be yotes on it at that time of day.

I don't have the patience to bait, but I do have some experience calling the baldass prairie and I love it.

A lot of people believe the same as you that coyotes only use dens for whelping etc. but I've called several that I saw come from a den in the winter. Usually when it's cold and the wind is up. The culverts are just man made dens. I've called badgers from dens as well.

Calling open prairie emphasizes the need for binos.

I had two clients up for their first Alberta hunt. These guys were well experienced and had hunted all over the U.S., but had not hunted flat wide open prairie.

When I parked beside a pump shack for the first stand, they looked very uncomfortable. You could see for many miles in any direction and there was a couple inches of snow, so visibility was even better. We set up on a fence line about 150 yards from the truck. They thought we were too close to the truck, the pump shack, no place to hide and 'if there were coyotes here we should be able to see them".

We each sat with our backs on a fence post and I howled a couple times. While I was glassing, I asked how far they were comfortable shooting. turned out they were both snipers who never missed at any range

I spotted 3 coyotes coming on a suicide lope like coyotes are wont to do from time to time They were so far away they could not be seen with the naked eye.[ a couple miles]. They never stopped running. When they were about 250 I started to bark to get them to stop. The shooters emptied their rifles and did not touch one hair.

Amazing first Stand in Alberta. Coyotes from the next time zone running non stop in response to two howls. Two deadly snipers who both missed 4 shots each at running coyotes inside 200 yards. and a guide asking do you guys need a hug or anything??????

I love open prairie.

[H380]

Originally Posted by Redfrog

I don't have the patience to bait, but I do have some experience calling the baldass prairie and I love it.

A lot of people believe the same as you that coyotes only use dens for whelping etc. but I've called several that I saw come from a den in the winter. Usually when it's cold and the wind is up. The culverts are just man made dens. I've called badgers from dens as well.

Calling open prairie emphasizes the need for binos.

I had two clients up for their first Alberta hunt. These guys were well experienced and had hunted all over the U.S., but had not hunted flat wide open prairie.

When I parked beside a pump shack for the first stand, they looked very uncomfortable. You could see for many miles in any direction and there was a couple inches of snow, so visibility was even better. We set up on a fence line about 150 yards from the truck. They thought we were too close to the truck, the pump shack, no place to hide and 'if there were coyotes here we should be able to see them".

We each sat with our backs on a fence post and I howled a couple times. While I was glassing, I asked how far they were comfortable shooting. turned out they were both snipers who never missed at any range

I spotted 3 coyotes coming on a suicide lope like coyotes are wont to do from time to time They were so far away they could not be seen with the naked eye.[ a couple miles]. They never stopped running. When they were about 250 I started to bark to get them to stop. The shooters emptied their rifles and did not touch one hair.

Amazing first Stand in Alberta. Coyotes from the next time zone running non stop in response to two howls. Two deadly snipers who both missed 4 shots each at running coyotes inside 200 yards. and a guide asking do you guys need a hug or anything??????

I love open prairie.

Jim , you really need to write a book , Id be in line for the first autographed copy .